Ross Fitzsimons

[the_anticlough]

I think we should forget about him.
Maybe his ceiling is to be a first-choice in the 5th tier but we need to be aiming for better than that. Slocombe will suit us just fine for the next few years, so let's have a young back-up with more potential than RF.

[Notts78]

I meant a player in, not necessarily a keeper

That would make more sense, and I, like you, hope that we do bring a decent player in to supplement what we have.

[CaptainBalrog]

I think he's crap and always did, even when he first came in for Adam Collin I was counting the days till Collin got back in the side and so was Nolan, hence him putting him straight back in probably before he was fully fit.

Didn't Collin come back in cause Ross kicked someone up the arse?

That has to be the finest goal keeping comedy moment ever. Or maybe it was Roy's spectacular deflected own goal. No wait it was definitely Schofield not noticing that bloke hiding behind the post.

Bart Bialkowski was the last really top notch keeper we had. But i think Ross is one of those players that maybe gets excessively criticised. He was doing fine till the arse kicking thing.

[OP67]

Yep good move for both teams. He's 6 years younger than Slocombe too, so it's not impossible to think he'll improve and one day come back as our number one.

I think he'll be gone at the end of his contract if not before. He's spending too much time in the stands or on the bench and at 25 you want to be playing games surely.

A good move for both at the moment though.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

He has zero command of his area. Last year, our full backs allowed far too many crosses in but a commanding keeper would not allow the amount of goals in the 6 yard box as he did. He's an ok shot stopper but there is so much more to being a goalkeeper

[magpie_mania]

Would you say the young keeper who was brought in last year was any better? I think that was the biggest recruitment failure last season, good lad but totally wrong for the situation we were in. We needed a Slocombe type then.

[OP67]

Would you say the young keeper who was brought in last year was any better? I think that was the biggest recruitment failure last season, good lad but totally wrong for the situation we were in. We needed a Slocombe type then.

Completely agree, we needed an experienced keeper for the situation at the time.

[Freeman25]

Didn't Collin come back in cause Ross kicked someone up the arse?

That has to be the finest goal keeping comedy moment ever. Or maybe it was Roy's spectacular deflected own goal. No wait it was definitely Schofield not noticing that bloke hiding behind the post.

Bart Bialkowski was the last really top notch keeper we had. But i think Ross is one of those players that maybe gets excessively criticised. He was doing fine till the arse kicking thing.

Roy Carroll was very good for League 2 in my opinion but you're right, Bart was the last great keeper we had and his career since leaving us shows that, likewise with Kasper.

People remember Ross kicking the guy up the arse but I remember walking back from the ground after every game talking about how dodgy he looked before that happened, his handling was sketchy and I've never seen someone more reluctant to come off his line. From his very first interview when he said his best asset was his kicking I was concerned, your best asset as a keeper should be stopping the ball going in the net, end of story, the first answer should always be something related to actual goalkeeping.

Bringing in Schofield was a mistake but to be fair to Ardley I don't think he's made many in terms of the players he's brought in, the defence needed a big presence behind them to fill them with confidence and let them know they can just get on with their own game and let him do his thing, like when we brought in Russell Hoult. Schofield will probably go on to have a good career but he wasn't the right fit at the time and it was a gamble that didn't pay off imo.

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Roy Carroll was very good for League 2 in my opinion but you're right, Bart was the last great keeper we had and his career since leaving us shows that, likewise with Kasper.

People remember Ross kicking the guy up the arse but I remember walking back from the ground after every game talking about how dodgy he looked before that happened, his handling was sketchy and I've never seen someone more reluctant to come off his line. From his very first interview when he said his best asset was his kicking I was concerned, your best asset as a keeper should be stopping the ball going in the net, end of story, the first answer should always be something related to actual goalkeeping.

Bringing in Schofield was a mistake but to be fair to Ardley I don't think he's made many in terms of the players he's brought in, the defence needed a big presence behind them to fill them with confidence and let them know they can just get on with their own game and let him do his thing, like when we brought in Russell Hoult. Schofield will probably go on to have a good career but he wasn't the right fit at the time and it was a gamble that didn't pay off imo.

Schofield was the best we could attract with the budget we had. He started out really well, he was confident and claimed crosses. But it was his first taste of league football and his confidence took a beating. We needed a Russell Hoult as you said though, he saved us from relegation before Munto, sadly, no one was available

[magpie_mania]

Schofield was the best we could attract with the budget we had. He started out really well, he was confident and claimed crosses. But it was his first taste of league football and his confidence took a beating. We needed a Russell Hoult as you said though, he saved us from relegation before Munto, sadly, no one was available

How do you know no-one was available?