To answer the question, Kelleher
While none of them is quite the finished article, there's a lot of discussion in their individual threads of Bazunu, Kelleher, Travers, and some other options. It's nice to see serious competition for the #1 jersey. Rather than having a fragmented discussion in those threads of who should keep the jersey, let's move it all into a single thread here.
You can't spell failure without FAI
To answer the question, Kelleher
My take is we don't know yet.
But Pineapple Stu hasn't explained how much of a risk it is to persist with Bazunu yet.
You can't spell failure without FAI
Christy Pym.
How many goals has any of them Scored ? Does Travers have one at club level ?
I'd probably go with Kelleher...just. I don't see it as an embarrassment of riches as it is too soon to say that - none of them are proven yet but I appreciate they are early in their careers
Way too early to know which is the better keeper.
Kelleher hasnt got enough of a body of work even with him being the oldest, but looks brilliant when he does play.
Travers showing how playing games makes a huge difference to how much you can improve, a year ago I wrote him off and thought he would never be a top keeper. Right now he probably looks the best of the 3 on club form.
Bazunu has a presence that I dont think the other 2 have and at his age he has been incredibly impressive, right now I would think he has the highest possible ceiling, but it will depend on how he develops.
Last edited by Razors left peg; 21/10/2021 at 3:41 PM.
I've a bad/funny feeling our No1 keeper come November won't be a forgone conclusion
Bazunu; Kelleher; Travers; Randolph; McDermott; Talbot; Pym; O'Hara; Ian Lawlor
Are they the realistic options?
The 21s keeper (Maher) hasn't a hope of being in the discussion from the bits and pieces I've seen of him. The other 21s keeper (drogs) have heard quite a few decent things about him.
Last edited by Kingdom; 21/10/2021 at 5:30 PM. Reason: Irish foot
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
you spelled shíte incorrectly.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
We're lucky to have three incredibly promising keepers. Bazunu is the youngest, he's in his second season of playing regular football and he hasn't let us down. He's at a potentially critical point in his career after bad errors in two games in a row for his club. He's shown good resilience up to this point in his career, but it might be no harm to take him out of the firing line for a game or two, some young players find it very hard to recover once they've made a few mistakes, and if it happen in another game or two in a row it would be a huge hit to his confidence and be potentially long term damaging. Of course, if they stick with him and he keeps an outstanding clean sheet the next day, he'll prove he's got great character again.
Travers is now playing regularly and at a higher level than Bazunu, purely on that basis he has a good case to be first choice. I haven't seen a huge amount of him, but he wasn't convincing when he got his chance for Ireland (albeit he might have been unlucky compared to the luck Bazunu seemed to have). This season he's had numerous clean sheets and there seems to be no doubt he's the established number one for his club now. If Bazunu's club form continues to suffer there might be a case that he jumps into the team, but it would be a big ask to throw him in against Portugal, especially as he seems to be third in the national team pecking order at the moment.
Kelleher looked a bit shaky at times for the under 21s and in the early games he played for Liverpool. Recently though, he's been excellent any time he's gotten a chance for national team or club. The fact he's had almost nothing to do in his most recent games probably hasn't helped him at all, although he still pulled off one very sharp save for Liverpool last week. He needs to play more though to become first choice for us, he can't be judged by the same standards as Travers and Bazunu if he's not getting the same amount of playing time to either impress or make mistakes. It's very unlikely to happen, but would love to see him on loan in the new year for a championship team. Liverpool could surely survive with Adrian if Alisson got injured in a game and Kelleher had a recall clause in the loan contract.
Overall, at the moment Bazunu has the jersey for us and unless he loses his club place and looks short on confidence when he joins up with the squad it's hard to see him losing the jersey, at least not in November. Come the new year he might well be under a lot more pressure from both of his rivals for the spot.
Tallaght Stadium Regular
O'Hara's now on the bench at Burton; I don't think he's an option unless he gets a good next move.
Randolph - done great for us but needs a move too.
McDermott - Kristiansund are having their best-ever season and with eight games to go are on course for a first ever European qualification. Could be worth keeping an eye on.
Pym has been dropped, as in fairness predicted by some here.
Talbot - don't think he's an option. I think if Byrne, the stand-out player in the LoI, is a squad player at best for us (and I think he's worth a squad place fully fit) then other LoI players aren't of the level required.
Who's Maguire?
My two cents on that lot anyway. McDermott the only one likely to break into the squad as is. Travers very much the surprise of the season so far
[QUOTE=. Liverpool could surely survive with Adrian if Alisson got injured in a game and Kelleher had a recall clause in .[/QUOTE]
The recall would have to be immediate.
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