'Had spoken to Swansea about Andy Fisher' - how Portsmouth initiated Toby Steward's move to St Johnstone
Toby Steward has completed his season-long loan switch to St Johnstone - with details about the move emerging
The circumstances surrounding Toby Steward’s loan move to Scottish Championship side St Johnstone have emerged.
And it appears an interest Pompey have in current Swansea goalkeeper Andy Fisher initiated the 20-year-old’s near 500-mile switch to McDiarmid Park.
Highly-rated Pompey Academy graduate Steward completed his season-long move to the Saints on Tuesday and was handed his debut just hours later in a 1-0 pre-season friendly defeat to Falkirk.
The keeper, who went on emergency loan to Crawley at the end of last season, played the full 90 minutes against the top-flight side and was handed valuable game time alongside his new team-mates as they face East Kilbride in the Scottish League Cup on Saturday.
But as the stopper prepares for his first taste of competitive football north of the border, his new manager, Simo Valakari has revealed how the move actually came about.
Pompey’s Andy Fisher interest instigated Toby Steward move to St Johnstone
The 52-year-old Finn said Pompey pressed St Johnstone for the move after they had spoken to Swansea about Fisher - who spent the second half of last season at the Perth-based side.
Valakari told thecourier.co.uk: ‘Football is a small world, and I think Portsmouth had spoken to Swansea about Andy Fisher.
‘People in football talk, so it’s important to take good care of the players you are given.
‘Portsmouth contacted us about Toby, so then we looked into him.
‘Yes, it’s a young goalkeeper and our first thought process was that we were planning to go with an experienced player.
‘But once we started studying him, speaking to people who know him and then talking with Toby, I came to the conclusion he’s the right player for us.
‘Portsmouth really pushed for him coming here.
‘It almost felt too good to be true because it is such a good opportunity. They have invested so much time into him already because they see him as having a very big future.
‘Gordon Marshall (goalkeeper coach) has been speaking with their goalkeeper coach already about the training plan for him, the individual work and how he will fit in here. You need to be playing games to develop and that’s why he’s here with us.’
Who is Andy Fisher?
Pompey’s level of interest in Fisher remains unclear. However, they were clearly impressed with the job he did at St Johnstone to reach out to the Swans. They must also have been won over by the Saints’ work with the 27-year-old, especially as they were the ones to initiate Steward’s latest loan move.
Signed from Swansea for the second half of the season, Fisher featured 14 times for the Scottish side, keeping three clean sheets in the process - including one against champions Celtic on April 6.
However, 27 goals were conceded as St Johnstone were relegated to the second tier.
The keeper has since returned to the Liberty Stadium, where he has been since his £400,000 move from MK Dons in January 2022.
Fisher has made 49 appearances for the Welsh side in that period but failed to feature for Swansea last season as Lawrence Vigouroux established himself as No1 following his move from Burnley.
Following Steward’s move, the Blues will look to add to a goalkeeping department that already includes No1 Nicolas Schmid, Jordan Archer and Ben Killip, who was handed a new Pompey contract this summer following his January arrival.
Former Blackpool and Morecambe goalkeeper Stuart Moore was invited to train with the Blues in Slovakia this week and goalkeeping coach Joe Prodomo told The News the triallist has ‘done himself no harm’ in pushing his cause.
St Johnstone have high expectations for Toby Steward
In terms of Steward’s latest move, Valakari said the youngster will benefit greatly from his stint at McDairmid Park.
He added: ‘Portsmouth rate him very highly and have a clear plan for his career.
‘That was one of the reasons we wanted to take him because they really, really like him.
‘They want him playing in a new environment this season, something different to what he’s been used to.
‘Portsmouth want him tested with more crosses, a more direct kind of football and he will get that with us.
‘I really believe he can help us this season.’