‘He’s coming in to be Crystal Palace number one’ – Baggies goalkeeping coach on Sam Johnstone’s switch to Eagles

West Bromwich Albion goalkeeping coach Gary Walsh believes Sam Johnstone hasn’t come to Crystal Palace to settle for being the number two.

The Eagles swooped to secure the England-capped goalkeeper on a free signing after his four-year contract expired at the start of this month.

Johnstone, 29, penned a four-year deal with Palace and is set for a fight with last season’s clear first choice Vicente Guaita.

Walsh, who played for Manchester United and Middlesbrough during his career, coached Johnstone during their time together at Aston Villa and West Brom.

He joined Villa on loan from Manchester United midway through the 2016-17 season, the eighth loan spell of his career by the age of 23.

“His professionalism [stood out] every single day – he was always on it,” Walsh, who was a part of Steve Bruce’s backroom team at Villa Park, told the South London Press.

“He wanted to do things properly, on and off the pitch. Always from a young age, he was doing it the right way. It helped me – it spurred me on every morning to come in and improve things that I was doing.

“When you get that quality in your three or four goalkeepers, it rubs off on everybody.

“His mental side impressed as well – he was really focused on every game. In all the time I worked with him – two seasons at Villa and three-and-a-half at West Brom – he missed maybe two games because of Covid.

“He very rarely gets injured, which is a great thing you need for a keeper. He’s really, really good with the ball at his feet, which is massive in this day and age.

“Technically, his hands are one of the best hands I have ever worked with. He’s got everything that you need.”

While Jack Butland featured in the cup matches last season, Guaita was Patrick Vieira’s number one and featured 29 times in the Premier League. But small muscle injuries cropped up throughout the season for the Spanish shotstopper, preventing the 35-year-old from playing the full season.

“He’ll be fine,” responded Walsh, when asked how Johnstone would handle having to wait for his opportunity.

“He’ll want to play. Knowing the way he is, he wouldn’t have wanted to go there and be the number two.

“He is not one of those people who will go and smash the door down or anything like that.

“In the five-and-a-half years that I had him, he never caused any problems and always showed respect to everybody.

“I wanted him to stay at West Brom. I was gutted [to see him go]. But I just said to him: ‘It’s our final year, so get us back in the Premier League.’ It just shows you what he was like as a lad – although he was in his final year, he gave everything. He never missed a day of training, and he did it properly every day.

“It was a difficult one at the start of the year, too, because we had a new manager [Valerien Ismael], and he wanted to play a specific way – almost like a sweeper-keeper.

“But Sam brought into it, no problem. He is very, very versatile. Anything that the manager and the goalkeeping coaches want him to do, he will do it to the best of his ability.

“We fell short last year at West Brom, but we can’t hold him back anymore.”

Johnstone’s form at The Hawthorns didn’t go unnoticed. He made more than 150 appearances for the Baggies, helped them win promotion to the Premier League and became a standout goalkeeper in the top-flight.

He was handed his England debut in 2021, following a season at West Brom where – despite being relegated to the Championship – he picked up the club’s Players’ Player of the Year and the Supporters’ Player of the Season.

“He was playing that well in the Premier League, which we struggled in that year, but he never let his head go down,” said Walsh of Johnstone earning international recognition for Gareth Southgate’s side.

“It didn’t shock me at all when he got the England call-up because of what he’s got. Everything that a England goalkeeper needs, he has got it.

“There were three moments [from that season that stand out]. We played at Anfield in the Premier League, and he pulled an absolute worldie off in the last minute to win us a point against Liverpool.

“He did the same – in one of the best goalkeeping performances I have ever seen – at the Etihad when we drew with Manchester City. It could have been 10, but he was pulling save after save off.

“He then pulled off an unbelievable save against Harry Maguire from a header to win us another point.

“The thing I get with Sam is that the bigger the game, the better he is, really. He gets a buzz from it.

“He never seems to be affected by situations. He has played in play-offs finals, he has played in play-off semi-finals and played for England, and he has never let anybody down in it.”

Despite West Ham and Southampton registering their interest in keeping him in the Premier League last summer, Johnstone stayed at West Brom to try and help the Baggies win promotion back at the first time of asking.

“He found it difficult in his final year at West Brom towards the end of it, which I felt for him a little bit, and it scuppered his England chances a little bit as well,” said Walsh.

“If he had moved that summer he would still be playing for England now. He will be knocking on the door hopefully now [he is back in the Premier League].”

Johnstone was included in England’s Euro 2020 squad, which reached the final. With Nick Pope and Dean Henderson securing moves to Premier League sides this summer, competition for a place on the plane to Qatar is fierce.

Walsh said: “His focus will be on trying to be the number one at Crystal Palace. If he starts thinking too far ahead, it would be showing disrespect to Guaita and Jack Butland.

“The way Sam is, he will be thinking that he has got to get to being number one and then see where that takes him.”