Football loves a cliché. And the received wisdom, apparently, tells us plenty about footballers. They're flash, image-conscious, vain, lacking an education. Egomaniacs and megalomaniacs all rolled into one.
Goalkeepers, meanwhile, are just maniacs. Irrational, illogical creatures who view their sport through a different set of eyes, forever no more than a dropped cross away from meltdown.
Simon Mignolet, obviously, never got the memo. On either count.
Liverpool's latest signing is something of a unique character. His game may be based on instinct, but Mignolet's has been a career built on thoughtfulness, common sense and rationality.
It was rationality that led him, aged 14, to abandon his hopes of a career as a passing, tough-tackling central midfielder.
It was common sense, and circumstance, which convinced him to become a goalkeeper.
At the time, he was playing youth football for Sint-Truiden, a small, provincial club. But whilst his abilities were fair, a lack of genuine pace meant he struggled to establish himself as a regular. In 2002, he was released.
The end of the line? It could have been. But Mignolet reacted in typically cerebral fashion. He went to his father, a former goalkeeper, for advice. Dad delivered. The family acquired a field, an overgrown patch of land owned by a local farmer, for Simon and older brother Wouter to practice on. The midfielder was given a pair of gloves.
"I was already training as a goalie because my dad said I might gain some pace over five metres with goalkeeping sessions," he remembers. "We played every day on that pitch. An old farmer couldn't look after it so my father asked to use it as a playground.
"My father had been a goalkeeper and he'd taught me a bit about it so I thought I'd give it a go.
"I didn't really know whether it was going to be a good choice or a bad one but I joined a small local team as a keeper and it turned out to be a really good decision. One year later it turned out that my old club wanted me again."
Back at Sint-Truiden, and with a physique suited to goalkeeping, Mignolet flourished.
Sint-Truiden, traditionally, live in the shadows of local rivals Genk, and have been something of a yo-yo club throughout the last 15 years or so.
Marc Wilmots, the current Belgian national team coach, began his career there before moving on, but he is an exception. Gifted players do not come around often where 'De Kanaries' are concerned.
Mignolet, though, was another. At 19 he was usurping Franck Boeckx as first-choice 'keeper, catching the eye with his commanding presence, his razor-sharp reflexes and his unflappable temperament.
The following season, 2007-08, saw them relegated from Belgium's top division. They were a poor side with a poor record, for whom having a good goalkeeper was simply not enough.
Mignolet's development, though, arguably benefited from his year out of the top-flight firing line. He shone as Sint-Truiden secured promotion at the first time of asking, even managing to get on the scoresheet, during a 5-1 win at Ronse in April 2009. His goal was a rebound, after his initial penalty had been saved.
Back in the top flight, Sint-Truiden were expected to struggle. However, with the best young goalkeeper in the country, the minnows shocked everyone. They finished the regular season fifth, then came in fourth during the newly-crafted 'playoff round', missing out on a Europa League place in a two-legged play-off against local rivals Genk.
For Mignolet, there was the Goalkeeper of the Year award, and interest from across Europe. PSV Eindhoven, Udinese and FC Twente all enquired, but Nico Vaesen, the former Birmingham goalkeeper, recommended the youngster to his old boss Steve Bruce, by now at Sunderland. A £2m deal was agreed, and Mignolet signed a five-year deal at the Stadium of Light.
His first season on Wearside was promising. Mignolet made 29 appearances in total, his displays enough to ensure £9m Craig Gordon remained sidelined.
His ascent continued the following year. Despite a horrific facial injury, sustained in a collision with Aston Villa's Emile Heskey, Mignolet made 39 appearances. His first game back after that injury was against Manchester City at the Stadium of Light. He kept a clean sheet.
Off the field, Mignolet's is not your average footballer's lifestyle. His girlfriend, Jasmien, is a law graduate, and Mignolet himself completed a degree in political science from the University of Leuven last summer. He is fluent in German, Dutch, English and French.
"When I started playing, my parents told me to go to university,' he says. "They just said choose wisely and find something you can combine with training.
"It was not because of an interest in politics. It was to have something behind me in case something went wrong."
Fortunately for the most expensive goalkeeper in Liverpool's history, very little has gone wrong in the last few years.
His move to Anfield is a daunting one, but if his ability matches his character - and those who know him think it does - then Mignolet, and Liverpool, will be in business.
Source: Liverpool Echo
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