“It’s also one of my strengths so I am happy to do it and the more high balls you come for, the fewer shots you will face, because you are cutting the ball out at an earlier stage of the attack.”
I'm sure sooner or later he will be sold, but we will probably get a few seasons out of him ourselves to try and get him more exposure/raise the profile (or price.) Which is no dig at RD, developing good prospects and selling them on has always been the Charlton way - or at least for a long time - Bowyer, Parker, Shelvey, Jenkinson etc. I don't know if Rufus would have been a one club man without the injury but he was good enough to play at a higher level than Charlton were in at the time.
the way he catches that screamer at 1:13 makes it look like it was a little pea roller. Seems to be in the right place at the right time, which is most of what being a keeper's about.
Surely after Hamer's recent performances there must be a contract around the corner? Pope looks good from that vid, but better than Hamer at this stage?
Pope is very very good, not just at making saves, but his all-round game. He is a great shouter and organiser, and is commanding with crosses. When he gets in the first team he'll stay there.
Pope is very very good, not just at making saves, but his all-round game. He is a great shouter and organiser, and is commanding with crosses. When he gets in the first team he'll stay there.
Doesn't look like he'll solve our problems with scoring!
Said it to a mate today, such a shame we've got a player doing so well on loan and he's in a position where we are excelling in so don't need to call him back. Typical Charlton luck.
A mate of mine is a Rochdale supporter and saw him against York yesterday at Spotland. He was extremely impressed on the basis that Pope is not just a good shot stopper but a keeper who commands his box very well (unusual, in my experience, in a young goalie - and, indeed, in many older ones ! ). He said that York decided to "park the bus" and that Nick Pope was one of the main reasons that strategy worked.
Nick Pope is a terrific young lad. We signed him in the summer of 2011, an eighteen-year-old from Bury St Edmunds, a market town in Suffolk: for the pre-season friendly at Welling he wasn't our substitute keeper, but was part of the squad. At half-time Ben Roberts took Pope on to the pitch and lobbed long high balls for him to catch and kick back. We were all standing on the terrace watching - and Pope bicycle-kicked one of Roberts' balls straight in to the net.
There was the usual jolly banter about "He's our new striker", Pope fished the ball out of the net, gave us a smile from under his floppy hair, and punted it back to Roberts on the half-way line. He is doing brilliantly at York, and Dillon Phillips is perfectly capable of replacing Hamer if needs be.
Will be interesting to see if he's second (or even first?) choice next season or goes out on loan again. This is his third season here but he has 2 more years on his contract.
Comments
Don't worry Nick we'll coach that out of you.
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/11101753._/?
That would be some track record for an experienced keeper - let alone a 21 year old rookie.
https://youtube.com/watch?list=UU99akEsugT_s4tv_r2oxuOQ&v=uK-dUG6xecY
Looks like he could teach Thuram a few things about catching/holding the ball.
In the video Nick Pope invariably does just that.
Good reading of play, good positioning, good handling and getting the basics right.
Looks a great prospect.
All very encouraging.
There was the usual jolly banter about "He's our new striker", Pope fished the ball out of the net, gave us a smile from under his floppy hair, and punted it back to Roberts on the half-way line. He is doing brilliantly at York, and Dillon Phillips is perfectly capable of replacing Hamer if needs be.