Okonkwo confirmed - season long loan

thenewbie

While I do think he's a better keeper in terms of skill than Kaminski the biggest improvement seems to me that the defence seems "happier" with him there - more confident in his decision making and trusting his judgement about what to come for or not. This didn't always seem to be the case for either Kaminski or Mannion.

cabbles

Great performance last night.  I can imagine he instills a bit of confidence in his back line, something Kaminski could never do.  None of us were thinking about replacing the keeper in the summer based on the needs of the squad elsewhere, but I think it’s a bit of Kielyesque master stroke 

If he continues like this, I’d be very keen to see him sign permanently in the summer 

Chris_from_Sidcup

guinnessaddick said:

MuttleyCAFC said:

I think a keeper can be recalled at any time, not just in a window. I would have thought for that reason we may have tried to resist a recall clause. We did hold some cards. It would have cost Wrexham a lot of money to keep him. Anyway without seeing the contract, none of us knows.

I thought the keeper at the loaner club had to be injured, so unless Wrexham are going all escape to victory, they might struggle to get him back.

They can recall him if they're unable to name two fit senior goalkeepers in their match day squad due to injuries or suspension.

Diebythesword

Was great last night, made a couple of big saves, much better coming off his line than kaminski and that was meant to be one of his weaknesses! 

CL_Phantom

Said it in the post match but I'm sold on him now, havent seen the issues that the Wrexham fans were pointing out over on Reddit, makes good saves and plucked a superb ball out of the sky on one corner, distribution maybe a bit suspect but then we like that in a keeper really don't we.

queensland_addick

If I could have picked two players from last season's Championship, the first would have been Scienza, the second, Arthur.

I can't believe we actually now have him in our team.

Thought he looked almost unbeatable against us twice last season, and likewise in most Wrexham games that I watched.

It has to be something really special to get past him.

I think I heard that we have an option to make it permanent, and I think we should do so ASAP.

hoof_it_up_to_benty

He looked very composed once again and has a commanding presence. 

fenaddick

I don’t like his habit of backing away from back passes and playing it first time, makes me nervous. Would much rather he met the ball earlier and took a touch 

Crispywood

Not sure if I’m being harsh but really felt he should have come for the cross for the goal doesn’t look great from corners then again neither did TK. 

That being said really impressed with the other aspects of his game last night 

ShootersHillGuru

Crispywood said:

Not sure if I’m being harsh but really felt he should have come for the cross for the goal doesn’t look great from corners then again neither did TK. 

That being said really impressed with the other aspects of his game last night 

He’s 24 and as the cliche goes he won’t hit his peak for another five years or so. I’m sure that both he and the GK coaches recognise any weaknesses in his game and will be looking to address them. Remember back to Nick Pope when his weakness seemed to be allowing shots to come off his chest back into play. I remember at the time hearing that it was something that can be coached out. What Arthur brings is superb athleticism, shot stopping and an air of confidence. I’ll be absolutely gutted if we don’t get him tied down to us sooner rather than later. 

crookester

I would give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. He would have seen the ball heading to an area where there are no opposition players and our centre half should be able to clear comfortably.

Heath Hero

crookester said:

I would give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. He would have seen the ball heading to an area where there are no opposition players and our centre half should be able to clear comfortably.

Surely that would be even more reason to come and claim it unchallenged? Bindon was standing on the six yard box when he headed it to the guy who scored.

Heath Hero

Loves a punch for the cameras. Catch the bloody thing Arthur!

Swisdom

 The best thing for me is his handling.  The ball sticks.

hes made some decent stops but it’s the handling I like.  There is a video of Nick Pope when he went on loan from us years ago and he made Hollywood saved but the ball stuck and it was so unusual to see.  If AO starts doing that then we have a really good one

MuttleyCAFC

crookester said:

I would give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. He would have seen the ball heading to an area where there are no opposition players and our centre half should be able to clear comfortably.

He should have given Bindon the call to let the ball run. He may well have done. Big upgrade for us though.

pettgra

For Wrexham to spend 8m on a new GK rather than keep AO. All I can say is that they must have more money than sense.

soapboxsam

I really like Arthur, he just feels like an upgrade on Kaminski and Mannion. A couple of excellent saves last night with feet and hands.

My initial feeling was I wanted AO to come for that corner and shout to the defenders, "My Ball".
Having said that he probably felt a defender would get it clear. It was a good strike by Styles and both TC and Bindon nearly blocked it.

Callumcafc

Could he have cleared everyone out and claimed the high corner that ultimately led to the WBA goal yesterday? Perhaps harsh and not saying any of our alternatives in recent seasons would've done better, just an observation and something I hope he's working on.

Starinnaddick

As I have said before Wrexham spent 8 million on a new goalkeeper after AO refused to sign an extension because he wanted to come back to London. 

mendonca

Swisdom said:

 The best thing for me is his handling.  The ball sticks.

hes made some decent stops but it’s the handling I like.  There is a video of Nick Pope when he went on loan from us years ago and he made Hollywood saved but the ball stuck and it was so unusual to see.  If AO starts doing that then we have a really good one

Mmmh, maybe that was his weakness against firm low strikes - trying to make it stick but parrying it into a danger area. 

crookester

Heath Hero said:

crookester said:

I would give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. He would have seen the ball heading to an area where there are no opposition players and our centre half should be able to clear comfortably.

Surely that would be even more reason to come and claim it unchallenged? Bindon was standing on the six yard box when he headed it to the guy who scored.

Yeah maybe. I think after putting up with Kaminski and Mannion I'm finding it hard to see it as a big error of judgement!

Addick Addict

Callumcafc said:

Could he have cleared everyone out and claimed the high corner that ultimately led to the WBA goal yesterday? Perhaps harsh and not saying any of our alternatives in recent seasons would've done better, just an observation and something I hope he's working on.

It is something that a keeper has to habitually do. Schmeichel used to come for everything and he didn't get it right the whole time but the defence were prepared to be pro-active in cleaning things up when that happened.

I'm more minded to focus on the clearing header by Bindon that went straight to the West Brom scorer and also question why TC has ended up splitting two on the edge of the box given he wasn't going to be able close down either from where he was positioned i.e. we have 11 men back of which 9 are marking just 6 attackers in the box. Why not 8 plus AO and two marking their two attackers waiting for the ball to be cleared?  

queensland_addick

It looked like he was about to leave his line to try to claim the ball, but it swerved away from him quite quickly as it lost momentum, making him change his mind.

Bad defending to leave the guy with so much time and space on the edge of the box.
We learn, and move on.

guinnessaddick

soapboxsam said:

I really like Arthur, he just feels like an upgrade on Kaminski and Mannion. A couple of excellent saves last night with feet and hands.

My initial feeling was I wanted AO to come for that corner and shout to the defenders, "My Ball".
Having said that he probably felt a defender would get it clear. It was a good strike by Styles and both TC and Bindon nearly blocked it.

Shouting "my ball" would result in a free kick, better to shout "KEEPERS"

SteveACS

I like him.

I don't think he commands his box, but his handling is good if the ball comes too close to him.

But, he undoubtedly has a presence, and exudes confidence.

fenaddick

In the Nigeria squad for AFCON qualifiers against Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau

CAFC_boi

I thought he was absolutely class tonight, a real safe pair of hands (not feet) and chalk and cheese compared to Kamikaze. 

Just a crying shame we haven’t got him on a permanent 3 year deal, especially when we didn’t even get a right winger from all that money saved … 

FishCostaFortune

I do appreciate how calm and unflustered he is. 

dickad1

I was in no doubt he would save the one on one.  Best keeper since I can’t remember when. Kiely??

Weegie Addick

❤️ Arthur