Newcastle United player review 09/10 – Goalkeepers.
Posted on May 5th, 2010 | 120 Comments |
That of course means our player review for the season 09/10 will feature four editions; Goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers. So in true football cliche style, let’s build from the back and start off between the sticks with a review of our goalkeepers and how they have done this season.
It does appear to have been an area where we have been blessed with quality for a good few years now, and with top quality rising through the ranks at St James’ Park it looks likely to remain one of our strongest positions for some years to come. For many years we had Shay Given, a brilliant keeper and widely regarded as one of the best in the Premier League throughout his time with us. In January 2009, Shay moved on to Manchester City where of course we wish him all the best, apart from against us next season. Whilst losing Shay was a blow, most of us knew we had a good backup ‘keeper in the form of the forgotten man of Newcastle United.
Steve Harper – Harper has been at the club for 17 years now, and had only featured in a handful of games before Given’s departure. Shay leaving ensured that Harper finally got his chance in the first team for the remainder of last season, and it meant that he would be starting this season as No1 at Newcastle United for the first time in his career.
He has been solid all season and played in 45 of our 46 league games this campaign, setting a new club record for clean sheets along the way. Despite suffering a slight dip in form over the last few weeks of the season, his importance to the team cannot be ignored. In tight games, Harper has been the difference between a win and a draw at times, games against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane and Preston at Deepdale spring to mind first. At 35 years old, he has at least another season left in the tank yet, and his experience could prove vital for next season in which he will surely retain the number 1 spot between the sticks.
Tim Krul – After his memorable debut against Palermo in 2006, and loan spells at Falirk and Carlisle, Krul has emerged as next in line for the number 1 jersey at Newcastle.
His first team action has been somewhat limited this term, mainly due to the form of Steve Harper, although he has still featured seven times for the first team this season. On the opening day he came on at half-time to replace the injured Harper, and made a string of top saves to keep the score level at 1-1. Cup games against Huddersfield, Peterborough and twice against Plymouth followed in which Krul again drew the plaudits. He made another half-time appearance at Swansea City before being handed his first league start of the campaign in the final day match against QPR, keeping a clean sheet in the process.
Fraser Forster – Whlist Fraser hasn’t featured for us this season, it’s only fair that I comment on just how well he has done whilst on loan at Norwich City this term. He has made 37 appearances for the Carrow Road outfit and been a key figure in their League 1 title winning campaign. Canaries boss Paul Lambert has been full of praise for Forster and it’s anticipated that Norwich will again try to sign the Hexham lad on loan for next season in The Championship. Fraser Forster also picked up the Norwich City Players Player of the Year award this season.
I’m sure you will all agree that providing we can keep them all happy we are pretty much sorted for a good number of years in goal. We also have young keeper Jak Alnwick plying his trade for the youth and looking promising, could he be another potential great off the production line of Newcastle goalkeepers?
Look out for my next player review which will feature our defence!
Interesting to see what happens here.
Harps is obviously the man of the moment while Forster and Krul need match experience. It would make sense to loan Forster back to Norwich to get him some experience facing increased competition in the CCC. Since their fans seems to rate him and he helped get them promoted, I assume that he would be first choice. But then what to do with Krul? He seems to be getting a little restless with the lack of playing time. do you loan him out as well and look for an inexpensive back-up to Harps? Or do you let Krul play in the Cups and give him a few spot starts in the Prem?