Robert Green - West Ham & England - Goalkeeper Spotlights

Robert Green 's Stats
D.O.B.	18/01/1980
Nationality	English
Height	1.87m
England Caps	0 (1)

Profile

Robert Green was a surprise inclusion for the friendly with Sweden as he was rewarded for his form in helping Norwich to the top of Division One.

The Surrey-born keeper has been a major presence at the back for the Canaries as they bid for a place in the Premiership and his inclusion proves Sven-Goran Eriksson is prepared to select players outside the top-flight. Green signed professional terms with Norwich in May 1997 and showed his ability to handle pressure when keeping a clean sheet on his first-team debut in the East Anglian derby against Ipswich.

Green has played for the Under-16, U-17 and U-18 teams for England and made his 100th consecutive appearance for his club on 20 March when his side were beaten 1-0 at Crystal Palace.

Biography

Progressing through Norwich's schoolboy and youth teams, Chertsey born Robert Green made his first team debut in the 0-0 home draw with arch rivals Ipswich on 11th April 1999, keeping a clean sheet and pulling off some spectacular saves. He was capped by England at Under-18 level

In May 2000, Robert and colleague Danny Gay traveled out to Parma to train under their goalkeeping coaches as part of the agreement between Norwich and the Italian side to share resources, exchange training tips, loan players etc. Robert is highly rated at Carrow Road and in January 2001, pleased everyone by signing an extension to his contract that would tie him to Norwich until 2005.

With Andy Marshall's departure in July 2001, Robert took over as Norwich's first choice keeper, missing just 5 games in 2001/02. His fine performances between the sticks was a major contribution to Norwich's play-off place, and his one-handed save from Birmingham's Geoff Horsfield in the Division One Play-Off final at Cardiff was maybe the most impressive.

Impressive form in the 2002/03 season led to rumours of an international call-up, especially after Liverpool's Chris Kirkland was ruled out of the friendly clash with Australia due to a torn posterior cruciate knee ligament sustained in the FA Cup fourth round tie at Crystal Palace on January 26th. England scouts Ray Clemence and Ken Brown have already watched Green, with Clemence commenting in a national newspaper article to pinpoint the three young keepers he felt had a bright international future ahead of them."We have good keepers around 30 like David James and have fine young lads coming through like Kirkland and Robinson and Robert Green at Norwich but no one in between," said Clemence.

Former Norwich favourite Bryan Gunn is quite happy to stake a bet on Green winning international honours in the next five years with bookies offering 20-1. "I think that's easy money," said Gunn, ideally placed to judge Green's claim to the England No 1 throne after his own long and illustrious reign as Norwich's No 1."I've watched him over the last two seasons since he came in for Andy Marshall and he's just gone from strength to strength," said City's corporate sales chief."He's definitely got all the qualities you need to be a top goalkeeper. Should he be in the England squad? I think he should be and, hopefully, he will be..."

Gunn firmly believes that a change of guard is afoot and that Green is ideally placed to benefit. "For a long while you had David Seaman, Nigel Martyn and David James one-two-three in the England set-up. Now all three must be looking over their shoulders," said Gunn."I know Ray Clemence has been up here to watch him on a number of occasions and Ken Brown is one of the England scouts, so there must be good reports on Robert getting back to Sven at Soho Square."

Robert was ever-present in 2002/03 adding another 50 appearances to his career total.

Robert's form saw him linked at the end of October 2003 with a £3million move to Manchester City to replace David Seaman who intends to retire at the end of the 2003/04 season. Supposedly an exchange for Darren Huckerby is part of this agreement. Green was also linked with a move to Leeds to replace their highly marketable young keeper Paul Robinson.

Official Quotes

Norwich City team-mate, Gary Holt
"I am sure some of the big clubs are watching him very closely now. I honestly think he will go all the way. He is easily good enough to play at international level. He is big, strong, his kicking is tremendous, his handling is first class, he comes for crosses and stops shots. There is not much more he can't do - apart from saving a few more penalties maybe."

Norwich City team-mate, Malky Mackay
"It's not going to be too long before one or two of the big teams come after him. I know the England goalkeeping coach, Ray Clemence, has already been down here to have a look at him and he is being talked about as a future England keeper. The sky's the limit for him."

Information Source Credits

Text - BBC Sport, Flown From the Nest & footballtransfers.info