First off I just want to say that I'm not looking for a scapegoat, and I'm certainly not looking to lay all the blame for our recent disappointing run on any one individual, but can anyone remember the last time Ruddy had a great (or even just very good) game in a match that meant anything? I add this caveat because he was excellent in the final game of last season against Arsenal, but that was effectively dead rubber and meant nothing. I'm not saying he's necessarily been at fault for many of the goals that we've shipped (though he can certainly take the blame for the final goal last night) but I just cannot remember him putting in any memorably good performance or even making any great saves at least this season and going back into last. Just a couple of years ago I'd have argued he was as good as any English keeper in the country and was rightly included in some of the national squads. fast forward a couple of seasons and he must surely be a million miles away from that, and as other have touched upon he must even be getting a bit twitchy about holding his place in our team. I think it's fair to say he's not been the same player - or anything like it - since he suffered that injury the season before last. Don't know if it's any direct relation to that injury, whether it is hampering him or just playing on his mind, but something clearly isn't right and he's starting to look like a second choice keeper like he was at Everton rather than our heroic shot-stopper and leader of our defence that he was for the first couple of seasons in a City shirt. Hopefully the real John Ruddy will stand up and be counted soon, we really need him right now
Totally agree Munky, I've thought on more than one occation this season that an inform Ruddy would have stopped some of the goals conceded. I hate to even suggest it but is anyone else thinking prehaps we should have taken the money when Chelsea came calling? Bah!
It is very hard as a goalkeeper to be effective when your team try to play a very open game which often finds defenders out of position. He is still by far the best goalkeeper we have and one of the best in the championship. No he has not had a spectacular season, but not many have. I wouldn't say he has been bad though. There are more serious issues then our goalkeeper imo.
Nothing else to add Munky, I think you're bang on. Though as you say, he's far from alone in our squad being a relatively "big" name at Championship level who needs to put his hand up and be counted. I really think that we are missing out on a shot stopper type and I'd like to see Rudd given a match or two. I don't think we ever had the chance with Forster did we 23? When he was with us, Newcastle were intent on keeping him, by the time he was available we had Ruddy, he'd had a strong season at Celtic, and they were always going to be higher in the pecking order.
I'm not so convinced, he would be the best on top form, but I like Munky am struggling to think of the last good/great game he had. And I still think particulaly from range that perhaps a number of other keepers may have saved them and certainly the Ruddy of pre-injury vintage. Bah!
I and others have been saying pretty much the same over the last couple of weeks. Listening to the commentary, he had a very good game against Brentford, but I feel sure he could have done better for both the Leeds and Bolton goals. The defence needs to offer him better protection though!!
I said he was one of the best. AT least top 6. Regardless of that it is much harder to be a goalkeeper in a team that plays as openly as we do. Much easier to position yourself and make saves if you know the defence is going to play with a certain structure. If well organised (partly the keepers job) the defenders would at least narrow down the options for an attacking player. For example if forced wide right, if he wants to get a shot in chances are it will be at the keepers near post. This clearly makes GK much easier. Equally one of the hardest parts of GK is when there is a counter attack the defence is running back towards your gaol. Much harder to get the correct positioning and balance. Plus the options for the striker are usually much greater. Much of defending is forcing the attacking to do what you want them to. We don't do that nearly enough. With regards to shot stopping, I agree he seems a bit below par for him. Although as said above this is in part due to the defending (that does not just mean defence) also I would say it always has been his biggest weakness. Shot stopping is not the be all and end all of goalkeeping, although it is the most obvious to see. Organisation, good communication, distribution, handling and decision making are all as, if not more important.
Sadly, he's not being helped by having a fairly, erm, porous 'defence' misfiring in front of him. Some of their recent closing down - or complete and utter lack thereof, have left Ruddy far more exposed than he should have been. Still rubbish handling for 'Boro's fourth last night but the damage had already been done by the ineptitude shown by those just in front of the 'keeper
What I find is that our defenders are simply not putting the tackles in, in the correct areas. We are standing off too much and inviting shots on target or through balls to runners. I'm not saying go diving in but by starting to put tackles in on the edge of your box is risky business. It's basic coaching, one of the coaching games I did when I did my FA level 1 badge was called "on guard" and aimed at teaching you when to try and put a tackle in and which stance to take when your being ran at. The times I see our defenders standing square on to the attackers allowing them to drop the shoulder and run past is so bloody frustrating. We have a strong squad and I don't think we should be loosing 4-0 to any team in the league really, although having said that football is not played out on paper. 2 more losses and I think that will put Neil under immense pressure.
in my opinion ruddy has never recaptured his brilliant form since his serious injury problems a couple of years ago. he strikes me as a keeper who needs to be busy. he doesn't adjust well when left with little to do, only to then face one big chance, and this season he hasn't had much to do, so to have conceded 17 goals is a bit alarming. i've absolutely no evidence of this and am probably miles off the mark but it feels like for every three or so shots on target he's faced this season, he's conceded a goal.
This is certainly the case for last night's game where we allowed them 15 shots, 6 on target, but there have been loads of games this season where our opposition has scored from the one shot they've had on target, so the defence can hardly be blamed in those instances. I'd be interested to know just how many shots we have let the opposition have on average per game this season and then what percentage of those have resulted in goals against. I bet the results won't look good.
Surely that stat would be as much down to the quality of chance afforded as much as goalkeeping error? You can pick stats to make any team look bad. Not a big fan of picking on individuals. It is a team game and as a team they need to up their level. The most alarming thing for me is that we lack intensity all over the pitch.
Nope i was talking to a bloke on the train to sheffield last week and we both agreed we feel more comfortable when he gets an early save under his belt and starts to look commanding from the beginning. I would add although we conceded a lot last year we kept a lot of clean sheets and he was a big part of that. Hasn't been superb this season though, just average.
To some extent yes, but you can't deny there is truth in people saying we concede a very high proportion of shots on our goal and score a very low proportion at the other end. I should add that I think it would be bonkers to drop Ruddy as a knee-jerk reaction to one bad game. I'm sure he'll pull through
I'm not saying that is not true. But it is far too simplistic to blame one individual. It is a team game, everyone takes responsibility for performance and results.
I don't think anybody is trying to pin all the blame on Ruddy. I've seen (deserved) criticism on here for the unspectacular-of-late Martin Olsson, penalty villian Russell Martin and believe me Whittaker is getting his fair share of blame from Norwich fans. Of course, the midfielders (albeit there were only 2 of them in the 2nd half against Boro) and strikers are also partially responsible but the point of this thread was that John Ruddy this season has been a long way from the John Ruddy we had under Lambert; a sentiment which I completely agree with.
Desperation. It was a courageous gamble which only ever had a very small chance of paying off, and as you might have expected, it didn't pay off. We looked even worse without Tettinho.
