AmsterdamAlbion
New member
FDM was an outstanding shot stopper (possibly the best we have had in the last 20 years or so) who stayed as rooted to his line as he could (thus avoiding any risk of being criticised for punching/flapping/catching/dropping etc) blamed everyone but himself when he did let a goal in (contributing to reducing the confidence and effectiveness of his defenders) and was truly awful (and stultifyingly slow) at distributing the ball. All of these faults are shared to a lesser or greater degree by all other keepers at this level and have been discussed at great length on this board for as long as I have been on here. To suggest that no-one ever said he was "dodgy" is pushing the old rose coloured glasses a touch too firmly onto your nose I think
All good things come to an end and FDM's time had come. I think the decision was finally made on the basis of his injury record which hasn't been good over the years. Gus wasn't the first manager to look elsewhere for another keeper although the fact that only Roberts probably was better than FDM in all aspects of the game says a lot about how consistent he was.
Is Brezovan better? Yes in terms of commanding his box and supporting his defence. Much better distribution generally but not IMO as good a shot stopper.
Ankergren? Good shot stopper. Good distribution. Questionable decision making.
Poke was a mistake - quite why his form dipped compared to his displays at Torquay is hard to judge but you can't say that Gus didn't react to the problem quickly. No manager gets every decision right and Poke will surely go out on loan until his one year contract ends.
Virgs was a good club man and whilst I liked him enormously and would never doubt his committment, his judgement wasn't always the best and his thought process was sometimes quicker than his ability to react physically resulting in free kicks and sendings-off. Choose between him and el Abd as very similar players with similar traits both good and bad. Gus went for el Abd, possibly because he is just a little quicker and is better at full back if needed than Virgs. I think we can afford one player of the type but not two in the side so fair enough to let him go.
Cox is another that Gus released who rightly has lots of supporters as a local lad with talent. Most recognise I think that he needs careful man management and even that might not be enough. However, whilst respected for much of what he does and the way he does it, I am not sure that tolerence is one of Gus' traits.
Good post, I like the way you often describe football maters.
