Luke Turner talks through how he believes Kuszczak has improved since arriving at the club…
When Gary Rowett signed Polish keeper Tomasz Kuszczak last summer, it didn’t leave me convinced that he was the right choice to be our number one goalkeeper.
He is obviously a vastly experienced player who, now at 33, will probably only have a few years left of his career.
Not only does he have Championship experience with Brighton and Wolves, but he has also played in the Premier League with West Brom and Manchester United.
Kuszczak can also boast numerous honours which include four Premier League medals, two League Cup victories and the biggest one of all, a Champions League medal.
Prior to his signing at Blues, my most recent memory of Tomasz was when he allowed a tame Nikola Zigic header to slip through his hands to earn Blues a late point.
So when he did sign in July 2015, I wasn’t certain he was the right choice.
However, Kuszczak got off to the perfect start in a Blues shirt as he saved a last minute Orlando Sa penalty against Reading to ensure Blues took all three points in an opening day victory against Reading.
Despite this, the ex-Poland international looked shaky and far from convincing. To his credit, Rowett stuck with Kuszczak and he has since come on leaps and bounds.
He has pulled off some wonderful saves and is now a lot more commanding and confident when coming for crosses.
The odd error is still in him but we can deal with that. He has kept nine clean sheets in 27 league appearances which is up there with the best in the Championship.
His kicking has also come on a lot as it was very poor in the early stages of the season. A lot of credit must go to Kevin Poole, the goalkeeping coach, who has clearly worked hard with Kuszczak to improve his all round game.
I now trust Tomasz in keeping goal for us and his experience is now beginning to show. He has kept us in games, protected clean sheets and also built a good relationship with the Blues fans which is always a good thing.
Blues fans, do you agree that Tomasz Kuszczak has improved a lot since he arrived at the club? How impressed have you been with him? Comment below!