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Alex Paulsen (Motherwell FC | Scotland [On loan from AFC Bournemouth])

629 replies · 72,186 views

about 2 months ago

AucklandPhoenix wrote:
Always been a bit suspicious about his apparent height, I’m staggered that he is taller then Raya.

Might have been with his old haircut? :)

I know, I know, its serious!

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about 2 months ago

Never liked the Polish League. It's a quirky, Bundesliga 1/2 league and difficult for young players to really shine in. I always thought it was crazy for Bournemouth not to find him a team in Europe to properly acclimatise too. At 23, he should have been in League 1 in England not the Ekstraklasa.

This was a coaching problem at Gdansk not Paulsen fault. Why would you start a young inexperienced (to European football) goalkeeper. Not surprised he got exposed on crosses/corners.

This type of thing happens a lot. Wrong placement at the wrong time, wrong club. Paulsen is young, cheap goalkeeper, he has nothing to worry about. He has good feet and body structure to make it. His agent needs to help him out a little. League 1 or even League 2 will be the right fit for next season.

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about 2 months ago

Saffa wrote:
Never liked the Polish League. It's a quirky, Bundesliga 1/2 league and difficult for young players to really shine in. I always thought it was crazy for Bournemouth not to find him a team in Europe to properly acclimatise too. At 23, he should have been in League 1 in England not the Ekstraklasa.

This was a coaching problem at Gdansk not Paulsen fault. Why would you start a young inexperienced (to European football) goalkeeper. Not surprised he got exposed on crosses/corners.

This type of thing happens a lot. Wrong placement at the wrong time, wrong club. Paulsen is young, cheap goalkeeper, he has nothing to worry about. He has good feet and body structure to make it. His agent needs to help him out a little. League 1 or even League 2 will be the right fit for next season.

Given it seems Gdansk had some financial issues that the loan from Bournemouth included payments per appearance for Paulsen as well as Bournemouth still contributing most of Paulsen's salary - so there is an incentive to play Paulsen, which is what Bournemouth would want for their youngsters.

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about 2 months ago · edited about 1 month ago · History

Yeah better to have a whole season playing at a decent level in Europe, than riding the pine somewhere.

He will have leant a shit load this season. His first time in a league with relegation, and a club struggling to avoid the drop. Most of the team non native English speakers. He was barely having to make 1-2 saves a game when at Auckland. In some ways as others have opined that AFC season was a bit of a waste of time re his development.

Paulsen will turn 24 in July. He's still a pup in goal keeper speak.

1.84m Matt Ryan signed for Club Brugge as a 21 yr old, and is still going strong in Europe 13 years later. Playing as good as ever as he helped keep Levante (promoted from season 24/25) up in La Liga.

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about 2 months ago · edited about 2 months ago · History

For all the talk of the "pathway" Bournemouth put in front of him when he left the Nix you'd really struggle to argue that either loan move so far has been a great move for him developmentally.

AFC stalled him for a year in a league he was too good for, and the issues mentioned above with the Polish move. At least its been regular football.

I'd like to think he's capable of a loan to L1 at the very least, SPL and Championship a possibility too. Hope he can regain some momentum after the World Cup as something tells me it'll be Crocombe starting.

Valley FC til I die?

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about 2 months ago

He's too good for League One, but probably wasn't ready for the championship. I suspect that's why he ended up in Poland. There are some exceptionally average goalkeepers in league one, and there wasn't many teams that properly play out from the back for him to join.

Annual finals disappointment enthusiast.

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about 2 months ago

Paulen should go and watch the Netflix doco on Martinez the Argentine keeper.
Got bought by Arsenal as a teenager and had nearly 10 years on the bench or on loan. He stuck it out and finally broke through to be awarded the worlds best keeper award.
Tough life being a young keeper in pro football

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about 1 month ago

I think the other thing is a keeper’s job has changed in the last 2-3 seasons.

We’ve seen tactics move to flood the box with bodies at corners. We’ve seen much much more physical pressure on keepers. We’ve seen all kinds of grappling, pushing and shoving that Alex simply would have had protection from as he was developing as a keeper.

We’ve seen very good keepers like Vicario who were selected on shot stopping and their skills with their feet lose their mojo and place, partly because their managers and defense aren’t quite sure what to do at set pieces.

Alex is a perfectly good puncher of the ball and he reads flight well. I just wonder if the huge change in tactics has affected him.

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about 1 month ago

Gdansk also played on a very poor home pitch for a few months, post the snow thawing out and the league recommencing post the winter break.

Bit of a mud bath around the goal mouths, and bumpy as hell which wouldn't have suited AP's playing out from the back skill set. More route one stuff.
All learnings for a young keeper.

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about 1 month ago

Stats week at Niche Cache. Sadly Paulsen's time in Poland doesn't make pretty reading.
The goss he will next be loaned out a Dutch or Belgian club. Needs to work on his physicality.

Lechia Gdansk scored the same amount of goals as the champions Lech Poznan yet they got relegated. They even had the Golden Boot winner in their team in Tomáš Bobček. They conceded the most goals (1.91 per 90) despite only facing the sixth most shots on target (4.35 per 90) and 11th most shots overall (13.5 per 90). Opposition teams scored from 13% of their shots versus Lechia, easily the highest figure in the division, and the team-wide save percentage of 60.1% was also dead last. Not all of that was AP, who played in 24/32 games, but his personal save percentage was only marginally better at 61%. Didn’t even save any of the five penalties he faced. There’s not a lot to brag about here...

And so now the focus shifts back to Bournemouth where he’s now two years into a four year contract. One year spent on loan in Auckland. One year spent on loan in Poland. He spent the majority of preseason with the Cherries ahead of the Lechia move so they’ll have a pretty good idea of where he’s at – and they were reportedly very hands-on when he got injured for a spell in Poland, bringing him back to England for check-ups with their own medical team. But despite a little bit of goalkeeping confusion behind number one Djordje Petrovic - with Fraser Forster signed on short-term free and Christos Mandas picked up on loan from Lazio in January to allow Will Dennis to go out on loan to Leyton Orient - reports suggest that Paulsen’s not going to be in that frame next season. Rather, they want to keep Forster as an experienced GK3 and bring in someone else (maybe even another loan for Mandas) to keep the heat on Petrovic... and also probably to alternate with him after the Cherries qualified for the Europa League with a sixth-placed finish.

Bournemouth Echo: “Another keeper who will head back out on loan from Bournemouth is Alex Paulsen. The Kiwi keeper had plenty of gametime at Lechia Gdansk, but they were relegated. Bournemouth believe Paulsen needs to build his physicality as he is not ready for that aspect of the Premier League in particular, so they will be looking to loan him to a team in a league like the Belgian or Dutch top flights.”

Curious that Belgium and Netherlands are the spots mentioned. Those are two common loan destinations for foreign players at English clubs, partly because those are two of the younger and more forgiving leagues for players to settle at (relatively speaking) and partly also because of the easier work permit regulations. Paulsen has Namibian and South African heritage plus he’s not actually played very many international games so it’d probably be tricky for him to get a loan move within England – although when it comes to football there’s always a loophole for every rule. The other thing emphasised in that excerpt is that, same as with Polish media worrying about his lack of height, it seems Bournemouth also have physicality on their minds. AP’s gonna have to hit the gym.

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22 days ago

Niche Cache

Alex Paulsen is on the retained list for Bournemouth as he enters the third year of his four year contract. They’ve offered Fraser Forster a new deal to keep him on board as a veteran reserve keeper behind Djorde Petrovic but that doesn’t matter because AP’s not quite ready for that level anyway. The intention is to loan him out again. Hopefully he lands in a more embracing situation he did than last time.

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21 days ago

he has to make a push for the Bournemouth firsts (starting or bench) this season or he'll be sold.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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2 days ago · edited 2 days ago · History

Paulsen heads to Scotland on a season long loan with Motherwell.

https://x.com/i/status/2076679289911771368

Rate this. I just hope he can string some performances together North of the border after a somewhat underwhelming 25/26 season in Poland.

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2 days ago · edited 2 days ago · History

Unfortunately fans aren’t happy about it, good luck to him.
As a nz player supporter it’s a good move to a hard competition he will get some Europa conference league and a stepping stone to higher levels if he does well.
As a Motherwell supporter I’m not impressed. He did shit in the polish league and them getting relegated is hard to look past. But fingers crossed he has a fantastic season for us and wins the hearts like Eli did

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2 days ago

Paulsen didnt get them relegated!
He was part of the team but t's not solely his fault.

Queenslander 3x a year.

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2 days ago · edited 2 days ago · History

Outstanding move for him, hope he can get some minutes and prove the doubters wrong.

You'd think they'd have a little more faith in Kiwis after Eli was plucked from nowhere.

Valley FC til I die?

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2 days ago

Nice move.

Wish it was one year sooner

Auckland will rise once more

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2 days ago

So far on the steelmen forum it’s positive, his ALM highlights has been shared.

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2 days ago

See there number one last year has gone to QPR, so you would think he has a good chance of nailing the role from the start.

Auckland will rise once more

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2 days ago

step in the right direction then

Queenslander 3x a year.

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2 days ago

Great to see, hope he does well there
Way better for his profile

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2 days ago

Feels like a much better fit this.
Height 6'1 apparently.

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2 days ago

a reasonable league to land in this season. Also, if he doesn't make it at Bournemouth and he does well at Motherwell could open other doors for him

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2 days ago · edited 2 days ago · History

"Who's our little wee fella in goal?". I'm sure Motherwell fans will question his height early doors.

Overall a good move for him. Askou has gone to Toulouse but they have signed another Swede to be head gaffer, and you'd imagine will again try play an entertaining possession based game, after last season's success. That will suit AP with his excellent passing range.

Plus unlike last season in Poland when he arrived at Gdansk with the things already a few games in, he will have a full pre season at Fir Park. And for now at least an AWs team mate when he arrives.

Calum Ward in goal was excellent for Motherwell last season, and has got that QPR move. Hopefully Paulsen nails the starting role.

28 yr old Aston Oxborough looks his main rival. He's been at Motherwell since 2022, and spent some of last season at on loan at Dunfermline Athletic. But overall his pedigree looks pretty bang average.

Motherwell have been drawn against HB from the Faroe Islands in the Second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.

This season could be tough for the Steelmen. Callum Slattery has left for Sheffield Wednesday, Just will be going somewhere, as likely will last season's star Zimbabwean striker Tawanda Maswanhise.

https://twitter.com/thenichecache/status/2076757541791629721https://twitter.com/thenichecache/status/2076757541791629721

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2 days ago

Would say the language barrier shouldn't be an issue for him this season but it is Scotland.

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2 days ago

Motherwell play Genk in a friendly this weekend. Conference qualifier 24th July and SPL start 1st August.

https://www.friendsoffootballnz.com/2026/07/14/all-whites-keeper-alex-paulsen-joins-scottish-premiership-side-motherwell/

Goalkeeper Alex Paulsen says his All Whites teammate Elijah Just helped convince him to join Scottish Premiership club Motherwell.

Paulsen (24) will join Motherwell on loan from English Premier League side Bournemouth, after completing a season on loan to Polish Ekstraklasa side Lechia Gdańsk.

“I’ve got a great feeling coming in here,” Paulsen told Motherwell supporters through the club’s website.

“Obviously, I’ve been able to speak to Elijah [Just] about the club, and everything he has said has got me excited about what’s to come.”

Just was Motherwell’s Player of the Year last season.

“I know coming here that I’ll need to work hard to get into this team. There is a strong goalkeeping contingent already in the building, so the work starts now for me.

“I’ve had a wonderful summer with my country at the World Cup and feel fresh coming into this season. We have some huge matches just around the corner, and we all need to be ready for the competitive action.

“I’ve spoken to the manager and have been so impressed with the way he has spoken to me. There is a clear vision, and I hope I can help the team achieve that.”

The ‘keeper signed with Bournemouth from A-League club Wellington Phoenix in mid-2024 in a transfer deal reportedly worth about NZ$4 million. Paulsen then spent the 2024-25 A-League season on loan with Auckland FC.

He has yet to play first-team football for Bournemouth.

Motherwell manager Alfred Johansson said Paulsen — his third summer signing — has an exciting career ahead.

“He had a hugely successful spell in Australia and New Zealand, where he received a number of personal accolades, but he was also a part of teams that liked to play a certain style of football, and they achieved their targets,” he said.

“His last two loan moves have been successful for him personally, and we see this as the next step for his development. He is highly thought of by his country. He has just arrived back from being in the New Zealand World Cup squad, so he is ready to hit the ground running.”

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1 day ago

RR wrote:
Would say the language barrier shouldn't be an issue for him this season but it is Scotland.

Lanarkshire is next level 😂 should be a good move for him and it’ll be interesting to see what ‘Well do this season. The amount of polish fans laughing their tits off and slagging him is concerning though. I didn’t realise he’d had that bad a season, although I didn’t pay any particular attention to him. I’m sure he’ll do fine.

Yellow and Black, never realised you were from there. Had a good couple of aways days there with the dons.

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1 day ago

WanderingSheep wrote:
RR wrote:
Would say the language barrier shouldn't be an issue for him this season but it is Scotland.
Lanarkshire is next level 😂 should be a good move for him and it’ll be interesting to see what ‘Well do this season. The amount of polish fans laughing their tits off and slagging him is concerning though. I didn’t realise he’d had that bad a season, although I didn’t pay any particular attention to him. I’m sure he’ll do fine.

Yellow and Black, never realised you were from there. Had a good couple of aways days there with the dons.

Not me, my dad is from there so we both follow them, still lots of family live in Motherwell, been a couple of times visiting but unfortunately never caught a game. Thought I could understand the Scot’s accent pretty well until I met my dad’s family of his generation…… cousins thought it was hilarious as I looked to them for translation.

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1 day ago

Hopefully his season in Poland will be looked back as a career lowpoint, and it's upwards from here.

I took the time to watch most of the 6-7 mins highlights packages from his Lechia Gdansk games. Coming back from the winter break the home pitch was a bit of a bobbly goat track, and Paulsen's goal box muddy as hell. That's what happens when you have thick snow cover for 2 months in the peak of winter.

But yeah he often didn't compare well to the keepers in the opposition. Taller local guys pulling off several saves as Lechia got relegated. I gotta admit with some of AP's failed full length dives, it did almost look like if he was 20cms taller/longer he'd make the save! His stats ranking as the worst keeper in that league pretty brutal.

Touch wood it all goes so much better in the SPL and Conference League. Many top keepers I'm sure had a poor season early in their careers coming through.

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