[Wooden Spoon]

toddhopper, on Aug 12 2008, 12:58 AM, said:

Its true many didn't want him to become manager. There was a feeling that a fresh face was needed. It never ceases to amaze me how often fans & clubs alike fall into this trap. Continuity & stability are proven to produce more consistent success than constantly changing managers. We have a well run club now & I would like it to stay that way. Both board & management have proven themselves competent, so in my opinion we should be in no hurry to see the back of them.
Lee Richardson has been a good servant to this club & while he made mistakes last season which he owned up to himself he has so far shown himself to be very good at getting quality players to come to Saltergate. Of course we all hoped the team would gel & sustain a promotion bid but unfortunately we remained inconsistent throughout the season. Being on Richardson's back will not increase the chances of getting good performances on a more regular basis but staying with the team & manager might. So what have we got to lose by being supportive? Richardson has all the tactical knowledge required & I think the players to a very large extent like him so I see no reason to want him out.

Ability also comes into it. At work, when we recruit new staff, we try to go for people with experience in the role, or someone with proven ability in a similar skill where they can pick up the new job.

LR, although the number 2 for a number of years was an unproven an unknown quantity.

England and the departure of Sven is a good example.

[Spireite Rob]

The goal was a fluke. The Keeper was just taken out by a short sharp blast of wind that was obviously blowing that way. Look at Chesterfield's Third goal with Ward.... same thing happens to their defender. Goes to head it where he thinks the ball will land and it is slightly behind him, and puts ward clean through instead.

What i liked out Lee was how vocal he seemed to be. I know Roche used to shout but Lee seemed to shout at the right times and calmed the defence. His saves were outstanding in the second half. After one game I can't judge, who can? It was a mistake but seemingly what goes around comes around and the same thing happened to the Barnet defence.

[Wooden Spoon]

Spireite Rob, on Aug 12 2008, 01:11 AM, said:

The goal was a fluke. The Keeper was just taken out by a short sharp blast of wind that was obviously blowing that way. Look at Chesterfield's Third goal with Ward.... same thing happens to their defender. Goes to head it where he thinks the ball will land and it is slightly behind him, and puts ward clean through instead.

What i liked out Lee was how vocal he seemed to be. I know Roche used to shout but Lee seemed to shout at the right times and calmed the defence. His saves were outstanding in the second half. After one game I can't judge, who can? It was a mistake but seemingly what goes around comes around and the same thing happened to the Barnet defence.

One game is too early to say, but I liked the way he stood up and got on with things, and those saves will have given the lad some confidence.

Anyone want to bet Roche isnt a league player in 2 years time?

[Andy Spireite]

death, on Aug 12 2008, 01:13 AM, said:

One game is too early to say, but I liked the way he stood up and got on with things, and those saves will have given the lad some confidence.

Anyone want to bet Roche isnt a league player in 2 years time?

I agree, I think the goal was hugely affected by the wind however Lee showed he already has a much stronger mental charcter than Roche ever did by putting it behind him and pulling off some great saves afterwards.

I would be very surprised if Roche finds another league club after Morecombe.

[markpearson]

AndySpireite, on Aug 12 2008, 09:31 AM, said:

I agree, I think the goal was hugely affected by the wind however Lee showed he already has a much stronger mental charcter than Roche ever did by putting it behind him and pulling off some great saves afterwards.

I would be very surprised if Roche finds another league club after Morecombe.

I agree the character he showed to put it behind him wasa top class amnd second half he made 3 really good saves especially the one from the right winger that looked in all the way from my view point..

But to say it wasn't a gaff and to blame the wind for the first goal is a bit daft it was a horrendous error but he came through in the end...

[h again]

markpearson, on Aug 12 2008, 09:53 AM, said:

I agree the character he showed to put it behind him wasa top class amnd second half he made 3 really good saves especially the one from the right winger that looked in all the way from my view point..

But to say it wasn't a gaff and to blame the wind for the first goal is a bit daft it was a horrendous error but he came through in the end...

I've yet to be convinced by Lee, but watching the replay it does seem that he came out to where the ball was originally landing, and a freak gust then took it back over his head. One thing's for sure - the guy who took the free kick never intended an attempt on goal.

[CFC_blue]

h again, on Aug 12 2008, 11:07 AM, said:

I've yet to be convinced by Lee, but watching the replay it does seem that he came out to where the ball was originally landing, and a freak gust then took it back over his head. One thing's for sure - the guy who took the free kick never intended an attempt on goal.

lee was just having a roche moment.

hope it dosent happen again though. although i have a few doubts

[Balearic Mac]

toddhopper, on Aug 12 2008, 12:58 AM, said:

Lee Richardson......has so far shown himself to be very good at getting quality players to come to Saltergate.

Not sure we're talking any special qualities here. LR's recruitment success comes through offering competitive deals; and most notably by offering longer contracts than on the table elsewhere (and, arguably, to players perhaps looking for one last pay day). A tactic he learned from Roy Mac, I believe.

I know LR was often quoted as saying 'we lacked nous' last season. I think it appears he's made good progress in rectifying that. However I must say I'm disappointed that, like his predecessor, he may once again failed to make the goalkeeper's position his No 1 priority. Someone like Rhys Evans would have been ideal for us - the spine of the side would then have been complete.

Last season proved that success will never be achieved unless we cut out frequent daft mistakes and early indications suggest that we might have recruited a keeper who'll take the limelight off Calamity Downes when it comes to schoolboy errors....

[Balearic Mac]

h again, on Aug 12 2008, 11:07 AM, said:

I've yet to be convinced by Lee, but watching the replay it does seem that he came out to where the ball was originally landing, and a freak gust then took it back over his head. One thing's for sure - the guy who took the free kick never intended an attempt on goal.

A freak gust? It was blowing a gale. Surely he could have stayed on his line...

Schoolboy error, I'm afraid; regardless of how anyone tries to dress it up. Alarm bells might be a bit premature, but I wonder if LR's back on the phone to Blackburn...

[Balearic Mac]

spireiteblue, on Aug 12 2008, 11:58 AM, said:

Why don't we just sack him now some ppl would be happy then,i think some ppl just want us to fail so they can get shut of Rico,lets just focus on a error and not what he did throughout the game,this is going to be a long hard season with some of our so called fans...

Take your head out your backside for once, who knows, you might then be able to recognise valid and constructive criticism.

It was a dreadful error, the likes of which cost us dearly last season. I strongly believe the goalkeeping position has been insufficiently prioritised for far too long and that's the last position we should leave to chance. The new guy has made several notable errors to date and he's only been here a matter of weeks. FACT.

This post has been edited by Balearic Mac: 12 August 2008 - 11:17 AM

[Town_Fan]

spireiteblue, on Aug 12 2008, 12:19 PM, said:

Dreadful and horrendous is stretching it a bit too far

I saw both errors and thats exactly hoow I would describe them. On the positive side he also made some cracking saves the likes of which makes me think we have a much better shot stopper than Roche. Roche would never have made the save low down against Barnet that Lee did.

At the minute the jury is out but if he cuts out the errors then he could be a really important signing.

[Balearic Mac]

spireiteblue, on Aug 12 2008, 12:19 PM, said:

Dreadful and horrendous is stretching it a bit too far...

Perhaps it's best we agree to disagree.

I'll always regard goalkeeping errors that result in a goal as being dreadful. Thankfully in the two games to date that this has happened, we've gone on to win.

Of course only a fool would let that cloud his judgement.

[sherbet fountain]

death, on Aug 12 2008, 01:13 AM, said:

Anyone want to bet Roche isnt a league player in 2 years time?

AndySpireite, on Aug 12 2008, 09:31 AM, said:

I would be very surprised if Roche finds another league club after Morecombe.

Bit of a risky bet don't you think? After all, who would have thought Nathan Abbey would still be in league football!!

[Sammy Spireite]

Balearic Mac, on Aug 12 2008, 12:13 PM, said:

Take your head out your backside for once, who knows, you might then be able to recognise valid and constructive criticism.

It was a dreadful error, the likes of which cost us dearly last season. I strongly believe the goalkeeping position has been insufficiently prioritised for far too long and that's the last position we should leave to chance. The new guy has made several notable errors to date and he's only been here a matter of weeks. FACT.

I missed 1 home and two away games last season and don't remember Roche making a mistake as bad as either.

All players will make mistakes, its how they react to them that matters. Lee proved on saturday he'd put it behind him didn't let it affect his game and had a outstanding last 70 minutes, makin some excellent saves.

Would Roche have done that........?

[Balearic Mac]

Sammy Spireite, on Aug 12 2008, 12:25 PM, said:

I missed 1 home and two away games last season and don't remember Roche making a mistake as bad as either.

All players will make mistakes, its how they react to them that matters. Lee proved on saturday he'd put it behind him didn't let it affect his game and had a outstanding last 70 minutes, makin some excellent saves.

Would Roche have done that........?

No he would have fallen apart. As I said a couple of years ago, Roche's problems were largely between his ears. Glad to see the new chap go some way towards atoning for his errors, but there will be some tight games were any slip-ups will be far more magnified. As they say, it's a very fine line between success and failure....

This post has been edited by Balearic Mac: 12 August 2008 - 11:29 AM

[Sin]

Balearic Mac, on Aug 12 2008, 12:13 PM, said:

The new guy has made several notable errors to date and he's only been here a matter of weeks. FACT.

several?? he's made 2 at the most, and most would argue that it is a little unfair to include the 2nd. Most fans from the game agree that Lee made at least 2 excellent saves in the second half of the game, despite the fact that he's "only been here a matter of weeks"

at the end of the day, even the best 'keepers make mistakes - David Seaman for Arsenal against Zaragoza? David Seaman for England against Brazil? Paul Robinson for England against Croatia?

[Balearic Mac]

Sin, on Aug 12 2008, 12:32 PM, said:

several?? he's made 2 at the most, and most would argue that it is a little unfair to include the 2nd....
....even the best 'keepers make mistakes - David Seaman for Arsenal against Zaragoza? David Seaman for England against Brazil? Paul Robinson for England against Croatia?

Indeed they do. The fact that you can even name the games in which they made them may illustrate how infrequent they actually were.

It is a fact that in our last two competitive outings our keeper has cost us two goals. I also read that he very nearly cost us one in his previous outing against Sheff Wed. You may well be right to dismiss these things and sweep them under the carpet. However we could have a major problem our hands if there is a pattern emerging here.

I'll raise my concerns if I believe they're legitimate. Likewise, others may chose to bury their heads in the sand but surely the jury must surely still be out for any rational, right-minded individuals among us.

This post has been edited by Balearic Mac: 12 August 2008 - 11:47 AM