Long needs to go

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ThroughThinAndThinner said:
He's not hugely experienced but I'm really surprised Wilder hasn't been in for Adam Smith from Northampton, would be a cracking signing.
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Maybe he has and for whatever he hasn't come, too expensive, not for sale, won't move to Sheffield or the player thinks he is better than a move to a team in the same league and is waiting for a club in the Championship.
Or perhaps Wilder, having worked with both, just considers Long to be as good, if not better, then Smith or at least the improvement doesn't justify the outlay when there are more pressing areas to address.

I don't think replacing Long with a better keeper will be as easy as some seem to think.
Good young keepers will cost money, might not wish to sign for us, will not have the experience and will make mistakes. They will also be in demand from a higher club to act as 2nd or 3rd choice as they develop.
Older keepers will either be on their way down and be on bigger wages or have spent most of their career as 2nd or 3rd choice at a higher club and might actually not be that good or experienced. Think Howard.
Any player currently out of contract is out of contract for a reason. I haven't seen many great keepers at this level. If Howard can move straight in to the No.1 slot at Bolton and be wanted by other clubs as well it says everything to me about the state of lower league goalkeepers.

We are a third tier team, and not actually that attractive to decent players who can play at a higher level, earning more money.
I bet most, if not all, 2nd choice keepers in the Premiership and Championship are earning more than Long and unless they are desperate to prove themselves as a first choice and take a pay cut they are probably ok with their current position.
A loan might be best option of getting a keeper, but again could be down to money and will probably lack experience.

I'm not saying Long is fantastic, far from it and I'm sure we could get better, but all keepers make mistakes, and plenty of them but Long is nowhere near as bad as some are making out. No keeper can keep clean sheet every match, and if we had one he wouldn't be with us very long.
The faults with Long can actually probably be rectified with decent coaching and he must have potential if it's true Middlesboro were after him, which just highlights again that younger keepers with even a modicum of potential are wanted by clubs higher than us.
Clubs can now afford to buy players to sit in the reserves for a few years on the chance they might develop into an outstanding player. If not then can just cut their losses and move on.

Maybe if we sell Che that will alter the situation and give us more possibilities and maybe Wilder can find a gem in a reserve team from higher up or coming up from lower down that we can afford, maybe even our own youngster but for now we have George, who will make mistakes and concede goals, but that really doesn't deserve a whole thread slagging him off every time.
 
Barney said:
Mr. Long, I advise you take up goalkeeper coaching for your son.
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Why don't you just shut the fuck up you attention seeking, armchair/radio Sheffield listening bellend fan......is the reason you don't go to matches down to the fact that as soon as you start spouting your 'opinions/shit' somebody bangs you out ?
I'm envisaging a scene from 'Airplane' with the majority of Blades forming an orderly queue to each give you a little slap.
 
nopigfansintown said:
This thread is incredibly harsh. No chance with the goal and a top class save at one nil. The only mistake I remember him making was a bit of a flap at a cross at one nil.
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Don't blame him for the goal and a good save as you say. If those slating him had been at the game they could have had a go at him for several things rather than a strike they hadn't seen. Other than the flap, he failed to come for balls that were clearly his, didnt and put his defence under pressure. Got a bollocking twice that I saw for that. If we're going to criticise, let's at least do it on genuine errors rather than what people "believe" to be the case.
 
S20Eddie said:
Why don't you just shut the fuck up you attention seeking, armchair/radio Sheffield listening bellend fan......is the reason you don't go to matches down to the fact that as soon as you start spouting your 'opinions/shit' somebody bangs you out ?
I'm envisaging a scene from 'Airplane' with the majority of Blades forming an orderly queue to each give you a little slap.
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You can come and give me a little slap if you wish? I'll be at the Rochdale game.
 
Wether or not long could have done anything about the goal
The keeper position is in need of upgrading
We need an experienced confident leader to dominate his area and Shepherd the defence
Too many times over the last few years we have conceded long range goals with no one closing the man down or free headers where no one is marking the goalscorer

This is for me down to a lack of communication from george/ Howard and needs addressing as all the teams hard work gets undone and we have far too many results like yesterday
 
Barney said:
You can come and give me a little slap if you wish? I'll be at the Rochdale game.
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Not this again. You already made yourself look a right muppet when someone took you up on the offer last time! :rolleyes:
 
judge said:
Wether or not long could have done anything about the goal
The keeper position is in need of upgrading
We need an experienced confident leader to dominate his area and Shepherd the defence
Too many times over the last few years we have conceded long range goals with no one closing the man down or free headers where no one is marking the goalscorer

This is for me down to a lack of communication from george/ Howard and needs addressing as all the teams hard work gets undone and we have far too many results like yesterday
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You're not wrong to a point Judge. There is also a commanding CB which could control this situation. Might surprise you, might not but I played In net Sunday league and maybe why I am part of the keepers union in regards to Long. However in those situations you're discussing, you're only as good as your CBs.

When a ball comes into a certain area you would agree who's ball it is. If you have say Morgan, he would tell you anything here is mine, and anything there is yours. Saves the confusion and too many players going for the same ball. From the highlights yesterday George is came hesitantly for a few balls where there was no danger. Communication has to improve but it's not just George. These guys need some game time together and a common agreement about who's got what.
 

GrayBlade said:
I'm not a fan of Long as some in here know, but he was totally blameless for the goal today. He was beaten by a good shot bang in the right position, any blame should be directed at the defenders who were slow to attack the ball and gave their guy too long to pick his spot (IMO).
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I also don't think Long was to blame for not saving the goal.........but I also don't think the defenders were at fault either. Duffy headed it straight to Spearing on the edge and he volleyed it, there was little time from the ball being headed to being hit back to react.
The issue i have with Long, is his communication and speed of thought.....he just doesn't appear to be a quick thinker when he has to make a decision and even when he takes forever at goal kicks and this lack of sharpness / positiveness sometimes leads to him flapping, or leaving the defender to make a decision he shouldn't have had to make.
There were quite a few times last season when a ball played through by the opposition, that was slightly over hit, should have been his ball with a simple collection and he hesitated, which then made the defender who was trying to usher the ball back to him have to make a hasty clearance instead.
I can't really say if it's just a confidence issue, or if he just isn't a naturally quick thinking person, but it's something that doesn't appear to be improving for him.
 
We're not here to benefit George Long's development are we? We're here to (I hope) get promoted. Having Long in net will cost us promotion. This is not a comment related to the Bolton defeat, it's just obvious to anybody with eyes and who has watched at least half a dozen games in their lifetime. Probably as conducive to promotion as having Joe Ironside up front.
 
Having seen that our defenders header is going straight to an unmarked attacker , you would think that at least one of our 5 redundant defenders might be chasing full pelt to close the scorer down , even if they couldnt have stopped a volley.
 
Keen Blade said:
Having seen that our defenders header is going straight to an unmarked attacker , you would think that at least one of our 5 redundant defenders might be chasing full pelt to close the scorer down , even if they couldnt have stopped a volley.
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The weak link and the missing link seems to differ from fan to fan and day to day . One thing we need is players with a football brain , who think as well as play football . This worldie goal conceded is happening on a too regular basis . As you say , we just don't close down opposition players especially just outside the box.

It's not poor coaching , it's too many players switching off . Wilder still hasn't got his man on the pitch . Think we have this transfer window to resolve issues.
 
sheffielder said:
You're not wrong to a point Judge. There is also a commanding CB which could control this situation. Might surprise you, might not but I played In net Sunday league and maybe why I am part of the keepers union in regards to Long. However in those situations you're discussing, you're only as good as your CBs.

When a ball comes into a certain area you would agree who's ball it is. If you have say Morgan, he would tell you anything here is mine, and anything there is yours. Saves the confusion and too many players going for the same ball. From the highlights yesterday George is came hesitantly for a few balls where there was no danger. Communication has to improve but it's not just George. These guys need some game time together and a common agreement about who's got what.
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This wasn't a centre half issue. This was a ball that was headed out by a full back I believe into just outside the right centre of the area. Maybe max 25 yards. That, in circumstances where the CB are recovering from guarding against the long throw or cross, is a LB/LM/CM issue to my mind. The Bolton player is where all good midfielders should be when a defended ball will drop following a clearance.

The Bolton player was free. It dropped beautifully for him and in the normal course of events I would have said well done kid. However, as also a member of the union, I have watched that back maybe 20 times. Please also bear in mind that I am not Long's biggest fan. When the ball comes over from his left he tracks the angle well across to the right until the header out. At that point, to reposition he should take one or two half steps to the left, but he doesn't. He doesn't anticipate what occurs and that has been my criticism of him from his early days. Reaction? ace. Anticipation? Some of us will have to agree to disagree.
 
A forward misses a chance oh well, he'll notch one sooner or later! Midfielder plays poorly "bad day at the office" defenders being over run by the opposition"no cover from midfield" keeper has a poor game, flaps or misses a cross/ shot! GET RID HE'S SHITE!!! Wheres the sense in that! THERE AINT NONE.
 
albinonick said:
A forward misses a chance oh well, he'll notch one sooner or later! Midfielder plays poorly "bad day at the office" defenders being over run by the opposition"no cover from midfield" keeper has a poor game, flaps or misses a cross/ shot! GET RID HE'S SHITE!!! Wheres the sense in that! THERE AINT NONE.
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Agreed. It comes with the territory. The point being made is that eventually, when it happens consistently, he ceases to be a keeper. Blades are somewhat concerned at the amount of "worldies" that have been conceded. By definition "worldies" don't happen that often. (except to the Blades). Can't be the keeper.Must be that infamous McCabe bad luck.
 
LYDON said:
I'm NOT that flexible...

aaahhh... not that cheek.

I dig ya.
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Do we need a new Goalkeeping coach, Long doesn't appear to have progressed at all, Willis was supposed to be better than Long but has all but disappeared, will the coach now ruin Ramsdale.
Howard looked a different goalkeeper on Saturday, he was in charge of his area and with the help of a dominant centre half in Wheater he hardly looked flustered....unlike his time with us.
 

For the amount of games Long's played he's improved nowhere near enough.

Questions have to be asked of the goalkeeping coach. Maybe for the managers it's hard to tell the difference between a poor goalkeeping coach and a good one. But with at least three promising young keepers on our books, we should make sure we've got a good one. There's a lot at stake there.
 
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