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1.5 million?! In our dreams....

Good question posed and might attract interest in January I guess. Having a great season again, and his contract situation gives us a bit of protection and a decent bargaining position should an offer come in and he wants to move. I think, in the real world we might get a few hundred K for him if that happens.
30 next summer.

Josh Vickers at Lincoln is a great keeper but keeps getting bad leg injuries. He was out for most of last season, came back and has only just returned from a second long lay off. Rory Watson at Scunthorpe is out for some time with a broken arm also.

If one of them two came in, he wouldn't have to move away from the area. At this level, the silly money tends to go on strikers so I don't think we would get anything near what we would hope. 4 points above the bottom 2, he is much more valuable to us than what someone would pay.

Can we try and get a little bit of balance please? James has been great for us and obviously loves where he is, BUT he's been at the div 4/5 level fo nearly ten years now and he's there for a reason. He's a great shot stopper but IMHO his failure to command his 6 yard area almost cost s dear yesterday and for that reason it's why he is where he is

Put it this way if a club want a decent keeper or striker they will pay decent money for them, both position are hard to come by let’s face it, personally can’t see him leaving he would of gone in the summer if he was to go

Everyone has got a price. If someone is willing to pay a big fee for him and add a "0" to his weekly wage bill he'll be off. Wouldn't you if the same thing happened in your career?

We've got him on a long-term deal so we have done everything we can.

He's going nowhere

Firstly because I think he is happy at Grimsby Town especially as there is no competition for the spot and secondly because he his playing at his level (and he knows it) and no one, especially a higher division club (which just could interest him moneywise I suppose) is going to come in for him.

He is a good Div 4 level keeper, no more than that.

Macca has been a fantastic servant to this club over the last 8 or so years but the fact he is still here is telling in itself.

No doubt he’s a great shot stopper, but at roughly 6ft he’s relatively short for a goalkeeper which impedes his ability to command the box. Similarly, his kicking is not brilliant and he has at least one or two horror shows in his locker per season.

I’ve absolutely no doubt he bleeds black and white and in the context of our league position we’re incredibly lucky to have him, but for the reasons above I don’t see a significant cash offer arriving anytime soon.

I reckon pretty much every pro keeper has 1 or 2 horror shows a season.

Quoted from forza ivano

Can we try and get a little bit of balance please? James has been great for us and obviously loves where he is, BUT he's been at the div 4/5 level fo nearly ten years now and he's there for a reason. He's a great shot stopper but IMHO his failure to command his 6 yard area almost cost s dear yesterday and for that reason it's why he is where he is

Exactly this.
People talking about a million pound transfer fee-really??

Quoted from forza ivano

Can we try and get a little bit of balance please? James has been great for us and obviously loves where he is, BUT he's been at the div 4/5 level fo nearly ten years now and he's there for a reason. He's a great shot stopper but IMHO his failure to command his 6 yard area almost cost s dear yesterday and for that reason it's why he is where he is

I'd say the reason is that he's shown commendable loyalty to GTFC!

Are you really suggesting that the gulf between L2 and L1 is so huge that he couldn't make the step up?

I don't imagine for one moment that if MJ performed his second miracle* and got us promoted his first
thought would be "Christ, I need a new keeper...".
We're lucky to have Macca is my view - and I agree with the poster who said he's more valuable to us than any
money we're likely to be offered for him.

(* following the miracle of the JJ Hooper hat-trick)

Quoted from forza ivano

Can we try and get a little bit of balance please? James has been great for us and obviously loves where he is, BUT he's been at the div 4/5 level fo nearly ten years now and he's there for a reason. He's a great shot stopper but IMHO his failure to command his 6 yard area almost cost s dear yesterday and for that reason it's why he is where he is

Good post .. if he could just command his box better he definately wouldn’t be playing for us

It seems like only yesterday that people were questioning why we'd given him such a long contract...

Macca as we all know is flawed as a keeper.
No one can doubt his ability in 1 on 1 situations and his above average shot stopping capabilites, but and it's a big but, his distribution, time he holds on to the ball before reading it and generally inability to take control of his area has never improved in all the time he's been with us...if it had, he'd be at least a league or 2 higher by now.
I think he's ever a purple patch no doubting that but I do believe he's in the spot light due to the defeciences within the team Infront of him and the amount of times the opposition are being allowed to get into 1 on 1 positions and the amount of shots he's having shots fired in his direction.

Don't know why we are talking about Macca moving he is happy to be here??

He is having a great season and I am sure those remarkable saves over the last few weeks have inspired the rest of the team.

Macca is a top L2 keeper - poss L1 but no higher for the reasons people have mentioned
He's loyal to GTFC and always seems like a really decent bloke when interviewed - good life/work balance and perspective

Finally, sorry to be churlish, but Gordon Banks' save in 1970 v Brazil was way better then the one on Saturday... even though Macca's was top notch

With Banks the ball was definitely behind him and to this day I don't think I've seen better

Marvellous...jumpers for goalposts

That save of Banks’ has to be one of the most overrated saves in history.

I think macca's save vs Wrexham in the trophy final was just wow. How he got across to save Andy Morrells goal bound shot l'll never know.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Josh Vickers at Lincoln is a great keeper but keeps getting bad leg injuries. He was out for most of last season, came back and has only just returned from a second long lay off. Rory Watson at Scunthorpe is out for some time with a broken arm also.

If one of them two came in, he wouldn't have to move away from the area. At this level, the silly money tends to go on strikers so I don't think we would get anything near what we would hope. 4 points above the bottom 2, he is much more valuable to us than what someone would pay.

I am pretty sure we wouldn't want him. We have two decent keepers, hence our defensive record being good. We also have the National league keeper of the year last year, Grant Smith on loan at someone. Been publicised that we want another striker, and a midfielder in January. Unless Harry Anderson goes, by all accounts Wednesday and Blackburn want him.

Quoted from ska face

That save of Banks’ has to be one of the most overrated saves in history.

Well , Pele, who was possibly the best footballer this world has seen, said it was the greatest save he had ever seen and he didn't know how he did it - that's good enough for me. But then again you might think Pele was overrated as a footballer!

Pele might have been the greatest world footballer of a generation and maybe the most famous ever, but he's plainly not the best footballer the world has ever seen.

Quoted from chaos33

Pele might have been the greatest world footballer of a generation and maybe the most famous ever, but he's plainly not the best footballer the world has ever seen.

Never said he was the best or the greatest , just possibly one of them.

Quoted from chaos33

Pele might have been the greatest world footballer of a generation and maybe the most famous ever, but he's plainly not the best footballer the world has ever seen.

Cruyff was the best...

Messi all the way for me.

You’re all forgetting Serge Makofo.

Quoted from LH

You’re all forgetting Serge Makofo.

He had a fantastic left feet.

Quoted from chaos33

Pele might have been the greatest world footballer of a generation and maybe the most famous ever, but he's plainly not the best footballer the world has ever seen.

My eyes are getting really bad,

I thought for a minute you said Pete . ;)

Quoted from Grantley

He had a fantastic left feet.

Jack Lewis was close to being as good as Cruyff, but he had a fantastic moustache and I'm not sure Cruyff could even grow one...

Maradona should be in the mix. He virtually single-handily dragged an unfashionable team (Napoli) to their first Serie A title.  He also captained them again to another title.

He captained Argentina to a World Cup win.  He was a massive reason for winning the Cup.  He also scored at least one breath-taking goal.  You have to hand it to him.

Maradona delivered for both his club and country.  What has Messi done for his country over the years?

With Maradona you have to ignore all the bad stuff that distorts his many brilliant achievements.

Back to Macca he is a top class shot stopper,
BUT
His faults are he does not leave his line to cut out crosses and if a shot is from outside the box he does not perform as if it was from short range,

So he is a very good L2 keeper no more,

Unless Hurst gets a L1 job and needs a keeper,

If so Macca will not let him down.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Back to Macca he is a top class shot stopper,
BUT
His faults are he does not leave his line to cut out crosses and if a shot is from outside the box he does not perform as if it was from short range,

So he is a very good L2 keeper no more,

Unless Hurst gets a L1 job and needs a keeper,

If so Macca will not let him down.

Have you seen much of him this season Pete, he looks a bit better under the high ball, keepers who play against us often look good at coming to claim our corners, not because they are any good it's mire that we are crap at taking corners. ;)

Quoted from rancido

Well , Pele, who was possibly the best footballer this world has seen, said it was the greatest save he had ever seen and he didn't know how he did it - that's good enough for me. But then again you might think Pele was overrated as a footballer!

If that was a header by Joe Bloggs saved by Joe Schmoe, it wouldn’t have been remembered the next season, let alone until the end of time.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Maradona should be in the mix. He virtually single-handily dragged an unfashionable team (Napoli) to their first Serie A title.  He also captained them again to another title.

He captained Argentina to a World Cup win.  He was a massive reason for winning the Cup.  He also scored at least one breath-taking goal.  You have to hand it to him.

Maradona delivered for both his club and country.  What has Messi done for his country over the years?

With Maradona you have to ignore all the bad stuff that distorts his many brilliant achievements.

Is taking an ordinary Argentina to the final not enough?

Messi has been consistently amazing for the last decade. I don’t think you’re saying he’s bad but I don’t see how they come close imo.

All these top players look great on the ball with all the clever touches and control, but thats because no one is allowed to tackle them, why do you think they spend all their time receiving the ball facing their own goal, they are poncy prima donnas, even the supposed hard players nowadays are a bunch of pansies. Bring back Bobby C and and Diddy Gilbert, real footballers of both genres.

PS yes I'm getting old and grumpy(anger3)

Quoted from chaos33

Pele might have been the greatest world footballer of a generation and maybe the most famous ever, but he's plainly not the best footballer the world has ever seen.

But he scored 36345 goals.

(List compiled by the bloke off the viagra advert)

Quoted from rancido

Never said he was the best or the greatest , just possibly one of them.

'Possibly the best' you said.

Quoted from Grantley

He had a fantastic left feet.

The trouble is he had two of them.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Maradona should be in the mix. He virtually single-handily dragged an unfashionable team (Napoli) to their first Serie A title.  He also captained them again to another title.

He captained Argentina to a World Cup win.  He was a massive reason for winning the Cup.  He also scored at least one breath-taking goal.  You have to hand it to him.

Maradona delivered for both his club and country.  What has Messi done for his country over the years?

With Maradona you have to ignore all the bad stuff that distorts his many brilliant achievements.

I see what you did there. ;)

Will always be a tainted genius for me.

Quoted from devs

Macca is a top L2 keeper - poss L1 but no higher for the reasons people have mentioned
He's loyal to GTFC and always seems like a really decent bloke when interviewed - good life/work balance and perspective

Finally, sorry to be churlish, but Gordon Banks' save in 1970 v Brazil was way better then the one on Saturday... even though Macca's was top notch

With Banks the ball was definitely behind him and to this day I don't think I've seen better

Marvellous...jumpers for goalposts

Macca did one of those last season but above his head, so that was even harder ;D

Quoted from 140381

It seems like only yesterday that some people were questioning why we'd given him such a long contract...

Macca certainly playing well enough to have drawn some attention off other Clubs and a good age for a keeper. However like others have pointed out he`s lower league for a reason and that is his inability to command his area and his relatively poor distribution.Great shot stopper and brilliant 1 on 1 but monetary wise Town would do well to get anything over 100k in my opinion.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Macca as we all know is flawed as a keeper.
No one can doubt his ability in 1 on 1 situations and his above average shot stopping capabilites, but and it's a big but, his distribution, time he holds on to the ball before reading it and generally inability to take control of his area has never improved in all the time he's been with us...if it had, he'd be at least a league or 2 higher by now.
I think he's ever a purple patch no doubting that but I do believe he's in the spot light due to the defeciences within the team Infront of him and the amount of times the opposition are being allowed to get into 1 on 1 positions and the amount of shots he's having shots fired in his direction.

If this is true - and I'm not in a position to say either way - the club has wasted a lot of money on
goalkeeping coaches then.

Quoted from 137

If this is true - and I'm not in a position to say either way - the club has wasted a lot of money on
goalkeeping coaches then.

Look back through the threads and various sources, the one part of maccas game that has been hidms Achilles heel is, as I have said, he's distribution and lack of controlled his box.
And have we wasted money on goal keeper coaches??...because as far as I am aware we have never had a specific goal keeper coach, AW was on the books as a keeper, SR is on the books as a keeper and the only time macca has had coaching per se was when he was attending classes with Hulls coaching staff ..
Don't misunderstand me, I'm well on the macca love train, brilliant keeper at this level, superb person and seems to love GTFC and it's fans....lest not forget his faux Pas when he spat his dummy out and I for one I forgiven him that misdemeanor

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Look back through the threads and various sources, the one part of maccas game that has been hidms Achilles heel is, as I have said, he's distribution and lack of controlled his box.
And have we wasted money on goal keeper coaches??...because as far as I am aware we have never had a specific goal keeper coach, AW was on the books as a keeper, SR is on the books as a keeper and the only time macca has had coaching per se was when he was attending classes with Hulls coaching staff ..
Don't misunderstand me, I'm well on the macca love train, brilliant keeper at this level, superb person and seems to love GTFC and it's fans....lest not forget his faux Pas when he spat his dummy out and I for one I forgiven him that misdemeanor

??????

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Have you seen much of him this season Pete, he looks a bit better under the high ball, keepers who play against us often look good at coming to claim our corners, not because they are any good it's mire that we are crap at taking corners. ;)

One game Cambridge and 3 live games on I follow and all the other extended highlights which I watch several times,

So I will stick with my judgement Herts but if he did command his area he would have been playing for Ipswich now. ;)

Quoted from chaos33

Pele might have been the greatest world footballer of a generation and maybe the most famous ever, but he's plainly not the best footballer the world has ever seen.

Difficult to compare, but the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and even Maradona played in a different era. How would Pele have done if he'd been in his prime in the modern day with defenders not allowed to kick you out of the game, better pitches, better fitness coaching and balls which weren't a leathery lump when wet?

Pele scored a hell of a lot more high level goals than either Messi or Ronaldo have or ever will and is Brazil's top scorer by a country mile. He scored 58 league goals (a record in Brazilian football) in one season when he was 17 or 18 years old and was top scorer in Brazilian football for 9 consecutive seasons. Obviously, it helped that he was playing for a dominant Santos team (who also spanked Eusebio's Benfica when they were European Champions) as well as a talented Brazilian team, but then Messi and Ronaldo haven't exactly played for rubbish teams, either.

Because little footage exists these days, it's difficult to judge but I think it is a pretty bold statement to claim Pele wasn't a match for Messi and Ronaldo.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Cruyff was the best...

You’re forgetting about Dejan Lovern

Quoted from ska face

That save of Banks’ has to be one of the most overrated saves in history.

Well I think it is one of the best saves considering Pele did everything right he powered the header downwards at close range still don't know how the hell Banksy got down so fast yet managed to scoop a lot heavier ball than today over the bar talk about strong hands.

Not seen a better save that's for sure.

Quoted from Maringer

Difficult to compare, but the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and even Maradona played in a different era. How would Pele have done if he'd been in his prime in the modern day with defenders not allowed to kick you out of the game, better pitches, better fitness coaching and balls which weren't a leathery lump when wet?

Pele scored a hell of a lot more high level goals than either Messi or Ronaldo have or ever will and is Brazil's top scorer by a country mile. He scored 58 league goals (a record in Brazilian football) in one season when he was 17 or 18 years old and was top scorer in Brazilian football for 9 consecutive seasons. Obviously, it helped that he was playing for a dominant Santos team (who also spanked Eusebio's Benfica when they were European Champions) as well as a talented Brazilian team, but then Messi and Ronaldo haven't exactly played for rubbish teams, either.

Because little footage exists these days, it's difficult to judge but I think it is a pretty bold statement to claim Pele wasn't a match for Messi and Ronaldo.

I don't think its a case of the standard of the team he played FOR rather the standard of the teams he played AGAINST. Messi and Ronaldo face far stronger opponents than Pele ever did

Ronaldo is closing in on 700 goals all at the top or international level and he's showing no signs of slowing down. I fully expect him to hit the 1000 goal mark in competitive matches. Pele and Romario were counting youth games, friendlies and all sorts in their totals.

Quoted from Ipswin

I don't think its a case of the standard of the team he played FOR rather the standard of the teams he played AGAINST. Messi and Ronaldo face far stronger opponents than Pele ever did

He scored 5 goals in the two Intercontinental Cup games against Eusebio's Benfica who were European Champions at the time. Doubt that was by chance. Won a few World Cups also so safe to say he was probably pretty good. You only need to read some of the quotes from some of the greats of his era who he played against to see what they thought of him.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Ronaldo is closing in on 700 goals all at the top or international level and he's showing no signs of slowing down. I fully expect him to hit the 1000 goal mark in competitive matches. Pele and Romario were counting youth games, friendlies and all sorts in their totals.

Pele scored around 750 senior goals (including the NASL and internationals). Supposedly not far of 1,300 goals including friendlies and pre-season and the like. The big difference is that there was no 'Champions League' in which goals could be scored - the Libertadores was just a knock-out competition. Pele played 14 games in the Libertadores, Ronaldo has played more than ten times as many in the Champions League.

I don't doubt that Ronaldo will overtake the goal total eventually but he's not there yet and he's getting to the age where injuries are more of a concern.

I'm just amazed that people are writing Pele off in such a blase manner. The game is different these days for certain, but the modern day players don't have to deal with the brutal fouls that footballers did back in the day and didn't have the medical advice about nutrition and treatments for injuries that now exist. Trying to say that somebody scoring an unprecedented amount of goals back then is a different case to a player scoring an unprecedented amount of goals in the modern era is an imbalanced view, in my opinion.

Quoted from Ipswin

I don't think its a case of the standard of the team he played FOR rather the standard of the teams he played AGAINST. Messi and Ronaldo face far stronger opponents than Pele ever did

Agree with this.

I think overall standards are higher and the "average player" is better these days. I wasn't around in the 60's and 70's so must stress it's an opinion based on what I've been able to watch.

But even the weaker teams these days are physically fitter, stronger and are often well-drilled in defensive organisation despite their inferior talent, so can be hard to break down.

You watch some clips of the likes of George Best dribbling past players and it looks like the guys they're dribbling round are overweight/slow/hungover Sunday League players*.

I don't think you could get one star player carrying an average team to League Championships and World Cups like Maradona did anymore.

* some slim, fit and sober lads play Sunday League too.

Quoted from Tommy

Agree with this.

I think overall standards are higher and the "average player" is better these days. I wasn't around in the 60's and 70's so must stress it's an opinion based on what I've been able to watch.

But even the weaker teams these days are physically fitter, stronger and are often well-drilled in defensive organisation despite their inferior talent, so can be hard to break down.

You watch some clips of the likes of George Best dribbling past players and it looks like the guys they're dribbling round are overweight/slow/hungover Sunday League players*.

I don't think you could get one star player carrying an average team to League Championships and World Cups like Maradona did anymore.

* some slim, fit and sober lads play Sunday League too.

What is your view of the impact of the difference in the way in which games are officiated? The modern footballer doesn't have to deal with the outright physical intimidation which they did back in the day. Pele (and Maradona to a lesser degree) were certainly kicked around and off the park many a time, something which the modern day superstars simply don't encounter. With everything taken into account, I think that most superstars of the past would almost certainly be superstars of the present if playing in the modern era - though probably fitter and more athletic thanks to modern training techniques, of course.

Regarding the comparison of players old and recent,

You can not fairly say one is better than the other,

Todays players are much bigger stronger and fitter ,

What you can say is that Pele was the best of his age much better than that cheating coke snorting ba@tard Maradona,

BUT

That's only my view. ;)

Maringer makes a very fair point. They don't get lumps kicked out of them like they used to. Or rickets or whatever it was that gave wingers like Garrincha bandy legs.

There generally is less time on the ball now, but just as the cloggers are fitter and faster, so will bethe best players.

Plus Pele and George Best were by far the more likeable top players than any that claimed the crown since. ;)

In my fifty plus years of watching football nobody has been as good as George Best. Greedy illegitimate, yes but even in a very poor national team he shone. I never liked Manure but he was magical on the ball managers today would never like his selfish play but at his height he had everything.

That goal where he rode a tackle? that tried to cut him in half yet still scored still lives with me as do all the times he beat not one but two, three and even four players and then cooly rounded the keeper and scored.

The Belfast kid was a one-off able to body swerve any defender of that era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJWWA-h_-5g