Did Newcastle dodge a bullet over Sunderland goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter?

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Newcastle United dodged a potential bullet in the form of Sunderland’s Robbin Ruiter.

Robbin Ruiter was slammed by Sunderland fans following his performance in Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat at Birmingham City.

The Dutch goalkeeper posted yet another error-laden display and Sunderland’s chances of survival have never looked as bleak.

Ruiter, who joined the Black Cats after a trial last summer, is unlikely to feature for a while after Chris Coleman’s acquisition of Lee Camp on a half-season loan last night.

But if things had’ve been different, the 30-year-old might have wound up at Newcastle United instead of their North-East rivals.

Before going on trial at Sunderland, HITC Sport claimed in July that Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez was interested in signing the former Utrecht man, who was released by the Eredivisie side in June.

And you wonder if Wearside only appealed to him more because his chances of first-team football were far brighter there than they were with the Magpies, who had Karl Darlow, Rob Elliot and Freddie Woodman on the books, whereas then-Sunderland boss Simon Grayson had lost Jordan Pickford and Vito Mannone.

In any case, Newcaste won’t be crying if Benitez was genuinely was interested. If that’s true then the Spanish manager dodged a bullet.