Graeme Smith Signs for Hibernian

[Gwylan]

Off the top of my head getting lobbed against Leeds ... his fault.

Very harsh that - I thought it just a good shot. I don't think many keepers would have stopped that.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

None of our keepers can really say they've done consistently well this season unfortunately. Kuipers must be the luckiest man in football, as over the years, we have somehow managed to sign a succession of crap keepers, or on the rare occasion we've found a good one, he turns out to be ruined by injury. No matter what happens with Kuipers' form, we just seem incapable of finding anyone worthy of taking over.

You're suggesting it's down to luck that FDM has seen off, what, a couple of dozen contenders for his place in the side over the years then?

 

[mcshane in the 79th]

I really don't believe he was as bad as his stats/reputation suggested. He came in at a bad time and made a few mistakes, which all keepers make while they settle into a team. Unfortunately the chances of recovering from that start were so slim that it was the best choice for him to move on and start afresh. Good luck Graeme.

 

[fleet]

SSN

Hibernian have completed the signing of Brighton goalkeeper Graeme Smith on a free transfer.

The former Motherwell custodian has penned a deal until the end of next season at Easter Road.

The 26-year-old only joined the Seagulls in the summer, but he has failed to settle at the Withdean Stadium.

Smith was delighted to make the move to Hibs and he could be included in the squad for this weekend's Edinburgh derby with Hearts.

"I am delighted to be joining Hibernian," Smith told the club's official website

 

[Brovion]

I don't totally buy this "It was all the fault of the crap defence" line. After all the same defenders have played in front of the other keepers and they don't have Smith's appalling goals conceeded statistics. And it's probably axiomatic to say that good keepers keep out the goals (or at least a fair proportion of them) even when the defence IS shit. Smith didn't do that.

The bottom line is he was nowhere NEAR as good a keeper as Sullivan, so at least that's one of Slade's (and maybe Lloyd's?) backward steps eradicated.

 

[doug7126]

did we get any money for it

 

[Pavilionaire]

Well done Poyet for shipping him out quickly. A disastrous move for Smith to come down here. The defence didn't help but, boy, his stats are probably the worst for a keeper in our history.

Sullivan's sale looked puzzling at the time, the sale of Smith confirms it was a mistake.

 

[Rookie]

Must be a good keeper in there so think this is best for all concerned gives him a chance to get his career back on track while we save on wages. Shame it didn't work out though

 

[Jam The Man]

What even worse than Ashley Neal

Pedant alert, but whilst Ashley Neal was indeed the worst player to ever wear the stripes, he was actually a centre back.

I think his dad was a full back though?

 

[Meade's Ball]

Pedant alert, but whilst Ashley Neal was indeed the worst player to ever wear the stripes, he was actually a centre back.

Pedant alert. Ashley Neal had no specialist place on the field. He could have played equally badly in any position known to the lord or Jimmy Case himself.

 

[Jam The Man]

Pedant alert. Ashley Neal had no specialist place on the field. He could have played equally badly in any position known to the lord or Jimmy Case himself.

 

[marvin]

Sorry for him and pleased he has another team. If what I saw at Norwich was to be believed yes we had a poor defence not helped by the fact we had a complete numpty in goal. I had two neutrals with me and they could not stop commenting on how bad the goal keeper was he was responsible for about every goal that poor night.

Good luck to him but I am pleased he is off the wage bill.

 

[El Presidente]

Looking at the Millwall webpage Sullivan has not let in a single league goal this season, PROOF that we should never have let him go.

FACT

 

[Jambo Seagull]

I'm delighted. if ever a player and club were suited to each other it is Graeme Smith and Hibs. They have a long and honourable history of
complete duds in goals.

 

[severnside gull]

Looking at the Millwall webpage Sullivan has not let in a single league goal this season, PROOF that we should never have let him go.

FACT

has he payed a game yet?

 

[erutluv 2]

FACT worst keeper ever in an albion shirt and on 2 k a week pleased the scots clown has gone

 

[Guy Fawkes]

I think the speed with which he landed a new deal suggests that he's much, much better than people on NSC seem to think.

He had a bum deal down here. He conceded a lot of goal but very few of them were down to him, he had to play behind a defence that was all over the place. Unfortunately, there was a vicious circle as our shoddy defence led to him losing confidence and that loss of confidence affected the defence, making it even worse. He needed a fresh start and I'm sure he'll thrive back home.

That is always a bit of a cop out if you ask me, suggested by those who couldn't see or didn't want to believe how poor he really was.

He took up bad positions in goal which meant that he was always unlikely to stop a goal but made it look like he was blameless, other teams in this division had figured him out and what his weaknesses were and were exploiting them, (how many times were there that he was lobbed or players attempting to lob him from inside the area) Also he was unable to command or organise his defense, something that is a basic requirement for a keeper.

To blame the defense is a bit unfair, as shown by the stats on another thread, he didn't face that many shots for each goal he conceeded

Smith
shots on target 56
Goals conceded 26
% = 1 goal every 2.15 shots on target

Other keepers we have used this season have done far better with the same defense, because they are able to stop shots, being good at kicking etc means nothing if you can't keep the ball out of the net.

He was highly rated in Scotland and that is why he has managed to find a club there again, but it doesn't mean he is a good keeper by English league standards - looking at the Scottish highlights it shows that most keepers are as poor as him, making similar mistakes and letting in poor goals because it is such a low standard. Lewes has a Scottish keeper who played for them a few seasons ago, he had played in the SPL and was rated there but he looked no better than any other keeper in the conference.

It was worth a gamble on him when we signed him, but he isn't anywhere near good enough for us and I am glad he has left as it would have been a waste of money to have continued to have him on our books, he wouldn't have improved enough to make him a real first choice keeper in this league.

 

[Easy 10]

Saw him referred to as "The Ghost", as everything seemed to go straight through him. That about summed him up for me. OK he didn't commit any out-and-out HOWLERS in goal, but his shot-stopping ability was abysmal. He was slow to get down, and just didn't seem to have the physique to really command his area. Other than the penalty at Huddersfield, I don't recall him even once bailing us out with what you'd call a decent save.

 

[Braders]

Great news- a late christmas present. He was the worst keeper to ever play for the Albion FACT. Should have got loads more stick from the fans than he got

I'd place him joint worst (from what I've seen) with Andy "Coco" Petterson