I didn't really rate Howard, but you know what....
Imagine having a job, and having no chance of losing it, your gonna drop off, and your work rate and commitment will drop, even when your sick, and your replacement does the job, perhaps a better job, still no threat, why try harder?
Now Martinez has came in, and he's said that's it, Joel is real competition, and if you're not up to scratch, well then i'll replace you, like he did with Al-Habsi last season (Note: He may not of said this, but you clearly know something like this has happened)! Howards game as a result has drastically improved, as shown by the clean sheets, is it 6 in 11 games? well if were keeping 55% clean sheets throughout the whole season, then we'll have 20, and that'll put us in good stead. I think a lot of people by now were expecting to see Joel in the sticks, but myself included, have been proved wrong!
It's obviously a big help to have a solid backline, but he has single handedly won us points at Villa, and been a rock too, so well done Tim, well done.
