St Mirren gaffer Goodwin says club had to knock back offer for priceless keeper Hladky

Saints gaffer Jim Goodwin revealed the club knocked back money for Vaclav Hladky in the summer - because he was invaluable to keeping St Mirren in the Premiership this campaign.

The talented keeper this week revealed this season will be his last in Paisley, after setting his sights on a move to the English Championship or Premier League.

Hladky’s contract expires in June and while Goodwin knows he has a serious job on his hands to replace the 28-year-old fan favourite, he is delighted he can still call on him for the rest of the season.

“It’s all well and good having the money but there’s nobody out there to replace him,” Goodwin said.

“There was a bid and it was decent money but we sat down and discussed it. I felt he’d be difficult to replace at short notice.

“The club knocked that back because we believe he’s more valuable to us to help stay in the league.

“Nobody can have a go at Vaclav for seeing what’s out there. He’s earned the right.

“If you look at the stats for goalkeepers in the league he’s up there in the top two or three every week for saves made, distribution, shot-stopping.

“He’s a top keeper and we’ve been lucky to have him. If he does move on to new pastures then we wish him well.

“I hope he gets the best club possible, whether it’s one of the top clubs in Scotland, England or abroad.”

While Rangers have been linked with a move for the club’s playoff hero, Goodwin admits there are plenty of other suitors keeping an eye on hisNo 1.

And he says the process to replace him has already started as St Mirren aim to find a suitable replacement to fill his gloves.

He said: “Vaclav’s done great, but as of January he’s entitled to talk to anybody. We’ve done our best, we’ve made him a really good offer but he wants to go and speak to every club out there and he’s within his rights to do that. We haven’t any issue with it.

“In terms of us knowing that Vaclav was 99 per cent likely to be leaving, we have to put things in place to make sure we have a replacement coming in.

“It would be stupid of us not to be doing that. We’ve identified a number of goalkeepers we believe would fit the bill.”

“Vaclav will be a difficult one to replace but I’m confident he won’t be distracted by the interest that’s out there. If anything, it’ll drive him on and give him more confidence.”