James Trafford

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Oh absolutely - but then neither Khusanov or Reis were trusted to be a major part of the first team straight away, either. They couldn't even get a proper look in during a pre season tournament in America.

So if they're the benchmark who you are comparing to, why would anyone expect Trafford to come in with his potential and be made 1st choice keeper straight away?
Well to be fair he's 3 years older than Reis and not settling into a new country. I don't know if he's ready or not yet but he wasn't 2 years ago.
 
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All them have played and succeeded at a far higher level than Trafford. Its not even close, i actually cant really see your point here? You cant compare playing for Ac Milan in Serie A, in europe and the dutch national team in international tournaments with an uncapped international who has one season as a flop in the premier league and one other season in the championship? I really dont understand your point.
You said, "Someone mentioned this is our new transfer strategy and that does seem to be the case but it also means we are gambling on whether we will compete or not which considering where we were two years ago is a massive change in mentality for everyone at the club inc us fans."

I assumed you were referring to a generalised transfer strategy that ignored experience. I mentioned recent transfer buys of experienced players to show this argument was incorrect and I wanted to add that experience isn't everything.
 
Phillips had Prem experience, international experience - he was and is crap. Doesn't matter where Trafford has played and at what level, the club knows him
 
Presume you said the same about Doku, savinho, Reis, Khusanov who all were unproven and didn’t play at the highest level
None of them have come in as first choice in a pivotel position. They can be eased in and rotated in and out and their mistakes rarely cost games. We dont have that luxury with goalkeeper. And to be fair, Savinho(la liga challenging for the league) and Doku(internationally at major tournaments) have done it a much higher level than the championship. The other two have joined as young squad players with huge potential who can be eased in, very similar level to Trafford. If Trafford was to join as second choice and eased in for a year it would be a fantastic move. If hes signing as number 1 for a team who want to win everything at the highest level its a huge huge gamble(could payoff who knows but its a big risk).
 
how on earth can you disregard his age? Name me an 18 year old first choice keeper in the premier league. Bear in mind he played for a terrible Burnley side that didn’t defend as well.

Most, if not all keepers weren’t playing every week in the top leagues as teenagers.
I agree with what your saying to an extent, hence why id like to see him perform week in week out at a high level consistently before he is considered a number 1 for a team who want to be the best in the world. The only evidence we have of him at a decent standard is the one season in the prem and he was a flop, no doubt about it. And he wasnt 18 he was 20 turning 21 in the october. Yes he was young and yes he was ahead of the curve but im not sure i want to see him learning his trade at our club, id rather the finished article as our number 1. Then again i want us to be the best team in the world again. To go from championship to best team in the world is a huge jump. Cant think of a player who has made that leap in such a short period of time.
 
None of them have come in as first choice in a pivotel position. They can be eased in and rotated in and out and their mistakes rarely cost games. We dont have that luxury with goalkeeper. And to be fair, Savinho(la liga challenging for the league) and Doku(internationally at major tournaments) have done it a much higher level than the championship. The other two have joined as young squad players with huge potential who can be eased in, very similar level to Trafford. If Trafford was to join as second choice and eased in for a year it would be a fantastic move. If hes signing as number 1 for a team who want to win everything at the highest level its a huge huge gamble(could payoff who knows but its a big risk).
It's a gamble tantamount to putting all chips on one number and daring the wheel to be spun.

Placing an unproven young keeper at the 1 is a really dumb and misguided choice that i simply don't believe we are dumb and misguided enough to make.
 
None of them have come in as first choice in a pivotel position. They can be eased in and rotated in and out and their mistakes rarely cost games. We dont have that luxury with goalkeeper. And to be fair, Savinho(la liga challenging for the league) and Doku(internationally at major tournaments) have done it a much higher level than the championship. The other two have joined as young squad players with huge potential who can be eased in, very similar level to Trafford. If Trafford was to join as second choice and eased in for a year it would be a fantastic move. If hes signing as number 1 for a team who want to win everything at the highest level its a huge huge gamble(could payoff who knows but its a big risk).
If he comes in as number 1 and isn't up to it, he'll get dropped and we'll sign a new keeper next season when Ortega is out of contract. On the other hand if he is up to it then we have a HG keeper for a decade. It's definitely worth the gamble.
 
It's a gamble tantamount to putting all chips on one number and daring the wheel to be spun.

Placing an unproven young keeper at the 1 is a really dumb and misguided choice that i simply don't believe we are dumb and misguided enough to make.
Chelsea did it with courtois. Real with casillas. A strong Parma with Buffon. A strong Milan with Donnarumma.
I think the GK gamble is a bit overrated. Costa had 2 bad seasons in my eyes and we would get fleeced again by Porto. Rather have Trafford and Ortega fight for Number 1 than Costa who might not even turn out to be a big upgrade.
The real deal like Suzuki isn’t interesting enough I guess.
Theoretically the club can gamble on it. We are in a rebuild after all. If he ain’t it you can still sell since he’s homegrown and young.
Depends if Pep is happy with it though.
 
If he comes in as number 1 and isn't up to it, he'll get dropped and we'll sign a new keeper next season when Ortega is out of contract. On the other hand if he is up to it then we have a HG keeper for a decade. It's definitely worth the gamble.
Because we can afford him not being "up to it" and throwing away another season.
 
Phillips had Prem experience, international experience - he was and is crap. Doesn't matter where Trafford has played and at what level, the club knows him
Course it matters and you cant use the example of one flop to completely disregard basic KPIs for judging a footballer.
 
Is it only me who is a bit meh about this?

Has Eddie really gone that bad he wants out or he's being told he's off?

Maybe I've not seen enough of the kid Trafford.

Is he any good?
 
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