Green: Robert Paul (Rob)

2016-2017 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Goalkeeper

Born: Chertsey, Surrey: 18-01-1980

Debut: Queens Park Rangers (a): 07-08-2016

6' 3" 14st 6lb (2015)

Green spent his schoolboy and youth career progressing through Norwich City's Academy before signing professional forms in August 1996. He won an England Under-sixteen cap on 19th February 1997 n a 0-0 draw with Sweden in a European Under-Sixteen qualifying game. His debut for the England Under-Eighteens came on 30th May 1998 and soon gained a second. The youngster made his debut against Ipswich in the 0-0 draw at Carrow Road in November 1999. But 21-year-old Green had seen his first-team appearances restricted by the presence of first-choice keeper Andy Marshall between the sticks. He made his first team debut, keeping a clean sheet in the 0-0 home draw with arch rivals Ipswich Town on 11th April 1999 and retained his place for the following fixture six days later in a 2-2 home draw with Tranmere Rovers. In May 2000, he and colleague Danny Gay travelled to Parma to train under their goalkeeping coaches as part of an agreement between Norwich City and the Italian side to share resources, which enhanced his already international experience. He did not gain any further first team experience until early 2000 when he played three games in Division One. The first came as a substitute after he came on after Andy Marshall had been sent off in the fifty-fifth minute and Jean-Yves de Blasiis had to be sacrificed to bring on the deputy goalkeeper. The other two were starting roles as he deputised during Marshall's suspension. On 24th January, 2001, Green, who had been in impressive form for the Canaries' reserve side, signed a new contract with them, keeping him at the club until 2005. Marshall was voted Norwich's player of the year in that 2000-01 season and Green had to bide his time. His chance came when Marshall was looking towards EPL football and refused to sign a new contract and moved to Ipswich Town in the close season, leaving the opening for Green, who played forty-one of the forty-six League games as Norwich finished sixth to reach the play-offs, where they were beaten on penalties by Birmingham City, with Green also playing in the three play-off games and twice in the F.A. Cup and once in the League Cup. He was now the established Norwich City keeper and went on to be ever-present in 2002-03 as Norwich finished a disappointing eighth, but the impressive Green had already come to the attention of the England coaches and selectors. He was also linked to Manchester City and Leeds United, who were on the look-out for replacement goalkeepers. He was again ever- present for Norwich in the 2003-04 season as Norwich attained the EPL as champions of Division One, while Green was chosen as the PFA Division One goalkeeper of the season. He was also called into the England squad and was on the bench on 31st March 2004 as England went down to Sweden 0-1. On 15th June 2004, it was reported that Arsenal had offered £4 million for him, but this was denied by Green and the Norwich City manager, Nigel Worthington. With several good performances in the EPL, again in September, there were rumours of interest from Manchester United and Arsenal, while in November 2004 there were more reports of Middlesbrough joining the ever-growing list of admirers. Then on Boxing Day 2004, there was another report of Arsenal's interest linked to the possibility of a move in the January transfer window. There was more gossip on 3rd April 2005, when it was stated that Manchester United were interested in Paul Robinson and that Tottenham Hotspur would move for Green as a replacement. In a tightly contested relegation battle, Norwich failed to stay up by one point, as Green was again ever-present and the club fell back down into the Championship. Green was still one of the top England keepers and was called up for England's tour of the USA in May 2005. His high profile still had him linked with Everton, Aston Villa and Wigan on 20th May 2005. After being on the bench for the 2-1 win over USA on 28th May 2005 at Metlife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey and with England ahead 2-1, he made his England international debut as a half-time replacement for David James, in England's 3-2 victory over Colombia at the Giants Stadium in New Jersey thre days later - with Green conceding one goal. He also was on the bench on 17th August 2005 as England went down 1-4 at Parken, Copenhagen to Denmark. There were more rumours when Edwin Van der Sar joined Manchester United from Fulham, as he was linked to the Cottagers, While Celtic new manager Gordon Strachan was linked with a double swoop on Carrrow Road which would see Green and Huckerby head to Celtic. On 19th July 2005, several sources also linked Green with a switch to Everton but this was denied by David Moyes who already had Nigel Martyn and Richard Wright. The following weekend it was rumoured that Portsmouth had made a £3million bid. In November 2005 there was more rumours of a move to Everton in the January transfer window. At the beginning of 2006, it was suggested that Green was Charlton Athletic's prime target during the January 2006 transfer windowand on 7th January it was said that Charlton would offer £750,000 plus former loan signing Kevin Lisbie in return for Green. He only missed four games in 2005-06 as Norwich were out of the promotion reckoning in ninth position. He was once again on the bench for England at Wembley in a 2-1 win over Uraguay on 1st March 2006. On 16th March 2006, he was again linked with Everton who were plotting a double Championship swoop for Green and Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson. On May 9th 2006, Green was named by Sven Goran Eriksson in the England squad for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. He made his second appearance for his country coming on as a half-time substitute in place of David James, in the "B" international against Belarus on 25th May 2006 at the Madejski Stadium, Reading. In the second half Green ruptured his groin making a save and when he took a goal-kick, in the fifty-third minute he collapsed, allowing Vitaly Kutuzov to sidefoot an equaliser into the empty net. The game was delayed for several minutes as Green was given treatment before the Norwich keeper was carried off. Green was replaced by Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson. The injury resulted in his being out of action for a number of months missing the start of the 2006-07 season and of course the World Cup. After being publicly linked with Charlton Atheltic on 16th August 2006, Green was snatched by West Ham manager Alan Pardew for a fee that could rise to £2 million. “I'm delighted to have secured Robert's signature,” said Hammers boss Alan Pardew. “He already has Premiership experience and is an established member of the England squad, so it is obviously fantastic to have him here. At 26, he still has his best years ahead of him, and we are all excited about what he can bring to the club. He is another young English talent who will be pushing to continue his international career this season, and I am sure he can achieve that aim at West Ham." While at Carrow Road, Green had started Two Hundred and twenty- two League games and also come on once as a substitute. He had also started eight F.A. Cup ties, seven League cup ties and three Championship play-off games. He made his debut for West Ham United on 22nd October 2006 in a 0-1 defeat at White Hart Lane by Tottenham Hotspur. He went on to start twenty-six League games in the 2006-07 season as the Hammers avoided relegation by three points, winning 1-0 at Old Trafford over EPL Champions Manchester United, on the final day. He was ever-present in the League in 2007-08 as West Ham finish tenth. In July 2008, it was speculated that Martin O'Neill's Aston Villa were preparing a £6million bid for Green. In mid November 2008, Green was named as a target for new Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp following the erratic form of Spurs' Brazilian keeper Heurelho Gomes. Green was again ever-present in the 2008-09 season as the Hammers finished ninth. He also gained another cap as a half-time substitute for David James, when the score was 0-1, in a 0-2 loss to Spain at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville on 11th February 2009, and followed this with a game on the bench on 28th March 2009 in a 4-0 win over Slovakia at Wembley. He then made his first international start for England in the 4-0 away win over Kazakhstan on 6th June 2009 at the Zentralstadion, Almaty, and followed that up with a second clean sheet in the 6-0 win over Andorra on 10th June 2009 at Wembley. He now seemed to have established himself as England's first choice keeper. Four more starts quickly followed on 12th August 2009 in a 2-2 draw with Netherlands at the Amsterdam Arena, when he played the full game. Then another full game on 5th September 2009 in a 2-1 win over Slovenia at Wembley, then a further ninety minutes in a 5-1 win over Croatia at the same venue four days later. All seemed straight forward for Green as he started in the Group F European group World Cup Qualifier on 10th October 2009 in Ukraine at the Dnipro Arena in Dnipropetrovsk. Here he hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons when he became the first England goalkeeper to be sent off following his red card for a professional foul. Aaron Lennon had to be sacrificed for David James and Andriy Shevchenko missed the ensuing penalty, but Ukraine scored in the thirtieth minute to win the game. He missed the game against Belarus at Wembley four days later and was on the bench for the 0-1 loss in the friendly with Brazil in the Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar on 14th November 2009, but there was a full game on 3rd March 2010 in the 3-1 win over Egypt at Wembley and then he started in the 3-1 win over Mexico at Wembley and England were already 2-0 to the good when he was rotated with Joe Hart at half-time. Six days later he was on the bench as Joe Hart was given a full game in a 2-1 win over Japan at Merkur Arena in Graz, Austria. He had once more been ever-present in the West Ham team in League games in 2009-10, as the club slipped to seventeenth on the ladder just one place away from relegation. Green was included in England's squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. He started and played the full game in the first Group C game against USA at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa on 12th June 2010. However, his blunder in that game, with the ball squirming out of his hands into the net, allowing the USA to equalise resulting in the West Ham keeper being dropped for t he remainder of the tournament. It was not to be his final game for England and he was many times unused substitute on the bench, but did play just one more game for England on 26th May 2012, his twelfth and final, as England defeated Norway 1-0, playing a full ninety minutes at the Ulleval Stadion, Oslo. He missed just one League game in the 2010-11 season as West Ham finished bottom of the EPL and consequently were relegated to the Championship. He missed four League games for the Hammers, some as a result of a sending off in the fifty-third minute in a 4-1 away win at Blackpool on 21st February 2012, but he also played in all three play-off games as the Hammers, who finished third in the table, beat Blackpool 2-1 in the final at Wembley to book their return to the EPL. He had started two hundred and nineteen League games, eleven F. A. Cup ties, eight League Cup ties and three Championship play-off games. After failing to agree a new contract, he left West Ham on 21st June 2012 and signed a two year contract with Queens Park Rangers from 1st July 2012. He played sixteen games for Rangers in the EPL as he and Julio Cesar battled for the goalkeeper jersey, as the Loftus Road club finished bottom of the EPL and were relegated. He missed just one League game as Rangers finished fourth in the table, but he also played in the three championship play off games as Rangers beat third placed Derby County in the play-off final at Wembley 1-0 on 24th May 2014, to return to the EPL. He missed just two games in the EPL in the 2014-15 season, as Rangers once more finished bottom to be relegated back to the Championship. Despite this Chelsea were said to be interested in his being the understudy to Thibaut Courtois. In 2015-16 he made twenty-four League appearances. He was sent-off in the seventy-second minute in the 1-2 loss at home to Nottingham Forest on 12th September 2015 and missed the ensuing match at home to Blackburn Rovers, four days later. The rest he missed were the games after he beginning of January 2016, after he had been told any future games would trigger a clause in his contract giving him a new one year contract. Liverpool were interested in him as a back-up for Simon Mignolet and Crystal Palace also showed interest, but nothing materialised and he was released by Rangers on 9th June 2016. He had started one hundred and nineteen League games and two more from the bench, as well as two in the F.A. Cup and two in the League Cup and three in the Championship play-off games. Leeds United announced the signing of Green on a one year contract on 6th July 2016, when he became the club's fourth signing of the summer. It was said that he would be joining the rest of his new teammates at their pre-season training camp in Ireland, ahead of the friendlies with Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers. “It’s exciting to be here.” Green told the Leeds United Website. “This is one of those opportunities where the first phone call asking if you want to come and play for Leeds is a very quick one. It was a ‘yes’ straightaway. I’m thrilled to be here. I’ve spoken to the manager and I know what he’s got in store and what he’s planning. What he said really resonated with me and re-affirmed my feelings towards this opportunity. After the long wait over the summer, the last few days have happened very quickly and now I’m ready to go. I can’t wait to get going. I’ll join the squad as one of the older members of the group and the role I’ll have to play with my experience really appeals to me. I’m here for however the manager needs me. He’s got a young team of players, who, he says with the right guidance, will really flourish." He was not deemed to be fit enough for the first friendly, but he played the first sixty minutes of the second, before being replaced by Ross Turnbull, as United won 3-0 against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Park on 16th July 2016. A full game in the 1-2 loss to Peterborough United at London Road on 23rd July 2016 soon followed and he seemed to have established himself as United's first-choice goalkeeper when he played a full game in United's final pre-season friendly in a 2-1 win over Atalanta of the Italian Serie A on 30th July 2016. Indeed, he made his League debut in the season's opener at Loftus Road where United were beaten 0-3 by his former club, Queens Park Rangers on 7th August 2016. Three days later he played a full game in the League Cup win at Fleetwood Town, his save taking United through in a penalty shoot-out. Home games against Birmingham City, in a 1-2 defeat on 13th August 2016, and a 1-1 draw with Fulham three days later, and a 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on 20th August 2016, cemented his hold on the green jersey. He, like most United regulars, was rested for the 1-0 win over Luton Town in the League Cup three days later, sitting unused on the bench, but was back for the 1-3 loss at Nottingham Forest on 27th August 2016. While excelling with penalty-saves and his ability to maintain clean sheets, he was not perfect and the odd blunder would sometimes occur. After making an unsteady start and being the cause of at least one of the three goals conceded on his League debut he had shown good form until the visit of Newcastle United in a very important promotion game that Leeds had to win to maintain their challenge to the top teams, of which the Geordies were the leaders. He was clearly at fault for the opening goal of the game when he tried to prevent a ball dipping under the crossbar and only suceeded in pushing the ball in the air for the Newcastle forward, Dwight Gayle to head the opening goal from close range in the twenty-third minute. There may have been other faults as the season wore on but generally speaking his form was good and performed to a high standard and was a League ever-present, but took a well deserved rest from all but one Cup tie. He was given a one year extension to his contract on 18th March 2017, but, which maintaining the #1 goalkeeper's jersey it always seemed likely that new signing Felix Wiedwald could be first choice. As luck would have it the German was handed the gloves in the first League game at Bolton Wanderers but a training injury saw Green sidelined for a couple of games and it was not until the 5-1 home League Cup win over Newport County on 22nd August 20107 that Green played his first game of the new season and Wiedwald had established himself as first choice. On 27th August 2017, after receiving advances from EPL side Huddersfield Town for him to be cover for Jonas Lossl, he had his contract with Leeds cancelled by mutual consent and he left Elland Road to sign for Huddersfield until the end of the 2017-18 season. With hindsight it was a bad move for both Green and Leeds. Green never played a game for Huddersfield while Leeds suffered as both Wiedwald and Lonergan, his replacements, were not in his class. At the end of his one year contract the Terriers did not renew his contract and on 26th July 2018 he joined Chelsea as cover for their young goalkeepers.