Goalkeepers

[Biker9999]

Just wondering what the true position regarding Goalkeepers is at Notts. I find the situation we have really odd. Yesterday during the match commentary it was said “Fitzsimons has just taken a seat in front of us” So why would a player who is out of favour and apparently at odds with the club turn up to watch the match. Why when Slocombe seems to be out for most of the rest of the season does Fitzsimons not come back and get what he clearly wants and in my opinion deserves –first team football. He does not seem to me to be better off at Chesterfield (worse off if anything) and in my opinion a clearly a better keeper than Mcdonnell. Does he just not get on with Ardley, is he self-opinionated and unco-operative, does Ardley have a tough side we don’t see i.e. “My way or the high way “is that what happened to Tootle. Thoughts?

[arnapie]

You obviously didn't see his tweet when Hartlepool beat us.

Steven Brown
@SteB1974
·
Feb 22
Replying to
@R_fitzsimons
and
@colin_sisson
You watching the Hartlepool goals?


Ross Fitzsimons
@R_fitzsimons
We love to see it

[Glad2BeAPie]

McDonnell is not an improvement on Ross

[Elite_Pie]

McDonnell is not an improvement on Ross

Too early to say. To me Fitzsimons always looked like an accident waiting to happen. On the other hand McDonnell hasn't convinced me so far, but I'll give him a bit longer before deciding.

[laddo]

When's Slocombe likely to be back?
He's a country mile ahead of both.

[Biker9999]

I always thought Fitzsimons did OK in the extended run he had before being sent off and never really got the chance to re-establish himself. I don't agree Slocombe is that much better I think they were very similar and Ardley must have thought he was OK at that stage because he did give him quite a long run in the side when Slocombe was available. Was the dropping of Fitzsimons at that stage is what the bad feeling is about? anyway the tweet, if really meaning what it appears, clearly indicates there is no future for him with us

[Freeman25]

Fitzsimmons is an awful goalkeeper. He is an alright shot stopper but he has zero command of his 6 and 18 yard boxes and was one of the reasons we were relegated last season in my opinion.

This x100. Worst keeper we've had in a decade and his inability to deal with anything coming in to his box meant that teams put a lot more balls into our box all season long because it was such a clear weakness, there's a reason that defence went from one of the strongest in the league in our playoff season to the worst and the lack of a aerially dominant GK was one of the only changes we made until different managers started throwing any defender they could find at the problem.

I always thought Fitzsimons did OK in the extended run he had before being sent off and never really got the chance to re-establish himself. I don't agree Slocombe is that much better I think they were very similar and Ardley must have thought he was OK at that stage because he did give him quite a long run in the side when Slocombe was available. Was the dropping of Fitzsimons at that stage is what the bad feeling is about? anyway the tweet, if really meaning what it appears, clearly indicates there is no future for him with us

He was given the number 1 shirt at the start of last season and played the first TWENTY SEVEN games of the season and 5 cup games, not sure you could ever wish for more opportunity to "re-establish" yourself than that but all he established was that just as I thought during his spell in goal when Adam Collin was injured, the guy was absolutely useless when crosses came in to his box.

Your second point makes no sense whatsoever, whenever Slocombe has been available Fitzsimons hasn't played at all, he's made 3 appearances all season so at which point did Ardley trust him and then drop him? Slocombe is far better at dealing with crosses and looks like he actually commands some respect from his defence.

If there's any "bad feeling" from Ross' point of view he can do one, he's a terrible GK and not worth any fuss whatsoever, if Ardley doesn't like or rate him then I don't blame him at all, I've not seen anything from him to make me think he's worth sticking with and we're the peak of his career so far, he's got no right to be giving it the big I am. When he first went to Chesterfield it was talked about that his agent was the one that got the move to go through, maybe that's why Chesterfield's bench is seemingly more attractive than ours?

The context of the tweet wasn't clear but I think the fact he didn't delete it makes it clear enough, anyone else with sense would have deleted it or at least explained what he actually meant if he realised it was p*ssing people off or causing confusion and he thought he'd got any future here.

[freemuzzy]

The context of the tweet wasn't clear but I think the fact he didn't delete it makes it clear enough, anyone else with sense would have deleted it or at least explained what he actually meant if he realised it was p*ssing people off or causing confusion and he thought he'd got any future here.

The context of the tweet was clear - his team won 4-0 that day. Why anyone would read anything beyond that into is beyond me.

I agree Fitzsimons proved last season he isn’t the man to hang your hat on as #1 when you’re chasing promotion, but still feel the current situation is unnecessary as his performance in his last game for us (in incredibly difficult circumstances) was, from what I’ve seen so far, way beyond what his replacement is capable of.

For all the footballing data and insight we’ve got access to, I find it incredible that we’ve ended up with the low-cost cover Ardley had at Wimbledon (and Cox’s golfing mate) in goal. He’s the same age as Fitzsimons and has around 25 career apps to his name at all levels, hardly a glowing CV and a hell of a risk to take. Imagine the reaction from fans and particularly the manager if Fitz lets those two crosses in at Hartlepool!

[Chicken Balti Pie]

Fitzsimmons is an awful goalkeeper. He is an alright shot stopper but he has zero command of his 6 and 18 yard boxes and was one of the reasons we were relegated last season in my opinion.

McDonnell is obviously a back up keeper for Slocombe as he is undoubtedly number 1 and is probably the best keeper we've had since Bart. We've been unfortunate with injuries this season but Fitzsimmons was never trusted by Ardley, the fact he put in an 18 year old above him for a relegation scrap tells you all you need to know

[Freeman25]

Imagine the reaction from fans and particularly the manager if Fitz lets those two crosses in at Hartlepool!

Fitz has done that though, that's the problem, he almost did it twice against Chesterfield in the game he "played really well" in because he saved a penalty and made one great looking save