Helping hand not needed as Woodman reaches for the stars
FREDDIE WOODMAN might need to be exceptionally good to help the manager of England avoid being charged with nepotism by his own Football Association in a couple of years. Fear not. Gareth Southgate, godfather to Aberdeen’s on-loan goalkeeper, should escape the rap. Woodman fully intends to justify a rapid rise to No 1 for Newcastle and, indisputably, his country.
‘I set my goals quite high,’ says Woodman in an understatement that does not do justice to his version of elevating the bar. Further explanation is required — and forthcoming.
Woodman turns 21 next Sunday. He is fully aware that David de Gea and Thibaut Courtois did not require a key of the door to enter elite territory on that milestone.
De Gea had already won a Europa League and broken transfer records with a £19million move to Manchester United when he was 20.
Courtois had won a Belgian title, was his country’s senior first choice and on the verge of completing his second full season as De Gea’s replacement at Atletico Madrid on his 21st.
When Woodman refers to those two keepers achieving freakishly early breakthroughs, they are inspiration for him reaching for the stars — and dislodging them from Rafa Benitez’s team.
The man who stands in the way of Celtic today at Pittodrie, when asked if he hoped to challenge at his parent club next season, replied: ‘I feel I’ve been challenging for a while.
‘I’m the sort of person who is impatient, really wants to get started with things. I’ve been pushing.
‘The manager has his thoughts and, if he keeps sending me out on loan, I’m only going to keep learning and gaining experience. It’s a win-win situation, which is quite crazy for me.
‘I’m loving being in an environment where I can keep learning and seeing myself improve.’
Aberdeen is the fourth temporary pit-stop on Woodman’s ascent. He was farmed out to Hartlepool in League Two as cover for a month at the age of 17.
Then it was back to the fourth tier with Crawley Town where Mark Yates handed him a league debut in August 2015.
‘I wanted to get out to play men’s football as soon as possible,’ he explained. ‘League Two at 17 was the biggest eye-opener. It was amazing, a real learning curve.
‘That’s the way a young keeper can learn, make mistakes, get cut eyes and bullied. It makes you realise there is a long way to get to where you want to go.
‘In a pre-season game at Nuneaton for Crawley, I came for a ball 15 minutes into the game, and this big guy’s elbow caught me and smashed me in the eye.
‘I was bleeding — that doesn’t happen in the academy games. He didn’t think anything of it. I thought the physio would come on and do something.
‘All he did was throw a bottle of water at me and told me to spray it on my eye. That was one of the lessons I quickly learned.’
Four months with Kilmarnock was a priceless precursor to last summer when he became an Under-20 World Cup winner with England in South Korea.
Woodman saved a penalty in the final against Venezuela and lifted the Golden Glove award for best keeper in the tournament, safely on the mantelpiece being cared for by mum at home in London.
‘I’d played for Kilmarnock at Celtic Park, I played against Rangers (keeping a clean sheet), against Hearts — some big teams,’ Woodman explained.
‘Those environments test you mentally more than physically and that’s been really enjoyable. I learned a lot about myself and the league.
‘That only helped me when I went away to the World Cup and played in big atmospheres there.
‘To go on and win an individual trophy was amazing, to get recognised for the effort that I put in at the World Cup was just a really nice moment.’
All the while, Derek McInnes watched. The Aberdeen boss stressed, after winning a fiercely contested race for Woodman’s signature, that he’d noted improvement every week at Killie.
That knowledge of Woodman’s career was one element of the Pittodrie pursuit that impressed the Englishman in discussions, helping ward off other interest as deadline hour ticked down.
Celtic were scrambling around for a keeper following Craig Gordon’s injury and made a pitch to Newcastle before Woodman was selected for the first-team bench against Burnley on January 31.
Woodman explained: ‘All window I had teams wanting me. It’s nice to be in that position. But as soon as I spoke to the manager here — about what he wanted and about my game — I wanted to sign.
‘He told me he’d noticed my progress at Killie and said he wanted to help me improve even more. So if Newcastle were going to let me out, I was going to go to Aberdeen.’ Woodman is following in giant footsteps of promising goalkeepers crossing the border to launch their careers. Fraser Forster’s Premier League and England progress was constructed on Celtic loan spells which granted him a Champions League platform. Kasper Schmeichel spent time at Falkirk ten years before his safe hands lifted the title at Leicester.
Tim Krul was also just a loan Bairn long before becoming Newcastle’s No 1 and a World Cup penalty shoot-out hero for Holland.
‘Fraser is the prime example of an English goalkeeper coming up here then going into the national team,’ noted Woodman. ‘One day, hopefully, I can emulate what he’s done.
‘I had just come into Newcastle when Fraser was around the first-team. When I’m down at St George’s Park and he’s in the England squad I get to see him work and manage to get in amongst it.
‘I also speak to Tim Krul daily. He told me how great the league was up here.’
Woodman has goalkeeping coach Simon Smith to impress and Karl Darlow and Martin Dubravka, a recent foe of Scotland for Slovakia, in his way at Newcastle.
There is no stand-out with England. Joe Hart’s grip on the shirt started to weaken a while ago. He, Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford shared game time in each of the last three internationals.
Woodman debuted for the Under-21s last October and has already filled in for the injured Pickford in first-team training. Bringing him under the watch of Southgate — his dad’s best pal.
Andy Woodman played for 11 lower league or non-league clubs after leaving Crystal Palace, where the friendship with youth team-mate Southgate was forged.
While an England international on the rise, Southgate once drove to Exeter to plead with Woodman not to quit on the game on one low point of a journeyman career.
The tale features in a book Woodman co-wrote, Woody And Nord: A Football Friendship, which chronicled the relationship throughout the wildly contrasting fortunes of their professional lives.
‘Strictly professional relationship’ is the party line from Woodman Jnr, understandably given that Southgate could face a future selection dilemma and his godson may be regarded as the golden child.
‘It’s quite a strange one and a lot of people bring it up,’ said Woodman. ‘I only see him about or speak to him when I go away to St George’s Park with England.’