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Don’t begrudge Dubravka trying to squeeze in another season or two as a first-choice GK before he becomes a permanent #2. Fulham would’ve been a good fit had they not signed Leno.

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Maybe I was being naïve but I really thought Pope coming in would give Dubravka a kick up the arse to hit another level. They're not galaxies apart, I thought he'd have taken it as a challenge and they'd have both pushed each other to excellence. It's disappointing and surprising if he's just sacking it off to go somewhere else.

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Pope wouldn’t be coming if he wasn’t told he was number one though. It was never going to be about competition. 
 

Unless Pope shits the bed and has to be removed from the team. 

 

 

Edited by AyeDubbleYoo

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1 hour ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

Bit of a weird reply tbh mate, but as I say it's not massively about the difference between Dubravka and Pope as number 1s, it's about the huge difference between Dubravka and Darlow as number 2s.

Just ignore his reply - it’s the comments like his that I was referring to when I said everyone is just slagging our old squad off now and I personally f”£ king can’t stand it.

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1 hour ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

Bit of a weird reply tbh mate, but as I say it's not massively about the difference between Dubravka and Pope as number 1s, it's about the huge difference between Dubravka and Darlow as number 2s.

He thinks we’re finishing top 4 and spending £120m on two forwards. Weird reply is pretty normal 

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The thing is Dubravka has 3 years left on his deal here. Any team signing him would have to be offering that as a minimum straight out of the traps to convince him to leave - regardless of playing time. I don't think he's going to get the level of interest you'd expect considering he's missed 50% of games over the last two years due to injuries.

 

 

Edited by ponsaelius

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1 hour ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Pope wouldn’t be coming if he wasn’t told he was number one though. It was never going to be about competition. 
 

Unless Pope shits the bed and has to be removed from the team. 

 

Of course it's about competition. Pope will probably start, but if Dubravka is doing better than him in training, and does well when he gets a chance at playing I'd be extremely surprised if Dubs didn't get a chance to hold down the spot in the next game. I don't think they've given Pope any guarantees about playing either. That would be silly.

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10 minutes ago, Conjo said:

 

Of course it's about competition. Pope will probably start, but if Dubravka is doing better than him in training, and does well when he gets a chance at playing I'd be extremely surprised if Dubs didn't get a chance to hold down the spot in the next game. I don't think they've given Pope any guarantees about playing either. That would be silly.


Yeah, fair enough, in theory. But I don’t think many PL managers are actively looking to drop their top goalkeeper unless it’s absolutely essential. Most teams play the same bloke every week for the whole season. 

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I don't think Dubravka sees it as a fair competition and I agree with him. Howe brought in Pope and he's in his prime age now with a likely spot in the World Cup squad. Pope would start the season in any case IMO and would have to hit absolutely terrible form for Dubravka to have a chance at replacing him. Him being 34 is not really the time in his career to have an unbalanced fight for the starter's job.

 

Funny how some are frustrated with Dubs for wanting to play while being frustrated with the deadwood we have for not been interested in playing, whatever is best for the club and fans I guess.

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If he does leave we need to be looking for another keeper who can provide some competition for Pope. I hope Eddie has a ruthless streak and tells him he's staying, like it or not. There is no absolute guarantee Pope will perform amazingly this season, he may have been told he's seen as the No 1 but he will need to perform to keep the spot. With Darlow as backup, that's not the case and he could have a poor season and we have no alternative.

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1 hour ago, ponsaelius said:

The thing is Dubravka has 3 years left on his deal here. Any team signing him would have to be offering that as a minimum straight out of the traps to convince him to leave - regardless of playing time. I don't think he's going to get the level of interest you'd expect considering he's missed 50% of games over the last two years due to injuries.

 

 

 

 

I think the level of interest will be limited as well, not because he's a bad keeper, or because of his injuries, he's not really been injury prone during his time here. If he's been out they were genuine injuries, not because he's made of tissue paper. The problem for him is his age. Clubs aren't going to want to spend good money on a 34 yr old, and he'll be on a decent wage here as well.

 

Might actually turn out better for us, it means we can keep him here unless we get a decent fee.

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We’ve upgraded one of the most important positions (if the not the most important position) on the pitch for relative pennies, so I think Pope is a cracking signing.  I’d hoped that Dubravka would back himself, but clearly he doesn’t if he wants off before a ball has been kicked.  I would have expected him to give it at least six months.  Disappointing stuff. 

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16 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

We’ve upgraded one of the most important positions (if the not the most important position) on the pitch for relative pennies, so I think Pope is a cracking signing.  I’d hoped that Dubravka would back himself, but clearly he doesn’t if he wants off before a ball has been kicked.  I would have expected him to give it at least six months.  Disappointing stuff. 

 

That's disrestpectful tbh. He obviously does back himself and that's why he doesn't want to be on the subs bench at this stage of his career. He's an international keeper who represents his country and has never really come under serious criticism in his PL career. I can think of PL Big Six keepers who have had a lot more stick.

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12 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

That's disrestpectful tbh. He obviously does back himself and that's why he doesn't want to be on the subs bench at this stage of his career. He's an international keeper who represents his country and has never really come under serious criticism in his PL career. I can think of PL Big Six keepers who have had a lot more stick.

The emotional attachment to Dubravka is lost on me.  He’s a decent PL keeper, no more than that.  He’s missed half the games in the last two years.  I don’t see why we should be having to guarantee anyone a run-out.  Much better keepers than Dubravka have been expected to do likewise.  I don’t think there’ll be many PL clubs hammering at our door to take him tbh - though of course, England isn’t the only place where professional football is played.  Our mediocrity has meant he hasn’t had stick in the press for the ricks and howlers.  There is no chance he gets a start at one of the current top clubs. 

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10 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

The emotional attachment to Dubravka is lost on me.  He’s a decent PL keeper, no more than that.  He’s missed half the games in the last two years.  I don’t see why we should be having to guarantee anyone a run-out.  Much better keepers than Dubravka have been expected to do likewise.  I don’t think there’ll be many PL clubs hammering at our door to take him tbh - though of course, England isn’t the only place where professional football is played.  Our mediocrity has meant he hasn’t had stick in the press for the ricks and howlers.  There is no chance he gets a start at one of the current top clubs. 

 

It's not an emotional attachment to Dubravka though, i'm quite happy to see us buy an upgrade. I just don't think he's a bad keeper just because we've bought a better one.

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I like Dubs and would hope he can still be persuaded to stay and fight for his place. Like most others, that's mainly through fear of having to rely on Darlow for long periods.

 

But even as someone who thinks he is a decent keeper, I'd have to admit that Dubs was a bit shaky at times last season. Maybe it was the effect of injuries, but whatever, it wasn't his best.

 

So OK, if he wants to go and we get an offer for what we think he is worth, then fine, let him go. But if we don't get a decent bid, as has been pointed out, we don't have to sell.

 

I'd be tempted to tell him he's going nowhere until January at the earliest and to see how things play out. That would still give us time to find a younger replacement to come in then if he's still not happy.

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17 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

It's not an emotional attachment to Dubravka though, i'm quite happy to see us buy an upgrade. I just don't think he's a bad keeper just because we've bought a better one.

Likewise, I think he's an OK PL keeper.  I just want to see him fight for his place - and I'm disappointed that he doesn't appear to want to.  I'm not privy to his thoughts, of course - but it is hard to imagine that Howe would completely write off his chances of playing.  I'm assuming Pope starts first game, but form / injuries / suspensions etc happen; there is no reason that Dubravka couldn't have reclaimed the shirt.  Totally understand that if by the next window he hasn't had a sniff of a chance, then fair enough of course.

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12 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Likewise, I think he's an OK PL keeper.  I just want to see him fight for his place - and I'm disappointed that he doesn't appear to want to.  I'm not privy to his thoughts, of course - but it is hard to imagine that Howe would completely write off his chances of playing.  I'm assuming Pope starts first game, but form / injuries / suspensions etc happen; there is no reason that Dubravka couldn't have reclaimed the shirt.  Totally understand that if by the next window he hasn't had a sniff of a chance, then fair enough of course.

 

Thing is though he's still got three years left on his contract, so unless we get an offer we consider worthwhile, he'll have to fight for his place here regardless of how he feels. He's a good keeper but at 34 I don't see many teams giving us enough money to make it a deal which makes sense for us.

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