Who was our best Keeper?

Pearsy was goosed when they introduced the back pass rule. Great shot stopper but was prone to a clanger or two.
 
zzzzz said:
And thats why I never went for Schwarzer. A fantastic shot stopper but regularly had 'moments' and wasn't always in tune with the back line. Also his decision making at corners was sometimes a bit iffy.
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Though on the flip side of his howlers he was exceptional, he dropped a howler in the cup final v Bolton then made some tremendous saves to kep their score at one
 
I dont think Schwarzer made anywhere near as many howlers are some are suggesting.

Probably a combination of the sheer number of games he played for us meaning there'll inevitably be one or two that stand out and the fact that probably his biggest howler was in the biggest game of all.

I suspect his average number of mistakes per season is actually much lower than the majority of his peers.

The only time we worried about the keeper position for a decade was when he was injured. Always felt complete confidence in him.
 
Muttley said:
Ah, happy memories. The Schwarzer Conspiracy - he has a clause in his contract that says he has to play if fit, didn't you know?

Crossley was a good shot stopper and a genuinely nice guy but better than Skippy he was not. For evidence track their respective careers after leaving us.

I've seen Platt and every keeper since and without doubt in my mind Mark Schwarzer is the best we've ever had and one of the best I've ever seen. Closest would have been Shay Given. All keepers make mistakes and keeper mistakes are often costly. You have to remember that changing the rules on passing back to the keeper affected a lot of keepers and makes it difficult to compare stoppers from different eras. Would Jim Platt have been comfortable dealing with a chest high back pass from Curtis without using his hands?
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Jim Platt once scored a hat trick playing center forward for reserves. so I am quite sure he would have handled back pass rule without too much trouble. Anyway my top 3
1. Pears
2. Platt
3. Schwarzer
 
festa5 said:
I dont think Schwarzer made anywhere near as many howlers are some are suggesting.

Probably a combination of the sheer number of games he played for us meaning there'll inevitably be one or two that stand out and the fact that probably his biggest howler was in the biggest game of all.

I suspect his average number of mistakes per season is actually much lower than the majority of his peers.

The only time we worried about the keeper position for a decade was when he was injured. Always felt complete confidence in him.
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I think a few of his clangers were in his last year or so. I do remember a point were it seemed that every shot on target went in. That probably had a lot to do with what was in front of him.

I said yesterday that when he was in his prime and top of his game he was probably in the top 5-6 keepers in the prem. That was for a good 3-4yrs👍. I remember 'bigger' clubs were often linked.

I even forgive his howler in the league cup final as my brother had £50 on 2-1 and spent the lot on the lash post match (although did nothing for nerves during match).
 
Davey_C said:
Likewise we went from jason steele to shay given (shame he opted to warm stoke's bench than come here for another year or 2)

Everyone remembers schwarzer's penalty save but what about all his howlers over the years ...
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I don't buy this, Shay Given made mistakes too, I remember against Bolton away an absolute howler of a kick that he got away with. Steele had potential but lost confidence and never kicked on.

Schwarzer, of course he made some mistakes, but then he played about 1million games for us in the era when every single error was highlighted on TV. He was a far superior player to Platt, and I'm sure Jim would be the first to admit it. Schwarzer was bigger, stronger, more athletic, better at crosses and probably a better shot stopper and decision maker. Every keeper gives goals up that can be questioned, particularly when you look at the way balls swing about today. The quality of players in the prem is way way above what Platt faced in Division One. The thing that is levelled at Schwarzer is a) his kicking, it was a weakness early on as the rule changes occurred, but improved and b) 'flapping' at crosses, yet on multiple occasions he collected more crosses, and had a better cross catch % than anyone else in the premier league. He dropped a few because he came for so many, he was fairly dominant in the air.
 
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Crossley was great but he was in for a short time, Schwarzer was consistent over 10 years. I remember in his final season with us he was getting beat from outside the box more than ever, that was his poorest season for us.
 
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Pearsy is my favourite ever Boro player: top memories include his surprise inclusion vs Leicester following a long injury, and having a blinder.

However in terms of quality it probably is MS. He played for us for a decade in the top flight.
 
Frozen Horse said:
Pearsy is my favourite ever Boro player: top memories include his surprise inclusion vs Leicester following a long injury, and having a blinder.
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Was that the game where he won his personal battle with Kevin Campbell, and saved about 3 one-vs-ones against him? IIRC
 
Frozen Horse said:
Pearsy is my favourite ever Boro player: top memories include his surprise inclusion vs Leicester following a long injury, and having a blinder.

However in terms of quality it probably is MS. He played for us for a decade in the top flight.
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Pears v Campbell, Leicester who had KC on loan from Arsenal, both had blinders but Pears was practically unbeatable with Boro winning 4-1

I have the game on VHS
 
I preferred Pears to Schwarzer personally and cannot see anyone else seriously entering the frame in this often repeated poll.
 
Pears
Platt
Schwarzer

Schwarzer was always susceptible to shots close to him as he was long in leg. Ikeme had the same issues when he was on loan here.
 
BoroMart said:
Was that the game where he won his personal battle with Kevin Campbell, and saved about 3 one-vs-ones against him? IIRC
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That's the one. They'd got a young KC and Paul Kitson on loan. We won 4-1, but Campbell in particularly tore our defence a new one. Pearsy kept him out again and again.

It was a big surprise he even played; everyone though he was weeks away from fitness. Can't imagine such news going unreported today.
 
We must of had some dodgy keepers pre paul smith remember him featuring and all the lads who i go to games with saying who is this lad we've signed on loan .. get him bought

EDIT 2011 Coyne, Steele, Ripley
 
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