Originally Posted by
Eric the Half a Bee
I don't have an answer to your question, but there is some limited info on whoscored.com where a poor comparison can be made.
Using data on number of saves made on average per game, goals conceded and shots conceded per game, some information can be obtained by having a fiddle with Excel.
Less shots on our goal go in than at any other club in the Championship. Less than 7.5% of all shots we face end up in the back of our net. Worst are Sunderland, where almost 13% of attempts end up in the Mackem's net. It's maybe not surprising that the better teams concede less goals per shots faced than the poorer teams in the division.
Etheridge makes 2.2 saves per game according to whoscored. That's the fourth lowest number of saves per game in the division. 2.2 saves a game says nothing unless used in conjunction of the number of shots faced in a game. This suggests Etheridge saves 19.4% of shots faced. This is below the divisional average of 21.4%, but even that doesn't really give an accurate reflection of Etheridge as a shot stopper. If you incorporate shots blocked as well as saved, we're closer to the divisional average. It all suggests that our goalkeeper has less to do than most other keepers in the division because we're so strong defensively.
In terms of shots saved that have been taken inside the box, Etheridge has saved 13.4%, only bettered by 6 goalkeepers. In terms of shots saved that have been taken outside the box, Etheridge has saved 6.25% - only 3 keepers have worse save percentages from outside the box.
As I say, there's some flaky stats here that might mean something or nothing depending on your viewpoint. Nothing makes it look like Etheridge is a top goalkeeper at this level in terms of what he saves, but that hardly tells the whole story.