Players At Town You Feel Sorry For.

[herthab]

1 - Phil Smith. Won his place back and performed really well, but must look in front of him on the pitch and feel a little piece of himself die inside.

Er, that's about it......

Nope, no one else....

[No Longer Posh Red]

Phil Smith is a bit of an enigma.

Although he doesn't appear to make as many mistakes as he used to (although I do recall him dropping the ball onto the post/bar a couple of times, he's got away with them), he doesn't inspire confidence.

There seem to have been quite a few occasions this season where the opposition get one chance & score, whereas the keepers for teams against us seem to make those important saves to keep their team in the game (Joe Lewis springs to mind).

The other thing with Smithy, he doesn't come & deal with crosses. Take Rovers third goal on Saturday, now it wasn't the keepers fault it went in, but had he come out and cleared the cross they wouldn't have scored, but he doesn't do that which does put more pressure on the defence to deal with those situations.

[lambourn red]

I think the defense is missing Lucas bawling instructions at them, Smith is a decent shot stopper you can not hear him communicating like Lucas does.

[herthab]

Phil Smith is a bit of an enigma.

Although he doesn't appear to make as many mistakes as he used to (although I do recall him dropping the ball onto the post/bar a couple of times, he's got away with them), he doesn't inspire confidence.

There seem to have been quite a few occasions this season where the opposition get one chance & score, whereas the keepers for teams against us seem to make those important saves to keep their team in the game (Joe Lewis springs to mind).

The other thing with Smithy, he doesn't come & deal with crosses. Take Rovers third goal on Saturday, now it wasn't the keepers fault it went in, but had he come out and cleared the cross they wouldn't have scored, but he doesn't do that which does put more pressure on the defence to deal with those situations.

Most of the games I've seen this season Smithy pulls of at least a couple of fantastic saves. He might not be the best in the league, but he's the only player in our team that is performing consistently.

How anyone can doubt the confidence he inspires is missing the point: how much confidence can he have in the fucking wide open barn door in front of him?

[suttonred]

None of them, they have easy jobs compared to most.

[herthab]

I think the defense is missing Lucas bawling instructions at them, Smith is a decent shot stopper you can not hear him communicating like Lucas does.

No, Smith just saves shots, unlike Lucas at the beginning of the season.

Lucas has a big mouth, great. His shouting hasn't helped much when he's played this season.

Here's a novel fucking idea, why don't we get some defenders who don't need to be told every 5 fucking minutes where to play, or what to do?

[suttonred]

What like Greer ( holds head in hands and ducks)

[herthab]

What like Greer ( holds head in hands and ducks)

My head is about to explode

[bassett boy]

Kids at the academy who will have to go if these fucking wankers get the club relegated

[Nemo]

Kids at the academy who will have to go if these fucking wankers get the club relegated

That's the one. Youth Team are doing very, very well but they've got sod all chance of getting a chance in the first team whilst we're in a relegation scrap.

[Batch]

Sorry isn't the right word, but its a shame Ferry and Sheehan haven't had the kind of game time they signed on to get.

That said, Rose did well when he kept Sheehan out for a bit, the rest is down to injury/suspension for him.

[Arriba]

ljf for me.he's better than many seem to think he is.
also gets the majority of blame from fans for collective mistakes

[pauld]

There seem to have been quite a few occasions this season where the opposition get one chance & score, whereas the keepers for teams against us seem to make those important saves to keep their team in the game (Joe Lewis springs to mind).

I've seen far more where Smith's had to make two or three good saves to keep us in it (until the tide of defensive fuck-ups overwhelms him and renders the good work pointless). Such saves are usually met with total silence from the crowd, then about 5 minutes later he'll slightly miskick a clearance and you can hear the howls from Cirencester. And as hertha says, the fact that opposition keepers are able to make one or two good saves and have that make the difference for their side is probably more to do with them actually having a defence worthy of the name in front of them, a luxury denied Smith. He just seems doomed never to get the credit for what he does right - he's one of those players our fans have a blind spot about.

And like Ginghino says, did Ferry shit in Wilson's slippers or something?

[Samdy Gray]

I feel sorry for all of them, I really do.

Having to train for a whole 9 hours a week. Working on a Saturday and the occasional Tuesday night. Getting paid a princely sum for something most of us would do for peanuts or for free.

My heart bleeds for them.

[herthab]

I think a lot of you are taking this thread an incy wincy bit too seriously.