And I’ll also add to that, he’s a hell of a lot quicker than people think he is. In fact I think he’s as quick as Elder, if not more so.
Everything takes so long has he signed or not do I care either way not that much. Maybe it’s just me but I find the game incredible boring nowadays when City lose it doesn’t hurt that much so many things more important
It just depends on your perspective, if everything outside of football is going well, it stands to reason you'll enjoy the game more. During times of hardship like this, we tend to prioritise things like family, food and finances (and where our beer/rum is coming from) and football suddenly seems a hell of a lot less important. I felt during the L1 campaign that despite winning the title, I was more worried about Covid and my wife going to work in a hospital. So winning that first trophy since 66 wasn't really the buzz it should have been. Same with the World Cup, since I became a proper football fan as a kid, I never missed a World Cup game. This year, for varying reasons, I just didn't care.
I don't get as down with about defeats any more but still get that proper buzz when we win, playing it over and over in my head and watching the goals on repeat for days afterwards
Darlow is a significant upgrade on Ingram. I would have thought Carson as a back up made more sense but hey ho.
This was my other thought, could be sounding out from the player's point of view checking out the club, and us checking out the player, with a view to a permanent in the summer. I'd like this McNally link to materialise though as I think our defence needs improving.
I think saying he's a significant improvement over Ingram is both being harsh on Ingram and over zealous towards Darlow. He's played 1 game this season, only 8 last season. He's not going to come in march fit and at his sharpest. I don't think he'll push past Matt for a while ( if at all this season ). Matt is a very good championship keeper that for some odd reason always seems to be played down by some of our fans, yes he's cost us a couple of goals this season ( find a keeper who won't do that over a season ) but he's won us many points over the last few seasons. I'll be pleased if and when Darlow comes because he will improve our choice in keepers and we will have 2 very capable keepers at this level. But it's a significant improvement in depth as opposed to a significant improvement over Ingram
Make no mistake I think Ingram is brilliant, which is why I'm surprised we're bringing in a better keeper. Darlow may not be 'match fit' (not sure how much that's needed as a keeper), but he wouldn't be coming here if he wasn't expecting to start. Maybe not initially but by mid-Feb I have no doubt he'd be expecting to be first choice, which just feels overly harsh on Ingram.
"Match fit" is probably the wrong way to describe it to be fair, for a keeper it's more sharpness, confidence that comes from a run of games, an understanding with the defence that comes from the run of games and especially for us, understanding and being comfortable with the way we play. I think the shirts Matt's to lose if that makes sense. If he carries on improving his feet/passing and continues in the shot stopping form he always seems to have, then I think he'll keep the shirt. It will be interesting to see if Rosie sticks with him if another mistake leads to a goal
He's an experienced keeper, got promoted from this league and hasn't looked out of place in the premier league. Not over the hill at 32. It'll be an interesting battle for the Jersey, but also for the Cartwright's and Lo-Tutala's to have someone who's played 250+ championship and premier league games with a couple of promotion/playoff campaigns about him, then this signing shouldn't be underestimated. Ultimately its a loan. He probably isn't top 4 Premier league which is where Newcastle are aspiring but he's good enough to win you a championship. And maybe it's with a view to a bit more than just a short term deal?
I understand what you're saying but I don't see it. Darlow supposedly has got interest from a fair few clubs so I can't imagine he'd come here unless he's been told that he's the no.1. Matt's an okay keeper at this level, but I don't think he's much else. He's not as commanding as I'd like him to be, and he's susceptible to long shots and his near post. Since LR's come in, he doesn't really have a lot to do. But if we got serious ambitions of challenging at the top end of this division then we need a better keeper.
But so are Coyle, Christie, Elder and Fleming to different degrees. When Allahyar played wingback everyone said he'd be a defensive liability but he wasn't. With a decent bit of coaching, you could get him into shape quickly.
Sure but to your point about Ebiowei, what does upgrading the keeper for 6 months with Darlow actually achieve? It's a bit different with Ebiowei because it brings other players into the game and gives us more potency up front, but it's not like Ingram is having a Hugo Lloris style season and shipping multiple goals and costing us points.
