What keeper to start with?

[lazbian]

Etheridge deserves a chance for me

good strengthening by Neil though

[Fine Lines]

Has to be etheridge , he knows he has to perform as smithies is close behind him.

[jamieccfc]

Smithies will have his chance

[jon1959]

Etheridge

[Penarth Blues]

I think not starting with Etheridge would be a mistake on many fronts - unless he's injured. It'd take a while for Smithies and the defence to understand each other in the way that Etheridge and Co already do. We may not have the luxury of the time he'll need for that to happen.

I can see Etheridge being taken out of the firing line for a bit though if he does appear to lose his nerve, as he did around Xmas last year.

[life on mars]

Not an easy one knowing Warnock he will give Etheridge a chance in the early fixtures whcih are not horrendous ,then we hit the September fixtures ( ) ,if he is in doubt then in comes the new lad ,and as someone pointed out that wont be easy for anyone ,however we have recent history with this situation when Marshall went ,we changed our keeper and the excellent McGregor came in well , without any introduction to his style of play.

[NYCBlue]

Etheridge head a great season last year. I see no reason to doubt him.

[the other bob wilson]

Surely you have to go with the keeper who does best in pre season training and the warm up matches? Nine times out of ten, that would be the best keeper at the club anyway. If Murphy is performing better than Etheridge and Smithies pick him, but, realistically, it's going to be between the other two. So far, both of them have conceded one goal which I would have thought they would both not be too happy about their role in, so it's up for grabs.
I agree that Etheridge is likely to start at Bournemouth if there's not much between him and Smithies going into that match, but there's another four games to be played before then and I'm pretty certain that Neil Warnock sees neither of them as a definite starter in our first league match at this stage.

[Trigger]

It's great to have two keepers pushing each other I just hope we don't swap them around too often.

We are going to concede far more goals and all keepers make mistakes but it's often a thankless position to play. I think etheridge got better and better as the season went on, largely because of a settled cb partnership and the confidence he gained from playing week in week out.

You just see some clubs change it around regularly, usually for the worse.

[Watamistakatomaka]

Etheridge all day long. Had a great season, commands his box, confidence couldnt be better. Dropping him would be a big mistake.

[Lord Worcester]

Etheridge all day long. Had a great season, commands his box, confidence couldnt be better. Dropping him would be a big mistake.

This. Got to be etheridge. On the subject of goalkeepers what ever happened to the career that was david Marshall. What a waste. This time 5 years ago there would have been no question who was starting the premier league for us whoever we signed!! Sad story for me.

[Hilts]

Etheridge.

[surge]

Etheridge will likely be unavailable from end of December to third week of January (at least) with his appearance in the Asia Cup. Potentially 6 games.

Situation one:
Etheridge starts and is displaced by Smithies who continues throughout//after the aforementioned period as number one.

Situation two:
Smithies starts and is displaced by Etheridge who then goes missing for 6 games of the season and we re-introduce the keeper who has been proven to be our second choice.

Situation three:
Smithies starts and is number one throughout the year.

Situation one and three sounds better to me in terms of what would be less disruptive.