Max Crocombe

I see our ex keeper is playing for New Zealand
Tonight against Ireland
He started with Town as an understudy but flourished to be our No 1
I don’t think our replacement is a match for him
Although our Hull loanee  Harvey Cartwright has performed well since his spell since he’s been 1st choice

Never understood why Hurst didn’t fight harder to keep him.  Fair enough if he’d had a sure fire replacement lined up but he didnt.

Good luck to the lad. This time two years ago he’d still not even made his league debut for us. It’s been a remarkable period in what he been a pretty unremarkable career up to that point.

Cracking stadium the Aviva, for the most part anyway. Like a green Emirates on three sides then a green Glanford Park for the other, but a nice ground all the same.

Has he had cramp yet

Weird old place the fishy, iirc most of last year all that was said about Crocombe was that we could do better and moaning that his goal kicks landed in the main stand and not on pitch.  You don't know what you've got till it's gone...

Quoted from OddShapedBalls

Weird old place the fishy, iirc most of last year all that was said about Crocombe was that we could do better and moaning that his goal kicks landed in the main stand and not on pitch.  You don't know what you've got till it's gone...

Back end of last season he definitely dropped off in a number of areas of his game. The change has done him some good. It looks a poor decision for us because we haven’t properly replaced him up to press although the signs are encouraging. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t right for MC to go when he did.

Quoted from OddShapedBalls

Weird old place the fishy, iirc most of last year all that was said about Crocombe was that we could do better and moaning that his goal kicks landed in the main stand and not on pitch.  You don't know what you've got till it's gone...

True, but Hurst felt the same so it's not just the Fishy.

The weird thing with Crocombe is that his kicking started off pretty good, but deteriorated as the end of the season approached. All that cramp must have caused an injury to him.

Quoted from Maringer

The weird thing with Crocombe is that his kicking started off pretty good, but deteriorated as the end of the season approached. All that cramp must have caused an injury to him.

Said at the time Crocombe's confidence in his kicking fell as the BP pitch deteriorated last season. Still think that's true..

Best keeper we've had for years..

Quoted from LondonMariner43

Never understood why Hurst didn’t fight harder to keep him.  Fair enough if he’d had a sure fire replacement lined up but he didnt.

I get a feeling Eastwood was lined up already

Maybe I am in the minority but I think Carwright has a far higher ceiling than Crocombe .

That's not dissing Max , as he did a decent enough job and he has done better than most probably thought he would at Burton.


But I think after the last 5 performances from Cartwright its hard to say 100% it was a mistake letting Crocombe go , would he have done any better ?

I doubt it myself ,  I suppose it's down to whether Cartwright can keep this up for 25-30 games to judge one way or another .

Opportunity is a fine thing isn't it, because Crocombe is the master of it. He took the chance when Macca was out the side here and Macca never found his way in.. He only found his way into the Burton side due to Blackman getting injured and now he's there number 1. The ultimate opportunist? I agree Mappers, I think Cartwright has a higher ceiling, you don't play for England in a generation of golden talent for our youth that are winning world cups and european championships if you aren't special.  I think we're starting to see a bit of arrogance coming out of Cartwright which is what every top keeper has, you saw it from Deano straight away. He believed he was better than everyone so he'd come and collect everything and had the swagger of a top talent. Harvey is coming off the back of 2 loan spells where things hadn't gone his way and then come here and found himself behind Eastwood, probably very low on match confidence. Starting to see the signs of a very very good keeper.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

I get a feeling Eastwood was lined up already

That was a poor decision by Hurst has to be said. I wouldn't be surprised if Eastwood doesn't even see out his contract here.

One thing about Crocombe is that when he came for crosses, he managed to catch them or get a decent punch in pretty much all the time. Very important at this level when you have a lot of balls slung into the box, often hopefully.

Cartwright looks to have potential but, when all is said and done, he is still a pretty skinny kid and not nearly as dominant under the high ball or from crosses as Crocombe was. Something which he can work on in future years and he'll hopefully improve in this regard if he keeps his place in the team with us this season.

Needs to be doing some bench presses with big Steve.

Should have been kept a fantastic keeper at this level  & proving himself at league above in an average side , was amazed when we let him go

Quoted from Simon

Has he had cramp yet

That comes on when they get a 1 goal lead.

The club knew Max was away weeks before the end of the season and we weren’t going to be able keep him with a big increase in his wages, a move to a league higher and nearer to his girlfriends desired location.

Quoted from Grim up north

The club knew Max was away weeks before the end of the season and we weren’t going to be able keep him with a big increase in his wages, a move to a league higher and nearer to his girlfriends desired location.

His Girlfriend not like Habrough then ?. 😉

Quoted from Grim up north

The club knew Max was away weeks before the end of the season and we weren’t going to be able keep him with a big increase in his wages, a move to a league higher and nearer to his girlfriends desired location.

Nothing to do with only being offered a one year deal, being told he wouldn't be number 1 then?
Crocombe thought he was worth more, and fair play to the bloke, took a risk turning us down as he had nothing lined up at the time.
He did an interview just after rejecting us, abd he openly says he was open to staying, just the deal was crap.

Quoted from LondonMariner43

Never understood why Hurst didn’t fight harder to keep him.  Fair enough if he’d had a sure fire replacement lined up but he didnt.

Most points dropped looked avoidable with a better keeper than Eastwood whilst I never thought Max was a World beater he was a competent league 1/2 stopper.In my opinion it was the biggest single boll0ck PH dropped.

And not keeping Orsi, who was already on contract.

Hindsight is brilliant.

Isn't it just brilliant.

But it seems a lot of people have clouded their memories when it comes to Crocombe.  His final six months he was really quite poor at times, especially after setting such high standards in the year or so before that.  He wasn't as commanding, he was parrying really simple shots back into the path of attackers and his kicking went from a good attribute to a bit of a liability.

Very few people thought it was the wrong move to try and improve on him.  I think for him as well the move away was needed.  Ultimately I don't think Eastwood is consistent enough to be an effective replacement for Crocombe.  When he's on his game I think he's as good as, as he showed in the first handful of games, but his confidence is too fragile and once he gets a little chink in his armour he's a nervous wreck.

Far too early to call judgement on Cartwright.  5 games and 2 of those against a part-time side (discounting the EFL Trophy games which are glorified friendlies).  But he does look to be getting better as he gets more game time in him.  This is his first serious go at proper mens football, it is going to be different for him and it might take a little bit more time.  But I think once he gets in the proper swing of things he'll be a very good 'keeper for us and we'll look back in time grateful that we had him for a season.

Quoted from cannylad65

And not keeping Orsi, who was already on contract.

Well we did get a fee for him in fairness...

Can we have this thread pinned so we don’t have the same conversation every time the bloke blows his nose? Same with Orsi for that matter.

Quoted from Mappers

Maybe I am in the minority but I think Carwright has a far higher ceiling than Crocombe .

That's not dissing Max , as he did a decent enough job and he has done better than most probably thought he would at Burton.


But I think after the last 5 performances from Cartwright its hard to say 100% it was a mistake letting Crocombe go , would he have done any better ?

I doubt it myself ,  I suppose it's down to whether Cartwright can keep this up for 25-30 games to judge one way or another .

If I had my time again, and I bet Hurst agrees, I'd have tried harder to keep Crocombe and signed Cartwright but not Eastwood.

I had grown very tired of Crocombe's kicking, inability to make saves and increasing number of errors but he inspired a lot more confidence than Eastwood did.

I know I'm speaking completely with hindsight but maybe a close season and a proper pre season of being properly pushed by Cartwright might have brought the best out of Crocombe again. Either way, I think the keeper situation ultimately cost Hurst his job. A nervous keeper transmits the whole team as the defence loses confidence, drops deeper, becomes more error prone, the midfield then drops deeper and leaves the striker isolated. Think we've seen all those issues manifest themselves.

It was unlike Hurst to make a mess of one position in the way he did. If we'd kept Crocombe, I wanted rid so I'm not lecturing here, I think Hurst is still here.

Quoted from cannylad65

And not keeping Orsi, who was already on contract.

We've signed Pyke and Wilson, both who clearly know where the back of the net is. Keeping or not keeping Orsi has probably had no impact on our points tally.

Agreed, our goals per game is far higher so far this season than last.