j1m
Lads'n'Dads
Posts: 60
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Post by j1m on Jan 24, 2023 17:36:46 GMT
Is he cup tied?
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Post by eddyclamp on Jan 24, 2023 17:38:14 GMT
theathletic.com/3531888/2022/08/24/matija-sarkic-his-extraordinary-journey-across-europe-to-starting-for-wolves/Matija Sarkic’s journey to the brink of the Premier League has been more than a little unconventional.
It has included a childhood spent in Moscow, London and Brussels, footballing spells at Wigan, Stratford, Havant & Waterlooville, Livingston, Shrewsbury and Birmingham with a basketball-playing father in the Montenegrin diplomatic service.
And it began, 25 years ago this summer, in Grimsby.
“Our parents were working in Moscow but in 1997 the Russian doctors recommended to my mother that we be born in the UK and I think she wanted us to be born in the UK anyway,” says Oliver Sarkic, Matija’s twin brother, his junior by four minutes.
“She’s from Grimsby and her family were there so we were born there. But as soon as we were able to get a passport at three weeks old we flew from Humberside to Amsterdam and then on to Moscow.”
There were times in Matija’s life and career when his current role as No 2 goalkeeper at a Premier League club seemed a million miles away.
He was a defender as a child. He fell out of favour at Aston Villa. His first two appearances for Birmingham could hardly have gone worse.
But last night he made his competitive debut for Wolves last night in the 2-1 EFL Cup win over Preston, just one injury or suspension away from a role in the Premier League.
The Sarkic twins learned their football in Belgium. Their father, Bojan, was Montenegro’s ambassador in Brussels, where he has now returned as his country’s ambassador to the European Union.
But it was in London where a young Matija first put on the goalkeeping gloves that have since become the main tools of his trade.
“We grew up in London after we moved there in 1999,” says striker Oliver, who is currently a free agent having recently ended a stint in Uzbekistan.
“We started playing football at school at Bousfield Primary School in Earls Court. One of my friends played in a park on a Sunday and asked me if I wanted to come along. I came back on the first day with a pair of boots and both my brothers wanted to join in.
“From then on we went along every Sunday to play in the park with a team called Chelham, which was basically a play on the names Chelsea and Fulham!
“He (Matija) was a defender initially until, one day, our goalkeeper didn’t show up at around five or six and that just seemed like his position. He was crying every time he let a goal in and every time we lost so it obviously meant something to him. From then on he never questioned what his position was.”
The twins’ time at Chelham ended at the age of seven when Bojan’s work for the Montenegrin government took him to Brussels.
Wife Natalie, a former government official who now runs her own business combating fake news, and the couple’s three children moved with him and it was in the Belgian capital that their football journey accelerated.
“Our main childhood memories are in Brussels,” says Oliver. “Most of our growing up was done there. And me and Matija ended up getting a week’s trial at Anderlecht and after a week they were happy with us.
“From then on we played together until we were about 17 and I ended up moving away to Portugal and at 18 he had a successful trial at Aston Villa.”
If Belgium was the backdrop of their sporting development and London the scene for their formative years, there was never any doubt where their hearts belonged.
Bojan had grown up in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, and despite their nomadic childhoods, his boys always felt loyal to their father’s home nation.
So when it came to international football, it was an easy decision to make. “Our big brother, Danilo, was the first one to get an international call-up for the under-16s and we were both really jealous,” says Oliver.
“We always went there on holiday and always loved it. We were all very proud of our Montenegrin heritage, and it’s always nice to play for the underdog. We always like to take on a challenge. That’s how we’ve always been brought up to never back away from a challenge.”
Danilo’s career hit a roadblock when, having agreed to join Leicester City as a talented teenaged defender, he failed a medical and lost two years of action with knee problems.
He is now enjoying his football in Belgium’s third division.
His younger siblings, though, have become regular members of a Montenegrin team whose stars have included Stevan Jovetic and Stefan Savic — both regulars for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
And with lengthy careers still ahead, the twins have designs on bringing glory to the small nation.
“It’s a small country with only a 650,000 population but it’s always been very active in terms of sport and all of the players are active in top leagues in Europe and Asia,” says Oliver. “The younger generations are getting better and better because players are moving abroad earlier and the coaching and facilities are improving.
“It’s a young country. It only got its independence in 2006 so in our time playing the hope is to qualify for a major tournament. The more likely one would be a European Championship and then hopefully a World Cup.
“We got close in the 2012 Euros when we lost the Czech Republic in the play-offs and we ended up 17th in the world and the feeling was that was the closest we’d ever get.
“So far that’s been true but we’re hopeful that with the younger generation there is the possibility to really do well in a qualifying group stage.”
On the club stage, Oliver left Belgium for Benfica in 2015, signed for Leeds in 2018, played on loan for Burton Albion and Blackpool among others and played most recently in Tashkent.
Matija left Anderlecht in 2016 when he was recommended by a scout to Aston Villa.
“I could see what he had,” says Andy Marshall, the goalkeeping coach who was tasked by Villa with running the rule over Sarkic and two others hopeful of claiming a place in the club’s under-23s.
“He was a bit wet behind the ears in football terms because he was young, but his maturity and intellect made it very easy to recommend that the club sign him. I think they paid Anderlecht about £20,000 for him. The moment you told Matija something, he was able to absorb and retain that information very quickly.
“As a coach that is priceless because if you are able to teach somebody something by telling them once rather than 10 times you can quickly move on and advance their career. His shot-stopping was very good, his kicking was OK and on crosses he was OK at best.
“But the big thing was, when you looked him in the eyes, he was listening with his eyes and that is priceless. It was that desire of wanting to improve and knowing how quickly we could improve him that stood out for me.”
From Villa, Sarkic spent time on loan at Wigan, Havant, Stratford and Livingston but, with his mentor Marshall having left, he found himself drifting.
When Wolves showed an interest in 2020, he quickly made the decision to move across the West Midlands.
He impressed on loan at Shrewsbury in 2020-21, and last season made his biggest forward step to date when Marshall — by then working at Birmingham under Lee Bowyer — found himself with a crisis to address.
“When Neil Etheridge went down with COVID-19 just before the season there was an opportunity to bring a young goalkeeper in and, knowing the budget I was working with, there wasn’t a vast amount of options on the market,” says Marshall, who is now with Millwall.
“Knowing Matija and knowing where he could get to, it was just a case of bringing him up to speed and giving him an opportunity in the Championship.
“In his first pre-season game at Northampton he made a mistake and in his next game he struggled a bit.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh crap, maybe I’ve dropped a clanger here!’. But, deep down, I knew the levels that Matija could get to and I just needed that little bit of time to get him there.
“I believed in Matija and what he could achieve. The biggest change was his physicality. When he first came to me at Villa he was a skinny, weedy little thing, but at Birmingham he was an athlete — big and strong.”
Sarkic dislocated his shoulder and returned to Wolves in January. However, his performances in just 23 Championship appearances earned him Birmingham’s player of the year award.
It also convinced Wolves that, when they released John Ruddy in the summer, Sarkic was ready to become the chief understudy to their own 2021-22 player of the year Jose Sa.
He has figured on the bench in their first three Premier League matches of the season and last night started in the EFL Cup against Preston at Molineux.
He conceded a disappointing goal from Ben Woodburn as Preston staged a second-half rally but handled and kicked confidently as Wolves’ dominant first-half display and fine goals from Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore took them into the third round.
It is the latest chapter in a fascinating life story.
“He’s a confident, intellectual, smart young man, comes from a good family, speaks five or six languages and takes pride in doing things the right way,” says Marshall.
“He is meticulous, not just in his football and in his life, and that’s how his family have taught him to be. Everything that Matija does in his life has to have a reason. He doesn’t just do things flippantly. He has great attention to detail and he will go on to have a great career.”
Twin Oliver adds: “We have followed each other from day one. We are in touch on a daily basis.
“He always wanted to play in the Premier League and he has backed himself from day one to do so. Now he’s almost there and there is a lot of pride there for the family.
“We have been doing shooting sessions since we were about 10 so I’m going to have to take some of the credit!”
Fair play to anyone who can be arsed to read all that I thought Ted had written it
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Post by Veritas on Jan 24, 2023 17:38:25 GMT
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Post by Northy on Jan 24, 2023 17:40:40 GMT
theathletic.com/3531888/2022/08/24/matija-sarkic-his-extraordinary-journey-across-europe-to-starting-for-wolves/Matija Sarkic’s journey to the brink of the Premier League has been more than a little unconventional.
It has included a childhood spent in Moscow, London and Brussels, footballing spells at Wigan, Stratford, Havant & Waterlooville, Livingston, Shrewsbury and Birmingham with a basketball-playing father in the Montenegrin diplomatic service.
And it began, 25 years ago this summer, in Grimsby.
“Our parents were working in Moscow but in 1997 the Russian doctors recommended to my mother that we be born in the UK and I think she wanted us to be born in the UK anyway,” says Oliver Sarkic, Matija’s twin brother, his junior by four minutes.
“She’s from Grimsby and her family were there so we were born there. But as soon as we were able to get a passport at three weeks old we flew from Humberside to Amsterdam and then on to Moscow.”
There were times in Matija’s life and career when his current role as No 2 goalkeeper at a Premier League club seemed a million miles away.
He was a defender as a child. He fell out of favour at Aston Villa. His first two appearances for Birmingham could hardly have gone worse.
But last night he made his competitive debut for Wolves last night in the 2-1 EFL Cup win over Preston, just one injury or suspension away from a role in the Premier League.
The Sarkic twins learned their football in Belgium. Their father, Bojan, was Montenegro’s ambassador in Brussels, where he has now returned as his country’s ambassador to the European Union.
But it was in London where a young Matija first put on the goalkeeping gloves that have since become the main tools of his trade.
“We grew up in London after we moved there in 1999,” says striker Oliver, who is currently a free agent having recently ended a stint in Uzbekistan.
“We started playing football at school at Bousfield Primary School in Earls Court. One of my friends played in a park on a Sunday and asked me if I wanted to come along. I came back on the first day with a pair of boots and both my brothers wanted to join in.
“From then on we went along every Sunday to play in the park with a team called Chelham, which was basically a play on the names Chelsea and Fulham!
“He (Matija) was a defender initially until, one day, our goalkeeper didn’t show up at around five or six and that just seemed like his position. He was crying every time he let a goal in and every time we lost so it obviously meant something to him. From then on he never questioned what his position was.”
The twins’ time at Chelham ended at the age of seven when Bojan’s work for the Montenegrin government took him to Brussels.
Wife Natalie, a former government official who now runs her own business combating fake news, and the couple’s three children moved with him and it was in the Belgian capital that their football journey accelerated.
“Our main childhood memories are in Brussels,” says Oliver. “Most of our growing up was done there. And me and Matija ended up getting a week’s trial at Anderlecht and after a week they were happy with us.
“From then on we played together until we were about 17 and I ended up moving away to Portugal and at 18 he had a successful trial at Aston Villa.”
If Belgium was the backdrop of their sporting development and London the scene for their formative years, there was never any doubt where their hearts belonged.
Bojan had grown up in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, and despite their nomadic childhoods, his boys always felt loyal to their father’s home nation.
So when it came to international football, it was an easy decision to make. “Our big brother, Danilo, was the first one to get an international call-up for the under-16s and we were both really jealous,” says Oliver.
“We always went there on holiday and always loved it. We were all very proud of our Montenegrin heritage, and it’s always nice to play for the underdog. We always like to take on a challenge. That’s how we’ve always been brought up to never back away from a challenge.”
Danilo’s career hit a roadblock when, having agreed to join Leicester City as a talented teenaged defender, he failed a medical and lost two years of action with knee problems.
He is now enjoying his football in Belgium’s third division.
His younger siblings, though, have become regular members of a Montenegrin team whose stars have included Stevan Jovetic and Stefan Savic — both regulars for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
And with lengthy careers still ahead, the twins have designs on bringing glory to the small nation.
“It’s a small country with only a 650,000 population but it’s always been very active in terms of sport and all of the players are active in top leagues in Europe and Asia,” says Oliver. “The younger generations are getting better and better because players are moving abroad earlier and the coaching and facilities are improving.
“It’s a young country. It only got its independence in 2006 so in our time playing the hope is to qualify for a major tournament. The more likely one would be a European Championship and then hopefully a World Cup.
“We got close in the 2012 Euros when we lost the Czech Republic in the play-offs and we ended up 17th in the world and the feeling was that was the closest we’d ever get.
“So far that’s been true but we’re hopeful that with the younger generation there is the possibility to really do well in a qualifying group stage.”
On the club stage, Oliver left Belgium for Benfica in 2015, signed for Leeds in 2018, played on loan for Burton Albion and Blackpool among others and played most recently in Tashkent.
Matija left Anderlecht in 2016 when he was recommended by a scout to Aston Villa.
“I could see what he had,” says Andy Marshall, the goalkeeping coach who was tasked by Villa with running the rule over Sarkic and two others hopeful of claiming a place in the club’s under-23s.
“He was a bit wet behind the ears in football terms because he was young, but his maturity and intellect made it very easy to recommend that the club sign him. I think they paid Anderlecht about £20,000 for him. The moment you told Matija something, he was able to absorb and retain that information very quickly.
“As a coach that is priceless because if you are able to teach somebody something by telling them once rather than 10 times you can quickly move on and advance their career. His shot-stopping was very good, his kicking was OK and on crosses he was OK at best.
“But the big thing was, when you looked him in the eyes, he was listening with his eyes and that is priceless. It was that desire of wanting to improve and knowing how quickly we could improve him that stood out for me.”
From Villa, Sarkic spent time on loan at Wigan, Havant, Stratford and Livingston but, with his mentor Marshall having left, he found himself drifting.
When Wolves showed an interest in 2020, he quickly made the decision to move across the West Midlands.
He impressed on loan at Shrewsbury in 2020-21, and last season made his biggest forward step to date when Marshall — by then working at Birmingham under Lee Bowyer — found himself with a crisis to address.
“When Neil Etheridge went down with COVID-19 just before the season there was an opportunity to bring a young goalkeeper in and, knowing the budget I was working with, there wasn’t a vast amount of options on the market,” says Marshall, who is now with Millwall.
“Knowing Matija and knowing where he could get to, it was just a case of bringing him up to speed and giving him an opportunity in the Championship.
“In his first pre-season game at Northampton he made a mistake and in his next game he struggled a bit.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh crap, maybe I’ve dropped a clanger here!’. But, deep down, I knew the levels that Matija could get to and I just needed that little bit of time to get him there.
“I believed in Matija and what he could achieve. The biggest change was his physicality. When he first came to me at Villa he was a skinny, weedy little thing, but at Birmingham he was an athlete — big and strong.”
Sarkic dislocated his shoulder and returned to Wolves in January. However, his performances in just 23 Championship appearances earned him Birmingham’s player of the year award.
It also convinced Wolves that, when they released John Ruddy in the summer, Sarkic was ready to become the chief understudy to their own 2021-22 player of the year Jose Sa.
He has figured on the bench in their first three Premier League matches of the season and last night started in the EFL Cup against Preston at Molineux.
He conceded a disappointing goal from Ben Woodburn as Preston staged a second-half rally but handled and kicked confidently as Wolves’ dominant first-half display and fine goals from Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore took them into the third round.
It is the latest chapter in a fascinating life story.
“He’s a confident, intellectual, smart young man, comes from a good family, speaks five or six languages and takes pride in doing things the right way,” says Marshall.
“He is meticulous, not just in his football and in his life, and that’s how his family have taught him to be. Everything that Matija does in his life has to have a reason. He doesn’t just do things flippantly. He has great attention to detail and he will go on to have a great career.”
Twin Oliver adds: “We have followed each other from day one. We are in touch on a daily basis.
“He always wanted to play in the Premier League and he has backed himself from day one to do so. Now he’s almost there and there is a lot of pride there for the family.
“We have been doing shooting sessions since we were about 10 so I’m going to have to take some of the credit!”
Parents flew into the country, had the twins then fooked off out again, no wonder the NHS is in a mess, hope they get a bill
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Post by mattador78 on Jan 24, 2023 17:40:54 GMT
Kept a clean sheet against us last season, but to be fair that’s not a massive achievement
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j1m
Lads'n'Dads
Posts: 60
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Post by j1m on Jan 24, 2023 17:45:24 GMT
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Post by FullerMagic on Jan 24, 2023 17:45:52 GMT
Seemed to be rated at Brum
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Post by owdestokie2 on Jan 24, 2023 17:50:36 GMT
Inexperienced?
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Post by boskampsflaps on Jan 24, 2023 17:51:55 GMT
What do you think that means for the whole Iverson/Leicester situation i wonder? without the Iverson factor hanging over the deal might mean we could push the Souttar cash a bit harder with Leicester And other clubs Iverson could be one for the summer? Hopefully not if they actually want 6-7 mil.
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Post by barrythe on Jan 24, 2023 17:52:58 GMT
Anyone else take anything from this other than his Dads name is Bojan so we automatically love him. ❤️
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Post by CBUFAWKIPWH on Jan 24, 2023 17:53:59 GMT
Excellent reactions - that last save was a bit good.
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Post by Rick Grimes on Jan 24, 2023 17:55:28 GMT
Excellent reactions - that last save was a bit good. Got to be better than Bonham surely.
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Post by realstokebloke on Jan 24, 2023 17:58:50 GMT
Like that one.
Removes the horse trading element with Leicester / Iversson / Harry (& hopefully means we either get top whack for him now, or in the summer).
And, probably most importantly, with him filed under "sorted", it is a huge brick in the wall wrt the other signings we need to go on and make asap.
Hope they are of the same ilk.
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Post by terryconroysmagic on Jan 24, 2023 18:05:19 GMT
Excellent reactions - that last save was a bit good. Got to be better than Bonham surely. It’s appears his distribution from his feet is good. Bonhams distribution from his feet is diabolical and he invariably kicks one into touch under no pressure every game
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Post by Goonie on Jan 24, 2023 18:06:45 GMT
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Post by Staffsoatcake on Jan 24, 2023 18:11:46 GMT
Excellent reactions - that last save was a bit good. Got a tingle in me widge watching that. 😁
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Post by Clayton Wood on Jan 24, 2023 18:19:50 GMT
Excellent reactions - that last save was a bit good. Got to be better than Bonham surely. Matija Sarkic at Birmingham after keeping 10 clean sheets in 23 games before dislocating his shoulder.
Only got one arm so possibly.
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Post by greyface on Jan 24, 2023 18:28:45 GMT
theathletic.com/3531888/2022/08/24/matija-sarkic-his-extraordinary-journey-across-europe-to-starting-for-wolves/Matija Sarkic’s journey to the brink of the Premier League has been more than a little unconventional.
It has included a childhood spent in Moscow, London and Brussels, footballing spells at Wigan, Stratford, Havant & Waterlooville, Livingston, Shrewsbury and Birmingham with a basketball-playing father in the Montenegrin diplomatic service.
And it began, 25 years ago this summer, in Grimsby.
“Our parents were working in Moscow but in 1997 the Russian doctors recommended to my mother that we be born in the UK and I think she wanted us to be born in the UK anyway,” says Oliver Sarkic, Matija’s twin brother, his junior by four minutes.
“She’s from Grimsby and her family were there so we were born there. But as soon as we were able to get a passport at three weeks old we flew from Humberside to Amsterdam and then on to Moscow.”
There were times in Matija’s life and career when his current role as No 2 goalkeeper at a Premier League club seemed a million miles away.
He was a defender as a child. He fell out of favour at Aston Villa. His first two appearances for Birmingham could hardly have gone worse.
But last night he made his competitive debut for Wolves last night in the 2-1 EFL Cup win over Preston, just one injury or suspension away from a role in the Premier League.
The Sarkic twins learned their football in Belgium. Their father, Bojan, was Montenegro’s ambassador in Brussels, where he has now returned as his country’s ambassador to the European Union.
But it was in London where a young Matija first put on the goalkeeping gloves that have since become the main tools of his trade.
“We grew up in London after we moved there in 1999,” says striker Oliver, who is currently a free agent having recently ended a stint in Uzbekistan.
“We started playing football at school at Bousfield Primary School in Earls Court. One of my friends played in a park on a Sunday and asked me if I wanted to come along. I came back on the first day with a pair of boots and both my brothers wanted to join in.
“From then on we went along every Sunday to play in the park with a team called Chelham, which was basically a play on the names Chelsea and Fulham!
“He (Matija) was a defender initially until, one day, our goalkeeper didn’t show up at around five or six and that just seemed like his position. He was crying every time he let a goal in and every time we lost so it obviously meant something to him. From then on he never questioned what his position was.”
The twins’ time at Chelham ended at the age of seven when Bojan’s work for the Montenegrin government took him to Brussels.
Wife Natalie, a former government official who now runs her own business combating fake news, and the couple’s three children moved with him and it was in the Belgian capital that their football journey accelerated.
“Our main childhood memories are in Brussels,” says Oliver. “Most of our growing up was done there. And me and Matija ended up getting a week’s trial at Anderlecht and after a week they were happy with us.
“From then on we played together until we were about 17 and I ended up moving away to Portugal and at 18 he had a successful trial at Aston Villa.”
If Belgium was the backdrop of their sporting development and London the scene for their formative years, there was never any doubt where their hearts belonged.
Bojan had grown up in Podgorica, the Montenegrin capital, and despite their nomadic childhoods, his boys always felt loyal to their father’s home nation.
So when it came to international football, it was an easy decision to make. “Our big brother, Danilo, was the first one to get an international call-up for the under-16s and we were both really jealous,” says Oliver.
“We always went there on holiday and always loved it. We were all very proud of our Montenegrin heritage, and it’s always nice to play for the underdog. We always like to take on a challenge. That’s how we’ve always been brought up to never back away from a challenge.”
Danilo’s career hit a roadblock when, having agreed to join Leicester City as a talented teenaged defender, he failed a medical and lost two years of action with knee problems.
He is now enjoying his football in Belgium’s third division.
His younger siblings, though, have become regular members of a Montenegrin team whose stars have included Stevan Jovetic and Stefan Savic — both regulars for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
And with lengthy careers still ahead, the twins have designs on bringing glory to the small nation.
“It’s a small country with only a 650,000 population but it’s always been very active in terms of sport and all of the players are active in top leagues in Europe and Asia,” says Oliver. “The younger generations are getting better and better because players are moving abroad earlier and the coaching and facilities are improving.
“It’s a young country. It only got its independence in 2006 so in our time playing the hope is to qualify for a major tournament. The more likely one would be a European Championship and then hopefully a World Cup.
“We got close in the 2012 Euros when we lost the Czech Republic in the play-offs and we ended up 17th in the world and the feeling was that was the closest we’d ever get.
“So far that’s been true but we’re hopeful that with the younger generation there is the possibility to really do well in a qualifying group stage.”
On the club stage, Oliver left Belgium for Benfica in 2015, signed for Leeds in 2018, played on loan for Burton Albion and Blackpool among others and played most recently in Tashkent.
Matija left Anderlecht in 2016 when he was recommended by a scout to Aston Villa.
“I could see what he had,” says Andy Marshall, the goalkeeping coach who was tasked by Villa with running the rule over Sarkic and two others hopeful of claiming a place in the club’s under-23s.
“He was a bit wet behind the ears in football terms because he was young, but his maturity and intellect made it very easy to recommend that the club sign him. I think they paid Anderlecht about £20,000 for him. The moment you told Matija something, he was able to absorb and retain that information very quickly.
“As a coach that is priceless because if you are able to teach somebody something by telling them once rather than 10 times you can quickly move on and advance their career. His shot-stopping was very good, his kicking was OK and on crosses he was OK at best.
“But the big thing was, when you looked him in the eyes, he was listening with his eyes and that is priceless. It was that desire of wanting to improve and knowing how quickly we could improve him that stood out for me.”
From Villa, Sarkic spent time on loan at Wigan, Havant, Stratford and Livingston but, with his mentor Marshall having left, he found himself drifting.
When Wolves showed an interest in 2020, he quickly made the decision to move across the West Midlands.
He impressed on loan at Shrewsbury in 2020-21, and last season made his biggest forward step to date when Marshall — by then working at Birmingham under Lee Bowyer — found himself with a crisis to address.
“When Neil Etheridge went down with COVID-19 just before the season there was an opportunity to bring a young goalkeeper in and, knowing the budget I was working with, there wasn’t a vast amount of options on the market,” says Marshall, who is now with Millwall.
“Knowing Matija and knowing where he could get to, it was just a case of bringing him up to speed and giving him an opportunity in the Championship.
“In his first pre-season game at Northampton he made a mistake and in his next game he struggled a bit.
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh crap, maybe I’ve dropped a clanger here!’. But, deep down, I knew the levels that Matija could get to and I just needed that little bit of time to get him there.
“I believed in Matija and what he could achieve. The biggest change was his physicality. When he first came to me at Villa he was a skinny, weedy little thing, but at Birmingham he was an athlete — big and strong.”
Sarkic dislocated his shoulder and returned to Wolves in January. However, his performances in just 23 Championship appearances earned him Birmingham’s player of the year award.
It also convinced Wolves that, when they released John Ruddy in the summer, Sarkic was ready to become the chief understudy to their own 2021-22 player of the year Jose Sa.
He has figured on the bench in their first three Premier League matches of the season and last night started in the EFL Cup against Preston at Molineux.
He conceded a disappointing goal from Ben Woodburn as Preston staged a second-half rally but handled and kicked confidently as Wolves’ dominant first-half display and fine goals from Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore took them into the third round.
It is the latest chapter in a fascinating life story.
“He’s a confident, intellectual, smart young man, comes from a good family, speaks five or six languages and takes pride in doing things the right way,” says Marshall.
“He is meticulous, not just in his football and in his life, and that’s how his family have taught him to be. Everything that Matija does in his life has to have a reason. He doesn’t just do things flippantly. He has great attention to detail and he will go on to have a great career.”
Twin Oliver adds: “We have followed each other from day one. We are in touch on a daily basis.
“He always wanted to play in the Premier League and he has backed himself from day one to do so. Now he’s almost there and there is a lot of pride there for the family.
“We have been doing shooting sessions since we were about 10 so I’m going to have to take some of the credit!”
Fair play to anyone who can be arsed to read all that Please stop including all this in every post.
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Post by bayernoatcake on Jan 24, 2023 18:40:19 GMT
I love* the Championship. A teams pots and I have no idea who he is. He sounds decent though.
*have zero interest in it outside of Stoke
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Post by femark on Jan 24, 2023 18:44:48 GMT
Don’t understand why wolves would swap Sarkic for Bentley?
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Post by CBUFAWKIPWH on Jan 24, 2023 18:48:18 GMT
Excellent reactions - that last save was a bit good. Got a tingle in me widge watching that. 😁 Not exactly my reaction but each to their own 😁
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Post by lordb on Jan 24, 2023 18:48:19 GMT
Got to be better than Bonham surely. It’s appears his distribution from his feet is good. Bonhams distribution from his feet is diabolical and he invariably kicks one into touch under no pressure every game Does he?
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Post by bayernoatcake on Jan 24, 2023 18:48:57 GMT
Don’t understand why wolves would swap Sarkic for Bentley? He needs game time to develop?
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Post by lordb on Jan 24, 2023 18:49:19 GMT
Don’t understand why wolves would swap Sarkic for Bentley? To give their promising keeper games/put him in the shop window
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Jan 24, 2023 18:51:44 GMT
Knowing Stoke it’ll take an injury to Bonham before they start him
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Post by dirtygary69 on Jan 24, 2023 18:56:24 GMT
I know he’s done well at Brum but if Wolves rate Bentley over him, who we apparently wanted, does it suggest he’s not great?! Definitely an interesting character it seems and hopefully he can do well for us.
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Post by lordb on Jan 24, 2023 18:56:49 GMT
I know he’s done well at Brum but if Wolves rate Bentley over him, who we apparently wanted, does it suggest he’s not great?! Definitely an interesting character it seems and hopefully he can do well for us. They don't
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Post by sportsman on Jan 24, 2023 18:59:34 GMT
From the clips I've seen, he's got a big throw on him, a big kick on him, and a right foot like Beckham finding players, so very comfortable with the ball at his feet. A few shots parried straight out, but all in all looks a good keeper.
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Post by thehartshillbadger on Jan 24, 2023 19:00:35 GMT
I know he’s done well at Brum but if Wolves rate Bentley over him, who we apparently wanted, does it suggest he’s not great?! Definitely an interesting character it seems and hopefully he can do well for us. It’s common to allow a young prospect out on loan for regular game time and draft in an experienced understudy isn’t it? Makes sense to me anyway as sub keepers rarely get a look in unless you’re at Stoke, in which case you can expect to play 50% of games. Hopefully this guys good enough to make the number one spot his own for the remainder of the season at least then who knows
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Post by terryconroysmagic on Jan 24, 2023 19:02:29 GMT
It’s appears his distribution from his feet is good. Bonhams distribution from his feet is diabolical and he invariably kicks one into touch under no pressure every game Does he? Yes, yes he does
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