Forster

In the pre-match kick about! Certainly not talking about during game ffs.

 

why the face palm Gary? If you don't put all the details, then people won't know what you mean. At that exact time, there was a game where he wouldn't respond to the fans during the game.... which is what I referred to and what I thought you had referred to.

 

I would agree with that.
Some players are very quick to respond (Tadic) to the fans' chants, which begs the question, is he concentrating 100% on the job.
Romeu, like Forster, never responds, unless I have missed it, but it doesn't get mentioned.

 

Tadic is the one who is wrong; I laugh every time as he should be focusing on the game. He even waves mid-closing down an opponent.

 

Forster ALWAYS acknowledges the fans when he goes to line up in goal before every half of football. Seriously, is whether he applauds the fans or not become a criticism of a player? Jesus.

 

He always acknowledged his fans...

 

Yeah ok fair point, my bad. However, I reiterate his body language isn't great & he could help himself by engaging with the fans just a little more, perhaps before the game. To me he gives about as much t as much "clap" to home as he does away. (Nice turn of phrase there! )

 

Fair enough. Does it bother you? I don't really care as long as they give their all.

 

This deviation was about his body language & to me tells a story.

 

Not really (the acknowledging of the fans, etc.) but as per above to SF4L, this has deviated away from my original point that his body language isn't great & that, I feel is a tell tale sign.

 

I'm not sure it's wrong. There's definitely a time for it, but the players will always be able to hear the fans, I have nothing wrong with a player acknowledging us when the ball isn't in play.

That said, I'm also not bothered when they don't.

 

But they don't, FLT, haven't you got the message. We are paying customers we expect the players to offer us:

First class rail fares; free tickets for all games; saunas and full rub down after the match; two pints and a packet of pork scratchings at a pub of our choosing. Oh, and to run over and applaud us when we've been singing anti-Lovren songs throughout a match. Only then will we believe they are giving their all.

 

He's only one half of it. Granted he's injured. When is McCarthy due back? Can Gazza be recalled? Either of those better than Forster playing as he is while injured.

 

Really? McCarthy I can go with, but then you shot yourself in the foot.

 

I don't think he is the problem, but he is a problem. Just like our strikeforce. And our unbalanced formations. And the general crisis of confidence inflicting several of our players. And our fixture list. And the Fonte uncertainty. And the general erosion of our defensive resolve. And our home support. And the disconnect between the systems many of our players are suited to and the ones we've played. And our general naivety of the dark arts of winning. And our lack of variety of players. And the fact that most of these problems feed into each other. And so on.

The fact we have all these problems of varying sizes is probably the problem.

Pretty good for us that we're not doing that badly all things considered.

 

Exactly Mikey! Exactly. It's a combination of lots of things.

 

I can understand some of the criticism of Forster..........He has let in a hat full of goals of late. Anyone that has played in goal will understand perhaps how that in its self can affect your confidence. A goalkeeper will always blame himself or think if I had done this instead of that I would have got to that, no matter the reality of the situation. The whole team is lacking in confidence in my view not just Foster.
A time like this is when Puel has to earn his salary and get that confidence back into the side.
The board can help here by squashing a lot of the stupid rumours.
All though a lot of the time it is just agents trying to earn them selves a bob or two. Which no doubt is unsettling players.....perhaps it is time to ban agents getting involved in transfers i.e. touting transfers etc. Somehow we need to illuminate the power they have........Who knows?

 

I'd love that but somehow just can't see it happening

 

Ah agent free utopia.... a land that sadly we'll probably never see.

 

There will always be agents, but that doesn't mean nothing can be done to lessen their pernicious influence on the game. They certainly need reigning in. Shaming them won't help, because these people are shameless. However, it ought to be possible to get them all to at least sign up to a code of conduct. Not one overseen by Fifa though, obviously.

A former pro boxer friend of mine can't even say the word 'agent'. They all as a breed go by such euphemisms as 'vampires', 'leeches', or 'vultures'. Different game, same blight; people getting very rich through the efforts of others.