Geordie Ahmed Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Just now, Barnes23 said: Kind of defeats the object of signing Pope if it's just going to be Darlow coming in if he's out. Agreed, doesn't make us massively better off really If he does leave then I hope we are in for a younger keeper that's better than Darlow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRaspberryJam Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 He's a decent keeper. Can have the odd blinder. Been a shrewd signing for £4m. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Considering he didn't really make it at the top level until he was around 30, can't blame him wanting to play football regularly at the highest level he can for the last few years of his career. Good luck to him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanji Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Don't need to sell unless he kicks up a fuss and puts in a request and/or we get a proper offer for him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 (edited) Dubs is at a weird place IMO, I can see why he wants to be number one but I don’t think he’s good enough to start at a top 10 team comfortably. That’s why we needed to upgrade him. Start at someone worse than us, sure. There are loads of really good keepers in the PL. Edited July 8, 2022 by AyeDubbleYoo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 (edited) I'd sell all our previous GKs and get a young hopeful in as understudy for Pope and possibly a 3rd keeper in the twilight of his career. Josh Griffiths from West Brom is supposed to be canny. Could swap darlow for him. Edited July 8, 2022 by Dokko Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelphish Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Not entirely surprising. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ste Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 I know he has had a brief spell out of the team while Darlow was favoured, but he’s had a relatively easy time of it here as a number 1. I do think Pope is a significant upgrade and if he doesn’t fancy spells on the bench competing for his shirt, he will leave with my well wishes. I’d rather he stayed as he’d be ideal as competition for Pope. I think he is a high Championship, lower end PL keeper. If his intention is to leave, he should request that instead of having his agent speak to the media but that’s football now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bompeter Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Did people really think we’d signed Pope to compete with Dubravka? He was brought in to be number one from the off, no questions asked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ste Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 3 minutes ago, Bompeter said: Did people really think we’d signed Pope to compete with Dubravka? He was brought in to be number one from the off, no questions asked. Yes, I don’t believe Howe has told Pope he is a guaranteed starter. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 2 hours ago, Rich said: ...but what if he's an improvement on Dubravka? He probably is tbh, and he's 4 years younger. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Wouldn't be the worst thing to get some money for Dubs while we can even if it means keeping Darlow, who is probably good enough as a no 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 (edited) Darlow's not good enough for a number 2. Edited July 8, 2022 by neesy111 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abacus Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 I think we should have upgraded the squad by getting in a player who is a bit worse than Dubravka, in case he got upset. This whole new idea signing of trying to sign better players will come back to bite us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormy Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 I'd rather keep him for decent competition for Pope but I wouldn't begrudge him a move if he wants more guarantees to start. He's been a good signing, good servant in his time and I'd wish him all the best. That being said, if we do have to sell him, I hope Darlow is still out the door and we go out and buy a new backup. I'd rather try our chances on a new player than a known risk like Darlow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bonk Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 3 minutes ago, TRon said: Wouldn't be the worst thing to get some money for Dubs while we can even if it means keeping Darlow, who is probably good enough as a no 2. I don't think he is, unfortunately. Let in some terrible goals when Dubs was injured. Toney's goal at SJP comes to mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bonk Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 5 minutes ago, Abacus said: I think we should have upgraded the squad by getting in a player who is a bit worse than Dubravka, in case he got upset. This whole new idea signing of trying to sign better players will come back to bite us. Paging @TBG, someone is trying to steal your thunder, mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBG Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Worrying Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bonk Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 36 minutes ago, Bompeter said: Did people really think we’d signed Pope to compete with Dubravka? He was brought in to be number one from the off, no questions asked. Pope might go straight in but competition for places was blatantly a factor, cos as long as Darlow is number two, there's no competition. It's not like there's a wild difference in quality between Pope and Dubravka; the latter's distribution is loads better for starters. It seemed like a grown-up and tactical signing from that point of view, and a total departure from the previous regime which paid no attention to the finer details of squad-building. So I really hope Dubs stays and the pair of them battle it out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotus Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 If the offer is good enough then I’m sure the club will let him go and put the funds elsewhere. He’s PL proven and a good age. £££ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Dubravka's distribution isn't loads better than Pope's, atleast there's little chamce 9f that being the case. The stats are likely being misleading there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 Don't see what's misleading about Dubravka having 100% short passing completion compared to Pope's 89% like! Can't say I've ever noticed any big issues with Dubs distribution in any case; it's his shot-stopping ricks/flapping where his issues lie imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 (edited) It's misleading if you're using it to claim Dubravka's distribution is much better than Pope's because you had a hunt about on FBRef like. Keepers are heavily restricted by the system they play under. I'm not saying there's nothing in what you saw but it's obviously nowhere near enough to make an informed opinion. It can literally be a case of Lascelles/Schar being instructed to come close and recieve the ball, compared to Burnley defenders staying higher up and not requesting it to feet (Not saying that is the case like). Edited July 8, 2022 by Hanshithispantz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 I love FBRef like. You're right tbf, it's not like I've compared the playing styles of the two teams. My broader point was just that there's far less between Pope and Dubravka than Pope and Darlow and it's feasible that having the pair of them competing for places would lift them both, and that would be in Howe et al's thinking. The distribution shout was just one example of why there might not be much in it, but will concede that stats don't tell the full story. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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