Abuse toward Robert Green

[spursman18]

Rob Green's teammates insult him in training to prepare him - Dirty Tackle - World Soccer* - Yahoo! Sports

Last week, goalkeeper Robert Green's West Ham teammate Julien Faubert assured the public that Green is ready to handle the verbal abuse he's likely to hear from England fans who are still irrationally angry over Green's flub that handed the United States a draw in their opening World Cup match two months ago. And now we know why Faubert is so confident in Green's mental toughness. It's because the they've been shouting insults at him in training.
From Eurosport:
The 30-year-old [Green] was subjected to jeers during a friendly against Ipswich on Saturday, and there are fears there will be more of the same once the season proper starts up.
In a bid to prepare him for the Hammers' opening day fixture against Aston Villa, West Ham players and staff have been encouraged to shout insults at him on the training pitch.
Green, a keen devotee of sports psychology, knows that concentration and focus, despite any external distractions such as abuse, can be vital to a goalkeeper's performance.
Though having people yell abuse during training is a method goalkeepers have used before to prepare for penalty kicks and other difficult situations, it doesn't seem necessary for Green. He appeared able to brush off his World Cup blunder almost immediately, saying that he's a 30-year-old man and that it wasn't going to affect him. So maybe the West Ham boys are just getting their jollies by giving Green a bit of ribbing.
Either way, it sounds like Green will be very prepared for anything the loudmouths in the stands can hurl at him. Hopefully his hands are equally prepared for everything that comes his way on the pitch.


I'm sure there will be plenty of boos for each player from the World Cup which some of you may agree/disagree with, but I'd love to have a go at some of my teammates in training like what these spammers have been doing to Green.

[Blackrussian]

Rob Green is a crap keeper anyway. The World Cup exposed him.

The Spammers nearly got relegated too !.....Nuff said...!!

[P UNIT 1980]

Errrrrrm bothered.

He is a Spammer and he should be used to it!!!

[thfcire]

they should throw coins and bottles at him,just like the fooking pikeys do to any visiting keeper,cnuts

[thfcshady27]

every other player in that england squad should be getting abuse as well!

hes being made a scapegoat big time.......he is a spammer tho so i dont give a ****!

[steelktm]

anyone watch that wet spam game to see what the treatment toward him was?

[spursman18]

anyone watch that wet spam game to see what the treatment toward him was?

Villa booed him like crazy while Spam applauded him when this happened.

[gazza]

He isn't world class but then it's not his fault that England haven't been able to produce (or pick) a great keeper in years! They had a chance with Joe Hart and it's gone, sadly. It's hard to defend the English game when the English team can't defend itself

Also the fans shouldn't be so mean to him. He is a normal bloke and doesn't deserve it, he took a good beating from the press and honestly he probably has weird sleeping problems at this point. There are plenty of people more culpable for England's failures like Gareth Barry or Glen Johnson who do not seem to be noticed as much

[spursman18]

He isn't world class but then it's not his fault that England haven't been able to produce (or pick) a great keeper in years! They had a chance with Joe Hart and it's gone, sadly. It's hard to defend the English game when the English team can't defend itself

Also the fans shouldn't be so mean to him. He is a normal bloke and doesn't deserve it, he took a good beating from the press and honestly he probably has weird sleeping problems at this point. There are plenty of people more culpable for England's failures like Gareth Barry or Glen Johnson who do not seem to be noticed as much

I reckon Hart's England career is just getting underway Gazza, he'll be the #1 for the next 10 years

[gazza]

I just meant in the last world cup, he is still young for a goalkeeper and he is a great source of hope for the country

[edmonds44]

Joe Hart proved to everyone he is England's number 1... he performed above expectations against us and proved that he deserved a place over Given... the only problem I have with Hart is he plays for Man Shitty but hopefully he'll go elsewhere when they only finish 6th this season...

as for Green sorry mate you had your chance and blew it under the pressure... he doesn't deserve the boo's because it was the English TEAM that performed shite not just him...

[Robbie_B]

Geln Johnson is the right full back who cant defend. He is always goin to cop crap about the way he plays.

[AshScfc]

Worst keeper in the premiership IMO.