Poke

[royalgull]

Its got nothing to do with Rice not having a chance. That is tosh. He is a liability and now we will most likely have to play him in our most important game in christ knows when.
The situation just goes from bad to worse. No wonder we are going down.

How so? He's played a total of 3 full games and 2 part games in the last 2 seasons. Oxford and Cheltenham he was good, Southend not so good although I don't think he was at fault for as many goals as he got pillared for on here and in the other bits he's done nothing wrong v Barnet or Bradford.

Yet he's a liability, totally shocking etc etc. Based on what happened 5? seasons ago + the fact our fans just don't like him. Rayner was loads worse and was treated like some sort of God and Poke's form at the start of the season was indifferent, had that been Rice then I shudder to think of the reaction on here.

He's one of them like I said that he can't do any right in the eyes of some, no matter what he does now or what happens in games he won't be judged solely on that in the here and now.

We'll almost certainly lose on Saturday with or without Poke, they are loads better than us so the chances of us getting anything are remote anyway. The biggest game of the season for us is next week, Barnet at home has to be 3 points otherwise it's curtains.

[divingbboy]

Rice is not going to cost us a match and, frankly, I don't share the apparently common view that he's shit. Personally, I think he's alright, though he'll never be a first choice keeper. In open play, I think he does fine. His weakness, IMO, is when he's put in situations where he's not relying on instinct and reaction, but has to think about what he's going to do. He needs confidence and that will come with game time.

[thegreedygull]

Perhaps the illness came on after playing behind the defence on saturday which was truly hopeless, Downes needs to play

[AustrianAndyGull]

That's a good point about Downes. If Knill had played Downes instead of MacDonald at Northampton then there is no way we would have conceded that goal ( or the carbon copy disallowed one ) which Angus was at fault for. Now it's not Knills fault, it's not necessarily MacDonalds fault as he has been superb, Knill should even be commended for sticking with the players who have done well but it just sums up the bad luck we are having that Knill ( and most of us ) thinks he has made the right decsion and it turns out to be the wrong one in the end. That and many other factors including the Poke thing, the Joss thing, the Howe not giving a sh*t thing the constant chopping and changing of the back four, it's just a mess and we're down. ( sorry Nick )

[divingbboy]

Perhaps the illness came on after playing behind the defence on saturday which was truly hopeless, Downes needs to play

For the life of me, I can't understand why Downes isn't starting. He's our best defender, as far as I'm concerned.

[royalgull]

Difficult one which is always easy in hindsight, would Downes have made a difference? Maybe but in his last games he was dire and MacDonald had done well. Sometimes it is horses for courses and I worried when I saw Angus up against Platt. he got bullied to be honest, Saah swapped with him just before half time and I was amazed that wasnt' the plan from the kickoff.

don't blame Knill for playing Angus though he was in possession of the shirt and we'd just had some decent results so would have been tough to drop him, Gills will play the same as Northampton and Bradford, playing off the target man with Kedwell so Downes comes in for me.

[jonnyfive]

[quote="royalgull". Rayner was loads worse

We'll almost certainly lose on Saturday with or without Poke, they are loads better than us so the chances of us getting anything are remote anyway. The biggest game of the season for us is next week, Barnet at home has to be 3 points otherwise it's curtains.[/quote]

Rayner worse than Rice? What gibberish. Rayner was a proper goalie.

The second paragraph is bang on though. In theory, we COULD take 6pts from the Morecambe and Rovers games, but the pressure to do so would be massive if we took our losing streak to 4. I expect to lose heavily against Gillingham - Barnet are as rubbish as us and thus represent an opportunity that we must take.

[royalgull]

Rayner was a proper goalie? The worst keeper with the ball at his feet I've ever seen. There is a reason he isn't playing anywhere now, his attitude was horrendous, he was an awful trainer and made sackfuls of mistakes.

[brucie]

Rayner was a far better keeper than Rice. I do actually wonder whether some people who post actually watch any games. Rice was badly at fault for Bradfords third goal. He is useless at crosses,slow off his line - he is terrible.

[royalgull]

LOL madness. Sums up my above view, there is no way he was at fault for that. Cracking ball in with whip, pace in that uncertain area where a keeper can't come and get it.

Can I ask where Simon Rayner at 29 is playing please? Which football League or conference club is he at?

[Dave]

Who remembers Rayner away at Burton in conference coming off his line and then watching the ball fly straight over his head into the net.

Keepers do need games, made a post on the other thread about loaning a keeper, Rice may not be a league2 standard keeper however as Royal rightly says the lack of game time does not help.

[royalgull]

Who remembers Rayner away at Burton in conference coming off his line and then watching the ball fly straight over his head into the net.

Keepers do need games, made a post on the other thread about loaning a keeper, Rice may not be a league2 standard keeper however as Royal rightly says the lack of game time does not help.

That mistake is worse than anything Rice has done in either of his 2 TUFC spells. Rayner's only good period for us was his loan spell when we went down, he got worse and worse during the next season, he could catch crosses due to his size (sometimes) which was the only thing he is/was better than Ricey at. Like I said there's a reason a) Crawley shipped him out and b) why no one not even in the non leagues has signed the bloke. His attitude and training work ethic was absolutely dire and his kicking is seriously worse than mine.

[Dave]

Totaly agreed, that was the most shocking and schoolboy standard error. I know you play in goal at a high level so have more than a good idea on keeping, you also know my lad well, know the level he has played at and training at, he is 15 he may have messed up the odd scoop and ground but never seen him make and error that bad.

[royalgull]

no real excuse to be done with a ball like that from the opponents own half! Especially if you are 6'6.

someone posted above and I would tend to agree with it, Ricey's biggest issue is his decision making which is partly down to him not being the biggest it's highlighted when he has time to think about it. It's what separates a lot of keepers at the highest level. how's your boy getting on mate? did i read it right he's got a trial somewhere? Hope it goes well. J4K do a lot of work with young keepers and are well worth a look if you are after a coaching school.

Mistakes happen it's part of the job it's about learning from them and trying to eradicate them as best you can, some are unavoidable they just happen and you have to take the bumps along the way.

[hector]

Its got nothing to do with Rice not having a chance. That is tosh. He is a liability and now we will most likely have to play him in our most important game in christ knows when.
The situation just goes from bad to worse. No wonder we are going down.

Brucie is correct here. Martin Rice, as committed, amiable etc as people say he is, is simply not football league standard. A bench-warmer at best who can come on so an outfield player does not have to go in goal but a starter for the first team? No. We would not suggest playing up front with Atieno and McPhee because neither were good enough. Nor sadly is Rice.

One could argue that we rest Poke for the inevitable defeat v Gillingham but to be frank, it does not matter who is in front of us. We need points from every game and additionally, our goal difference matters. Watching us roll over to a hammering with Martin Rice playing coco the clown will just about finish things off.