16-01-2023, 18:54
If your keeper is young or old makes sod all difference. If he is making good clear decisions and gives confidence to his defence then that is vital.
The sad fact is that, brought up under the current back pass rule and always play-out from the back theory even if you have to nutmeg Lionel Messi, there are very few really good young keepers to be found. How many young keepers do you see, whose first thought is to catch the ball like Emi Martinez? Proto-Pickford's are ten-a-penny, but a good safe sound keeper ....... there aren't many young ones to be had. Last season you had a reserve keeper who could have covered, but he's at Exeter now. I've not seen this young lad, but we all know Australia's apparently leading keeper wasn't a high flyer at the World Cup and is marooned in Scotland, land of no-keepers-ever.
The trouble is if you don't cover yourself with some genuine experience (and I'm not talking broken-down old sod) now, the window will close just as you are waking up to the need for experience, because it turns out Nicholls will be out until next season ..... Giving the lad his chance is fine, he could be physically and mentally ready. But doing it as part of a penny-pinching exercise is likely to lead to a decision you later regret. What's the worst that can happen with signing an experienced keeper - the young lad keeps him out of the team? That sounds like a positive to me and a confidence-booster to the youngster!
The sad fact is that, brought up under the current back pass rule and always play-out from the back theory even if you have to nutmeg Lionel Messi, there are very few really good young keepers to be found. How many young keepers do you see, whose first thought is to catch the ball like Emi Martinez? Proto-Pickford's are ten-a-penny, but a good safe sound keeper ....... there aren't many young ones to be had. Last season you had a reserve keeper who could have covered, but he's at Exeter now. I've not seen this young lad, but we all know Australia's apparently leading keeper wasn't a high flyer at the World Cup and is marooned in Scotland, land of no-keepers-ever.
The trouble is if you don't cover yourself with some genuine experience (and I'm not talking broken-down old sod) now, the window will close just as you are waking up to the need for experience, because it turns out Nicholls will be out until next season ..... Giving the lad his chance is fine, he could be physically and mentally ready. But doing it as part of a penny-pinching exercise is likely to lead to a decision you later regret. What's the worst that can happen with signing an experienced keeper - the young lad keeps him out of the team? That sounds like a positive to me and a confidence-booster to the youngster!