Just seen the Goals from Yesterday....

[Napper]

Not seen the goals other than at the match.

Smith is not that good, this much is clear, he is very shakey and punches and parrys a lot. He doesnt command the box that well for crosses. His kicking is good however.

To be fair to him he has got the chuckle brothers playing in front of him but I've seen enough to know this bloke isn't going to be our NO 1 leading us out at Falmer

 

[Pantani]

I perhaps should have clarified that I was looking at those clips solely with the intent of critiquing his part in the goals, showing why it isn't hard to see what he did wrong. Hindsight and all that, I guess.

I thought the first didn't look so fast or close that he couldn't have done better. In the same way Kuipers should have done better with Tranmere's first. I though it looked a similar sort of "should have stopped that".

Come on now, their striker had the ball at his feet eight yards out in the middle of the goal. He hit it low like strikers are supposed to do, if Smith had saved that it would have been a tremondous save.

He wrongly anticipated. He was nervous and throwing himself around without paying enough attention to the action. (Again, looking at it from a crtitical point of view).

For me, he should have done better with both those goals, and to suggest he did nothing wrong is an indication of not really wanting to see anything rather than not actually seeing it.

I have to agree with this to some extent, he does seem a bit skittish in these situations. He was hopelessly exposed again though. As a small keeper he does seem to try and anticipate a little too much, this may be nerves early in his Brighton career, may not. Neither mistakes where as bad as Kuipers the previous week though and Smith definately deserves to keep his place

 

[xenophon]

Smith had a good game, his kicking and distribution were excellent. He shouted a lot (even though he sounds like a 12 year old 'weegie), marshalled the wall well at free kicks, collected high balls easily, and made at least one excellent one-on-one save.

Elphick and Tunnicliffe were abysmal when it counted (they went walkabout when the Monkey Hangers scored), Hoyte was excellent linking up with Bennett, and El-Abd was solid if a bit timid with his passing - sent it back to Smith too much when he should have kept up the pressure in the second half.

Bring back Virgs and drop Elphick next Saturday. I've always been a big fan of Tommy, but when his mind wanders we lose goals, he needs a rest and/or more coaching.

 

[xenophon]

(_i_)

 

[Easy 10]

Give the guy a chance.

This is the Albion.
Nobody else gets a chance these days, why should Smith be any different.

 

[Acker79]

Come on now, their striker had the ball at his feet eight yards out in the middle of the goal. He hit it low like strikers are supposed to do, if Smith had saved that it would have been a tremondous save.

Looking at it in comparison to Forster's second, Forsters was hit with some pace from further out. It was pretty unstoppable. The pace of Their first would have made it a good save, not imo a tremendous one.

Neither mistakes where as bad as Kuipers the previous week though and Smith definately deserves to keep his place

He does. I'm not arguing for dropping him. I am more concerned at the number of goals that our Keepers genuinely have no chance with, which is far too many, and shows poor defending, which does more damage, imo, than some of these shots that keepers would feel they should save.

 

[Badger]

I'm not sure about the quote underneath:

"Two goals from veteran striker Nicky Forster help rescue a point for Brighton"

Fair enough, I didn't go to the game but from what I heard on the radio it sounded more like we were pushing pretty hard for a win at the end and were unlucky to only get a point. Looks like another case of someone writing something without actually knowing what happened.

 

[cheesy77]

i watched a schoolboy match saturday morning before going to withdean, and those boys would have been embarrassed to concede goals like that, particularly the second and third. elphick really did have a mare, if he'd actually bothered to run back he could have prevented the second goal. instead you can see him casually jogging back and he arrives just too late.

 

[Pantani]

Looking at it in comparison to Forster's second, Forsters was hit with some pace from further out. It was pretty unstoppable. The pace of Their first would have made it a good save, not imo a tremendous one.

You are probably right, tremendous is a bit much. You would expect their striker to score from there and I think Smith commited himself to a decision a bit early. But if a striker hits the ball low against an exposed keeper he will score 9 times out of 10. Smith could do with staying on his feet a bit more, from what I have seen. Make the striker choose rather than make his mind up for him, hopefully he will be more relaxed with a run of games.

He does. I'm not arguing for dropping him. I am more concerned at the number of goals that our Keepers genuinely have no chance with, which is far too many, and shows poor defending, which does more damage, imo, than some of these shots that keepers would feel they should save.

I agree 100%. Hartlepool's strikers all had time to bring the ball the down and pick their spot for all three goals, which just isn't good enough.

 

[Normandy seagull]

Yeah!

If you went to the game, Normandy, you'd know thast when we were on the attack he had good posture!


Seriously, this "you weren't at the game, shut up!" argument is misused a lot. Normandy made it clear what his opinion was based on: the goals on tv. He isn't trying to give the impression he has had a full study of the player in action.

And he has given his opinion, making it clear it is on limited footage.

By all means, criticise people who pass complete judgement on the team without seeing a performance, but try to hide that they are basing it on the results page of the bbc webpage.

But don't shut down people who say "on limited evidence, this is what I think"

Cheers for the support! At the end of the day it is my opinion on Smith- I wish he was fecking Edwin Van der Saar but he ain't. Maybe I should have elborated that my opinon of him is from the whole season so far- not just Saturdays shambles. Smith has to realise that his performances have not been good enough and have played a part in RS getting sacked. He did OK at Orient in the paintpot but has been crap in the league games.

 

[fleet]

I've watched that and I'm struggling to see what exactly Smith has done wrong.

His poistioning is bad, he goes to ground too early and makes it easy for the forward. He has a lot of improving to do and needs top class coaching to bring him along. For now FDM is much more secure.

As everyone else has said- the back 4 are so bad (well 3 of them anyway) that it was hard for any keeper. El Abd was not playing in his best position so he has something of an excuse. The two in the middle ....