Neville Southall and other goalkeepers

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There is world class - Nev
There is above average - Martyn
There is average - Pickford, Howard
There is below average - Wright

Hopefully we are looking at the above average/world class type of keeper, they fill the team with confidence. I do think we have more pressing positions to sort out before the goalie though.
 
It's always going to be hard for any keeper at Everton, whilst people from the Southall era are able to watch the game. I find it laughable that people compare Shilton/Grob to Nev, as if it's even a close run thing.

Martyn? A solid if unspectacular Keeper.
Howard? Steady enough, poor at the end. "Love the club" Sorry, that's not enough. He had no right to have Robles dropped as soon as he was fit again, Robles was probably better at that point. The rest hardly merit a mention.

Pickford? Flashes of brilliance undermined by moments of madness, remove the great saves and the glaring errors and you have a 7/10 keeper. Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, football fans today see black and white, not grey.
 
The thing with Southall is he was one of a handful to play in blue that was world class,the fact that he won trophies elevates him even more,if he played that well in a team finishing mid table year after year the same aura wouldnt surround him,Baines has been one of the best full backs for a decade,outside of Goodison he isnt that highly rated,until a trophy is won then any set of players will be deemed lesser
 

It’s 50 years to ago today that the great Gordon Banks pulled off that wonder save from Pele’s header in the Mexico World Cup.
Looking back on a montage of Neville’s saves before the last home match at Goodison in March, there were some as good if not better than that save.
For a big guy, Nev was so athletic and totally commanded his area. He literally took anyone out that was in his way. I used to feel sorry for Derek Mountfield, who used to take a lot of punishment from him!!
 
I think it’s telling that you call Pickford a ‘young goalkeeper’. He isn’t really. He’s very much average age in terms of the keepers across the league, and has got loads of experience now. I think we have a habit sometimes of forgetting that players age. If someone’s young when they come into the side we act like they’re a kid for the next 5 years.

If you compare most keepers to southall they’ll fall short. Unfortunately I think Pickford falls short when compared to a lot of other keepers too.

If you're England's number 1 then you have no excuses. He has shown ability to get to that point but now he needs to kick on and work hard at the parts that let him and the team down.
 

I emigrated just before Southall arrived , therefore unfortunately never had the opportunity to see him in the flesh , only TV repeats and big matches live games !
However despite this as a disadvantage , IMO he is not only our Greatest Keeper and one of all time greatest , he was also on my list of all time x 4 Everton Greats , which I included on another Thread .
I also like to look at the team / defence he was part of , there was a numbers of Greats / winners , which has got to be an advantage to be part of a team which had a culture of winners
Whenever Everton or other great teams were successful , the Keeper and Defence were exceptional and the foundation
 
Nev was undoubtedly the best and we were lucky to have him and lucky we had Kendall who spotted his talent.

If he had been at another club we wouldn't now be comparing every goalkeeper against the best and they'd have an easier ride no doubt.

There is no reason we will ever have as good a keeper again, no reason any club might - but that doesn't mean we should stop hoping.
 

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