Very, very quiet on the Macca front!

Batch kept a clean sheet at Boothferry Park with a broken hand, he also had a world class tache. He was the best regular keeper I’ve seen play for us. Davidson is massively underrated too. Holds the record clean sheets for a season with us iirc.

Macca though is as good a shot stopper as you’ll find at this level. There might be better all rounders about but his saves late on this season helped keep us up. For this and just the reasons we shouldn’t have let Pearson go, he needs to stay.

Agreed - sensational reaction shot stopper for this level, doubt there's any better. Very good at 1 on 1s too. His clear weakness is commanding his box and crosses but he wouldn't be playing at this level if he were good at those too!

As impcorner says, maybe there is the odd better all rounder at this level, but his saving ability was a massive contributor to us staying up this year. He is now starting what is normally the peak period for a keeper so it'd be great to keep him.

Incidentally, talk of him being the highest earner at the club, there are only a handful of senior pros contracted at the mo so it perhaps isn't that surprising if he were on the most out of them all if he re-signed.

Quoted from promotion plaice

Who was Towns back up keeper in the picture ?

Ian Turner, went onto play for Southampton.

I'm very pleased McKeown is staying (if true), although I suspect my feelings on this are swayed by the emotions with not only him being one of a selection of players who actually seemed to care about the club in the dark days of this winter gone but also as the final remaining link to that promotion side.

As goalkeepers go, I think he's more than capable at this level.  He's a very good shot-stopper and for this level his distribution is OK, you compare it to some of the panicking 'keepers we've seen visit Blundell Park in the last few months who sliced everything out for a throw-in.  I would like him to command his area more and on occasions when he does feel confident enough, he's very good at it.  That said, if a 'keeper doesn't fancy his chances of claiming the ball I would rather he stays on his line than get himself caught out.  

Could we improve on him?  Yes, I think we could but it would take a real find.  Could we do a lot worse? Absolutely! Arguably the few appearances made by Dean Henderson gave us a false impression of what we should be aspiring to at this level.  The lad has dominated in the league above and is one game away from winning promotion to the Championship, he's linked with some really big clubs and will only get better.  We were lucky to see him at this level in all honesty.  But even he wasn't without an error, I forget where it was but he and Mills got into a mix-up and cost us a goal.

In my opinion, the standard at this level was set when we had Steve Mildenhall.  Taken into account the level he was playing at, he was one of the top five 'keepers I've seen at this club.  Dave Beasant was the best, no contest at all but he only was here for a short space of time.  Equally so Wayne Henderson when he came on loan in 2008/09, everyone remembers the impact of Conlon and Sweeney but he was just as, if not more, important.  

Higher up the levels Aidan Davison was a colossus for us in 1997/98 and carried it on into the following season before he parted on bad terms.  But his copybook was blotted when he came back a few years later and was a disgrace with his attitude.  

Danny Coyne was a truly wonderful shot-stopper but people forget he was a disaster in his first season.  He worked really hard on his distribution but he never mastered coming off his line, something that probably prevented him playing consistently at a higher level.  

Quoted from Teesknees

Ian Turner, went onto play for Southampton.

Yes and the only ex-Town keeper to appear in a Cup Final (as Beasant came after)?

I was at his debut v Peterbrough - we went 2 nil down very quickly and though I can't remember their goals I do remember the Main Stand crowd were muttering, including my Dad... "bring Harry on" etc so it maybe wasn't the best of debuts.

Town however turned it round and won 3-2 - took us to the verge of promotion and the championship (clinched at the Exeter game) - 46 feckin years ago...

Quoted from Poojah

On a slight tangent, I have a question for those older than me. For as long as I’ve been watching Town, our keepers have never worn green - my understanding that this is to do with an old fishing superstition.

Looking back through old photos though, we did have green keeper shirts - so when did this tradition begin?

[img]https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/grimsby-town-fourth-division-champions-197172-trainer-jim-clunie-alan-picture-id681452142[/img]

No 23 man squads in those days.......

f Macca stays that will be good as he's a good L2 keeper who has improved a lot since Andy Warrington has been at the club plus as much as any pro would he really cares about GTFC.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Yes and the only ex-Town keeper to appear in a Cup Final (as Beasant came after)?

I was at his debut v Peterbrough - we went 2 nil down very quickly and though I can't remember their goals I do remember the Main Stand crowd were muttering, including my Dad... "bring Harry on" etc so it maybe wasn't the best of debuts.

Town however turned it round and won 3-2 - took us to the verge of promotion and the championship (clinched at the Exeter game) - 46 feckin years ago...

That was 1971-72 season somewhere around Easter, IIRC? It was televised on Anglia and shown the following day. Would love to see footage from that game again.

I think if you are going to compare Macca to keepers of the past, you have to take into account the level some of the former stoppers were playing at, which was certainly higher than what Macca has been for us. He came here while we were in non league and has steadily improved as we have gone back into the league and hopefully will continue to improve as we rise up the leagues (fingers crossed). Besides, we will spend that much time on the attack next season, that i could play in goal.  

I have been a bit critical of Macca in the past, i will admit it, but it's difficult for fans of a certain age, like myself, not to compare and contrast with players of old and forget that the standard of player and team we had in previous years was a cut above where we are now. Not always of course, as we have had just as many shocking teams and players in our history. Macca is not the best keeper i've seen, but he's far from the worst. He is also a loyal servant and clearly wants to play for us still. He deserves a new contract just for his end of season displays- the Port Vale game in particular, when he was superb. It's time to stop letting our better players walk, and make them want to stay.

still need a good  second goalkeeper, if that's ok with macca !

Quoted from tanga_the_indestructible

That was 1971-72 season somewhere around Easter, IIRC? It was televised on Anglia and shown the following day. Would love to see footage from that game again.

Correct. IIRC Dave Worthington scored one of our comeback goals????