Does Bettinelli save anything?

I can’t understand singling him out. He’s no Randolph that’s for sure, but makes some good saves, some mistakes, basically a typical Champ keeper, does the job for where we are.
Kept us at 2-1 yesterday with a point blank save.
 
He has made a small handful of good saves all season. I have watched last nights so called good saves, they were not the saves of a good reactive well positioned goalie. He flaps his arms around and the ball hit him, in part luck rather than controlled reaction. His positioning at free kicks leaves much too much goal exposed at one side. He is reliant totally on the wall more often than not.

I have long since stated that for me goalkeepers do not get the credit they deserve. Good ones like Schwarzer, Dimi etc command their area, catch the ball, exude confidence to their defenders, reduce panic. When they make a save they hold on to the ball or parry it clear away from the goal, if they punch they get distance. Bettinelli does none of this. His attributes are good kicking and time wasting, it is really not enough. A good keeper really does add points turning defeats into draws and draws into wins. I am sure if the big aussie, Pearsy mk1, Dimi or Randolph were in goal this season we would at least be 6th or maybe even better.

Bettinelli must return to Fulham come May and we need to source a decent, commanding keeper, as Archer is not good enough to fill the void (Yes, I have seen him several times before anyone goes down that route and he is iffy too).
 
He has made a small handful of good saves all season. I have watched last nights so called good saves, they were not the saves of a good reactive well positioned goalie. He flaps his arms around and the ball hit him, in part luck rather than controlled reaction. His positioning at free kicks leaves much too much goal exposed at one side. He is reliant totally on the wall more often than not.

I have long since stated that for me goalkeepers do not get the credit they deserve. Good ones like Schwarzer, Dimi etc command their area, catch the ball, exude confidence to their defenders, reduce panic. When they make a save they hold on to the ball or parry it clear away from the goal, if they punch they get distance. Bettinelli does none of this. His attributes are good kicking and time wasting, it is really not enough. A good keeper really does add points turning defeats into draws and draws into wins. I am sure if the big aussie, Pearsy mk1, Dimi or Randolph were in goal this season we would at least be 6th or maybe even better.

Bettinelli must return to Fulham come May and we need to source a decent, commanding keeper, as Archer is not good enough to fill the void (Yes, I have seen him several times before anyone goes down that route and he is iffy too).



Totally agree Coluka
Bettinelli probably won't go back to Fulham as his contract is up, but I hope we don't get him on a free
 
I wish we had gone for Neil Etheridge before he went to Birmingham. If they go down, we should be straight in for him.

Oh yes, the guy who punched a corner into his own net and then managed to parry a shot into the top of his own net in the game at St Andrews.

Yes, let's go for him, especially if we want to be in a relegation battle.
 
Criticised for not saving anything but then criticised for the saves he does make - which help us keep hold of two points - because he hasn't saved them in convincing enough fashion? It puts me in mind of the time Leroy Lita got loads of flak on here because he 'almost' missed a penalty. He scored it and we won. Bettinelli had saves to make. He made them and we won.

I'm not going to argue that he's a great goalkeeper or anything like it but I think he's a bog standard second-tier 'keeper who is decent enough for us this season, for what we're trying to do. Long term we could do better if we have a look around but I really don't think he's as bad as some are making out. And for people to be saying bring back Steele, blimey! This board was littered with threads and posts hammering Steele for months on end when he played for Boro. And every time he dropped a clanger for Sunderland and/or Brighton. Short memories, etc.

Bettinelli isn't great but he isn't sh*t either. It is possible to just be fine. And if our defence is as tight as it was earlier in the season, which hopefully it will be once Fry is back, then we won't have many issues with him. In my opinion.
 
Bettinelli seemed to be poorly positioned for their goal but did palm out their scrambled effort which was destined for goal.

#UTB
 
Criticised for not saving anything but then criticised for the saves he does make - which help us keep hold of two points - because he hasn't saved them in convincing enough fashion? It puts me in mind of the time Leroy Lita got loads of flak on here because he 'almost' missed a penalty. He scored it and we won. Bettinelli had saves to make. He made them and we won.

I'm not going to argue that he's a great goalkeeper or anything like it but I think he's a bog standard second-tier 'keeper who is decent enough for us this season, for what we're trying to do. Long term we could do better if we have a look around but I really don't think he's as bad as some are making out. And for people to be saying bring back Steele, blimey! This board was littered with threads and posts hammering Steele for months on end when he played for Boro. And every time he dropped a clanger for Sunderland and/or Brighton. Short memories, etc.

Bettinelli isn't great but he isn't sh*t either. It is possible to just be fine. And if our defence is as tight as it was earlier in the season, which hopefully it will be once Fry is back, then we won't have many issues with him. In my opinion.

You certainly seem to be on your own with that opinion. It’s about looking where to improve, and the fact is, if we had a better goalkeeper I’m sure we would be in the play offs right now. He’s a poor goalie. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt for as long as I could but once he’s exposed it just shows his flaws. There isn’t many strengths either apart from being vocal and a decent kicker
 
So if we want to improve we keep Bettinelli? He isn’t good enough- end of
No, by all means change him - eventually. Right now there isn't a striker worthy of the name at the club. If there was a decent striker, then Boro would definitely be in the play off places - at least. Then change the midfield because it's not creative enough. Then change the defenders. But priorities first. A striker.

You can't be promoted when you don't score in 40% of your games, and you can't blame the goalie for that.
 
It's blatantly obvious if we want to improve, then we must replace Bettinelli.

Is he the worst keeper in the league? No

Is he a top 6 keeper in this division? No

Will he have cost us more points than saved us points come the end of the season? Most probably.

He's simply not good enough.

Ship him back to Fulham come May, and look for a replacement.
 
We had one of the best goals against columns in the division until very recently. Fry being out is massive, and we had Dijksteel out as well. Tav is another massive miss because he helps the defence push out and get organised. We've conceded goals since the injuries. How did we have such a good goals against column prior to our best players getting injured if Bettinelli was/is such a bad goalkeeper? Or is he just an ordinary 'keeper who has been exposed by the defence in front of him being disrupted through injuries to key players?

Our problem is sticking chances away. Replace Assombalonga with a good striker - Bamford, as if we sold him FFS - and this team would be in the play-offs looking at the automatic places. The issue is scoring goals. Of course Boro can improve on what they have, goalkeeper included, but the priority has to be in attack. Bettinelli was fine for us until five or six weeks ago.
 
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