Fair comment TJ and yes we can only comment on FF's displays when he was at Carrow Road. It will be interesting to see who Hodgson choooses as sub to Hart in the next England match.
Forster was superb for us, and I think nearly all Norwich fans hoped we would be able to tie up a permanent deal with Newcastle for him. It didn't happen and he went to the Bhuoys, where as far as I'm aware he's been excellent (which doesn't surprise any of us). Ruddy has been brilliant in filling Forsters gloves, and I think both keepers are deservedly in the England framework.
Hi Hooper! Thanks for your input. In all honesty, I haven't seen FF that much since he left Norwich, but he's certaily come on leaps and bounds in that tiem (which is saying a lot considering he was good when he was with us). I watched him in the Barca match and on the whole he was outstanding, but areas such as his kicking and dealing with corners I thought still weren't 100% there. With all due respect, until he's played in the Premiership it's difficult to judge him against the likes of Hart and Ruddy - playing Hearts doesn't provide the same sort of test as Robin Van Persie & co. As I have eluded to, I think Forster will be better than both Ruddy and Hart in the long run. Hope that doesn't come across as rude because I don't mean it to?
With the greatest respect to you and Celtic, how good does he have to be to look good against the standard of opposition in the Scottish Premier league. John Ruddy is playing against world class forwards every week, and getting recognised for it. Don't get me wrong, I was one of those clammering to keep Fraser Forster at Norwich, he is a great keeper, but I don't think the two leagues make a fair comparison. Sorry, that's not meant to be arrogant or rude to you, it's the way I see it.
during his time at norwich, fraser forster had one big flaw in his game - his distribution. i still watch quite a bit of scottish football, albeit on tv these days, and he still suffers from that issue. for me, john ruddy is the more complete goal keeper of the two. i feel forster may have a little more natural flair and could end up, with the right coaching, to be the pick of the england keepers in this generation, but right now? nope. an easy third choice but comfortably behind ruddy and hart. sadly for celtic fans, he will have to leave and play regularly down south to prove he is the keeper we all think he might be. playing a few games in europe each year is not relevant. david marshall looked world class at the neu camp a few years ago - he's actually nothing more than a competent championship keeper, as we know!
there is a good article in the Times today about big John, i can't copy it in here as the website is subscription only, but effectively it was good exposure in a national and that he performed very well in front of Woy.
I thought he was hopeless for certainly the first third of his first season, if I new then what I do know I'd still say the same because he was making pretty bad mistakes in those games. He's not now though, he is a very good keeper and easily Englands 2nd best. He's not as good as Joe Hart though, out of all of Englands players Hart is genuine World class and I think he's one of the best in the World. Ruddy has not had the chance to prove that yet.
hopeless? ffs! he made about three mistakes in his first 15 or so games. hardly hopeless. i assume you also thought russell martin was 'hopeless' when he first signed (probably cos he's scottish ), and turner, and whittaker etc... his main issue was that he wasn't fraser forster and some people refused to take to him. he made an error in a friendly match and some people made their minds up based on that. as soon as he gained some confidence and became more vocal he grew and grew. i'm struggling to think of three errors since those opening games to be fair! incredible consistency, although of course, we are talking up an error with all this praise
When Ruddy was first signed, I must admit I didn't think he was as good as Frazer. I have a lot of respect for David Moyes and I really couldn't believe that Moyes would let a really talented keeper leave Everton without big money changing hands. In those first few games, a few errors reinforced my belief. He sure has proved us wrong.
On current form, John Ruddy appears to be England's number one. Why is it that players are picked for England because of performances from five games before? On Joe Hart's current form I don't see logically how he would get in before JR. JR looked so commanding on Saturday and he is a bigger presence physically than Hart. You cannot carry a goalkeeper. You might get away with it outfield.
Hart hasn't been anything like as good as he has been the past couple of seasons ever since people have started describing him as "best in the world". I bet you won't find a single non-Englishman who thinks that for a second.
Doesn't come across as rude but does come across a bit condescending. I really don't understand why English people don't rate anyone playing in other leagues. Most people would tell you that either pele, maradonna, beckenbauer or messi (possibly platini or zidane) are the best players ever, but each to a man never played in England. Playing in the premiership isn't a prerequisite to being a good player. If you want to compare Forster to Ruddy, what about the unspectacular season Ruddy spent in Scotland in 2009/2010 with Motherwell? On the other hand Forsters first season at Celtic he was average too. Personally I'd say if Forster can turn in MoM displays against Messi, Pedro, David Villa, etc and shut out Oscar Cardoza's Benfica then that tells you all about how he performs in the big games. Hart probably makes less saves per game than Forster if you ae suggesting he's not getting tested regularly. Ruddy is a better player now than he was on 2009/2010. All I was saying is so is Forster and the thrust of the article seemed to be Forster isn't ready yet based on his performances as a 21 year old. I'd say these days he commands a box better than Ruddy, but doesn't look so comfortable with pressure kicking. Whether he's better is a matter of opinion. Mine last seon was that that a top form Forster is better but Ruddy is more consistent. Ths season Forster has been consistently good and even better in the big games. Again a matter of opinion if he's matured or its just a good patch lasting about 20 games from the tail end of last season.
forster will HAVE to move down south to get properly noticed whether you like it or not. same with hooper. doesn't make it right but its just the way it is. likewise ruddy will probably have to leave norwich and play for one of the top six clubs in order to challenge hart for the england number one spot.
Yeah that's a good point, it's England over praising our own players again. Hart is nowhere near as good as Casillas in my eyes. Hart is a good player, and will probably be world class, but I despise how this country gets over excited about players and put a stupid amount of pressure on our own players which anyone would find difficult to cope with, especially young players.
No need to apologise. If semantics about English are the issue though I'd have called myself on the lack of capital letters on players names, misspelling 'season' or other typos right enough. Lack of punctuation usually floats my boat - though I'd drive myself crazy correcting every response to a football article. Completely disagree with the other poster about Hooper and Forster needing to move on to get recognised. The whole of Europe could recognise that the likes of Larsson, Laudrup, Gio van Brockhurst, Wanyama and others to play in the Scottish league have quality. It's just England that seems not to rate anyone else's league. It's unfortunate for both players you mention that they are English so won't get the recognition they deserve at home; but you only need to look at the class of players coming through the Belgian and Portugese leagues right now to see that small league does not equal poor players. Unless by recognition you meant England caps that is...... Damn I hope Forster doesn't make me look an idiot in this game just starting!
Good point Yellow, Jack Whilshere is the new England saviour, we can't possibly win any games if he's not playing. How daft to pick him for that useless friendly when he'd only been back in Arsenal's team for 1 game after a long injury layoff!!!! We've had quite a few over the years, Robson, Gasgoine, Lady boy Beckham, Rooney etc etc. No 'i' in team!
