D.O.B: 30 April 1986 (now 25)
Birthplace: Greenwich, England
Height: 6ft 3in
Rob Elliot
After baffling Tyneside with a suspicious transfer from Charlton Athletic (with only days to go in the transfer window), Rob Elliot was not the big name centre forward signing NUFC fans were hoping for in the Summer. The relatively unknown English keeper made his debut for the Toon, playing the full 90 minutes in Newcastle’s 4-3 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in the Carling Cup earlier this month. It took the Toon a whole 90 minutes +30 mins of extra time to score the winner. It has to be said straight, Elliot’s performance was of a goalkeeper not playing with confidence. Should we excuse him for manning a sloppy defence? Be understanding with it being his first game for the Toon? Or question the 3 goals he let in, which could have been prevented? Being a Sunday league goalkeeper myself, I will put it down to first game nerves / playing infront of a new defence and won’t be judging his success on Tyneside having played in a vastly changed team playing away against a half decent(ish) Nottingham Forest but I do have to question the reasoning behind his transfer and how he adds to our squad (in what is probably our strongest area).
Strengths
At 25 years old, Rob Elliot’s only big honour within football is winning the Conference, having also notched up just short fo 100 appearances for Charlton. I can’t see where I can delve in and find strengths worth writing about. I support every player in a Newcastle United shirt but I don’t see where he fits in with the squad. Tim Krul, Steve Harper, Fraser Forster (on loan at Celtic) are better goalkeepers than him, and arguably NUFC youth goalkeeper Ole Soderberg isn’t far off his standard, holds more potential and would gain more from a few games in the Carling Cup too. I never thought I’d say this, but I do think he is a pointless addition to the squad, rant over. From what I’ve gathered from interviews, he seems like a nice guy, that’s a strength right?
Weaknesses
- Lack of Premier League experience.
- Communication weaknesses.
- Not going to be playing much football for us, I can’t see him playing at all this season in the league.
Play Facts
- Elliot has been out on loan 4 times before signing for Newcastle.
- His loan spells included a two season spell with Accrington Stanley in the Conference.
- In 3 years, on loan at Bishop Stortford, Notts County and Accrington Stanley, Elliot has made only 40 appearances but has made almost 100 appearances for Charlton (once managed by Alan Pardew of course).
Below is a video of Rob Elliot in action (well…sort of), in the first of an 11 part video series, showing goalkeeper warm-ups while he was at Charlton Athletic: