Well generally true but a few of the current mob would have played at 2016. Having seen the goal think the NI goalie was more at fault for not coming straight out with confidence and assurances. He sort of just stood there waiting for the ball to come to him - inexperienced I guess. Cathcart has probably done the same a few times this season and knows Foster will come rushing out and take the ball.
Craig Cathcart won Northern Ireland Player of the Year so well done to him. https://twitter.com/NorthernIreland/status/1128025587375853568
Deserved, I would say. Not always our best centre half, but definitely our most consistent. Who would have thought all those years ago when we had him on loan that he would probably rack up as many appearances as he has for us. Certainly not me, I was one of the many who used to call him Carthorse.
Nothing against Cathcart but 4 years is excessive. What is wrong with letting average players earn 1 or 2 year extensions. This is the route that leads to the likes of Prodl festering contributing zero and you can’t offload them because nobody will match contract length.
In effect it was a 2 year extension as he was already contracted to 2021. Presumably it's a pay rise on the back of a decent season, maybe even triggered by a set number amount of appearances?
Played brilliantly against Estonia and Belarus too. I met him in Estonia and had a good chat with him, he's very down to earth. Joked to me that the FA Cup Final was the worst day of his life!
I would guess the reason why we're doing this is to get a fee for him in 2-3 years rather than risk him leaving on a free. Wouldn't mind seeing him as a starter next season, 2/3 years' time is a stretch though
Again not Cathcart specific, but right now I’d rather release Prodl on a free at pushing 32 than have to pay him 35k per week for another 2 years in the hope that someone pays a fee. Sometimes in my view it’s best to have flexibility to free up wages rather than hope to get a nominal fee because you’ve put a veteran on a long contract.
As a loosely related aside, it does tie into our general policy, apparently we lead the Premier League in long-term contracts handed out: https://www.football365.com/news/which-pl-clubs-have-planned-most-and-least-for-the-long-term
So close to a point for Cathcart and co in the Netherlands. Poor bloke has probably suffered enough this season !
I was over at the game, he had another good game for NI which again suggests to me it is those he is playing with that bring him down a level this season. What I'd give to have Jonny Evans playing at Watford!
Played in part of a back 3 last night too. All players who played against the Netherlands were asked if they wanted to be excluded/rested in a friendly against the Czech Republic - every single one of them said they wanted to play. Cathcart was one of a handful not rested so played 180 minutes.
Will get his 50th cap against the Germans tomorrow night. Not sure if he'll get the armband as Josh Magennis will (somehow) get 50 caps in that game too. Excellent performance by Craig against the Dutch on Saturday night. The Dutch must be the most overrated national team out there.
That performance didn't quite replicate Saturday's... Fairly poor individual performance from Cathcart, looked pretty lost. In his defence, he was the only one of the back 4 from Saturday who played in this game. He was playing alongside players from Millwall, Hearts and Sunderland (Sunderland's bench to be precise). Bad night all round! Former Watford U23 keeper Nathan Gartside (I remember him having a long spell out with a strange illness) made his debut for NI U21s and got Man of the Match last night at least.
Derry City in the LOI. I think they qualified for Europe this season but not sure if he starts or is sub keeper (he was definitely sub when I was checking when he moved). NI don't have many options with young goalkeepers at the minute beyond Bailey Peacock-Farrell so his call-up might say more about the options available than his current form.
Played 90 mins for NI (who had ten men for most of the game) tonight against Romania, drawing 1-1. No Evans so he was paired with Ballard, a youngster from Arsenal with very few senior appearances. Played reasonably well, one mistake when he let a striker have too much space for a header but the keeper saved well. His distribution was good, particularly his long passes. I've noticed that quite a lot when he plays international football, possibly gets more time on the ball than in the PL.