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In-form Northern Ireland stopper Trevor Carson is determined not to rest on his laurels, having seen how other goalkeepers have had their worlds turned upside down in recent days.<\/p>\nIn-form Northern Ireland stopper Trevor Carson is determined not to rest on his laurels, having seen how other goalkeepers have had their worlds turned upside down in recent days.<\/p>\n
Last summer an uncapped Carson was weighing up whether to accept Hartlepool\u2019s offer to play non-league football.<\/p>\n
His decision to reject that in favor of a move to Motherwell proved to be, by Carson\u2019s own admission, \u201cone of the best\u201d of his career as he reached two cup finals, finally made his first Northern Ireland appearance and even attracted interest from Celtic.<\/p>\n
Yet Carson knows how quickly a goalkeeper can go from hero to zero in the eyes of the press.<\/p>\n
Debutant Jordan Archer made two costly errors in Scotland\u2019s 2-0 loss to Peru earlier this week, days after Carson and his Northern Ireland colleagues watched Loris Karius\u2019 two Champions League final clangers from Miami International Airport.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, I know it works both ways,\u201d Carson said of the extra attention he now commands.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m having a beast every week then I\u2019m going to get slaughtered. Look at the Scotland keeper the other night \u2013 if you read the headlines in the paper you would think he has given the worst performance in goalkeeper history.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you watch the goals back, obviously he\u2019ll be disappointed, but it\u2019s not the end of the world. You can enjoy it when it\u2019s going well but don\u2019t be too hard on yourself when things aren\u2019t going as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI deleted myself from one of the (WhatsApp) group chats I have with the Motherwell boys because Karius made a mistake and straight away they were on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought \u2013 goalkeepers union all the way. If you do well or make a save then it is expected but if you make one mistake\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so hard to go through an entire game mistake-free. If you look at an outfield player then he probably makes double-figure mistakes but they usually never punished by an immediate goal.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe you might get away with the odd bad kick, but everything else is punished by a goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re aware of that and that\u2019s why you have to have broad shoulders being a goalkeeper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carson knows any mistake he or any other keeper makes is magnified and it\u2019s the response to such adversity that is important.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople say that when we make a mistake we should just brush it under the carpet but all you are thinking is, \u2018What an idiot\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think it\u2019s more about how you bounce back after it. It\u2019s impossible to completely forget, but it\u2019s how you bounce back in training and in the dressing room.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may be hurting inside but it\u2019s having that character to put on that front. Football is ruthless, it waits for no man \u2013 so if you are sitting moping about you\u2019ll be out of the team or released.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carson has started Northern Ireland\u2019s past two friendlies, with previous first choice Michael McGovern having played just one EFL Cup game for Norwich last term.<\/p>\n
McGovern is not on his country\u2019s tour of Central America, with Leeds\u2019 Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Celtic youngster Conor Hazard the other two keepers, and Carson is keen to win that number one jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cA year ago Michael may have been in his comfort zone because there was really no one challenging him,\u201d Carson admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think he will be big enough to realize that me, Bailey playing at Leeds every week and Conor coming through means it is exciting times for Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy challenge is probably to fight Michael for the number one spot while Bailey and Conor are probably fighting for the third place that comes away.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce they get that nailed down, they\u2019ll be trying to dethrone me. That\u2019s the life of a goalkeeper at both club and international level.\u201d<\/p>\n