Goalkeeping position....

[Regiment]

this is fast turning into a Right Back Position thread, rather than goalkeeping, however, i agree with Dave, and would much prefer to keep robbo in the middle, and manse in midfield, which then leaves the best solution (in my opinion) nico LB and LRT at RB.

these guys are paid to play football, it's their job, and as they spend so much time doing it, should ALL be able to kick sufficiently with both feet. of course everyone is stronger on one side, and ideally you play on your stronger side, but as i said earlier, LRT is certainly good enough with both feet to play full back on either side. Glen Johnson has been playing left side for liverpool recently, and his performances have been much better than when he was playing RB. it's been well documented that England have not had a left sided midfielder for years, and of course it's not been perfect, but the likes of Joe Cole, Ashley Young, James Milner, Stevie G etc. have filled in there when needed.

anyway, back to the goalkeeping thing - i'd like to see Bev get a recall for tomorrow.

[Trojan 67]

No outfield player appreciates a goalkeeper's lot until he has donned the jersey. I was a useful utility player in my time but never ever volunteered to wear the gloves. It goes back to my first competitive game aged 9 when I failed to keep a clean sheet (6-0) and from that point on I thought f*ck this for a game of soldiers. After that the right footer played most of his games down the left hand side. Paul Madeley (Leeds United & England) was my role model. Mick Mills (Ipswich & England) was a right footer playing at left back. More recently we've had right footer Adam Smith (on loan from Spurs) playing at left back. I'm not so sure as to how a natural left footer would fair at right back.

One player TUFC has needed for a long time now is a natural left footed player who can go past a right full back to the goal line and play the killer ball in.

What does Stevens do ? Checks back on his right foot, cuts inside, runs into a crowded midfield then loses possession/gets muscled off the ball.

The hobbit annoyed me the other night when he did the very same thing and f*cking scored !

[Jeff]

I'm firmly in the camp that believe LRT is more two-footed than some people are suggesting. I distinctly remember saying in his few appearances last season that he seemed to be a right-footed left back, and he certainly took his goal the other week well enough with his right foot. I'll definately be keeping a close eye on him at Accrington to see which foot he favours.

[Trojan 67]

I'm firmly in the camp that believe LRT is more two-footed than some people are suggesting. I distinctly remember saying in his few appearances last season that he seemed to be a right-footed left back, and he certainly took his goal the other week well enough with his right foot. I'll definately be keeping a close eye on him at Accrington to see which foot he favours.

A competent right footed utility player playing on the left hand side knows that failure to play the left footed ball results in a missed opportunity.

Don't fail to put in the usual excellent match report by concentrating too much on LRT's footedness .

[Dave]

Wow this thread shows the bueaty of football and the amazing difference of opinions you can get between fans pudits,players and managers.

My veiw of Potter on Cheltenhams first goal was slightly obscured,however seeing it now,yes there is no doubt he could have done better with that,but surely we must not forget the number of times in that match he stopped a goal,from branstons mistake,and twice in the first half he was off his line very quickly to snuff out the danger,think it would be very harsh to drop Potter for that,as said above if you drop a player every time he gets somehting wrong you would never play the same team from one match to another.

On the subject of full backs,iam not a fan of left footers being played on the right,or the other way round,i have nothing against midfielders/wingers being swapped as it does give the option for the player to cut in across the full back,however a full back playing on the wrong side would naturaly want to show the winger on to his stronger foot leaving the winger cutting in towards your goal,when as we all know the job of a full back is to show the winger away from your goal.

Whilst on the subject of Potter and LRT,this does show the loyalty that Buckle has to his whole sqaud,it would have easy to bring Potter in against Stockport for his kicking and restored Bevan in the next game,it would have easier to restore Nicholson after he had recoverd from illness,LRT has played very well,and i still think overall Potter has been an able deputy for Bevan.

Both Potter and LRT were worthy of there chance,LRT to my mind is more than worthy of holding his place,and it is to soon just to abandon Potter,I do not think this is a case of Buckle being stubborn,i think it is good football management,Well done buckle

[Southampton Gull]

Dave, he had a couple of shots straight at him. He was beaten twice, first time down to him, second time he got caught in nomansland. He was hesitant, he tries to punch everything instead of catching it and didn't have a good game the other night. Think of the opinion given to you by someone who should know how indifferent his performance was and you'll be closer to the truth. I don't blame him for squandering 2 points but he was AS culpable as anyone else. It wasn't a good display and I've yet to see him have one that instilled any confidence to be honest.

As for always showing a wide man the touchline, that isn't always the case. Different players have different qualities and are treated differently, some are deliberately shown inside because they don't want balls crossed high into the box and would rather have them closed down when they cut inside. It's all hypothetical until or if Buckle decides to try LRT at right-back, all I'm saying is it would be interesting to see it tried out and for a number of reasons too.

[Trojan 67]

Wow this thread shows the bueaty of football and the amazing difference of opinions you can get between fans pudits,players and managers.

My veiw of Potter on Cheltenhams first goal was slightly obscured,however seeing it now,yes there is no doubt he could have done better with that,but surely we must not forget the number of times in that match he stopped a goal,from branstons mistake,and twice in the first half he was off his line very quickly to snuff out the danger,think it would be very harsh to drop Potter for that,as said above if you drop a player every time he gets somehting wrong you would never play the same team from one match to another.

On the subject of full backs,iam not a fan of left footers being played on the right,or the other way round,i have nothing against midfielders/wingers being swapped as it does give the option for the player to cut in across the full back,however a full back playing on the wrong side would naturaly want to show the winger on to his stronger foot leaving the winger cutting in towards your goal,when as we all know the job of a full back is to show the winger away from your goal.



Whilst on the subject of Potter and LRT,this does show the loyalty that Buckle has to his whole sqaud,it would have easy to bring Potter in against Stockport for his kicking and restored Bevan in the next game,it would have easier to restore Nicholson after he had recoverd from illness,LRT has played very well,and i still think overall Potter has been an able deputy for Bevan.

Both Potter and LRT were worthy of there chance,LRT to my mind is more than worthy of holding his place,and it is to soon just to abandon Potter,I do not think this is a case of Buckle being stubborn,i think it is good football management,Well done buckle

I'll make it accurate : show him the line.

In my day, when the tricky b*stard cut inside, he got caught out by the stronger right foot. If he went outside, the ball went out of play. Most times the ball was followed out of play by the kicked up in the air tricky b*stard.

I had a motto : the ball past me or the player, but not both. :devil:

[stratfordgull]

Thought LRT showed enough on Tuesday to deserve a fair run in the side, but Nicko back is tempting. Maybe it's a sign of the times that we can say this - choices for places. He wasn't easily pushed around and I saw a burst of occasional pace too.

Potter doesn't fill me with too much confidence on the other hand. He is certainly an able deputy for Bevan but I think that the pecking order is just that. Bevan as first choice with Potter as second choice. I thought that Potters choice to punch, and to punch downwards in a pretty full penalty area was poor, and his positioning for the equaliser wasn't great either.

[Trojan 67]

Where's the matchday thread Matt ?

[SuperNickyWroe]

obviously buckles an idiot when it comes to goalkeepers.

unless bevs is injured then he should be in goal tomorrow.

[Dave]

Dave, he had a couple of shots straight at him. He was beaten twice, first time down to him, second time he got caught in nomansland. He was hesitant, he tries to punch everything instead of catching it and didn't have a good game the other night. Think of the opinion given to you by someone who should know how indifferent his performance was and you'll be closer to the truth. I don't blame him for squandering 2 points but he was AS culpable as anyone else. It wasn't a good display and I've yet to see him have one that instilled any confidence to be honest.

As for always showing a wide man the touchline, that isn't always the case. Different players have different qualities and are treated differently, some are deliberately shown inside because they don't want balls crossed high into the box and would rather have them closed down when they cut inside. It's all hypothetical until or if Buckle decides to try LRT at right-back, all I'm saying is it would be interesting to see it tried out and for a number of reasons too.

as your goodself played in goal at a very high level,i conceed that both view point's given to me have come from people with far greater knowledge of goalkeeping than i will ever have ,iam not trying to suggest Potter had a good game against Chelteham,more that in the four games i have seem him play,coupled the fact the loss of those 2 points was not down to just him,that dropping Potter now would be harsh,and the wrong thing for the manager to do.

On the subject of full backs,iam not saying iam right or wrong,just not and have never been a fan of left and right footed defenders playing on the wrong side,as we all know its important for all players on the park to get the basics right,however if a midfielder/striker screw's up it may not harm the team as much as if a defender/goalkeeper gets the basics wrong as we saw tuesday night.

For me you give a greater chance of the whole defensive unit getting the basics of defending right,if the right footers and left footers are on there stronger side,for me the solution is not just a striker that Buckle has alluded to ,also a specialist right back .

[mcgull1]

Although he had his injury problems, i believe PB made a mistake in not giving Danny Senda more of a chance, best of luck to him at the gas-heads but he could have done a top job for us IMO. Apologies though for going even more off-topic!