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Good Luck Fraser Forster At Celtic
Friday, 23rd Aug 2019 08:46

Fraser Forster has joined Celtic on loan for the rest of the season and the Ugly Inside would like to wish him good luck in his time back at his old club.

In today's Social Media frenzy t is common to see various websites make stories out of comments on the likes of twitter, so I would not be surprised to see a headline on Saints fan websites saying "These fans would drive him to Glasgow themselves".

It cannot be denied that Fraser Forster has endured a torrid past couple of seasons at St Mary's, but many are forgetting his first three at the club that saw three consecutive top 8 finishes, two Europa League campaigns and a trip to Wembley for a major cup final, an event that is not exactly common in our history.

Fraser Forster played a major part in all of this after joining us from Celtic in the summer of 2014.

Two years ago his form started to suffer, but looking back there were mitigating circumstances, Fraser himself was suffering from a crisis in confidence and this is turn could be linked to issues with depression.

But was his lack of form all down to himself, the answer is no, he suddenly found himself going from playing in front of one of the most reliable central defensive duo's in the Premier League, to playing in front of one that was 4th & 5th choice under Ronald Koeman and was leaving him exposed time and time again, not least at Wembley in the League Cup final.

That would have been enough to harm any goalkeepers performance levels and the fans getting on Forster's back did not help matters, indeed they made things worse.

So lets not read about fans wanting to drive him to Glasgow or saying good riddance, it is not Forster's fault the club offered him good money to sign a new deal thus making it hard for hm to go to other club's either on loan or permanently.

Let's remember the part he played in our revival after many of our players deserted us, he has been nothing other than a model pro for Southampton Football Club and is not a bad keeper, just one who is suffering a crisis confidence, he isn't the first and he won't be the last at this club or indeed throughout the footballing world.

So good luck Fraser up in Scotland, I hope that you find your confidence again and return to being the goalkeeper that you were in your first three seasons, but truthfully I hope you find peace in your own mind, that is what all Saints fans should want, not only for Fraser Forster himself but for the good of Southampton Football Club, it is surely better that we have a keeper on our books who is back to his best, then he may either have a future at St Mary's or he will find one elsewhere in which case it is win/win for Saints.

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DPeps added 10:47 - Aug 23
Well said. As an outfield player any mistake you make may or may not be punished; if you are a keeper almost all mistakes will lead to conceding a goal. And then once you are dropped then it's hard to get back confidence to reclaim the one spot.

This loan move seems like a win-win for all concerned.
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underweststand added 11:24 - Aug 23
Typical problem for goalies who've have a bad game.
Danny Ings' miss from 2 yards went uncriticised but Adrian's mistake got the headlines.

Forster is not a bad keeper but obviously that Wembley massacre v. Spurs harmed his confidence enormously. They love him at Celtic and I expect to see a few clean sheets in their results from now on. It is a win-win situation (as DPeps quotes) as Fraser will get game time and Saints may cut back the wage bill a little during his loan period...and hopefully pave the way for a permanent move.
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A1079 added 12:50 - Aug 23
May be I am naieve and not in touch, but honestly Nick, for the life of me I have not heard a single Saints fan wish anything but well for Fraser or any inane comments about driving him to Glasgow. Fraser has not done anything wrong, he has had a bad time, and I, and many know, what it is like to go through a bad time and it can happen to anyone.

I wish Fraser well. I hope he turns it round. He is a good guy. I think most Saints fans think the same way. We are not bad fans Nick. We may not be as passionate as some, but we equally do not quickly turn on our players or our club. Yes, we may give a hard time to players or managers that sh*t on us but even then, we are pretty tame compared to some fans and clubs.

Good luck Fraser and most of all, enjoy it.
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halftimeorange added 15:50 - Aug 23
Good luck to Fraser but, it begs the question why one Saints keeper after another suffers a crisis of confidence, irrespective of having a weak central defence. That doesn't excuse the rubbish kicking, the punching at crosses when catching is the obvious choice and the shilly-shallying about playing the ball short to those patently unreliable defenders only for them to lose it to the opposition. We've all seen it and coaching and tactics at St Marys has a lot to answer for, in my opinion.
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underweststand added 09:29 - Aug 24
"Goalkeeper-confidence" is often the key to the final result. A striker may get 3-4 chances (and maybe score only once), but one mistake at the back can lose a game.

Goalies are often self-critical over mistakes, and there's no doubt the massacre v. Spurs took its toll on Forster, although he can't be solely blamed for the margin of that result.

There is a good keeper somewhere inside him, and rememeber that he set some sort of record by going 6 games with clean sheets some time back.

Reaction to adversity is important. Sunderland conceded a busload of goals whilst Pickford was their goalie, but it was water off a duck's back to him, and many years ago I heard the mythical tale of the Scottish keeper Frank Haffey, (who concede 7 goals in an international at Wembley) - only for him to turn to the crowd and "conduct" the choir of vitriolic abuse he was getting from his own fans behind the goal.

Adversity may come, but it's all down to how you handle it, and goalies need to have
"a thicker skin " than many other players when it comes to taking the blame.

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KriSaint added 17:13 - Aug 25
Good luck Frazer - I hope You find the form that made You such a great keeper for us.
You never got the credit that You deserved from recovering and coming back from such a horrendous injury as the one You picked up vs Burnley.

I thank You wholeheartedly for being such a loyal player for Saints and I assure You that any decent Saints fan wish You all the best in your return to scottish football.


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