Pope ,a great GK in the making .

davemanu2000 · Post by **davemanu2000** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:13 pm

One player whose performance struck me is no other than our GK Pope . Although young and very limited experience in the Premier League ,he is excelling himself as one of the greatest G keepers in this division .
For me he will reckoned international face within a short span of time and play for England .

TheOriginalLongsider · Post by **TheOriginalLongsider** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:21 pm

To be honest I don't think he's really been tested yet. Time will tell...

THEWELLERNUT70 · Post by **THEWELLERNUT70** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:26 pm

TheOriginalLongsider wrote:To be honest I don't think he's really been tested yet. Time will tell...

Maybe that's down to the players in front of him. 3 clean sheets in 4 games (two of which were away at Liverpool and Everton) is no mean feat

Saxoman · Post by **Saxoman** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:28 pm

Argentine ain't he? Getting on a bit and can't imagine he'd be all that agile?

CFS · Post by **CFS** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:28 pm

Needs to work on keeping a shot in his arms first time of asking seems to bounce of him all the time however looks a player in the making. If he carries on can we afford to keep him and heaton and just play one of them?

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:28 pm

This time next year, maybe sooner, his teeth will look different.

SirAlec · Post by **SirAlec** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:35 pm

The next Tom Heaton?

ExistentialWanderer · Post by **ExistentialWanderer** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:38 pm

Not the finished article. He flaps sometimes and punches when he doesn't need to. Not a criticism mind, just a learning curve. Potentially could be a very good keeper.

boatshed bill · Post by **boatshed bill** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:42 pm

I think he's doing just fine.

morpheus2 · Post by **morpheus2** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:54 pm

Aside from anything else, I think it's doing the team good having an outfield player as captain. never been a fan of goalkeeper skippers, they should just stick to positioning the wall and stopping the ball going in the net imo.

Stayingup · Post by **Stayingup** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:56 pm

CFS wrote:Needs to work on keeping a shot in his arms first time of asking seems to bounce of him all the time however looks a player in the making. If he carries on can we afford to keep him and heaton and just play one of them?

Agree
Shots do tend to bounce off him. Our defendèrs know this and have been quick to cover but attackers will soon spot it. Nonetheless doing a great job.

andysisson · Post by **andysisson** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:12 pm

THEWELLERNUT70 wrote:Maybe that's down to the players in front of him. 3 clean sheets in 4 games (two of which were away at Liverpool and Everton) is no mean feat

He conceded at Liverpool, Pope has really surprised m"me how well he has adapted so quickly.

Diesel · Post by **Diesel** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:15 pm

Hell of a kick on him hasn't he? He was nearly reaching their 18yd box at Goodison.

Vegas Claret · Post by **Vegas Claret** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:17 pm

Nowhere near the finished article but he's doing ok so far. We have Tom's replacement for sure

FCBurnley · Post by **FCBurnley** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:21 pm

When Heaton was injured I feared the worst but I should have known Sean would be prepared. I had not seen Pope play but after a few appearances I am loving what I see. First off he is a big physical presence. He is happy to use his size to come for crosses which Tom rarely did and finally his distribution is superior to Toms. Am I saying he is a better keeper than Heaton......No but he has been 100 times better than I expected. Great start to your PL career Mr Pope.

Duffer_ · Post by **Duffer_** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:27 pm

He's doing well - commands his box, saved 2 points on debut with a great save, and had the bottle for Anfield on his first PL start. Agree with the comments about his handling but there's a fair bit to like.

I also think that Lindegaard is a shrewd signing. Not sure what that does for Legzdins, and it is a slap in the chops for the lad, but our goalkeeping set up is doing very well and has been for a while.

UTC!

Shappie · Post by **Shappie** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:37 pm

I said at Ewood I wouldnt be too upset if he ever had to come on in place of Heaton. So he has proved

colne-claret · Post by **colne-claret** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:50 pm

I might get ridiculed for the statement I'm about to make but it wouldn't shock me if when Heaton is back fit again, we see Pope go to the championship on loan to continue getting game time especially with us now having Lindegaard until the end of the season. He's done just fine so far though and long may it continue. The more game time he gets the better he will get.

ExistentialWanderer · Post by **ExistentialWanderer** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:54 pm

colne-claret wrote:I might get ridiculed for the statement I'm about to make but it wouldn't shock me if when Heaton is back fit again, we see Pope go to the championship on loan to continue getting game time especially with us now having Lindegaard until the end of the season. He's done just fine so far though and long may it continue. The more game time he gets the better he will get.

No. You're entitled to your opinion. I think Tom has developed him. I'd be surprised if Tom walks straight back in, barring a mishap or two. Pope has done well!

alwaysaclaret · Post by **alwaysaclaret** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:54 pm

Popey no doubt doing a great job for us at the moment, still big tests to come, but I don't know if anyone picked up on he's passion at the end yesterday in he's celebration, " very impressive "

ExistentialWanderer · Post by **ExistentialWanderer** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:57 pm

alwaysaclaret wrote:Popey no doubt doing a great job for us at the moment, still big tests to come, but I don't know if anyone picked up on he's passion at the end yesterday in he's celebration, " very impressive "

He's properly up for it and that is a fantastic thing. Competition is healthy!

claretspice · Post by **claretspice** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:01 pm

Very glad this thread has appeared, as I don't think Pope has got the credit he deserves for yesterday, and I still think some of the comments on here underplay his contribution.

He didn't have any particularly difficult saves to make, but he did have to come and either catch or punch a number of crosses, none of which were particularly routine. There was one punch in particular in the second half which was absolutely terrific, under real pressure and he got lots of distance on it. There was another cross that he managed to tip away at full stretch at the back post when the forward looked favourite. Even in the first half when Niasse touched the ball over him, I thought he made a pretty good decision to come off his line and rush Niasse, and he certainly made a really good, decisive decision to come and head clear on the edge of the box in the second half, clearing out the defenders who might have caused him to hesitate in the process.

I think its really easy to underestimate how impressive those interventions are, or how difficult they were to execute. There are loads of good shot stoppers out there but the inability to command the area is the thing that prevents many of them from becoming top class keepers. Pope has shown a bit in the last 3 games to suggest that, although he has lots of rough edges, he's got that ability.

But there really ought to be a shout out on this thread for Billy Mercer, who must be a seriously good goalkeeping coach. We know how much Heaton has benefitted from working with him, but its often forgotten that Lee Grant did so previously and now Pope is showing similar levels of improvement. Robinson also commented regularly how much he enjoyed working with him - he's obviously a vital member of our back room team and a real unsung hero.

ExistentialWanderer · Post by **ExistentialWanderer** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:07 pm

claretspice wrote: But there really ought to be a shout out on this thread for Billy Mercer, who must be a seriously good goalkeeping coach. We know how much Heaton has benefitted from working with him, but its often forgotten that Lee Grant did so previously and now Pope is showing similar levels of improvement. Robinson also commented regularly how much he enjoyed working with him - he's obviously a vital member of our back room team and a real unsung hero.

Disregarding the rest of the post, which had valid points; but already discussed over several threads. There must be something about Mercer. He can spot a keeper with talent and seems to improve them. I am, in turn; glad Mercer was brought up. He seems to have that ability to polish rough diamonds.

CFS · Post by **CFS** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:16 pm

Glad we ended up getting pope instead of the keeper who went to Brentford forgot his name but pope looks the man in the middle of our goal.

ExistentialWanderer · Post by **ExistentialWanderer** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:22 pm

CFS wrote:Glad we ended up getting pope instead of the keeper who went to Brentford forgot his name but pope looks the man in the middle of our goal.

Bentley. Thought he was already at Brentford. I stand to be corrected.

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:28 pm

andysisson wrote:He conceded at Liverpool, Pope has really surprised m"me how well he has adapted so quickly.

Huddersfield palarse and Everton ...clean sheets

CFS · Post by **CFS** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:48 pm

ExistentialWanderer wrote:Bentley. Thought he was already at Brentford. I stand to be corrected.

Could be right maybe he was at Brentford not 100% sure.

Goobs · Post by **Goobs** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:00 pm

ExistentialWanderer wrote:Bentley. Thought he was already at Brentford. I stand to be corrected.

Wasn't he at Northampton?

ExistentialWanderer · Post by **ExistentialWanderer** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:02 pm

Goobs wrote:Wasn't he at Northampton?

I just have a vague recollection we were after Bentley and Pope.

ExistentialWanderer · Post by **ExistentialWanderer** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:02 pm

Goobs wrote:Wasn't he at Northampton?

I just have a vague recollection we were after Bentley and Pope.

IanMcL · Post by **IanMcL** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 11:05 pm

I think he is a shoe in for Vatican City.

superdimitri · Post by **superdimitri** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 2:20 am

His kicking in the second half was poor but he's good in the air so that's all that matters

MACCA · Post by **MACCA** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 7:44 am

Bentley was at Southend and went Brentford, when Button of Brentford went to Fulham.

Bentley was very highly rated, but looks like the Joe Hart of the championship with some silly errors.

TheOriginalLongsider · Post by **TheOriginalLongsider** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:05 am

Can we please get a better song for him?

IanMcL · Post by **IanMcL** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:53 pm

TheOriginalLongsider wrote:Can we please get a better song for him?

Ave Maria?

IanMcL · Post by **IanMcL** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 3:55 pm

Ave Nick Popeiaaaaa

quoonbeatz · Post by **quoonbeatz** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 4:40 pm

bringing mercer with him was probably the best thing laws ever did for the club.

colne-claret · Post by **colne-claret** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 5:15 pm

quoonbeatz wrote:bringing mercer with him was probably the best thing laws ever did for the club.

Don't forget Leon Cort.

Top Claret · Post by **Top Claret** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:16 pm

Nick is going to be a top goal keeper. He is better than Tom on crosses and punching and a far better kicker. He as the ideal hight and build for a modern day goalie.
As other have said he needs to improve his handling on shots.
Heaton is still our No 1 but Tom is not far behind

AlargeClaret · Post by **AlargeClaret** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:36 pm

I think the lad has done well thrown in against the big boys in the prem .Hes a little raw though and understandably took a while building confidence .Naturally he doesn't (yet?) have Heatons remarkable handling ability and he does have a slight inclination to punch the ball (somat personally I dislike innkeepers) but he's growing each game in confidence and the City game will be a real character test as they are quite simply in brutal form .

mdd2 · Post by **mdd2** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:02 pm

colne-claret wrote:I might get ridiculed for the statement I'm about to make but it wouldn't shock me if when Heaton is back fit again, we see Pope go to the championship on loan to continue getting game time especially with us now having Lindegaard until the end of the season. He's done just fine so far though and long may it continue. The more game time he gets the better he will get.

No chance IMO as Tom will not be ready by Jan 31st which if true means Pope won't get out on loan; also even if Tom is back before the end of transfer deadline there will be a big risk that he (TH) will not be the same keeper we saw before his injury and we would be mad to let go our number 2 keeper.

Pstotto · Post by **Pstotto** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:25 pm

John Paul the 2nd had a go...

colne-claret · Post by **colne-claret** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 3:45 pm

mdd2 wrote:No chance IMO as Tom will not be ready by Jan 31st which if true means Pope won't get out on loan; also even if Tom is back before the end of transfer deadline there will be a big risk that he (TH) will not be the same keeper we saw before his injury and we would be mad to let go our number 2 keeper.

I thought he was back before then. My bad.

mohamed69 · Post by **mohamed69** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:07 pm

Great display of technique here. Eyes closed.

: pope.jpg (740.72 KiB) Viewed 8909 times

taio · Post by **taio** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:18 pm

His eyes aren't closed. Pathetic attempt at criticising him.

mohamed69 · Post by **mohamed69** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 6:21 pm

Great keeper

HatfieldClaret · Post by **HatfieldClaret** » Sat Oct 07, 2017 7:50 pm

Are the scouts for big rich clubs just getting lazy ?

How can we find stars like Pope and Heaton, Tarks & Defour.

When did one of the top 5 last find raw talent from the lower leagues and play them week in week out in the Prem ?

Billy_Bumface · Post by **Billy_Bumface** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 12:41 am

Deli Ali, but I'd struggle to think of another.

tim_noone · Post by **tim_noone** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 12:47 am

Billy_Bumface wrote:Deli Ali, but I'd struggle to think of another.

That Daniel agyei at Walsall scored a cracker today maybe we should look at him .....