Glowing reports so far from his 2 games at Portsmouth. 2 clean sheets and a worldy of a save today. Probably not as good as it looked though eh stu?
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Glowing reports so far from his 2 games at Portsmouth. 2 clean sheets and a worldy of a save today. Probably not as good as it looked though eh stu?
Hard to know from the link you didn't provide!
God we really are lucky to have bazunu and kelleher. That ability to play 10 yards outside your box and be comfortable with such a high starting position will be so helpful to us to let us push our defence higher to allow our midfield actually close the space to our front players. Randolph has been a super keeper but he just can't do that and his deep starting position encourages the likes of Duffy to sit way too deep(for his own comfort) dragging everyone else deeper and leaving us with no obvious attacking threat
Agree totally Liamoo. The combination of a goalkeeper uncomfortable off his goal-line, and defenders that are prone to sitting deep (for different reasons - comfort, speed (lack of), poor turning) is something we've struggled with for many years, and has been a massive reason (for me) in how we've ended up in the position we are in.Quote:
Originally Posted by liamoo11
Tweet is gone now I think?
I assumed you'd seen it. You're usually right up to speed stu. Reports say he didn't have much to save in the first game but was pivotal in moving the ball for them. Second game sounds like he was a lot busier and made some good saves. Portsmouth forum is full of praise so far. Early days though of course. Hopefully he keeps it up and Kelleher gets a few cup runs as first choice. Then we will have 3 good keepers, 2-3 good right backs and.......that's about it for the foreseeable future........Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
https://twitter.com/carlofooty/statu...133511172?s=20
Looks a very good save. I hope he has a great season and starts to fulfil his undoubted potential.
I get my info from here otoh! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by ontheotherhand
It's a good save alright. I'd be more interested to see if he's ironed out the decision making/distribution errors from his game though. I know from personal experience a couple of good saves very quickly get forgotten when a rush of blood comes along to cost a goal.
But he's six months older than the last qualifiers and is (I presume!) still improving, so touch wood we'll see that come through in his performances over the next while. From what I've seen in an Ireland jersey, I'd still have Kelleher to start next month, but Kelleher needs games and Kenny has already said League One isn't international level. Making exceptions for teenagers like Bazunu and Parrott is fair enough of course, but I think we're still a year away from where we could really call the keeper crisis over.
Yeah all fair although if Randolph is available we don't have a keeper crisis for me. I wish he played more but he hasn't let us down. As I said before I think we were just judging Bazunu with a different set of criteria i.e. as a prospect versus a nailed on starter. Signs are bright though. And young Parrot seems to be finding a level he can get games and goals at as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Yeah, good point on Randolph. He's an interesting one. He's one of those fairly middling club players who's always been excellent for us. But 10 club games in the past 18 months isn't enough - no more than it's enough for Kelleher - and yeah, there's the worry (sorry Kingdom!) that he's a bit Packie Bonner-like with the ball at his feet.
I think if you view Bazunu and Kelleher as prospects, then it makes sense to start Randolph in Portugal - yet I'd be less comfortable about it than usual. (Also, you can't rule out Travers, who's starting for Bournemouth a division higher)
And yeah, as you say, if we have a couple of keepers and a couple of full-backs - and let's add in Parrott there to make us feel good - then that's still a poor team. We still need a few other players to come through.
We're looking good at centre back as well if that helps. Midfield remains the big issue and has been for a while.
I'm not sure if Randolph has let us down but I feel there were times when he could have done better for us. So I'm not really bothered at this stage who plays in goals especially as we don't have anything to play for again and missed out on two campaigns.
OK Mr. Cynical here. I have been watching football a long time and some of the stuff I've read and heard about Gavin is a bit ott. He's pretty much made at least one almost fatal error in each of the last three games and arguably might have saved the Serbian goal. Some great saves in between and I love the way he's not stuck to his line for corners and gets out to punch the ball clear but he's still only learning his trade and has got to cut out those mistakes because if we concede a goal as a result, we'll struggle to score 2 in most games. Great prospect but not the finished article and I hope Kelleher is also given a chance to show what he can also do.
I really like Bazunu but I've felt, having watched both, that Kelleher seems less likely to make a mistake with ball at feet.
Both great to have coming through though. If only we had such talent up front to choose from.
Bazunu has that bit of a feel of a Lucky General that Napoleon Bonaparte was so fond of. He could have given up 2 or 3 goals if he did not have that lucky goalkeeping bit going for him. Mind you he hasn’t let the slip ups affect him.
I must say though that like Napoleon with Lucky Generals I like Lucky Goalkeepers and Lucky Players overall.
I really like Bazunu, he certainly has something about him. It's a long time since I last had such a positive feeling about a young Irish goalkeeping prospect, inconsistent and occasionally slightly lacking judgment though he may be
Would you describe Kenny as a lucky general?
I wouldn't have said so at all before, but his luck certainly seems to have turned with the really rather fortuitous home draws with Azerbaijan and Serbia that have probably kept him in a job.
Kenny must be a bit lucky that the FAI are completely on their Uppers. His position would be under much more immediate threat if they had some cash.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trequartista20
How many times have we conceded the first goal under Kenny? Even against Azerbaijan, Luxembourg and Andorra this has been the case.
I'd love to see us score the first goal in the next round of games and hopefully the confidence will flow and maybe we'll really see what we're made of. Something's still holding us back.
I do agree that Kenny has, thus far, faced an incredibly placid and patient media.
Who knows what Kerr and Staunton, also billed as a progressive and transitional team-builder for the future, might have achieved were they afforded a similar luxury, rather than the brickbats and derision directed their way.
You can't help but recall Steve Staunton's tenure when considering Kenny, and I always felt Staunton was unlucky in the way that his appointed mentor, Bobby Robson, fell so seriously unwell. This isn't remembered now, and instead that great servant, 'Stan', was reduced to a figure of fun, and never quite recovered. Sad.
we've only been in the lead three times in Kenny's reign so far - Serbia, Andorra, and Portugal - and we lost two of those games.
Thanks Tets. I did wonder, and it's an interesting point to considerQuote:
Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Marc Vale scored first for Andorra when they took a shock league against in that match, of course.
I do think it’s important that we get our noses in front in the next games against Luxembourg and Azerbaijan. I can’t help feeling that an element of panic and “oh no, not again” set in. When we lost the goal to Azerbaijan in particular. We need to take the lead in one of those games and kick on from there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trequartista20
https://mobile.twitter.com/Pompey/st...280-Sep2021%2F
High praise from the manager
Didn't cover himself in glory at all yesterday for the first and second goals. The second is a rare error as he's an excellent shot-stopper, but the first is a symptom of his tendency to misjudge what he should come for or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ej-viW1L0
Harsh on the first one. The cross was excellentQuote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
2nd one was a disaster
Don't think a cross can hang in the six-yard-box that long without it being keeper's ball tbh. No-one challenging either. It looks like he misjudged the flight of it
Oh Dear; On the second one.Quote:
Originally Posted by osarusan
First goal, I think a more experienced keeper, say a premier league starter, is normally tracking that ball and at the very least getting a finger tip to it to push it out to the sideline, probably for a throw. I wouldn’t go so far to say it’s his fault but if he progresses, 3 years from now, it wouldn’t be a goal.
Second goal, similarly, inexperience. In fairness to him, I think it deflects off the defenders shoulder. Hard to see with that angle but that makes the ball move and perhaps wrong foots him a little and puts a load of spin on the ball. A more experienced might handle the shot differently. Not sure it was really travelling quick enough to punch. He kinda drops it onto his foot. I’ve noticed he regularly does things like a little spill here and there or a little misjudgement but he’s got such incredible reactions and speed of movement that he can recover quicker than any keeper I’ve seen. They’ll probably fade a little as he ages and fills out.
Third goal wasn’t his fault, and it’s difficult to judge but if he came he would have beaten the attacker to the ball. The attacker heads it at the six yard box. He probably only has 2 yards to move from where he starts out.
There was talk on the kelleher thread of him one day replacing Ederson, I do feel that Ederson would have handled all three goals. It’s a really high bar and he’s still a teenager but it’s days like that that show you how far he has to go - and also illustrate that Kelleher, Travers and Randolph all have a shout to be our best keeper right now.
Hard to drop him when he’s been faultless for ireland but he’s just one of four talented keepers
He is 19. Of course he has a long way to go. Whatever about Ederson handling all three goals- that is irrelevant. The question is whether 19 year old Ederson that was a sub at Rio Ave would have handled all three. I'm sure that Ederson had bad days too.Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
And I agree that the other lads have a shout to be our first choice. But he is in possession of the Irish jersey and hasn't given Kenny any reason to deprive him of it for Ireland.
He's still learning and aspects of his game need ironing out. Probably should be getting a tip on the ball for the first goal. And bad mistake for the second goal but quick reaction to pounce from which two defenders have a chance to clear.
He's been far from faultless for Ireland in fairness. I'm every game bar Serbia at home and the 45 against Hungary, he's had a blunder of that calibre. He's just been lucky enough that it's never cost a goal.Quote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
Obviously he's only 19 and learning fast, but may as well call out the errors when they happen
against Serbia at home, he needed a dig out from McClean after he came way out of his area to claim the ball
He's made a handling mistake or error of judgment in every game except the Azerbaijan away game and got away with them all. I'm fine with that. The lad clearly has bundles of talent and has a great habit of making big saves at big moments. Travers made one error and got punished, that's football. I think he was all at sea in the first half in Belgrade though when Tadic's corners caused real trouble. Bazunu has the jersey and until he costs us a game or two I'm fine with that. There's never any counter-factual argument that Kelleher or Travers will be better. Bazunu has been tested a few times at this level now and passed with distinction.
Here is a questionQuote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
if Allison gets seriously injured and kelleher does a v good job for Liverpool for a couple of months. do we stick with Gavin?
So far he has been a lucky Goal Keeper for us. He has got away with mistakes an unlucky Goal Keeper would not have got away with. He had better keep being lucky for us or get better. There is some promising competition out there.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
~ ~ No. ~ ~Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
I thought he was all over the place for that shot he tipped onto the bar in the second half. Should have been a straightforward tip over the bar but he flapped at it and was very lucky.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuttgart88
Agree with the rest of your analysis alright, but don't see the harm in calling the errors out though.
It depends on how well Gavin keeps doing!Quote:
Originally Posted by Diggs246
In reality we don't have much to compare each other on. Kelleher impressed me in Budapest, arguably the better of two good performances. Saved a pen at Norwich but arguably flapped at the first shot. Swept very well.
My own view is that if Kelleher was given a run in the side from now on in we'd also see some mistakes. Can he take or read high balls for example?
I've a feeling Kelleher will soon get a chance to keep the shirt though.
I think you've got to judge these saves in real time. Looked a bit clumsy in slow mo but in real time he did what was needed.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
I think the save from Mitrovic with his foot was simply brilliant btw.