Fraser Forster is talking about the heartbreak many people feel for Nick Pope, particularly from within the goalkeepers’ union, and it is surely a stark reminder of how one action in their position can have far-reaching consequences. Pope was set to start in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final for Newcastle against Manchester United and then it was whisked away from him when he misjudged a long pass in last Saturday’s Liverpool game. It led to an instinctive handball outside the area, a red card and a devastating suspension.
Forster, the Tottenham goalkeeper who is preparing for Chelsea’s Premier League visit earlier in the day, may have felt Pope’s pain keenly. Forster grew up in the north-east and Newcastle were the club he followed and whose academy he would join at 16. He dreamed of playing for them but, despite a six-year association, albeit one when he was mainly out on loan, he never did. For the 34-year-old, it is plainly his biggest regret.
