[Marchetti]

Yeah, I'm a yank, so what?

Can someone explain to me why Howard has been benched for ManUtd? He had a great year last campaign, and now he seems to fade away already... what's going on?

[JoeDub83]

he's hit the sophmore slump. Made some mistakes which forced SAF to give him a rest.......Tim will be back dont worry too much about it.

[haven]

Originally Posted by Marchetti

Yeah, I'm a yank, so what?

Can someone explain to me why Howard has been benched for ManUtd? He had a great year last campaign, and now he seems to fade away already... what's going on?

Sadly, Howard's been little other than awful in the short season so far. He made two really dreadful mistakes that each cost a goal in separate games. He also showed a lack of ability to deal well with balls in the air.

I also wonder if his Tourrette's is cropping up. He was on the bench for the US against Panama, and the cameras flashed to him briefly. He was twitching far, far worse than I've ever seen him do before.

Most of us in this forum are hoping he gets another shot and does well. But since Carroll has been playing well so far, better than Howard did, that won't happen for a while.

[Coach_McGuirk]

Originally Posted by haven

Sadly, Howard's been little other than awful in the short season so far. He made two really dreadful mistakes that each cost a goal in separate games. He also showed a lack of ability to deal well with balls in the air.

I also wonder if his Tourrette's is cropping up. He was on the bench for the US against Panama, and the cameras flashed to him briefly. He was twitching far, far worse than I've ever seen him do before.

Most of us in this forum are hoping he gets another shot and does well. But since Carroll has been playing well so far, better than Howard did, that won't happen for a while.

I seriously think they need to loan him out where he can play on a regular basis. That way he can work through whatever problems he's having rather than sitting on the bench.

January will be the telling month. If ManU sign a GK them I think Timmy will be sold soon after.

[hawk_claw]

can someone also explain his Tourres or w/e...i thought it was a minor temper issue....whats with this twitching thing??? thanks

[SuperElf]

Originally Posted by JoeDub83

he's hit the sophmore slump. Made some mistakes which forced SAF to give him a rest.......Tim will be back dont worry too much about it.

Well, to be fair, Carroll's faced a grand total of about 5 interesting shots on goal since he came in a month ago. Carroll's first game happened to coincide with the return of Rio, and by extension the settling down of the previously spastic defensive line. You could put the #1 shirt on a bushel of apples and it would only give up one goal a game for ManU. right now.

[Coach_McGuirk]

Originally Posted by hawk_claw

can someone also explain his Tourres or w/e...i thought it was a minor temper issue....whats with this twitching thing??? thanks

Howard has Tourette's Syndrome, but I believe he is on medication to control it, and for the most part I don't think anyone has felt that his condition has had any bearing on his recent form, although as someone pointed out he did look as if he was really feeling it on the bench at the US/Panama match.


Tourette's causes you to have involuntary spasms but there are drugs to help.

[haven]

Originally Posted by Coach_McGuirk

I seriously think they need to loan him out where he can play on a regular basis. That way he can work through whatever problems he's having rather than sitting on the bench.

January will be the telling month. If ManU sign a GK them I think Timmy will be sold soon after.

I actually think they should sign another GK *and* keep Tim. Sign a guy like Van der Saar who you can expect to be good, but not make the position his own. Then loan Howard out, let him regain some confidence. Then let him compete for the starting job next season.

[Coach_McGuirk]

Originally Posted by haven

I actually think they should sign another GK *and* keep Tim. Sign a guy like Van der Saar who you can expect to be good, but not make the position his own. Then loan Howard out, let him regain some confidence. Then let him compete for the starting job next season.

Oh, I agree that the loan option is probably the best one, but how much does anyone know about how he's done in training? I guess the whole thing rests on whether SAF thinks that Timmy has a future.

Being sold might really damage him, psychologically. You would hope that Keller and Friedel would let him know it's not the end of the world, but I have no idea how he gets along with those two, either.

On a related note: how long has Friedel been working on that English accent? Keller's been in England longer than him, and he still sounds American....

[erictheking]

He couldn't catch a cold at the moment. That's why he's been dropped.