Reply With QuoteBrian Murphy it is then.
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We have all seen comments that maybe Etheridge should be swapped with Smithies, so I thought we should compare them.
What should compare?
Shot Stopping, Reflexes, Catching, Passing, Penalty stopping, Errors Made.
Shot stopping should be weighted higher than passing, hence why there is more stats comparing goal prevention than passing.
(Etheridge will be the first rating, while Smithies the second)
Shot Stopping:
9 vs 7
Etheridge has shown over the couple years at the club he is an incredible shot stopper, preventing 310 goals while averaging 140 saves a season. Smithies comparatively has made 257 saves over his 3 seasons at a lower midtable QPR, he only played 10 times in his final season so if we only count the full seasons he averages 108 saves per season. This shows that Etheridge is a better shot stopper than Smithies. What also shows this is the % save stat. Etheridge saved 80% of the time in 17/18 and 67% of the time in the higher division. Smithies QPR seasons saw 64% 64% and 60% saved. Even this year, Etheridge’s % save is narrowly greater than Smithies (66.7% vs 65.8%).
Reflexes:
8 v 7
Remembering the championship promotion season, Etheridge’s reflexes were cat like making remarkable save after remarkable save. He was amazing. Smithies, I would argue doesn’t have the reflexes like Etheridge in the short amount of games we saw of him. However, as judging period is significantly shorter than Etheridge, I have made the difference between minimal.
Catching:
9 v 10
In the past 3 seasons of Etheridge, I have only seen one cross dropped. That was on the weekend against Forest and was dealt with well by the defence. But he does parry harder shots that could be caught. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t disagree he has made significant improvements since he joined Cardiff. I have seen Smithies a short period of time but I haven’t seen him drop a cross yet so let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say his catching is impeccable.
Passing:
5 v 3
We all know the kicking capabilities of Etheridge who regularly sprayed balls into the crowds. However, what we don’t know is that the common misconception that Smithies is a better passer. Etheridge’s 32.3% pass percentage is nothing to be proud of, but Smithies 27.9% is worse. That is undeniable.
Penalty Stopping:
8 v 10
Smithies is famous for his ability to protect the net from penalties. For this I’ll give him a 10. Alternatively, we have Etheridge who does well against Penalties. We all know this so I won’t try to find the statistics for this.
Errors Made: (this will deduct off the total)
1 v 4
Etheridge, I would argue hasn’t been at fault for many of the goals this year and in previous seasons. He has been almost ever present being a brick wall in net. Smithies has been at fault for arguably 1/3rd of the goals he conceded as he tried to throw points against Huddersfield and others teams. For this I will deduct 4 points for this wobbly play.
Totals:
Etheridge: 38/50
Smithies: 33/50
It’s obvious who we should be starting with.
Brian Murphy it is then.
Having watched the both live on a few occasions , you do learn more about then close up and I would say Etheridge is a fine stop shopper and likely to save a penalty or some super shot , however his body language as he has to deal with late back passes , kicking to a player on the floor or in the air seems very uncertain saw players saying something yesterday about creating the extra space so they could use him ?
Smithies makes better use of ball .
Its difficult to match stats in my view as Smithies has had less game time compared to Etheridge
Unfortunately, this point is wrong as they both have played 10 games each. If anything, Smithies has had more game time as Etheridge has been subbed (during the Wigan game)Originally Posted by life on mars
I do agree, he does seem unconfident. Whenever the ball comes back at him, I feel he is just as worried as us. I feel this may impact him and cause the worry. I didn’t hear the thing about extra space... could you elaborate?
So bugger all between them except for your opinion that Smithies makes lots of errors while Etheridge hardly ever does.
That's bollocks, isn't it?
Some of your posts are a bit long winded for me, but you post them with really good info backing up your point.
This post.. well. Less said the better.
Is it your opinion that Smithies makes lots of mistakes while Etheridge rarely does?
I’ve re read my post, apologies, I meant “this post” in regards to OP.
Nah, Basically Etheridge is a better shot stopper and passer while Smithies makes errors and saves penalties.
It is an opinion based upon the goals we conceded while Smithies was playing. Smithies, conceded soft goals to a number of sides, which could have been easily prevented. Etheridge, does (and has been let off by general defence/midfield), but I believe this is made up by the extra 20 saves and higher % save.
If we had the same competition for places all over the pitch that we have in goal, we would be comfortably.in the top six For me, Etheridge's only real weakness is his kicking (it's too poor to be called passing!), but when it's as bad as it was yesterday, it affects the way we play, so, as someone who values what a goalkeeper does with his hands over what he does with his feet, even I have to concede that it could lead to him being left out. I'd say Smithies is a good standard Championship keeper and Etheridge a bit better than that, but I have my doubts whether there is much that can be done now to cure his poor kicking.
Does anyone know why we signed him? Has he played? Four Senior Goalkeepers and people reckoned Malky wasted Tan’s money! Which two keepers will go in January in Neil Harris’s slimmed down Squad?
I believe he was always third choice. Every club “wastes money” on them. You need them.
Joe Day was brought in as one of Smithies/Etheridge was off, think it was Smithies until Etheridge got injured.
You think you’d know stuff like this, seein as you go to loads of games and clearly have mates that follow the city and talk about rumours etc close season.
How are those figures being calculated? I'm guessing they're from whoscored.com, which has Etheridge attempting 38 'passes' yesterday, of which only 13 were 'long balls', which doesn't seem quite right.
Smithies did nothing wrong to get dropped but was dropped anyway.
We always knew Etheridge's distribution was bad but it seems to have got worse if that's possible.
I'd put Smithies back in straight away as Etheridge looks like a calamity waiting to happen.
I feel more confident with Smithies in goal.
The ball was caught in the corner by away fans and our full and Flint were surrounded by Barnsley lads Etheridge stood on his line instead of moving towards them to create a triangle . Flint waved his hand at him in frustration .
I think the decision to re engage Murphy was ludicrous when you consider that there is a goalkeeper at the club about whom the following was said in an article last week;-
"At 19, Ratcliffe is Wales' regular under-21 goalkeeper and seen as the natural heir apparent to Wayne Hennessey in the senior side."
and
"Cardiff don't want a situation where Giggs hands him his senior Wales debut before he has even played a first team game for the Bluebirds."
Now, even allowing for a writer going somewhat over the top perhaps, it does strike me as very odd that George Ratcliffe is currently our fifth choice keeper (sixth if you include Matt Hall who regularly plays for the Under 23s) - if Ratcliffe is really anywhere near as good as the hype, he should not have so many senior keepers in front of him.
Totally agree Bob. Smithies and Etheridge in the squad and Ratcliffe brought into the first team squad would be better than us having Day and Murphy here. Although you can’t replace the experience he’s getting now of first team football.
Would he be better off gaining experience around the first team, training every day etc, or would he be better off playing week in week out?
I think the best way to have gone about it would be to let him play for Barry each week while spending most of his time training with us and having an arrangement that he would be available for us if one of Etheridge or Smithies was not available for some reason - if he really is so good, then shouldn't he be our third choice keeper by now?
I nearly typed myself about him training with us and playing with Barry, certainly worth looking at.
To be fair, the 38 passes include the 25 put into the dug out. Long balls only count as being successful.
Isn’t there a rule that a player cannot play for the same side three times (if changed from A to B to A to B and back to A?)?
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