Pickford wad in goal for Preston as they beat Forest 1-0. Thats 5 clean sheets in a row. Playing very well and supposedly SA was there to watch it. There maybe a recall coming? Pickford the next generation of gk. Pickford/Watmore. Theres a base for the future here.
Couldn't;t agree more Comm', If this kid is good enough, get him playing for us asap. Age wasn't a barrier for Joe Hart. Pants scares the s4it out of me, I doubt he fills the defence with much confidence either.
If ivegot it correct he cant be recalled till Jan? But if he is surely it spells the end foe either Pants or Mannone. As neither will accept being 3rd choice. Thats assuming Pickford is recalled to go into the team. He may come back as back up and one of the others is let go.
Me too! Although the defence must scare the **** out of him too! No settled defence yet this season!! But I was terrified that a lad 6' 8" couldn't come for a cross (Kone's hattrick goal) and twice Wes Brown shepherded the ball back to him and he stood smoking his *** at th far post!
Thing is it's not really "saves" that are Pantilimon's problem - it's commanding the area when the ball comes in from wide. A good shot stopper is not necessarily a good keeper! I think Pants is a decent keeper - I truly do - but his form is poor ATM and he couldn't catch a cold if it came from the wing!
"Me too! Although the defence must scare the **** out of him too!" Interesting one - who scares who the most? I'm of the view that Pants is a better goalkeeper than most our defenders are at defending.Yes he's got some weaknesses and has made some errors this year but it can't be easy thinking what they're going to screw up next, he can never relax.It would be wonderful to see Pickford playing for us but I hope to hell it isn't behind the same defence.
The $64000 question! I'm not sure entirely - we've had same defence for 2 games and conceded one goal (and that was a very dubious goal which included 2 fouls and a handball in the process) then changed the defence to suit the players and defended, with some of the slowest defenders on the planet, 2 yards inside our own half! The Kone Hattrick was definitely Pants fault - it was an OK cross with the outside of the foot but he was 5 yards out and hardly had to jump to head the ball - pants should've made that his - either with a catch or a punch! The rest the defence were very suspect for and, like you say, that defence would scare the **** out of anyone
From what I've seen from Pickford he's fine on Corners despite he hight. Seems to asses well when to come or not and when to catch or punch.
Hasn;t played behind Coates yet!!! Good to hear though. I do think that a defence/keeper combination is imperative - if one is poor then, normally, the other is poor. Last season Pantilimon would've come and taken the ball from Kone's head and Wes Brown's feet on the three respective occasions - this season he has no confidence to do it! Confidence in himself and those in front of him seems to be a problem
I wouldn't waste your time on him lads, lad I know who knows him says he's off to Spurs in January... Pickford and £12m for Tom Carroll. Don't shoot the messenger.
I think we should throw Watmore into that deal as well to sweeten it... And ask for Townsend in return and make it £25m?
Spurs are a hotbed for talent mate, you can't blame players for wanting to leave smaller clubs to go there and challenge for 5th place.
Pants biggest problem is his distribution imo. How many times do we see Pants kicking the ball up the field, for it to go to an opposition player ? The majority?
It's surprising how many 'keepers have poor distribution in this league. Maybe that's why Poyet wanted you to play out from the back. Trouble is you didn't have the staff to implement that, might work now but Allardyce would probably object to that tactic. Hart and Krul are the worst in the league for kicking the ball straight out of play from a goal kick.
