[theo_luddite]

Not that there were any Yorksha League fixtures yesterday but the last time I posted this we had the weekend wipe out, here's a reminder of how it stands before The Millers play The Chickens on Thursday.

[Lord Snooty]

I have now watched the highlights. Good approach play. Shocking finishing. At least get it on target and make the keeper work.

[theo_luddite]

Yup, we had one shot on target and we scored. Funny how that works isn't it? If only the rest of the team had clued into that .......

Though now I look at it, their keeper also made a save .... so if that wasn't another shot on target, where exactly was it going?

[Devongone]

Like Chesterfield you just need to learn the onion bag beats all the other stats. We are top of our division on possession and several other stats. We even have the player with most assists and he's only started twice! Trouble is in the games in which we were most dominant in possession terms we lost every time, and the side at the bottom of the possession stats is actually top of our division on points!

And one very good shot on target beats ten saveable but accurate efforts out of sight. I spent a lot of time goalkeeping and I can tell you the more saves you give a keeper to make the more difficult he'll become to beat. (You're training him to stop you!)

If you can give the keeper some difficult decisions to make and make him doubt his handling too, that'll help you find that elusive onion bag.

[theo_luddite]

the more saves you give a keeper to make the more difficult he'll become to beat. (You're training him to stop you!)

For the most part I agree with you Devon but you might want to run that past Pope at Newcastle after yesterday's match.

[Devongone]

How Pope was meant to stop either goal I dunno. The first was an almost unfeasibly angled header and although the second looks as though he might have got the cross he had a pile of men from both sides between him and the ball. It's alright thinking he should knock four or five out of the way .... reaching over those men or ploughing through them is well-nigh impossible in fact. It was nothing like Kelleher's weak effort for Brentford ...... To me the solution to Pope's problem is not to mark opposition players two or three yards from goal, pick em up if they move beyond the six-yard box into a position to win the header. Given any space a decent keeper will catch inside the six yard box. Your own players can be an obstacle not a help. If you are moving forward as you catch your momentum wil obviate any contact!

As for jostling the keeper - let him deal with it. If you go for a punch on the ball you can also leave a huge deterrent on any jostler for the next dead-ball.

Every goalie wants plenty to do, otherwise there is too much thinking time. Every nice save builds you up and any hero moment is the reason you put on those gloves (which I often didn't have to wear I'm so old, because not every pitch I played on had been idiotically watered ten minutes before kick off).

Equally being totally blameless and still having three pinged past you in the first fifteen still knocks your confidence.

And finally, anyone who can't see that Nick Pope is an entirely higher level of keeper than James Trafford needs that Specsavers appointment - so that includes you Eddie Howe!

For the sake of the rest of your division I hope you don't start getting five or more shots on target at that 1:1 ratio. It isn't only Arsenal who can win at St James's Park.

[theo_luddite]

We'd love it if we did.

[Devongone]

We'd love it if we did.

We only shoot to score would be a great motto.