Nick Pope - England's No 1?

[paulus the woodgnome]

I initially thought that The Otter would be in the squad, but probably not Nicholas David Pope. So, I was wrong.

Perhaps GS thought that as his only experienced (at international level) keeper is 1) sh1te 2) usually on the bench, he’s gonna have to pick an inexperienced keeper. And, if he’s gonna do that, then he simply has to take a look at The Popester. Why? Maybe he’s looked at the stats, or simply watched The Debate the other evening when Mark Schwarzer described Nick as the best English keeper this season.

So, having put him in the squad, he must now play him to see how he does, otherwise why pick him in the first place. He was chucked in at the deep end at Burnley and swam. Could he do the same for England?

Could it be that Nick will usurp all the other contenders at this very late stage? Southgate must realise that to have even a tiny chance of having a decent tournament, England have to pick their best keeper. Their best keeper is not Hart, Buckland or Pickford in my (biased admittedly) opinion.

[bfcmartin]

I noticed Stoke fans slating Butland for his performance today reading their comments on their forum. It sounds like he is reluctant to come out for crosses and just tends to stay on his line which puts the defenders under massive pressure from corners etc and is one area of the game which Pope is fantastic at.

[JohnMac]

Butland and Pickford are similar, good at the spectacular shot stopping but possibly not so good at defending the box.

[TVC15]

Mark Schwarzer was raving about our Nick on Football Focus.

Looking like it will be a straight race between the 4 keepers in this squad with one of them losing out.

On every meaningful statistic this season Nick Pope is no 1 keeper out of the four.

The only thing he lacks is international experience - but the only one of the 4 with any experience has firstly been the worst keeper of the 4 this season and secondly his recent international experience has been pretty poor.

He will play in the friendlies - he has to or why bring 4 keepers when he has seen the other 3 play. He’s probably going to be under more pressure than all the other 3 keepers as it must be Nick Pope who Southgate is watching and deciding whether he should leave one of the other 3 out.

I don’t know what kind of person Nick Pope is in terms of nerves but this is an immense amount of pressure to be playing under these conditions where your England debut will determine whether you go to the World Cup or not.

[IanMcL]

Agree with statements above. Heaton is the best of the keepers but also reluctant to leave his line. Popes height makes it easy for him and yet he is as good a shot stopper as the others.

Pope it is!

[piston broke]

I wouldn't be jumping the gun. He could have just called him up to assess him, with his keeper coaches.
His form certainly deserves the cap out of the 4, here's hoping.

[chekhov]

Maybe the only thing standing in the way of "the Popester" is his poor distribution.
I stand to be corrected.

[chekhov]

His form certainly deserves the cap out of the 4, here's hoping.

Or more correctly, here's Poping?

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Or more correctly, here's Poping?

apparently poping is a thing...
Drinking large amounts of Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide (DXM)based cough syrup, and then embarking on an adventure while wandering around neighborhoods or parks all night. This is usually done while listening to Punk rock music from a portable jambox.

[piston broke]

apparently poping is a thing...
Drinking large amounts of Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide (DXM)based cough syrup, and then embarking on an adventure while wandering around neighborhoods or parks all night. This is usually done while listening to Punk rock music from a portable jambox.

Would WADA allow this unless you were a cyclist?

[chekhov]

apparently poping is a thing...
Drinking large amounts of Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide (DXM)based cough syrup, and then embarking on an adventure while wandering around neighborhoods or parks all night. This is usually done while listening to Punk rock music from a portable jambox.

Sounds like a decent way of celebrating his first cap. I might give it a go.

[paulus the woodgnome]

The downside to this (rather) unlikely scenario is that if Nick did have a great World Cup, we'd probably end up selling him. The upside is it would solve Burnley's very own goalkeeper conundrum. UTC

[starting_11]

Anyone who can become world class in 6 months... deserves a shot at #1

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Would WADA allow this unless you were a cyclist?

A standard day in the velodrome.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

Anyone who can become world class in 6 months... deserves a shot at #1

Got to agree with this.
He's on the upward trajectory of all trajectories.

[South West Claret.]

Sadly if he has to wait as long as Tom did then it will probably be ages until he gets a proper chance for England.

[warksclaret]

Its "Pope-Mobile" in the box. Good with crosses !!

[starting_11]

The days of proteges and moulding are long gone.

There's a set 20 man squad or so... then they bring in a couple of newbies, given em one or two 10 minute appearances and never call them up again... gone forever.

Why they can't pick a team to stick and work with it, I've no idea.

Look at Keane, he'll never play for England again, likewise Cork, Rodriguez, probably Tark too after the next 2 games.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

The Media.
They often pick the team.
I think England managers in the past have gone along with their decisions to fend off any repercussions if they lose.

[chekhov]

Only problem: he's no sweeper keeper. You know, in the modern mould.

[halfmanhalfbiscuit]

And he doesn't do that scorpion kick either?
Waste of time.

[South West Claret.]

Only problem: he's no sweeper keeper. You know, in the modern mould.

He certainly isn’t but think he more then makes up for it by getting any part of his body to the ball

[maidenover]

Pickford made exactly the same mistake today as he did against us - way too hesitant coming out for a ball floated in.

Butland at fault for both goals today. Conditions were bad but must do better.

Hart at fault for our 3rd last week.

Pope should clearly be in on current form.