Player Ratings v Chelsea (A)

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Fair ratings mate. Thought the defence was class and Steven Taylor did have a good game. Ive been a critic but fair is fair. Keep it up lads and the togetherness was there for all to see.

Jose was class but you wonder if its playing for a move. The young lads really impressed.

Yeah it was great to see the real togetherness and commitment from all the boys. Long may that continue.

Regarding Jose, I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt. It's difficult for him because if he plays poorly people will say his mind is not here whilst if he has a good game people will say his playing for a move. I like the lad and really hope he signs a new contract.



Wasim's Sport Blog

Toon4life

Taylor had a good game, hopefully he'll have a good preseason and start showing why he's so highly regarded consistently, if he can do this then we have 2 central defenders who can get us goals and i cant remember the last time we were in that position

S. Taylor had a strong game, for sure. He needs to improve his distribution, however, and he's still overconfident on the ball. Gutierrez was a workhorse as always and Ferguson impressed. Coloccini again was outstanding for 89:55, but for 5 seconds of madness conceded a goal. Krul's mistake makes me wonder if he'll ever be a value add as a top-flight starter. There's no way he's getting to that ball and he has to know it. Most of Taylor's FKs were poor.

These games are all about evaluating for next season-the result, in truth, doesn't really mean that much. What was very good was that we were able to keep the ball for spells without either Tiote or Nolan. That's a very good sign.

Krul is still learning and one of the things that he needs to learn is when to come and when not to but this will come with time and with playing more! Having said that you still see top keepers doing that sort of thing

Krul definitely impressed me in this match. Apart from that mistake he punched well, came off his line quickly and commanded his area much more than Harper does. Let's just hope he keeps learning for he seems to have from the beginning of the season to where he's at now. Glad he was picked for the Dutch Senior squad for the first time for that will boost his confidence too.



Wasim's Sport Blog

Toon4life

I know I'm hard on Krul, but one mistake a game is all it takes to sour me on a keeper's performance. Consistency and mental toughness are absolutely required. If it weren't for Gomes' handful of mistakes this season, Spurs would be in the CL. I'd really like to get a good look at Forster.

That is one mistake against the ex champions of england. Forster is good but who is better? someone doing a good job against anelka, torres and drogba or who can name st mirrens/kilmarnock/dundee's strikeforce ?

Really for me it is a no brainer. Krul all day long for me over Forster, yes keep Forster as a very good back up. Name Harper GK coach next season imo.

With regards to trying to punch the ball that Alex headed in, Krul was damned if he did, damned if he didn't. It was a near perfect free-kick to the back post to an unmarked center back who put a powerful header into the far post upper 90. Did krul make it easier for Alex? Probably. Was Krul going to stop that even if he stayed in the 6-yard box? Likely not, as he would have been strafing towards the near post. I can't see Krul getting a hand on that. His flaw didn't gift them the goal, it just moved the fault from the marker to the keeper.

He made it very easy. By the time the ball got to Alex, he had the entire unattended goal to aim for. Look, I'm not finally judging him based on one thing but he's 23 and at this point I do expect to see his decision making improve.

Because he's got bags of Premier League experience hasn't he? Goalkeepers tend to develop a lot later than outfield players do, hence why they often still turn out when they're in their forties. Krul is nowhere near the finished article, neither is Forster.


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Krul and Forster are both young so whoever gets the nod for the number 1 spot, and that is saying that Harper won't be.

Keepers always get better with age and you normally don't see the best in them until they get 30, obviously with the exception of Hart over at City

there's a joke going round scotland saying it wouldn't matter if someone had sent Foster a letter bomb, he wouldn't come out to collect it!

Foster doesn't come off his line and he's not particularly agile when on it, he's a useful shot stopper but thats about it at the minute, he doesn't come off the line to put pressure on the attacker, his positioning isn't great and he has a real problem with shots across him and also shots coming at him from angles and not straight at him!

He has still got a lot to learn and needs to do it at a level higher than the SPL!

He's more or less saying he wants to leave if he's not guaranteed first team football

He could do with atleast 1 more season in the championship and then we can see what he's like, personally the way he's going on i'd cash in on him!

I want to see what he can do. He's got more first-team experience than Krul, was voted player of the season in League 1 and just got done helping Celtic set a team record for clean sheets. I think it would be foolish to sell him for a pittance without knowing what he can offer the first team. Harper is not the long- or even medium-term solution in goal and I prefer to have more than one iron in the fire.

Fully agree, how much would we get for him, rumours we 2 million that is s@d all for a young keeper. Harper isn't the answer long term and I think we need to make the decision one way of another this summer, as if not Forster will want to leave and I don't think he wants another loan deal. Make all 3 fight for the position in pre season and I can see Krul or Forster being No.1