Martin Dúbravka

[Hughesy]

It seems weird that a keeper that seems so proficient in pretty much every department managed to get to 29 without a big move or people really noticing him.

[Fenham Mag]

It seems weird that a keeper that seems so proficient in pretty much every department managed to get to 29 without a big move or people really noticing him.

 

Sometimes it happens with GK's. Schmeichel was 28/29 before moving to Man U. Navas got his move to Real Madrid when he was 28.

[Dr.Spaceman]

We absolutely need to sign him up on a 5 year deal ASAP.

[Hughesy]

It seems weird that a keeper that seems so proficient in pretty much every department managed to get to 29 without a big move or people really noticing him.

 

Sometimes it happens with GK's. Schmeichel was 28/29 before moving to Man U. Navas got his move to Real Madrid when he was 28.

 

True, but I'd say Schmeichel was of a slightly different era where knowledge of foreign footballers, even among journalists, wasn't nearly as good as it is now.

[Jimburst]

I think maybe considering most teams only have one space for a top class GK, there is much more of a chance of being overlooked until you're further into your career.

 

Strikers and attacking talent can be hoovered up because they are much more interchangeable in systems etc.

 

I think also Dubravka had a bit of a reputation for being a bit fragile mentally.

[Dave]

Catching is such an underrated thing and we have one of the best in the business - can go on to be a Newcastle legend.

 

Christ.

[Guest neesy111]

His catching reminds me a little of how Reina commanded his box at Liverpool, might be what rafa spotted in him.

[Kasper]

Just look at how much we've improved as a squad though:

 

Saves/90:

Elliott 2.8

Darlow 3.5

Dubravka 1.5

 

If I'm not mistaken that 1.5 is the lowest of all keepers.

[Varadi]

Just look at how much we've improved as a squad though:

 

Saves/90:

Elliott 2.8

Darlow 3.5

Dubravka 1.5

 

If I'm not mistaken that 1.5 is the lowest of all keepers.

 

Definitely helps having a consistent, solid defence in front of him, but another reason he's facing less shots is because he's so good at coming and claiming crosses - cuts the danger out at source.

[Guest neesy111]

Just look at how much we've improved as a squad though:

 

Saves/90:

Elliott 2.8

Darlow 3.5

Dubravka 1.5

 

If I'm not mistaken that 1.5 is the lowest of all keepers.

 

Definitely helps having a consistent, solid defence in front of him, but another reason he's facing less shots is because he's so good at coming and claiming crosses - cuts the danger out at source.

 

He's also much quicker and comfortable for coming off his line and sweeping up.

[Odear]

So was a price agreed already for him before the loan deal was done? I would imagine his value has skyrocketed over the last 2 months.

[54]

So was a price agreed already for him before the loan deal was done? I would imagine his value has skyrocketed over the last 2 months.

Yeah £4 Million

[Disco]

Still a lot of money to Sparta. Be their 5th biggest sale ever.

 

Wonder if they've got any other gems we could get in.

[Odear]

So was a price agreed already for him before the loan deal was done? I would imagine his value has skyrocketed over the last 2 months.

Yeah £4 Million

 

That’s outstanding! Little weasels like Jack Colback just being off the wage bill should be more than enough to cover that.

[samptime29]

Class loan deal, we have to sign him.

 

I've been to watch a Sparta Prague game few years ago. Loud fans, cheap beer, it was a cracking night 

[mrmojorisin75]

it's a no brainer for 4m like, love owt like that me as well he's just come from nowhere (relatively) and seized his chance at the big time

[Tiresias]

Remember the first time he came to catch a cross, part of me was thinking oh hell here we go and then he just confidently got it, then did it again. Makes such a difference.

[aussiemag]

He’s no Matz Sels though is he.

[sleazy]

Class loan deal, we have to sign him.

 

I've been to watch a Sparta Prague game few years ago. Loud fans, cheap beer, it was a cracking night 

 

I did about 10 years ago - their ultras had the poor opposition keepers life.

 

But aye, cheap as chips it was, even the big ass gun toting security were up for a laugh.

[afar]

We absolutely need to sign him up on a 5 year deal ASAP.

 

Totally agree, the one thing though that worries me is that if Ashley is still in charge, he's not the right age even though he's a goalkeeper, he's rarely sanctioned the purchase of any players that has no resale value and he'll think that is the case with Dubravka, he might be right but he would be a hugely important signing if we made it permanent.

[mrmojorisin75]

He’s no Matz Sels though is he.

 

fuck me he's still on our books as well

[samptime29]

Class loan deal, we have to sign him.

 

I've been to watch a Sparta Prague game few years ago. Loud fans, cheap beer, it was a cracking night 

 

I did about 10 years ago - their ultras had the poor opposition keepers life.

 

But aye, cheap as chips it was, even the big ass gun toting security were up for a laugh.

 

Police were NOT fucking around. Some guy was misbehaving and he got twatted quickly and fairly harshly.

 

Really enjoyed it tho, massive hot dog and a beer was like £3. Loving watching footie abroad.

[Disco]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/04/13/martin-dubravka-interview-hyperactive-ice-hockey-goalkeeper/?WT.mc_id=tmgliveapp_iosshare_Aqf5KPn7DRrw

[Twinport53]

Martin Dubravka was hyperactive as a child, a tiny tornado of pent up energy and constant chatter - a small boy who made a lot of noise. Other than his height, not much has changed.

 

You may not have heard much of Dubravka - that he has been a revelation on Tyneside, that he is yet to concede a goal at St James’ Park and has, without any real credit, been Newcastle United’s best signing of the season.

 

Dubravka was January’s mystery man, a 6ft 3in Slovakian signed, initially on loan, without fanfare. He had impressed against both England and Scotland in the World Cup qualifying campaign, but still flew in under the radar.

 

When he signed from Sparta Prague, few understood why Rafa Benitez had made him a priority target. He already had two senior goalkeepers, Rob Elliot and Karl Darlow jostling for places in his first XI, as well as England Under-19 World Cup winner Freddie Woodman waiting behind them.

 

Indeed, it was Benitez’s obsession with signing another goalkeeper that caused friction with those above him in the summer. Men in suits, without a coaching badge between them, still felt they were justified in questioning his judgement filling one of the team’s most important positions.

 

Dubravka knows nothing about that six-month power struggle, but he is the reason Benitez has won the argument. Since making his debut in a win over Manchester United, Newcastle have won four, drawn one and lost only once, away to Liverpool, to move well clear of relegation danger.

 

A jittery defence has been becalmed by his sizeable presence, to the extent that tomorrow's meeting with Arsenal is now blissfully stress-free.

 

“When I signed in January, I didn’t think for one second that I was joining a club that would be relegated,” said Dubravka, who, along with his partner Lucia, has already fallen in love with the city and is desperate to make his loan move permanent.

 

“I was joining a club with a huge history and crazy fans, as soon as I got here I knew we would not go down. When you beat Manchester United in your first game, I knew we would do everything we needed to stay up.

 

“This a club that deserves to be higher, to be in Europe again, but we have to take small steps. We need the manager to stay, he is the boss, he is the most important person. The manager and the owner, they have to work together and get Newcastle back to the level they should be at.

 

“I’m desperate to stay here, I know that already. The fans, they have been amazing, everywhere we go, they stop and talk. This is a proper football city, I love that, you feel it as soon as you get here.”

 

At the age of 29, Dubravka is entering his prime as a goalkeeper, but he retains many of the same traits that led to his grandmother, driven to breaking point in a small apartment in Zilina, pushed him into football after a freak accident brought a swift end to his interest in ice hockey.

 

“I come from a family of goalkeepers,” Dubravka, who once had a poster of his opposite number this weekend, Petr Cech, on his bedroom wall, explained. “My father was a goalkeeper, my grandfather was a goalkeeper also, but I wanted to play in a different position at first. I liked to play football with my feet, but I don’t know, things happen, it was probably my destiny.

 

“I was really small when I was young, probably the smallest in my class and my mum said: “why do you want to be a goalkeeper?” but things happen for a reason.

 

“The first person to bring me to football was my grandmother. We were really close, but I was hyper active as a child. I don’t think I stopped talking. I drove her mad one day, bouncing around her apartment, leaping from sofa to sofa. I don’t think she could take anymore.

 

“I was too active, I had too much energy, it had to be burned off. She said “you need to go and do something outside. It was a small city, she knew some of the coaches and even though I was too young to play with that age group, she insisted.

 

“I didn’t always listen when I was younger. I might have gone into ice hockey, but when I was five years old, I hurt myself really badly. It was a family BBQ and I was chopping some wood with a machete. My parents were saying, stop that, stop that, you are going to hurt yourself, but…. I put it in my leg. My parents had told me 100 times. It was a bad injury and I still have a big scar.

 

“If it was a few millimetres higher the doctors said I would have had trouble walking and there would have been no chance of me becoming a goalkeeper. I was unlucky, but lucky at the same time. You know, maybe this was meant to be.

 

“I probably would never had played football. The thing is, I could not skate for a while, so I played football instead.”

 

It has not just been Dubravka’s ability as a goalkeeper that has made a difference, it is, according to Benitez “the way he communicates with the defenders” that is so important. Even on his debut against Manchester United, Dubravka was confident and outspoken enough to cajole and guide those in front of him, something he learned from his idol, Cech.

 

Dubravka speaks English fluently, language skills picked up while playing for Esbjerg in Denmark and the chatter that once drove his grandmother to distraction is now put to better use.

 

“I don’t think you have to be crazy to be a goalkeeper, I don’t do anything that is not natural for me,” he added. “I’m not aggressive, but I have a lot of energy. I talk a lot, I always try to speak to my defenders, I think that is the way it should be.

 

“I don’t think they get annoyed… they are glad I say things to them. If I don’t speak to them, they look at me like something is wrong. I guess that is what they expect from me. As I said, I was hyperactive as a child….”

 

Newcastle will, if Benitez has his way, be extremely active in the transfer market again this summer, but the Spaniard will not be looking for another goalkeeper. That position has already been filled.

[Happinesstan]

"5 years old, chopping some wood with a machete". Ha. in this country 5 year olds can't be trusted with plastic scissors.