Richard O'Donnell

O'Donnell had a period late last season where his form dipped - his distribution became a bit of a joke, and it was probably right to drop him since his own fans were goading him at times.

However he showed enough in the earlier part of the season to suggest he was a good League One keeper in a woeful League One side, and when it was revealed he had been coaching himself all year, I'm afraid only a bad judge of a player would have been overly critical of his overall performance across the season.

 

He made 2 outstanding saves yesterday, one in each half. But to be fair that’s his job

 

Decent keeper at this and league 1 level. But like any keeper, his performances will be greatly impacted by what's in front of him.

Any keeper in the country would've struggled for us last season.

 

Damn you FB, was just going to say the same, see my reply to your post on other thread, we can seemingly now feel a sense of security with the backline, beats the sense of fear last season.

 

Whilst we're solid at the back I don't think the back 4 are quite as good as the stats suggest. One of the reasons we've conceded so few is O'Donnell making worldy saves almost on a weekly basis now. A class keeper at this level who's kept us in games and has allowed us to capitalise at the other end.

 

He made 2 good saves yesterday. Neither were worldly saves and I'd expect most keepers to have made them.

He made a worldly at Stevenage. But for the most part, hes just doing the 'basics' well and not making silly errors. And hes not being overworked. Thatll do me.

 

O'Donnell and the back 4 have been a massive improvement on last season.

O'Donnell has had a terrific start to the season, helped I am sure with a much better defence and the recruitment of the keeper coach, Vaughan, in the summer

Richards-Everton has been a revelation so far, a big improvement on the poor NKP.

I think Wood will make the left back position his own, and again, much better than Chicksen

Mellor is very capable at this level, as proved with Blackpool

Both the O'Connors have been good so far

So all good as far as Im concerned

 

Getting coached will be keeping him on his toes more

 

Look forward to NKP returning next week

 

You like to mention Doyle to me every chance you get - fair enough, but I can't quite see how his form dipped to the end of the season. When was he in good form last season?

He never got going in my eyes, and I mean that genuinely, fairly. Do not remember him playing well.

 

Two points I've made in the entire time I've been on this forum (Wood being better as a midfielder and Doyle been a goal hange who is more effort to work around than he's worth) and you've latched on to them like a limpet.

Let it go.

I will never obsess over any poor points you make, so I'd appreciate the same courtesy.

That quote was made weeks ago. Why are you remembering it? It's a bit weird, pal.

 

His confidence has him in the right positions to make these saves and that comes from the set up in front of him. No coincidence when we went 3 at the back it was easier to beat him. He knows we have centre backs who will clear crosses now so he doesn't have to go for impossible balls.

 

Absolutely, hence why I started my previous post with a praising

 

Who cares if I admit it?

It's a bit weird.

We're not in parliament, I don't have to get everything 100 % right, I hope Wood solidifies his defensive position with good performances, it will show that he (and by extension the club) is improving under Bowyer. I don't particularly hope Doyle continues to score freely, and since there is no chance he ever plays for us again, I'm not massively interested in his performances at Swindon. His performances for us were generally very poor, even if he beat Omari Patrick and George Miller to the top scorer last season. He wasn't worth building our team around, in my opinion, because the minute we signed Vaughan we had a better all-round player who was more worthy of building the team around.

 

And some people do their job well whilst others don't. The praise O'Donnell has been getting is fully justified.