It is now 630 minutes since Nick Pope conceded a goal, and the Newcastle ‘keeper was singled out for his performances by manager, Eddie Howe, ahead of this weekend’s clash with Fulham.
7 games have now passed since Southampton’s Romain Perraud scored an 89th-minute consolation goal in the Toon’s 4-1 win at St Mary’s on November 6th. Pope has conceded just 11 goals in 18 games this season, and currently heads the clean sheet table with 10, 2 clear of both Aaron Ramsdale and David de Gea.
Of course, the Magpies’ rock-solid defence has contributed to these remarkable numbers, but one stat that stands out is Pope’s 83.6% save percentage. To put that into context, Ramsdale’s save percentage is 74.5%, whilst de Gea comes in at 71.6%. [FBref]
Howe, speaking in his pre-match press conference, said of the England international:
“It has been a collective effort” but “from day one here Nick has been very, very good for us”.
Very good is possibly an understatement, and his performances further highlight the incredible value for money that the club achieved when signing the 30-year-old from Burnley in the summer, with £10 Million enough to take him from the recently relegated Clarets.
It has been a long road to the top for Pope. Making his debut at non-league Bury as a 16-year-old, he was then snapped up by League 1 Charlton in 2011. He spent the majority of his time at The Valley out on loan to non-league clubs but eventually broke into the 1st team and made 33 appearances before Burnley came knocking in 2016.
Pope would make 144 appearances at Turf Moor, drawing big plaudits for his collection of remarkable performances against the best that the Premier League had to offer. Thankfully he has continued in that same vein of form on Tyneside, and at just 30, there will hopefully be many more years to come.