Ben Foster has joined Birmingham City for a fee believe to be in the region of £6million. Foster signed for United back in 2005 for a fee of £1million from Stoke City. He was then loaned out to Watford for two seasons where he got rave reviews for his performances, which helped Watford gain promotion to the Premier League. Sadly for Foster he couldn’t save the Hornets from relegation the following season and returned to United in 2007.

Foster made thirteen appearances for United last season, all but one of them coming in the first half of the campaign. Foster’s inconsistencies could be summed up in the Arsenal match when he saved, quite brilliantly, a shot from Robin Van Persie from point blank range, however he was to blame for Andrei Arashavin’s goal – where he failed to get a strong hand to the shot. There is no doubt Foster is a talented keeper, a great shot stopper, however he had a chance to make Edwin Van Der Sar work for the number 1 shirt earlier in the season, which he failed to do. Mistakes against Manchester City and ultimately Sunderland, when Kenwyne Jones bundled in a header, led to Foster’s downfall.

Birmingham released the following statement on their website earlier today:

Blues have today completed the signing of England international goalkeeper Ben Foster from Manchester United. Foster has joined Blues for an undisclosed fee on a three-year contract. The 27-year-old comes in following Manchester City’s decision to retain the services of Joe Hart next season after his successful loan spell at St. Andrew’s this year. The highly regarded stopper has found his chances limited at Manchester United because of the form of first choice keeper Edwin van der Sar. During the 2009/10 campaign he made just nine Premier League starts. His last outing for the Reds came in their 3-0 win over West Ham United in February. Born in Leamington Spa, Foster began his career with non-league side Racing Club Warwick, before being signed up by Stoke City in 2001. He spent four years with the Potters, during which time he spent several spells out on loan at lower league sides including Wrexham. It was during his time at the Welsh outfit he was spotted by Sir Alex Ferguson who took him to Old Trafford in a £1m deal. The player has four England senior caps to his name, with his last game for the Three Lions coming in a 1-0 defeat to Brazil last November.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish was also full of praise for his new signing, describing him as a ‘young and hungry’ goalkeeper:

“It looks as if we’ve got another great acquisition with Ben Foster. The goalkeeper is a massive position and we’ve now signed another young hungry goalkeeper who wants to prove himself and live up to his potential. We believe he is of the same kind of standard as Joe Hart. Ben’s situation is similar to Joe’s in that he found himself twiddling his thumbs behind another top keeper in van der Sar. Van der Sar is a world class player and a hard act to follow. I’ve watched Van der Sar since he started at Ajax and he was always destined to play at the top and for as long as he has. Goalkeepers can go on for ever so that one was a losing battle for Ben. Ben is ambitious and wants to play regular football and naturally doesn’t want to play second fiddle. We were looking at it even when Joe was here in the event that we wouldn’t be caught short and to steal a march on other potential suitors. There were another ten or 12 foreign goalkeepers we looked at but didn’t know enough about then and we didn’t want to take a risk. But Dave Watson is a guy I trust and have given responsibility to and he did his homework on Ben. He knows everything about him, although ultimately it’s my decision to choose the players and the goalkeeper With due diligence we’ve done together it and we know that he’s a very capable player. We think he can make a name for himself and it’s up to him to do what Big Joe did.”

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United’s attacking fluency in the first half was far improved from last weekend’s humiliation against Leeds with Antonio Valencia predictably looking like the most penetrative player. But for all their possession the visitors found clear cut chances at a premium – no surprise given Brum have such an excellent defensive record this season.

Most openings were either half chances or brief glimpses that were quickly closed down, save for one brilliant Valencia pass that found Rooney with time and space. The first touch was exquisite, the second was a shot that was really too comfortable for loan keeper Joe Hart. Of the half chances fashioned, a Michael Carrick effort was caught before going into the top corner.

Birmingham then attempted a rare break and won a corner – United defended badly and the ball ricocheted kindly for Jerome who had the simple task of stabbing in. A rather more daunting task faced the Champions who so often this season have failed to find an answer when falling behind.

It’s not that the current register of players are suddenly incapable – a team that has been the English Champions for 3 years don’t become a bad side overnight. Until they went behind to that shock goal the Red Devils had done all of the pressing and looked more likely. However, there has been a clear shift when we fall behind. Players comfortable in possession suddenly look uncomfortable, incapable, and are second to most balls. That was the case here as Alex McLeish’s men almost extended their advantage, with Kuszczak called upon twice to make stops early in the second half.

As Sir Alex prepared to make changes his troops unexpectedly struck. A spell of pressure on the edge of the area resulted in Evra finding space and drilling a ball across the six yard box. It was simply one of those balls that can’t be defended, and despite the three United players waiting to pounce, it was the unfortunate Dann that diverted the ball past Hart. Referee Mark Clattenburg had a clear view of the incident but incensed the United players by consulting his assistant with seemingly no other intention but seeking a reason to disallow the goal. The assistant duly informed Clattenburg that he thought Rooney was offside – a call that would have dubious at best in itself – but the referee, in the knowledge he had seen the own goal, was unable to disallow it.

Ferguson brought on Ryan Giggs and, for his debut, Mame Diouf, however, despite flashes from Giggs neither influenced proceedings. This may have been due in part to Clattenburg’s decision to send Darren Fletcher off for a second yellow card – no-one would deny his second tackle was a silly one to make in terms of the game but nonetheless taking each instance on it’s merits it would be hard to argue the dismissal was deserved.

Home defender Roger Johnson almost snatched a win but Kuszczak was equal to it, before the fourth official signalled there would be 6 minutes of added time to incredulous screams of derision from “Blue Noses”.

That they were in the ascendency with an extra man and the ball in their opponent’s territory did little to dissuade them from insisting with their uneducated bile – and no doubt if United had scored they would have been labelled cheats while “justice” would have greeted a home goal – however, such an incredible supporter response says much about the reflection of ABU opinion on football matches that people care more about hating United than supporting their own team, particularly when they are the form team of the country! The only advantage of the added time was with the home team – with such a reaction it seems the only acceptable solution for every other club would be if United’s players had a leg amputated and were not allowed to cross the halfway line as soon as the clock struck 90, although, given the pathetic reaction in this game, even that would not be enough to convince the idiot public that stoppage time exists for both teams.

Given results this season a defeat in the second city may well have ruled United out of retaining their title again, but to show character has allowed most Reds to feel a little more optimistic. There are still clear signs that improvement is needed and probably in the form of fresh faces in January but a draw against opposition in such marvellous form and with such ridiculous refereeing is not the worst result at this stage of the season.

Ratings : Kuszczak 8, Rafael 6, Brown 5, Evans 5, *Evra 8, Valencia 7, Carrick 7, Scholes 6 (Diouf) , Fletcher 7, Park 5 (Giggs 6), Rooney 6

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