England's Goalkeeper

So Mark Hughes' judgement should determine who plays in goal for England?

Besides, there hasn't been a marked improvement in City's defence since he left. *waits for TS*

Surely the merits of his performances should be used to decide whether he should play in goal for England. Anyhow, he's been better than Green this year.

I wouldn't have him as England's no 1 but not for the reasons you've given.

L r dd wrote:Someone deemed not good enough to start for man city cannot be englands number 1. for his age hes great and at least we have someone for the future he'll be a good backup. But James and Green should be ahead of him.

So you'd rather have keepers who aren't doing well for relegation threatened teams than a keeper who is doing well for a mid-table side, purely on the grounds he isn't deemed good enough for City?

I'm pretty sure Green and James wouldn't be deemed good enough for City. Particularly by those who think Given is as good as the top four keepers.

Consider me on the Hart bandwagon.

It would be ridiculous if people said it was too risky to change it now - its too risky not to.

He should be no 1 on merit right now.

Joe Hart is impressing he would get my vote if his form keeps this way. At 22 he could fix our long goalkeepers problem.

Rob Green's been fucking shit this season. On current form, he doesn't deserve to be number 1.

On the basis of the 2 previous seasons, he did but wrongly wasn't.

Hart has a self confidence about him that strengthens and reinforces a side, playing for Birmingham was a perfect move.

Green was just one in a long line of English Keepers post-Martyn/Seaman that wilted under a more intense spotlight... see Robinson. P, Carson. S & Foster. B

The Santa Stalker wrote:Green was just one in a long line of English Keepers post-Martyn/Seaman that wilted under a more intense spotlight... see Robinson. P, Carson. S & Foster. B

Carson and Foster have always been guff to be fair, they were just always given the benefit of the doubt because they were young.

Hart just seems to be getting better and better at the moment.

Dare I say it, but as a composite of all league performances this season he might well have been the best keeper in the EPL? When was the last time we could say that about an english keeper!

He's certainly been the best for the last couple of months.

Confidence seems to be literally oozing out of him at the moment and if he sustains his current form I honestly can't think of any reason why we shouldn't make him our number 1. Its not as though James or Green have been particularly good - they've been piss poor domestically!

Bowyer isn't bad either.

Will you just shut up about Bowyer!

Maybe you can set up a 'which goalscoring midfielder that gets widely criticised for his all round play but has a useful knack of turning up at the right spot at the right time to score crucial goals, should england take to the world cup'?

As a starting point the poll should include Lampard, Bowyer, Nolan and Jenas - although Jenas only meets one of the criteria of course.

Bowyer isn't bad at all round play. His sliding tackles is a specialty. Bare minimum is to win the ball cleanly but also with a promise of cleaning the opponent's legs.

I votes we should set up a "Bowyer for England" thread/campaign

Like I would trust a man who called Matrix "wank".

Been debating this with mates for a few weeks and I see it split between experience and fresh talent, I.e:

Experience: James, Robinson, Kirkland
New talent: Hart, Green, Foster, Carson

The order I've placed them in is the order I'd go for, it's just whether FC gambles with a young keeper rather than going for experience.

IMO James is a top class keeper but is prone to the odd howler. Hart has really impressed me for Birmingham this season and is a large part of why they've done so well.

I'd take James, Hart and Robinson/Green depending on how they do for the rest of the season.

What an awful bunch, the only 2 that are better than Harper are Hart and James.

If you're not playing at the top level for the year before the World Cup then why should you go and face top level players?

Luis wrote:If you're not playing at the top level for the year before the World Cup then why should you go and face top level players?

Why not? There will many non-top level players at the world cup, and as usual many of them will play well.

Kimbo wrote:

Luis wrote:If you're not playing at the top level for the year before the World Cup then why should you go and face top level players?

Why not? There will many non-top level players at the world cup, and as usual many of them will play well.

You can't take a player who's been playing week in week out vs championship oppositon and then put him between the sticks vs Messi, Pato, Kaka or Ronaldo can you? He may have done well for you in the championship but you can't say he deserves to go to South Africa ahead of the likes of Robinson.

Luis wrote:
Experience: James, Robinson, Kirkland
New talent: Hart, Green, Foster, Carson

How is it..that 29 year old Green with 8 caps..is less experienced than 28 year old Kirkland who has 1 cap?

Green spent a lot his career in the lower leagues with Norwhich whilst Kirkland was gaining valuable experience at top Premier League clubs, simple as that.

Lulu, watch the world cup, see how many players don't play in the top 3/4 leagues, and watch how they perform. Saying a player isn't as good as the likes of Carson or Foster based purely on league status is incredibly snobby IMO, especially when we're talking about a player that has played at every level in club football like Harper.

The top 2 are clearly Hart and James, but the 3rd spot should be wide open.

You're being biased towards your own club, that's clear to see Kimbo, no one else is crying out for Harper to go, he's 35, he's a decent enough keeper but there are several keepers that deserve to go more than him.

Luis wrote:Green spent a lot his career in the lower leagues with Norwhich whilst Kirkland was gaining valuable experience at top Premier League clubs, simple as that.

Green has probably played about the same amount of premier league games as Kirkland I would bet, rougly. Kirkland might have something like 20 more to his name or something like that.

Only due to injuries though.

Luis wrote:Only due to injuries though.

So Kirkland has loads more experience of being injured at clubs...

I'm not arguing for Kirkland to go, he's too injury prone to take the risk, there are others who should go instead of Harper.

Luis wrote:You're being biased towards your own club, that's clear to see Kimbo, no one else is crying out for Harper to go, he's 35, he's a decent enough keeper but there are several keepers that deserve to go more than him.

I'm not crying out for him to go, I'm happy for Robinson to take the 3rd spot. But if people are going to say SHITE like Carson, Foster, and Kirkland deserve a mention then I will throw Harpers name in there aswell. I don't see anyone other than you claiming those 3 keepers are better, because they CLEARLY aren't.

Why do we need to take 3 keepers? 2 is more than enough.

Harper is 12th choice at best stfu kimbo.