Lumley excited to link up with Thornton again
New Southampton signing Joe Lumley is looking forward to linking up with goalkeeping coach Dean Thornton once again, after completing a move to St Mary's.
Free-agent Lumley has put pen to paper on a one-year deal with Saints, becoming the third arrival of the summer for the Men's First Team, after Ryan Manning and Shea Charles.
He will reunite with Thornton, who was also the 28-year-old's goalkeeping coach when he was a youth team player at QPR.
"Dean was my goalie coach when I was in the youth team at QPR, so I know him really well, the way he works, I know that he pushes his goalies to be the best they can be and we work really hard," he said.
"I'm really looking forward to getting back working with him.
"He's a massive part of my career so far and I can't thank him enough really for what he's done and for bringing me here. Working with him every day, I'll improve, I'll learn more and I feel if you want to learn and you enjoy it then that's the best thing for yourself."
Lumley, who arrives with 224 senior career appearances to his name and significant experience in the Championship, explained that he already feels comfortable in his new surroundings.
"I had a bit of time off, I was a free agent, and had quite a few options to go to early on, then this came about and I jumped at it straight away," he said. "It's a massive club, so it would have been stupid to turn it down. I'm really delighted to be here and everyone's been great with me so far.
"The training ground is top. It's one of the best I've been to. The staff are great, everyone's been so welcoming and the lads seem great. Everyone's in good spirits and hopefully we can pick up as many points as we can to get promoted this year.
"I've only been here a few days and the atmosphere and just the feeling around the place is incredible. It's tough that we got relegated from the Premier League down to the Championship, but the atmosphere is great and it's got a great feeling that we're going to do really well this year."
Lumley joins a goalkeeping group that features Gavin Bazunu, Alex McCarthy and Jack Bycroft, and he has already been impressed with what he has seen.
"They're some top goalies," he said. "I obviously want to play, but whoever's playing in the game you've got to support them, and the standard of training is top already.
"Hopefully we can all push each other. We all get on really well so far and push each other to be the best that we can be."
