Port Vale goalkeeper on loan at Chesterfield has 'potential to be fans' favourite'

Goalkeeper Lucas Covolan became Chesterfield’s tenth summer signing earlier this week.
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The 31-year-old has joined on a season-long loan from League One Port Vale.

We spoke to journalist Mike Baggaley, who reports on Vale for The Sentinel newspaper, to get the insight track on the stopper.

Is it much of a surprise to see Covolan go out on loan?

Lucas Covolan pictured in action for Port Vale.Lucas Covolan pictured in action for Port Vale.
Lucas Covolan pictured in action for Port Vale.
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I think the fact he didn’t feature after he was sent off in January suggested he might move on in the summer. I wasn’t sure if he would be staying as number two to Aidan Stone but this move gives him the chance of first team football and frees up space for Vale to bring in another keeper.

How have Vale fans reacted to his departure?

By wishing him well. He seems a genuinely decent fella – that was certainly the impression I got when I interviewed him earlier in the season. On the whole, he had also played well after signing from Torquay last summer.

How has he performed during his time at Vale?

He’s looked a capable keeper, easily League Two standard. The problem was he had two aberrations, getting sent off on the opening day at Northampton when he was caught in possession outside his area, and they getting red-carded in January for kicking out at Swindon’s Harry McKirdy.

Chesterfield fans might remember him also being sent off in the friendly against Vale last summer but I think he was unlucky on that occasion when he was just beaten to the ball outside his area.

How would you describe his goalkeeping style?

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He’s a sweeper keeper and is definitely comfortable playing out from the back. That might sound a strange thing to say when he was sent off on the opening day for bringing down his man after being caught in possession, but he modified his game after that and was looking very solid.

I think there’s every chance he would have gone through the whole season as number one at Vale but his red card against Swindon, for a moment of ill-discipline, really counted against him.

Vale brought in Tomas Holy from Ipswich on loan and, when he didn’t hold down the place, they turned to Stone who really took his chance to help the club to promotion.

Lucas was a bit of a revelation at Vale in that he was prepared to come out of his area. It took a bit of getting used to and, at first, you could hear the collective intake of breath from the stands when he ventured out of his box.

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But as we all got used to that, we appreciated what he brought to the team. Darrell Clarke explained having a sweeper keeper enabled Vale to play with a higher defensive line and, as the games went on, you could really see the benefit of that.

Lucas will come out for crosses and command his area and had been in decent form, making some eye-catching saves before his moment of madness in that Swindon game.

Is it fair to say he is a bit of a personality as well?

He’s definitely got the potential to be a real fans’ favourite. I did quite a long interview with him shortly after he signed. What shone through was how hard he had worked to get to this stage, from leaving home at 17 to move to Rio de Janeiro and being homesick, to then playing in the Spanish regional lower divisions, then moving to England with Lewes, Worthing and Torquay before joining Vale.

Do you think this is the end of his Vale career?

I suppose you never say never but I think his contract us up next summer so that is probably it for him at Vale.

I'm sure he will get a good reception if he returns to Vale Park as an opposition player.