withdeanwombat
Well-known member
Think I said in a previous post about GS that the standard in Scotland is shocking and cited the Hibs goalies performance last week.Hibs now have two top rate stoppers......for the Scottish prem.
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Graeme Smith Signs for Hibernian
- Thread starter Conkers
- Start date
Guy Fawkes
The voice of treason
- Sep 29, 2007
- 8,295
Often he seemed to dive far too early, usually as the ball was played from one side of the goal, he'd go to ground before the ball had even reached the other player, all they had to do was to wait a second before shooting because they would then have an even easier chance as the keeper was out the way, but people on here would still choose to blame the defense rather then poor keeping. That was one of the major differences to our other keepers and thats why he conceeded so many more goals that our other keepers. From Scottish league highlights (over a long time and not just the weekend) this seems a common practice by keepers.
He always wanted several touchs before kicking the ball clear, something he didn't always get time for.
The only time I can recall him making any decent saves it was when they didn't count, a double save but the ref gave a penalty and sent Hawkins off and the other time he made a decent save was when their player was clearly offside and the whistle had gone. Other than that, he just looked lost and completely out of his depth.
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He went to ground too early every time, his positioning was dire, his kicking poor (although that was the best part of his game). But as it is the season of goodwill lets go for the line that he was just unlucky and the stats are just misleading - he is a great goalie and was just misunderstood down here.
Whatever I am sure we all wish him well at his new club. Best for everyone that he has had the chance to move on.
Whatever I am sure we all wish him well at his new club. Best for everyone that he has had the chance to move on.
It's made the Soccernet (ESPN) homepage -
Hibernian clinch signing of 'keeper Graeme Smith for free - Scotland - ESPN Soccernet
Hibernian clinch signing of 'keeper Graeme Smith for free - Scotland - ESPN Soccernet
portslade seagull
Well-known member
4 down 13 to go....
While I agree with everything you say, I think it's worth considering...
Had he ever been in a team performing so poorly? We point to kuipers playing behind that defence to show that one can play behind them and not be so bad, but Kuipers has plenty of experience playing in a failing team, and with that experience comes an ability to not let the defensive cock ups affect you. If Smith hadn't (or his stints behind a poor defence were against equally poor attacks) than perhaps we shouldn't write him off as a possibly decent keeper.
He could quite possibly have turned into a decent keeper with a strong performing defence which gives him the confidence to position himself better, or to not over compensate for a defence he felt he had to make up for.
For example, with a poorly performing defence, you may be inclined to at a free kick position yourself more centrally or even closer to the post covered by the wall because you think they're going to let the free kick straight through, instead the kicker takes it to where you should have stood.
A keeper experienced enough behind a poor defence will likely have the confidence to stick to routine to cover one post and let the wall try to do their job at the other. Someone not used to it will perhaps feel he has to cover for the defence and makes himself look clueless.
I'm not denying his time with brighton was a failure, or that, to at least a certain degree, the "blame the defence" attitude is a bit of a cop out, but the argument isn't entirely without merit.
Freddie Goodwin.
Well-known member
he never overcame the language barrier.
portlock seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2003
- 17,761
Shit keeper. Gone and good riddance.
Dick Knights Mumm
Take me Home Falmer Road
Rod Thomas was a better keeper.
portlock seagull
Well-known member
- Jul 28, 2003
- 17,761
Mackenzie
Old Brightonian
And here endeth the tenure of the worst goalkeeper in our history.
Good luck Hibs!
Good luck Hibs!
RottingdeanSeagull
We're all doomed...doomed
As a Jambo living down south I couldn't agree more.
marvin
New member
Surely not worse than Tony Meola sae him once he was awful but the memory fades with age!
mejonaNO12 aka riskit
Well-known member
I have no doubt that the guy MUST be a good keeper and that he showed these abilities to be signed originally.
Sadly it just hasnt work out for him and he lost all confidence. When a player loses confidence and tries to hard he misplaces a pass/misses the target. Sadly with a keeper it normally means he conceeds a goal.
Good luck to him. I'm sure he will be a success.
Sadly it just hasnt work out for him and he lost all confidence. When a player loses confidence and tries to hard he misplaces a pass/misses the target. Sadly with a keeper it normally means he conceeds a goal.
Good luck to him. I'm sure he will be a success.
Dont go to many games or just got a selective memory? He made a number of fine double saves, mainly towards the beginning, surprise surprise his performances dropped when everyone got on his back and singled hiom out as the root cause of all our troubles.
Stevie Boy
Well-known member
glad to see the back of him, he is county league standard at a push,
withdeanwombat
Well-known member
Be good in the SPL,then.