The best Spurs team of all time - Goalkeeper

[yiddo37]

Jennings. Was only a young lad at the time but even then knew what a big mistake it was letting him go...and to Arsenal of all places! Daines and Kendall were nowhere near his quality.
Honourable mentions to Thorstvedt, Clemence and Lloris too

 

[nayenezgani]

No Robinson? He was a legend.

 

[milo]

We should do a pre and post sky era XI and see how they compare.

@LutonSpurs @billyiddo I'll do a PL era one in the summer if there is enough interest in this to sustain it through and maybe a pre-PL one next Christmas.

 

[mephitis]

Can't believe this anyone's asked this question

Not seen anyone pluck the ball out of the air one-handed recently.

 

[Papercut]

Can't believe this anyone's asked this question

Not seen anyone pluck the ball out of the air one-handed recently.

We have some younger supporters

 

[jts1882]

Can't believe this anyone's asked this question

Not seen anyone pluck the ball out of the air one-handed recently.

I assume this is because of changes in the ball. The old ball, especially that on a wet Stoke evening, was heavy and stuck on the hands (if it didn't knock you over). The new ball is much more bouncy.

Otherwise it is because modern goalkeepers are wimps.

 

[parklane1]

I assume this is because of changes in the ball. The old ball, especially that on a wet Stoke evening, was heavy and stuck on the hands (if it didn't knock you over). The new ball is much more bouncy.

Otherwise it is because modern goalkeepers are wimps.

The real reason is that Jennings was that good.

 

[AuroRaman]

I assume this is because of changes in the ball. The old ball, especially that on a wet Stoke evening, was heavy and stuck on the hands (if it didn't knock you over). The new ball is much more bouncy.

Otherwise it is because modern goalkeepers are wimps.

 

[Gilzeantoscore]

Please don't show that, it brings back my urges to reach THROUGH THE SCREEN AND WRING THE LITTLE PANSEY'S NECK.

 

[Spur of the moment]

I assume this is because of changes in the ball. The old ball, especially that on a wet Stoke evening, was heavy and stuck on the hands (if it didn't knock you over). The new ball is much more bouncy.

Otherwise it is because modern goalkeepers are wimps.

That's as maybe except I don't recall any other goalkeeper regularly catching the ball one-handed, neither before, during, nor after his time. I suspect it was a skill unique to him, courtesy of his massive hands strengthened through working in a timber yard before he signed for Watford. Maybe also through playing Gaelic football before switching to soccer which in some respects is akin to rugby but with a round ball.

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

That's as maybe except I don't recall any other goalkeeper regularly catching the ball one-handed, neither before, during, nor after his time. I suspect it was a skill unique to him, courtesy of his massive hands strengthened through working in a timber yard before he signed for Watford. Maybe also through playing Gaelic football before switching to soccer which in some respects is akin to rugby but with a round ball.

Completely agree. Imagine how much better he could have been with the updated training, diets and technology nowadays? Frightening.

 

[parklane1]

Completely agree. Imagine how much better he could have been with the updated training, diets and technology nowadays? Frightening.

good point, I know its hard to sometimes judge players from different eras but he really is the best I have seen anywhere. And that includes the likes of Yashin, Banks and as you say with todays training it could only have helped.

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

good point, I know its hard to sometimes judge players from different eras but he really is the best I have seen anywhere. And that includes the likes of Yashin, Banks and as you say with todays training it could only have helped.

I think it is really hard to compare players of different generations. On the one hand the game was different, there were heavier balls etc.... but on the other the level of investment now is much higher. There is greater technology and so players should be better. That's why I also look to relative performance in their respective generations. Jennings was a world great at a time when there were a lot of world class goalkeepers and he would probably have been even more revered if he were english. He was the first to use his feet to save, and also one of the first to get very good at kicking. This is a player who is regularly talked about as being one of the best ever keepers, of which none of the aforementioned alternatives are.

 

[Spur of the moment]

Jennings was a world great at a time when there were a lot of world class goalkeepers and he would probably have been even more revered if he were english. He was the first to use his feet to save, and also one of the first to get very good at kicking. This is a player who is regularly talked about as being one of the best ever keepers, of which none of the aforementioned alternatives are.

Possibly, but he was such a gentle giant was he not, so quietly spoken with his lilting Irish accent and so generally likeable it's hard to imagine anyone not taking to him.

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

Possibly, but he was such a gentle giant was he not, so quietly spoken with his lilting Irish accent and so generally likeable it's hard to imagine anyone not taking to him.

He was very likeable. I'd rate him above Banks and Shilton, but in a fair few keeper reviews, those two beat him. I'm hardly non-bias in my opinion though......

 

[Spur of the moment]

He was very likeable. I'd rate him above Banks and Shilton, but in a fair few keeper reviews, those two beat him. I'm hardly non-bias in my opinion though......

Interesting, I do see where you're coming from. Like you I'm unable to judge dispassionately. True both Banks and Shilts were magnificent keepers so it's a genuinely tough one.

But put a gun to my head and will still say Pat every time, he was that extraordinary.

 

[Gazzasrightboot]

Interesting, I do see where you're coming from. Like you I'm unable to judge dispassionately. True both Banks and Shilts were magnificent keepers so it's a genuinely tough one.

But put a gun to my head and will still say Pat every time, he was that extraordinary.

Couldn't agree with you more! Catching a ball one handed, innovator and true gent.