Coach Impressed By Art

Goalkeeping coach Nigel Spink believes Blues have unearthed a gem in Polish goalkeeper Artur Krysiak.

Spink claims that he knew Krysiak was something special after only two hours of watching and working with him during a trial period a few weeks ago.

The player signed for Blues on a 3 year deal on deadline day.

Speaking to the Evening Mail, Spink said:

‘Artur came over for a trial with Cardiff originally, they played him in a practice match and he was offered a contract at half-time.

‘Terry Westley, our new Academy manager, knew of Artur’s agent and he was told to have a look at him. We got him in and I knew within two hours of working with Artur that he was the real deal.

‘You can make a judgment on someone in that short a space of time.

‘I covered all aspects of goalkeeping with him to find out what his basics and technique was like. Well, they were absolutely nailed-on which suggested to me that someone had done a lot of work with him or he has an awful lot of natural talent.

‘He came through with flying colours and his is someone only just out of his 16th year.

‘He has tinges of a continental goalkeeper in him, but what I liked was that he tried to catch crosses and not palm or fist them away like most foreigners do, which is something that rankles with me.

‘For a Championship club, it is a right result to get someone like Artur to put pen to paper.

‘It happened so rapidly, we took other clubs by surprise. It was a case of getting him even before the aircraft engines were off, so to speak.’