In the first of our annual four-part report card on the QPR squad for the previous season, the spotlight falls on goalkeepers Rob Green and Alex McCarthy.

1 — Rob Green B

For me Robert Green is best summed up by his career record of four promotions and four relegations with Norwich, West Ham and QPR. He is, as we saw in 2013/14, an excellent Championship goalkeeper. But he is also, as we’ve seen again in 2014/15, not quite there at Premier League level.

At the halfway stage he probably was the best player QPR had last season. He kept some games respectable and made others competitive with his ability to produce improbable saves just when all hope seems lost. He’s not built like a modern goalkeeper — he has the shoulders, stature and presence of a Neighbourhood watch chairman in rural Cambridgeshire while all the best goalkeepers in the world presently stand tall, muscular and dominant — which makes him slightly unorthodox at times. But QPR have been playing with unorthodox goalkeepers for decades - the continental stylings of Jan Stejskal, five foot five Lee Camp, Ademola Bankole punching Danny Maddix in the side of the head, Paddy Kenny and his parties, hell we even had Tony Roberts for ten years despite the fact he wasn’t very good at playing in goal — so that’s not necessarily a problem. At Sunderland away, the first away win of the season at the thirteenth attempt, Green was at his best, diving this way and that to improvise saves to keep QPR in front. That’s when he’s at his best, when it’s all gone to shit and he just has to stand there under the cross bar and make a series of reactionary saves.

When he’s not at his best is when there is a ball to be kicked or thrown, because his distribution was Sunday league standard long before the Chelsea nadir in April, or when there’s some thinking to be done and decisions to be made. Green looks like the sort of man who returns to his house three times after leaving to check he definitely turned the hobs off, even though he had Weetabix for breakfast. He will, at times, stay on his line when he should spring from it, seemingly terrified by the consequences of it going wrong, and then at others come charging out into a crowded space he has no business being in and wreaking havoc — crucial winning goals in key games at home to Spurs and away at Hull were scored into unguarded nets after he’d bolted from his line with a head full of blood.

He’s sure to star next season if he stays, because it’s his level in truth.

Stats
36 starts and no sub appearances, 62 goals conceded, no goals and no assists
Discipline - 1 yellow (dissent)
Three LFW man of match awards (Man Utd H, Swansea A, Newcastle A)
LFW Ratings out of Ten: 6, 4, 7, 6, 5, 7, 7, 6, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8, 6, 4, 7, 6, 7, 6, 6, 7, 5, 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 5, 6, 6, 5, 8, 6, 7 = 6.333

12 — Alex McCarthy N/A

McCarthy, like Steven Caulker who we’ll come onto later, is one of those rare examples of a talented, injury free, affordable, young, English footballer who I always thought I’d love QPR to sign and then they did. Usually these players go off to other, well run, football clubs while we hold central London press conferences to unveil Ji Sung Park or stock the club shop with Rio Ferdinand’s baseball caps. McCarthy, brilliant against QPR at the Madejski Stadium in 2013/14, was in my opinion potentially Harry Redknapp’s best QPR signing behind Charlie Austin — and even Austin wasn’t much of a gamble given his record.

I thought he played well - despite conceding three, two of them defensive shambles — on his debut against Liverpool and I’m certain he would have kept his place for the following match against Aston Villa had he not been injured. Green regained his place and played exceptionally well through the autumn meaning McCarthy only played twice more. Those two performances, against Sheffield United in the Cup and Leicester in the league, saw him concede eight times and while you can talk about the lack of any semblance of anything at all in front of him on both occasions, there were a couple of goals that were simple, rudimentary goalkeeping errors. You can also talk about him being rusty, suffering through a lack of action, needing to get his eye in and so on and that’s valid mitigation, but still the first goal at Leicester and the second one in the cup tie were Ludek Miklosko-standard balls ups.

Now, with Green apparently staying, there’s talk of McCarthy leaving, which makes you wonder a bit why he bothered, and why QPR did. It feels like a waste. It’ll also be a waste if he makes the same mistake again and goes to Crystal Palace, where he’ll once again find himself parked behind a settled, long serving, talented number one in Julian Speroni.

The boy needs to play. Personally, I think he should be playing here this season.

Stats:
Three starts, one sub appearance, 11 goals conceded, 0 goals scored, 0 assists, 0 yellows and 0 reds
No Man of the Match Awards
LFW Ratings: 7, 6, 4, 7 = 6.00

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PunteR added 22:13 - Jul 13 Who's the better keeper? I understand Mccarthy's potential but for me Green is more than adequate between the sticks next season. No 2 keepers need to take their chances and i thought Mccarthy was disappointing. I hope he stays though and keeps Green on his toes. I think Green has been one of our best signings of the last few years,ok maybe that's not saying much given some of the signings we made but he's been consistent and given some really good performances. I was pleased he got another England call up.

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AgedR added 22:18 - Jul 13 Not sure Bluce Lee will be happy with your conclusion, but, I tend to agree. Time for a change between the sticks for our "new Rangers". Green has been decent, but, not outstanding during his time with us. McCarthy has all the attributes to be outstanding.
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eastside_r added 23:16 - Jul 13 'Green looks like the sort of man who returns to his house three times after leaving to check he definitely turned the hobs off, even though he had Weetabix for breakfast.' I literally LOLed. Can't wait for the midfield review, especially you know who. Thanks Clive.
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ozexile added 02:41 - Jul 14 I believe McCarthy has to take over now. If on the off chance we do go up would you want green as number 1 In the premiership again?
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stonebridgers added 09:18 - Jul 14 When the papers announced that Green could be heading to SW6 for 2 million I thought good bit of business for us and McCarthy gets his chance. Now that move has gone down the pan I see Green here next year but McCarthy should be retained as he is the future.
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francisbowles added 09:45 - Jul 14 Here I am, just about put last season behind me and with the usual pre-season optimism and there you go raking it all up again! Seriously though, it's good to read your analysis again and for what it's worth, I also hoped that Green might move on. It now leaves us with two keepers probably on high wages and it looks like we will lose the younger and potentially better.

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QPunkR added 10:34 - Jul 14 Let's see what Bluce says of this... ...then do the opposite! Only joking. But I think we should follow the example of that lot down the road. They had 2 good 'keepers, but chose to side with the younger one who they can get years out of, rather than the older one who, while still good, obviously has fewer years left in his gloves. That said, McCarthy didn't imbue me with any confidence in his few appearances so far!

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timcocking added 10:59 - Jul 14 To me, this is the textbook definition of the phrase "no brainer" (i don't actually like that phrase, but that's beside the point). Rob's done mostly very well, i like him as a fella, but McCarthy is 10 years younger and as good, if not better than Rob Green. Unbelievable to me to think it won't be Alex in goal next season. Therefore i am confident it will be Rob Green and McCarthy will move on for a loss and no doubt play for England in a couple of years. Sigh.

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TacticalR added 12:41 - Jul 14 Green. A very good summing up of Green. Confidence is key, and it explains why he did better under Harry who guaranteed him the number one spot. Your point about his skill in reaction saves also answers the question that I often have about Green: 'Why is it that he does a lot of the difficult things so well and a lot of the simple things so badly?' McCarthy. I got a great sense of confidence from his performance against Liverpool, as he looked much more commanding than Green, and even though we lost I came away with the feeling that we had a fighting chance of staying up. I really hope his performance against Leicester was an aberration.

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HastingsRanger added 15:02 - Jul 14 Whilst Green did make some outstanding saves, his moments of indecision/wrong decision were costly. Sometimes a less effective but consistent keeper is better for all. I think his distribution was sometimes woeful, something that at this level should be totally consistent. McCarthy is a better option surely. If he turns out a flop, get another keeper but blowing him out because of Green is a long term mistake.

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baz_qpr added 15:42 - Jul 14 Seeing reports today that McCarthy has a relegation clause buyout in his contract for 3.5m so it looks like that is probably the reason why we seem to be going with Green
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Loft1979 added 08:49 - Jul 18 Great comments and a great read. I am very disappointed with Green. I hoped he would do better, but after the Everton away game I was done. Yes, I too see him as a form keeper, and too often he was vulnerable to leaks. His fallacies only serving to further depress the back four. His Sunderland and Villa performances expose the better side of Green, the Man city and Chelsea games the dark side of Green. McCarthy should go. We can recoup his funds and move on. Personally I want TWO new keepers.

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