I am a bit perplexed with some of the comments regarding Forster. When he was on form, he seemed a tower of strength. I was glad when he signed the new contract because it seemed obvious at that point that he was instrumental to Saint's excellent form and you could anticipate bigger clubs coming in for him. It seems so long ago that he was playing regularly that I cannot recall when it all went wrong. He had a few dodgy games and then his confidence seemed to plummet with him no longer being in contention.
I would choose an in form Forster over both McCarthy and Gunn but appreciate that there is no guarantee he could recreate his form previous form. Forster's decline is one of the hardest elements for me to appreciate. At one point he was knocking on the door of England's No. 1. I am not convinced that he is just an "average" PL player and just needs coaches to start believing in him again. I would be more unset losing Forster than Gunn.
I think he flattered to deceive on occasions as he had such a capable defence in front of him when he had his most successful seasons; they made him look easily capable and vice versa. Also harder to care when we had people like Manè and Pelle knocking them on at the other end for fun.
His confidence took a real knock but the downfall seemed to be more than on the pitch stuff. I know there were issues rumoured off the pitch but there has to be a combination of reasons things didn’t work for him.
The more worrying aspect from my point of view is that he made no visible improvements in between his appearances. He had a point to prove on the few occasions he came in for but behind a defence that was low on confidence he looked woeful. For the amount of work that must have gone in behind the scenes, it was truly shocking. It’s an easy allegation to make, but keepers much shorter than him have dominated their box so much more.
Another allegation levelled at him is the quality of his kicking from his hands and off the deck-again, despite so so much of the help and practice he would have received at Staplewood, his distribution and technique remained poor. At this level, there is simply no excuse other than a lack of ability.
I may be way off the mark with this one, but he doesn’t seem like he has the capacity to be self analytical to the point where he would go away and change things.
Comparatively, Alex has kept his head down for a long time and worked hard behind the scenes and worked to get into the right form. He is level headed and calm, excellent shot stopper and works well with the defence-a relationship that goes both ways.
Angus by wanting a loan or being looked at for a loan should take it with both hands, or look to try and properly battle it out with Alex. Goalkeepers nature at a different rate and his decision making and technique need tweaking, he is still a long term prospect.
As I see it, sadly, Frasers time with us was up a long time ago and because of the ridiculous contract he was given, his best and most consistent form as an individual has been at another club whilst being paid by us-ludicrous.
Scottish football