Robin Olsen (The World's Number Two)

[PaulTheVillan]

Olsen gives me the sh*ts. We need to replace him asap.

[Mister E]

A keeper who can play out from the back and feels at ease with the ball at his feet is needed.
While I don't believe Olsen is completely inept like others xhoose to believe and rant about , as he has shown some ability at Villa and in his career in goalkeeping, he is not a good fit for our style of play. That's the main issue for me and Emery.
Olsen has demonstrated goalkeeping skills, in particular he performed well against Spurs and Man City making good saves and can easily be competent in goal against minnows of qualifying round of Europe as he's unlikely to even touch the ball
He can stay on as an experienced head for the sqaud and 3 gk aspeect but it's necessary to bring in a natural goalie like a South American or Spaniard who is at ease playing it out as our chief reserve.
Older Goalkeepers from Scandinavia, like Olsen, lack the natural footballing skill to distribute the ball and haven't been taught to play this way when he was developing so he's a lost cause for that hope

AND

Vs Newcastle summer series.
Dear oh dear oh dear.
To be fair Olsen at first had improved and playing the ball out correctly, but after conceding he lost all confidence and his passing caused it to twice straight to Newcastle players with bad distribution.
Need to really consider replacing him with a stronger option.

These are a little contradictory, Footy, to say the least.
From all the scouting you've done, which back-up keeper-options do you favour?

[Flamingo Lane]

I really wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult for us to attract a decent back up goalie, as we can offer a reasonable number of games in European and domestic cup competitions, and the opportunity to understudy in the Premier league the world's best keeper. I'm surprised we haven't got someone in place in time to take part in these pre- season games, which kind of makes me fear that the intention is to stick with Olsen.

[Risso]

He's absolutely abysmal. It's a little bit embarrassing that this clown is still anywhere near our club.

[AV84]

I really wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult for us to attract a decent back up goalie, as we can offer a reasonable number of games in European and domestic cup competitions, and the opportunity to understudy in the Premier league the world's best keeper. I'm surprised we haven't got someone in place in time to take part in these pre- season games, which kind of makes me fear that the intention is to stick with Olsen.

Maybe it's a case of any of the younger keepers who would be good enough are already at clubs, or have spent the last few seasons being understudy and want to make the leap to 1st choice now. It's a difficult position to fill really, you want someone who is proven good enough if we're going to let him play cup/European games, but inexperienced enough that he'd be happy in the worst case scenario with the possibility of only a handful of games.

I think looking for an experienced keeper coming towards the end of his career is a better option for the immediate future. Hope one of the two young keepers we have can put in a good season on loan and bring someone through over the next few seasons that way.

[Risso]

We simply can't go into the new season with Olsen as number two, under any circumstances.

[luke95]

What's Jed Steer upto these days . Never understood why we let him go, as he was more than decent understudy.

[Dogtanian]

What's Jed Steer upto these days . Never understood why we let him go, as he was more than decent understudy.

I think he wants to go and play from what he said in his goodbye chat at the end of the season.

[Gareth]

Absolutely has to be replaced, I’m sure Emery, Monchi and the goalkeeping coach have a list of keepers who are able to play their way.  It’s a fine balance of finding one who is happy to be back up but is also good enough to slot in should Emi get banned / injured.

Olsen as a shot stopper is fine….Olsen with the ball near his feet would (& does) terrify Villa Park.

If we could ship Olsen out just to make sure he doesn’t keep popping up that would also be appreciated :-)

[LeeB]

I think Jed had the ability but part of being a backup goalie is being available to play and that's something he struggled with.

[pauliewalnuts]

He’s awful, and particularly bad at playing the way we want to play.

Is there another club out there with such a quality gap between number one keeper and back up?

He also clearly scares the defence to death too.

I can’t believe we won’t get a replacement in. We’ve got a lot of games this coming season - the thought of Olsen playing a decent number is just terrifying.

[VillaTim]

That one pass out straight to the chest of a Newcastle attacker sums up RO in a nutshell

[LeeB]

I think he's just lacking game time, give him the first 10 games of the season and he'd be fine. Granted we'd be bottom of the table at the time, but patience is a virtue.

[kippaxvilla2]

Is Stuart Taylor still knocking around?

[Dave P]

Seeing Tom Heaton play well for Man U the other night made me think it would have been good to keep him.