West Ham keeper Raphael Spiegel joins on loan
Carlisle United Football Club have today signed West Ham keeper Raphael Spiegel on a one-month loan deal which keeps him at Brunton Park until midnight on 21 March 2015.
Spiegel, 22, started his career as a youngster with FC Rüttenen before securing a move to Swiss Super League outfit Grasshopper Club in 2007.
He enjoyed loan spells with FC Wil and Bruhl during his time with the Grasshoppers, making 17 appearances for the latter as he established himself as their first choice stopper.
His run in the Bruhl side caught the eye of the West Ham scouts and he signed for the London outfit on their return to the Premier League in the summer of 2012. He had loan spells with Crawley and Barnet in 2014 and has represented his country at all levels up to U21.
Keeper coach Tony Caig said: "I’ve known about him for over 12 months now. He was actually in our thoughts last season, when we brought Jordan Pickford in on loan.
“Bobby Mimms is down at West Ham at the moment, and I spoke to him and Neil McDonald about Raphael to get their thoughts on where he is at. They both rate him highly and they think he’s one with a real future.
“I’ve watched him play a couple of times and we’ve been given a lot of footage to review as well. He’s a good size, he’s mobile and vocal, and he’s a Swiss U21 international so he has a very good pedigree.
“West Ham are looking for him to make that next step and an opportunity to get out and play some football provides that opening for him.”
“He definitely has good attributes but he has to come here now and back all of that up,” he continued. “He’s been around the first team with West Ham, on occasions, but this is the real thing now.
“He needs to prove to himself, and to his employers, that he is capable of handling the challenge of fighting for a starting place, and then keeping hold of it, if he gets there.
“He joined us for his first training session on Friday morning and he has already asked questions about how we do certain things and how we work. That’s really good to see. He’s shown us a bit of his personality and he seems to have a confident head on his shoulders."
“The move obviously provides good competition for Dan [Hanford] and I always like to have at least two keepers who can genuinely start every game," he commented. "That’s been difficult recently because Mark [Gillespie] has had his injury problem, but we will now see two people who will hopefully push each other all the way. That’s hugely important for us because it helps to raise standards across the board.”
Spiegel will wear shirt number 24.
