Is Muric in a bit of a Pickle?

[Guller Bull]

Should he stay or should he go

[Burnley1989]

Why can’t people understand you need two top keepers in the premier league

[Burnley1989]

Should he stay or should he go

Missed your comment on the other thread

[Boss Hogg]

Having some good competition? Boo hoo. I think most professional footballers have more about them than that. Muric to start for me but he’ll need to perform.

[Spiral]

I don't think there's any explanation anyone could give that would satisfy me that, on the balance of all considerations, Muric should start ahead of Trafford. It just doesn't make any sense. If the logic is that we got promoted with Muric and therefore he deserves the shirt, then that line of reasoning can be used to justify not signing anyone, but we did sign someone, for like 6x the fee we paid for Muric, probably for the express purpose of him being our No.1.

[BurnleyFC]

I don't think there's any explanation anyone could give that would satisfy me that, on the balance of all considerations, Muric should start ahead of Trafford. It just doesn't make any sense. If the logic is that we got promoted with Muric and therefore he deserves the shirt, then that line of reasoning can be used to justify not signing anyone, but we did sign someone, for like 6x the fee we paid for Muric, probably for the express purpose of him being our No.1.

Because after last season Muric has consistently played at a higher level than Trafford.

They both have it to prove in the Premier League (as do most of our players, to be fair) but Muric deserves the nod for me.

[Bosscat]

Muric has the shirt and its his to lose for me ...

[NewClaret]

Muric has the shirt and its his to lose for me ...

Completely agree Bosscat.

Great to have some quality competition for him though.

[4midable]

Trafford shouldnt start
He will want to v city but shouldnt
Murics to lose

Need 2 keepers for cover incase of injury

[bobinho]

I agree also Boss, but ultimately the decision will be VK’s and although Muric could feel aggrieved if dropped, there can be no sentiment when selecting the best team. Get the young lad in and have a good look at him. Seeing what he can and can’t do every day for a few weeks will see VK selecting the right keeper come the city game.

[Jakubclaret]

Trafford wouldn't have signed I don't think without reasonable assurances that if he performs well & continues to do so he's the number 1.

[HunterST_BFC]

We'll get pumped by City then Muric gets dropped.

Feel a bit for BPF to be fair - Another team is going to be getting a bargain

[Ampth7]

I understand where people are coming from with the suggestion that the position is Muric’s to lose, and he may even start against City.
However, we aren’t spending £19 million quid for a keeper to sit on the bench for very long and Trafford wouldn’t have come to us unless he was guaranteed the number 1 jersey.

[Steve1956]

I understand where people are coming from with the suggestion that the position is Muric’s to lose, and he may even start against City.
However, we aren’t spending £19 million quid for a keeper to sit on the bench for very long and Trafford wouldn’t have come to us unless he was guaranteed the number 1 jersey.

No way will Muric be No1 a club like ours doesn't spend 20 million on a player for him to sit on the bench and get segs on his arse.

[Dark Cloud]

No way will Muric be No1 a club like ours doesn't spend 20 million on a player for him to sit on the bench and get segs on his arse.

This. Muric won't be here when the window closes. Neither will BPF. Remember we got the guy from Orient and he's apparently very good (according to Orient fans) and also experienced and I suggest he'll be the regular bench warmer.

[Spiral]

Because after last season Muric has consistently played at a higher level than Trafford.

They both have it to prove in the Premier League (as do most of our players, to be fair) but Muric deserves the nod for me.

This can be said of Redmond, too, but I'd still start Zaroury and Benson ahead of him.

Also, Trafford had a literally perfect Euros. It's not PL level, but that's impressive for anyone. Why do I get the feeling that if he was Spain's clear future, or Germany's, or Italy's we'd be universally clamouring for him to start, but because he was at Bolton some think he needs to wait for Muric to make a mistake? And if we're so confident Muric will make mistakes that we've gone out and spent £15m-£19m on Trafford, why delay the inevitable of Muric costing us points?

I loved watching Muric last season but I feel his sweeping put the idea in peoples' minds that he's a better all-rounder than perhaps he actually is. Kompany did an amazing job of calming Muric down over the course of last season, but that was partly resolved by us going more direct. I think if Trafford can show himself to be as capable as Muric without the kamikaze stuff, this will allow us to work better as a team and play the way we really want to play, rather playing to accommodate Muric's kamikaze tendencies.

[Quicknick]

This can be said of Redmond, too, but I'd still start Zaroury and Benson ahead of him.

Also, Trafford had a literally perfect Euros. It's not PL level, but that's impressive for anyone. Why do I get the feeling that if he was Spain's clear future, or Germany's, or Italy's we'd be universally clamouring for him to start, but because he was at Bolton some think he needs to wait for Muric to make a mistake? And if we're so confident Muric will make mistakes that we've gone out and spent £15m-£19m on Trafford, why delay the inevitable of Muric costing us points?

I loved watching Muric last season but I feel his sweeping put the idea in peoples' minds that he's a better all-rounder than perhaps he actually is. Kompany did an amazing job of calming Muric down over the course of last season, but that was partly resolved by us going more direct. I think if Trafford can show himself to be as capable as Muric without the kamikaze stuff, this will allow us to work better as a team and play the way we really want to play, rather playing to accommodate Muric's kamikaze tendencies.

Trafford will start.

[Enola Gay]

We'll get pumped by City then Muric gets dropped.

Feel a bit for BPF to be fair - Another team is going to be getting a bargain

They'll also be getting a not-very-good goalkeeper.

[bumba]

Muric will start v city of he is still.here then when he's conceded out usual 5/6 it'll give Kompany the perfect opportunity to drop him for Trafford without Trafford's confidence taking a hit in his first match

[CrosspoolClarets]

The one thing Trafford (and Muric) lacks is experience at this level.

No point waiting until the crunch autumn and winter then dropping him in cold, so to speak.

He needs to be blooded early, and I expect he will be. Tough on Muric but that’s life at this level. Same thing happened with that guy at Brighton who did well then got dropped. It’s commonplace.

[CoolClaret]

This. Muric won't be here when the window closes. Neither will BPF. Remember we got the guy from Orient and he's apparently very good (according to Orient fans) and also experienced and I suggest he'll be the regular bench warmer.

No way in hell are we going into a PL season with a 19 yr old keeper, one guy who’s been playing in league two for 3 years and erm Dennis Franchi.

Absolute recipe for disaster.

Muric will start imo, then the shirt is up for grabs

[what_no_pies]

I'll eat my hat if Muric isn't sold soon. Suprised any Burnley supporter thinks otherwise after we made two reasonably high profile signings in that department in this window. BPF apparantly wants first team football too. I believe Vigoroux was signed as our 2nd choice keeper and we'll have a decision to make about third choice.

[Spiral]

Muric will start v city of he is still.here then when he's conceded out usual 5/6 it'll give Kompany the perfect opportunity to drop him for Trafford without Trafford's confidence taking a hit in his first match

Vinny subbed off Muric at half time against Watford on the back of the 10 league wins in a row because he tried (and failed at) clearing a lobbed through ball with an MMA style knee strike. Vinny is ice cold that way. He seems far too competitive and ruthless to let things such as the potential for a player's feelings to be hurt over a bad game get in the way of a sound judgement, and he's also too competitive to think of the City game as an automatic write off. Nah, put Trafford in and see what happens. Trafford knows it's basically a free hit and that he's expected to concede loads because it's City. He can only exceed expectations. It's very difficult to fall below expectations for that game, because they are already on the ground.

[123EasyasBFC]

We have 4 friendlies against some good opposition to test us, chance for both keepers to show who should be starting

[TheOriginalLongsider]

Heaton/Pope. All will be well.

[HunterST_BFC]

They'll also be getting a not-very-good goalkeeper.

He better than you think I am sure of that.
A spanking at City in the Cup in a mixed side? is that what you base it on?

He is great for his national team - he expected to take over from Pope then SD left. Rest is history.

Hope he gets a good club.

[superdimitri]

It's a lot easier keeping calm and not making mistakes in the championship to the premier league.
My guess is Kompany knows Muric is error prone when he loses his composure.

Let's face it, that's the first thing we all thought before he joined us and the reputation he carries.

Conversely, Trafford seems to be the exact opposite. A calming presence in goal isn't just about the goalkeeper either. It effects the defence that always perform better knowing someone reliable is behind them.

I'm interested to see how good Trafford is with his feet compared to Muric

[spt_claret]

After an extremely shaky start Muric won me round massively (even if he still had mad moments at the end of season), to the point I was thinking while he MIGHT get exposed badly in the Prem he also might make the step up and we had much bigger priorities to strengthen, so I was happy to keep him as #1.
Apart from the recent U21 tournament Trafford has far less experience or pedigree. We're not paying that sort of fee for a backup keeper so he's guaranteed to start every game whatever happens now, but I'm back in the slightly reserved camp. Hopefully he proves me even more wrong than Muric did!

[Claret Till I Die]

Vinny subbed off Muric at half time against Watford on the back of the 10 league wins in a row because he tried (and failed at) clearing a lobbed through ball with an MMA style knee strike.

Or perhaps he was poorly and even though passed tests to play he wasn't 100% but he wanted to play

[Stockbrokerbelt]

Music is no1 & Trafford to push him hard.

[Hipper]

Is he pickled, do you mean?

[Colburn_Claret]

I can understand why the massive fee cloud's people's judgement, but the idea that Trafford has to play, solely because we paid 15 million for him, is ridiculous.
What if he did start, and had a mare, would you argue that he has to stay in the starting XI because we paid big money for him.
I'm sure VK won't be considering the fees when he picks his team, he'll just pick his best side. That means Muric. Dropping a player who had such a good finish to his season, when he basically hasn't done anything wrong, would be unfair, but also send the wrong message to the rest of the squad.
The team gets picked on form, not on price tag.

[Bosscat]

Is he pickled, do you mean?

The whole place is pickled
The people are pickles for sure
And no one knows if they've done more here
Than they ever would do in a jar

This could be Rotterdam or anywhere
Liverpool or Rome
'Cause Rotterdam is anywhere
Anywhere alone
Anywhere alone

[Enola Gay]

He better than you think I am sure of that.
A spanking at City in the Cup in a mixed side? is that what you base it on?

He is great for his national team - he expected to take over from Pope then SD left. Rest is history.

Hope he gets a good club.

No... as bad as he was in that game I'm basing my on all the games he played for us.

He's absolutely not Premier League level and he didn't inspire a lot of confidence in me in the Championship, either.

[boatshed bill]

I am sure that the management will use better criteria in selecting a player than the price tag.
I imagine much will depend on performances in the friendlies and fitness stats.

[bfcjg]

I'll eat my hat if Muric isn't sold soon. Suprised any Burnley supporter thinks otherwise after we made two reasonably high profile signings in that department in this window. BPF apparantly wants first team football too. I believe Vigoroux was signed as our 2nd choice keeper and we'll have a decision to make about third choice.

Hope it's a pork pie hat

[warksclaret]

Pre-season will be a decider in every part of the team-thats what its all about

[Leisure]

No matter how good Trafford is/will be, it's a hell of a step up from L1 to EPL in one go. I'd be quite happy if Muric continued as our no.1.

[warksclaret]

No matter how good Trafford is/will be, it's a hell of a step up from L1 to EPL in one go. I'd be quite happy if Muric continued as our no.1.

Can't disagree , but already made a big step up from playing for Bolton to playing for England U-21's in the recent international tournament and the eventual final

[Leisure]

Can't disagree , but already made a big step up from playing for Bolton to playing for England U-21's in the recent international tournament and the eventual final

Correct but U21's nowhere near EPL level.

[boatshed bill]

Trafford looks one hell of a prospect.
I would love to see him push Muric to greater things.
2 top quality keepers competing for the No1 spot would be great for the club.