Keeper change

Here we go, bound to get red crosses, but lets have a truthful interpretation of the Barnet game. Admittingly James made a great save, and maybe he didnt have much chance with the first 2 goals, but i do put a little bu=it of blame on the 3rd goal, and why he ran out to the linesman asking for handball is a complete mystery to me. James had an up and down game for me, and maybe bring Max in for the Torquay game, just to give James a 'shake up' of whats required. He may be a legend here, but legends dont always succeed. I can almost be sure that Hursty will change the keeper position this weekend, we all saw the weaknesses this weekend on crosses etc, and i fully agree that we need to change this at Torquay, and especially when Wrexham arrive next week with the long throw-ins. Only my opinion, but was from many in the box on saturday, truth hurts.

Why, even when we are winning, do we need to find a fall guy?

Why can't we just encourage and support for a change?!  

Quoted from dicko995

Here we go, bound to get red crosses, but lets have a truthful interpretation of the Barnet game. Admittingly James made a great save, and maybe he didnt have much chance with the first 2 goals, but i do put a little bu=it of blame on the 3rd goal, and why he ran out to the linesman asking for handball is a complete mystery to me. James had an up and down game for me, and maybe bring Max in for the Torquay game, just to give James a 'shake up' of whats required. He may be a legend here, but legends dont always succeed. I can almost be sure that Hursty will change the keeper position this weekend, we all saw the weaknesses this weekend on crosses etc, and i fully agree that we need to change this at Torquay, and especially when Wrexham arrive next week with the long throw-ins. Only my opinion, but was from many in the box on saturday, truth hurts.

Watch the highlights again, there is no issues with our keeper that you wouldn’t find in any national league keeper, in fact I’m pretty confident he’s one of the best at this level.

As touched on on the other thread about this, Efete was equally if not more at fault for their third goal - are we binning him off as well?

I agree with you in so much that selection should be based on current form and not sentiment, but after two clean sheets in our opening three games, I’m not sure his performance against Barnet warrants being dropped.

Quoted from bax

Why, even when we are winning, do we need to find a fall guy?

Why can't we just encourage and support for a change?!  

It’s not about having a fall guy. It’s about wanting to see us get better. Macca is not good enough on crosses. If that costs us points that cost us promotion, will that be acceptable?

another pathetic thread,pointless and not needed.give your fu%king head a wobble

I would have said Sean Pearson was more at fault than anyone for two of the goals we conceded, but no one seems to be calling for him to be dropped. If Macca starts making loads of mistakes, then of course he should be dropped, like any other player should, but I don't see that he's done much wrong so far this season.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

It’s not about having a fall guy. It’s about wanting to see us get better. Macca is not good enough on crosses. If that costs us points that cost us promotion, will that be acceptable?

If. If. If.

If Fenty has stayed...
If Podge had never left...
If Buckley never arrived...

Stop living on ifs ffs.

If someone plays badly for a sustained period, drop them if there's a better player. Not sure a) Macca has played badly or b) we have anyone better.

Efete and Waterfall were at fault for that 3rd more than anyone....both stood square on ball watching while Widdowson gambled and followed in for the flick on.

What Macca was going nuts about I dont know but it should have been aimed at Efete and Waterfall.

There was a similar reaction from him when he didnt come and get a cross in the first half, having a pop at everyone else when all he has to do is shout keepers and catch a ball inside the middle of the 6 yd box.

All said, we know that side of his game isnt the best but I was sat right behind that low shot to his right first half that came through a crowd...... how the fck reacted and kept that out i dont know as he saw it so late...amazing save with the view he got of the ball.

There arent many keepers in reality that completely dominate their area, we were spoilt when we had Beasant on loan and I think people still consider him as a yardstick.

Think it’s perfectly ok to point out that Barnet are bang average but scored 3 times against us. Hurst was clearly not happy at the defending but I’ve never liked singling one player out
I’m certain they’ll be watching videos of the Barnet goals and what needs sorting

Quoted from MuddyWaters

It’s not about having a fall guy. It’s about wanting to see us get better. Macca is not good enough on crosses. If that costs us points that cost us promotion, will that be acceptable?

There will come a time when all you can find to moan about is that the bog paper is not soft enough.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

There will come a time when all you can find to moan about is that the bog paper is not soft enough.

I’m not moaning. I’m expressing my opinion. As you do on most threads.

Quoted from moosey_club

Efete and Waterfall were at fault for that 3rd more than anyone....both stood square on ball watching while Widdowson gambled and followed in for the flick on..

Absolutely insane.

The least you should expect from a keeper is to be collecting the ball one yard out at chest height.

No idea why this needs a new thread mind, but it’s incredible that McKeown is immune from any criticism, no matter how mild, at any point. There’s a squad of players in front of him that aren’t afforded such leniency.

7 points from 9. 2 clean sheets.  And you want to drop the keeper for someone you’ve seen play once in preseason unless you’ve followed his obscure career before.

Another dreadful thread.

Quoted from ska face

Absolutely insane.

The least you should expect from a keeper is to be collecting the ball one yard out at chest height.

No idea why this needs a new thread mind, but it’s incredible that McKeown is immune from any criticism, no matter how mild, at any point. There’s a squad of players in front of him that aren’t afforded such leniency.

Yeah but efete was meant to be marking the guy and didn't move with him, allowing him a free header from 1 yard. He's most at fault for me, but waterfall vacated that area and macca maybe could have done better.

Do you think there should ever be a scenario where your defenders are contesting 50/50s literally on the goal line? Just pure insanity on here. If that was Tommy Forecast…

Quoted from headingly_mariner

7 points from 9. 2 clean sheets.  And you want to drop the keeper for someone you’ve seen play once in preseason unless you’ve followed his obscure career before.

Another dreadful thread.

Another dreadful response. Why can’t we be concerned about our keeper having a weakness when it comes to crosses? I accept that keepers that command their 18 yard box are few and far between but he doesn’t even command his 6 yard box.

As it happens, I wouldn’t drop him. He’s a fine shot stopper but surely we’ve got a keeper coach for a reason?

Quoted from ska face

Do you think there should ever be a scenario where your defenders are contesting 50/50s literally on the goal line? Just pure insanity on here. If that was Tommy Forecast…

The 3 of them are all to blame but Waterfall is marking fresh air, Efete loses his man and McKeown doesn't get across. All 3 of them have to take some of the blame. The 6 yard box isn't a no go zone for defenders...

If that was Jamal Fyfield, Jamie Clarke or Nathan Clarke...

Quoted from jamesgtfc

The 3 of them are all to blame but Waterfall is marking fresh air, Efete loses his man and McKeown doesn't get across. All 3 of them have to take some of the blame. The 6 yard box isn't a no go zone for defenders...

If that was Jamal Fyfield, Jamie Clarke or Nathan Clarke...

The six yard box should be the keeper’s territory all day long.

Going to be v interested to see efete on Saturday.havent seem him live but only on highlights he seems to be weak positionally/defensively. Mate who has played far better standard than I and has seen him live thinks hes a potential liability defensively. We will be watching him with interest!

Just checking did we win on Saturday?

Quoted from jamesgtfc

The 3 of them are all to blame but Waterfall is marking fresh air, Efete loses his man and McKeown doesn't get across. All 3 of them have to take some of the blame. The 6 yard box isn't a no go zone for defenders...

If that was Jamal Fyfield, Jamie Clarke or Nathan Clarke...

You keep saying this, but it doesn’t change the fact that the ball shouldn’t be anywhere near reaching Widdowson in the first place. Waterfall isn’t badly positioned if the flick on drops, as most would, in & around the edge of the 6 yard box. Efete’s let his man go but even if he tracks him he’s then got to win a header under his own bar, purely because McKeown’s allowed it to get that far.

Quoted from forza ivano

Going to be v interested to see efete on Saturday.havent seem him live but only on highlights he seems to be weak positionally/defensively. Mate who has played far better standard than I and has seen him live thinks hes a potential liability defensively. We will be watching him with interest!

I think he’s like a few that have come in, just learning!

Quoted from Humbercod

Just checking did we win on Saturday?

Exactly this.

Quoted from forza ivano

Going to be v interested to see efete on Saturday.havent seem him live but only on highlights he seems to be weak positionally/defensively. Mate who has played far better standard than I and has seen him live thinks hes a potential liability defensively. We will be watching him with interest!

Yeah he's not too bad when keeping players out of the box using his strength etc to help shepherd them off the ball, but positionally he seems dodgy. Fitness wise he seems good and he's tall for a FB. With the ball he's very poor indeed. I'd have clifton in that position over him all day long, he performed well there at a higher level in a much worse team.

Quoted from dicko995

Here we go, bound to get red crosses, but lets have a truthful interpretation of the Barnet game. Admittingly James made a great save, and maybe he didnt have much chance with the first 2 goals, but i do put a little bu=it of blame on the 3rd goal, and why he ran out to the linesman asking for handball is a complete mystery to me. James had an up and down game for me, and maybe bring Max in for the Torquay game, just to give James a 'shake up' of whats required. He may be a legend here, but legends dont always succeed. I can almost be sure that Hursty will change the keeper position this weekend, we all saw the weaknesses this weekend on crosses etc, and i fully agree that we need to change this at Torquay, and especially when Wrexham arrive next week with the long throw-ins. Only my opinion, but was from many in the box on saturday, truth hurts.

ZUBES -Fkoffs

Quoted from ska face

You keep saying this, but it doesn’t change the fact that the ball shouldn’t be anywhere near reaching Widdowson in the first place. Waterfall isn’t badly positioned if the flick on drops, as most would, in & around the edge of the 6 yard box. Efete’s let his man go but even if he tracks him he’s then got to win a header under his own bar, purely because McKeown’s allowed it to get that far.

McKeown has to cover the near post initially and where that ball dropped from the initial throw was congested so coming for it would be a big risk.

I admit that he could have done better getting to the other post but the point still remains, Efete and Waterfall were static. It's not just McKeown people should be going after. Pearson, Coke and Taylor didn't prevent the flick on so 6 players in total could have done more to prevent it but didn't.

Quoted from barralad

Exactly this.

So no one can voice an opinion when we win?

I can tell you now - in a Stockwood and Pettit business the focus will be on how we can avoid making the same mistake rather than who is at fault.

As fans we might see one obvious person at fault but in footballing terms I reckon more than one player is culpable in each of the goals we gave away, and so the team needs to learn from its mistakes rather than singling anyone out.

Weymouth clean sheet
Stockport clean sheet
Barnet conceded 3. Blame the keeper


If we don’t score, it’s the forwards fault
If we concede goals, blame the goalkeeper.

Don’t know why we bother with a defence or a midfield because they don’t seem to be at fault for anything in some peoples views. 🤣🤣

This thread actually gave me diarrhoea.

Bad day at the office. We all have em.  Should I get canned because my first online lesson yesterday was a shocker?  I learned from my mistakes I am sure he has too.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion, beit good or bad. It's a team game, not a game for individuals, and the team WON, again.

Nobody criticised the defenders for poor marking or failing to get a good tackle in for their 1st & 2nd goals, nor for the 2 players who let their man get a looping header for the 3rd goal. Who was supposed to be marking Widdowson to let him have a free ball to chest in that 3rd goal?

3 defensive errors but we don't need a fall guy. 5th in the league having played 1 game less than those above us, win the outstanding game and we will be joint top. What is there to knock, unless Macca is not your favorite.

If I was a big spending Wrexham and Stockport fan I'd moan, a lot, but I am a very happy Town fan with 2 wins, 1 draw, and a good hardworking team. We will lose some games in the future but that's the nature of football.

Remember it was Hurst who bought in Dean Henderson and the era when Macca asked for a transfer. So Hurst knows what he has and will know if he can do better. I'll trust his judgement

James was blameless for all three goals

Third goal in particular. Two Town players out jumped by their 9 from the throw in, and Effete shockingly loses/ignored their goalscorer for the second ball.

Quoted from Fillipe Noche

James was blameless for all three goals

Third goal in particular. Two Town players out jumped by their 9 from the throw in, and Effete shockingly loses/ignored their goalscorer for the second ball.

On another matter, I went to watch the ladies team on Sunday for my first ever women’s game. Wasn’t expecting much but it was actually quite decent.

The ladies have a hell of goalkeeper. She’s a giant of a lass and her passing was unbelievable. She was hitting balls on a sixpence as we used to say, picking out Town players perfectly up and over the halfway line. Never ever expected to see this sort of goalkeeping from a woman. They always look shocking on the telly admittedly because they aren’t as tall as men.

Quoted from Mayaman

Bad day at the office. We all have em.  Should I get canned because my first online lesson yesterday was a shocker?  I learned from my mistakes I am sure he has too.

It’s the same issue(s), consistently, for 10 years.

The merest suggestion that there might be a better option gets hounded on here, usually from the same people who are already edging towards Efete as their scapegoat for the season.

Quoted from Mayaman

Bad day at the office. We all have em.  Should I get canned because my first online lesson yesterday was a shocker?  I learned from my mistakes I am sure he has too.

I’m not sure what the coach says to him? Carry on as you are or we’ll do something about it?

Macca has always been poor on crosses and commanding his area. Surely that can be worked on?

Look one thing is for sure is that we now have two great keepers and if Hurst decides to change things, then so be it. He will do, just like he would any outfield player

I’ll settle this. Bring back Harry Wainman! End of!

Quoted from Fillipe Noche

On another matter, I went to watch the ladies team on Sunday for my first ever women’s game. Wasn’t expecting much but it was actually quite decent.

The ladies have a hell of goalkeeper. She’s a giant of a lass and her passing was unbelievable. She was hitting balls on a sixpence as we used to say, picking out Town players perfectly up and over the halfway line. Never ever expected to see this sort of goalkeeping from a woman. They always look shocking on the telly admittedly because they aren’t as tall as men.

Maybe she could teach macca about distribution of the ball then 😎 for me I lost the love for him a bit when he had the hissy fit over dean Henderson rather than get on with it . He’s perfectly adequate for this level and with the other lad pushing him he should be alright

Quoted from ska face

It’s the same issue(s), consistently, for 10 years.

The merest suggestion that there might be a better option gets hounded on here, usually from the same people who are already edging towards Efete as their scapegoat for the season.

I’ve not seen anyone get ‘hounded’ on this subject, and I don’t think that anyone should be immune from criticism on the basis that they’re a long-term servant of the club.

However, the suggestion made by the OP was that McKeown, who has kept two clean sheets in three games so far this season, should be dropped for a goalkeeper who despite only being four years his junior has played fewer than 50 games at this level or above (the last of which was 5 years ago) compared with Macca’s 400+.

Is his ability to deal with crosses and his command of the box questionable? Certainly. Is Max Crocombe a better goalkeeper overall? I’m not seeing any evidence to suggest that.

Quoted from exiledmeggie

I’ll settle this. Bring back Harry Wainman! End of!

Or Aidan Davidson, Danny Coyne.

Quoted from DB

Or Aidan Davidson, Danny Coyne.

In fairness Coyne didn’t command his box particularly well either. In many ways he was a similar type of goalkeeper to McKeown (only significantly better, obviously) in that his shot-stopping was first class but he would tend to stick to his goal line and had the odd howler in his locker (getting sent off at Pompey away, and that one he threw in against Blackburn on the telly, which was also quite similar to Macca’s clanger at Gateshead in the play-offs).

Davo was better in that regard, and his performance against the aerial threat of Northampton at Wembley was a sight to behold. He came for and won literally everything that got thrown into the box, even getting sparked out for his troubles. Bloody good shot stopper too. First time around anyway.

Yeah less said about his second spell the better

Quoted from MuddyWaters

It’s not about having a fall guy. It’s about wanting to see us get better. Macca is not good enough on crosses. If that costs us points that cost us promotion, will that be acceptable?

I think I argued this point on the other thread Old Codger - no one is saying he's perfect because if so he wouldn't be playing for us. But there's no doubt that over the years some of his brilliant shot-stopping has left the crowd open mouthed in amazement and has saved us a huge number of points.

Yes there are times when his fumbling of crosses has cost us - but do please counter balance that against his incredible reflexes which have saved us.

Maybe during all the years he's been here, the two columns of plus and minus have pretty much balanced each other out.

Quoted from A Brace Of Tees

I think I argued this point on the other thread Old Codger - no one is saying he's perfect because if so he wouldn't be playing for us. But there's no doubt that over the years some of his brilliant shot-stopping has left the crowd open mouthed in amazement and has saved us a huge number of points.

Yes there are times when his fumbling of crosses has cost us - but do please counter balance that against his incredible reflexes which have saved us.

Maybe during all the years he's been here, the two columns of plus and minus have pretty much balanced each other out.

It's a fair point, which in turn makes it a fair debate. My frustration is probably that he hasn't improved in terms of dominating his area and distribution.

Quoted from dicko995

Here we go, bound to get red crosses, but lets have a truthful interpretation of the Barnet game. Admittingly James made a great save, and maybe he didnt have much chance with the first 2 goals, but i do put a little bu=it of blame on the 3rd goal, and why he ran out to the linesman asking for handball is a complete mystery to me. James had an up and down game for me, and maybe bring Max in for the Torquay game, just to give James a 'shake up' of whats required. He may be a legend here, but legends dont always succeed. I can almost be sure that Hursty will change the keeper position this weekend, we all saw the weaknesses this weekend on crosses etc, and i fully agree that we need to change this at Torquay, and especially when Wrexham arrive next week with the long throw-ins. Only my opinion, but was from many in the box on saturday, truth hurts.

He's a good keeper, an excellent keeper at this level. He isn't a legend.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

It's a fair point, which in turn makes it a fair debate. My frustration is probably that he hasn't improved in terms of dominating his area and distribution.

If he had improved in the ways you mention, am pretty certain he wouldn't be with us!

Macca to Clee Town. Mark my words

Maybe not sometime soon, and maybe not directly from us, as I think his next move will still be higher than The Owls. But I do see him playing at Clee sometime before he retires completely.

Quoted from Abdul19

Yeah less said about his second spell the better

He kept a lot of clean sheets that first season. Allegedly his wife didn’t.

Quoted from Fillipe Noche

Macca to Clee Town. Mark my words

Maybe not sometime soon, and maybe not directly from us, as I think his next move will still be higher than The Owls. But I do see him playing at Clee sometime before he retires completely.

Have you now got access to the inside track on Clee’s recruitment? 😉

(I agree with your forecast by the way)

McKeown kept us in the game by all accounts today...

Reports in the “just back” thread say he was at fault for the goal?

Quoted from ska face

Reports in the “just back” thread say he was at fault for the goal?

Wasn't it a deflected shot ?

Dropped 2 points in 4 games, do we really need someone to blame?

Charlie Wright for the oldies, and just in my memory.

Quoted from Harry Haddock

Wasn't it a deflected shot ?

No, idea mate. Waiting for the highlights to be released some time next month.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Charlie Wright for the oldies, and just in my memory.

Clarrie Williams