Maybe not too surprising given the number of goalies on the books (something that has been a bit of a mystery for many years past and present), the Club have announced that Tim Flowers has been appointed as Goalkeeping Coach until the end of the 2015/16 season. please log in to view this image "In a professional career that spanned from 1984 until 2003, Flowers was notably part of the Blackburn Rovers side that won the Premier League in 1995 and earned 11 caps for England. He also played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton, Swindon Town, Leicester City, Stockport County, Coventry City and Manchester City. Following a spell as goalkeeper coach for both Leicester City and Manchester City, in 2007 he was appointed as assistant manager to Iain Dowie at Coventry City, before joining him again at Queens Park Rangers and Hull City respectively. In November 2011, Flowers was appointed goalkeeping coach of Northampton Town and in July 2014 took the same role at Championship club Nottingham Forest, when he was hired as part of Stuart Pearce's backroom staff, departing with Pearce in 2015."
I always rated Flowers as a player. Not that that necessarily means he's a good coach, but I'm quite happy about this one. Interesting that it's only until the end of the season. Does anyone have any idea why it's so short term? Is it with a view to a longer appointment if it works out for all concerned, or is it just filling in until someone that Jokanovic has in mind becomes available?
Could even be that we don't want to carry on paying whatever wage he is on if we drop into League 1 - which has to be a distinct possibility now, given that our form is the worst out of any of the teams around us.
Equally strange is that we haven't had a goalie coach before now. Have we had on since the days of the 'Grim Reaper' - Mike Kelly - back in Roy's day? Can see why Jokanovic wants someone now though. Lonergan has made some fine stops but others have posted how he never comes to claim crosses and the number of goals we concede inside the 6 yard box is beyond a coincidence.
I seem to recall that there were two ex-keepers in Mark Hughes' travelling band of itinerant coaches, one of whom was his assistant (working with all positions) and one was a specialist keeper coach. I can't be bothered to check who they were (sorry!)
You've got to be correct Captain - I can remember one game when there were more Hughes' coaches in the centre circle during the warm up than there were players on the pitch. And I now recall that the 'specialist' goalkeeper coach was the Niedzwicki chap (don't know the correct spelling).
Since Bettinelli came back against Birmingham Fulham haven't lost a game. But I have a real problem with our goalkeepers in that all of their kicking is really poor, none of them are able to target or kick properly, it's more hit and hope. Another aspect that needs correcting is commanding their defense and helping them concentrate. Since Flowers has come in he has to rectify it, because Bettinelli has to get these things right to become a top keeper. If he can't correct this over the summer then Fulham have to look in the transfer market to find a keeper who when the opposition see him in goal (ie like a Van der Sar) they think 'Oh I got to get past him'. We don't need a Kiraly or a Warner, could Stekelenberg be the answer if he gets his confidence back.
Would dearly love someone like David Marshall. We know all about his saves in the past but yesterday he demonstrated what our lot lack. He comes for the ball in the air and more importantly is quick to come off his line if needed - acting as a sweeper - so their backs could push forward without always looking over their shoulder.
