Smithies or Etheridge?

Who will be Neil's first choice this coming season do you think?

Will Etheridge be able to break into the team after coming back from international duty?

Etheridge, no brainer!

I’d keep faith with Etheridge, sure he had is dodgy moments last season but overall he was solid between the sticks

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

IMO, Etheridge is in possession of the jersey and it's up to Smithies to show he deserves it more.
Etheridge to start as first choice, but will be under immense pressure to retain it, which is a good situation for the club to be in.
Competition for places is a good thing.

IMO, Etheridge is in possession of the jersey and it's up to Smithies to show he deserves it more.
Etheridge to start as first choice, but will be under immense pressure to retain it, which is a good situation for the club to be in.
Competition for places is a good thing.

I agree competition for places is a good thing and I suppose I am putting myself out there to be shot down as negative now but if Neil had a limited budget do you think he really needed to blow £4 Million + very good wages on a Goalkeeper to ultimately sit on the bench.

Personally and I'm not saying I'm right, just an opinion, but I would have just gone with Etheridge with Camp and Murphy as back up and put that money into strengthening more needed parts of the squad, ie up top and midfield.

And its for that reason I think Smithies will be his number one and I think Warnock has been very astute in his transfer dealing so far and wouldn't have spent that money on Smithies unless he was going to start him.

We will see.

I bet they get 45mins each Saturday and he interesting.

Atm Etheridge has to be the one.

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

Disagree, keeper is to important position to not have two capable players. What if Etheridge broke his leg a day after the window closed? Or if Etheridge lost form. We need two capable keepers without a doubt. Other outfield positions you can move people about but not in goals.

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

Disagree, keeper is to important position to not have two capable players. What if Etheridge broke his leg a day after the window closed? Or if Etheridge lost form. We need two capable keepers without a doubt. Other outfield positions you can move people about but not in goals.

i wasnt suggesting not having cover just not spending 4 million quid..no idea where you conjured that from tbh..

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

Disagree, keeper is to important position to not have two capable players. What if Etheridge broke his leg a day after the window closed? Or if Etheridge lost form. We need two capable keepers without a doubt. Other outfield positions you can move people about but not in goals.

i wasnt suggesting not having cover just not spending 4 million quid..no idea where you conjured that from tbh..

Your such a sentive sole aren't you

You didn't say either way. Decent quality usually costs.

I don't see why Etheridge should be dropped, show he was more than capable and was solid as Marshall was in our promotion season.

Did he have dodgy moments last season? Bar his kicking which I thought around Leeds away improved tremendously.

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

Disagree, keeper is to important position to not have two capable players. What if Etheridge broke his leg a day after the window closed? Or if Etheridge lost form. We need two capable keepers without a doubt. Other outfield positions you can move people about but not in goals.

i wasnt suggesting not having cover just not spending 4 million quid..no idea where you conjured that from tbh..

Your such a sentive sole aren't you

You didn't say either way. Decent quality usually costs.

no your right i didnt...nxt time i agree with someones post ill spell it out that we could have signed any number of young keepers as cover who had run contracts down or kept Camp and Murphy just not spent 4 mill that could be spent elsewhere.

4m isn’t much, I think it was a decent signing, at the time I thought he would start the first game but I think etheridge will now

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

Disagree, keeper is to important position to not have two capable players. What if Etheridge broke his leg a day after the window closed? Or if Etheridge lost form. We need two capable keepers without a doubt. Other outfield positions you can move people about but not in goals.

i wasnt suggesting not having cover just not spending 4 million quid..no idea where you conjured that from tbh..

Your such a sentive sole aren't you

You didn't say either way. Decent quality usually costs.

We could have brought in a decent cover for a fraction of the cost of what Smithies cost in a fee and his wages though surely and used the surplus to strengthen the rest of the squad.

It'e been reported as a £3.5-£4 Million transfer fee and he has got to be on about £15-20k a week I reckon.

I think he will be Warnocks number 1.

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

Disagree, keeper is to important position to not have two capable players. What if Etheridge broke his leg a day after the window closed? Or if Etheridge lost form. We need two capable keepers without a doubt. Other outfield positions you can move people about but not in goals.

I totally agree. It would be suicide not to have quality cover in such a specialist and critical position, especially with Etheridge away in the New Year. Quality was always going to cost. Sensible signing.

Etheridge to start - he deserves to do so.

I’d start with Etheridge as he’s performed admirably to date.

When you take into account loss of form, injuries, suspensions and international commitments, I can see the logic in having two good keepers as we’re likely to be in a predicament where every league point gained is vital.

We should never have bought Smithies IMO but he will surely be Warnocks number 1 now.

I can't imagine we blew £4 million out of our relatively small budget on a goalkeeper who will no doubt be commanding a very good wage as well to sit on the bench and play second fiddle.

Especially when other parts of the squad needed strengthening far more IMO.

im a big fan of Etheridge so didnt much understand this signing either...i hope he gets the shirt but you make a good point.

Disagree, keeper is to important position to not have two capable players. What if Etheridge broke his leg a day after the window closed? Or if Etheridge lost form. We need two capable keepers without a doubt. Other outfield positions you can move people about but not in goals.

i wasnt suggesting not having cover just not spending 4 million quid..no idea where you conjured that from tbh..

Your such a sentive sole aren't you

You didn't say either way. Decent quality usually costs.

no your right i didnt...nxt time i agree with someones post ill spell it out that we could have signed any number of young keepers as cover who had run contracts down or kept Camp and Murphy just not spent 4 mill that could be spent elsewhere.

No it's fine ill use my crystal ball

I think it would be suicidal to go into the season with Camp and Murphy or a young untested keeper for the reasons above.

IMO, Etheridge is in possession of the jersey and it's up to Smithies to show he deserves it more.
Etheridge to start as first choice, but will be under immense pressure to retain it, which is a good situation for the club to be in.
Competition for places is a good thing.

I agree competition for places is a good thing and I suppose I am putting myself out there to be shot down as negative now but if Neil had a limited budget do you think he really needed to blow £4 Million + very good wages on a Goalkeeper to ultimately sit on the bench.

Personally and I'm not saying I'm right, just an opinion, but I would have just gone with Etheridge with Camp and Murphy as back up and put that money into strengthening more needed parts of the squad, ie up top and midfield.

And its for that reason I think Smithies will be his number one and I think Warnock has been very astute in his transfer dealing so far and wouldn't have spent that money on Smithies unless he was going to start him.

We will see.

I defo see your point. But don't we loose ethridge for a month at some point? It may be very worth it then.

I was saying the same about Murphy yesterday,he may turn out to be a great signing, but was a winger a priority over a cm? Should we have focussed the largest portion of our budget where our squad is weaker or was he banking on grujic?

IMO, Etheridge is in possession of the jersey and it's up to Smithies to show he deserves it more.
Etheridge to start as first choice, but will be under immense pressure to retain it, which is a good situation for the club to be in.
Competition for places is a good thing.

I agree competition for places is a good thing and I suppose I am putting myself out there to be shot down as negative now but if Neil had a limited budget do you think he really needed to blow £4 Million + very good wages on a Goalkeeper to ultimately sit on the bench.

Personally and I'm not saying I'm right, just an opinion, but I would have just gone with Etheridge with Camp and Murphy as back up and put that money into strengthening more needed parts of the squad, ie up top and midfield.

And its for that reason I think Smithies will be his number one and I think Warnock has been very astute in his transfer dealing so far and wouldn't have spent that money on Smithies unless he was going to start him.

We will see.

I defo see your point. But don't we loose ethridge for a month at some point? It may be very worth it then.

I was saying the same about Murphy yesterday,he may turn out to be a great signing, but was a winger a priority over a cm? Should we have focussed the largest portion of our budget where our squad is weaker or was he banking on grujic?

I agree with this, obviously we don't know the budget until the window closes but for me the priority initially had to be to get a keeper in and strengthen central midfielder first.

I really hope it is Etheridge.

Throughout last season Etheridge grew into the position and I can see him doing that this season. Only problem I see is that Smithie could distract Etheridge like Camp did last season. Camps departure saw Etheridge grow in confidence. With smithie in the background I just hope it doesn't backfire.