#SaintsFC keeper Angus Gunn has completed a season-long loan move to #SCFC:
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) October 16, 2020
When Southampton-owned goalkeeper Angus Gunn last played at Championship level, the Saints saw enough potential there to pay a reported £13,500,000 for Manchester City for his services.
After dropping back down to the second tier of English football with Stoke City to spend the season on loan in the Potteries, it was something of a coup capture. However, an unfortunate ankle ligament injury ruled Gunn out of the busy festive fixture list.
Despite that and a goalkeeping crisis enveloping the squad available to Potters boss Michael O’Neill, Stoke remain in the hunt for a play-off place. The latest 2021 Championship odds suggest Stoke could well make a top six finish despite that and end what has been a miserable few years for fans.
Following a decade of Premier League football between 2008 and 2018, the Potters have recorded mid-table finishes in the division below over the last couple of seasons. There is hope now, however, that their period of decline is over.
Ex-Northern Ireland boss O’Neill is widely recognised for doing a fantastic job coaching his country, steering them to the Euro 2016 finals. He looked a shrewd appointment by Stoke following the struggles of predecessors Paul Lambert, Gary Rowett and Nathan Jones.
When highly-regarded Potters stopper Jack Butland finally left for Crystal Palace, O’Neill turned to Gunn, the son of Norwich City goalkeeping cult hero Bryan, as a replacement. He moved temporarily because both Alex McCarthy and Fraser Forster, back from another stint at old club Celtic, were ahead of him in the pecking order.
Both Forster and McCarthy see their current contracts at Southampton expire in 2022, while Gunn has a further year on his deal at St Mary’s. This loan spell away from the south coast can hopefully show Ralph Hasenhuttl what he can do as a senior goalie.
Gunn’s ankle injury four games in to his time at Stoke was a slice of bad luck. The prognosis was that he would miss up to eight weeks after sustaining the ligament damage in mid-November.
That should mean he is now nearing a return to training, provided the injury has healed. At one stage, the Potters’ problems with fielding a keeper were so severe that as many as six stoppers weren’t available to O’Neill either through being cup tied for competitions like the EFL Cup and FA Cup, injury or illness.
Stoke will hope to put these issues behind them when Gunn is declared fit and name a settled side. The fact that they are still in contention for a play-off place despite all that disruption in a key position is quite remarkable.
Gunn just now needs a clear run for the rest of the season, which will help both him and his temporary team to re-establish themselves. While he is away from Saints, Hasenhuttl has the team enjoying a fine campaign.
Earn promotion with the Potters, however, and Gunn can demonstrate to his parent club that he not only can overcome the adversity of injury but he still has something to offer Southampton.
