Caoimhín Kelleher GK Brentford b.1998

[joey B]

Starts tonight against Toulouse.

[Bottle of Tonic]

Abysmal goalkeeping for the equaliser. Couldn't have made it any easier for the Toulouse boy. Reversing onto his line in a 1v1 and then shrinking into a postage stamp.

[joey B]

Nearly handed them a second there with a poor kick,not impressive at all….

[seanfhear]

Sounds like Kelleher needs to have played a lot more games over the last few years !

[Colbert Report]

Nightmare for Kelleher. We all want to see him do well, but from what I watched today, he's not a Premier League goalkeeper.

[tetsujin1979]

Reached 25 appearances against Toulouse. Finally has more senior appearances than his age(24)

[Jd2793]

Abysmal goalkeeping for the equaliser. Couldn't have made it any easier for the Toulouse boy. Reversing onto his line in a 1v1 and then shrinking into a postage stamp.

thouhht he could have made himself bigger alright maybe could have covered the angle better too. no really issue with him staying put on his line, its what all the best do including alisson.

[Stuttgart88]

Abysmal goalkeeping for the equaliser. Couldn't have made it any easier for the Toulouse boy. Reversing onto his line in a 1v1 and then shrinking into a postage stamp.

“Abysmal” is harsh I think. I’ve only seen it once though, on a mobile phone, but to me it looked hard and low, and not far wide of his feet which is harder to save than if it was further wide of him. Good finish I’d say.

The error with the distribution was bad, no doubt. How did the Toulouse guy miss?

Twitter wasn’t kind about him at all.

Twitter was raving about Bazunu on Wednesday up to half time, then very critical, then confused. One wag quipped “at least with Bazunu you’re guaranteed goals at both ends”!

[pineapple stu]

How did the Toulouse guy miss?
That's as bad a miss as I've seen since the infamous Ronny Rosenthal miss I think.

[Razors left peg]

This is what Ive been saying about Kelleher. Liverpool fans love him because hes a decent back up, but when you play so few games all it takes is a couple of bad games for the rest of the world to think hes not that good or mistake prone, and all of a sudden his options get a lot less.

Even David De Gea is struggling to find a club now, I know circumstances are different and hes probably looking for wages that are too high, but it shows how quickly options for a goalkeeper can dry up with a couple of negative issues. Kelleher should have left after the cup final when his stock was at his highest for a back up keeper. A couple more dodgy games now and he could find himself being a career backup

[CraftyToePoke]

This fella is starting to remind me of an aul doler in a time of plentiful employment, then eventually he is made to do a bit & isn't able for it & starts on about the bad back.

[Razors left peg]

This fella is starting to remind me of an aul doler in a time of plentiful employment, then eventually he is made to do a bit & isn't able for it & starts on about the bad back.

All of a sudden it makes sense why the Scousers love him so much.....

[third policeman]

The pass to a Toulouse player was an absolute howler and there's no excuses for that other than a total lapse of concentration which is entirely his fault. But interesting that this forum is the only place where he is getting stick for the goal. No match reports I've read have put the blame on him, nor have the LFC fans podcasts. If he'd come out, he could easily have been rounded in the way that the Toulouse keeper was by both Nunez and Gravenberch for the 4th Liverpool goal. Lawrence McKenna asks the question on his podcast re the goal - "would another keeper have saved it? probably not." This wasn't his greatest performance but nor was it a "nightmare." I know I'll get slaughtered for defending him, but so much of the criticism on this site is way over the top, and seems to reflect a bias in favour of a player who has come through the LOI.

[Razors left peg]

The pass to a Toulouse player was an absolute howler and there's no excuses for that other than a total lapse of concentration which is entirely his fault. But interesting that this forum is the only place where he is getting stick for the goal. No match reports I've read have put the blame on him, nor have the LFC fans podcasts. If he'd come out, he could easily have been rounded in the way that the Toulouse keeper was by both Nunez and Gravenberch for the 4th Liverpool goal. Lawrence McKenna asks the question on his podcast re the goal - "would another keeper have saved it? probably not." This wasn't his greatest performance but nor was it a "nightmare." I know I'll get slaughtered for defending him, but so much of the criticism on this site is way over the top, and seems to reflect a bias in favour of a player who has come through the LOI.


My criticism is purely based on his unwillingness to play regular football at the age of almost 25. The LOI angle is completely irrelevant

[third policeman]

All of a sudden it makes sense why the Scousers love him so much.....

Is that supposed to be a joke? Expected better.

[seanfhear]

Is that supposed to be a joke? Expected better.
Scousers are known for their great sense of humour i.e A great laugh.

[pineapple stu]

My criticism is purely based on his unwillingness to play regular football at the age of almost 25. The LOI angle is completely irrelevant
Yeah, definitely not an LoI thing alright. You think back to Kelleher's debut against Hungary two and a half years ago - that was one of his most assured performances to date I think. If you'd told people then that 30 months later he'd still be bench-warming, we'd have not really believed it. And on Bazunu's side, he needs to stop conceding two goals a game even after dropping a division.

They're the issues with the keepers, not that one of them played a few games with Shamrock Rovers 4/5 years ago

[Razors left peg]

Travers just got recalled from his loan at Stoke after injuries to Bournemouth keepers, he could be the best of them yet

[pineapple stu]

I'd give him the New Zealand game anyway. Was Serbia his last cap?

[Bungle]

All of a sudden it makes sense why the Scousers love him so much.....

Presume you’re messing mate.

The anti-scouse **** you get from middle England is basically anti-Irish racism and that is where it stems from. The most Irish city in the world outside Ireland. I lived all over England and the Scousers were the nicest people by far I met. Great sense of humour and very kind.

I’m not a Liverpool fan but the whole Gav/Kelleher debate is getting tiresome. It feels like it’s Liverpool fans vs fans of other clubs (mostly United I would wager) taking their tribal allegiances of English football out in an Irish football forum. I have a soft spot for both Everton and Liverpool because of the lovely people I met on Merseyside at a time when us paddies were second class citizens in London, Birmingham and Manchester, but ultimately the only team I give a **** about is Ireland.

We have two very talented young keepers who have plenty of mistakes in them. Let’s be grateful we have them and leave the silly petty allegiances at the door.

[third policeman]

Presume you’re messing mate.

The anti-scouse **** you get from middle England is basically anti-Irish racism and that is where it stems from. The most Irish city in the world outside Ireland. I lived all over England and the Scousers were the nicest people by far I met. Great sense of humour and very kind.

I’m not a Liverpool fan but the whole Gav/Kelleher debate is getting tiresome. It feels like it’s Liverpool fans vs fans of other clubs (mostly United I would wager) taking their tribal allegiances of English football out in an Irish football forum. I have a soft spot for both Everton and Liverpool because of the lovely people I met on Merseyside at a time when us paddies were second class citizens in London, Birmingham and Manchester, but ultimately the only team I give a **** about is Ireland.

We have two very talented young keepers who have plenty of mistakes in them. Let’s be grateful we have them and leave the silly petty allegiances at the door.


Sound. I’ll second that and make a vow to leave my LFC loyalties behind in future posts. You are right about the origins of anti-Scouse prejudice being anti-Irish in nature. In fact when the Liverpool accent began to diverge from Lancashire accents in the mid-19 century it was disparagingly referred to as ‘Liverpool Irish’ and viewed as inherently alien and seditious.

[Razors left peg]

The debate between Bazunu and Kelleher is nothing to do with an anti Liverpool sentiment, but it is most defiantly down to pro Liverpool sentiment on one side.

Irish Liverpool fans are delighted to have an Irish guy at the club. The argument over the last few years was that he was learning behind a very good goalkeeper and has a great manager who says nice things about him, and then he plays a handful of games each season, and thats enough for him to be picked as Irelands #1.

Those of us who are not Liverpool fans just want him to play. Personally I dont care who he plays for, I just want him playing regular 1st team football so we can have a like for like comparison between players that actually play football.

[Bungle]

Sound. I’ll second that and make a vow to leave my LFC loyalties behind in future posts. You are right about the origins of anti-Scouse prejudice being anti-Irish in nature. In fact when the Liverpool accent began to diverge from Lancashire accents in the mid-19 century it was disparagingly referred to as ‘Liverpool Irish’ and viewed as inherently alien and seditious.

Being honest third policeman, I actually find the rivalry between the vast majority of Irish fans of English clubs really good natured and without the malice they have over there. Liverpool and United are two of the biggest clubs in the world, both with a rich heritage of Irish players. No problem at all with lads being into them. I actually would love to see us having players with them again like in yesteryear.

The problem I have is when lads bring tribalism into arguments about Kelleher. Should he stay at Liverpool. Arguments for and against. I personally think he should push for a 2 year loan to a very good club, so he can push to replace Alisson down the line. The argument for him staying is that Alisson is arguably the best in the world and incredible to learn from someone like him. Also, good chance that he could be called in at some point and has a chance of being in a title chasing team.

He was poor yesterday but he’s got the tools to be a top keeper imo.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Yeah, definitely not an LoI thing alright. You think back to Kelleher's debut against Hungary two and a half years ago - that was one of his most assured performances to date I think. If you'd told people then that 30 months later he'd still be bench-warming, we'd have not really believed it. And on Bazunu's side, he needs to stop conceding two goals a game even after dropping a division.

They're the issues with the keepers, not that one of them played a few games with Shamrock Rovers 4/5 years ago
Here we go again -

There are issues with every single player that plays in an Irish international game - from back to front there is a problem in every single position (even with Evan Ferguson because Kenny doesn't know what to do with him). In fact the only Irish player that you could argue has been punching above his weight in recent times is Ogbene - and despite grafting hard to make it to the PL (and he deserves massive credit for that), he is still far from the most talented player in the squad.

But you repeatedly come back to the goalkeepers, and specifically Bazunu - taking another swipe at him here. In the last seven games for Southampton Bazunu has let in 8 goals - and statistically - that is not two goals a game - it is a fraction over one goal a game. Of those 8 goals Bazunu should carry the can for one of them (the second goal against Preston last weekend). At the same time Bazunu made 3/4 really good saves during the same game to keep Southampton in the game. Southampton are getting better - the defence is getting better, but they still are not closing down the strikers outside the box who have all day to line up a shot (as with the first goal for Preston).

The Irish manager hasn't a clue what he is doing. No matter who is put into goal - the defence is such a shambles the goalkeeper is on a hiding to nothing. I would have zero issue with either Kelleher or Bazunu starting - they are both very good goalkeepers - better that most, if not all, of the past goalies who played for Ireland. At the moment I would play Bazunu simply because he is getting more game time and will continue to improve as a result - Kelleher needs to get out of Liverpool - either on loan or permanently.

There are far bigger problems to sort out with the Irish team than arguing about who is the better goalkeeper - starting with getting a manager who knows how to put a decent, organised team on the pitch.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Travers just got recalled from his loan at Stoke after injuries to Bournemouth keepers, he could be the best of them yet
A disaster for Travers - he can't play this weekend or in the cup game against Liverpool - Radu is a decent goalkeeper and Travers could end up on the bench until Neto recovers from injury in four weeks time.

[pineapple stu]

Here we go again -

There are issues with every single player that plays in an Irish international game - from back to front there is a problem in every single position (even with Evan Ferguson because Kenny doesn't know what to do with him). But you repeatedly come back to the goalkeepers, and specifically Bazunu - taking another swipe at him here. In the last seven games for Southampton Bazunu has let in 8 goals - and statistically - that is not two goals a game - it is a fraction over one goal a game.
Imagine talking about goalkeepers in a thread about goalkeepers! Who'd a thunk it, eh?

I've made the point about our general squad in the Stephen Kenny thread. But in a discussion about our two keepers (third policeman's comment about a pro-Bazunu bias because he came through the LoI), I'm not sure what you expect other than a comparison of our two keepers.

Southampton have conceded 24 goals in 13 games this season btw - about two a game.

[John83]

’m not a Liverpool fan but the whole Gav/Kelleher debate is getting tiresome. It feels like it’s Liverpool fans vs fans of other clubs (mostly United I would wager) taking their tribal allegiances of English football out in an Irish football forum...
Yes, those nasty Manchester United fans are clearly backing the ex-Man City player just to annoy you.

Could we cut out the ****e about people's motives, please? People have different opinions about the players, all of whom are flawed in some way anyway, and if you don't like that discussion then stop clicking on the relevant players' threads.

[mypost]

It's taken him 4 years to make an indefensible howler, for club or country. I'm sure most goalkeepers would admit that one howler every 4 years isn't a terrible record.

At least it didn't end up in the net, unlike what often happens when Allison or Bazunu have theirs.

[Eirambler]

It's taken him 4 years to make an indefensible howler, for club or country. I'm sure most goalkeepers would admit that one howler every 4 years isn't a terrible record.

At least it didn't end up in the net, unlike what often happens when Allison or Bazunu have theirs.

Hardly surprising when he plays as rarely as he does, and almost always in games that don't really matter in truth.

[Bungle]

Yes, those nasty Manchester United fans are clearly backing the ex-Man City player just to annoy you.

Could we cut out the ****e about people's motives, please? People have different opinions about the players, all of whom are flawed in some way anyway, and if you don't like that discussion then stop clicking on the relevant players' threads.

You obviously didn’t read my original post. I don’t support any English club. I like to see our lads playing at the biggest clubs and that includes both Liverpool or United.

Pretty obvious that a lot of people are either drawn to Kelleher depending on their allegiance and in Ireland, it’s going to be massively Liverpool and United. In the same way if Evan Ferguson went to United (or Liverpool), a fair chunk of Irish fans would begrudgingly like him rather than overwhelmingly love him if he was say playing for Real Madrid or Real Madrid. Always felt there was a bit of that with Keane, especially in the early days of Mick’s reign when there was a sense he was towing Ferguson’s line and equally the same stuff was labelled at Whelan, Beglin and Lawrenson in the 80s.

[Razors left peg]

It's taken him 4 years to make an indefensible howler, for club or country. I'm sure most goalkeepers would admit that one howler every 4 years isn't a terrible record.

At least it didn't end up in the net, unlike what often happens when Allison or Bazunu have theirs.

Ive never made a mistake in 25 years of Professional football and Kelleher has only played 24 club games more than me!

[CraftyToePoke]

It's taken him 4 years to make an indefensible howler, for club or country. I'm sure most goalkeepers would admit that one howler every 4 years isn't a terrible record.

At least it didn't end up in the net, unlike what often happens when Allison or Bazunu have theirs.

The way he's going he'll retire with four howlers so, maybe three, at his rate of games. Absolute nonsense post.

In other news I've decided to retire from the world of heavyweight boxing myself. Undefeated.

[Stuttgart88]

That's as bad a miss as I've seen since the infamous Ronny Rosenthal miss I think.the miss reminded me of something at the time but I couldn’t remember what. Now it’s come back to me. Hourihane in Slovakia, almost certainly to win the tie. 80% of the goal to hit, but no, hit it straight at the defender. Toulouse guy’s was worse but similar I think.

[ontheotherhand]

my god, now he's better than Allison?

[pineapple stu]

I'm amused that people still take my post seriously enough to respond to.

(While acknowledging I haven't fully gotten the hang of not rising to his posts either)

[ontheotherhand]

I'm amused that people still take my post seriously enough to respond to.

(While acknowledging I haven't fully gotten the hang of not rising to his posts either)

I was gonna say something similar but....I'm weak stu.

Been a few decades now. Relentless.

[John83]

You obviously didn’t read my original post. I don’t support any English club. I like to see our lads playing at the biggest clubs and that includes both Liverpool or United.
You obviously didn't read my post either. I, a moderator, have no opinion on your allegence to any club team, but I do have an opinion on you stirring **** by accusing half the forum of ulterior motives in their discussion. Cut it out. Address what people actually post, or don't post at all.

[Bungle]

You obviously didn't read my post either. I, a moderator, have no opinion on your allegence to any club team, but I do have an opinion on you stirring **** by accusing half the forum of ulterior motives in their discussion. Cut it out. Address what people actually post, or don't post at all.

I’m not stirring ****. I’m just giving my opinion that a large section of our fan base may be Irish fans first but have club allegiances that impact their views on players.

I come on here to read the many good posts from some great posters. I couldn’t give a **** about your view as a moderator. A man I don’t know or will never know. Forums are a place for discussion and if you don’t like what I said, fair enough, but don’t be a knobhead about it either.

[ontheotherhand]

There's something so tragic about an Irish football fan thinking that other Irish football fan's perceived bias towards a certain player could only come down to being influenced by rivalry between two clubs in England.

Christ on a Vespa.

There are Liverpool fans on here who think Kelleher is great because Klopp has told them so. That's about the strength of it. Everyone else just wants the lad to play football and it has zero to do with their support for any team, English or otherwise.

[DCWA]

There's something so tragic about an Irish football fan thinking that other Irish football fan's perceived bias towards a certain player could only come down to being influenced by rivalry between two clubs in England.

Christ on a Vespa.


It’s so very… Irish?

[third policeman]

There's something so tragic about an Irish football fan thinking that other Irish football fan's perceived bias towards a certain player could only come down to being influenced by rivalry between two clubs in England.

Christ on a Vespa.

There are Liverpool fans on here who think Kelleher is great because Klopp has told them so. That's about the strength of it. Everyone else just wants the lad to play football and it has zero to do with their support for any team, English or otherwise.

Not exactly "the strength of it." As an LFC fan, I too would rather he moved on to get more playing time, but it's a bit glib to say that he's only rated because Klopp told us he's good. My argument is with those who take every opportunity to say he isn't any good and should be behind Travers in the pecking order.

[ontheotherhand]

Not exactly "the strength of it." As an LFC fan, I too would rather he moved on to get more playing time, but it's a bit glib to say that he's only rated because Klopp told us he's good. My argument is with those who take every opportunity to say he isn't any good and should be behind Travers in the pecking order.

Maybe slightly exaggerated for effect but Klopp's praise has been consistently put forward as evidence of Kelleher's talent. Managers back their players. Well most managers outside of Joey Barton and Trap.

That said, nobody should be saying he isn't any good. He's shown enough glimpses of real ability and also a few flaws. His injury record is odd for a keeper who doesn't play much as well. This should have been the season he broke through though. Bazunus had his struggles. An ambitious player would have forced a move, taken the Irish #1 jersey and proved the doubters wrong.

Hopefully we aren't still in this circular debate next season. Maybe the new Irish manager will make a change and Kelleher will put himself in the shop window playing for Ireland.

[Razors left peg]

Maybe slightly exaggerated for effect but Klopp's praise has been consistently put forward as evidence of Kelleher's talent. Managers back their players. Well most managers outside of Joey Barton and Trap.

That said, nobody should be saying he isn't any good. He's shown enough glimpses of real ability and also a few flaws. His injury record is odd for a keeper who doesn't play much as well. This should have been the season he broke through though. Bazunus had his struggles. An ambitious player would have forced a move, taken the Irish #1 jersey and proved the doubters wrong.

Hopefully we aren't still in this circular debate next season. Maybe the new Irish manager will make a change and Kelleher will put himself in the shop window playing for Ireland.

This is a good post. I'd probably be one of the most critical of Kelleher on here and I never said hes not any good, but I have said we dont know if hes good!

Its obvious hes good with ball at his feet and he can make some good saves so he has talent, but when I say we dont know if hes good I mean, as Ive said before, we dont know if hes good over the course of the ups and downs of a full season of football. Theres more to being a keeper than just making a save.

Bazunu was getting some stick at start of season, to the point were his manager had to slap down some fans at meeting to say that Bazunu wasnt their problem. He has shown that he has a good strong mindset to come though that and things have been better lately, not perfect but the lad is still so young that all these experiences will only make him better.

Kelleher is 25 next month and has never had to deal with adversity, never had to deal with a dip in form by him or his defenders and then finding a way through it. Right now hes going the Kevin Long route of having a career in football without ever having to play football much. Fair play its a great job, but as Ireland fans we want more from him than that. Id love a genuine goalkeeper competition between 2 or 3 of our keepers playing great stuff every week and there being a stupidly hard decision to be made by the Ireland manager of who plays.

[samhaydenjr]

Saw highlights of the win over Bournemouth - made two very decent saves (including one to stop a worldie that he always seems to face) and looked lost under two corners (admittedly in driving wind and rain)

[CraftyToePoke]

He made the Carabao Cup team of the round 11 on their twitter feed, they credit the Who Scored ratings system for their selections.

[elatedscum]

Saw highlights of the win over Bournemouth - made two very decent saves (including one to stop a worldie that he always seems to face) and looked lost under two corners (admittedly in driving wind and rain)

Yeah - thought there were three crosses where he struggled, when watching live (in Portuguese). Only realised when watching the highlights later that it was gale force winds carrying the ball, which is fairly mitigating circumstances. In context, the winds were such that Liverpool's plane was unable to take off that night and they ended up having to get a coach arriving at something like 6am.

[liamoo11]

Yeah - thought there were three crosses where he struggled, when watching live (in Portuguese). Only realised when watching the highlights later that it was gale force winds carrying the ball, which is fairly mitigating circumstances. In context, the winds were such that Liverpool's plane was unable to take off that night and they ended up having to get a coach arriving at something like 6am.

Typical kelleher he couldn't even fly the plane in a bit of wind

[seanfhear]

In-fairness he does have a bit of time on his hands to become a pilot
Typical kelleher he couldn't even fly the plane in a bit of wind

[Eminence Grise]

Surely you mean co-pilot?;)

[seanfhear]

Surely you mean co-pilot?;)
Bench Pilot !