Much as I love the guys, they are quite rightly legends and no-one recognises more than me what they've done for the Gasroom, I hope the people who hope to be proved wrong are proved wrong sooner rather than later.
I don’t think being 47 is likely to be the reason why you need elaboration @glasshalfempty. I think @bookertease simply posted his comment before he’d completed it. His punctuation (including full stops at the end of sentences) is always impeccable.
Your reference (at 8.56) to Nathan Baxter, on the other hand, might give rise to slight concern !
I’m curious to know if we’ve missed out on one of @bookertease’s more profound contributions.
Praise for my punctuation? I am suitably honoured!
And no it wasn’t, for a change, an accidental early post. When I wrote it it was meant to follow straight after @glasshalfempty mentioning that they have seen Max Stryjek play a dozen times or so. I was just curious as to whether they follow Livingston or Scottish football in general. I can think of many Wycombe goalkeepers I’ve seen play less than that.
He may well be for all I know, but I’ll bet he doesn’t know as much about Strychek as Gary Holt, former Wanderer and ex-manager of Livingston who is one of those who recommended Max to GA. Of the two, I know whose judgment I would trust.
Yes agreed but no other keeper has been in a FA cup semi-final for Wycombe. Taylor obviously didn’t achieve promotion to the Championship with us but what a keeper he was.
Also worth mentioning that Allsop is currently plying his trade in a team currently in the play off positions in the Championship having kept 3 clean sheets in 4 matches for them this season.
Given the general apathy shown to him during his time with us, perhaps we aren’t really the best judges when it comes to goalkeepers…
(Although Martin Taylor was, almost beyond dispute, the best goalkeeper I have seen play for us over more than a handful of games. Admittedly, John Maskell was ‘better than Yashin’, but…)
@bookertease I write about football for a living, so tend to watch a lot of football. The Livingston games against Celtic and Rangers tend to be televised and as with any game, certain players stick in your mind.
@Wendoverman being wrong is a regular occurrence for me, or so my girlfriend tells me.
@glasshalfempty when did you see these 12 games? Max has improved greatly by his own and his former manager’s admission since improving his lifestyle. You say reckless, but I would say that is potentially a good attribute. There’s a fine line between reckless and decisive. Look at arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, Alisson Becker, who makes huge errors at times and could be described as reckless at times. I’m happy for Max to be decisive and see this as a positive, we need someone to dominate his defence. The fact he is a very big physical presence (quite tall but built powerfully) will help as well. The reason Livingston ‘replaced’ him this summer was because he had made it clear he wanted to move on, nothing to do with his performance levels. He is also a very good age at 26.
To even suggest that GA and the club have not seen him play before making a permanent signing is quite frankly ridiculous. An emergency loan, maybe, but not a permanent transfer.
Good luck today Max, really looking forward to seeing you play!
I've never seen him play, had never heard of him, that's why I'm keeping an open mind.
I will say that we're replacing a keeper with a remarkable pedigree, sated with experience, for one who's perhaps more of an open book - which has its pros and cons. Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, yes he'll probably be highly motivated and yes, he's clearly very fit and strong and I expect his reaction times will be sharp. But for me a goalkeeper needs to be much more than a shot stopper. They need to dictate play, they need to be capable of seeing three moves ahead and they need to inspire confidence among the defence so that they play like buccaneers rather than with an abundance of caution.
In many ways we were spoilt with Stockdale. A Championship-quality keeper signed when at a low point in his glorious career. We won't always be able to strike it so lucky.
Perhaps Max is a reversion to the norm and so it's unfair to judge him by his predecessor's standards. If there's one thing I want to see though, it's him getting off his line and dominating his box. That should be a minimal requirement but it's not something we've seen often in Wycombe keepers (until Stockdale). If he does that I'll be happy, even if he also concedes a few howlers along the way.
Thanks for the clarification. Nice one (and yes, I think I’d need to be paid to watch Scottish football…)
(That’s not actually true. I’ve seen a couple of games when I’ve been up there with work - reminded me of Isthmian League games - only both times colder and wetter than I ever remember the likes of Green Pond Road. But not bad games overall).
I know you’ve said you’re aware that you’re against the grain here. But Stocko’s elite box management / tone management / kicking more than made up for the errors in my opinion. Exuded confidence.
Really hope Max kicks on at Wycombe. Feels like a huge opportunity for him.
Also as a goalkeeper it must be a tough ask to play well against two massive clubs in Celtic and Rangers who will have 70% plus possession and 15 plus shots in most games against Livingstone. I see of those 12 games he managed to keep a clean sheet on five occasions.
He may turn out to be an average or poor keeper for Lge1 but I’ll give him the opportunity to prove otherwise over the course of the season.
Comments
I am confident that our experienced and successful goalkeeper coach Lee Harrison knows more about Max’s ability than anyone who posts on the Gasroom.
Much as I love the guys, they are quite rightly legends and no-one recognises more than me what they've done for the Gasroom, I hope the people who hope to be proved wrong are proved wrong sooner rather than later.
I meant Nathan Bishop not Baxter.
It is widely believed that Craig MacGillivray will be leaving Charlton Athletic in this transfer window.
I don’t think being 47 is likely to be the reason why you need elaboration @glasshalfempty. I think @bookertease simply posted his comment before he’d completed it. His punctuation (including full stops at the end of sentences) is always impeccable.
Your reference (at 8.56) to Nathan Baxter, on the other hand, might give rise to slight concern !
I’m curious to know if we’ve missed out on one of @bookertease’s more profound contributions.
“Running up that hill” is surely Max’s song. Stranger things has happened.
Sorry. I am curious as to why you’ve watched Max Stryjek play so often. Do you live up that way?
Praise for my punctuation? I am suitably honoured!
And no it wasn’t, for a change, an accidental early post. When I wrote it it was meant to follow straight after @glasshalfempty mentioning that they have seen Max Stryjek play a dozen times or so. I was just curious as to whether they follow Livingston or Scottish football in general. I can think of many Wycombe goalkeepers I’ve seen play less than that.
@glasshalfempty is a decent goalkeeper to be fair
He may well be for all I know, but I’ll bet he doesn’t know as much about Strychek as Gary Holt, former Wanderer and ex-manager of Livingston who is one of those who recommended Max to GA. Of the two, I know whose judgment I would trust.
Yes agreed but no other keeper has been in a FA cup semi-final for Wycombe. Taylor obviously didn’t achieve promotion to the Championship with us but what a keeper he was.
Also worth mentioning that Allsop is currently plying his trade in a team currently in the play off positions in the Championship having kept 3 clean sheets in 4 matches for them this season.
Given the general apathy shown to him during his time with us, perhaps we aren’t really the best judges when it comes to goalkeepers…
(Although Martin Taylor was, almost beyond dispute, the best goalkeeper I have seen play for us over more than a handful of games. Admittedly, John Maskell was ‘better than Yashin’, but…)
Apologies for mis-spelling above (thanks again to predictive text) of our new keeper’s surname.
@peterparrotface you are too kind.
@bookertease I write about football for a living, so tend to watch a lot of football. The Livingston games against Celtic and Rangers tend to be televised and as with any game, certain players stick in your mind.
@Wendoverman being wrong is a regular occurrence for me, or so my girlfriend tells me.
@glasshalfempty when did you see these 12 games? Max has improved greatly by his own and his former manager’s admission since improving his lifestyle. You say reckless, but I would say that is potentially a good attribute. There’s a fine line between reckless and decisive. Look at arguably the best goalkeeper in the world, Alisson Becker, who makes huge errors at times and could be described as reckless at times. I’m happy for Max to be decisive and see this as a positive, we need someone to dominate his defence. The fact he is a very big physical presence (quite tall but built powerfully) will help as well. The reason Livingston ‘replaced’ him this summer was because he had made it clear he wanted to move on, nothing to do with his performance levels. He is also a very good age at 26.
To even suggest that GA and the club have not seen him play before making a permanent signing is quite frankly ridiculous. An emergency loan, maybe, but not a permanent transfer.
Good luck today Max, really looking forward to seeing you play!
I've never seen him play, had never heard of him, that's why I'm keeping an open mind.
I will say that we're replacing a keeper with a remarkable pedigree, sated with experience, for one who's perhaps more of an open book - which has its pros and cons. Yes, everyone has to start somewhere, yes he'll probably be highly motivated and yes, he's clearly very fit and strong and I expect his reaction times will be sharp. But for me a goalkeeper needs to be much more than a shot stopper. They need to dictate play, they need to be capable of seeing three moves ahead and they need to inspire confidence among the defence so that they play like buccaneers rather than with an abundance of caution.
In many ways we were spoilt with Stockdale. A Championship-quality keeper signed when at a low point in his glorious career. We won't always be able to strike it so lucky.
Perhaps Max is a reversion to the norm and so it's unfair to judge him by his predecessor's standards. If there's one thing I want to see though, it's him getting off his line and dominating his box. That should be a minimal requirement but it's not something we've seen often in Wycombe keepers (until Stockdale). If he does that I'll be happy, even if he also concedes a few howlers along the way.
Good that Gary Holt is being more helpful than when he flounced out of the club in a massive strop
"They need to think about whether they want an unhappy Gary Holt around"
You do appreciate, @aloysius, that we are Wycombe so are unlikely to be able to compete for the best world class GKs?
We can, and do, compete for league 1 level GKs with potential to be stars.
Occasionally we manage to sign real gems - and that's what makes supporting WWFC so much fun.
(For GKs substitute any playing position).
Off the top of my head from last season....
Morecombe at home first goal
Burton at home goal
Sheffield Wednesday away first goal
Sunderland at home 3rd goal
Mk 2nd leg goal
Sunderland at Wembley first goal.
Hugely unpopular opinion, but I was happy he went.
Thanks for the clarification. Nice one (and yes, I think I’d need to be paid to watch Scottish football…)
(That’s not actually true. I’ve seen a couple of games when I’ve been up there with work - reminded me of Isthmian League games - only both times colder and wetter than I ever remember the likes of Green Pond Road. But not bad games overall).
I know you’ve said you’re aware that you’re against the grain here. But Stocko’s elite box management / tone management / kicking more than made up for the errors in my opinion. Exuded confidence.
Really hope Max kicks on at Wycombe. Feels like a huge opportunity for him.
Also as a goalkeeper it must be a tough ask to play well against two massive clubs in Celtic and Rangers who will have 70% plus possession and 15 plus shots in most games against Livingstone. I see of those 12 games he managed to keep a clean sheet on five occasions.
He may turn out to be an average or poor keeper for Lge1 but I’ll give him the opportunity to prove otherwise over the course of the season.
I do appreciate that, which is why you've basically paraphrased everything I just said.
Yes I probably should of added, his commandment and distribution was superb.
You make him sound virtually biblical @bigred87.
You must have been in raptures watching Dickinson for the first 5 games then, being so delighted Stockdale went.🤣
.
Expletive deleted?
Max Looks a fantastic signing 👏
Who knew a quality keeper made a difference!
excellent debut showing