Archive for tag: Alan Pardew on rotating reserve goalkeepers.

Being Steve Harper: Should he stay or should he go?

September 30th, 2011 | 37 Comments |

Steve Harper.
Should I stay or should I go?
On his return from an injury picked up in pre season, Newcastle United’s most senior goalkeeper, Steve Harper, was looking forward to a return in Newcastle’s League Cup tie with Nottingham Forest.

However Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew, decided instead to select his old Charlton goalkeeper, Rob Elliot, instead. This came on top of previous reserve goalkeeper, the highly talented but less experienced and sometimes mistake prone Tim Krul seemingly claiming Harper’s old place in the Premiership. This was more or less confirmed when Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew, said a few days after the Forest Cup tie:

“There is no situation with Steve. Harps and Rob are here as back-up to Tim at the moment because Tim has the jersey. It is as simple as that.”

Now, in a more recent development, Pardew has now revealed that he intends to hand Elliot the substitutes jersey for Newcastle united’s next Premiership game, and rotate the backup keepers to create some “competition” between Harper and the former Charlton Athletic “Player of the Year” runner up. Pardew said of the decision:

“We want to give all of them involvement. It creates competition and it gives us a different voice in the changing room. (more…)