Leeds goalkeeper makes the biggest cock up I have ever witnessed in top football, handing Sunderland a point. The Leeds forum is calling for his head. Worth a look if you haven't seen it.
Meslier had earlier been treated for a blow to the head, the result of a collision between him and a fellow Leeds player, as both dived in to clear a loose ball in front of the Leeds goal. He went through the usual concussion tests on the pitch at the time, and was cleared to play on, but I wonder if that contributed to the misjudgement which led to the goal.
That was caused by the pitch though, not Gunns fault. The back pass bobbled badly as he went to clear it.
Is a bobble any more, or less, of an excuse than the spin unintentionally imparted on the ball last night by Firpo's wild effort at clearance? Shoudn't keepers in particular always be prepared for the unexpected?
As a sportsman (Cricketer in the field / tennis player / footballer) you get used to sliced or mishit balls popping up and spinning sharply. You should be able to read the direction of spin based on the side of the bat / racket / foot it glanced off. A bobble is a different thing, and can’t be legislated for. If you planned for the possibility of a bobble every time the ball came to you, you would look as nervous as a cat, and inspire zero confidence.
Keepers receiving backpasses standardly trap the ball and bring it under control before clearing it or otherwise moving it on, precisely to guard against mis-cues resulting from any number of possible causes, bobbles among them. As I remember, Gunn wasn't under any great pressure at the time. I've sympathy with both keepers but, in their respective circumstances, more so with Meslier than Gunn.
The various replays from different angles showed no marked deviation and the reaction from the Leeds defenders who were very close showed no sympathy whatsoever for Meslier. According to the Leeds fans he has a long history of cock-ups and I'm not convinced that he shouldn't have saved our penalty on Tuesday. I go along with the Sky Pundits who suggested that he completely took his eye off the ball, moved too far across and was more concerned about wasting a few more seconds after he had collected the ball. Meslier never even continually pointed at the pitch when it happened. They have Darlow as a second keeper and I suspect that he will be first choice until the end of the year when Leeds will sell Meslier and sign a new GK
I saw it in real time and replays last night and agreed with the keeper Meslier/his captain that it clearly took a very odd bounce which must have been the spin on the ball from the deflection - so I’m not sure it was really all that different (except that he should have got his body behind it)
Exeter playing at Shrewsbury tonight. 7hr round trip!!! Who picked that for a midweek game? Don't the leagues even consider the fans?
Three years ago we were on a family holiday in Cumbria. I decided to see if there was some mid week local football to watch. Barrow Town were the nearest club playing in Division 2. It was a Tuesday night and they were also playing...yes you guessed it...Exeter City!! A mid week away game from Devon to Cumbria (327 miles each way and a 14 hour round trip). Fair play to Exeter as they turned out around 300 away fans.
The Binners game was delayed by 15 minutes due to issues with the turnstiles. No coment. They are two down.
Watching Kilmarnock v Rangers. Crap game, but I wasn't aware that Kilmarnock still play on a plastic pitch. Thought they had all been removed years ago
