While reading boards and listening to people who dont go to games, but only see the shot stopping of gordon on the box.it is easy to understand why these people rate him so highly. However when talking to fans who go to the games, especialy the die hards that traval to all the away games,. most agree he is a great shot stopper, but has know idea of how to keep goal.Yesterday he was like a scared rabbit stuck in the headlights of an oncoming car every time Delap took a throw in. After our 5-1 defeat on black sunday a lot of fans called for Gordons return, but Bruce resisted, as the next game was Stoke at home. Stoke bombarded our penalty area that day, we had a makeshift defence, shakey after the previous game, but we kept a clean sheet. Why because we had a better keeper in who knows how to keep goal, and is a good shotstopper. Please bring back the Ming. If you dont believe me compare there stats, or come and watch the games. Dont blame the refs Gordon cost us 4 points this week.
I'm a season card holder of 23 years mate, and i think flash is a superb goalkeeper. The Stoke game at home you refer to we were very, very fortunate to get a clean sheet, the Mig, who i do rate very highly for the future, did a lot of flapping that day.
Make no mistake, Gordon was the reason we lost yesterday not the officials. Sorry lads, but blaming bad officals would have been academic if we had coped with the set pieces. BUT............. Gordon is the best keeper we have had since Sorensen and is better this season than he was last season. I expect better next season too. You are nuts if you think he isnt one of our better performers in 8/10 matches.
I agree, he's just off form. What on earth would be the point in selling one of our most consistent performers due to two bad games?
This is the post I put on 606 before that Stoke game. "Against the hoofball specialists, Stoke City, I'd MUCH rather have The Mig in goal. Craigy G stays rooted to his line too much, and when he does leave his line, it's "heart in the mouth" time, as he fails to connect with the ball more often than not.The Mig does come for crosses, and even though he doesn't always connect cleanly, he usually manages to get a good fist to the ball.....clearing the danger." That said, Craig Gordon has been absolutely superb for us this season and deservedly gets the nod over the Mig.
Once the ref let Stoke get away with more or less obstructing Gordon from getting to the ball then the die was cast. Gordon did not make the best of a very difficult situation.
The first goal he never got off the ground, he wasn't fouled, the 3rd went straight through him. Second was a foul
was class v blackpool just 2 games ago, made 1 mistake v chelsea(2nd goal), just looked uncomftable yesterday, but so has every other keeper in premier league when they go to stoke. some comments on here are just unreal
100% correct. If CG is being slated for a couple of off days I refer to one of our darkest hours, halloween 5-1 drubbing, ming was abysmal that day. Keep CG, ming will get there.
Seeing it from 4 or 5 different angles most in close up on the TV, but you have a better view by being there taking it all in, in a couple of seconds? If you watch their first goal Carew pulls Gordon then as he jumps Shawcross grabs him and stops him. The second handball goa,l Gordon is diving to block Carews header, Carew misses the header and handballs it in. If Carew had headed it Gordon would have blocked it. When he wasn't being manhandled Gordon took the rest of the crosses cleanly. Mingolet flaps at crosses when he is under no pressure. Opinions eh! http://www.footytube.com/video/stoke-city-v-sunderland-72510
all bar 1, maybe 2 players were completely abysmal that day so it doesn't really count. I tend to find myself agreeing with the original post to a certain extent. Don't get me wrong, I had major doubts initially as to whether Gordon was anywhere near as good as his price tag suggested but towards the end of last season and a good few games this year Gordon has undoubtedly won us many games, and won over many of his doubters, myself included. His shot stopping is second to none, no doubt about this, that save against Bolton earlier in the season was the best I've ever seen at any match, many could learn from him in this area. However, the other aspect of goalkeeping, dealing with crosses and commanding the box is an area which I firmly believe he struggles with. Gordon has the height and stature to be a keeper but to me he seems a little lightweight and when up against good sized opposition players he struggles physically to mix it up with them. Now, I'm not saying he wasn't fouled on a good few occasions but I could mention many a keeper that would have been screaming at a referee (before a corner or free kick has been taken) to keep his eye on the treatment he was getting. I'm sure the Sunderland coaches and Gordon himself are aware of this and work on it rigorously in training. Maybe he just needs a few extra weetabix for breakfast when up against the more physical teams?! Speaking of physical teams, Stoke, that was some ugly football! Can't believe people pay to watch that week in week out!
He was physically fouled, blocked etc all game. He made a mistake on the 2nd goal, but the defence didnt protect him at all either. Cant blame Gordan at all for the loss.
If we are going to start discussions about keepers being rooted to their lines and flapping at crosses - what about Monty?? HE only came for a cross when he could hear the damn ball!! I was, and am still not Flash' biggest fan, as he does have a weakness with crosses. Fantastic shot stopper, but he has got better at crosses. Still a way to go but I at least can see he is getting better and is obviously putting a lot of work in. Everyone has an off form game, and when that happens we do get annoyed at them, but he HAS improved and I can't fault him for having a bad one at Stoke. How many keepers have a good one there?????
He could command the area better yes, but on saturday our defenders had to be better at blocking the big stoke players impeding him, so collectively we were not good a s a unit. The defenders job was to enable the keeper to do his job, i.e. catch and punch the ball, we allowed Huth etc space ,as with Nolan at skunkville to dominate the 6 yard area. Also the ref did not do his job, so our defenders had to step up, they did not. A poor defensive display and far too many free kicks given away allowing the hoof-ball into the box.
nowt wrong with the lad, so he had a bad game against stoke, so what! some people are quick to point the finger when it goes wrong but keep quiet when he has a good game (which is most of the time) i like the mig and think he is a great asset for the future, but for me gordon is number one.
3rd, and winning goal went straight through him mate! Note that i'm defending him, but he WAS at fault on sat, 1st goal wasn't a foul, he never got off the ground. I still maintain he's the best in the league
I think that CG is getting a lot of unwarranted stick. He didn't know whether he was going for a **** or a haircut for the second Chelsea goal but he got absolutely no protection from either his defenders or the referee against the Stoke bullies. Coming off his line has admittedly been his weakness (and still is to some extent), but it's difficult to come out when he's constantly blocked. Keepers other than Gordon have the same problem that Gordon faced and the commentators on the game on Saturday were actually praising Gordon for coming out for crosses (when he could) and highlighted the problem other keepers have had. To give credit to Stoke, they realised that he was coming out for crosses early on and then made sure that it was difficult for him as the game progressed.
