For new signings, ask the man from the Pru

[Prufrock]

99% of the time a footballer is criticised for not trying hard enough, the critic has failed to spot that the player just simply isn't good enough at football.

[BWFC_Insane]

99% of the time a footballer is criticised for not trying hard enough, the critic has failed to spot that the player just simply isn't good enough at football.

Not sure on that. Madine is a big lad. He could I'm sure do more to hold the ball up at the very least. I think his attitude is poor. I don't expect him to be the next Kevin Davies but even Heskey, who had to walk everywhere held the ball up more effectively.

I don't think he applies himself in the right way. He's got limited ability but tries to play as though he is Ibrahimovic at times with the fancy flicks that never come off.

[Bruce Rioja]

the ball sticks to him very well

Sorry mate but the conversation was about Gary Madine.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Per BN, Parky's next target is a goalkeeper: "the club is understood to have touted out a few options who have become available this summer and could make their mind up by this weekend."

[Bruce Rioja]

Per BN, Parky's next target is a goalkeeper: "the club is understood to have touted out a few options who have become available this summer and could make their mind up by this weekend."

That reminds me - what was wrong with Rachubka? Seemed ok whenever I saw him and I can't imagine that he was on much. We'll do well to any get better for any less I'd have thought.

[BWFC_Insane]

Per BN, Parky's next target is a goalkeeper: "the club is understood to have touted out a few options who have become available this summer and could make their mind up by this weekend."

That reminds me - what was wrong with Rachubka? Seemed ok whenever I saw him and I can't imagine that he was on much. We'll do well to any get better for any less I'd have thought.

My suspicion is they want a keeper who will offer more of a challenge to Amos' position. I suspect they'd sell Amos to get rid of his wages if the chance arose so they probably want a more first team like back up than Rachubka who was ok as a genuine number 2 but wouldn't have ever pushed for a first team place IMO.

[LeverEnd]

Per BN, Parky's next target is a goalkeeper: "the club is understood to have touted out a few options who have become available this summer and could make their mind up by this weekend."

That reminds me - what was wrong with Rachubka? Seemed ok whenever I saw him and I can't imagine that he was on much. We'll do well to any get better for any less I'd have thought.

I thought he was worse at goalkeeping than madine at striking!
As for Madine, I saw maybe twice where he looked a decent player. At Hillsborough and a home game i forget the opponent. I think he's got better ability than we saw but still not much. And mentally I agree with those who say he was weak. Shoulders slumped head down, he often just gave up. Made Beckford at his worst look positive.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

what was wrong with Rachubka? Seemed ok whenever I saw him

You don't seem to be on a wind-up, but there were plenty who thought him abysmal. I mean, it can't have been easy playing behind that team, but he appeared unable to stop shots, which might be considered a bit of a blow.

Found this old post from a passing statistician after last March's Preston game:

I don't mean to sound unkind, but Preston scored with their first effort on target, while Ipswich scored from 2 of their 3 the other night. I know goalkeeping is more complex than that, but is Rachubka up to the job?

Same again today: 3 on target, 2 goals. Leeds had 4 on target, scored 2 goals; so did Burnley.

Again, it's a reductive stats set - and to Rachubka's credit, in his first game Birmingham only scored with 1 of their 5 on-target attempts - but he's hardly The Impregnable Spider, is he?

Rachubka played one more game for us, at Bristol City, and we lost 6-0. That was his sixth loss in eight appearances, to go with a draw at home to Ipswich and a win against Eastleigh.

Reckon there might be other fish in the sea.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Tweet from Iles in Sweden: "Parkinson confirms Pratley spoke to #QPR (not engineered by player, I might add). Praised his professionalism."

[Bruce Rioja]

what was wrong with Rachubka? Seemed ok whenever I saw him

You don't seem to be on a wind-up, but there were plenty who thought him abysmal. I mean, it can't have been easy playing behind that team, but he appeared unable to stop shots, which might be considered a bit of a blow.

Found this old post from a passing statistician after last March's Preston game:

I don't mean to sound unkind, but Preston scored with their first effort on target, while Ipswich scored from 2 of their 3 the other night. I know goalkeeping is more complex than that, but is Rachubka up to the job?

Same again today: 3 on target, 2 goals. Leeds had 4 on target, scored 2 goals; so did Burnley.

Again, it's a reductive stats set - and to Rachubka's credit, in his first game Birmingham only scored with 1 of their 5 on-target attempts - but he's hardly The Impregnable Spider, is he?

Rachubka played one more game for us, at Bristol City, and we lost 6-0. That was his sixth loss in eight appearances, to go with a draw at home to Ipswich and a win against Eastleigh.

Reckon there might be other fish in the sea.

Very harsh to blame every goal that goes in on the keeper, especially by simply looking at shots against, mate. I'm not comparing him to Manuel Neuer, I'm simply asking that in our position are we expecting better for less?

[BWFC_Insane]

Very harsh to blame every goal that goes in on the keeper, especially by simply looking at shots against, mate. I'm not comparing him to Manuel Neuer, I'm simply asking that in our position are we expecting better for less?

We've just signed two players who were regulars for a team that reached the league one playoffs (arguably 3 if you count Proctor in his time at Bradford). I'd argue on that basis we can probably do better than Rachubka within budget.

[Bruce Rioja]

Very harsh to blame every goal that goes in on the keeper, especially by simply looking at shots against, mate. I'm not comparing him to Manuel Neuer, I'm simply asking that in our position are we expecting better for less?

We've just signed two players who were regulars for a team that reached the league one playoffs (arguably 3 if you count Proctor in his time at Bradford). I'd argue on that basis we can probably do better than Rachubka within budget.

We have, and not withstanding your earlier post re - a second keeper pushing Amos, the players to whom you refer will be playing far more regularly, one suspects, than a second choice keeper - I'm just not sure that we should be looking to invest too much here.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Very harsh to blame every goal that goes in on the keeper, especially by simply looking at shots against, mate. I'm not comparing him to Manuel Neuer, I'm simply asking that in our position are we expecting better for less?

I know, and I say it's a reductive stats set, but it's also informative. Not just looking at the number of shots against (which I would agree is a collective responsibility, it's the number of those shots that the goalkeeper saves. Now, true, some might be worldies or not the keeper's fault, but you can see a pattern developing, and although a good goalkeeper has a broader skill-set, shots-saved ratios are generally reliably indicative of a goalie's worth (the top three save percentages in last season's Premier League were Cech 76%, Schmeichel and De Gea both 73%).

In that six-game run last season, here are the number of efforts Rachubka faced (in red) and the number that didn't go in (in green).

5 4 Birmingham (A, L 0-1)
4 2 Burnley (H, L 1-2)
4 2 Leeds (A, L 1-2)
3 1 Ipswich (H, D 2-2)
3 1 Preston (H, L 1-2)
8 2 Bristol C (A, L 0-6)

He faced 27 efforts and saved 12 of them, a 44.4% ratio – although it notably dropped after that first game at St Andrews to 8 from 22, or 27.5%. Ipswich had three accurate shots at our place and got a 2-2 draw; Preston had three and got a 2-1 win. It's a big ask to have to score three goals every game, especially when you're only allowing three shots on goal.

For direct comparison, Amos came in and over the next six games:
Reading had 6 accurate efforts and Amos stopped 5
Brentford 7, he saved 4
Derby 8, saved 4
Boro 5, saved 3
Charlton 2, saved both
Cardiff 8, saved 6
...for a total of 24 saves from 36 - or 66%.

Now obviously Amos is a better goalkeeper than Rachubka, notwithstanding his susceptibility to long shots - Rachubka appears to have a susceptibility to about three-quarters of all shots. I just think we must be able to get someone better - and I also suspect that Parky's half-hoping some sucker takes Amos, so we might have a lot more headroom to get good glove-wearers.

After all, there must be a reason that 15 other clubs have waved him off, and not many goalkeepers have been bad enough to inspire YouTube homages.

[TonyDomingos]

Very harsh to blame every goal that goes in on the keeper, especially by simply looking at shots against, mate. I'm not comparing him to Manuel Neuer, I'm simply asking that in our position are we expecting better for less?

I know, and I say it's a reductive stats set, but it's also informative. Not just looking at the number of shots against (which I would agree is a collective responsibility, it's the number of those shots that the goalkeeper saves. Now, true, some might be worldies or not the keeper's fault, but you can see a pattern developing, and although a good goalkeeper has a broader skill-set, shots-saved ratios are generally reliably indicative of a goalie's worth (the top three save percentages in last season's Premier League were Cech 76%, Schmeichel and De Gea both 73%).

In that six-game run last season, here are the number of efforts Rachubka faced (in red) and the number that didn't go in (in green).

5 4 Birmingham (A, L 0-1)
4 2 Burnley (H, L 1-2)
4 2 Leeds (A, L 1-2)
3 1 Ipswich (H, D 2-2)
3 1 Preston (H, L 1-2)
8 2 Bristol C (A, L 0-6)

He faced 27 efforts and saved 12 of them, a 44.4% ratio – although it notably dropped after that first game at St Andrews to 8 from 22, or 27.5%. Ipswich had three accurate shots at our place and got a 2-2 draw; Preston had three and got a 2-1 win. It's a big ask to have to score three goals every game, especially when you're only allowing three shots on goal.

For direct comparison, Amos came in and over the next six games:
Reading had 6 accurate efforts and Amos stopped 5
Brentford 7, he saved 4
Derby 8, saved 4
Boro 5, saved 3
Charlton 2, saved both
Cardiff 8, saved 6
...for a total of 24 saves from 36 - or 66%.

Now obviously Amos is a better goalkeeper than Rachubka, notwithstanding his susceptibility to long shots - Rachubka appears to have a susceptibility to about three-quarters of all shots. I just think we must be able to get someone better - and I also suspect that Parky's half-hoping some sucker takes Amos, so we might have a lot more headroom to get good glove-wearers.

After all, there must be a reason that 15 other clubs have waved him off, and not many goalkeepers have been bad enough to inspire YouTube homages.

You're wasting your breath, DSB. Don't you know that Bruce, along with the rest of the country, is fed up with experts and their inconvenient facts?

[LeverEnd]

Last season is the weakest we've been for goalkeepers that I can remember since the days of Dave The Cat and Kevin Rose. Not just in terms of ability but in relation to the general quality of the squad.

[Bruce Rioja]

You're wasting your breath, DSB. Don't you know that Bruce, along with the rest of the country, is fed up with experts and their inconvenient facts?

Inconvenient facts, eh? As DSB attests nearer the top of the article, much of his post his down to subjectivity and circumstance backed by trends. And if we're club counting then Michael McGovern's, NI's hero against Germany must be shit because he's out of work having been released by his 7th club, Hamilton Accies.

Now then, in order to hastily involve yourself in facts, subjectivity, circumstances and trend you must have missed my question (and no I'm not repeating it for a second time). I'd like your op-in-i-on.

[Bruce Rioja]

Last season is the weakest we've been for goalkeepers that I can remember

You can't even remember the fecking tickets.

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

I'd like your op-in-i-on.

I'm not mad keen on opinions without facts, which is why I try to quote them. But my opinion is that Rachubka is shit and that yes, we should be expecting a better goalkeeper.

(By what rationale was McGovern the hero? Number of saves made, perhaps? )

[TonyDomingos]

I'd like your op-in-i-on.

I'm not mad keen on opinions without facts, which is why I try to quote them. But my opinion is that Rachubka is shit and that yes, we should be expecting a better goalkeeper.

(By what rationale was McGovern the hero? Number of saves made, perhaps? )

Rachubka is a poor keeper (opinion) because I can't pronounce his name (fact). I rest my case.

[Bruce Rioja]

I'd like your op-in-i-on.

I'm not mad keen on opinions without facts, which is why I try to quote them. But my opinion is that Rachubka is shit and that yes, we should be expecting a better goalkeeper.

(By what rationale was McGovern the hero? Number of saves made, perhaps? )

In one game only. It doesn't mask the fact that he's had a poor career though (unless you wish to look at the facts surrounding one game).

And I refute that many of your facts take into account other circumstances. I'm not saying that Rachubka's a goodun, I said he looked ok when I saw him play (thus me seeing his all round game rather than simply his shots/saves ratio a spreadsheet), but have it your way.