Nick Pope

[M1tche]

I dont think we can downplay how much confidence it gave West Ham him flapping at everything in the 1st half. Catch it, kill the momentum. 

[cubaricho]

40 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

Bit of an overreaction here

[TRon]

1 hour ago, M1tche said:

I dont think we can downplay how much confidence it gave West Ham him flapping at everything in the 1st half. Catch it, kill the momentum. 

 

 

That's usually his game tbf. It's one of the reasons I thought he was in the side ahead of Ramsdale, he usually claims the high crosses really well. 

[Heron]

If it wasn't for Pope it'd have been about 8-1 today. He made 2 mistakes on the first goal, first he should have attempted to catch it and second he just seemed to try and push it away a bit more than simply stop it. However, the ball did move somewhat in the air...I suspect he'll not be happy with that either.

 

One thing is for certain, he wasn't the reason we lost today.

[Rod]

9 minutes ago, Heron said:

If it wasn't for Pope it'd have been about 8-1 today. He made 2 mistakes on the first goal, first he should have attempted to catch it and second he just seemed to try and push it away a bit more than simply stop it. However, the ball did move somewhat in the air...I suspect he'll not be happy with that either.

 

One thing is for certain, he wasn't the reason we lost today.

Thanks for your honesty. Terrible for the first goal but saved at least 3.

[Heron]

Just now, Rod said:

Thanks for your honesty. Terrible for the first goal but saved at least 3.

From comments in various chats I'm in Pope is the one being scapegoated as is often the case. It's perhaps natural as goalkeepers / defenders are typically only remembered in a game when they make mistakes, but how many mistakes did the other 10+ make today?...

[Fak]

The clubs policy going forward should be to sign goalkeepers who've never made a mistake and never will. 

[El Prontonise]

17 minutes ago, Heron said:

If it wasn't for Pope it'd have been about 8-1 today. He made 2 mistakes on the first goal, first he should have attempted to catch it and second he just seemed to try and push it away a bit more than simply stop it. However, the ball did move somewhat in the air...I suspect he'll not be happy with that either.

 

One thing is for certain, he wasn't the reason we lost today.

 

8-1, get a a grip man.  It's this kind hyperbolic stuff that doesn't help his case as the rest of your analysis was fine.

[nemtizz]

2 hours ago, Wallsendmag said:

Bit of an overreaction here after his first poor performance of the season like 

I mean folk have been calling for Ramsdale even after Pope's good games so it's not surprising.

[Hanshithispantz]

We're a direct side with rapid wingers and a 6ft 6 striker who wants it to his feet or chest. Ramsdale is very suited to how we play.

 

Pope is a really good keeper, to the point it's arguably the right call to keep him in goal even though he cannot kick a ball, but surely people are interested to see how we'd look without him skying the ball out for a throw or onto the centre backs forehead?

 

 

Edited November 2, 2025 by Hanshithispantz

[Weezertron]

I'd make the change now tbh. 

 

Pope doesn't deserve to be dropped, but whatever. The season is going poorly currently so why not experiment to find new ways to play. 

 

Like Dan Burn is hardly ever bad at LB. But his individual performance doesn't mean he is automaticallly a net positive for the teams performance. 

 

Ramsdale might not make the saves pope does, but he might make us better overall. 

 

 

[Novocastrian]

3 hours ago, M1tche said:

I dont think we can downplay how much confidence it gave West Ham him flapping at everything in the 1st half. Catch it, kill the momentum. 

If you can get two fists on it surely you can catch it? I know he’s been a top shot stopper but a professional footballer 20 years into his career that can’t trap or pass a ball. Sorry man but no.

[Andy]

He's definitely become more prone to punching recently, I remember him being fairly safe with catches in his first season or so, so I almost wonder if it's either an instruction or something that has been coached into him. 

 

Agree with the comment above about the possibility of Ramsdale improving us as a team. Pope is a great shot stopper but he's also a core part of the network of terrible ball retainers that we have across the pitch that often leads to those shots coming at him in the first place. We also play ourselves into trouble at times by seemingly refusing to pass to him unless it's a last resort. 

 

I'm on the fence about it as I do like Pope and feel we're more solid with him there generally. 

[Kid Icarus]

If Ramsdale ends up being a better choice than Pope it definitely won't be based on any evidence we've seen over the last 5 or so years.

[huss9]

why didnt he dive one handed.

so much easier to save a shot at full stretch. 

[Andy]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

If Ramsdale ends up being a better choice than Pope it definitely won't be based on any evidence we've seen over the last 5 or so years.

 

He's looked fine in our colours, though. Hard to judge him on Southampton, and I remember Arsenal fans were surprised when he was dropped for Raya originally, even if it ended up being the correct decision ultimately.  

[Hanshithispantz]

It's more just a tactical shift rather than him being a better keeper, I remember when Tottenham beat Man City earlier in the season and it was pointed out (on MOTD?) that they were able to press right up on Haaland without the fear of Ederson finding him. Just small things but it would be interesting to see how Ramsdale could help us out in possession too.

[Kid Icarus]

Just now, Andy said:

 

He's looked fine in our colours, though. Hard to judge him on Southampton, and I remember Arsenal fans were surprised when he was dropped for Raya originally, even if it ended up being the correct decision ultimately.  

 

Players can turn corners and yeah he's been okay here, but it would be daft to ignore what he's been like elsewhere imo. I've never rated him, but he's young and football's often much more about potential than evidence, so it wouldn't surprise me, bht Pope's been fantastic this season imo, I've never ever seem him drop clangers like today. 

[Pablo123]

1 hour ago, Heron said:

From comments in various chats I'm in Pope is the one being scapegoated as is often the case. It's perhaps natural as goalkeepers / defenders are typically only remembered in a game when they make mistakes, but how many mistakes did the other 10+ make today?...

Exactly. It was a dire performance all round.

[Guillaume]

Worst performance for us?

[Smal]

1 hour ago, Andy said:

 

He's looked fine in our colours, though. Hard to judge him on Southampton, and I remember Arsenal fans were surprised when he was dropped for Raya originally, even if it ended up being the correct decision ultimately.  

yeah, he won Arsenal’s player of the season award in 22/23

[M1tche]

3 hours ago, Heron said:

If it wasn't for Pope it'd have been about 8-1 today. He made 2 mistakes on the first goal, first he should have attempted to catch it and second he just seemed to try and push it away a bit more than simply stop it. However, the ball did move somewhat in the air...I suspect he'll not be happy with that either.

 

One thing is for certain, he wasn't the reason we lost today.

8-1 from 9 SOT and an XG of under 2, sounds plausible to me. 

[Conjo]

Both the unnecessary punch and attempted save for West Hams first was poor. Don't even know what to say about their third He's so stiff and awkward. Doesn't look like a person that's been doing sports his whole life.

 

Hopefully this game together with Ramsdales excellent performance against Spurs we can see how the team performs a couple of games now with a keeper the entire team doesn't dread passing the ball back to.

[Kanj]

It’s just funny that you can tell when an outfield player is totally off and is prone to gaffs and it’s so often overlooked with the GKs imho. Could tell he was not on it and it was going being an error prone day. First example was on Callum’s first shot that Nick awkwardly saved. Yep today wasn’t his. I’m no football expert but our backup is a capable 1. Hook your main man (it’s like hockey) when you know it’s just not working for him. He wasn’t cleanly saving anything all match. He wasn’t catching anything and his punches brought on danger. Again with all dues it was a goal or howler waiting to happen with Nick. 
 

what happened to the fake injury shit to calm us the fuck down man? The dark arts. We say this every season but it’s what reset us when we had bad spells to regroup. We needed it today. 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2025 by Kanj

[Heron]

7 hours ago, Conjo said:

Both the unnecessary punch and attempted save for West Hams first was poor. Don't even know what to say about their third He's so stiff and awkward. Doesn't look like a person that's been doing sports his whole life.

 

Hopefully this game together with Ramsdales excellent performance against Spurs we can see how the team performs a couple of games now with a keeper the entire team doesn't dread passing the ball back to.

The third goal was an excellent save. You cannot possibly blame him for that.