Sam Johnstone

[Shute]

Why do we need another keeper ?. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the one we have. To replace Etheridge after the season he had would be a smack in the face to the whole squad and what they achieved. Assuming Camp goes, then all we need is a young back up from a Premier League team as cover.

Also I don't think you could say theres nothing wrong with him. He does have some decision making issues. Particularly when put under intense pressure, like with backpasses.

Don't get me wrong I love the guy but we need someone at least as good as him to compete for the number one.

[Badly Ironed Shirt]

I wonder if the commercial considerations from etheridge would come into play.
He'd be the only Philippines national player in a top league, and the premier league is the most popular league to watch over there.
Football isn't a massive sport there, unlike other countries in the region, but it's a massive country and its popular enough to new us a bunch of overseas supporters surely?

Yes, it is a massive country - but it is also extremely poor. Basketball and boxing is the main sport there and, unlike the Japanese who support players (and change clubs with the player), Filipinos are extremely patriotic. There are barely any football fans there at all, the National Team are known as the Azkals (street dogs) but are also much maligned. They are not likely to spend £40 on a shirt (unlike Koreans, Japanese, Chinese - even Thais). I was there in April, and whilst the locals knew Neil Etheridge, they didn't know that their national team had just qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time ever. They also didn't care.

You can see kids wearing football shirts, but they are usually given as gifts from relatives who work overseas (lots of nurses work in the UK for example), or from charities to street kids who will have no concept of what that club is.

There are very few commercial opportunities in promoting Etheridge imo. The locals will take pride in him if their national team starts getting recognised overseas - but I think it unlikely that this will extend to Filipinos buying Cardiff merchandise or UK based Filipinos buying match tickets in massive numbers. If the Philippines do nothing in the Asian Cup (very likely) then there will be little exposure of the team or of Etheridge.

[Shute]

Yes, it is a massive country - but it is also extremely poor. Basketball and boxing is the main sport there and, unlike the Japanese who support players (and change clubs with the player), Filipinos are extremely patriotic. There are barely any football fans there at all, the National Team are known as the Azkals (street dogs) but are also much maligned. They are not likely to spend £40 on a shirt (unlike Koreans, Japanese, Chinese - even Thais). I was there in April, and whilst the locals knew Neil Etheridge, they didn't know that their national team had just qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time ever. They also didn't care.

You can see kids wearing football shirts, but they are usually given as gifts from relatives who work overseas (lots of nurses work in the UK for example), or from charities to street kids who will have no concept of what that club is.

There are very few commercial opportunities in promoting Etheridge imo. The locals will take pride in him if their national team starts getting recognised overseas - but I think it unlikely that this will extend to Filipinos buying Cardiff merchandise or UK based Filipinos buying match tickets in massive numbers. If the Philippines do nothing in the Asian Cup (very likely) then there will be little exposure of the team or of Etheridge.

Thanks for that. You sound like you are well informed. Spending a lot of time in Asia myself I can only concur that unless Etheridge was playing in something huge like the Champions League or got to the World Cup, then it isn't going to happen in the way some are hoping.

[Blue in the Face]

Yes, it is a massive country - but it is also extremely poor. Basketball and boxing is the main sport there and, unlike the Japanese who support players (and change clubs with the player), Filipinos are extremely patriotic. There are barely any football fans there at all, the National Team are known as the Azkals (street dogs) but are also much maligned. They are not likely to spend £40 on a shirt (unlike Koreans, Japanese, Chinese - even Thais). I was there in April, and whilst the locals knew Neil Etheridge, they didn't know that their national team had just qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time ever. They also didn't care.

You can see kids wearing football shirts, but they are usually given as gifts from relatives who work overseas (lots of nurses work in the UK for example), or from charities to street kids who will have no concept of what that club is.

There are very few commercial opportunities in promoting Etheridge imo. The locals will take pride in him if their national team starts getting recognised overseas - but I think it unlikely that this will extend to Filipinos buying Cardiff merchandise or UK based Filipinos buying match tickets in massive numbers. If the Philippines do nothing in the Asian Cup (very likely) then there will be little exposure of the team or of Etheridge.

Good post. But I don't think the point is that he is worth a lot commercially to us, to a bigger buying club, looking to expand in untapped and growing markets. Etheridge could help give one of the CL teams an effective monopoly of support going into the future.

[Badly Ironed Shirt]

Good post. But I don't think the point is that he is worth a lot commercially to us, to a bigger buying club, looking to expand in untapped and growing markets. Etheridge could help give one of the CL teams an effective monopoly of support going into the future.

I can't see it personally - it's a really poor country. If he joined a bigger club, I think the Filipinos would show more interest but doubt it would convert into anything substantial monetarily. Football will never compete with the NBA there. And, if football did take off, the enterprising locals (not being disparaging here) would cash in on fake replicas.

Also, Etheridge plays in a non glamorous position. The country is getting wealthier and it could all change but based on my experiences I wouldn't expect too much.

Here's a question - with the lack of good goalkeepers in England, would Etheridge be good enough for England if he had a good season next season? Pope came from nowhere into the England setup and the same could happen to Etheridge (if he hadn't already played for The Philippines).

[Rjk]

I can't see it personally - it's a really poor country. If he joined a bigger club, I think the Filipinos would show more interest but doubt it would convert into anything substantial monetarily. Football will never compete with the NBA there. And, if football did take off, the enterprising locals (not being disparaging here) would cash in on fake replicas.

Also, Etheridge plays in a non glamorous position. The country is getting wealthier and it could all change but based on my experiences I wouldn't expect too much.

Here's a question - with the lack of good goalkeepers in England, would Etheridge be good enough for England if he had a good season next season? Pope came from nowhere into the England setup and the same could happen to Etheridge (if he hadn't already played for The Philippines).

I know a few Filipinas, and several of them were big into their football, watching the premier league religiously back home. They all knew who etheridge was, and several follow him on Instagram etc but none had much of an idea about Cardiff city.
I know it isn't in the top 3 sports there even but it's got a reasonable following.
Etheridge has more followers on his social media platforms than the rest of the team put together, and I'm pretty sure that isn't from his time at Walsall. If he makes a splash in the premier league he will have an even bigger profile over there.

Yes it's a poor country, and opportunities for quick cash are probably minimal, but you never know, we might bizarrely end up with a following in the far east

[Badly Ironed Shirt]

I know a few Filipinas, and several of them were big into their football, watching the premier league religiously back home. They all knew who etheridge was, and several follow him on Instagram etc but none had much of an idea about Cardiff city.
I know it isn't in the top 3 sports there even but it's got a reasonable following.
Etheridge has more followers on his social media platforms than the rest of the team put together, and I'm pretty sure that isn't from his time at Walsall. If he makes a splash in the premier league he will have an even bigger profile over there.

Yes it's a poor country, and opportunities for quick cash are probably minimal, but you never know, we might bizarrely end up with a following in the far east

You could well be right, lots of Northern Irish people support Nan U because of George Best. Not as many support Fulham though.

How many of Etheridge's followers are Filipino?

[Rjk]

You could well be right, lots of Northern Irish people support Nan U because of George Best. Not as many support Fulham though.

How many of Etheridge's followers are Filipino?

There are ways of checking that kind of thing, but I'd have to Google it first, I'd bet it was 90% Filipino.

He's got over 700k followers on Twitter and 40k on Instagram.