Ben Foster begins our review of the Fantasy Football Scout team of the season.
The former United stopper arrived at St Andrews with the task of replacing Joe Hart whose heroics had previously kept the Birmingham goals conceded column in check in spectacular style. Alex McLeish’s capture of Foster was shrewd – despite the doubts surrounding his credentials at international level, on the domestic front, Foster had proved himself a superb goalkeeping prospect with shot-stopping skills to rival even the precocious talents of Hart.
Foster benefited early on from the resolute partnership of new-signing Roger Johnson and Scott Dann but, when this was disrupted by Dann’s injury in January, Foster’s importance to Birmingham’s bid for survival became even more apparent.
Ultimately however, not even his improbable reflexes could prevent Birmingham from being banished to the Championship on the final day.
The Statistics
Available for a sum of 4.5 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, Foster was earmarked early in pre-season as a likely leading contender in our squads, as the acquisition of a cheap keepers remained a popular stance.
Hart was a key figure in shaping that strategy. Birmingham had kept 11 clean sheets in the previous season with Hart offering incredible value at just 4.0 in front of their back four. Birmingham and Foster struggled to match that this – two shut-outs in the opening eight matches was a shaky start, although Brum did rally to gather nine in total, with four in six games arriving between October and November, before injury ended Dann’s season.
Foster mainly relied on strong Save Point returns to supplement his tally and justify his inclusion in our squads. A total of 178 saves topped the FPL rankings and fetched Foster at least one Save Point in 32 of his 38 starts.
The high-point of his season was undoubtedly the 1-0 home win over Chelsea in November – Foster made 8 saves in total to deny Carlo Ancelotti’s fading force, with a maximum three Bonus Points completing an 11 point haul.
The Prospects
It seems inconceivable that Foster will remain in Birmingham’s relegated squad to ply his trade back in the Championship. Likely transfer destinations will materialise in the coming months; Tottenham, Aston Villa and West Brom are already being flagged up in the press.
Fantasy Managers will again be hoping that he’ll find his way to a club outside of the top six, hopefully ensuring that Foster remains at least a mid-price option to offer value again next season.
