Both Forster and McCarthy were good keepers but had dodgy spells. Boruc was well liked. Davis is a club legend, just not up to PL level at the end of his career. I think the criticism of Baz is justified tbh.
I agree. He has had two seasons where he played as No1. One ****e prem season and one championship Russball season. I think he would be much better under the new manager.
I'd like to see what Baz would be like with outfield players who are good defensively. I'm sure this would massively improve his confidence and would help raise his performance. That being said, he's not the right goalkeeper for us yet especially on the contract he's currently on and should never have been signed at such a young age as our number one. Where young 'keepers break through they most often come from the academy (eg Buffon, Casillas) and paying over the odds for someone untested at that level is just another black mark for our recruitment.
Gk, seems to have been an chilled heel since about 2005/6 with the exit of Niemi, who was outstanding for us and a really top keeper. Yes Kelvin was fine at champ level, but that was his level, Boruc did well for a short time, and I think Forster had a strong 18 months under Koeman. Since then it's been mainly meh with bright spots. Mccarthy look really good in his first run for the team when he got an England call, but we have not has sustained consistency since Niemi
Seeing as this topic has come up recently, it's interesting to remember that 58.6% wanted a new GK before the season started, I suspect that number has risen since for the January transfer window so i've added 4 more options to the poll.
First choice: get a keeper in on loan with an option to buy (Patterson could be an option for example). Second choice: Bazunu. Having watched the highlights of Saturday's game I still think he's a better option than McCarthy. I'd rather we spend money on a CF in January.
Our options are pretty much the same as in the summer. Attracting a decent keeper on a permanent deal will be hard whilst Ramsdale is still technically on the books. However given how **** we’ve been it might be an easier sell as, in the summer, the thought process of a new keeper might have been “well if I play well and we get promoted Ramsdale could just come back and take my place”. We could go on a run and be in the convo for promotion when Jan rolls round, or we could continue as we have been and it being a long shot. There is what, 10 games til Jan? Plenty of time to get a better idea of what our season will pan out as. If we can find a keeper on loan, don’t really care about having an option on them, then that is my preferred choice. If not then Bazunu In the summer is when we should be moving on Ramsdale and looking for a permanent solution in goal.
Nothing will change in January. McCarthy out of contract at the end of this season and as we’re looking likely to still be Championship then Ramsdale will be gone. Makes sense to use the proceeds of the Ramsdale sale to finance a new keeper in the summer to compete with Bazunu for number 1
The loan of ramsdale was just blatant attempt to have cake and eat it (I understand the why of it and I commented as such around it at the time) but it's essentially hamstrung any conversation around the #1 slot whilst the loan exists. - We go up does ramsdale come straight back in - no other #1 is going to join January to become an understudy in the summer - We stay down rasmdale will be sold (or worse another loan) - no aspiring #1 on the move in January is going to want to move to a team that isn't in line to an attempt at promotion I'd stick with Bazunu and get him some good coaching as he's young enough that he can "potentially" get better and then reassess in the summer - he will make mistakes and he will leak goals but if we can shore up the rest of the team perhaps we can live with it for a few months.
I don't understand the whole "no-one will want to join because they're scared Ramsdale will come for their shirt in 12 months time or whatever" These are footballers. Specifically goalkeepers. They're ****ing confident nutters, and they'll always back themselves to take the shirt off someone else.
Also, there isnt actually an awful lot of the Ramsdale money to be used. We owe a hefty sum, and still do. So if we got say £15m int he summer, we'd likely owe that sort of money to Arsenal. We may come out £5m or less I think.
Exactly. Also, lets look at the scenarios: Keeper comes in on loan with option, absolutely smashes it. We go up - We keep as he is a top keeper, sell Ramsdale. Keeper comes in on loan with option, absolutely smashes it. We stay here - We buy, we sell Ramsdale. Keeper comes in on loan with option, awful. We go up - We keep Ramsdale. Keeper comes in on loan with option, awful. We stay here - we keep Bazunu IMO win, win, win, whatever happens.
How much did we end up paying for him? I know the initial fee was reported as £18m with £7m add-ons but did we/he fulfil the criteria for those? And won't the sell-on be profit-related?
No Idea, thought it was £25m but could have included add-ons. Point being, I dont think there is a wedge of cash coming our way if he does sign for anyone. I think we should tell Newcastle we are recalling him in Jan. They either buy him or we get him back.
