Newcastle signed Sparta Prague goalkeeper Martin Dubravka on loan from Sparta Prague last night after Rafa has been after the goalkeeper for several months now.
Rafa wanted some experience in goal and he has finally brought in the 29-year-old Slovakian International.
Dubravka will increase the competition for the goalkeeper spot although Karl Darlow should keep his place at Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon with Martin probably on the bench.
The loan deal comes with an option to buy so the Slovakian will be playing for his future through the end of the season.
Dubravka has been capped 9 times by Slovakia and played very well against England in September’s 2018 World Cup qualifier at Wembley.
This is what the 29-year-old had to say about his loan move to Newcastle and he seems delighted to be at such a big club:
“I feel amazing. This is a big step in my career and also in my life.”
“You can feel the energy of the people around the club. I will try to work hard, and show that I deserve to be here.”
This is what Rafa said last night about his new goalkeeper:
“Dubravka is a Slovakian international goalkeeper, and he is someone with some experience.”
“He will need to settle down quickly as he is a player coming from abroad, but he is very agile and he can play with his feet.”
“He will give us some competition in goal, and that is what we are looking for.”
When Dubravka made his debut for Sparta Prague last year he didn’t play well and looked nervous and then lost his place for a while.
But he has since come on very well this season and he has been in top form for his club.
So his debut will be important and he has to have a good game and get into the swing of things at Newcastle.
The big stopper will get all the support imaginable from the Newcastle fans home and away to play well for us for the rest of the season.
Comments welcome.
14 comments so far
catchy in norway
Feb 1, 2018 at 8:23 AM
Comment #1Tsunki
why do you change what i say to suit your argument?
there is no first, it’s all of the above, his very negative tactics along with poor team and very often confusing team selections along with very late and also confusing subs.
add to the fact that is seems Rafa has very poor judgment when buying players, all of us can buy ronaldo messi kane type players for silly money, but good managers do t always need lots of money, in fact i’d take Carr’s players over rafas every day of the week
Geremi's Prosthetic Leg Fund
Feb 1, 2018 at 8:26 AM
Comment #2Still don’t see how a keeper was a priority but hope he comes in and does well. If he’s another Sels Rafa has to take accountability.
On Joselu, it’s not just his chance conversion it’s his movement and positioning that are a huge issue. He doesn’t offer himself enough or make himself enough of a presence and that limits the chances we can create. You can see players thinking too hard about where he might be when we break forward or get into a crossing position when they should be knocking it in knowing he’s in the right area.
martoon
Feb 1, 2018 at 8:29 AM
Comment #3Diame’s improvement in form seems to stem from whrn Lascelles chinned him
one fine day
Feb 1, 2018 at 8:39 AM
Comment #4Catchy,
While the players sanctioned by Carr may have on the face of it seemed better players than what has come through the door of late ,to me they were all signed under false pretences that we were a stepping stone otherwise we would have been given a wide birth .In many ways I wish that had been the case as they all slowly showed massive character flaws .
The worst was the home game with Liverpool when many of the French seemed to simply down tools as we got humped.
Cabaye on strike ,sisoko whoring himself to arsenal at very chance.dubuchy doing the same on Twitter at the World Cup
Most of these aren’t rafas first choice it’s what he was given .
I’d take these lads over that shower every time ,they never stop working..two years ago we would have lost that game last night.
Remember the banner ?we just want a team that tries ?
We make enough chances to win a lot of games comfortably ,just need a finisher to ping them away at this level.
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Feb 1, 2018 at 8:40 AM
Comment #5Jesper
Beat you to it last night but if you missed them here was my summing up…
Just got in
Toon started well for the first twenty minutes then lost the plot until Kenedy hit the post.
Joselu and the penalty I think 90% of the ground knew he was going to miss – guy is hopeless in front of goal shot weak as dishwater does not anticipate/gamble on crosses.
Don’t know why Rafa picks him in front of Mitrovich your stubbornness could take us down to picking Joselu up front
Atsu was poor along with Yedlin who got caught out of position time and time again.
Their goal first corner looked liked ball was out before Darlow touched it and the second corne should of been a goal kick , but that was sore grapes.
Diame was outstanding tonight and linked up well with Kenedy which could strike up a partnership in midfield unless Rafa chops and changes.
my Merit Marks
Darlow 7 did OK – tad unlucky with their goal still slow on his distribution
Dummett 8 – defended excellently all night got some great tackles
Clark 6 – A bit shaky at times especially on the ball
Lascalles 8 – A colossus at the back and a towering header for the goal
Yedlin 5 – OK going forward but defending lost his man to many times
Kenedy 8 – excellent debut set up penalty and linked up well with Diame
Diame 9 – Man of the match best game he has played in a black and white shirt
Merino 5 – largely anonymous most of the game – weak as dishwater in the tackle falls over and cried wolf too often
Atsu 4 – looked like he was not interested never went passed a man all night – lost the ball time after time. missed glorious chance when Kenady’s shot came off the post
Perez 7 – did ok linked up with midfield but had little help from Joselu or Atsu
Joselu 4 – Not his best night, missed two sitters. missed the penalty – never up with the play for crosses
Rafa 6 – starting line up fine – but waits too long for substitutions. Gayle and Murphy brought on far to late. Too stubborn for not at least giving Mitro a run in the team if he had the chances that Joselu has missed might be in a better league position.
If he has gone to Fulham best of luck must be sicked off at watching the chances we squander week in week out.
Footnote; their goal did anyone else think it was off-side – not the goalscorer but the player that was standing in front of Darlow?????
LetuscloneShearer
Feb 1, 2018 at 8:52 AM
Comment #6I can see why this guy was brought in, I can not trust Darlow and his soap gloves. A good goalie would have saved last nights goal, but instead Darlow boxed the ball in his own net.
geordiemark
Feb 1, 2018 at 8:54 AM
Comment #71 point not good enough have to win our home games, our home form is shocking in over 50 years ive never seen it like this before its not just this season though it was same last season as well, it doesn’t look good for us at the end of the season
Optimistic Panda
Feb 1, 2018 at 9:20 AM
Comment #8I thought there may have been some optimism on here this morning but no, panic stations and doom and gloom.
The half empty brigade are out in fine voice this morning, thought they’d have sore heads after celebrating Joselu misses.
lesh
Feb 1, 2018 at 9:24 AM
Comment #9Catchy
You’re a sad case, an obsessive.
Who or what would you chew on if Rafa weren’t around? You’d find another target for your frustrations.
Why not try to see the bigger picture and realise that no matter who’s manager, the club’ll still be a disaster as long as Ashley owns it. Vent your spleen at him and help the club move on.
catchy in norway
Feb 1, 2018 at 9:29 AM
Comment #10one fine day
come on, i think your clutching at straws mate, while those things did happen, they all still produced in many games for us too, so please don’t single out individual games from them.
i don’t think can name one player that Rafa has bought that is a first team must have, play every week, and in my opinion he seems to want just squad players that he can rotate every week, and to make it a little worse he wants players to fit multiple positions.
take just last night, Atsu has never had a good game on the right side of MF, both Murphy and Ritchie are our best on that side, so that made no sense.
Perez and Joselu, have never had a good game together and couple that with the fact perez is not a good no10 type player, he seems to be better as the front man, and i’m not saying he is a great CF, but he offers more than Joselu.
go back to the swansea game, all of his summer signings started on the bench, or injured, yes 3 on the bench, i thought he needed to by players to make the leap up not warm the bench.
he is not that good of a coach, i don’t see it on the pitch, and as far as tactics go, it take a real genius to defend for 70 mins
Premiership Manager
Feb 1, 2018 at 9:55 AM
Comment #11Don’t know why we signed a keeper who has no EPL experience and if he is any good will hamper the development of Darlow and Elliot. He may be an international but by the same token so is Mitrovic.
Slimani is another questionable signing given that he’s injured and may be out for at least two weeks, if his recovery goes to plan, meaning he will play no more than 10 games. What happened to the £16M and why didn’t we sign an additional striker particularly if Slimani is not fit.
Kennedy will only get better and was superb.
As for Joeslu, he missed a hat-rick last last night and as Ian Wright said the match should have been out of sight. There’s only one person to blame and that is Rafa and his persistence in playing him despite having one of if not the worst minutes per goal ratio of any striker in the league at 520 minutes per goal.
The fact that he gets in the team is astounding and asks questions of not only Rafa’s tactics but also his reluctance to give Mitro a chance.
As for formations, given last nights team and Joselu’s performance, why couldn’t we have played 4-3-3 with Shelvey, Merlino and Diame in midfield with Kennedy, Perez and Murphy up front? A solid midfield that can thread and pick passes and 3 up front who can all score goals and open up any defense.
Should we be questioning Rafa – he picks the players, the team and the tactics. At Liverpool they lost faith in some of his decisions and choices, not to mention the infuriating number of home draws. I hope the writing isn’t on the wall as draws simply won’t cut it. We need to be positive and that starts with selecting a team that can win games. Hopefully we can get 14 points but may need 16 to guarantee safety. We have thrown points away in half a dozen matches including last night and that needs to end here
armoadam
Feb 1, 2018 at 10:21 AM
Comment #12I would love to meet the morons who voted for Horselu as best player against Burnley.
Geordie-john
Feb 1, 2018 at 11:01 AM
Comment #13I hope he settles in VERY quick. We need him now not in a few games time
dig-n-dig22
Feb 1, 2018 at 11:03 AM
Comment #14optimistic panda #8
Unfortunately with our home form it’s difficult to be optimistic, we dig out 2 brilliant away wins against Stoke andW / Ham only to squander the advantage and blow 6 BIG points through drawing at home.We needed new faces through the door in the first week of Jan to ensure we won these winnable home games, instead we bring in a striker last day that may be missing for 2/3 games and will be unavailable for another, but looking at the table I feel optimistic again If we can beat C Pal on Sunday then I genuinely believe we can beat the drop but we need big points against S/hampton,Hudders,West Brom at home, if we don’t get them I think we will be toast.