Do we need another keeper?

[Chicken Balti Pie]

A lot of people seemed to take against Collin, (which is why I assume Fitzsimons got a much warmer than average welcome on Saturday) but I’ve no idea why. Anyone know the reasons?

There is a bit of a clique on Twitter who call themselves "p1ss poor tours" who keep taking swipes at Hardy and last year Collin because they deemed him arrogant. He may well be arrogant bit he wasn't a terrible keeper at this level. They kept blaming him for palming away shots into the path of an on rushing striker but never questioned why a defender wasn't coming in also

[jackal2]

It's too early to say for certain whether Ross Fitzsimons can step up to be permanent No.1, but as I said on another thread I think there's a few fans building an early narrative that he's not good enough, based on pretty flimsy evidence.

In his first couple of games after replacing Adam Collin last season he looked nervous especially when coming for crosses, but after that he settled down really well, to the point where nobody was really panicking about when Collin would be fit again. In fact, if Fitz hadn't kicked an opposing forward up the backside and got suspended, he had a fair claim to keeping the shirt ahead of Collin even when he returned. Collin himself was only a sub for Carlisle on Saturday by the way.

In pre-season, Fitz made a couple of errors that have been seized upon by those wanting a direct replacement for Collin, and on Saturday he had one dodgy moment with a slow kick out, but he recovered that mistake and went on to keep a clean sheet, catching three or four good crosses/corners in the process.

Yes, I understand the doubts that he's relatively inexperienced and has only previously played non-league football, but fans needs to remember that the wages freed up by releasing Collin will have gone a fair way to allowing us to sign the likes of Dennis and Hemmings. What Fitzsimons needs is a bit of patience and backing from the fans, and if he settles into the role like he did last season and gains in confidence and experience, he could prove to be very good value. Give the lad a fair chance.

[Freeman25]

In his first couple of games after replacing Adam Collin last season he looked nervous especially when coming for crosses, but after that he settled down really well, to the point where nobody was really panicking about when Collin would be fit again. In fact, if Fitz hadn't kicked an opposing forward up the backside and got suspended, he had a fair claim to keeping the shirt ahead of Collin even when he returned.

He never looked as good as Collin claiming crosses and with Duffy in the middle I was desperate for Collin to come back when Fitzsimons was playing last season, he dominated his area much more than Fitz does.

[jackal2]

He never looked as good as Collin claiming crosses and with Duffy in the middle I was desperate for Collin to come back when Fitzsimons was playing last season, he dominated his area much more than Fitz does.

I think what matters most with a goalkeeper when it comes to claiming crosses is consistency. Steve Cherry was 5 foot 11 and therefore tended to let his defenders deal with most crosses, but the point is, they knew that and there was rarely any confusion. Russell Hoult, on the other hand, used his big physical presence to come for most balls, and again was pretty consistent. One of the worst goalkeepers I saw at Notts (who played a reasonable number of games) was Steve Mildenhall, who had the physical presence but was very erratic in his decision-making, which made defenders nervous and unsure.

Adam Collin was reasonably consistent and good at claiming crossings, unsurprisingly for a 'keeper of his size, but he was often a beat slow in a lot of his other decision making, sometimes leaving it very late to close down strikers or collect balls on the slide at the edge of his box. Most of the time he got away with it, but he never struck me as entirely convincing. In fact, Fitzsimons during his spell in the team last season looked faster and sharper around his area.

Don't forget we've been blessed with better goalkeepers than teams at our level are generally entitled to expect over the years (e.g. Ward, Cherry, Schmeichel, Bialkowski), so we have to remember that most 'keepers at this level will have parts of their game that are really strong, and other areas where they need to improve and develop.

[BigFatPie]

It's too early to say for certain whether Ross Fitzsimons can step up to be permanent No.1, but as I said on another thread I think there's a few fans building an early narrative that he's not good enough, based on pretty flimsy evidence.

In his first couple of games after replacing Adam Collin last season he looked nervous especially when coming for crosses, but after that he settled down really well, to the point where nobody was really panicking about when Collin would be fit again. In fact, if Fitz hadn't kicked an opposing forward up the backside and got suspended, he had a fair claim to keeping the shirt ahead of Collin even when he returned. Collin himself was only a sub for Carlisle on Saturday by the way.

In pre-season, Fitz made a couple of errors that have been seized upon by those wanting a direct replacement for Collin, and on Saturday he had one dodgy moment with a slow kick out, but he recovered that mistake and went on to keep a clean sheet, catching three or four good crosses/corners in the process.

Yes, I understand the doubts that he's relatively inexperienced and has only previously played non-league football, but fans needs to remember that the wages freed up by releasing Collin will have gone a fair way to allowing us to sign the likes of Dennis and Hemmings. What Fitzsimons needs is a bit of patience and backing from the fans, and if he settles into the role like he did last season and gains in confidence and experience, he could prove to be very good value. Give the lad a fair chance.

You seem to have decided for yourself what others are basing their opinions on, and that it’s flimsy. I’ve based my opinion that Collin is currently a superior goalkeeper to Fitzsimons on the large number of games I saw them both play last season.

If we’re skimping on the goalie budget to pay for Dennis, Hemmings and Enzio than I think that’s a mistake. If we’re playing Fitzsimons in the hope that he’ll gain confidence than I think that’s why you loan players out to teams in lower leagues. The Notts teams I’ve seen promoted have had Avramovic, Cherry, Ward and Schmeichel in goal.

[Elite_Pie]

Too early to make a definitive judgement, but my opinion is that last season we had strength in depth in the goalkeeping position, and this season we don't. I always preferred Collin to Fitzsimons, so I can't help but think the current options are a significant downgrade.

[DaveSmithRules]

Personally I think it's too early to tell too. But if Jordan Smith was on offer on a season-long Lian from Forest then I'd definitely take him.

[SwalePie]

You seem to have decided for yourself what others are basing their opinions on, and that it’s flimsy. I’ve based my opinion that Collin is currently a superior goalkeeper to Fitzsimons on the large number of games I saw them both play last season.

If we’re skimping on the goalie budget to pay for Dennis, Hemmings and Enzio than I think that’s a mistake. If we’re playing Fitzsimons in the hope that he’ll gain confidence than I think that’s why you loan players out to teams in lower leagues. The Notts teams I’ve seen promoted have had Avramovic, Cherry, Ward and Schmeichel in goal.

Not surprised we went up really, with 4 keepers our goal difference would have been amazing

[tarquinbeech]

I'm hoping that Saturdays "performance" by Fitzsimons was down to nerves, but I think he may be another player whose stock rose drastically by not playing. The more people hated Collin, the more they loved Fitzsimons.

His distribution was as bad as, if not worse than Collin's last season and his decision to keep hoofing the ball down the middle when we had Dennis and Allessandra upfront at the end defied logic.

Is anyone confident that Pindroch is a good enough backup or is it worth grabbing a replacement whilst we still can?

Calm down - it is the first game of the season....CLEAN SHEET.....no, we don't need another keeper.....jeez

[TheProphet]

Whose jeez? Sounds like an American rapper.

In pre-season, Fitz made a couple of errors that have been seized upon by those wanting a direct replacement for Collin, and on Saturday he had one dodgy moment with a slow kick out, but he recovered that mistake and went on to keep a clean sheet, catching three or four good crosses/corners in the process.

I wouldn't say it was one dodgy moment, for me there were several, coupled with very poor distribution.

My question wasn't if we need to replace Fitzsimons but whether we needed another goalkeeper to push him and challenge for the number 1 spot as I not convinced Pindroch is good enough.

If we leave it 5 or 6 weeks and Fitzsimons isn't as good as people think he is, then we could be in trouble.