dholliday
deconstructed rep
Let me just take this opportunity to reveal that some of our members are frankly bonkers:
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steken1
Player Valuation: £70m
Of our established players nobody has had a worse season. Jelavic is the only bigger disappointment to me. It should be a massive priority to replace him.
We looked much better at the back with Jan the Man in goal and the results bore that out too.
Bluetintedspecs
Player Valuation: £6m
Yes, they all make mistakes, but some make more mistakes than others. Only Wigan have conceded more goals than Everton from headers this season. The reason for that is Howard's reluctance to come for crosses that a better keeper would come and claim on a routine basis. When he does come for a cross it's like an accident waiting to happen. He has no command of his area whatsoever.
We all know we can't afford the very top keepers, even if they wanted to come to Everton, but a top 6 club should expect to have one of the better keepers in the league. I've just looked down the Premier League table and had a think about who the first choice keeper has been this season at each club, and I have to say I'd take all of them, apart from maybe Boruc at Southampton, over Howard. That says it all!
DanEFC92
Player Valuation: £90m
Some of Howard's gaffs:
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton - Should have dealt with El Ahmadi long ranger.
West Brom 2-0 Everton - McCauley heads in as Howard flaps at a cross, fails to punch it clear.
Everton 2-2 Newcastle - Both Ba's efforts should have been easily dealt with (Starfish ffs)
Fulham 2-2 Everton - Should have dealt with Ruiz's freekick
Everton 1-1 Norwich - Dived behind the goal line, stands still and he catches it
Stoke 1-1 Everton - Should have easily dealt with Jones header
Chelsea 2-1 Everton - Parries Ba's shot straight to Mata, might have done better with Torres' goal at near post.
Add to list if deemed necessary.
Aston Villa 1-3 Everton - Should have dealt with El Ahmadi long ranger.
West Brom 2-0 Everton - McCauley heads in as Howard flaps at a cross, fails to punch it clear.
Everton 2-2 Newcastle - Both Ba's efforts should have been easily dealt with (Starfish ffs)
Fulham 2-2 Everton - Should have dealt with Ruiz's freekick
Everton 1-1 Norwich - Dived behind the goal line, stands still and he catches it
Stoke 1-1 Everton - Should have easily dealt with Jones header
Chelsea 2-1 Everton - Parries Ba's shot straight to Mata, might have done better with Torres' goal at near post.
Add to list if deemed necessary.
carolinablue232
Player Valuation: £70m
Yes he made bad mistakes this season. Look at his record since he's come back from injury. Hardly anything wrong until Sunday, and he made some good saves then as well. He allows some goals that others wouldn't, but he also makes saves that others wouldn't. In the end, it reverts to the mean, and he's a good keeper. World class? No. But he's still quality. Very few were displeased before this season, and despite his poor start, he had a good goals against average and faced more shots than all those who had a better average outside of Cech who we'd all agree is top quality. He makes some great saves that others would let in, but he also makes mistakes. Not perfect but he's good.
dholliday
deconstructed rep
Not all of our american blues were defending Howard in that way. One or two posted the same reservations the rest of us have, obviously nationality has nowt to do with any critique of him. More importantly, he's a Man Utd reject, as harsh as that sounds, but he is, and he is costing us goals at a rate bordering on unacceptable if we're a side with top-4 pretensions.
How do we define "unacceptable rate"? We compare to Neville Southall. This is the quality we should be aiming for.
So we only conceded 40 goals this season...how many goals could a better goalie prevent? The last time we won the title, we only conceded 31 goals...in a 42-game season!
Does Howard also save certain goals? Of course he does, he's a goalkeeper
We're in a dodgy position financially and squad-wise:
- Distin is nearing retirement age, he needs replacing.
- we need a top-class striker who puts away the obscene amount of chances Baines creates (over a 100 chances this season alone).
- we need a world-class keeper
- we need to keep not just Baines, but also Fellaini (his break-up play in defensive-mid is vital)
- we generally need better squad players to fill our bench
Very tricky to prioritise. But in my opinion, the goalie is the most important single position on the pitch. Our current goalie is good, but he's not the quality that will help us breach top-4.
So based on our lack of funds, we should just employ a goalkeeper-scout to find us a top young talent from the continent who we can nab for 3m or so. Some proper competition for Howard, finally.
The scout has all summer...but needs to start now...get to work, lad!
carolinablue232
Player Valuation: £70m
Not all of our american blues were defending Howard in that way. One or two posted the same reservations the rest of us have, obviously nationality has nowt to do with any critique of him. More importantly, he's a Man Utd reject, as harsh as that sounds, but he is, and he is costing us goals at a rate bordering on unacceptable if we're a side with top-4 pretensions.
How do we define "unacceptable rate"? We compare to Neville Southall. This is the quality we should be aiming for.
So we only conceded 40 goals this season...how many goals could a better goalie prevent? The last time we won the title, we only conceded 31 goals...in a 42-game season!
Does Howard also save certain goals? Of course he does, he's a goalkeeper
We're in a dodgy position financially and squad-wise:
- Distin is nearing retirement age, he needs replacing.
- we need a top-class striker who puts away the obscene amount of chances Baines creates (over a 100 chances this season alone).
- we need a world-class keeper
- we need to keep not just Baines, but also Fellaini (his break-up play in defensive-mid is vital)
- we generally need better squad players to fill our bench
Very tricky to prioritise. But in my opinion, the goalie is the most important single position on the pitch. Our current goalie is good, but he's not the quality that will help us breach top-4.
So based on our lack of funds, we should just employ a goalkeeper-scout to find us a top young talent from the continent who we can nab for 3m or so. Some proper competition for Howard, finally.
The scout has all summer...but needs to start now...get to work, lad!
When Howard was playing cr@p most Americans said he was cr@p. It's in this thread. After Stoke, I wanted him benched. Now he's not, and he's still getting hit with harsh criticism. He had a poor run of form. Happens to everyone. Gibson is also a Man U reject if we're going down that road. I just think we have far bigger problems than our keeper who had a poor run of games but has seemingly figured it out and is back to his old self.
Agree with that. He's back to being good enough for us after an awful patch of form, he's still not a CL keeper by any means but then we're not a CL team.
We do however let in more goals per shot than the league average. Our shots against ratio is really really low which is the main reason why we have a low goals against tally. Though it's arguable how much of that is Howards' fault directly.
pfim
Player Valuation: £40m
Not all of our american blues were defending Howard in that way. One or two posted the same reservations the rest of us have, obviously nationality has nowt to do with any critique of him. More importantly, he's a Man Utd reject, as harsh as that sounds, but he is, and he is costing us goals at a rate bordering on unacceptable if we're a side with top-4 pretensions.
How do we define "unacceptable rate"? We compare to Neville Southall. This is the quality we should be aiming for.
So we only conceded 40 goals this season...how many goals could a better goalie prevent? The last time we won the title, we only conceded 31 goals...in a 42-game season!
Does Howard also save certain goals? Of course he does, he's a goalkeeper
We're in a dodgy position financially and squad-wise:
- Distin is nearing retirement age, he needs replacing.
- we need a top-class striker who puts away the obscene amount of chances Baines creates (over a 100 chances this season alone).
- we need a world-class keeper
- we need to keep not just Baines, but also Fellaini (his break-up play in defensive-mid is vital)
- we generally need better squad players to fill our bench
Very tricky to prioritise. But in my opinion, the goalie is the most important single position on the pitch. Our current goalie is good, but he's not the quality that will help us breach top-4.
So based on our lack of funds, we should just employ a goalkeeper-scout to find us a top young talent from the continent who we can nab for 3m or so. Some proper competition for Howard, finally.
The scout has all summer...but needs to start now...get to work, lad!
And herein lies the problem. Everyone wants him replaced with a better keeper for peanuts. I mean, world class keepers for 3 million? It's just not happening, what kind of rock does someone need to hide under on the continent to be that talented and that cheap?
Courtois-6 million
De Gea-17 million
Cech-7 million
I wouldn't be sad to see Howard go, but let's get realistic as to what it would cost to replace him.
Hopefully the new boss has a the balls to drop Howard for a few games if he's off form. His form drastically improved after Mucha got a few games. There's no pressure if your guarenteed to start if your fit and it looks like Howards form improved with a bit of competition. He doesn't come off his line enough and doesn't hold the ball enough. Good shot stopper tho.
dholliday
deconstructed rep
Obviously, that's why I suggested the employ of a specialist goalkeeper scout to find us a young talent who looks potentially like he could develop into world-class.
The continent has loads of talented young keepers, we should have somebody analysing them and bringing one over here.
And Chris Woods? Do we think he's still up to snuff? Big Nev isn't fit enough to be our goalkeeping coach, but Howard has been such a strong servant of our club, that he could eventually fill that role.
pfim
Player Valuation: £40m
If it was that simple, everyone would be doing it. It's not as if the continent is some remote area where scouts don't travel to.
steken1
Player Valuation: £70m
Your goalie should be fearless and a bit of a loon. Strikers and your own CB's should be terrified of them coming off the line and taking them out. The best keepers have an aura about them that their defence can feel and feed off and the other side get nervous about.
He's got none of those things.
Even for all his technical faults he doesn't have the personality to be EFC's goalkeeper. I expect better than him.
He's got none of those things.
Even for all his technical faults he doesn't have the personality to be EFC's goalkeeper. I expect better than him.
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