Is a new keeper our top priority?

Sure Green had a good game at Arsenal, but how many more bad ones can we allow him before he is replaced? Stech looks good but is still a kid and Boffin is third choice, so should we be chasing Given in the January transfer window?

Green's supporters will again make excuses for his performance yesterday, but the brutal truth is that he must carry partial responsibility for both goals and for the nervous way we defended the Birmingham lumps into our box. A confident and competent keeper would command his area, but Green is now neither. He looks anchored to his line and is in a state of mortal terror every time the devilish opposition park a tall guy up front and load balls into him. OK, he didn't do a Fabianski yesterday, but neither did he perform like Foster in the Birmingham goal.

For the first goal, Green twitched as the ball was headed down and took a step forward, but like a rabbit in the headlights, he froze, allowing Jerome the time and space to pick his spot. Had Green charged him, I would have had a lot of money on Jerome not scoring. In fact, my Internet stream froze as Zigic headed the ball down and I saw the step forward from Green. To be honest, as I hit refresh, I wasn't worried. When the stream returned with Birmingham players celebrating, I was horrified. When I watched the replay, and saw Green freeze, I was furious. In part with him, but mostly because we had retreated and invited the Birmingham goal. Remember the Bolton game? How similar was this Jerome goal to the Davies one when Upson collected his kick in the face?

As for the second, what was Green doing pushing that shot, two handed, back into play? He had done the same thing moments earlier and fortunately the follow up shot was blocked. This time Green's luck ran out.

Interestingly, according to official Barclays Premier League statistics, Foster has yet to concede a goal from a cross or free-kick this season. Green has now let in five.

I'm not blaming Green for the loss of the two points, the whole team sat back and invited Birmingham on, so Upson and Parker carry greater responsibility in my book. They are supposed to be the leaders on the pitch. But Green's keeping was suspect yet again and, with a twitchy keeper, uncertainty spreads through the team. And the fact that he is NOT a leader is also a problem. A keeper should be an obnoxious, arrogant son of a bitch; Green is too damn nice.

Personally, I think signing Given should be priority number one in January!