Neil Sullivan

[Old Popsider]

Time is up for him imho.

As I've often said he has been a great servant for us BUT his form this last month or so has dropped right off. Flaps at crosses, kicking distribution is awful at times, he doesn't like getting down for really low balls and the defence seem not to take any notice of him when he tries to comunicate with them. Mind you the defence aren't any better at the moment. At times recently it seems like we've regressed to the Conference days.

Woods MUST now be given a chance to show what he's made of. He should start for us on Saturday v Ipswich.

[Viking Don]

Not another thread.  :S

[Spankster]

Woods got injured in the warm up, was on the team sheet but Sheils came on instead.

[Boomstick]

Don't make him a scapegoat for tonight, we have too many SHIT players to make a Championship squad.

[i_ateallthepies]

Look at the title of the thread.  This discussion is about goalkeeping, Woods the keeper.

[Wellred]

Well that was embarrassing. Just a training session for Wolves.

[Old Popsider]

Boomstick wrote:

Don't make him a scapegoat for tonight, we have too many SHIT players to make a Championship squad.

Not a scapegoat for tonight at all. His performances of late have been getting worse and he has been to blame for a fair few goals going in against him.

Time for Woods to be given a chance to show what he can do, lets face it Sulli is at the end of his time now and SOD must find a capable replacement. How can he do that unless he drops Sulli to the bench and gives Woods a few starts?

Time is of the essence in this department because if we continue to ship goals at the recent rate, we will be battling relegation instead of knocking on the play-offs door.

Yes, the defence is crap at the moment and that needs sorting out but without a decent shot stopper it's a bit like having a bath with no plug for the hole.

[snods big brother]

Was Sully actually to blame for any of the goals - Doyles goal he was partly to blame but left exposed by poor defending by Hird. I think I am right in saying the first 3 goals came down the left side of the pitch where Chambers had a night to forget. Getting rid of Sully is not the way to go - we need his experience whilst going through the poor patch.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Certainly there was some rank defending with defenders getting exposed and diving in and making it easy for Wolves to shoot.

We looked leggy and very dispirited.

I am a big fan of Sully and I will allow him the odd gaff here and there as he has generally been quite solid.

I'm finding it more difficult though and of late his decision making has been poorer (could be down to confidence), but when attempting saves he's going down in stages (which cannot be confidence). The Doyle goal tonight was a very poor goal from a keepers point of view.

May be he is losing his self confidence due to losing some of his agility ?

I always say be careful what or who you wish for, as it might be worse than what you've got however, I'm wondering how long and how fair it is to have Gary Woods waiting in the wings.

[CusworthRovers]

snods big brother wrote:

Was Sully actually to blame for any of the goals - Doyles goal he was partly to blame but left exposed by poor defending by Hird. I think I am right in saying the first 3 goals came down the left side of the pitch where Chambers had a night to forget. Getting rid of Sully is not the way to go - we need his experience whilst going through the poor patch.

Wise words

I'm not sure Sulli was to blame for any but Doyles, as it looked like he was beaten on the near-post. That said, I've not seen the TV highlights.

[VikingJames]

I watched the highlights on telly earlier. Have to admit, I think questions have to be asked of Sullivan for the 3rd, 4th and 5th goals.

Doyle's was a very poor one on Sulli's part. He did turn Hird inside out but it should take something special to beat you on your near post, and the shot wasn't special at all.

[BillyStubbsTears]

CusworthRovers wrote:

snods big brother wrote:

Was Sully actually to blame for any of the goals - Doyles goal he was partly to blame but left exposed by poor defending by Hird. I think I am right in saying the first 3 goals came down the left side of the pitch where Chambers had a night to forget. Getting rid of Sully is not the way to go - we need his experience whilst going through the poor patch.

Wise words

I'm not sure Sulli was to blame for any but Doyles, as it looked like he was beaten on the near-post. That said, I've not seen the TV highlights.

You keep looking at the particular circumstances Cussy. Step back and look at the big picture.

On average at this level, teams score 1 goal for every 4 or 5 shots on target. On average, we are conceding 1 goal for every 2-3 shots we allow on target. Over recent weeks, damn near EVERY shot on target against us is going in.

After a certain time of seeing these statistics stacking up week-in week-out, there is only one conclusion to be drawn. It's not enough for a keeper to be \"not to blame\". They have to make it hard for the opponents to score, not allow every routine on target shot to go past them.

Don't get me wrong, I think Sullivan has been a true Rovers hero. But so were Alan Warboys, Colin Douglas and Alick Jeffrey. And eventually they all ran into the sands of time.

[danrover82]

Maybe one or two is the Keeper, but thats the same for every team.

Even SOD realised that Hird made mistake for first and cost us on Saturday, but stuck by him and came out and said he's worth every penny. Which I am sure didnt make a lot of the hird haters happy on here.

Our defence is shambolick and that wont help a keeper who may be low on confidence. The thing is its the unfortunate position of the team that is rarely praised and always to blame especially when the TEAM dont perform and losing so bad.

He still saves us more points than causes IMO

[ctay]

Ive been saying this for a year or so, but keep getting shouted down. Time has come for a change. If SOD persists with Sulli, then that speaks volumes about Woods.

Richard Wright isnt getting a game at Sheff U is he?

[Viking Don]

That's the point really. People may be shouting for Woods, but they've never even see him play a competitive game so I'm guessing they must be relatives.

Changing keeper at this point, for an untried rookie, well, it's not going to happen is it, so stop the bleating.

[Shawndrfc]

ive seen woods once against Sheff W in pre season and he looked like a decent keeper. good shot stopper and commanded his box, which i believe sully doesn't do. I thought SoD should of gave him a go tonite, along with Brooker and co, because they need game time. Sully is a greatly experienced keeper and i thought he was going to pack in at the end of last season when they gave Ben Smith ago against Swansea.

[benaldo]

I think Sullivan has been brilliant over the years with us. He sometimes makes saves which look impossible for a human to make and he's certainly kept us in handfuls of close games. It's a shame that he's having a dodgy spell, and if he wasn't so old we'd probably be saying that he'll come good and get his confidence back. I don't know if 40 is too old to be a quality keeper, so maybe it's just a dodgy spell and he'll come good again and last another couple of seasons....or maybe it's the end? But something in me says he can't just succumb to the sands of time within weeks can he?

I don't know whats up with him, I just wish it would stop! It's a difficult one, do you stop playing Sullivan and risk alienating him and helping him to retire or do you persist with him, and if so, for how long? How certain do you have to be that age has taken it's hold on him?

He's certainly a been a great keeper, it's whether he is still a great keeper? God knows how you answer that! Sad as I am to write it, I think this season is his last in the keepmoat nets.

[grayx]

ctay wrote:

Ive been saying this for a year or so, but keep getting shouted down. Time has come for a change. If SOD persists with Sulli, then that speaks volumes about Woods.

Richard Wright isnt getting a game at Sheff U is he?

Agreed. I was surprised we didn't make a move for Wright before. If outfield players our out of form,they get dropped. Should be the same for keepers.

[danrover82]

But he isn't badly out of form like outfield players.

People on here have to remember he has 10, yes 10 players of DRFC in front of him.

Why dont people just get off his case.

I'm just glad that the gaffer isn't so short sighted.

[Donnywolf]

Viking Don wrote:

That's the point really. People may be shouting for Woods, but they've never even see him play a competitive game so I'm guessing they must be relatives.

Changing keeper at this point, for an untried rookie, well, it's not going to happen is it, so stop the bleating.

... as I said on (yet another Sulli thread) we may not have a choice using an untried rookie because Woods IS the second choice keeper at the moment and if Sulli gets injured in the first Minute on Saturday - Woods is ON whether we or SOD like it

[Lesonthewest]

snods big brother wrote:

Was Sully actually to blame for any of the goals - Doyles goal he was partly to blame but left exposed by poor defending by Hird. I think I am right in saying the first 3 goals came down the left side of the pitch where Chambers had a night to forget. Getting rid of Sully is not the way to go - we need his experience whilst going through the poor patch.

Well said that man, totally agree.

[DonnyRTID]

Hmmm, i see Sully is second in the Season MOM table, must be doing something right!.

[LiamDRFC]

I like Sully. His experience is vast and he has a lot to offer to the team. I would, however, like to see what Gary Woods has to offer.

If he is to be our next keeper then surely he should be playing in some cup games?

[Al4475]

The only prob being, we no longer have any cup games! Bite the bullet - give him a coupla league starts and let's have a proper look at the kid!

[i_ateallthepies]

Al4475 wrote:

The only prob being, we no longer have any cup games! Bite the bullet - give him a coupla league starts and let's have a proper look at the kid!

Why do WE need to have a look at him?  WE don't pick the team.

SO'D sees him every day in training.  I trust his judgement over anyone on here.