R4 vs Brisbane Roar | Sat 28th Oct | 7:35pm | RoF

100% agree - it's old school but I'd still like to see him running the channels a lot more.

Not sure I agree with the Smith angst. Did Moss or any of our other keepers ever have error free games?. The kid has had only four A-League games. He has some very good aspects in his game and a few things that need some work. No doubt the coaches are working on his play all week......would you rather have Italiano? do you think his game is better? As long as Smith keeps his head in the right place he will become a very good A-League keeper.

I too hope that Smith does not get into Social media...its become  a purile cesspit of misinformation, spite and venom. I am starting to find the less time I spend on it the happier I am.

I am amazed we managed to attract the big K as our no 9. This guy could get to 15+ goals this season. He still is not completely gelling with the rest of the team but he appears to have a strikers nose for goal. Can't see him staying if he has a big season with us

I’m a keeper myself. It’s definitely true that Moss made tons of errors - but to me Smith’s errors have all come from quite basic saves where you’d really expect an A-League keeper to be in 100% control. Like when he pushed the ball into the post for the Brisbane goal - Marinovic got absolutely torn into for doing near the same thing in the MLS a week or two back, and rightly so. Not to mention dropping the ball a lot - fine if it’s scarce, but i’d say more than half of Smith’s catches today he didn’t have under full control (including the spill that almost went over the line). I can’t help but think that Italiano would make a lot less mistakes in this situation. In addition - in pretty much every situation where it’s likely an error will be made, he makes an error. Doesn’t fill the team with much confidence I presume. So I’m really scared that Smith will be the weak link in our team, we can visibly see that he’s improving and learning every game though so hopefully by the end of the season this debate doesn’t need to happen :)

But - don’t get me wrong - I’m loving to see Smith start! It fills me with hope that Kalezić is in this to develop young talent, and no doubt Smith will become class one day. I’m certainly not one of his haters, his composure is class for any keeper in the league and he obviously wants to be there. And let me say i fudgeing loved the jab at Maccarone, a guy old enough to be his dad. But for me - let him find his feet in the Premiership, give Italiano a chance. Because, disregarding age and being completely honest - he’s just not good enough (yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). So I think it’s time to end the Smith experiment and let’s see if Italiano can do any better.

It’s resulting in a lot of social media hate from the Aussies which really stinks to see, I completely agree with you there. Ditched twitter a few months ago because of the toxicity. 

And about AK9, he looks class but he needs to up his workrstes and find space for himself. For a big man the guy can dribble, shouldn’t have too much trouble doing that

Unfortunately Smith seems to be in a catch-22 situation:

Nervous --> Mistakes --> Public scapegoat --> Nervous --> Mistakes... and on it goes from here, hence my previous statement that he needs to be protected and enabled to improve both physically and mentally by the team.

I also agree that some of his mistakes have been fairly basic - but I don't think any of us can understand just how the kid might feel - I mean, can you imagine playing at this level at his age? And not only that, being the goalkeeper, arguably the role with the most accountability out of the whole team??!!

I'm just not sure chucking him in from the first game was a good idea, even two or three games on the bench would have given him an opportunity to acquaint himself with the professional game as opposed to being thrown in. It also would have given Italiano a chance to prove himself in a competitive setting, which is probably fair to him having been on the bench for most of his career...

I would repeat: none of Smith's mistakes in the R4 games were the problem. None of them gave away a goal - he made a mighty effort to get to the 2nd (free kick) and it was his sleepy defence's fault for not clearing it (hate it when that happens). So why is 80% of the talk on this thread about Smith and not Fox/Mullen/Doyle, or indeed Bloody Useless Guy Finkler?

If the Krishna/Kalu partnership gets some understanding that will be a good start..! It'd be great to see 25 goals plus from these two.

Targets for last game angst:

Fox/Mullen/Doyle- our 4th or 5th choice back line? Fox should have gone to CB possibly with Doyle to left and Abbas to the other side.

Finkler (super super rusty. Made Watson look rather dynamic)

Gillet. Lost control early on and didn't care. Welcome to the A league Mr. Paracki. 

and also- Abbas. Hate to say it. He looked great at times and was a good pick up I think, but we lost our way when BKF switched to his wing and two of the balls in from that side resulted in goals. 

I suppose we could be annoyed with Ridenton for giving away the penalty, though it looked to me like he got ball and Gillet was only too happy to give it a pen.

and sure, Smith. Just with out more ball players directly in front of him we didn't seem able to play out as we have done and didn't hold possession the way we did against Sydney or other teams. Only can really fault him for the second goal. 

Smith isn't an experiment, its a process.

Kalezić wants to make finals this year no doubt but I don't think he believes were likely to get win anything this season, he's targeting next season and wants us to be serious contenders then. Given that is the case (if it is) I think he'll persist with Smith, giving him the experience he needs to progress as rapidly as possible so that next season he is the complete package. We will try to make the finals this year with Smith (or in spite of Smith as will hopefully not be the case) but Smith seems like a project with an eye for the future more than just the next round.

Mat Ryan had some struggles in his first season look where he is now, I think that's the hope for Smith and he seems like he has the potential to get there, especially in the system we want to play where ball playing ability as an out field player seems to be as important as shot stopping in the Kalezić's evaluation of keepers. 

Your topic was too factual, so we felt uncomfortable. As a result it was quickly shifted sideways to something more speculative, with no basis in any facts, to relax us nicely.

I agree, and I made the very same point on this forum after our first game against Adelaide.  That was the game where Abbas sucked like a Hoover and AK9 was the embodiment of the Walking Dead, but all the angst was about Keegan-Smith.

... because he animated the croud after his first goal.

I think Smith is there for good and he can no longer be treated as an experiment. I think all of the criticism [if it should really be called that] has been made and he has survived against a couple of the top teams in the competition. My heart goes in my mouth every so often when watching him but I am also full of admiration for the young fella and really hope he kicks onto something special. I'm particularly impressed by his composure and readiness to play it out from the back with the short pass, I also sense that the team doesn't seem to mind doing that with him either. I hope there is a lot of encouragement being given by his team mates. I think he might get a bit of a cult following - I'm now a fan. 

Bit of a long bow, but sheesh, Josh Max Verstappen wasn't even old enough to qualify for a normal driving licence or drink alcohol when he had his first start in Formula 1. He's been brash, made some mistakes, been exciting to watch and matched up or bettered his team mate. The F1 world regards him as the most exciting thing they've seen for years.

If a Verstappen can handle F1, mentally, then Smith can handle the A League.  I don't see that he's going to be bothered by what I or anyone else has to say.  And despite the comments on here, he's not looked nervous to me.  Quite the opposite.

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and at least Smith's turned up, for a lot more games than Rossi and Durante

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I'm with asmodeus_82

imho Smith's good enough now (I've watched Paston drop more balls in a game than Smith, and Moss often didnt even come for them)

but 

Smith's potential for next year and beyond is what we are really focused on.

I hope we get him on a decent contract and get a transfer fee for him a couple of years down the track. Because, for me, he is the stand-out so far of the kiwi kids. Not the finished product, doesn't guarantee he will be a big success, but I think there is a case to say he is the most exciting up and come-r. And I'd rather back a developing talent than have some A League level ordinary holding him out. And I'm happy the coaching staff have made that call.

Max Verstapen you mean, Jos is his old man and was distinctly mediocre in an Arrows in the late 90s.

Jos is also brash but let's his fists do the talking rather than his driving like his son.

If trying not to lose is going up 3-0, nearly 4, can we come out each week trying not to lose?

yep, I've fixed and been fixed.

Verstappen though. ;)

Point is, all this talk about Smith being young and needing to be protected, developing in a lesser league.  I'm not buying it.

Another topic, I thought the VAR was handled alright that night, at least from my seat or did I missed something? The McGlinchey offside goal was called by the linesman and the pen checked by the VAR, right?

This exactly. I shouldn't have called him an experiment tbf, maybe he was against Adelaide but now he's a long term project that i know will pay off. There's a reason Cahill spouted praise for him all over social media, and he's getting a lot of respect from the pundits now. Yeah of course he's shaky as fudge and maybe not at the level we want for the Nix but he's definitely got his qualities and I'm excited to see him develop!

They didn't rely on the VAR.

What annoyed me was I couldn’t celebrate the 2nd goal. I was watching and thought “ooo that looked a bit offside” - so wasn’t sure the goal would be awarded until the teams kicked off. By which time the moment had well and truly passed, so instead of my reaction being to celebrate wildly, it was a lame sigh of relief. 

Robbing spectators of the sudden joy and elation of their team scoring a goal while they wait for a robotic VAR process is a massive downside to the system. Much like the massive buzzkill whenever a try in the NRL is checked, or when a wicket goes to the DRS in cricket. 

Totally. Also it speaks volumes to me that VAR has attracted its own little sponsorship arrangement so that now we get commentators excitedly hyping "a Maccas VAR break!". Both FFA and McDonalds are obviously not blind to its gimmick potential and plug it without shame, which makes me believe that all this stuff about wanting to lead the footballing world with VAR technology is utter rubbish, and actually just a knee jerk marketing reaction to diminishing TV audiences and falling crowds. Why can't they just let some other league do the experimenting instead of making the A League a petri dish? They've been making a dogs breakfast of officiating for years; what on earth makes them think they will do VAR any better?

I'm 100% in the same boat but I also don't think we should pretend that we don't feel a bit vulnerable at present defensively - and Smith's lack of experience is definitely part of that.  I support what the coaches are doing 100% but I do think he's made two small but important mistakes for the goal last week and second this week, where his first movements is forward and left meaning he is slow to go down to his right.  That save on the weekend looked good but only because he moved late, he should have been able to push that around the post easily

Jeez.  Not just cringeworthy but also with a potential for influencing the game, as in "the league gets a bonus $10K per every VAR break where sponsor's name is mentioned" so a quiet word goes out that it is "in everyone best interest" to have the VAR used often.

VAR should be dumped immediately. It is a hindrence, not a helper in decisions. It holds the games up for far too long.

Possibly. But, in the immortal words of Titanic's captain, "the boat's sunk, get over it".  Moss is long gone. The only question worth asking here is whether we would have 3 more more points if Italiano had been in the goal.  I would say we would have at least one more point, coming either from the Adelaide game or from the City game, or from the Brisbane game; but not a point each from all these games.

Moss isn't even good enough to start for Newcastle :)

And furthermore:

Do we have a goal keeper good enough to start period?