Goalkeepers' Union

Unforeseen scheduling changes meant we weren't able to record this week, so to fill the void we're dipping back into the vault for another dose of Rob Green... Two years after the first.

The first-half focused on, well, the first half of his career. This second-half hones in on what came next and a complete debacle of a situation at QPR. Then, as extra-time rolls in at some point over the next few weeks, we concentrate heavily on England and that solitary outing in South Africa.

Great storyteller, Greeny. Hope you enjoy. And thank you, as always, for listening.

Good to be back! Between the Sticks returns with a comprehensive roundup of the weekend's action, where David de Gea equalled a long-standing record, Nick Pope ruled himself out of a first club trip to Wembley and Emi Martinez went against the wishes of his manager - much to the public dismay of said manager.

In the EFL, the Goalkeeper Assist klaxon is sounded for Nicholas Bilokapic of Huddersfield, while Hokey Cokey 'Keepers goes into overdrive from the Championship to League Two.

A word is given on Manuel Neuer's comments following the departure of Bayern goalkeeper coach, Toni Tapalovic, 'Keeper Capers goes north of the border with Dundee United's Mark Birighitti, and a quick tribute is paid to stoppers who have sadly passed away since we were last on air.

Two huge Premier League derbies this week. Two huge goalkeeping talking points.

Should Bruno Fernandes' goal have stood as Manchester United equalised and then defeated Man City? And was Hugo Lloris at fault for the opener in Spurs' North London loss at home to Arsenal?

Both questions are rather vociferously answered by Mr Lee in this podcast, in addition to analysis of performances from Kepa Arrizabalaga, Emi Martinez and Jordan Pickford.

Clean Sheet Club returns – complete with a new-look leaderboard – for the first time since the beginning of November, and GKs On Their Way springs into action as the goalkeeping merry-go-round starts to take shape.

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No full complement of league action, of course, but an eventful FA Cup Third Round weekend provided plenty of goalkeeping talking points.

None more so than at Old Trafford where David de Gea bizarrely let one slip in Manchester United's victory over Everton, followed up by a playing-out-from-the-back error courtesy of Alisson as Liverpool were taken to a replay by Wolves.

On the flip side, Sheffield Wednesday's Cam Dawson trumped his top-flight counterparts with an MOM showing in a giantkilling of Newcastle, Jak Alnwick saved a penalty in Cardiff's draw at home to Leeds and, over in League Two, Richard O'Donnell of Rochdale pulled off a Save of the Season contender against Newport.

It's January, so GKs On Their Way returns shortly before Rich offers a quick tribute to his one-time manager at Watford, Gianluca Vialli, who sadly passed away last week following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

After a brief break for the festive season, GKU returns for a slightly alternative Between the Sticks offering.

With games here, there and everywhere, we instead reflect on goalkeeping in 2022 as a whole while factoring in a selection of recent action.

Rich answers "five big questions" with top performers and surprise packages named from the Premier League to League Two.

Happy New Year to one and all. Thank you for your continued support. Onwards and upwards in 2023.

With the World Cup finally wrapped for another four years, we analyse what was without a doubt the most epic of finals ever seen on the global's greatest showpiece (for those born in 1982 at least).

Performances (and antics) from Emi Martinez and Hugo Lloris are given a nod, as are a fair few comments from commentators made throughout the tournament.

With Rich away, Everton's Asmir Begovic rejoins the ranks to cover off all the key action from the previous two rounds of the 2022 World Cup.

Key topics include penalty shootouts involving heroics from Bono, Dominik Livakovic and Emi Martinez, while Asmir also shines a light on what life has been like for goalkeepers not in Qatar.

What’s this? A Saturday pod?!

With the theme of today's show being speed-based, we'll make this very quick.

Just a few hours before the Round of 16 commences in Qatar, we tail off the final batch of group games.

Key focus is on Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Manuel Neuer and Unai Simon amid a mad 48 hours of World Cup drama.

In a bid to not over-promise and under-deliver (classic Richard Leeism, that), we did state our next Between the Sticks would be three-to-four days after the last.

Thankfully, we've managed to sync schedules and produce the following.

All the key action from the majority of second group games is covered, including Diogo Costa's near mishap against Ghana and Wayne Hennessey's absolute mishap in Wales' defeat to Iran.

Munir Mohamedi admirably stepped in at the eleventh hour for Bono as Morocco shocked Belgium, Edouard Mendy silenced the doubters with a couple of fine saves in Senegal's win over hosts Qatar, and Wojciech Szczesny stamped his name in World Cup folklore with one of the finest double saves you'll ever see in the tournament.

Naturally, there's a wealth of Commentary Corner content, too.

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On Day Five of the Qatar World Cup, we reflect on the key action from the first four days.

Top topics include:

- Mohammed Al Owais and his MOM display in Saudi Arabia's win over Argentina
- An international debut for new Netherlands No1, Andries Noppert
- Criticism of Edouard Mendy and Manual Neuer in opening game defeats for Senegal and Germany respectively

Enjoy!