DAVID’S A GOLIATH
Maloney isn’t surprised that two giants of English game are eyeing up mate Marshall after his towering displays last term
SHAUN MALONEY and David Marshall are not noted as being responsible for raising noise levels around the Scotland camp. It might have been well worth trying to eavesdrop on the unobtrusive double act’s whispers last week, then, as they palled around together in London.
For the quietly assured Marshall was making big news as the subject of speculation linking him with £15million moves to Arsenal and Tottenham.
Although a league-leading 129 saves did not prevent Cardiff City crashing straight back down to the Championship, his overworked excellence could apparently win him an immediate, and lucrative, return to the big time.
That was a route denied to Maloney (above) last summer after Wigan were relegated despite his own fine performances. Chairman Dave Whelan insisted the forward stayed and, in a season disrupted by six months out with serious hip injury, Wigan’s promotion push stalled in the play-off semi-finals.
Maloney would be delighted if he is denied the opportunity to take aim at Marshall next season. For that would in probability mean his former Celtic teammate has clinched a transfer to the Premier League.
Arsenal are on the look-out for a keeper to take on Wojciech Szczesny for the No 1 role after Lukasz Fabianski moved to Swansea while Spurs, also linked with Fraser Forster, could turn to Marshall if Hugo Lloris agitates away in search of Champions League football. That, says Maloney, is the kind of lofty company Marshall fully deserves to be mixing in — if Cardiff are prepared to do business.
‘You have to take speculation with a pinch of salt but, in terms of the teams that are being linked, I don’t see a gulf between David and the keepers they have,’ he explained.
‘If he does get a move back to the Premier League then he’ll have fully deserved it. He got in the (Sky Sports) Team Of The Year, so it has been a really excellent season for him. The valuation is just a reflection of the way the game is in the Premier League.
‘You see players going between two English clubs for big sums these days, so that in itself wouldn’t be a surprise. What I can’t see is him getting carried away by the speculation. I know he’s very happy at Cardiff and in the area there.
‘I can’t imagine him acting in a way that would upset Cardiff. I’d say it is inevitable he’ll be linked with big clubs but you must respect the fact his team are owned by someone with a fair bit of wealth and who has put a lot of money into the club.
‘I don’t think any interested club will get him at a reduced price just because he has dropped to the Championship. Cardiff might want to keep him because the lure of them getting back to the finances of the Premier League might dictate that he’ll stay.’
Cardiff owner Vincent Tan was, indeed, quick to acknowledge the efforts of Marshall by signing the 29-year-old up in February on new contract until 2018.
Those riches have come his way 10 years on from a remarkable breakthrough season for such a young goalkeeper, when he won the Double with Celtic and helped to knock Barcelona out of the UEFA Cup.
The brilliance of Artur Boruc blocked Marshall’s path to further progress at Celtic but the bold move to flee, initially for Norwich before moving to Cardiff, is paying off. At international level, Gordon Strachan now has the enviable choice between Marshall and Allan McGregor.
‘I’m pleased for David. He has worked very hard to get to the Premier League and to have a great season,’ noted Maloney. ‘It’s a good feeling to see someone like that prosper.
‘Everyone saw him burst on the scene and knew how talented he was. It’s rare for a goalkeeper to come in and play regularly at that age. I was with him when he was a young player and I think he just had to go and get first team football to believe in himself.
‘He has grown more confident and become a better goalkeeper because of that. For club and country, he has been excellent. I’m not an expert in keepers but I think for the rest of the lads it’s similar to when Allan plays.
‘There’s a confidence in having them there. If an opponent gets a chance or there’s a one-v-one, we’ve someone in goal who can produce the save that Allan did the other night against Nigeria — or that David has done all season.’