Realism. That is what a lot of us don't have at the moment, and I'll be the first I had to think about it at first. All season we have been under a slight illusion that our no1 was going to turn out to be the next top Premiership goalkeeper. No. He isn't all that good. He had a good start to the season but in the last third, including the odd ones all the way through the season, but mainly the last third, he started making mistakes. Your defence have to be able to trust your goalkeeper, just as your goalkeeper has to be able to trust his defence. It was clear there was no trust there. His last name seems to have given everyone, including non-Leeds fans, the idea that he was a prospective World Class goalkeeper. He is a fantastic shot stopper, don't get me wrong. His catching from corners is fine and punching. I feel he is lightweight, he seems to get pushed about at corners (Norwich, unsure whether he went down a bit easy there) and several other games where he's challenged for the ball and been shrugged off. If we do get Jason Brown, hell will break out because there will be a bunch of disillusioned WUM's that believe he will be Kasper's replacement. No, if we do get him then he is Higgs's replacement. Can't forget we also released Higgs's earlier. Westwood's name has been thrown about latelly, I didn't read into it much because it seemed a done deal with Sunderland, but latelly there's been rumoured he's rejected them as he wants first team football, something many overlooked. It is rumoured that all of the Premiership teams that are interested in him want him as their No2 but due to the fact he wants to carry on playing internationally, he wants to be assured that he will be the No1 keeper. People have gone crazy over this, but in my opinion it's good business. The Leeds board and management team have learnt their lesson from Beckford, Kilkenny and Johnson. They let their contract run down when they could of got a few million for them, although you could argue that Beckford's impact on the team was more valuable. We can't just let everybody leave on a free, I know we can't sell all our best players, but the players that leave you have to try and get some money from otherwise you will end up having financial difficulties.
Why didn't you post this before you sold him? It would have appeared a damn site more credible than this bitter tantrum
danger fox- ask any leeds fan and theyl tell u the same, hes a world class shot stopper, but his overall game is very average and made great by his name
Nonsense. There's no bitterness, in fact I think too many Leeds fans have been complaining that Schmeichel should stay and using it as a way to argue against Bates for the sake of it. Excellent first post BTW Danny, I look forward to more common sense! And Logi... I think describing him as a "world class" shotstopper is something of an exaggeration. I wasn't even that impressed with it in the last few games, he flapped at a few shots and seemed to freeze at free kicks. Overall an average Championship keeper who we can improve upon, but who I think has gone as far as he can with us due to his ego, the relationship with the defense and the seemingly poor coaching staff.
It's become apparent that the son's of ex-great players aren't alwasy that good. It's quite well known that the father and son try to keep football out of their relationship. Maybe this was the wrong way to go about it, he could of done with a few tips from Peter. He is a good keeper just rough around the edges. He has good games he has bad games. He seems unable to handle pressure. He needs to be more physically commanding around himself, he gets pushed around to easy, his game suffers when he gets annoyed. Many little things like that that make him rough around the edges.
Completely agreed. He does make some great saves, and it happened that probably his two best games - Derby and Arsenal - were on TV, giving people who support other teams the impression that he was amazing. People often judge keepers on shot stopping alone, because lets be honest a spectacular save is great to watch, but it was some of the basics that Kasper struggles with. His form did drop in the last part of the season, and his positioning and command of his area was poor - watch all 3 goals Millwall scored at the New Den. He's good, and is young enough to improve, but he's not the amazing keeper some think he is.
Donald Totally agree mate, and i've said this for months, 606 will show this. Way some people have been going on, you thought he was gordon banks. What i always said was, I like him, i rate him, but he hasnt the scope to be a top keeper. Decent keeper but nothing special
Heard a whisper,now its just a whisper mind you so don't get too exciited TC,but I've heard you're trying to coax Bryan King out of retiirement. Good keeper though.
And I was getting rether sick of him coming out to an attacker timing it wrong and getting stuck in no mans land neither in the goal or at the attackers feet!!
Now he is at Leicester playing amongst better defenders who will give him confidence he will become one of the leagues most sought after keepers, Keepers and defenders have to build a bond and have faith in each other, he will get that now.Well done Leicester good signing
Mighty No deal has been done yet we have just accepted a bid, He could still end up playing for us next year, which if it happens and he gets a new set of defenders and his confidence builds he might lose weight and be able to command his area then I will be happy.
It looks like the Westwood dream is over lads: http://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport...and_sign_goalkeeper_keiren_westwood_1_3503006
They conceded more than us last season, which is some bloody achievement. I do think Sven and Leicester's staff will be good for him, probably the best move he could have at this level.
Sven has signed him at Man City, Notts and now Leicester. He's worth 4 mil imo. top keeper but his best attribute is his age. he's got 10 years yet and will get way better wen he's older like all keepers do. He made mistakes because we cldnt defend and he was under resounding pressure
If you can't handle "resounding pressure", you're not a Leeds United player. No way he's worth £4m or that he's a top keeper (Iker Casillas is a top keeper). Maybe he will get better with age, but he's not what Leeds United need right now and we can definitely get someone better. Whether we will...
I THINK and its just my opinion of course if he stays at Leeds or goes to Leicester or anywhere else for that matter given that he is only 24 he will only improve. and who ever snaps him up at 1.5m will without a shadow of a doubt be getting a real bargin. like i said just my opinion,,
What I don't get is why did they release Higgs, if they knew Schmeichal would be off. Replacing one keeper is obviously a hell of a lot easier then replacing two.
But you saw him down at the New Den, all 3 goals were just because of his poor positioning. He will improve but if Leicester want to be aiming for promotion then they need a keeper who's good enough now, not in 3 years time. For the high wages he'll be on, the transfer fee and his current ability, I don't think this will be a great transfer for them. He might improve with Sven though.
