cumbria red wrote: ↑19 Jul 2021, 13:44
Hi Morecambe fan here. Delighted that our former keeper Mark Halstead has signed for you. Surprised he was prepared to move from his Blackpool base .
Had it not been for our former manager Adams who discarded him too quickly it's highly likely that Mark would still be with us as we enter EFL1 for the first time.. Very popular figure with the fans and highly respected throughout the club.
Doesn't smile that much and can look moody at times but he's an excellent 'keeper who will do well for you.
I assume you must of been a relative of mark halsteads after your glowing reference, on a side note he is probably the worst keeper that I have seen at plainmoor in the last 20 years so please come and take him home…..
‘Halstead really is a very good shot stopper. Perhaps one of the best we ever had. However his decision making on crosses was poor and he made a huge number of errors. Even when Adams game him a chance last season he made an error and never got another chance. Would be a good keeper if he can cut out the mistakes.’
Taken from shrimpsvoices former players thread, so how much scouting on him did we do? Were McDonald and Cov both gonna sign no matter what happened in GJ’s mind?
There’s a good goalkeeper there somewhere, but we aren’t going to get it anytime soon
CourtierGull wrote: ↑12 Sep 2021, 14:56
‘Halstead really is a very good shot stopper. Perhaps one of the best we ever had. However his decision making on crosses was poor and he made a huge number of errors. Even when Adams game him a chance last season he made an error and never got another chance. Would be a good keeper if he can cut out the mistakes.’
Taken from shrimpsvoices former players thread, so how much scouting on him did we do? Were McDonald and Cov both gonna sign no matter what happened in GJ’s mind?
There’s a good goalkeeper there somewhere, but we aren’t going to get it anytime soon
Maybe that’s why our former Keeper Coach left. Perhaps he didn’t have any options for GJ when Cov and Mac left… meaning a very short and desperate attempt to sign a free agent. Very disappointing if this is the case.
I do not think you can compare goalkeepers and most certainly not at our level, each has strengths, and certainly weaknesses. both Mcdonald and Covolan were capable of pretty poor decision making at times. Mcdonald lacked the ability to focus for 90 minutes and if he ever gets a club it will be national leagiue north at best.Covolan was a better all round keeper but you needed to feed him prozac before a game to calm his south american temperament. Halstead could not have been researched at all before signing , the season had ended weeks before and if we had won promotion we could have undoubtedly put a good package for Covolan to stay, Halstead at best was a few phone calls to so called trusted acquaintances and the odd promotional video .In context we cannot afford a scouting system, not many can at this level and Johnson is too old in the tooth to take in the three games a week looking for poterntial gems. His brother, our scout has very little experience of football, Johnson obviously gives him instructions on what he requires but unless you have been assoicated with the game its like asking a plasterer to fix the electrics, they will get it wrong more times than they get it right.
culmstockgull wrote: ↑12 Sep 2021, 15:44
I do not think you can compare goalkeepers and most certainly not at our level, each has strengths, and certainly weaknesses. both Mcdonald and Covolan were capable of pretty poor decision making at times. Mcdonald lacked the ability to focus for 90 minutes and if he ever gets a club it will be national leagiue north at best.Covolan was a better all round keeper but you needed to feed him prozac before a game to calm his south american temperament. Halstead could not have been researched at all before signing , the season had ended weeks before and if we had won promotion we could have undoubtedly put a good package for Covolan to stay, Halstead at best was a few phone calls to so called trusted acquaintances and the odd promotional video .In context we cannot afford a scouting system, not many can at this level and Johnson is too old in the tooth to take in the three games a week looking for poterntial gems. His brother, our scout has very little experience of football, Johnson obviously gives him instructions on what he requires but unless you have been assoicated with the game its like asking a plasterer to fix the electrics, they will get it wrong more times than they get it right.
Doubt that.
He has at least quadrupled his wages with port vale.
who was going to pay that for him here?
tbh, i dont think hes worth that much.
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So we've had an awful start to the season, 3 heavy defeats at home and only 1 win in 5 games. It is obvious that the team needs strengthing but we must factor in that we don't have loan players who i expect will be arriving over the next few weeks.
All this criticism of the goalkeeper at this stage of the season is ridiculous. Yes he's been poor as most of the team have. Please remember that Halstead has played nearly 100 times in the football league. Crap players don't make that many appearances in the football league.
I'm sure given time and with the right loan players, we will be in the top 10 by the end of the year and challenging for a play off spot.
Also worth remembering the promise that Uncle Clarke made following our play off final defeat last season. I'm sure he will provide the necessary funding to allow the manager to build a top 10 side this season. Realistically we never stood a chance of winning the league this season with the sort of money the likes of Stockport, Notts County, Wrexham and many others have spent this season.
SimonJones wrote: ↑12 Sep 2021, 15:10
Maybe that’s why our former Keeper Coach left. Perhaps he didn’t have any options for GJ when Cov and Mac left… meaning a very short and desperate attempt to sign a free agent. Very disappointing if this is the case.
and our present goalkeeper coach has how many Premier or Football League Clubs on his CV? Absolutely NONE! He came from Buckland Athletic, the highest standard he ever played.....has no knowledge of National League level.
Who the hell recruited him? How can he tell anyone how it is done, when he has not played above Western League.
CourtierGull wrote: ↑13 Sep 2021, 23:29
Buckland athletic? Well that’s certainly a major step up from Newton 66.
Looking at his playing career, I see the current goalkeeping coach, Ken Griffiths, started life as a trainee with Torquay, before moving to Leicester City where he spent a few seasons. A brief spell at Hereford, before playing a majority of his senior career for Bideford under ex Gulls favourite, Sean Joyce. The latter years have been spent with Buckland.
The early years of his career should have hopefully given him an insight in to how to be an effective goalkeeping coach - additional tasks, such as scouting for future GK signings, (knowing who is available and when), would be undertaken surely at the request of GJ.
Signing any player at this level, they will clearly have some flaws in their game. It’s the ability of the Manager and coaching staff to minimise those flaws by playing them in positions that they flourish, supported by players who allow them to bring the best out of their game. The trouble is we have signed a GK who, by all accounts, is renowned for being a liability with crosses, then having full backs who struggle to stop crosses.
A simple solution in my opinion, would be to tell him not to come for crosses, but let your two dominant centre halves deal with the crosses coming in. No grey areas… just head anything that comes into the box. This would reduce his decision making, then allow him to concentrate on any shots on goal.
Well, I found out that Halstead played the first half last night with a concussion from the previous game, so shouldn't really have played at all. I for one, think he will come good when he has settled, as he has left his young family behind, and is buying a place in the town, so for those of you hoping that he us one if those to be ditched....I would think again
Find it hard to believe in this day and age and with all the protocols in place we would knowingly allow a player to take the field suffering from concussion.
A dangerous game to play for all concerned.
Looking at his playing career, I see the current goalkeeping coach, Ken Griffiths, started life as a trainee with Torquay, before moving to Leicester City where he spent a few seasons. A brief spell at Hereford, before playing a majority of his senior career for Bideford under ex Gulls favourite, Sean Joyce. The latter years have been spent with Buckland. 
