Liverpool FC Forum

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:49 pm

Instead of someone making a new topic every week about Chris Kirkland, I though it would be a good idea to have one thread dedicated to his progress at W.B.A this season. If someone wants to make a new comment then they should drag this thread back up.

Here is profile from the official website:

Position: Goalkeeper
Date of Birth: 02/05/1981
Height: 6' 6
Weight: 11st 7lb
1st team games: 45
1st team goals: 0
International caps: England under-21 (6)
International goals: 0
Former clubs: Coventry City
Birth Place: Leicester

Chris Kirkland is currently on a year's loan at Premiership side West Bromwich Albion for the 2004/05 campaign.
Unfortunately Kirkland has had three years of injury nightmare with a back problem at Liverpool and the loan spell will give him the chance to get some much needed matches under his belt.

After months of speculation Chris Kirkland finally became a Liverpool player when Gerard Houllier swooped to capture the England under-21 international from Coventry City on the last day of August 2001.

Kirkland is an outstanding young goalkeeper with a bright future at Liverpool. His big chance at Anfield arrived in the 2002/03 season when was given a chance when Jerzy Dudek's form dipped. In a bad spell for the team Kirkland was the shining light at the end of the tunnel and was magnificent.

Unfortunately a bad ankle injury sustained in an FA Cup tie at Crystal Palace in January 2003 saw him ruled out for the season, and following an operation returned only to miss most of the season through a broken finger and broken wrist respectively.

A product of the Coventry City Youth Academy, Kirkland emerged as one of the most exciting young keepers in the country during the 2000/2001 season.

One performance that lives in the memory came at Highfield Road in April 2001. Although Liverpool beat Coventry 2-0, Kirkland was in outstanding form, as he deined Michael Owen a certain hat-trick.

Besides interest from Liverpool his outstanding performances had also attracted the attention of a number of Premiership clubs including Manchester United, Tottenham, Everton and Chelsea.

In November 2000, Chris made his first appearance at Anfield but it was an unhappy one as a Gary McAllister inspired Liverpool saw the Reds come away with a 4-1 victory.

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 8:58 pm

Well Kirkland put in a man of the match performance for W.B.A on Saturday against Man City, pulling off a number of good saves, keeping a clean sheet and basically earning them a point.

Good to see him starting and playing well, hope he can continue to impress for the rest of the season.

by **Gareth G** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:00 pm

Well, with a defence like West Brom's in front of him he's going to have plenty of oportunities to show what he's worth.

Good idea by BTW.

by **yckatbjywtbiastkamb** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:20 pm

his performance for west brom confirmed my suspicions. he`s one of those jim leighton / roy carroll / brad freidel type keepers who are great for the so called smaller clubs but just cant handle the pressure of keeping for a high profile side where every mistake is blown out of proportion.
to be fair all the top clubs have suffered in recent years buying keepers who look world beaters only to fold when they get to us or united.

by **H_K_LFC** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:36 pm

got 2 disagree there.....hes jus bein unlucky with injuries.hes a top class keeper but dnt think we need him now we got riena whos 23 and carson whos 18 or 19

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:28 pm

yckatbjywtbiastkamb wrote:his performance for west brom confirmed my suspicions. he`s one of those jim leighton / roy carroll / brad freidel type keepers who are great for the so called smaller clubs but just cant handle the pressure of keeping for a high profile side where every mistake is blown out of proportion.
to be fair all the top clubs have suffered in recent years buying keepers who look world beaters only to fold when they get to us or united.

Just thought that I should point out that Kirkland was actually injured when he was playing for us last season, he was in pain while playing, maybe a mistake on his part, but it should be considered.

Also, he seemed to "handle the pressure" when he first came into the side and put in a wonderful display in the high pressure game against Galatasaray.

by **ivor_the_injun** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:49 pm

I reckon we'll see Kirkland in the England squad again before too long. Robert Green will definitely suffer from playing outside the Premiership, and - let's face it - Chris is going to get plenty of chance to show off his shot-stopping skills behind a defence that's going to get pulled apart for most of the coming season.

A dozen or so solid performances should be enough to catch Sven's eye. I really, really hope he has an injury free season ahead of him, as he's been so unlucky it's been almost untrue.

by **yckatbjywtbiastkamb** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 12:07 am

Cool Hand Luke wrote:
yckatbjywtbiastkamb wrote:his performance for west brom confirmed my suspicions. he`s one of those jim leighton / roy carroll / brad freidel type keepers who are great for the so called smaller clubs but just cant handle the pressure of keeping for a high profile side where every mistake is blown out of proportion.
to be fair all the top clubs have suffered in recent years buying keepers who look world beaters only to fold when they get to us or united.

Just thought that I should point out that Kirkland was actually injured when he was playing for us last season, he was in pain while playing, maybe a mistake on his part, but it should be considered.

Also, he seemed to "handle the pressure" when he first came into the side and put in a wonderful display in the high pressure game against Galatasaray.

my grandmother could have saved carsleys shot in the goodison derby, it was right next to him, he didnt even have to dive! we were in no trouble whatsoever in that game and it was petering out to a creditable draw until his howler.
the same for rivaldo`s free kick in the olympiacos game and solano scored a similar free kick that went right through him in a game against villa about the same time. these shots were`nt in the top corner they flew into the middle of the net!!!
in my opinion he`s not up to the job and if he was injured he shouldnt have been playing in the first place.

by **Luis Garcia** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 12:51 am

yckatbjywtbiastkamb wrote:his performance for west brom confirmed my suspicions. he`s one of those jim leighton / roy carroll / brad freidel type keepers who are great for the so called smaller clubs but just cant handle the pressure of keeping for a high profile side where every mistake is blown out of proportion.
to be fair all the top clubs have suffered in recent years buying keepers who look world beaters only to fold when they get to us or united.

i think kirklands performance yesterday, has raised the question of why we wasted 8m on Reina.

Dudek and Kirkland were sufficient in my book

by **stoney** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 12:58 am

Luis Garcia wrote:
yckatbjywtbiastkamb wrote:his performance for west brom confirmed my suspicions. he`s one of those jim leighton / roy carroll / brad freidel type keepers who are great for the so called smaller clubs but just cant handle the pressure of keeping for a high profile side where every mistake is blown out of proportion.
to be fair all the top clubs have suffered in recent years buying keepers who look world beaters only to fold when they get to us or united.

i think kirklands performance yesterday, has raised the question of why we wasted 8m on Reina.

Dudek and Kirkland were sufficient in my book

I swear some people just judge players all the time on the last appearance or 1 game. You say we should have kept kirkland and not wasted the money on reina? So your basically saying that our ambitions of a strong title challenge should be relied on a keeper who you dont know when hes gonna get injured all the time. Buying reina was not a waste as he is better than the keepers we already have and also we paid 6m not 8 for him. get it right mate.

by **Cool Hand Luke** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:47 am

From Planet Football:

Bryan Robson believes West Brom have got a quality player on their hands if Chris Kirkland can stay injury-free.
The former Coventry keeper saw his time at Liverpool disrupted due to injury, although he made a fine debut for The Baggies in Saturday's draw with Manchester City.
Kirkland was in Sven Goran Eriksson's plans during his peak at Anfield and Robson believes he can secure an international recall if he can stay fit this season.
"Can Chris get back in the England squad? First of all he has to make sure he is playing well enough to stay in my team and, if that is the case, we know that we've signed a top drawer keeper," said Robson.
"He has been out for a long period of time and he has got to get back to the level of performance that he was constantly showing before he got injured - which was as an England goalkeeper.
"You can't take away quality like that. The only thing Chris has got to get over is the amount of injuries and the length of time he was out. But in pre-season his fitness has been very good and at the moment he is very fit.
"Chris has got to make sure he can prove to the England camp that he is worthy of a position there. Touch wood, he can now stay away from injury because you don't like to see top players injured a lot."

I totally agree that he can get back into the England squad if he just plays regularly. Robert Green will be dropped soon enough if a suitable replacement comes to the forefront. I also think that if he has a good 6 months he can jump ahead of David James in the pecking order.

by **Gareth G** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 6:19 pm

Some people on this forum are lucky I'm not an Admin or mod, I'd kick your f*cking asses out of here. So much negative BS by all the same guy's that it really get's under my freakin skin. P*ss off and support Chelsea or some other team with no tradition or good and proper football fan's. F*cking numb skull.

by **stoney** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 6:21 pm

KOP-1892 wrote:Some people on this forum are lucky I'm not an Admin or mod, I'd kick your f*cking asses out of here. So much negative BS by all the same guy's that it really get's under my freakin skin. P*ss off and support Chelsea or some other team with no tradition or good and proper football fan's. F*cking numb skull.

well you aint an admin or mod so stop having fanstasies that you are one jeeez

by **jammydodger** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:11 am

Kirkland will be England's first choice goalkeeper for the World Cup, injuries permitting...

And with Kirkland still be young himself, we should keep him - Carson isnt half the player Kirkland was at Coventry...

Another thing.. someone mentioned Carsley's goal that should have been saved, but fail to recall Carson's error in the CL?? But don't get me wrong, i like the kid - i just find it annoying how people have selective memories...

by **IstanBuL-FenerBaHce** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 12:42 pm

Watched his first game, he was brilliant.

Did u sell him or loan?..

Liverpool FC Forum

Chris kirkland watch - Follow kirklands progress at w.b.a

Who is online