Keeper Choice

[Branton Rover]

We are spoilt with 2 good young keepers but who would be your choice as number 1.

I know who I would choose but I’ll keep my opinions to myself - I feel that criticising anyone should be left in the pub, not broadcasted online where it stays forever

[nortikorner]

I feel that criticising anyone should be left in the pub, not broadcasted online where it stays forever

Enough Said

[South East Rover]

So whey start a poll then!!!!!!

[Jonathan]

I would choose one of them ahead of the other too!

Any more for any more?

[RedJ]

Personally I'd play them both at the same time.

[LincolnDonny]

not that i am suggesting anything............

but i remember Lincoln playing 2 keepers in the starting 11 many many years ago when Colin Murphy was trying to prove that they needed a centre forward ................and yes 1 of the 2 played at that position

again  i am not making any suggestion..........

but just a fact i remember

[RedJ]

Marosi does look like a good finisher...

[LincolnDonny]

just a side  to the thing i said

has any of our keepers ever scored..(i don't mean a penalty)
but, like from out of a kick from their hands, or from a corner ......?

[drfchound]

just a side  to the thing i said

has any of our keepers ever scored..(i don't mean a penalty)
but, like from out of a kick from their hands, or from a corner ......?

There is a list on wiki of keepers who have scored from open play, pens and free kicks etc but it doesn’t include one scored by a player in a Rovers shirt.

[Draytonian III]

Stuart Naylor - Lincoln City goalkeeper played out field

[drfchound]

I think that Fred Potter played up front for us once and scored a goal.

[RedJ]

David James once pulled on an outfield player's shirt for Manchester City in the last game of the season when they were chasing a UEFA Cup spot. Didn't score, mind.

[Draytonian III]

Just looked up Fred Potter, when on to play for Hereford, including in that game in the F A Cup against Newcastle United, parkas and all. He lost his place in the Hereford side to David Icke !!!! Before breaking his leg and having to retire

[anne honemous]

My preference would be for us to sign an experienced keeper, who our present keepers could learn from in training sessions in order to further develop their potential.

All four, including Louis Jones, are good shot stoppers, but none of them command their area quite as well as an experienced keeper would do.

Lawlor is just about the best in this respect. Marosi is improving all the time, whilst Etheridge has looked a bag of nerves every time he's appeared for us. Jones is very young so excuses can be made for him at the moment and he'll learn lots from being out on loan anyway.

I think if it wasn't for the fact that we have surplus players in this position at present, we'd have gone and signed an older professional a while ago.

[wing commander]

That's simply a crazy idea....A team in league 1 can't afford to have 4 keepers in the budget never mind 5..Etheridge was on his way out but got injured...That would be the equivalent of having 10 strikers on the books....

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

My preference would be for us to sign an experienced keeper, who our present keepers could learn from in training sessions in order to further develop their potential.

All four, including Louis Jones, are good shot stoppers, but none of them command their area quite as well as an experienced keeper would do.

Lawlor is just about the best in this respect. Marosi is improving all the time, whilst Etheridge has looked a bag of nerves every time he's appeared for us. Jones is very young so excuses can be made for him at the moment and he'll learn lots from being out on loan anyway.

I think if it wasn't for the fact that we have surplus players in this position at present, we'd have gone and signed an older professional a while ago.

Isn't that the job of the GK coach?

[RedJ]

And if it's still Paul Gerrard he played in the Premier League for years.

[deebee]

Yes one of our goalies once scored a goal at Grimsby with a kick from his hands unfortunately due to the wind it went up in the air over his head and into his own net still a goal though.

[The Red Baron]

I think that Fred Potter played up front for us once and scored a goal.

Fred Potter played twice as a striker in the first team, once in the League and once in the FA Cup but never scored. He did score a few times playing for the reserves though.

Jack Eggett is the only goalkeeper of ours who I have come across scoring, in a Yorkshire League game back in the 1890s. Apparently the game was so one-sided that he decided to venture upfield!

[drfchound]

Yes one of our goalies once scored a goal at Grimsby with a kick from his hands unfortunately due to the wind it went up in the air over his head and into his own net still a goal though.

Not strictly true.
It was headed back to him by a defender (Matt Mills or Sam Hird - i am not sure which) and the headed ball went into the net.

[drfchound]

I think that Fred Potter played up front for us once and scored a goal.

Fred Potter played twice as a striker in the first team, once in the League and once in the FA Cup but never scored. He did score a few times playing for the reserves though.

Jack Eggett is the only goalkeeper of ours who I have come across scoring, in a Yorkshire League game back in the 1890s. Apparently the game was so one-sided that he decided to venture upfield!

Cheers TRB, it must be the reserve games i was thinking about.
When i was a kid we used to sometimes go and watch the reserves play on a Saturday afternoon.

[steve@dcfd]

We have four keepers on our payroll that qualify to play for the first team squad. We may not see Etheridge again in a rovers shirt but until he moves on we are paying him. Therefore signing another keeper is out of the question. Lawlor out of the two is the best keeper but they are both liable to make mistakes, neither come off their line and control the 6 yard box. So we’ve got what we’ve got let’s hope they continue to gain experience and improve and the goal keeping coach assists in their development.

[drfchound]

Steve, interesting that you make the point of Lawlor and the six yard box.

Against Southend he came to try and gather a cross but Wright got in his way and he fumbled the ball which lead to them scoring.

Against Portsmouth the other night there was an incident when the ball was put high into our box and Lawlor went beyond the six yard box into a crowd scene and caught it.

Maybe he is trying to add it to his game.

We have often said that our keepers stay on their line too much, especially on corners, but perhaps this is the way they are encouraged to play these days ?

[NickDRFC]

That Southend goal is a pretty good example of his weakness - a more experienced keeper would have roared at Wright that it was his to claim, I don't think Wright had any idea he was coming so it's a bit harsh to say he got in his way.

It is definitely something he can work on and other aspects of his game are already pretty good so he stays our number one for me.

[The Red Baron]

Re Fred Potter, a couple of other Rovers men have had double lives as goalkeeper and outfield player.

Joe Wilkinson, who joined in 1928 from Sheffield United made six appearances as a centre half, scoring once, between March and April 1929. He then kept goal in the last two games of the season. The following season, 1929-30, he played four games as goalkeeper. So his 12 game Rovers career was neatly divided between centre half and goalkeeper.

Then there was Pat Gillespie, who made his debut at centre forward on 20th December 1947. He scored Rovers' only goal in a 6-1 defeat at Southampton. The following season, 1948-49, he played seven games as a goalkeeper. It is possible that on his debut he was a travelling reserve and was pressed into service when someone was ill or injured just before the game.

[ravenrover]

Steve, interesting that you make the point of Lawlor and the six yard box.

Against Southend he came to try and gather a cross but Wright got in his way and he fumbled the ball which lead to them scoring.

Against Portsmouth the other night there was an incident when the ball was put high into our box and Lawlor went beyond the six yard box into a crowd scene and caught it.

Maybe he is trying to add it to his game.

We have often said that our keepers stay on their line too much, especially on corners, but perhaps this is the way they are encouraged to play these days ?

My memory is a little different to yours, against Sarfend he came and stopped got nowhere near the ball which was headed back cleared off the line and lead to their goal. We agree that he came and claimed  a high ball against Portsmouth but that was after he had failed to come and claim the cross which was headed back and cleared of the line by Joe and then played back in.
Keepers don't seem to boss the area like they did when I were a lad if you were in the way you were flattened be it defender or attacker and if you got nowhere near the ball the keeper usually got the free kick for obstruction or some other obscure ruling

[drfchound]

Steve, interesting that you make the point of Lawlor and the six yard box.

Against Southend he came to try and gather a cross but Wright got in his way and he fumbled the ball which lead to them scoring.

Against Portsmouth the other night there was an incident when the ball was put high into our box and Lawlor went beyond the six yard box into a crowd scene and caught it.

Maybe he is trying to add it to his game.

We have often said that our keepers stay on their line too much, especially on corners, but perhaps this is the way they are encouraged to play these days ?

My memory is a little different to yours, against Sarfend he came and stopped got nowhere near the ball which was headed back cleared off the line and lead to their goal. We agree that he came and claimed  a high ball against Portsmouth but that was after he had failed to come and claim the cross which was headed back and cleared of the line by Joe and then played back in.
Keepers don't seem to boss the area like they did when I were a lad if you were in the way you were flattened be it defender or attacker and if you got nowhere near the ball the keeper usually got the free kick for obstruction or some other obscure ruling

Raven old chap, have a look at the highlights mate.
Lawlor comes to try to either catch or punch.
Wright is in his way and they collide.
The ball falls to the Southend player and the rest is as you describe it.
Lawlor didn’t stop and did bump into Wright.

[ravenrover]

Hound young man, Lawlor comes and makes no attempt to reach the ball either by punch or catch he simply lets Joe deal with it, he should have screamed "keepers ball", never mind bump he should have flattened him

[drfchound]

Hound young man, Lawlor comes and makes no attempt to reach the ball either by punch or catch he simply lets Joe deal with it, he should have screamed "keepers ball", never mind bump he should have flattened him

Thanks for the young man comment mate, let’s not get into a bickering situation and agree to disagree then.
As the say in Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, “let’s call it a draw”.

[Filo]

Hound young man, Lawlor comes and makes no attempt to reach the ball either by punch or catch he simply lets Joe deal with it, he should have screamed "keepers ball", never mind bump he should have flattened him

Thats exactly how I saw it