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Comment | QPR’s summer of optimism blown apart for super soaraway Swans — full match report
at 14:40:40
Sitting behind (and within touching distance) of our goal in the second half, I can confirm just how terrible the Green body language is. Apart from ability, the next most most important attribute for any goalie is to exude confidence (the more snake oil the better) and make sure they sell that confidence to the rest of the team... particularly the back four.
Yet here is a goalkeeper who never once shouted or communicated with his defenders in any way, who never took ownership of the six-yard box, and begrudgingly paced up and down his line like a London Zoo polar bear with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Clive, as always, you've phrased it so much better than I ever could, but just what overweight baggage was Reverend Green carrying on those narrow shoulders on Saturday? He looked more "guilty" than a suspect in a bad Agatha Christie play. Did he forget to buy the winning lottery ticket? Did he leave porn on Mark Hughes' laptop? Did he have a The Player-like bit of a run-in with a fan at a showing of Bicycle Thieves?
Just imagine the effect that the tortured grimace must have had on our admittedly woeful defence. And conversely, just imagine how much confidence it must have given Sinclair and Dyer in those one-on-one situations. It was so bad that, rather than attempting to save the ball, he appeared to be pointing where they should plant the shot!
It was painful to watch a player, neigh, a fellow human being so clearly imploding before my eyes, the only relief being that the Lower Loft refrained from barracking him, but instead shouted some crumbs of encouragement. By the end, I was praying for Hughes to make another bizarre substitution and swap him for Zamora or even SWP, if he hadn't already used him. They really couldn't have done any worse.
While other correspondents have argued against jumping to conclusions, pronounced we're stuck with or him, or suggested he needs time to settle, my observation is that Green is so obviously in need of such a huge amount of support and personal coaching that we can simply cite force majeure and go out and get another keeper, NOW, before the window closes, however rash that may seem. These are especial circumstances that require an especial response.
Look at our alternatives: Cerny is a great stopper, but in his last season and prone to injury – I honestly can't see him managing more than half a season as a starter; And Murphy looks to be even more injury prone and seems to have few supporters at the club.
A big cheque might nor get us a big Czech, but it would surely secure Butland? And a more modest cheque might well get us Matt Gilkes from Blackpool or Paul Robinson. How is Caspar Schmeichel shaping up at Leicester?
For sure, there will be plenty of correspondents on here who will say I'm completely overreacting; but will they still say that come the end of September when we might, quite possibly, have nil points and a shocking goal difference?
Doing nothing is surely not an option.
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Comment | Our captain, the ‘gobby Scouse git’ — guest column
at 13:58:02
A timely corrective, Mel, and you are to be commended for outing a lot of the hypocrisy in the more extreme 'Ban Him For Six Months/Sack Him Now' commentaries.
However, your argument sinks under its own weight when you reach, "but it was the last game of season with careers and, more importantly, vast amounts of money on the line." Exactly... and how many games did we throw away this season because we couldn't keep eleven on the pitch? So what should the priority have been for any of our players, let alone our captain? Barton bailed out and nearly took the whole team down with him, and it's that I can't forgive easily.
And why did you chose to close on such a sour note and have a cheap shot at Mackie? This really felt like the equivalent of Barton's knee in the back of Aguero. Contrast Barton and Mackie in our two most pivotal games this season – at home to Liverpool and away to Man City. Barton got taken off in one and sent off in the other: Mackie scored two of our most important goals of the year, one of them a winner.
Yes, he may be a 'no trick' pony, in the sense that he's unerringly honest and will stand up in the tackle in the box and not take a dive; but I would commend him for that, and his Corinthian spirit, which seems to hold no place in your rather jaded view of football.
In the end, it comes down to this: Jamie Mackie would run through walls for you; but Joey Barton? He'd just head butt the builder!
I know which one I'd rather have in my football team. |
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