STATISTICALLY is Smith the worst Albion goalkeeper ever

[Finchley Seagull]

He is shit from what I've seen. Should of kept Sullivan

Bollocks. He has been really unlucky with the games he has played but very few of the goals he has conceded (in fact I can only think of the lob against Stockport) can be put down to him. His problem is he has replaced Kuipers (who has been poor this season) so whatever he does he will be criticised.

 

[Gullywog]

17 goals in 5 games is a problem above and beyond which Goalkeeper is playing!!

 

[Husty]

The thing is i dont think many of the goals he concedes are really his fault, i think its something to do with the defense and the way they play when he is on the pitch, maybe down to him not having had much time on the pitch with them

 

[FalmerforAll!**]

I do love the way people were suggesting that the defence had no confidence in Kuipers. Maybe now they will realise it's not Kuipers, it's not Smith, it wasn't Slade - it could just be down to the fact that our defence is really not very good.

 

[parks]

5+4+1+3+4 = 17? Where's the other 4? Have I missed something?

how do you make that 21??

Sorry that was complete bollocks....maybe it was me unwittingly taking into account Southampton on Sunday!!!

Glad to see you are on the ball though!!!

 

[Acker79]

Sorry that was complete bollocks....maybe it was me unwittingly taking into account Southampton on Sunday!!!

Glad to see you are on the ball though!!!

Or perhaps in your head you included the 4 games as goals by mistake.

 

[PrestGull]

Agreed

Agreed, the only pro keeper who shouted nothing in 45 mins (last weekend), sat right behind him and he was poor, nervous and lacks stature.

Get kuipers back in and a manager that can get the defence playing further up the pitch so the team can play as a team

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

Get kuipers back in

Because that's worked out well, hasn't it?

Or radically, you could give him a run of games and actually get behind a new keeper. Kuipers was dropped for a series of blunders, which all statistics aside, Smith hasn't been guilty of yet. Give the guy a chance.

 

[bright1064]

I haven't seen him make ONE decent save yet. And he has plenty of chances to do that with our defence allowing players to rain shots in at goal.

 

[PrestGull]

Because that's worked out well, hasn't it?

Or radically, you could give him a run of games and actually get behind a new keeper. Kuipers was dropped for a series of blunders, which all statistics aside, Smith hasn't been guilty of yet. Give the guy a chance.

No run of games, if he can't talk to his back for and has the nervousness of a block of jelly then he has no hope.

 

[GT49er]

Given that (with the possible exception of Alan Rough) there hasn't been a decent Scottish goal-keeper since the days of Bill Brown, Tommy Lawrence and Ronnie Simpson (40+ years ago) paying good money to bring in 'And Smith must save' and giving away Sully was one of the many poor decisions made over the summer (based on results so far this season).

 

[fleet]

Bollocks. He has been really unlucky with the games he has played but very few of the goals he has conceded (in fact I can only think of the lob against Stockport) can be put down to him. His problem is he has replaced Kuipers (who has been poor this season) so whatever he does he will be criticised.

Absolute rot - sadly he has dreadful positioning and he commits himself too early. The shots always look like he can't get to them because he is in such a bad position.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

I haven't seen him make ONE decent save yet. And he has plenty of chances to do that with our defence allowing players to rain shots in at goal.

I would agree with that. He dives OVER the ball.

Kuipers is by far and away the better keeper.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

I haven't seen him make ONE decent save yet. And he has plenty of chances to do that with our defence allowing players to rain shots in at goal.

You obviously weren't at Huddersfield then where the fact that is was only 7 was down to about 4 quality saves from him. Or at Orient in the JPT where he kept us in it in the second half. Yesterday he also made a good save from a swerving long range shot and had no chance with the goals.

But of course as he is not Kuipers he must be rubbish and we should all boo him every minute of every game.

 

[Finchley Seagull]

Absolute rot - sadly he has dreadful positioning and he commits himself too early. The shots always look like he can't get to them because he is in such a bad position.

Or maybe he is just completely exposed by his defence. Kuipers would not have stopped any of the goals yesterday. He is not in bad positions, he has to be somewhere when left completely open when the defence is crap. But as I said in my last post, anyone who isn't Kuipers must be rubbish by definition. Can't believe some of the attitudes on here.

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

...

 

[Schrödinger's Toad]

Anyone could have predicted this kind of idiocy. Happened with Roberts, with Henderson, now with Smith. If you're not Kuipers, you're a clown, in too many eyes. Heaven forbid you actually back a new player ...

Why was Kuipers dropped again? He didn't actually make mistakes did he?

 

[Trigger]

I genuinely fail to see how anyone can blame any one of our keepers for anything this season when you consider the central defence they've had to work behind has been nothing short of an IDIOTIC SHAMBLES for around 90% of the season!

 

[Acker79]

Anyone could have predicted this kind of idiocy. Happened with Roberts, with Henderson, now with Smith. If you're not Kuipers, you're a clown, in too many eyes. Heaven forbid you actually back a new player ...

While I agree that some fans are too quick to get on the case of a potential Kuipers replacement Henderson's win rate (with the same team in front of him) was lower than Kuipers. Sullivan's was too. So is Smith's. Goals conceded per game average for Smith and Sullivan are higher than Kuipers (I don't have that data for Henderson). Behind the same shoddy defence, Kuipers has played three times as many matches as Smith, he has conceded only one goal more.

So, should the fans back a player that increases your chances of losing over the alternative? Should we be cheering and celebrating that the guy who concedes more often is being picked ahead of the guy who stops them going in? Is it really so wrong as fans to want the most successful players in the starting team?


The keeper, as the last man, with a rectangle that covers probably 8-10 times their body area to protect, is a high pressure position. Handling pressure, therefore, is a key skill as a goalkeeper. It's not the fans' fault if you don't have that skill.

What makes a keeper good is that he compensates for poor defending, he anticipates correctly, putting himself in position where he does have a chance with each shot, regardless of how far out the shot is, especially keepers that are labelled great shot-stoppers.


Yes, on matchday get behind the team whoever is picked, but in the aftermath of the match, when analysing our strongest team and who we should feel is playing, there is no reason that fans can't rank goalkeepers and if results and stats show one to be better fans have every right to criticise them.

 

[CliveWalkerWingWizard]

3.78 goals per game. (kuipers is on 1.33)

Is it me or is this a no brainer FDM is our no.1!!!