Ireland V Poland

Lamper.sffc

Personally speaking Id prefer Westwood. Iv seen a lot of both keepers over the years from league 1 and up (The joys of being a Leeds supporter) and it has always been Westwood who has stood out over Forde.
Westwoods career stalled a little because he ended up competing against a very good keeper in Mignolet who was starting to hit top form but hopefully now when injury free Westwood can claim the number spot at Sunderland and then Ireland because long term he is our better option.
This is not to say that Forde hasnt done really well. Iv been surprised to see how well he has done.
The main thing I noticed about Forde when playing for Millwall is that he tended to make a really bad mistake per game. His kicking is really bad and I noticed the other night that it really helped Poland keep the pressure on.

For me Fordes bad kicking cant be underestimated and Westwood can do everything else Forde can and a lot of the time better

Lennonist

rebelomar wrote: »

True id forgot about poor Joey. He doesn't seem to have much luck in fairness in regards his Irish career.

He's always seems relatively solid for West Ham but I don't think I have seen enough to make a judgement? Whats he like on the ball

Don't know haven't seen him that much either tbh. He doesn't always start, think he's been on the bench a bit lately. He was a regular starter last season, maybe had some injury problems this season?

yabadabado

Ward and Kelly aren't good enough to start but they may be needed on some occasions until we find better alternatives at full back. Coleman and Wilson would be my first choice at RB and LB. O'Brien would be my choice for cover if either of those lads aren't available.
Cunningham seems to be off the radar at the moment but I'm sure MON will assess all options. Afaik there is a young full back at wolves who is highly regarded but probably isn't ready yet , there is also Shane O'Neill in the MLS if he declares for us but he is another who is a bit of the level required at the moment.
Kyle Naughton is supposed to be a player who can play for us but I don't know much about him. Anyone else linked to us who might be a good option ?

hufpc8w3adnk65

I remember reading (I think it was here) a list of exiled players and also a list of players who can still switch too the irish national team for football any got it handy?

noodler

Lamper.sffc wrote: »

Personally speaking Id prefer Westwood. Iv seen a lot of both keepers over the years from league 1 and up (The joys of being a Leeds supporter) and it has always been Westwood who has stood out over Forde.
Westwoods career stalled a little because he ended up competing against a very good keeper in Mignolet who was starting to hit top form but hopefully now when injury free Westwood can claim the number spot at Sunderland and then Ireland because long term he is our better option.

You see this is my main issue.He career stalled for like 18 months when he was getting virtually no club football. He also had a couple of dodgey peformances against Germany and the Faroes for Ireland (not that I hold them against him that much but worth bearing in mind when comparions with Forde are made).

Forde has been playing regularly for years now, made the FA Cup Final last year, was pretty damn impressive in the games he played for Ireland in the last campaign (particularly Sweden and Germany away). The majority of calls for Westwood to replace him do not seem to be based on merit from what I can see, it seems to simply be a case of one of the following:

1) Westwood is now starting football games at club level finally and at EPL level.

2) He was very good 2 years ago when he last played club football.

3) The latest argument, which I haven't noticed my self although so many people in the media and public have said it that I am certain there is something in it, is about his distribution.

Maybe Forde's good Irish performances will count for nought under a new management but I would feel reasonably hard done by if I were him. There has been no reason to have him replaced based on his Irish performances.

Lamper.sffc wrote: »

This is not to say that Forde hasnt done really well. Iv been surprised to see how well he has done.
The main thing I noticed about Forde when playing for Millwall is that he tended to make a really bad mistake per game. His kicking is really bad and I noticed the other night that it really helped Poland keep the pressure on.

For me Fordes bad kicking cant be underestimated and Westwood can do everything else Forde can and a lot of the time better

I appreciate also that you do recognise that he has done well. I'd point out though that distribution for Westwood would have been a helluva lot easier against Latvians who were doing almost no pressing compared to the workrate of the Poles the other night. I recognise it may be a bigger issue though.

BobbyPropane

Forde is better than Westwood. I'm a Sunderland fan and Westwood has been good but our other keeper Mannone has come in and outperformed him, doesn't look like Westwood will keep the No.1 spot this season

Lamper.sffc

noodler wrote: »

You see this is my main issue.He career stalled for like 18 months when he was getting virtually no club football. He also had a couple of dodgey peformances against Germany and the Faroes for Ireland (not that I hold them against him that much but worth bearing in mind when comparions with Forde are made).

Forde has been playing regularly for years now, made the FA Cup Final last year, was pretty damn impressive in the games he played for Ireland in the last campaign (particularly Sweden and Germany away). The majority of calls for Westwood to replace him do not seem to be based on merit from what I can see, it seems to simply be a case of one of the following:

1) Westwood is now starting football games at club level finally and at EPL level.

2) He was very good 2 years ago when he last played club football.

3) The latest argument, which I haven't noticed my self although so many people in the media and public have said it that I am certain there is something in it, is about his distribution.

Maybe Forde's good Irish performances will count for nought under a new management but I would feel reasonably hard done by if I were him. There has been no reason to have him replaced based on his Irish performances.




I appreciate also that you do recognise that he has done well. I'd point out though that distribution for Westwood would have been a helluva lot easier against Latvians who were doing almost no pressing compared to the workrate of the Poles the other night. I recognise it may be a bigger issue though.

Fair enough but my opinion is based on years of watching both keepers and Westwood for me has been the better keeper overall. That said if the keeper jersey went to Westwood, Forde has a strong case to be annoyed based on his recent performances for Ireland.

Lamper.sffc

BobbyPropane wrote: »

Forde is better than Westwood. I'm a Sunderland fan and Westwood has been good but our other keeper Mannone has come in and outperformed him, doesn't look like Westwood will keep the No.1 spot this season

Sunderland have not seen the best of Westwood yet. If Mannone ends up Sunderlands first choice then Westwood has seriously dropped of from the keeper he should be. I dont think this will be the case though. Time will tell I guess