Did anyone else notice, amid the general celebrations at the end, Max being escorted across the pitch by two stewards after pointedly waving to the Derby fans behind the goal?
His 20 yard passes to Grimmer etc are always accurate and there was one occasion yesterday when he actually bowled the ball out overarm, cricket fashion, towards Obita or JJ.
Every week we re-visit this thread I come back to how the hell did we find him? When we procrastinated about Bishop there was a note somewhere that said 'Max is ok'. The lack of momentum at the start of the season was largely due to our lack of confidence in our keeper following the massive loss of David Stockdale. Its a shame we didn't give up on Bishop at the first sign of problems signing him.
But we didn’t procrastinate about signing Bishop. He trained with us for at least a week, had lined up accommodation in the area and was set to make his debut on the opening day before Manchester United changed their mind. You can’t legislate for an eventuality like that, except in hindsight.
I wouldn’t trade Max in for any other keeper in the EFL right now to be honest. Statistically, you could argue Cooper from Plymouth, but he’s out injured for the season now.
For all of you who think Max is the GOAT, as I believe young people say, I'm interested in hearing this. How many exceptional saves has he made this season?
There's an argument to be made that his command of the box has often prevented shots from coming in, which I accept. But I would argue Max's clean sheets and strong performances are mostly down to an exceptional defensive season, where a combination of Mawson, Tafazoli, Grimmer and JJ in particular, combined with a truly exceptional Scowen, have done such a fine job that Max rarely faces a goalscoring threat.
I thought we'd finally see him properly tested on Sat with the ball raining in but even without any centre backs on the pitch we still prevented all but the two goals and a handful of tame shots. The credit for that goes to an exceptionally well drilled defensive line, in my view. Further evidence: they even made Tyla Dickinson look good enough at the start of the season for some of the people on here to say he deserved to stay between the sticks all campaign...
@ReturnToSenda Is that true, oh stats guru...? (rhetorical)
I've been wondering how he's been matching up. There are some decent keepers in this league, so it's good to know his stats are solid (obviously decent clean sheet record). I think @Chris makes a good point, he doesn't come across as 'spectacular' because he doesn't need to. I don't want to jinx anything, but he rarely fumbles long shots. And as for howlers, I can only remember one time all season when he's got himself in trouble, or been put in trouble, where he hasn't immediately rectified the situation - the pen at Oxford. And even there, one could say he rectified things with his double save, even after giving away the penalty.
On the Plymouth forum they posted goalkeeper ratings from a site (can't remember which one) and Max was in third. Whichever way you dice it he is elite in this division.
Here. Go to PLAYER then scroll down to GOALKEEPING and sort by GOALS PREVENTED RATE (and ignore the four above Max as they've not played a meaningful number of minutes). Goals prevented is the best indicator of shot-stopping ability as it actually takes into account the quality of the shots faced (I'm not gonna get into it as it's not appreciated on here, but it's based on post-shot xG, a measure of finishing quality).
One of the finest goalkeepers, this country has ever produced, Gordon Banks, was renowned for his positional sense, rather than making spectacular saves (the brilliant, save against Pele, of course, being exception that proves the rule).
The other thing that impresses me about Max is the way a high percentage of the shots at him stick to his gloves - no follow ups
Overall, yeah, but I think once you factor in that he's not played the whole season, he comes out on top. Besides, most of us can tell and appreciate how good he is regardless...
I'm surprised by how many diving catches he makes. Considering he started out with Sunderland, you'd think it would have been coached out of him. You rarely see it these days!
I know your MO is a more subtle form of Dev C's "take the opposite view to the extreme", but it's pretty mad to question his saves. He's produced a lot of brilliant ones.
I still think branding him our 2nd best keeper ever is way too soon, but he's definitely better than second half of the season Stockdale and has been a really sharp signing.
Dickinson never once looked good enough, there's truth that the defence kept him hidden. But to say Max has been the same case is a head scratcher. For one thing we've barely had our first choice centre back combo available most of the season!
Max has presence . You get the impression he’s totally in control of his area and winding up the opposition fans to pass the time, long may this continue.
Comments
He's absolutely outstanding. His kicking was superb yesterday too. He's a Championship keeper. No doubt.
It's an impressive mouthful, but I believe the winner in Germany at least is Spielvereinigung Windischeschenbach in the 8th tier of German football.
Max is already close to my all time top ten.
Did anyone else notice, amid the general celebrations at the end, Max being escorted across the pitch by two stewards after pointedly waving to the Derby fans behind the goal?
Pierre vs Hylton
Gareth vs Derek
Bayo vs Mousinho
His 20 yard passes to Grimmer etc are always accurate and there was one occasion yesterday when he actually bowled the ball out overarm, cricket fashion, towards Obita or JJ.
Or did I dream that ?
His kicking was great on the weekend. Now he's got that to a much more consistent place you can't really fault him.
For me he has been the best signing of the season. Unsung Hero.
He's hardly an unsung hero!
Every week we re-visit this thread I come back to how the hell did we find him? When we procrastinated about Bishop there was a note somewhere that said 'Max is ok'. The lack of momentum at the start of the season was largely due to our lack of confidence in our keeper following the massive loss of David Stockdale. Its a shame we didn't give up on Bishop at the first sign of problems signing him.
But we didn’t procrastinate about signing Bishop. He trained with us for at least a week, had lined up accommodation in the area and was set to make his debut on the opening day before Manchester United changed their mind. You can’t legislate for an eventuality like that, except in hindsight.
I wouldn’t trade Max in for any other keeper in the EFL right now to be honest. Statistically, you could argue Cooper from Plymouth, but he’s out injured for the season now.
For all of you who think Max is the GOAT, as I believe young people say, I'm interested in hearing this. How many exceptional saves has he made this season?
There's an argument to be made that his command of the box has often prevented shots from coming in, which I accept. But I would argue Max's clean sheets and strong performances are mostly down to an exceptional defensive season, where a combination of Mawson, Tafazoli, Grimmer and JJ in particular, combined with a truly exceptional Scowen, have done such a fine job that Max rarely faces a goalscoring threat.
I thought we'd finally see him properly tested on Sat with the ball raining in but even without any centre backs on the pitch we still prevented all but the two goals and a handful of tame shots. The credit for that goes to an exceptionally well drilled defensive line, in my view. Further evidence: they even made Tyla Dickinson look good enough at the start of the season for some of the people on here to say he deserved to stay between the sticks all campaign...
Swallow your pride!
The good thing about Max is he doesn’t need to make spectacular saves, he makes things look easy by being in the right place.
He is, by almost every measure, one of the very best 'keepers in League One. Only Mike Cooper rivals him, for me (and he's out for the season anyway).
@ReturnToSenda Is that true, oh stats guru...? (rhetorical)
I've been wondering how he's been matching up. There are some decent keepers in this league, so it's good to know his stats are solid (obviously decent clean sheet record). I think @Chris makes a good point, he doesn't come across as 'spectacular' because he doesn't need to. I don't want to jinx anything, but he rarely fumbles long shots. And as for howlers, I can only remember one time all season when he's got himself in trouble, or been put in trouble, where he hasn't immediately rectified the situation - the pen at Oxford. And even there, one could say he rectified things with his double save, even after giving away the penalty.
Love
him
to
bits
Has anyone ever seen Max and Owen Farrell in the same room?!
I’m beginning to think @aloysius is the goat (but confess I neither know nor care what the acronym stands for).
You must be kidding?
On the Plymouth forum they posted goalkeeper ratings from a site (can't remember which one) and Max was in third. Whichever way you dice it he is elite in this division.
Here. Go to PLAYER then scroll down to GOALKEEPING and sort by GOALS PREVENTED RATE (and ignore the four above Max as they've not played a meaningful number of minutes). Goals prevented is the best indicator of shot-stopping ability as it actually takes into account the quality of the shots faced (I'm not gonna get into it as it's not appreciated on here, but it's based on post-shot xG, a measure of finishing quality).
One of the finest goalkeepers, this country has ever produced, Gordon Banks, was renowned for his positional sense, rather than making spectacular saves (the brilliant, save against Pele, of course, being exception that proves the rule).
The other thing that impresses me about Max is the way a high percentage of the shots at him stick to his gloves - no follow ups
Greatest Of All Time.
Cheers @ReturnToSenda - so he is also 2nd in goals prevented after Cooper too. Nice!
Overall, yeah, but I think once you factor in that he's not played the whole season, he comes out on top. Besides, most of us can tell and appreciate how good he is regardless...
I'm surprised by how many diving catches he makes. Considering he started out with Sunderland, you'd think it would have been coached out of him. You rarely see it these days!
I know your MO is a more subtle form of Dev C's "take the opposite view to the extreme", but it's pretty mad to question his saves. He's produced a lot of brilliant ones.
I still think branding him our 2nd best keeper ever is way too soon, but he's definitely better than second half of the season Stockdale and has been a really sharp signing.
Dickinson never once looked good enough, there's truth that the defence kept him hidden. But to say Max has been the same case is a head scratcher. For one thing we've barely had our first choice centre back combo available most of the season!
Max has presence . You get the impression he’s totally in control of his area and winding up the opposition fans to pass the time, long may this continue.
i think our defence are scared to make any mistakes in front of him!
Seriously, he is something of a real bonus find and a real part of why we are still in the mix.