QPR Adds a Green-Man

Although Park Ji-Sung is grabbing all the headlines, Mark Hughes and the QPR board have been busy on a few other fronts as well.  One of the most interesting moves was the pick-up of English ‘keeper Robert Green.  The former West Ham man has had several good seasons over the course of his career, making a few famous saves and winning “Hammer of the Year” once (and finishing as runner-up another time).  Yeah, apparently “Hammer of the Year” is their … thing.  Whatever.

Of course, Green is probably best known for this blunder-ific moment:

Interestingly, looking at it with the perspective of time, this wasn’t quite as horrible a howler as it first seemed.  Don’t get me wrong, he definitely should have saved it, and if he routinely let that kind of shot it, he’d be out of a job.  But it was skipping along the ground pretty quickly, with a bit of off-side spin, and it was a wet day.  Frankly, the bigger problem for England was the fact that Dempsey was allowed to tee up the shot with no one getting in his face.  At any rate, if you judge him from his whole body of work, and not just that one moment, Green has had a pretty decent career and is certainly a respectable (if not great) Premier League caliber GK.

Of course, we already had a respectable Premier League caliber GK in Paddy Kenny.  Despite his injury problems, he still had several good games last year, and had a stretch where he was playing like a better-than-average Premier League ‘keeper.  But, he’s been shipped off to Leeds, and there ain’t no use in whining about it now.

As long as Green is our man, let’s look at some vital stats:

HEIGHT - An authoritative 6’3”

HOMETOWN - Chertsey, England, former home of The Who drummer Keith Moon and reputed burial place of Henry VI

BEST SEASON – Probably 2008-2009, when Green played in every match and kept 10 clean sheets.  The prior season (2007-2008) was the one in which he was named West Ham’s player of the year, but 08-09 actually saw the Hammers finish in a better Premier League position, and with a better defensive record – a better than average 45 goals allowed over 38 matches.  He also saved two penalties and was known for his calm command of the back line.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER - Aside from the embarrassment against the USA, Green has had a few decent matches for the Three Lions.  He was in the net for England’s 5-1 win that saw them clinch qualification for the 2010 World Cup, and even got back onto the field this past Spring in a friendly, which England won, 1-0.  Unfortunately, England didn’t need him during the recent Euro 2012 run – although maybe he would have been able to keep Pirlo’s penalty out of the net.

Anyway, I always liked Paddy K, but Green is an intriguing prospect for this upcoming season.  He’s not a young guy, but he still moves well and seems to have decent lateral quickness.  If we can make one more signing to beef up the back line, I think our goals-allowed can be much improved this year.

We’ll be back this weekend to further analyze the transfer season and to try to piece together what our line-up might look like.

Category: QPR Team News