French goalkeeper Anthony Basso has left Hearts after an 18-month spell with the club.
The former Auxerre player was a surprise signing by the club last season and although he did reasonably well for the most part when called upon, he never seriously looked as though he’d be Hearts’ established number one for anything beyond the very short term.
Basso initially got off to a shaky start start in the first of his eight games for the club, turning in a ‘flappy’ in a match against St Mirren at Love Street. Hearts eventually managed to win that match, but Basso’s performance led to many fans immediately putting him into the ‘bombscare’ category before his career had begun in earnest in Edinburgh.
However to be fair to Basso, be did bounce back well from that initial show of nervousness to turn in a few decent displays for Hearts, including one particularly good performance at Parkhead when two Andrius Velicka goals gave Hearts a 2-0 win over Celtic in the League Cup.
This season we have seen the arrival of goalkeepers Marian Kello and Janos Balogh, as well as the return of Jamie MacDonald to the club, so there really isn’t any room for Basso to stake a claim for a first team place any more. Therefore this move is definitely in the best interests of all concerned.
Something that is somewhat less than cut-and-dry however, is who should be Hearts’ number one out of the trio of ‘keepers that they currently have in the squad?
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Well that’s a tricky one, I think Balogh is a bit better than Kello, but Kello showed he is a competent SPL goalkeeper. However, MacDonald is as good as Kello, at least, and has the potential to be the best of the 3, so it’s a toughie, but it’s a great head ache to have.
Pity we still didn’t have Tepi Moilanen…….!
I genuinely thought Basso had left ages ago – presumably they’ve been keeping in a cupboard somewhere. Given that we’ve paid for Balogh I’d keep him and MacDonald and have the latter as the preferred choice. Punt Kello – no disrespect but 3 keepers fighting for one place is pointless.
Like you, INM, I also thought Basso had already left !! Ho-hum… better late than never. Basso looked to be another of the regime’s chosen players – like Pinilla, Makela, Beslija, Goncalves – guys brought in on the advice of agents, rather than by a proper football manager. I guess they’ll probably just see out the rest of Kello’s loan deal – maybe they’ll see Ridgers as a next seasons’s 3rd choice.