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To inspire him to one of his "thou shalt not pass" games.

A quote from Swindon's forum (someone been doing a bit of research on us)

Quoted Text

I just sat through all the goal and chances from the last 5 games involving Grimsby.

My god there is some awful defending by them and against them, their keeper particularly looks quite weak, as he was in the match up there that we won 3-0 earlier in the season.

Macca might as well not be between the sticks. Every shot will go straight past him or through his legs! 😀😄. Glad if Swindon plan on this basis.

Quoted from Les Brechin

To inspire him to one of his "thou shalt not pass" games.

A quote from Swindon's forum (someone been doing a bit of research on us)

He did let in a truly appalling goal against Swindon, but that was an off day. He's a solid keeper at this level, and I think they'll find that out this weekend.

Great on close range, poor on crosses. It’s the way it is.

Quoted from NorthseaMariner

Great on close range, poor on crosses. It’s the way it is.

I don't think we could get that much better at League Two level.

I think he's been a pretty solid keeper for us tbh. He's kept us in games when we were under pressure several times and every player has a mad rush of blood to the head or makes a silly mistake now and again. I see more good than bad in his time with us.

Someone needs to go on their forum and tell them Chas is crap and doesn’t need marking.

What really matters is what Ollie thinks of Macca. And I'm guessing he is pretty happy with him between the sticks or Ollie may have got a loan keeper in during the transfer window.

We are never going to have a world class keeper, certainly not at this level, but what we have in Macca will do us very nicely thank you.

What did he do in the last 5 games that was particularly 'weak'?

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

We are never going to have a world class keeper, certainly not at this level,

Maybe not, but one of the things that I am proud of is the long line of great goalkeepers that have played for Grimsby Town throughout the years. McKeown has been just the latest in a fine tradition.
Think of Danny Coyne, Aidan Davison and Steve Mildenhall. All very fine goalies that have made the club proud. Probably some others too that I have forgot.

UTMM

[quote=212]

Maybe not, but one of the things that I am proud of is the long line of great goalkeepers that have played for Grimsby Town throughout the years. McKeown has been just the latest in a fine tradition.
Think of Danny Coyne, Aidan Davison and Steve Mildenhall. All very fine goalies that have made the club proud. Probably some others too that I have forgot.

UTMM

[/Henderson and the lad from Preston Henderson !
quote]

Quoted from geir

Maybe not, but one of the things that I am proud of is the long line of great goalkeepers that have played for Grimsby Town throughout the years. McKeown has been just the latest in a fine tradition.
Think of Danny Coyne, Aidan Davison and Steve Mildenhall. All very fine goalies that have made the club proud. Probably some others too that I have forgot.

UTMM

Harry Wainman.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Harry Wainman.

Tweedy, Wainman, Turner and Batch

Quoted from Les Brechin

To inspire him to one of his "thou shalt not pass" games.

A quote from Swindon's forum (someone been doing a bit of research on us)

Think thats a fairly fair summary in all honesty, our defence has been all over the place at times but...IH does put more focus on attacking rather than defending so whilst we look a bit more vulnerable at the back we also look a lot more dangerous up front.
Regards Macca, his panic cost the goal against Morecambe, easily avoidable in reality, he pushed that shot back into play for one of the Colchester goals and has seen a few seemingly ordinary shots from range go past him...that Forest green worldy being the only outstanding strike to have beaten him of late...so i can see why they would think that......but highlights dont tend to show too many saves and he has made his fair share of those.

Quoted from moosey_club

Think thats a fairly fair summary in all honesty, our defence has been all over the place at times but...IH does put more focus on attacking rather than defending so whilst we look a bit more vulnerable at the back we also look a lot more dangerous up front.
Regards Macca, his panic cost the goal against Morecambe, easily avoidable in reality, he pushed that shot back into play for one of the Colchester goals and has seen a few seemingly ordinary shots from range go past him...that Forest green worldy being the only outstanding strike to have beaten him of late...so i can see why they would think that......but highlights dont tend to show too many saves and he has made his fair share of those.

Or the other way of looking at it is that he saved the first shot.

I do think Mckeown hasn't been as good this season as previous seasons, that's not to say he's had a poor season, just simply not as good as previous seasons, is the captaincy status having an effect on his performances? Some players thrive when captain whereas some players are weighed down by it.

Quoted from Les Brechin

To inspire him to one of his "thou shalt not pass" games.

A quote from Swindon's forum (someone been doing a bit of research on us)

I've passed it to him, through a mutual friend, hope it has the desired effect...

Quoted from moosey_club

Think thats a fairly fair summary in all honesty, our defence has been all over the place at times but...IH does put more focus on attacking rather than defending so whilst we look a bit more vulnerable at the back we also look a lot more dangerous up front.
Regards Macca, his panic cost the goal against Morecambe, easily avoidable in reality, he pushed that shot back into play for one of the Colchester goals and has seen a few seemingly ordinary shots from range go past him...that Forest green worldy being the only outstanding strike to have beaten him of late...so i can see why they would think that......but highlights dont tend to show too many saves and he has made his fair share of those.

It's a bit unfair to blame him for that Colchester goal, he didn't see the ball through a crowd and did well to get down quickly. Hardly his fault that 2 Colchester players were unmarked right next to him. The defence are firmly to blame for most of the recent goals.

Macca made some quality saves last season that kept us in games and allowed us not to go down. When was his Banks style save?

Nigel Batch was fantastic!!

A bit cocky aren't they? Don't they know we're from Grimsby?

I'm fairly certain that when McKeown no longer plays for us, and we rip through about three keepers in search of a pair of steady hands, we'll look back and consider how lucky we were to have such a dependable and loyal goalkeeper represent our proud club for so long.

Nobody is perfect. McKeown is an excellent goalkeeper at this level. Rather than pick at the few weaknesses he has, I'd rather focus on his strengths and remember how many excellent saves he's made for us at crucial times to almost earn points single-handedly.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Or the other way of looking at it is that he saved the first shot.

and thats not the attitude that should drive a professional footballer........constant improvement should be the aim....practice practice practice, technique technique technique........Macca has some top drawer stuff in his locker....but his failings remain constant....won't come for crosses, doesnt command his area or back four well enough.....eventually those traits cost us goals.
If you become complacent you are going backwards, by thinking saving the first shot is enough then you become complacent.

It’s not a question of being complacent. As PP, or was it Rancido?, the GK was left exposed by the defence and they left two players unmarked.

No one’s immune from criticism, especially not Macca, but the didn’t see a howler.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

It’s not a question of being complacent. As PP, or was it Rancido?, the GK was left exposed by the defence and they left two players unmarked.

No one’s immune from criticism, especially not Macca, but the didn’t see a howler.

Not wanting to be too critical of Macca here, but I think if it was any other keeper from another team there'd be some more objective views on this.

It wasn't a howler and I don't think anyone really is suggesting it was that bad an error, but if you push the ball straight out into the middle of your 6-yard box, you're asking for trouble. Can't agree that the defence left him exposed. Push the ball out wide of the goal and the opposition either don't get chance to knock in a rebound, or they're doing it from a difficult, tight angle.

From memory, since Danny Coyne we've had the following 'keepers....

Aidan Davison (2nd spell) - Awful, almost tarnished the memory of a few years before
Andy Pettinger - Young kid, I thought he did ok but had a nightmare away at Notts County and I think that was his last game?
Alan Fettis - Decent enough, deserved better than what was in front of him.  Seemed to get a bit of abuse because of the Hull connection if I recall right?
Anthony Williams - Enough said
Steve Mildenhall - Absolute class
Phil Barnes - Mckeown like really. Great shot stopper, couldn't deal with crosses and suspect distribution
Gary Montgomery - Didn't see much of him.
Nick Colgan - Oh dear
Wayne Henderson - Class above
Mark Oxley - Too young, exposed.
Kenny Arthur - Decent, injury prone.
Richard O'Donnell - Very good, could tell he would play higher.
Dean Henderson - Best 'keeper I've seen in a Town shirt, by a mile.  Should be England's No 1 this summer.  But even he had an error in him.

Then there's the odd game back ups like Jonathan Hedge and I've probably missed a few loan players from the Newell/Woods era.

But that list, which goes back 18 years...I reckon there's 4 'keepers better than McKeown.  3 of which were on loan (both Henderson's and O'Donnell) and came from higher levels.  I think all from the top two divisions in fact.  Mildenhall the only better one that was actually our player.

I don't think McKeown is perfect, I do think his length of service seems to give him a little bit of extra room for error with some, as does the fact he's the last man standing from the promotion side.  But I think we would do well to improve on him at this level.  I've not seen a 'keeper at this level that has really made me go 'wow' for a long time.

Best keeper for me was Danny Coyne. Dean and Wayne Henderson were good but Coyne was doing it two levels higher.

Macca is a good shot stopper. He has his flaws but any keeper who is still playing in League 2 at 30 will do. I'm sure when Macca leaves, he will be a tough act to follow.

Quoted from Tommy

It wasn't a howler and I don't think anyone really is suggesting it was that bad an error, but if you push the ball straight out into the middle of your 6-yard box, you're asking for trouble.

Didn't hurt Paul Robinson too badly who made a career out of saves like this. Obviously, he would have been better at the other goalkeeping stuff than McKeown to have a high level and international career for so long, despite his flaws!

I think some people expect too much from McKeown sometimes. In the 4th division, you just have to make the save first of all and then worry about where the ball is going after that. If you've got the time to push it wide to safety, then do so, but just make sure that the first one doesn't go in. We've seen him make so many ridiculously good saves over the years that they almost get forgotten and the odd error that every goalkeeper makes on occasion is what is remembered. Despite his flaws, he wins us a lot more points each season than he costs us.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, been watching town since 1980 and the best keeper I have seen play for us was Dave Beasant, by a country mile. Admittedly he was only here for a month on loan, but he was superb and transformed the whole of the defence and gave everyone confidence that I have not seen in any other town keeper. Never looked like making a mistake.

Quoted from Posh Harry

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, been watching town since 1980 and the best keeper I have seen play for us was Dave Beasant, by a country mile. Admittedly he was only here for a month on loan, but he was superb and transformed the whole of the defence and gave everyone confidence that I have not seen in any other town keeper. Never looked like making a mistake.

Yeah definitely agree with that. I suppose his impact was highlighted even by the fact that he replaced someone who wasn't great (Rhys Wilmott), we weren't in great form when he arrived and then lost the next 3 after he lost. Oh and the small matter that his first game was that Newcastle game.

The stats tell their own story but it was, like you say, the sheer confidence he gave everyone else. The whole team just stepped up a good ten yards straight away as they had confidence that if it was anywhere near the area, it was his. We never had a chance, but had we somehow managed to keep him for that season, I'm confident we would have spent the next season in the Premier League.

Bit biased, my nephew Steve Croudson was a good keeper kept out by Danny. Alas his injuries didn't help his career. Not done to bad as Lincoln's goalkeeper coach. Lincoln !!!! why Steve why :)

The thing is, this 'pushing' the ball out and 'punching' the ball out needs to stop. It's only in the last few years that this has become the norm, goodness knows why! It would be interesting to compare stats with the two different ways of of dealing with shots/crosses but I suspect that would be very difficult to set up. Would be very nice to see more Keepers catching crosses and holding onto shots, instead of keeping the ball in play and possibly dropping it at an opponents feet.

Quoted from 123614

The thing is, this 'pushing' the ball out and 'punching' the ball out needs to stop. It's only in the last few years that this has become the norm, goodness knows why! It would be interesting to compare stats with the two different ways of of dealing with shots/crosses but I suspect that would be very difficult to set up. Would be very nice to see more Keepers catching crosses and holding onto shots, instead of keeping the ball in play and possibly dropping it at an opponents feet.

I must take issue with this. My bother was coached by George Tweedy in the early 1950's. There was two bits of advice George told my brother that he often recalled to me - the first was that if you thought you couldn't catch the ball then punch it as hard and as far as you could. The second was that if you went up to punch the ball and you was in competition with their centre-forward , then make sure the hand that wasn't punching the ball was pushing the back of the head of the centre forward!. When my brother questioned the ethics of this second point, George said " Then you'll never make a professional goalkeeper , son " !
As far as Macca is concerned then I agree that he is a good keeper at this level but he has two major faults that would see him caught out at a higher level ie League 1. He is poor in commanding his area to high crosses and he never seems to set-up his defensive wall properly for free kicks. His reaction saves are second to none and his positioning is also very good but the two weaknesses I pointed out will find him caught out far to often at a higher level.