Sorry if this has been posted but can’t see anything and just been watching Dyche on sky sports.. Who’s your first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the season!? Name and quick explanation..

Heaton- club captain, excellent goalkeeper, international, and still relatively young in terms of keepers! Love pope though..

Tom. He's the better goalkeeper.

Tom

Pope, obviously.

Definitely Pope for the rest of this season, come back to me in June though.

Tom is our club captain and I suspect he'll start the next season as our number one. However, he, like any other of Dyche's squad, knows how this cookie crumbles. Pope does not deserve to lose the shirt; it's not how this Burnley team operates. For now, Nick plays, for me.

Saw a poll recently on Facebook and about 800 voted and the result was 78% to 22% in favour of Heaton.
I thought it would have been a lot closer, for what its worth Pope until the end of the season.

FWIW I generally feel more comfortable when Nick is in the nets (unless the ball requires kicking )

Nick.

jdrobbo wrote:Tom is our club captain and I suspect he'll start the next season as our number one. However, he, like any other of Dyche's squad, knows how this cookie crumbles. Pope does not deserve to lose the shirt; it's not how this Burnley team operates. For now, Nick plays, for me.

Agree completely.

Heaton's a hell of a shot stopper but prone to staying on his line. Pope's more commanding of his box (snigger) as a keeper should be but perhaps not as athletic as Heaton. Pope's the form keeper. Heaton's coming back from injury. We're 7th in the Premier League whilst Heaton's been injured. No brainer really from a risk management perspective. Can't see Pope being dropped.

Nick Pope is a no brainer for me, he has excelled this season and to drop him for nothing other than Tom being fit would be a mistake.

Back in December I'd have said Heaton. Now, Pope. Seems backwards, I know, because we were winning every week back in December and our form dipped shortly afterwards, but Pope has still been playing well despite poor results and hasn't once looked to dip in confidence. He's consistent, and a better long-term prospect. At the very least, playing Pope week-in-week-out will fetch us a higher price should he be sold. He's too good to be sat on our bench. We won't have Pope for more than two seasons on current form; Heaton straight back in as No.1 if/when Pope is sold, and if that means going out of our way to make sure Heaton is happy with his contract (within reason, obviously) then so be it.

Heaton has to earn his place back, but Nick Pope is in form. Simple as that.

I can’t argue with all of the above opinions, nick has been brilliant for us, excellent shot stopper and commands his area very well, and I have more faith in him that tom when it comes to corners, however I just think this is tom Heaton we are talking about, he kept us up last season (along with a valiant effort from all the lads) but he was sensational.. his Schmeichel type save against United still wins it for me! I love them both!! Let’s hope it is within Sean’s magical abilities to keep them both

Nick Pope will probably keep the shirt until the end of the season, unless he either messes up/gets injured/suspended.
Then pre season they'll both start again, where I think Tom will prevail as number 1.

Pope for now. How can you drop someone when he's on the verge of an England cap.

Both 1st team stoppers,it's going to end in one of them leaving for regular football.
On the basis of age and development potential, Pope stays and we sell Tom.

First choice for the rest of the season: Pope. He’s easily done enough to keep the shirt for now.

First choice in general: Heaton. Better shot stopper. Better kicker. Better leader. Better overall. No disrespect meant to Pope

It would be too cruel to deny Nick his outside chance of a World Cup. He has been excellent since he came in and deserves the opportunity.
Tom will start next season though.

Nick has come from reserve keeper to International squad in half a season.No way can he be dropped on his present form.

Completely agree with jdrobbo's post #6. Thats the way the club/manager operate now.
And rightly so. No reason whatsoever to drop NP, he's done brilliantly.

Tom will have to bide his time.

Brooky wrote:Heaton's a hell of a shot stopper but prone to staying on his line. Pope's more commanding of his box (snigger) as a keeper should be but perhaps not as athletic as Heaton. Pope's the form keeper. Heaton's coming back from injury. We're 7th in the Premier League whilst Heaton's been injured. No brainer really from a risk management perspective. Can't see Pope being dropped.

Putting risk management to one side, both Pope and Heaton have attained the same level of national representation, or will do in the near future, and I'm sure that our very financially astute board (this is praise by the way) will appreciate that Pope's 6 years younger and hasn't suffered a major injury. Wonder what their respective value is?

Pope will play in every game i reckon, til the last game of the season

Pope....almost literally from the minute he came on against Palace he's been brilliant to the point it was never an issue Heaton was injured....to drop him now would be 100% wrong in my eyes and has been previously stated above its not the Burnley/Dyche way and Tom knows the score...club captain or not UTC

Pope's to lose.

No doubt whatsoever that Nick keeps the shirt for the remainder of the season.

Could Tom be our no.1 for the next 10 years? Possibly, but likely to succumb to age.
Could Nick be our no.1 for the next 10 years? Quite simply yes.

Tom has a lot to do to prove he's back to his pre injury best and not susceptible to reoccurring injury. Should he regain his place back in the starting 11, I would be doing everything possible to ensure Nick remains at the club. Like Charlie Taylor, Nick is the future of Burnley FC. There's no reason why Nick cannot continue to develop with the Clarets whether as no.1 or no.2 to Tom for the next few years, at his age he has time on his side. If one of them did feel the need to move on, for the sake of the future of our club, it would be Tom I'd let go.

Horrible but great position for the gaffa to be in.

Pope has to keep the shirt for me

Pope for me.

Two international class keepers.

Mrs G (heart) says Tom. I (head) says Nick

Saves - Heaton
Worldie saves - Heaton
Leg saves - Pope
Coming for crosses/command of the box - Pope
Shouting/directing - Heaton
Kicking - Heaton
Nicest person - Both equal

Shirt to lose - Pope

Tom Tom the goalie number one

Nick Nick (not like Jim Davidson, just copying the meter of InRB) the Ginger Man's pick.

UTC!

Bin Ont Turf wrote:Saves - Heaton
Worldie saves - Heaton
Leg saves - Pope
Coming for crosses/command of the box - Pope
Shouting/directing - Heaton
Kicking - Heaton
Nicest person - Both equal

Shirt to lose - Pope

It’s the worldie saves that makes me say we need to keep Tom for next season. Nick hasn’t “lost” us any points this season, but last season Tom “won” us a good few, just by the nature of some of the ridiculous saves he made, that he had absolutely no right to

Nick. Has done nothing to warrant being left out.

Tom.

Just looking forward to the chant of "Englands number 1 (and 2)"

I think Heaton’s the better keeper, and club captain. However, Dyche doesn’t drop players who have earnt their shirt, and Pope definitely has. It’s a huge shame for Heaton who would probably be on his way to Russia if he started games between now and the end of the season. I can’t imagine Pope will be.

Pope the shirt is his to lose if he keeps up his current form then no way should he lose it.

Pope signed as third choice, so shouldn't see a problem dropping down to 2nd choice to allow a better keeper, and the club captain, to return and claim his rightful place at the World Cup

UpTheBeehole wrote:Pope signed as third choice, so shouldn't see a problem dropping down to 2nd choice to allow a better keeper, and the club captain, to return and claim his rightful place at the World Cup

Have a feeling he might see it differently. Been superb all season, helped us into 7th spot and picked for the England squad with the, World Cup around the corner.

He'll keep his spot and he deserves to. SD will show his loyalty to him. Tom knows he'll have to wait for his chance.

I would detest having to make the choice for real, but on recent showings it's got to be pope

Pope. Proved himself so far and don't need 2 of the same.

Time for Tommy to pack his bags and find a new club for first team football.

starting_11 wrote:Pope. Proved himself so far and don't need 2 of the same.

Time for Tommy to pack his bags and find a new club for first team football.

No point paying for both. Either one takes a paycut or It's time to pick one and go find "another nick Pope" as backup.

It's a shame Tom has been usurped because of injury but if he'd been dropped for any other reason would that make it more fair?

I don't really care, when you're talking about the Premier League you have to be ruthless

Pope is now our No1

If we're talking about this season, its really tough. I think, if I were Dyche, I'd be hoping for a steer from Southgate that (i) whether Heaton has a serious chance of going to Russia if he plays these games (ii) whether Pope still has a realistic chance, given that he appears to have been 4thh choice in the last squad. If the answer is that Heaton has a good chance and Pope doesn't, then I'd like to think that is, in itself, grounds that Pope would understand for Heaton getting the nod. If Pope hasn't played his way into the squad yet, then short of injury it is hard to imagine why he'd change that now given he's been in excellent form for virtually the whole season.

If the answer is that Heaton doesn't have a good chance of going to Russia given the duration of his absence, or if Pope is actually more seriously under consideration for Russia than he appears, then Pope should remain in place.

As for next season - we should be aiming to keep both of them for at least the first half of the situation to run a fair fight. The idea we should discard Heaton because Pope is now our number 1 ignores entirely what an important presence Heaton is off the pitch - the reason he is club captain. Particularly if Ben Mee might go this summer, its absolutely essential we give Heaton every opportunity to re-assert himself as number 1. He's not yet 32 so he's got 3-4 years in his prime as a goalkeeper provided his shoulder is now fully rehabilitated, and assuming he proves that is the case then I'd want him to remain our number 1 even if that involves selling Pope. We can debate their merits as goalkeepers (Heaton narrowly wins that one for me, for what its worth) but Heaton's off field importance swings it - its our culture that makes us more than the sum of our parts.

Pope..Dyche Knows!

Even if we didn't have a 'Tom' waiting in the wings then the stats show that we will finish comfortably in our best PL position having likely conceded 40% ish less goals than last season and our 25 year old goalkeeper has received nationwide praise all season and an England call-up. Pope has also been, statistically, 2nd only to David De Gea in most if not all of the various metrics/stats/tables produced by the media.

I don't think any of the 20 PL managers would consider dropping Pope on those facts alone. Also...

Even if you argue that Tom might be individually better at x, y and z, the flip side of that argument is that the two seasons Tom played in goal we conceded 40% more goals both times (53 and 55 - we actually conceded more last time out than when we were relegated), were relegated once and managed a 16th placed finish. We will, at worst, finish 9th this season having conceded 15-20 (guessing) less goals.

Arguments over the personnel in front of the keeper are valid when considering if Pope has been better protected than Tom but, Keane for Tarkowski aside (who both have received England call ups and can be considered 'similar'), the back four in front of the keepers has been relatively equal.

Heaton's back four missed the grand total of 10 games last season (Ward 1, Lowton 2, Keane 3, Mee 4). Whereas, this season, Pope has had to contend with the 'regular' back four missing 31 combined games already (Lowton 12, Ward 10, Tarkowski 7, Mee 2).

I love Tom Heaton but, as people have already suggested: Pope is younger (more potential?), has not been recently injured and has conceded (far) less goals this season than both of Tom's previous seasons - despite an oft-reshuffled back four.

It's Pope's shirt until he gives reason for SD to question his inclusion. And, having been at the club for five years and been central to the rise of our little club and the reasons behind that rise, I'm sure Tom knows that too.

claretspice wrote:If we're talking about this season, its really tough. I think, if I were Dyche, I'd be hoping for a steer from Southgate that (i) whether Heaton has a serious chance of going to Russia if he plays these games (ii) whether Pope still has a realistic chance, given that he appears to have been 4thh choice in the last squad. If the answer is that Heaton has a good chance and Pope doesn't, then I'd like to think that is, in itself, grounds that Pope would understand for Heaton getting the nod. If Pope hasn't played his way into the squad yet, then short of injury it is hard to imagine why he'd change that now given he's been in excellent form for virtually the whole season.

If the answer is that Heaton doesn't have a good chance of going to Russia given the duration of his absence, or if Pope is actually more seriously under consideration for Russia than he appears, then Pope should remain in place.

As for next season - we should be aiming to keep both of them for at least the first half of the situation to run a fair fight. The idea we should discard Heaton because Pope is now our number 1 ignores entirely what an important presence Heaton is off the pitch - the reason he is club captain. Particularly if Ben Mee might go this summer, its absolutely essential we give Heaton every opportunity to re-assert himself as number 1. He's not yet 32 so he's got 3-4 years in his prime as a goalkeeper provided his shoulder is now fully rehabilitated, and assuming he proves that is the case then I'd want him to remain our number 1 even if that involves selling Pope. We can debate their merits as goalkeepers (Heaton narrowly wins that one for me, for what its worth) but Heaton's off field importance swings it - its our culture that makes us more than the sum of our parts.

Personally I think we shouldnt care less about England and what they want and focus on whats best for us.

Heaton is the better keeper but Pope hasnt let us down yet and has earnt his shirt. Its his to lose. For morale (and Dyches values) Pope should stay in place, for the rest of this season at least.