Tim Howard

Chang Elephant · November 25, 2015

Tim has proven that you can reach the top without goalkeeping skills. God wills it.

Charlie Sweet · November 25, 2015

Dithering Dougie said:
He's dealt with an awful lot and taken solace in religion, he's managed to rise to the pinnacle of the most popular and competitive sport on the plant with a pretty major handicap for a sportsman and is well respected and liked by his peers.

Of course he's an inspiration, and a bloody good one to any child who's wants to reach the top but has been born with health issues.

I don't think you can call Tourettes a "pretty major handicap" but that's another matter.

My point is it's a pretty fine line to go out there preaching religion if you don't live the life of a saint. In my opinion it would be far better to keep his head down and focus on the game.

Kurt. · November 25, 2015

Charlie Sweet said:
I don't think you can call Tourettes a "pretty major handicap" but that's another matter.

My point is it's a pretty fine line to go out there preaching religion if you don't live the life of a saint. In my opinion it would be far better to keep his head down and focus on the game.

How can he focus on the game if his head's down ? he struggles as it is now when he's watching shots come towards him.

Charlie Sweet · November 25, 2015

Kurt said:
How can he focus on the game if his head's down ? he struggles as it is now when he's watching shots come towards him.

Good point but I figure he's been told to keep his head up and his eye on the ball for the last 30 years. That's obviously not working so perhaps it's better to just keep his head down in future....

Kurt. · November 25, 2015

Charlie Sweet said:
Good point but I figure he's been told to keep his head up and his eye on the ball for the last 30 years. That's obviously not working so perhaps it's better to just keep his head down in future....

He could call it 'BLIND FAITH'

mlyons · November 25, 2015

Elong said:
@mlyons I find discussing Schmeichel in a Howard thread a bit of a moving of the goalposts as it detracts from how bad Howard currently is. I wouldn't spend vast amounts of money on him though.

The only thing I'll say is that I wonder if our overseas fans have any idea how big a club we really are, no disrespect but a lot of them try to talk about us as a smaller team when it comes to transfers. We have history, a current manager wanting to cement us back in the history books, and the power of TV money behind us. In this situation, as with purchasing Lukaku, we have to show a little bit of NSNO about this.

Of course I know the history and how big a club we are. Unfortunately, that doesn't matter in the slightest when it comes to transfers, where the only thing that matters is how much money you can put on the table. And almost every other Premier League club out there has just as much money to spend as we do. Leicester isn't going to look at our nine league titles and drop £5 million off their asking price for a player because of it. The FA isn't going to give us a £10 million bonus for being in the top flight longer than any other club.

And you know what? The biggest reason we don't have the financial clout befitting a club with our history is that we don't have enough overseas fans. Perhaps the local supporters should concentrate less on the "Nils Satis" and more on the "Optimum".

Elong · November 25, 2015

mlyons said:
Of course I know the history and how big a club we are. Unfortunately, that doesn't matter in the slightest when it comes to transfers, where the only thing that matters is how much money you can put on the table. And almost every other Premier League club out there has just as much money to spend as we do. Leicester isn't going to look at our nine league titles and drop £5 million off their asking price for a player because of it. The FA isn't going to give us a £10 million bonus for being in the top flight longer than any other club.

And you know what? The biggest reason we don't have the financial clout befitting a club with our history is that we don't have enough overseas fans. Perhaps the local supporters should concentrate less on the "Nils Satis" and more on the "Optimum".

It's not about having the same money as everyone else, it's about where our priorities lie. Not everyone needs to buy a new goalkeeper.

Also, I live in NZ, so I don't speak for local supporters. However if you want a club that is only worried about being good enough than perhaps a trip to the Stoke forums might suit.

mlyons · November 25, 2015

Elong said:
It's not about having the same money as everyone else, it's about where our priorities lie. Not everyone needs to buy a new goalkeeper.

Not everyone needs to buy a new goalkeeper, but the clubs that have goalkeepers aren't going to want to give them away. Stoke, Leicester, West Ham: none of them have any reason to sell their goalkeeper, so going after Butland or Schmeichel or Adrián means we either waste our time or pay £10 million more than they're worth. Which means we don't have £10 million to spend on a backup for Lukaku or an eventual replacement for Kone.

Roberto Martinez has sensible transfer policies in place, which is why I feel confident in saying we will not be signing someone who is a Premier League starter to replace Howard. That has nothing to do with accepting less than the best, because those guys simply aren't the best. We shouldn't settle for a second or third tier keeper while paying through the nose for him. Feel free to vault me.

Elong · November 25, 2015

mlyons said:
Not everyone needs to buy a new goalkeeper, but the clubs that have goalkeepers aren't going to want to give them away. Stoke, Leicester, West Ham: none of them have any reason to sell their goalkeeper, so going after Butland or Schmeichel or Adrián means we either waste our time or pay £10 million more than they're worth. Which means we don't have £10 million to spend on a backup for Lukaku or an eventual replacement for Kone.

Roberto Martinez has sensible transfer policies in place, which is why I feel confident in saying we will not be signing someone who is a Premier League starter to replace Howard. That has nothing to do with accepting less than the best, because those guys simply aren't the best. We shouldn't settle for a second or third tier keeper while paying through the nose for him.

Everyone has a price, and we are a bigger club with bigger ambitions. They would eventually sell if we wanted their player.

Why are we only talking about Premier League keepers anyway? The world is full of keepers, lots better than what we have. You keep saying we won't buy a Premier League keeper, but then keep talking about Premier League goalkeepers. It's very confusing.

mlyons · November 25, 2015

Elong said:
Everyone has a price, and we are a bigger club with bigger ambitions. They would eventually sell if we wanted their player.

Everyone has a price. We don't have enough money to meet most of those prices. Nothing to do with how big a club we are and everything to do with how small our bank accounts are.

Why are we only talking about Premier League keepers anyway? The world is full of keepers, lots better than what we have. You keep saying we won't buy a Premier League keeper, but then keep talking about Premier League goalkeepers. It's very confusing.

As I said, we're not going to get a Premier League keeper. Everyone else brings them up.

Elong · November 25, 2015

mlyons said:
Everyone has a price. We don't have enough money to meet most of those prices. Nothing to do with how big a club we are and everything to do with how small our bank accounts are.

As I said, we're not going to get a Premier League keeper. Everyone else brings them up.

I'm sorry but we certainly do have the money. Have a read through some accounts. With the Sky deal, and Stones going in the summer (sorry Folks, we all know it's happening), money is NOT an issue, this plucky little Everton stuff needs to stop.

mlyons · November 25, 2015

Elong said:
I'm sorry but we certainly do have the money. Have a read through some accounts. With the Sky deal, and Stones going in the summer (sorry Folks, we all know it's happening), money is NOT an issue, this plucky little Everton stuff needs to stop.

Leicester and Stoke have that money, too. Sky money isn't going to help in the slightest when dealing with other clubs who are also getting it. We should be able to throw plenty of money at some Portuguese or Belgian team, though, which is why our next goalkeeper will probably be coming from the continent.

Elong · November 25, 2015

mlyons said:
Leicester and Stoke have that money, too. Sky money isn't going to help in the slightest when dealing with other clubs who are also getting it. We should be able to throw plenty of money at some Portuguese or Belgian team, though, which is why our next goalkeeper will probably be coming from the continent.

What have Leicester and Stoke got to do with anything?

Elong · November 25, 2015

Basically, we need to keep Howard because we're poor. Another excuse for this clown.

marsh · November 26, 2015

I don't really like Howard but what winds me up and has done for a few years is when we have a chance to counter he pretends to throw it and acts likes he is going to and then just doesn't..

And then when we need a breather and shouldn't throw it out quick he does and usually its to an opposition player.

So basically when he should do things he doesn't and when he shouldn't, he does them.

He just annoys me. Sorry Tim.