Smith - enough is enough

[Neil 24]

Gbj respect your view and opinion but like u say thats opinion not fact. We all have views and this is what the forum all about friendly opinion and debate.

 

[GBJ]

Gbj respect your view and opinion but like u say thats opinion not fact. We all have views and this is what the forum all about friendly opinion and debate.

But the hesitation for the second goal isn't an opinion, it's there for all to see in the video replays lol he decided to go for it, then decides to backtrack. That, my friend, is a fact. Rewatch it if you don't believe me.

IMO, he's decided to come for it, seen the defender could possibly get there, and decided to retreat. That is hesitation, and that's what lets his all round game down IMO.

 

[Neil 24]

Fair enough you have your view which is fine i have mine and everyone else has theres thats the fun of this forum multi opinions and debate sometimes we agree sometimes not. Smith was hesitant and had a poor game but imo that dont make him a bad keeper.

 

[Crabby Shrimper]

But the hesitation for the second goal isn't an opinion, it's there for all to see in the video replays lol he decided to go for it, then decides to backtrack. That, my friend, is a fact. Rewatch it if you don't believe me.

IMO, he's decided to come for it, seen the defender could possibly get there, and decided to retreat. That is hesitation, and that's what lets his all round game down IMO.

Errrm :unsure:

 

[GBJ]

Fair enough you have your view which is fine i have mine and everyone else has theres thats the fun of this forum multi opinions and debate sometimes we agree sometimes not.

I agree

smith was hesitant and had a poor game but imo that dont make him a bad keeper.

And a few good saves doesn't make him a good keeper. The truth is, he is somewhere Inbetween being useless & brilliant. He's got the ability to keep us in a game, but he's also got the potential to cost us a game.

Which Smith we get on gameday is anyone guess!!

 

[GBJ]

Errrm :unsure:

What's confusing you? I'm not aloud to state an opinion and a fact in the same post?

Smith's backtracking - Fact

My thoughts on his decision making at the time - Opinion

Hope this helps :thumbsup:

 

[Neil 24]

Somewhere inbetween useless and brilliant surely is pretty good?:winking:

 

[GBJ]

Somewhere inbetween useless and brilliant surely is pretty good?:winking:

LOL yes that is true. But in that case it'd also be true to say pretty awful is in that same bracket:moon:

 

[dingleydangley]

Somewhere inbetween useless and brilliant surely is pretty good?:winking:

Doesn't that describe everyone ?

 

[dbailey3]

Basically he's kept us in the cup so stop complaining. If anything we should be applauding him.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

But the hesitation for the second goal isn't an opinion, it's there for all to see in the video replays lol he decided to go for it, then decides to backtrack. That, my friend, is a fact. Rewatch it if you don't believe me.

IMO, he's decided to come for it, seen the defender could possibly get there, and decided to retreat. That is hesitation, and that's what lets his all round game down IMO.

The only flaw in your argument is that what you've described isn't actually hesitation.:headbang:

I don't want to get into a semantics argument, so why not look at what the centre-half was doing instead. The centre-half (Prosser IIRC) needs to be dealing with that ball, like Eastwood needed to deal better with that clearance and like Lund needed to do better with the header for their first goal. Three **** headers which should have stopped the ball ever going through to Smith in the first place.

 

[Neil 24]

Just watched highlights again first goal great throw poor defendin should of been cleared and poor marking second smith hesitant but also poor defending and marking a massive over reaction on the smith critisism imo.

 

[GBJ]

The only flaw in your argument is that what you've described isn't actually hesitation.:headbang:

I don't want to get into a semantics argument, so why not look at what the centre-half was doing instead. The centre-half (Prosser IIRC) needs to be dealing with that ball, like Eastwood needed to deal better with that clearance and like Lund needed to do better with the header for their first goal. Three **** headers which should have stopped the ball ever going through to Smith in the first place.

Yes, I agree, the ball shouldn't have reached Smith in the first place, but it has & as he's our last line of defence, I expect him to make competent decisions. Deciding to attack the ball, then stopping because of what anyone else around you is doing (ie the possibility your defence might win the header) is hesitation. He should have stuck to the original idea of coming out and ploughing through what's in front of him, which was only one defender & one attacker.

 

[Jam_Man]

Watching the goals I just dont see why the first one is his fault.

Second one you would like the keeper to be attacking that one but even so it wasnt like he dropped the ball into his own net.

 

[philtalkin]

Yes, I agree, the ball shouldn't have reached Smith in the first place, but it has & as he's our last line of defence, I expect him to make competent decisions. Deciding to attack the ball, then stopping because of what anyone else around you is doing (ie the possibility your defence might win the header) is hesitation. He should have stuck to the original idea of coming out and ploughing through what's in front of him, which was only one defender & one attacker.

Think he realised he wasn't going to get it so went back. That's normal! Most players do the same thing every match. I really don't see why he has to be under the spotlight so much.

I dread to think what will happen if he makes an actual mistake tomorrow. Will screaming abuse at him help?

Let's get behind Smith and the rest of the team, for the whole match and save any criticism until after the match. It's not much to ask for and, as everyone quite rightly says, it is the most important game of our season so far.

If you hear idiots slagging Smith or anyone of our players off, then feel free to give some back. make them realise that they are in the vocal minority!

 

[Cuckoo]

I think you've got a good keeper. With the centre backs you've had in front of him, there wouldn't be too many occasions when he would be called upon to come for the ball, he'd have enough confidence in them to stay put.

If he was behind a weaker defence in the air then you'd have more to judge him on. After all, you've had 13 clean sheets this season, that doesn't suggest a poor keeper at all. We've had 11 and we're not giving our keeper the stick you're giving yours. He is the reason you're well and truly in this tie and not 2 or 3-1 down.

 

[OldBlueLady]

After all, you've had 13 clean sheets this season, that doesn't suggest a poor keeper at all. We've had 11 and we're not giving our keeper the stick you're giving yours. He is the reason you're well and truly in this tie and not 2 or 3-1 down.

Latter part of that quote is true, but believe me, the clean sheets are not just down to him, I think it's been more down to the fact that Ryan Cresswell, who is normally at CB in front of him has been an immense addition to the side.

 

[TSG]

Latter part of that quote is true, but believe me, the clean sheets are not just down to him, I think it's been more down to the fact that Ryan Cresswell, who is normally at CB in front of him has been an immense addition to the side.

Agreed, no doubt that Ryan has been a massive loss and no surprise that the keeper is suddenly back in the spotlight in a bad way after having a massive month where it's his shot stopping skills that has helped us pick up several points.

I remember one incident at Torquay I think where we were 4-1 up but saw Mark Phillips screaming at Paul to come out and grab the ball after a boot up the field clearance by the home side, in the end Mark ran back and got the ball anyway.

Personally I believe he's a fine enough keeper, especially at this level, but his lack of confidence in coming off his line is surprising considering his great experience.

 

[Neil 24]

A combination of great defending and keeping is the reason for all the clean sheets we have kept to say mainly down to defenders is wrong imo there a unit of 5 who do there best to contribute to keepin the ball out of the net so imo its a great defensive effort from the back. 5 not just defenders or not just smith.

 

[OldBlueLady]

A combination of great defending and keeping is the reason for all the clean sheets we have kept to say mainly down to defenders is wrong imo there a unit of 5 who do there best to contribute to keepin the ball out of the net so imo its a great defensive effort from the back. 5 not just defenders or not just smith.

Sorry, don't buy that at all. Smith has been fortunate to have VERY good defenders in front of him, Phillips and Cresswell, in particular, have intervened plenty of times to save Smith having to do anything, often because they couldn't rely on a shout from him. He's had clean sheets as a result of our excellent defensive play on more occasions than because he's had outstanding games in my book.