Youtube Paul Robinson…what do you get?

American actor Joe Pesci (Goodfella’s, Casino etc…) said it the best… “I’m funny how? Like a clown? I’m here to amuse you?”, right before he started getting busy with the brass knuckles. Obviously, Joe Pesci couldn’t cut it as a horse jockey let alone a goalkeeper (hope no one tells him about this post), but the above quote does resonate both the whimsical and manic side to our craft. It’s little wonder then, if you “Google” English goalkeeper Paul Robinson’s name, the top results produce video footage of his blunder against Croatia so long ago, we laugh and scoff at his ability, rather than understand his true goalkeeping potential.
So why the soccer aficionado’s romance with goalkeeping failure? Put it simply, failure sells, and people fork out the cash to read sensationalist football stories of high profile goalkeeping mistakes. So now the talk of the sporting tabloids is Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes and his error against Fulham last Saturday. How quickly fans forget the quality of the goalkeeper in question.

But there is a job to do, understandably, and Redknapp knows there is no choice for the Brazilian but to put his head down and weather the storm.

“We have to keep believing in him because that’s it, he is our goalkeeper,” Redknapp said. “I’ve told him to keep his chin up.”

When a goalkeeper suffers the slings and arrows of poor performance, the above quote is usually harder to abide by for the goalkeeper in question than what many a dumbfounded manager would understand, but keeping one’s “chin up” is all together an enormous test of character for the competitive goalkeeper.

In fact, overcoming adversity as a goalkeeper at the highest competitive levls of football is a mark of unquestionable courage under fire..the Premiership is a different beast all together, and world class goalkeepers either thrive or crumble. In international competition we have seen quality goalkeepers such as Scott Carson take a nose dive in performance, and it’s not a testament to his ability, Carson is a top class goalkeeper.

So back to Paul Robinson. It is testament to Robinson’s ability, that Fabio Capello had recently allowed the Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper into the England squad . Adding more strength to Robinson’s solid performance is the faith that he has from current manager Paul Ince in his ability:

“He has been outstanding since I brought him to Blackburn.

“He really has got his head focused on regaining that spot in the England side and I would like to think that he would start the game over in Germany next Wednesday because his performances have certainly merited that,” Ince said.

“I feel he is still the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.”

Failure, in my opinion, is the ultimate litmus test of goalkeeping ability. Without failure, a competitive goalkeeper has no marker from which to set a standard for success. So, when we see video footage of Paul Robinson making a costly error, or Heurelho Gomes with a terrible string of performances, we tend to forget the underlying true quality of these goalkeepers, and what it took for them to get to where they are today.

But the beauty of failure, and one’s potential to overcome it, is the blossoming that begins soon after. I think in the next few years, we’ll see a great swath of English goalkeepers raging through the ranks of the Premiership (they already are). Guys like Robinson are just coming of age (in goalkeeping years that is), though names such as Hart, Carson and Foster will dominate the professional goalkeeping ranks of Europe for many years to come. Indeed, Fabio Capello (if he does the job right), will have to make some tough calls with whom he thinks will merit donning the Three Lions’ number one jersey in the years to come.

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