I feel sorry for Fraserā¦in reality itās not his fault he was played for so long when in very poor form. Who decided to keeping him playing I wouldnāt know but I suspect it wasnāt just a manager decisionā¦the coaching staff must have had an input.
What was noticable today was that McCarthy didnāt try to punch away one single shot or cross. The effect that had was a calming influence. When under pressure itās great to see your keeper stnding at the edge of the penalty area with the ball in his arms, waving his defence forward while he chooses his way to set the next play in motion.
McCarthy has waited long enough for his chance. In any sport, especially at this level, it is all about taking the chance when you are given it. He certainly did that today. Forster is probably on twice the wages McCarthy is on, but no matter. McCarthy is in the box seat now and fair play to him. He looked like a proper goalkeeper today, something Forster hasnāt done for months. Iām sure Kelvin made the decision to drop him and give McCarthy the nod. After all, thatās his job now, making decisions that have the potential to backfire but making them anyway. Kudos to him, and to Pellegrino who obviously gave him his head to go ahead and do it. Given Forsters performances this season i think the chances of us getting a point at Old Trafford today with him in goal would have been nil. He will be hurting iām sure, but if he is an honest professional he will know that he cannot complain. You are only as good as your last game, or in his case his last dozen games, where he surely must know he has not been good enough. Hopefully this will be the kick up the arse he needs to get back to the standards he showed when he first joined us. After all, Joe Hart is the England No 1 keeper and he canāt even get in the West Ham team so he is not alone.
IF he is mentally fit again then he is a good keeper. It would be senseless paying him Ā£4mil a year until 2022 he should play for us or play for someone else.
IF he is not mentally fit then in his own interests and for his recovery perhaps he should retire
Iām all for him coming back IF he is back to his pre-knee injury best.
For the same reason he sat on the sidelines for God knows how long.
The one and only thing in modern idiocy that matters.
Money.
Not saying he will come back and couldnāt care less if iām honest, but if thereās more money to be made running down a contract(which boosts the next one) thatās what heāll do(give or take 10k).
Can/will Celtic afford his wages and a transfer fee? They wonāt pay the reported Ā£80k per week that we do.
What will Saints accept for him? Perhaps theyāll take a hit to get him off the books but if heās doing well theyād argue he is worthy of a half decent fee.
Never said weād play him either.
Not saying he wants to return, simply that he probably wonāt walk away from his massive contract at Saints.
Thereāll be a compromise as there always is, he wonāt come back here as weāll have to stump up the full whack for the rest of his contract, what inbred did all these long term contracts?