volpeazzurro Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January On 11/01/2024 at 08:33, Wortho said: Rodgers chose him for the first 20 odd games last season. I wonder what changed his mind? Rodgers was a master tactician and coach by the way. That choice was always bizarre from the outset. Firstly, Iversen had just played a full season and won player of the season with Preston. He'd also done a full pre-season. Ward on the other hand had been injured throughout pre-season training and only had around one or possibly two weeks before the first match! Even a keeper has to be 'match fit' surely, not just in terms of injury free but also mentally and up to speed game wise. If you then start of poorly it's surely got to knock a goalkeeper's confidence. Not making excuses for him too much but Rodgers did hang him out to dry somewhat I think. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthStandUpperTier Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 4 minutes ago, volpeazzurro said: That choice was always bizarre from the outset. Not really when you consider how most modern managers deem it essential that a GK is comfortable with the ball at his feet. Now I'm not saying Ward is great with his feet, but he's clearly better than Iversen. Even Enzo must think Ward is the better option for his style, as whenever he's put a second keeper on the bench it's been Ward and not Iversen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPH Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January On 10/01/2024 at 16:44, Paninistickers said: We always have to remind ourselves that it wasn't ward who authorised 12m transfer fee nor a renewal of a four year contract worth millions nor Ward who picked himself for those disastrous 23 of 26 games (Everton, wolves and west ham the exceptions, tho still think he got lucky at wolves with that save in half time, but benefit of doubt etc) The guy's career and reputation has been trashed by playing. Sheffield United could and would find better keepers from leagues 1and 2 and I suspect a good dozen or so in the non league I know its fun to trash talk him and i criticize him too, but we know this part isn't true. He's a championship keeper and i know it was a while ago now but on the international stage he's played very well. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paninistickers Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 21 minutes ago, MPH said: I know its fun to trash talk him and i criticize him too, but we know this part isn't true. He's a championship keeper and i know it was a while ago now but on the international stage he's played very well. All opinions of course, but I think a) his cross and corner taking abilities are PL level B) his ball playing abilities are very decent, higher end pro level C) his general goalkeeping and positioning and decision making is appalling - there would be keepers at non league level who were better at that aspect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewquayFox Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January Has he gone yet… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPH Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 3 minutes ago, Paninistickers said: All opinions of course, but I think a) his cross and corner taking abilities are PL level B) his ball playing abilities are very decent, higher end pro level C) his general goalkeeping and positioning and decision making is appalling - there would be keepers at non league level who were better at that aspect and yet he's done well at international level in these areas. I think the main problem was he was a no.3 at Liverpool, he was our no.2 for a couple of years and was thrust straight into a prem starting line up. He had hardly played a competitive game for us and suddenly he's in a doggo of a team, had a torrid time and just didn't appear to be mentally strong enough to recover from that. He needs a fresh start and could do well in the Champ for Cardiff. I wouldnt put him into another relegation scrap though if i was Sheff United. Either way, he needs a fresh start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambert09 Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 10 minutes ago, Paninistickers said: All opinions of course, but I think a) his cross and corner taking abilities are PL level B) his ball playing abilities are very decent, higher end pro level C) his general goalkeeping and positioning and decision making is appalling - there would be keepers at non league level who were better at that aspect You forget the key thing, that probably tricked us to sign him in the first place…. he’s a very good at savings penalty’s. But how someone so bad at one-on-ones made it this high in the game, is quite flabbergasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Eaton Fox Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January Was Ward brought in to provide competition for Schmeichel? Schmeichel did improve during that period and kept Ward out. Was it worth the £12m though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moore_94 Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfox Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 8 minutes ago, moore_94 said: He wouldn’t have said that unless there was something firm in the rumour… 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volpeazzurro Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 3 hours ago, SouthStandUpperTier said: Not really when you consider how most modern managers deem it essential that a GK is comfortable with the ball at his feet. Now I'm not saying Ward is great with his feet, but he's clearly better than Iversen. Even Enzo must think Ward is the better option for his style, as whenever he's put a second keeper on the bench it's been Ward and not Iversen. Think you missed the point. Whatever he 'was' capable of was unlikely to show itself to it's best capabilites when he'd been injured for quite some time and not even match fit! Iversen had just come off a full pre-season including practice games let alone a very good full season as first choice goalkeeper in the Championship. Neither did I ever get the impression that Rodgers Style of football mirrored Enzo's wish for the more current 'comfortable with the ball at their feet' type player, certainly Schmeichel wouldn't be classed as in that catagory. We were after all discussing the first 20 games of last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KFS Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 3 hours ago, moore_94 said: Unreal hahaha. This guy has a master agent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPH Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January So it sounds like a done deal, we are just waiting for the squad space/ money to come through.. If we hold off for too long though, he might go elsewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clever Fox Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January 3 hours ago, moore_94 said: This is where we are at I'm afraid. One player in who rarely plays for one player out who never plays. I really hope this goes ahead. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike1983 Posted 12 January Share Posted 12 January I'll believe it when I see it, come on one time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sly Posted 12 January Author Share Posted 12 January 9 hours ago, Paninistickers said: All opinions of course, but I think a) his cross and corner taking abilities are PL level B) his ball playing abilities are very decent, higher end pro level C) his general goalkeeping and positioning and decision making is appalling - there would be keepers at non league level who were better at that aspect He’s a Championshio level Keeper really. He did a decent job for Huddlesfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It'sblueupnorth Posted 13 January Share Posted 13 January 6 hours ago, Sly said: He’s a Championshio level Keeper really. He did a decent job for Huddlesfield. He was average at best for Huddersfield, they went up with a minus gd 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyKopCorner Posted 13 January Share Posted 13 January Get rid of this lump and it'll be our best transfer window in 7 years 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCFCJohn Posted 13 January Share Posted 13 January 1 hour ago, It'sblueupnorth said: He was average at best for Huddersfield, they went up with a minus gd 😂 l They scored 56 and conceded 58. Reading in 3rd and Fulham in 6th conceded 64 and 57 respectively. Four further teams all in the top half conceded more than Huddersfield did. In terms of 56 goals scored, only one team in the top half (Derby in 9th with 54), scored less than Huddersfield that season. To me, sorry but that most definitely looks like Huddersfield’s negative goal different was down to not scoring goals and a poor attack whereas the defence/goals conceded were as good or better than many others. In the playoffs, they kept 2 clean sheets in 3 games and Ward saved 3 penalties across the 2 shoot outs they were involved in. So to be fair, he was one of the reason they did go up not ‘in spite of’. Look he was awful for us last season and it’s fair to call that. And yes we all want him moved on and off the books. But let’s not rewrite history about the one time in his career he was any good! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sly Posted 13 January Author Share Posted 13 January 39 minutes ago, LCFCJohn said: They scored 56 and conceded 58. Reading in 3rd and Fulham in 6th conceded 64 and 57 respectively. Four further teams all in the top half conceded more than Huddersfield did. In terms of 56 goals scored, only one team in the top half (Derby in 9th with 54), scored less than Huddersfield that season. To me, sorry but that most definitely looks like Huddersfield’s negative goal different was down to not scoring goals and a poor attack whereas the defence/goals conceded were as good or better than many others. In the playoffs, they kept 2 clean sheets in 3 games and Ward saved 3 penalties across the 2 shoot outs they were involved in. So to be fair, he was one of the reason they did go up not ‘in spite of’. Look he was awful for us last season and it’s fair to call that. And yes we all want him moved on and off the books. But let’s not rewrite history about the one time in his career he was any good! Spot on this. We can all appreciate that we overpaid for Ward. However, we all know that he shouldn’t have been our first choice goalkeeper for a large proportion of last season. Poor management by Rodgers to keep throwing him into the firing line. At some point we just needed to shut up shop and try and make ourselves hard to beat. That involved Iversen who was the better goalkeeper at stripping stuff going into the net. I’d imagine Smithies gets named as the 3rd choice goalkeeper as Ward moves on as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turkish14 Posted 13 January Share Posted 13 January Not in todays squad, here’s hoping… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Tielemans63 Posted 13 January Popular Post Share Posted 13 January 1 hour ago, turkish14 said: Not in todays squad, here’s hoping… Still fully responsible for the loss today, though. Twat 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sly Posted 15 January Author Share Posted 15 January I know he’s played well for Wales. However, the standard is most likely somewhere around Chanpionship level, outside of the top 10 - 15 teams. I’d fancy Leicester to beat the likes of Iran, Australia, Wales, Egypt etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verumex Posted 15 January Share Posted 15 January 1 hour ago, Sly said: I know he’s played well for Wales. However, the standard is most likely somewhere around Chanpionship level, outside of the top 10 - 15 teams. I’d fancy Leicester to beat the likes of Iran, Australia, Wales, Egypt etc We'd definitely beat Australia, we're holding their best defender hostage. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnegan Posted 15 January Share Posted 15 January 1 hour ago, Sly said: he’s played well for Wales. Eeeehhhhh... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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