“It was a strange signing when they made it..” – Middlesbrough facing summer decision involving 27-year-old: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Middlesbrough are firmly in a promotion battle in the Championship right now.

Currently sitting third ahead of an intriguing clash against second placed Sheffield United, the revival under Michael Carrick has been nothing short of remarkable.

With promotion at the forefront of Carrick’s mind, the former Man United man also needs to be considering how his squad will be shaping up ahead of the summer, with contract situations needing to be dealt with.

One man whose Boro contract expires in the summer is that of Joe Lumley.

The 27-year-old goalkeeper has spent this season out on loan at Paul Ince’s Reading but Boro will ultimately need to make a call on whether they look to keep him or move him on in the summer.

With this in mind, we ask, Do you think Joe Lumley has any future at Middlesbrough?

A selection of FLW writers have issued their thoughts:

Marcus Ally

Definitely not, in Liam Roberts, Boro have a capable enough backup goalkeeper to ensure that they do not need to renew Lumley’s contract in the summer.

The 27-year-old has had some good patches at Reading this season, most goalkeepers do over a 27-game sample size, but he remains a League One level glovesman playing in the Championship.

He has the second worst goals prevented number, -7.9, as per Opta Analyst, for goalkeepers who have played more than 50% of their teams minutes in the Championship this season, conceding 38 goals from 30.1 expected goals on target.

Only Cardiff City’s Ryan Allsop has performed worse by that metric.

If Zack Steffen is not available to Middlesbrough in the summer then they should be on the look-out for a new number one, but it would be foolish to reinstate Lumley and it feels more likely than not that a third tier side pick him up on a free, or possibly Reading.

Lumley’s errors have not been as glaring as they were at Boro last term, but he remains one of the worst first choice goalkeepers in the division.

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Ned Holmes

No, I can’t see Joe Lumley having a future at Middlesbrough.

It was a strange signing when they made it and given the trajectory the North East club appear to be on under Michael Carrick, there doesn’t seem to be a place for him at the Riverside.

He’s not consistent enough a goalkeeper to be playing at a top Championship club.

All too often, Lumley makes costly mistakes and that unreliability makes him too much of a risk for a side like Boro.

Lower Championship or League One is his level and that will be reflected by his next move.

Sam Rourke

Give Joe Lumley his due, he’s actually enjoyed a decent season at Reading this season.

He’s made some crucial saves for the Royals as they look to avoid the dreaded drop to League One, however there have been a handful of clangers that could have been easily avoided.

To put it bluntly, Lumley had a pretty wretched time at Middlesbrough last season and was at fault for goals conceded on a quite alarming basis so he’s not exactly revered by the Boro faithful right now.

So I firmly expect Lumley to have no future at the Riverside and I can see him being moved on in the summer with his contract set to expire – a move to Reading would certainly not be out of the question given the performances he has showcased at the SCL Stadium this term.