Embarrassment of riches: who is Ireland's best goalkeeper?

**John83** · 05/01/2022, 9:37 AM

Originally Posted by seanfhear

They will probably go with the tried and trusted as it would be a mite embarrassing for the super-wealthy owners if the promising young fella did not work out. It would be one hell of an interesting punt ( especially for us ) mind.

Likely, but they're in an odd position where a lot of elite talent won't be keen to move to Newcastle or to move to a club that's doing so poorly. They probably need to overpay for some compromise candidates for a while until they qualify for Europe again. Dunne and Given were beneficiaries of that kind of situation at Man City, for example. (Perhaps a little unfairly to them, them being more unfashionable than below the required standard, but that's old news.)

**seanfhear** · 05/01/2022, 9:53 AM

Originally Posted by John83

Likely, but they're in an odd position where a lot of elite talent won't be keen to move to Newcastle or to move to a club that's doing so poorly. They probably need to overpay for some compromise candidates for a while until they qualify for Europe again. Dunne and Given were beneficiaries of that kind of situation at Man City, for example. (Perhaps a little unfairly to them, them being more unfashionable than below the required standard, but that's old news.)

It’s an interesting situation at Newcastle alright ~ all that dough and still a lot of players won’t want to go there. Do the presenting “ spending controls “ affect the Newcastle situation much and of course is the present Newcastle goalkeeper of a high quality ?

**Stuttgart88** · 05/01/2022, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by seanfhear

How can he ( or anybody else ) be sure that he belongs at a high level consistently until he plays at a high level consistently. As it goes Liverpool had a lot of goalkeeping problems before signing Allison.

I'm talking about the air of confidence he has. He seems to have a lot of self-belief. That's clear to see. The Paul Rowan article in the other thread highlights it too.

**Stuttgart88** · 05/01/2022, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by seanfhear

It’s an interesting situation at Newcastle alright ~ all that dough and still a lot of players won’t want to go there. Do the presenting “ spending controls “ affect the Newcastle situation much and of course is the present Newcastle goalkeeper of a high quality ?

Dubravka(?) is very good imho.

**ontheotherhand** · 05/01/2022, 3:41 PM

I was looking through the EPL keepers to see who might be on their last legs and got as far as seeing that Kasper Schmeichel is now 35 and had to stop.

**pineapple stu** · 05/01/2022, 3:45 PM

And has an 11-year-old son. So Peter was a grandfather at the age of 46.

Mad stuff.

**seanfhear** · 05/01/2022, 4:33 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

And has an 11-year-old son. So Peter was a grandfather at the age of 46.

Mad stuff.

An 11 year old seems a bit young to start as a premier league goalkeeper. Peter and Kasper really should have started the succession process earlier ~ poor planning really.

**John83** · 05/01/2022, 6:04 PM

It's fine. Kasper just has to keep playing until he's 42 and the young fella will be ready.

**tetsujin1979** · 06/01/2022, 2:20 PM

Dean Kiely on managing Ireland's "glut of top goalkeepers"
https://www.otbsports.com/soccer/dea...eepers-1295750

**Trequartista20** · 06/01/2022, 3:00 PM

I thought the correct expression was 'an embarrassment of riches'.

You can also have an 'embarrassment of pandas', which is one of the collective nouns for this particular animal. So, why not an 'embarrassment of goalies'?

Having a number of talented young Irish goalkeepers to call upon has been about as rare as a horny panda, until recently, I guess.

I still think Kelleher's the best we've got, right now, but Bazanu - what a talent! And Travers has really stepped this year; and, let's not forget, of those available to us, is playing (regularly) at the highest level of the three.

**John83** · 06/01/2022, 3:04 PM

Originally Posted by Trequartista20

I thought the correct expression was 'an embarrassment of riches'.

So it is. I guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

**third policeman** · 06/01/2022, 3:25 PM

Originally Posted by seanfhear

How can he ( or anybody else ) be sure that he belongs at a high level consistently until he plays at a high level consistently. As it goes Liverpool had a lot of goalkeeping problems before signing Allison.

It’s called confidence and Kelleher has bags of it, and Bazunu does as well to be fair.

**seanfhear** · 06/01/2022, 3:56 PM

Originally Posted by third policeman

It’s called confidence and Kelleher has bags of it, and Bazunu does as well to be fair.

The correct amount of confidence is a beautiful but finely balanced thing ~ like a good goalkeeper.

**geysir** · 06/01/2022, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

And has an 11-year-old son. So Peter was a grandfather at the age of 46.

Mad stuff.

That's not mad for a Nordic country, Eidur Gudjohnsen's dad became a grandad aged 38.
Eidur's first son is 3 years older than one of his brothers.
46 is getting on a bit to be waiting for your first grandchild.

**ontheotherhand** · 06/01/2022, 11:17 PM

I see Travers now has the 3rd highest save percentage in the top 4 English leagues, behind Mendy and Sa. He could be the first, first choice EPL keeper of the 3.

https://punditarena.com/football/rud...h-goalkeepers/

**third policeman** · 07/01/2022, 8:00 AM

Originally Posted by geysir

That's not mad for a Nordic country, Eidur Gudjohnsen's dad became a grandad aged 38.
Eidur's first son is 3 years older than one of his brothers.
46 is getting on a bit to be waiting for your first grandchild.

I remember being deeply confused by a friend at primary school who had uncles who were younger than himself.

**Diggs246** · 07/01/2022, 9:07 AM

Ian harte and Gary Kelly were in that boat

**Trequartista20** · 07/01/2022, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by third policeman

I remember being deeply confused by a friend at primary school who had uncles who were younger than himself.

We all have those sexual confusions at that age.

Do not confuse yourself; it's healthy.

**Insidetherock** · 07/01/2022, 9:37 PM

Who cares at this stage.. we seem to have three crackers.. and looks like plenty options at centre half now too.. surely we could turn one of those decent ball playing centre halfs into a defensive midfielder a la Big Paul.. O Shea, Collins.. no?

**pineapple stu** · 08/01/2022, 10:32 AM

Are we that stacked at centre-half?

For the three September games, we only called up four, and when O'Shea got injured in the first game, we ended up playing our only three centre-halves for the rest of the fixture list. Omo is young but unproven - shaky in Portugal, excellent against Serbia, not getting his game for a dire Norwich team.

Collins has made his debut since, which is good. There's the great Clark debate, and Lenihan at Blackburn is being similarly ignored, though he's captaining a side second in the Championship. Dunne is doing well at QPR it seems, and Kevin Long is still in the Premier League with Burnley somehow. And we can drop a wing-half or two into the centre if we're stuck (but that's not ideal). Bagan and McGuinness are coming through at Cardiff, but it seems a bit early yet to consider them for the senior squad.

I wouldn't mind seeing us expand on our options in the March friendlies tbh.