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Post by dragon64 on Aug 26, 2024 7:02:22 GMT
I suppose there is also the "Leeds Connection" to consider. Being around Ampadu, Rodon and James maybe they have had a chat with him. If they have might be a bit frosty next time they meet up with Danny Ward! yes that may have a bearing positive/negative based on how they get on lol |
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Post by erasedcitizen on Aug 26, 2024 7:17:26 GMT
Are we that bitter? Some of our greats are English-born and wouldn't have thought twice about turning out for them ahead of us given the opportunity. I’m not sure it’s bitterness. Out of interest, which of our English-born greats fit this scenario? Ashley Williams grew up following the English national team. Had he been playing at the level he ended up earlier, he never would've entered the conversation. |
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Post by vaulksthrowfanclub on Aug 26, 2024 7:17:45 GMT
My point being Darlow not much better than Maxwell or Cornell currently. At least give the opportunity to a proud Welshman who would relish the opportunity. Darlow has pied us off 3 times over almost a 10 year period!! Are we that bitter? Some of our greats are English-born and wouldn't have thought twice about turning out for them ahead of us given the opportunity. Don’t think it’s a matter of somehow being ‘bitter’. I want proud people who actively want to play for the shirt - could be born and raised on Mars for all I care. A now back-up keeper who rejected us three times, despite strong family ties to the national football team, and ‘commits’ as a 33 year old does not scream ‘proud to wear the shirt’. All our non-Wales raised greats jumped at the first opportunity to play for us. |
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Post by erasedcitizen on Aug 26, 2024 7:25:52 GMT
Are we that bitter? Some of our greats are English-born and wouldn't have thought twice about turning out for them ahead of us given the opportunity. Don’t think it’s a matter of somehow being ‘bitter’. I want proud people who actively want to play for the shirt - could be born and raised on Mars for all I care. A now back-up keeper who rejected us three times, despite strong family ties to the national football team, and ‘commits’ as a 33 year old does not scream ‘proud to wear the shirt’. All our non-Wales raised greats jumped at the first opportunity to play for us. Ashley Williams was playing 3rd tier football when we first approached him, I doubt even he at the time believed where he'd end up. Robson-Kanu never reached the level that would've been considered good enough by England. Hardly comparable to Darlow's situation. 'Someone who is bitter is angry and unhappy because they cannot forget bad things that happened in the past' That's the Cambridge definition of bitterness. Some of you are clearly upset and unhappy because he's refused us in the past. At a time where the offer was far from enticing (see Allezlesrouge's post) and he may have believed an England call-up was still on the cards. At 33, perhaps he's had a change of heart? You have no clue what's going on in his head, but I highly doubt Bellamy is going to call anyone up who isn't 100% committed, do you think he would? What I do know, however, is our Goalkeeper situation is dire and a player who could potentially be our best GK at this time should not be simply cast aside. |
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Post by hooky on Aug 26, 2024 8:08:15 GMT
Lets park this and see how it goes
If it provides competition to Ward then all the better
BTW - how long is Ward's contract? How much does he earn a year? To get paid a lot of money just to be #2 is bonkers! Even when there has been an injury, except for one period of a couple of months, Leicester have desperately looked around for an alternative whenever they lost their #1. He was 23-24 when he had that great season at Huddersfield. Really bonkers how he has left his career evolve since. At 31 he should be in his prime now!
On Darlow - does anyone know if he is a better keeper or has a higher ceiling? Are his reflexes better? Is he more agile? Obviously he has not played much either! Ward seems to react slowly to things which I have put down to lack of match practice but maybe that is due to his limitations. As I said for the penalty shoot out vs Poland he never got anywhere near a penalty and while they took good penalties it seemed too easy for Poland
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Post by talyfan on Aug 26, 2024 8:18:14 GMT
Wards got another year.
Darlows barely played any football recently to know what he's good/bad at it. Only one way to find out I suppose.
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Post by rushy on Aug 26, 2024 8:41:38 GMT
Maybe Darlow is good with his feet 😂🙄
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Post by allezlesrouges on Aug 26, 2024 9:17:19 GMT
Darlow has recently played for Hull in the Championship and seems to be praised by the Hull fans for his performances. I can't imagine Ward getting a gig at that level now, I think he's more League One level now
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Post by CrackityJones on Aug 26, 2024 9:40:19 GMT
Darlow played two games last season, he played 12 for Hull the season before so not a regular
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Post by mortillsy on Aug 26, 2024 11:24:00 GMT
I’m not sure it’s bitterness. Out of interest, which of our English-born greats fit this scenario? Ashley Williams grew up following the English national team. Had he been playing at the level he ended up earlier, he never would've entered the conversation. That is not a comparable situation! Darlow double and tripled down on his ‘Englishness’ which although disappointing at the time was sort of admirable! Although, I did find it a bit strange with his Grandad being Ken Leak(?) that he didn’t want to get involved. I don’t think it is bitterness if some have reservations. You’re right, he may have had some epiphany regarding his affiliation to Wales on the eve of his 34th birthday and not playing regular football, but that is all conjecture at the moment. I do agree that it is reflective of the dire goalkeeping situation at the moment. He would certainly strengthen the pool we have. |
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Post by insertname on Aug 26, 2024 13:28:25 GMT
It’s worth bearing in mind that, surprisingly, Darlow has some pretty poor stats: been in the pro game since 2008 and in that time has a paltry 200 odd appearances. Seems like he’s made a career out of being a backup keeper just like Ward. As such we haven’t really missed out by him not committing earlier. It’s probably been a good decision for him and Wales because, as a reserve keeper, he wouldn’t have had much justification to get in ahead of Hennessey for the vast majority of the last decade.
One would hope that if he’s committed now he’s got the ambition to seek first team football. It would be absolutely tragic to bolster our keeper options and yet still see no resolution to the issue of having to pick a keeper from three who aren't first team players.
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Post by erasedcitizen on Aug 26, 2024 15:52:56 GMT
Ashley Williams grew up following the English national team. Had he been playing at the level he ended up earlier, he never would've entered the conversation. That is not a comparable situation! Darlow double and tripled down on his ‘Englishness’ which although disappointing at the time was sort of admirable! Although, I did find it a bit strange with his Grandad being Ken Leak(?) that he didn’t want to get involved. I don’t think it is bitterness if some have reservations. You’re right, he may have had some epiphany regarding his affiliation to Wales on the eve of his 34th birthday and not playing regular football, but that is all conjecture at the moment. I do agree that it is reflective of the dire goalkeeping situation at the moment. He would certainly strengthen the pool we have. I've sort of leaned on it not being comparable already by suggesting we plucked Ash from the third tier, where Darlow was just a few players off making the England squad at his best. My point isn't about the two situations being comparable however. Do you think Ash would have considered us from the start if he came through a top tier side and felt he had a genuine chance of an English call-up? Obviously we'd all love to believe it was Wales for him no matter what, but I'd argue the reality is a bit different. Regardless, I love Ash for what he gave to the cause and he's rewarded our faith in him from early on in spades. |
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Post by erasedcitizen on Aug 26, 2024 15:58:06 GMT
I'm going off on a tangent now anyway.
Bottomline is that if Bellamy thinks he's committed, he's committed and he's likely better than almost all of our options now so we should support his inclusion and support Bellamy in his decision.
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Post by marsvolta on Aug 26, 2024 17:05:36 GMT
I'm going off on a tangent now anyway. Bottomline is that if Bellamy thinks he's committed, he's committed and he's likely better than almost all of our options now so we should support his inclusion and support Bellamy in his decision. Yes, if he’s selected I’ll support him like every other squad member. If we look at the positives, which are scarce to be honest, if he manages to play until the same age as Hennessey and gets a move to play for a championship side,we’ll get two more campaigns out of him while we wait for the next keeper to come through. |
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Post by CrackityJones on Aug 26, 2024 17:09:27 GMT
Nothing to get worked up about anyway. The bloke hasn’t played much recently and wasn’t all that when he did
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Post by marsvolta on Aug 26, 2024 18:09:21 GMT
Basically, the reality is that he will either take Tom King’s place or Hennessey if he’s retired. There’s not many realistic better options.
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Post by melynwy on Aug 26, 2024 21:48:15 GMT
It’s worth bearing in mind that, surprisingly, Darlow has some pretty poor stats: been in the pro game since 2008 and in that time has a paltry 200 odd appearances. Seems like he’s made a career out of being a backup keeper just like Ward. As such we haven’t really missed out by him not committing earlier. It’s probably been a good decision for him and Wales because, as a reserve keeper, he wouldn’t have had much justification to get in ahead of Hennessey for the vast majority of the last decade. One would hope that if he’s committed now he’s got the ambition to seek first team football. It would be absolutely tragic to bolster our keeper options and yet still see no resolution to the issue of having to pick a keeper from three who aren't first team players. A fair point, although Darlow’s 250-ish career appearances is almost twice what Ward has managed! And Darlow did look decent in the Prem with Newcastle for a while. I know he has rejected us, but professional footballers do not see these things as is fans do, and the concept of nationality itself is much more fluid for some people more than others. I can’t blame him if he’s tempted by a potential World Cup before retiring. If he says he’s in, then I don’t doubt his commitment. Pro players don’t really commit to something they don’t have to and then do a half-arsed job. Yes it would’ve been nicer for us if he’d done it 10 years ago, but if he does a good job for a couple of campaigns, then its a positive, because no one seems to be on the verge of breaking. through within that timeframe. |
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Post by insertname on Aug 26, 2024 23:17:19 GMT
It’s worth bearing in mind that, surprisingly, Darlow has some pretty poor stats: been in the pro game since 2008 and in that time has a paltry 200 odd appearances. Seems like he’s made a career out of being a backup keeper just like Ward. As such we haven’t really missed out by him not committing earlier. It’s probably been a good decision for him and Wales because, as a reserve keeper, he wouldn’t have had much justification to get in ahead of Hennessey for the vast majority of the last decade. One would hope that if he’s committed now he’s got the ambition to seek first team football. It would be absolutely tragic to bolster our keeper options and yet still see no resolution to the issue of having to pick a keeper from three who aren't first team players. A fair point, although Darlow’s 250-ish career appearances is almost twice what Ward has managed! And Darlow did look decent in the Prem with Newcastle for a while. I know he has rejected us, but professional footballers do not see these things as is fans do, and the concept of nationality itself is much more fluid for some people more than others. I can’t blame him if he’s tempted by a potential World Cup before retiring. If he says he’s in, then I don’t doubt his commitment. Pro players don’t really commit to something they don’t have to and then do a half-arsed job. Yes it would’ve been nicer for us if he’d done it 10 years ago, but if he does a good job for a couple of campaigns, then its a positive, because no one seems to be on the verge of breaking. through within that timeframe. Be that as it may his time at Newcastle is quite staggering. From 2014 to 2023 (iirc) and only around 2 seasons worth of games. It’s quite surprising as I had it in my head he was quite an experienced keeper who had played a fair bit because his name has been around for ages. But yeah, agreed that some pride may have to be swallowed and tongues bitten if he can come in and make a difference for a few years. Although if he doesn’t get first team football it could all end up looking a bit daft! |
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Post by dragon64 on Aug 27, 2024 2:20:38 GMT
A fair point, although Darlow’s 250-ish career appearances is almost twice what Ward has managed! And Darlow did look decent in the Prem with Newcastle for a while. I know he has rejected us, but professional footballers do not see these things as is fans do, and the concept of nationality itself is much more fluid for some people more than others. I can’t blame him if he’s tempted by a potential World Cup before retiring. If he says he’s in, then I don’t doubt his commitment. Pro players don’t really commit to something they don’t have to and then do a half-arsed job. Yes it would’ve been nicer for us if he’d done it 10 years ago, but if he does a good job for a couple of campaigns, then its a positive, because no one seems to be on the verge of breaking. through within that timeframe. Be that as it may his time at Newcastle is quite staggering. From 2014 to 2023 (iirc) and only around 2 seasons worth of games. It’s quite surprising as I had it in my head he was quite an experienced keeper who had played a fair bit because his name has been around for ages. But yeah, agreed that some pride may have to be swallowed and tongues bitten if he can come in and make a difference for a few years. Although if he doesn’t get first team football it could all end up looking a bit daft!  so thats approx 200+games working out about 15 a season and thats including cups etc thought he would be double that amount bit shocked by those numbers |
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Post by surge on Aug 27, 2024 7:49:12 GMT
Be that as it may his time at Newcastle is quite staggering. From 2014 to 2023 (iirc) and only around 2 seasons worth of games. It’s quite surprising as I had it in my head he was quite an experienced keeper who had played a fair bit because his name has been around for ages. But yeah, agreed that some pride may have to be swallowed and tongues bitten if he can come in and make a difference for a few years. Although if he doesn’t get first team football it could all end up looking a bit daft! so thats approx 200+games working out about 15 a season and thats including cups etc thought he would be double that amount bit shocked by those numbers The table you're sharing says it's from "*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:48, 17 February 2024," however there is a breakdown further along the page updated as of 13 January 2024 which says he played 106 times for Forest. If the latter table is correct then he played: - 105 Championship games between 2012-2015 - 34 Championship games in 2016-2017 - 25 Premier league games in 2020-2021 Do I assume these peak career seasons are when he was previously asked if he wanted to accept a call up? |
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Post by marsvolta on Aug 27, 2024 9:12:45 GMT
The irony is, if he had committed to us all those years ago he’d be just another one on the list of non-playing keepers we’ve been complaining about. Ha ha.
As I said earlier, he’ll probably be selected instead of Tom King or, if he retires, Hennessey. So we’ll gain a little bit by him coming on board but not a lot unless he gets a move before Friday’s transfer deadline.
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Post by talyfan on Aug 27, 2024 9:23:52 GMT
Been linked with a move to Hull but apparently they're not pursuing him.
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Post by iot on Aug 27, 2024 9:56:42 GMT
Can't say I know much about him, but this does feel like a bit of an odd one as I'm not really sure it's an upgrade. From what I've seen, he's a bit of an old school keeper who's good at the bread and butter stuff but isn't particularly comfortable with the ball at his feet. I watched quite a bit of Leeds last year and Meslier went through a couple of shaky patches, but is an excellent distributor. When Darlow came in for a cup game he seemed to struggle to play the way Farke expects, and didn't really get another look in, so he's not the type of keeper Bellamy needs for the way he'll want us to play.
I've seen a few people say that Danny Ward is a League 1 level keeper, but that doesn't really stack up. He played two full seasons on loan in his early to mid twenties where he did very well - first in the SPL and then in the Championship. So at that point he showed he had the ability to play at that level. Leicester spent about £15m on him if memory serves. He's since gone through a few years where he just hasn't played much at all, and struggled when given a couple of months in the Premiership, but I can't see why he would have lost any of the natural ability that he had 7 or 8 years ago.
So essentially we have two proven Championship keepers in Ward and Darlow, with the former a couple of years younger, both not particularly suited to how we're going to play.
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Post by melynwy on Aug 27, 2024 10:20:01 GMT
Be that as it may his time at Newcastle is quite staggering. From 2014 to 2023 (iirc) and only around 2 seasons worth of games. It’s quite surprising as I had it in my head he was quite an experienced keeper who had played a fair bit because his name has been around for ages. But yeah, agreed that some pride may have to be swallowed and tongues bitten if he can come in and make a difference for a few years. Although if he doesn’t get first team football it could all end up looking a bit daft! so thats approx 200+games working out about 15 a season and thats including cups etc thought he would be double that amount bit shocked by those numbers The Wiki tables only shows league games for some reason - he also has a few cup appearances (it’s all shown in the ‘Career Statistics’ section), so his total is around 250. Not great by any means, but Ward is only barely past 100 I think (not counting his international caps)! |
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Post by athenempadu on Aug 27, 2024 14:35:34 GMT
Darlow trains with 4 Welsh lads every day, maybe their enthusiasm has rubbed off on him?
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Post by CrackityJones on Aug 27, 2024 17:50:20 GMT
That probably has been a factor in changing his mind
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Post by allezlesrouges on Aug 28, 2024 9:02:43 GMT
Can't say I know much about him, but this does feel like a bit of an odd one as I'm not really sure it's an upgrade. From what I've seen, he's a bit of an old school keeper who's good at the bread and butter stuff but isn't particularly comfortable with the ball at his feet. I watched quite a bit of Leeds last year and Meslier went through a couple of shaky patches, but is an excellent distributor. When Darlow came in for a cup game he seemed to struggle to play the way Farke expects, and didn't really get another look in, so he's not the type of keeper Bellamy needs for the way he'll want us to play. I've seen a few people say that Danny Ward is a League 1 level keeper, but that doesn't really stack up. He played two full seasons on loan in his early to mid twenties where he did very well - first in the SPL and then in the Championship. So at that point he showed he had the ability to play at that level. Leicester spent about £15m on him if memory serves. He's since gone through a few years where he just hasn't played much at all, and struggled when given a couple of months in the Premiership, but I can't see why he would have lost any of the natural ability that he had 7 or 8 years ago. So essentially we have two proven Championship keepers in Ward and Darlow, with the former a couple of years younger, both not particularly suited to how we're going to play. Re: Ward his ability level is certainly above League One. I just think his chronic lack of game time will have brought his level down - I don't think there will be too many Championship clubs who are keen to snap him up |
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Post by neverever on Aug 28, 2024 16:28:57 GMT
Certainly not in favour of his squad call up & would have rather had Chris Maxwell.
But maybe he accepted the call up this time seeing that Wayne is off the scene & Danny permanently getting splinters on the bench & saw the opportunity to be number 1 which lets face it would not have been the case in previous years teams & his ego would not have allowed it.
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Post by talyfan on Aug 28, 2024 17:12:59 GMT
Not sure how much weight it holds but Bellamy either said in the press conference or interview with Sgorio that out of 3, who starts is down to who trains the best.
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Post by dragon64 on Aug 28, 2024 18:53:06 GMT
He well start one of the games surely as what was the point in again chasing him to sit on the bench
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