OUT OF THE SHADOWS
From a childhood struggle with the challenge of dyslexia to an unconventional career path and a host of big-name obstacles, Aberdeen’s new No 1 Kelle Roos has had to earn a ticket to the top...but he says he’s not peaked yet
KELLE ROOS found himself at a career crossroads last summer. After eight years operating as a quality back-up goalkeeper at Derby County, the easiest option would have been to stay in England and fulfil a similar role. Instead, he chose to move out of his comfort zone to take on the challenge of becoming Aberdeen’s No1.
‘It’s no secret that I could have made a different decision before I came here — I could have been a back-up goalkeeper somewhere else,’ he says. ‘But I didn’t want that. I want to fight for a place as No1.
‘That’s why I’m grateful to Aberdeen for giving me this chance to show I can be a good goalkeeper.’
Roos’ arrival has left Joe Lewis in the awkward scenario of retaining the status of ‘club captain’ while reverting to reserve status.
While Roos has been given confidence in his status by manager Jim Goodwin, experience tells the 30-year-old that he can expect a challenge from his more experienced colleague.
‘It does feel different for me,’ adds Roos. ‘In my career, for 90 per cent of the time I’ve not started as No1 and had to fight my way up.
‘At Derby, they always brought in a big goalkeeper like David Marshall, Scott Carson or Lee Grant. Their CVs say it all. After Derby, Lee went to Stoke then Manchester United.
‘Scott went from Derby to Manchester City and Marshall was Scotland No1. It doesn’t get more difficult than that, to be picked over big players like that.
‘But I’m proud of the fact that I’ve shaken a couple of big goalkeepers at the same time.
‘Coming here, everything has been made clear. That gives me more focus on a daily basis, I don’t have to worry about X,Y and Z.
‘The goalies just get our heads down and work hard. It’s simple and straightforward.’
Last weekend Roos suffered the ignominy of shipping four goals in a loss to bottom-of-the-table Dundee United. While no one has suggested he ought to lose his place for his part in that surprise defeat, he does acknowledge that operating as goalkeeper for the only club in a fervent football city will bring its pressures.
Yet he long ago learned a life lesson in resilience. Diagnosed as dyslexic at a young age, Roos developed a work ethic and steel that has helped power his career.
‘I found out I was dyslexic when I was four,’ he continued. ‘Other kids started reading and I didn’t — it didn’t really click.
‘Straightaway that meant I had to put in double hours. What does that look like in the life of a kid? When your friends are playing out, you have to go to tutoring and spend hours to get your spelling and reading right.
‘So, at that early stage of life, I had a kind of resilience. I realised that not everything in life comes free.
‘Once you overcome the challenges it makes you stronger and, for that reason, it shapes you as a person.’
Smart, thoughtful and articulate, Roos has not allowed his diagnosis to affect his passage through life and as a child he found there were other areas in which he excelled. He used tennis as a form of release, an individual sport to which he could retreat and let off steam.
Yet it was by taking on the most specialist position in a team sport that he truly excelled.
He worked his way though the youth ranks in Holland, at PSV Eindhoven, then moving on to Willem II and NEC Nijmegen before turning professional and making the left-field move of signing for English Conference side Nuneaton Town.
His performances there were good enough to earn an extended trial at Liverpool in 2014. ‘It was massive to walk into a big training ground like that with Brendan Rodgers as manager and Steven Gerrard as captain,’ he recalls. ‘I sat next to him and Simon Mignolet in the dressing room.
‘It was unreal. You had Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling and Luis Suarez joking around in there. But before I went to non-league in England I was involved in the Dutch national set-up at youth level with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Memphis Depay, so it wasn’t the first time I was around big players. ‘Football is fickle, it can change quickly. I was in a bit of a gap and I wanted to play games.
‘I went on trial at Liverpool, Bolton, Derby and Ipswich but I was just looking for a pathway to play.’
It was Derby who bit but his early years there were punctuated by five separate loan spells at clubs like Rotherham and AFC Wimbledon. When he eventually settled into his back-up role, he’d find himself under the charge of big-name managers such as his countryman Phillip Cocu, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.
‘Ex-players like Lampard, Wayne and Phillip have a special kind of drive,’ he reflects. ‘You can see they are used to pressure in their lives and it is not something they shy away from.
‘For example, Wayne cannot go for coffee without pressure on him and people wanting a piece of him.’
Thus far, Roos hasn’t found life in Aberdeen quite so invasive but he is aware of the demand and expectation on the players.
And today’s game against Hearts at Pittodrie, the obvious benchmark if Goodwin’s team are to challenge for third place in the Premiership, brings added scrutiny.
‘I’m not out and about too much, but you do feel it, that the club is a big deal,’ he says. ‘It’s clear that there is expectation here.
‘It’s a beautiful thing, the city supporting the football club — and it’s up to us to give them joy.’
In time, Roos would like to do well enough to catch the eye back home.
Aberdeen’s goal of returning to the European stage would provide an obvious platform and he insists his dreams are big enough to accommodate the image of returning to the international stage.
‘Everything in football is possible,’ he states. ‘My aims and goals are very high and I’m not going to shy away from that.
‘If I can nail myself down here at Aberdeen first, I can go from there. The sky is the limit for me.
‘I’m still young. Physically I feel good and strong and I’m fit most of the time. I believe my strongest years are ahead of me, so I’m excited to be here.’