We have had 3 penalties this season and 3 different takers. Ben Marshall scored against Blackpool, David Nugent scored against Ipswich and Chris Wood missed against Blackpool Strangely both Nugent and Marshall was on the pitch when Wood took it so you can only presume Wood is now the designated taker. Whether he after missing remains to be seen but we all know Paul Gallagher is the best taker at the club with his unique style. So who do you think should be the taker as I think it needs to be the same person whenever possible. Andy King's finishing is premier league class so I think he probably would be able to take a decent peno
I was wondering why Wood was taking it - I thought that Nugent was our penalty taker when Gallagher is not on the pitch?
I dont find it strange that Wood took it I just find it strange we have no consistency with takers. Ben Marshall must have been the been the designated taker at the start of the season. I think the reason he didnt take it was because he was low on confidence and has been for a pretty long time now. Had Anthony Knockaert been on the pitch at the time I think he would have been more then up for taking the penalty
You want your forwards hungry to score so I have no problem with Wood taking it - he hit the bar which is unlucky - if he wants to take the next one that is fine by me - penalties are a confidence thing - I took pens for a Sunday league team and went 2 seasons without missing - statistically I was therefore more likely to miss (have saved) each one I was taking later in that run - sure enough I then missed two in a row - for me the saving grace was that they were both saved - if I'd missed the target completely then the keeper didn't need to be there - and for me a professional missing the target is criminal - as I said above, Wood hitting the bar would redeem him for me - that is fractional ..
I seem to remember always being surprised at Nugent not taking penalties for us whilst he's been at the club. In the game where Marshall scored, I'm sure Nuge was playing and would've had him nailed on to take the pen. I also seem to recall in shoot-outs when Nuge has been playing he hasn't been included in the first 5 takers (don't quote me on this one though...) Maybe Nuge just doesn't fancy it? To get back to the original question - to be a good penalty taker you have to: a) Have deadly accurate shooting and b) Have 'bottle' 'Bottle' often manifests itself in different ways, whether in a steely and very English Stuart Pearce/Alan Shearer type of way or in a confident and sometimes slightly arrogant C. Ronaldo type of way. Whichever way you think is 'right', all 3 player examples given have bottle. If we're going by the first example of bottle, I'd say Nuge or maybe even someone like Drinkwater, if he was confident enough with his shooting prowess. With the 2nd example, you can't look past Knockaert - I'm sure he'd have the confidence in his own ability to step up and be the club's pen taker, however I'd fear a Kermogant-style calamity if he got too cocky. All that being said, I love Gally's pens and would have him take them all day long if he was in the side. 1. Gally 2. Knockaert 3. Nugent 4. Marshall 5. Drinkwater Would be my top 5 pen takers from the players likely to be in the matchday squad.
I wouldnt go with Drinkwater, he is very much like Wellens used to be, very reluctant to shoot. He doesnt seem very confident when it comes to scoring goals so I wouldnt want him taking a peno. I would much rather Andy King
