Simon Smith left his position as head of goalkeeping at Newcastle United this summer after spending seven years at the club.
Smith had worked with Steve McClaren, Rafael Benitez, Steve Bruce and current manager Eddie Howe, while he had also served under Ruud Gullit and Sir Bobby Robson between 1999 and 2005 during his first stint coaching with the North East side.
After departing from Newcastle this summer, it took just a few weeks for Smith to be asked for his opinion on a former player. Smith was relaxing at home in North Shields when he received a phone call from Manchester United's goalkeeping coach Richard Hartis.
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Smith, speaking to the Manchester Evening News , described Hartis as 'a very good friend and colleague', but this phone call was not an inconsequential conversation. Hartis was on the phone with Smith to ask questions about Martin Dubravka.
"He said, ' what can you tell me about Martin Dubravka' and I was struggling to find a negative," Smith explained. " One of the questions I was asked was whether he was going to be ok playing in front of the Stretford End. I said it won’t be any trouble for him."
This was not the first occasion that United had expressed interest in Dubravka — who they have admired for some time. It's understood United had tracked Dubravka for more than two years and they tried to sign him on loan in January.
Howe privately had doubts about Dubravka and that led Newcastle to express an interest in signing Dean Henderson on loan. United were prepared to accept Dubravka in exchange on loan for Henderson, but the Slovakian rejected the move.
He was still first-choice at Newcastle at that stage and it made no sense for him to swap St. James' Park for Old Trafford. The landscape changed when Nick Pope joined the club from Burnley in June and Dubravka was no longer guaranteed to be No.1.
Erik ten Hag made six signings this summer and Dubravka was his final addition on deadline day. The 33-year-old joined United on a season-long loan and the club can make the transfer permanent for £6million, should he play a fixed number of games.
United fans might already remember Dubravka best for his outstanding Premier League debut in February 2018. Newcastle had not won a Premier League home game for four months when they welcomed Jose Mourinho's side to St. James' Park on that afternoon, but they had just signed the unknown Dubravka on loan from Sparta Prague in the Czech Republic and he was the difference.
United were defeated 1-0 and a disgruntled Mourinho said after the match that Newcastle had fought like 'animals' for the three points. Dubravka had just announced himself to the Premier League in spectacular style to win those three points.
Dubravka made a string of excellent saves to deny Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial and Ashley Young and he was named Man of the Match for his performance, but that didn't come as a total surprise to Smith, who watched from the bench.
Smith is partly responsible for bringing Dubravka to England and, having spent four-and-a-half years working with the goalkeeper at Newcastle, he knows him better than most. He recently spoke to the MEN from his native North East to provide insight into the shot-stopper.
"When Rafa [Benitez] was there, he said to me we need to find another goalkeeper and he sent me a list of goalkeepers to watch," Smith recalled. "The search carried on through the off-season and he was sending me names to watch on WyScout daily.
"If I said that they weren’t very good, he would write back and say he needed more and that’s where Martin came from — his name was on a list. I watched him playing for Sparta Prague but mainly for the Slovakian national team and I just liked what I saw.
"He was athletic, he looked confident, he really knew what he was doing and technically he was very good. Rafa did the background into his character and he eventually appeared on loan. You kind of think you know them because you've watched them that much."
Smith admitted that he was 'delighted' when first meeting Dubravka in person because his English was 'excellent'. "I thought thank goodness for that, we can talk about goalkeeping and then it became obvious that he was very into his goalkeeping," he added.
"He was really into his goalkeeping, he was interested, he wanted to get better and he wanted to learn. Martin realised that he had a great opportunity from where’d he come from. He was humble but delighted that he had signed for a massive club in England."
Dubravaka signed for Newcastle on 31 January 2018 and Benitez was keen for him to quickly come into the side. The Spaniard would ask Smith for a report on the goalkeeper's progress after each training session but it was his opinion that he was not quite there.
The Slovakian did not need long to prove to Smith he was ready. "He was just a little behind to start off in his first few days, which you would expect, but he very quickly got up to speed, which was great for me because that doesn't always happen," he explained.
Smith gave the green light and Dubravka made his debut just 11 days after signing for Newcastle. That debut came against United at St. James' Park and Dubravka couldn't have wished for a better first appearance — it was the perfect debut for a goalkeeper.
Was Smith surprised? " From a goalkeeping perspective, no, but from dealing with the situation perspective, then yes," Smith recalled. "I felt that I knew his goalkeeping and I’d seen it, but I didn't know how he would react in front of 52,000 fans.
"It was also Manchester United at home. That’s always been one of his special characteristics. I said to him last season, when he runs to the Gallowgate and they applaud him at the start of the game, I couldn’t handle that. That’s quite a special thing, to embrace it.
"I used to say, Martin, six years ago you were playing in front of 12,000 people and now look where you’re playing and how you’re handling the crowd. I think he has a bit of a maturity beyond his years, he’s a level-headed goalkeeper."
Dubravka started every Premier League for the remainder of that season and Newcastle made the deal permanent for £4.3m in that summer. Smith was delighted Dubravka was re-signing for Newcastle, as had been taken by his professionalism.
Smith worked with Dubravka every day in training and the goalkeeper soon became a terrace hero in the North East. He played every minute of Newcastle's 2018/19 and 2019/20 Premier League campaigns and that reflected his importance to the side.
Dubravka also won Newcastle's Player of the Year award in 2019/20. “He was unbelievably proud of that award because he became a fan favourite. He loved it when the crowd chanted his name, that meant so much to him, it really did," Smith said.
It was no coincidence that Dubravka was performing on matchdays; he was doing the work in training that others wouldn't.
"I would review his performance at the weekend and we would meet at 9am and he’d come in and always review the games," Smith added. "Whether he played well or not, he would have spoken to his dad or watched it back himself.
"His athleticism was a real strength. I used to joke with him - because he was that athletic - that sometimes he could have caught the ball, instead of parrying it wide. I used to say in all honesty Martin, I think you could have caught that.
"From a technical point of view, he’s very competent. He was excellent in training each day and that’s where he showed his maturity. He was excellent with the group, he was really supportive of Karl [Darlow] and Mark [Gillespie], and the younger goalkeepers.
"He was really helpful to the younger goalies and that is because he used to recall what had happened to him. When he was with the national team and they had two older goalkeepers, they basically ignored him and he knew what that felt like.
"His work ethic was amazing. He was very fit, always in the gym, every morning before training. He always wanted to do extra work and it was nice because he knew what he needed to do to make himself feel good - he really looked after himself."
It's very clear speaking to Smith that Dubravka's rise at Newcastle was earned. "The nice thing is, you knew he actually deserved what he was getting. I knew where he’d come from, which in our language might be first-division football," he added.
"To have an unbelievable debut and to carry on with that. He was as good in his 10th game as he was in his debut."
Smith then began to come alive when asked whether Newcastle appreciated the value-for-money deal they had secured to sign Dubravka.
"Yeah, a real bargain," Smith says in excitement, even now. "You saw players get signed for fees like £65m and we thought hang on a second, we’ve only paid £4m for Martin. It was quite funny because no one really said anything about that.
"It was like we were keeping it quiet because we had got away with one. He was always for me, among the top five goalkeepers in the Premier League and the statistics from his time at the club will show you that."
Although Smith spent every day working with Dubravka, he explained he prefers to keep a 'very professional relationship' with his players. That means that the two goalkeeping aficionados discussed their craft in training, instead of matters outside of work.
"Martin and I, we were off on Christmas day and he asked to train, so I went in with him on Christmas day. We were sometimes given the afternoons off and he didn’t want those days off and I used to love that. It gave us the opportunity for one-to-one work.
"We did more talking about goalkeeping than we usually would on those afternoons, as It was just the two of us working, so you’d have to let him rest at times. He’s got a partner and a little boy, I’ve met his dad and he’s very supportive of him.
"He bought his mum a house in Slovakia, but apart from that, we had a real goalkeeper-coach relationship — it was really strong."
Dubravka encountered adversity for the first time at Newcastle in the summer of 2020. He sustained a freak injury at home in the off-season and returned to action in December. Dubravka had not missed a league match since his debut until that incident.
"The biggest devastation was when he got that foot injury," Smith recalled. "He had been flying and he’s gone for an offseason run in the woods to keep himself ticking over and he injured himself. It went on longer than we expected and he had an operation.
"When he came back from that injury, and he worked unbelievably hard to get back, I’d take him for extra work on an afternoon and you wondered whether he would come back just as good, but it was like he had never been away."
Although Dubravka was forced to be patient, he reclaimed his spot as a first-choice goalkeeper by February 2021. He played a key role in keeping Newcastle in the Premier League when he returned and he remained as the club's No.1 until leaving this summer.
Newcastle were constantly threatened by relegation during Dubravka's stay and Smith believes he was instrumental in maintaining their topflight status. "He was very important, the key strength of the team is through the middle," Smith said.
"I know I’m biased because I’m a goalkeeper coach, but start with strength at the back, have someone who is consistent, someone who is reliable and a very good talker. Martin was a very good talker, sometimes too good. He was a really good organiser.
"One of the things that has been slightly thrown at him is that he might sometimes play deep in the goal. I had that conversation with him a few times, regarding the modern sweeper-keeper, and he’d say to me, 'have I ever been caught out?'.
"He would give himself a bit more time to read the situation, to see what the bounce is like, and to see if the ball had been taken under control, but if heeds to get there he can because he’s quick and athletic."
Smith has worked with Shay Given, who made 451 Premier League appearances in his career, and he admitted he felt the same about Dubravka and the Irishman. Both players were part of goalkeeping groups at Newcastle that Smith remains proud of.
Sergio Romero was the last popular No.2 at Old Trafford and Dubravka will be hoping to perform just as the Argentine did.
"It's quite funny, I’m going back two seasons ago, probably more actually, he [Dubravka] was mentioned by Man United," Smith recalled. "I used to joke with him when he played well. I’d say 'Man United must have had their scouts at the match today'.
"They were looking for a second-choice goalkeeper this summer. I had left by then, so I knew nothing about it, but I got a phone call from Richard Hartis, who I’ve known for many years and he said, 'what can you tell about Martin Dubravka?'
"Richard asked if he could handle playing for Manchester United and I told him yes. It’s whether you can handle playing in front of that kind of crowd and the expectation of winning every week. I said he could definitely handle that.
"With him going to Manchester United, it was like the next step. They will see a top Premier League goalkeeper because that’s what he is. If I was getting him, I would think we’ve signed a goalkeeper who is among the top six in the Premier League.
"I’ll be honest with you, one of the questions Richard asked me was whether he would put pressure on David [De Gea] and I said without a doubt. His standard of professionalism, gym, work ethic, training and all the rest of it, really has an effect on other people."
Dubravka has been brought to Manchester to push De Gea in training and to be a positive influence on the younger goalkeepers, which Smith was keen to reiterate he would do. "He was absolutely terrific with them," he said.
"Martin was always leading by example and getting them in the gym. A proper example to a young goalie, showing how hard you need to work to get to where you want to be." Smith then paused for a moment before answering the final question.
When asked at the end of the interview to describe Dubravka in three words, Smith said: "Top class professional."
It certainly seems like United have signed a No.2 goalkeeper, who could be first-choice for most Premier League clubs. Dubravka has been unfortunate with injury since joining the club, but he will be desperate to show what he's capable of when fit.
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