Would you sign Christian Walton

[Sparks Rover]

In the tunnel at the beginning,  the size difference between DR and CW was vast.  Walton is getting better game by game, Rayais just the same as usual...cock up city

[Ossydave]

His price must be going up and up by the week, this guy is the real deal.

[47er]

2 hours ago, Ossydave said:

His price must be going up and up by the week, this guy is the real deal.

So you see the issue with relying on a loan on a key position? Plays well for you and fee goes up. The £3m we got for Raya should have gone on a new keeper of our own. But we had no money and at that point I remind you about Gallagher and Brereton and £12M for which I blame the manager you always defend.

[philipl]

Walton is the real deal.

No flubs since the turn of the year and some worldy saves.

Has the advantage of height over Raya.

Yes I'd sign him up. 

[Blue blood]

Well I'm going to keep criticising him because the more I seem to do so, the better he gets! Terrible keeper. 

Seriously though it is looking like a different player in the second half of the season. Watching him closely yesterday he made one error - missing a low cross into the box - but made a couple of good saves and dealt with every routine thing with a minimum of fuss. A very solid display. 

Is this the real Walton or was the error prone chap at the start the more regularbkeeper? Was it adjustment problems or is this just a purple patch? (I suapext the former). Problem is if he keeps up like this can we afford him? 

However these are questions for next season and hopefully the improvement continues till then for us. 

[Stuart]

I like my goalkeepers to command their box and have a presence. His kicking is better than Raya, his height helps him get to shots that Raya might not have but I still think we should have kept Raya and upgraded our coaching set up.

But Walton is 24. In four years, with the right coaching, I think he could be decent.

Right now, I honestly think he is enjoying the halo effect, the reflective glow from a settled defensive pairing in front of him. Adarabioyo will be big shoes to fill next season.

[chaddyrovers]

Walton isnt decent already @Stuart? Walton is developing more and more. Getting better each game. That's why he so highly rated by Brighton. Can I also why should have kept Raya and upgraded our keeper coach? Don't forget Raya wanted out and Our current GK coach Benson seem to improving Walton weekly. Plus Hilton aswell is very good prospect. 

@Blue blood, can we afford Walton permanently? For me, Brighton will want 5 mil pounds plus. I would expect an experience foreign keeper as number 1 next season. 

[Stuart]

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

Walton isnt decent already @Stuart? Walton is developing more and more. Getting better each game. That's why he so highly rated by Brighton. Can I also why should have kept Raya and upgraded our keeper coach? Don't forget Raya wanted out and Our current GK coach Benson seem to improving Walton weekly. Plus Hilton aswell is very good prospect. 

@Blue blood, can we afford Walton permanently? For me, Brighton will want 5 mil pounds plus. I would expect an experience foreign keeper as number 1 next season. 

Yes, he’s developing but not there yet. Depends on your definition of ‘decent’, which is very subjective.

[Gamst]

An emphatic YES. He has all the attributes to become a premier league keeper. Decent shot stopper, reads the game well, commanding presence and good distribution. He has made some mistakes but he is very young for a keeper and will only get better. Brighton would be foolish to let him go, but if there is the option to buy we should push the boat out if necessary...would fit the Venkys ethos of buying young and selling for a profit. I'm sure someone wise once said that you are only as good as your keeper and I believe it's no coincidence that we have appeared much more solid since his form has improved. 

[chaddyrovers]

2 minutes ago, Stuart said:

Yes, he’s developing but not there yet. Depends on your definition of ‘decent’, which is very subjective.

Firstly, thankyou for the reply.

He isn't at his peak yet. Wont be for 4 or 5 years yet. 

Second best in the league in terms of clean sheets. Nothing he could do about either goals yesterday. But command his area yesterday good, made a number of good saves. His kicking is good. 

What more are looking for before you call him Decent? 

Thanks for reply in advance. 

[Doug]

The improvement since he joined us has been impressive, and, like some of our younger players, goes to show what an extended run of games can do.

If we can pick him up for similar money to what we received for Raya then I'd probably sign him as he looks a much better prospect (IMO).

[Blue blood]

19 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

@Blue blood, can we afford Walton permanently? For me, Brighton will want 5 mil pounds plus. I would expect an experience foreign keeper as number 1 next season. 

Well if you had asked at the end of 2019 I would have said yes, easily. He was dropping a ton of errors and didn't pull up any trees at Wigan, so Brighton would probably have let go on the cheap with a big sell on fee / buy back clause. 

Now - I appreciate it is a bit of a different story. A keeper doing well in the championship is probably worth a fair bit of money, more than we can afford. They probably won't want him as first choice yet (nor after a positive 2 months or so is he ready) and not much benefit to him sitting on the bench so they would also be happy with another loan. Its another problem deferred and very risky for us if there is a recall clause but that's the most likely scenario imo. 

[Stuart]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

Firstly, thankyou for the reply.

He isn't at his peak yet. Wont be for 4 or 5 years yet. 

Second best in the league in terms of clean sheets. Nothing he could do about either goals yesterday. But command his area yesterday good, made a number of good saves. His kicking is good. 

What more are looking for before you call him Decent? 

Thanks for reply in advance. 

Think of ‘decent’ as an understatement for ‘bloody brilliant’.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Surprised not to see credit given to our goalkeeping coach for Walton’s improvement, given he was personally responsible for every Raya error.

[Stuart]

3 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

Surprised not to see credit given to our goalkeeping coach for Walton’s improvement, given he was personally responsible for every Raya error.

Far too early for that kind of statement.

There is a contrasting view that Adarabioyo has been the reason for our improvement.

[Ossydave]

7 hours ago, Blue blood said:

Well if you had asked at the end of 2019 I would have said yes, easily. He was dropping a ton of errors and didn't pull up any trees at Wigan, so Brighton would probably have let go on the cheap with a big sell on fee / buy back clause. 

Now - I appreciate it is a bit of a different story. A keeper doing well in the championship is probably worth a fair bit of money, more than we can afford. They probably won't want him as first choice yet (nor after a positive 2 months or so is he ready) and not much benefit to him sitting on the bench so they would also be happy with another loan. Its another problem deferred and very risky for us if there is a recall clause but that's the most likely scenario imo. 

He was good at Wigan so not sure where you get the pulling up trees comment from, they kept more clean sheets than us anyway!

[Miker]

Early on in the season I thought he was going to be a bit of a dud, but his performances in 2020 have been absolutely excellent and I would rather we bought him in the summer than go chasing some unknown keeper.

He has all the attributes to be a success and has age on his side as well.

[DE.]

I've decided to re-open the poll as I have a feeling a few people may want to change their vote. I've amended mine from a 'no' to a 'maybe', which it probably should have been from the start anyway but in light of recent performances I'm definitely not in the absolute 'no' camp at this point.

[Inglorious basturk]

You know what , I have no issue with being proven wrong . 
i had high hopes for raya as I’ve seen him more or less since he arrived , maybe I’m a tad sentimental . For what it’s worth he has the basic mechanics to be top class . However he’s not our issue now .

ideally I’d like a keeper with top flight experience , Martinez and darlow come to mind ....

but providing he keeps up this form and his fee isn’t astronomical then yes why not let’s take him on , however is like competition that pushes him ( and is also potentially number 1 ) and is also review our keeper coaching situation . 
 

would be interesting to see where raya and Walton are when they are 29 

[Inglorious basturk]

3 minutes ago, DE. said:

I've decided to re-open the poll as I have a feeling a few people may want to change their vote. I've amended mine from a 'no' to a 'maybe', which it probably should have been from the start anyway but in light of recent performances I'm definitely not in the absolute 'no' camp at this point.

I concur 

[chaddyrovers]

Walton's contract ends in summer 2021. 

[Tom]

He’s playing well at the moment for sure, not sure if he’s improving or just in a good spell of form we’ll see over the rest of the season, I said earlier I’d have him as backup but at the moment he’s Certainly looking better than that.

Certainly wouldn’t want just him and Leutwiler as our senior keepers next season though stronger competition would be needed.

 

[jw_]

He's done enough to prove he would be well worth signing, but surely this poll should be a straight Yes or No.

Maybe sounds like something Mowbray would say.   

[Blue blood]

13 hours ago, Ossydave said:

He was good at Wigan so not sure where you get the pulling up trees comment from, they kept more clean sheets than us anyway!

I think it's mainly that Wigan fans weren't bothered about keeping him plus didn't hear much about him in league 1 that makes me say that. For example if he went to Wigan instead of us next season we'd probably be disappointed. 

[47er]

11 hours ago, Tom said:

 

Certainly wouldn’t want just him and Leutwiler as our senior keepers next season though stronger competition would be needed.

My view too. We need Walton and a keeper! Shows again the task facing us in summer.