Rob Elliot will never have a bigger few weeks in his career.
An injury to first-choice Newcastle stopper Tim Krul means that the Republic of Ireland goalkeeper could be set for an extended run in the Magpies’ first team.
So important a week is it for Elliot, who has only managed 16 appearances for Newcastle in the last four years, that Jamie Carragher has singled him out as his “Man of the Week” in his weekly Daily Mail column.
Carragher points to the fact that Newcastle boss Steve McLaren was recently quoted as saying Krul was worth 18-20 points a season to his side and claimed that the onus is now on Elliot, who has earned 3 caps for the Republic of Ireland, to attempt to match Krul’s reliability.
He writes:
“Newcastle are going to need at least 40 points to stay up. If Krul was going to be responsible for half of them, where are they going to come from now? Can Newcastle beat relegation without Krul?
“So you can see how much is riding on how Rob Elliot performs in Krul’s absence. He has hardly played in the Barclays Premier League over the last two seasons and his most recent clean sheet in it came at West Ham in May 2013.
“Elliot only made five appearances in all competitions last year but he was between the posts for two unexpected victories — away to Manchester City in the Capital One Cup and at home to Chelsea in the league — and McClaren must hope that is some kind of omen.
“If Newcastle are going to get out of the dreadful position in which they currently find themselves, it is going to take more than just a goalkeeper playing well but McClaren can ill afford any more disruption. He needs his team to start winning.”
