Hello I'm from Warsaw, and - understandably - a Boruc fan I'm happy he's finally got his chance to proove himself in the Premier League and I'd like to point some thing about him that you might have missed. First, disregarding his reputation as an excellent goalkeeper, he ALWAYS joined his clubs as a second choice. Regardless if it was Legia, Celtic, Fiorentina or Southampton he had always had to proove hist worth first before the menager and then the fans. And you know what, he's always succeded simply because there are just oh-so-few keepers who are better than him and any manager must eventually notice that. During his time at Celtic and WC2006/EURO2008 he was easli one of the top10 if not top5 goalies in the world. Then, he had a big slump in 2009 caused by the family problems and lack of real challanges at Celtic which then in turn hurt his weight, composure, ability to concentrate and in turn resulted in some absymal performances. He never fully recovered to his best, but during his time in Fiorentina (which I didn't closely follow not being a huge fan of Serie A) he earned a reputation of a solid Serie A goalkeeper, was physically feet and only a conflict with our then national team coach, who is an arogant idiot by the way, provented him for competing for Polish jersey for Euro2012 with Szczesny. He migh be past his prime or, on the contrary, not yet in his prime, but I refuse to believe he may be in any way worse than either Kelvin or Gazzinga. Even in an avarage form he'd be the man to save the Saints from the relegation and he can only get better because he's still not old for a keeper and he's just made for the EPL! Borucs feeds on the media attention and the big nights - sometimes in Legia or Celtic he'd struggle to maintain his concentration against the minor opponents but here you either play wiith the big names, Manchesters, Arsenals, Liverpools and the likes or you play with some QPR but then it's a fight for survival, so rest assured, he'll thrive. He's got kind of a...hmmm...let's call it unorthodox way of goealkeeping and code of conduct which makes some people to distrust him initially, but then again, who cares if it does the job? He may sometimes look like a clown in a goal but trust me, there is no better 1-on-1 stopper than Boruc in a good form, back in the days I wouldn't tremble if the opposition's striker was coming alone with the ball past defenders against Boruc because I knew it was still the keeper who kept all the aces in his sleeve. He's a big boy, he always was, and in such situation it helps immensly, as it does in the crowded area when you have to come for a cross, collect, and then throw it for a quict counter-attact. He excells at it. And outside of the pitch? Yeah he's crazy, sometimes crosses the line, but Legia supporter as well as Celtic's love him for it and you better learn to do it to instead of chanting sarcastically and he'll surely reward you for that. Not only on the pitch, though that's given, but he would also do things like drinking beer and socializing with supporters or coming back to Poland and leading the chanting from the fan's stand during a Legia match! Ask Celtic followers and they'd tell you even better stories. Does he drink? Yeah? Does he smoke? Sure as hell. Better get used to that for it won't change and, what's more important, it won't change he's ability to deliver on a highest possible level. Some quotes from the recent interview with him to clear some thing up a bit: That's Boruc. Treat him well for you're unlikely to find anyone who's better. You've got a chance to have a keeper to remember for years, don't screw it up, for f**** sake! Thank you for your attention.
Hey not bad for a first post.........Thanks for your input....It will be interesting to see how things turn out with him. If there is anyone who can bring him back to past glories I think our Nigel is the man.....
Thanks toko for that brilliant insight. I think most Saints fans are now willing to give Artur a chance - he is undoubtedly the best we have at the moment so hopefully he will have a run of games now. The only thing that bothers me about him now is his relationship with our chairman who won't want him "crossing the line" too many times!
I think being happy might be a stretch...being positive about something he can't rectify may be nearer the truth. Boruc is probably the best of the three, but turning the whole team defence minded because of the weakness in that position has reduced our ability to score goals (something we never thought would happen). I suspect that Nigel would have settled for a few extra decent players rather than chase stars. Cortese has a very high opinion of his club and wants exciting, skilful players (as do we), but we have been left a bit thin. Let's hope he rectifies that in this window.
I wouldn't say our ability to score goals has been reduced Fran, we scored 3 against one of the best defences in the Prem, and took the lead against Arsenal and Chelsea. A few more would be nice, I agree, but our GD has been fairly good in the last 10 games.
Thought this might be of interest - quality goalkeeping, although it does look like he's never been able to keep hold of a ball despite being one hell of a shot stopper http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS2qw1m8c4U
Still love the celebration against Spartak; a formative moment in his career, and his response is a nonsensical, jazz hands-infused dance.
Sounds like he was the bollocks today, hopefully that's what he needs as a springboard! cheers Artur!
Outstanding performance from Artur this afternoon - and another clean sheet for the Saints. Boruc is probably the ideal age for a keeper, but was obviously out of condition when he joined us. Now his fitness is back we could well have one of the best goalies in the BPL!
