Mike Cooper

[arrythewurzel]

(Mike Cooper discussion moved from Transfer Rumours thread. Admin.)

Love to see Alexa Palmer back on loan. Google News suggests he might be up for another loan. Might just save our season. He was responsible for so many points when he was here. Absolute quality.

 

[xmastree]

Love to see Alexa Palmer back on loan. Google News suggests he might be up for another loan. Might just save our season. He was responsible for so many points when he was here. Absolute quality.

What do you suggest we do with Mike Cooper?

 

[arrythewurzel]

What do you suggest we do with Mike Cooper?

It has always felt to me that if you’re a home grown product, you are permitted a sort of buffer against fan criticism or critique. If you’re a super bloke with it you almost have a cloak of invisibility. Critchlow has been roundly criticised for his last two performances but Mike Cooper who to my mind hasn’t been great since the Sunderland away defeat is barely mentioned. Instead the defence are criticised as a whole. It feels to me like it’s become a serious heresy to criticise or comment on Mike Cooper and I personally wouldn’t start a thread for the sake of the brickbats on here …. despite not rating him personally. He has some good attributes, don’t get me wrong, but he is way below the standard of keeper I’ve experienced supporting Argyle for 45 years. We cut him slack because he’s local, young and a super guy by all accounts. And yet he picked the ball out of the net 80 times last season - the worst record in league 1. Not his fault though.

On the other hand I thought Alex Palmer was prem standard. So many games we owed the points to some outstanding keeping from him.

l probably don’t need to answer your question because it will never happen. Just a pressing hope on my part. Sentiment will probably continue to prevail.

 

[vibratingspider]

It has always felt to me that if you’re a home grown product, you are permitted a sort of buffer against fan criticism or critique. If you’re a super bloke with it you almost have a cloak of invisibility. Critchlow has been roundly criticised for his last two performances but Mike Cooper who to my mind hasn’t been great since the Sunderland away defeat is barely mentioned. Instead the defence are criticised as a whole. It feels to me like it’s become a serious heresy to criticise or comment on Mike Cooper and I personally wouldn’t start a thread for the sake of the brickbats on here …. despite not rating him personally. He has some good attributes, don’t get me wrong, but he is way below the standard of keeper I’ve experienced supporting Argyle for 45 years. We cut him slack because he’s local, young and a super guy by all accounts. And yet he picked the ball out of the net 80 times last season - the worst record in league 1. Not his fault though.

On the other hand I thought Alex Palmer was prem standard. So many games we owed the points to some outstanding keeping from him.

l probably don’t need to answer your question because it will never happen. Just a pressing hope on my part. Sentiment will probably continue to prevail.

Can't help but agree with this to be honest. Cooper has been fantastic at times but there's always a suggestion that he lacks conviction in gathering crosses. We suffered with it horrifically last season and I thought we'd managed to mitigate it with solid defensive cover this season, but we're not stopping those crosses coming in now we've lost Galloway. I think he's been a huge loss for us - almost like Liverpool losing van Dijk a few seasons back.

Nothing against Cooper at all, he's a fantastic keeper but I agree with the comment above that suggests homegrown players seem to be given more chances than other squad members. He makes great saves at times, but there's still too many goals that fly past him and leave me thinking "how did he not get that?".

For me, we either invest a bucketload in trying to sort out that defence properly, or we look at getting in a keeper with more presence and conviction with balls into the box. I think Palmer would be a fantastic addition, and I'd definitely support it.

For more evidence - look at how well Lincoln did with him last season.

Palmer has been a key player for Lincoln this season, making a whopping 57 appearances in all competitions, including every League One fixture.

The goalkeeper kept 19 clean sheets in League One, and was undoubtedly a contender to be named in the League One Team of the Season.

Source: https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/w...r-at-west-brom-after-lincoln-city-loan-spell/

 

[HC Green]

It has always felt to me that if you’re a home grown product, you are permitted a sort of buffer against fan criticism or critique. If you’re a super bloke with it you almost have a cloak of invisibility. Critchlow has been roundly criticised for his last two performances but Mike Cooper who to my mind hasn’t been great since the Sunderland away defeat is barely mentioned. Instead the defence are criticised as a whole. It feels to me like it’s become a serious heresy to criticise or comment on Mike Cooper and I personally wouldn’t start a thread for the sake of the brickbats on here …. despite not rating him personally. He has some good attributes, don’t get me wrong, but he is way below the standard of keeper I’ve experienced supporting Argyle for 45 years. We cut him slack because he’s local, young and a super guy by all accounts. And yet he picked the ball out of the net 80 times last season - the worst record in league 1. Not his fault though.

On the other hand I thought Alex Palmer was prem standard. So many games we owed the points to some outstanding keeping from him.

l probably don’t need to answer your question because it will never happen. Just a pressing hope on my part. Sentiment will probably continue to prevail.

At Sheffield Wednesday he saved us from having an absolute hammering.
At Fleetwood at least two of his saves brought standing ovations.
How about apportioning a bit of blame for the headed goals conceded to the back 3.
On Saturday Wilson was at fault for the first goal as he got outpaced by the winger and rather than bring him down and take one for the team he let him get away.
It’s easy to blame goalkeepers but they need the help of the other 10 in front of them.

 

[Nobby]

At Sheffield Wednesday he saved us from having an absolute hammering.
At Fleetwood at least two of his saves brought standing ovations.
How about apportioning a bit of blame for the headed goals conceded to the back 3.
On Saturday Wilson was at fault for the first goal as he got outpaced by the winger and rather than bring him down and take one for the team he let him get away.
It’s easy to blame goalkeepers but they need the help of the other 10 in front of them.

Absolutely. Cooper has been far from faultless but across the entire season has performed really well. Dropping and replacing him at this stage both tanks his value and kills is confidence. If we replaced him right now I struggle to see how he continues his career here, such would be the lack of faith displayed in him.

 

[Pogleswoody]

Love to see Alexa Palmer back on loan. Google News suggests he might be up for another loan. Might just save our season. He was responsible for so many points when he was here. Absolute quality.

Alexa?
Yes Master?
Don't concede tonight or Saturday!
Yes Master.
And Alexa.
Yes Master?
Play Semper till I drop off.

 

[arrythewurzel]

Absolutely. Cooper has been far from faultless but across the entire season has performed really well. Dropping and replacing him at this stage both tanks his value and kills is confidence. If we replaced him right now I struggle to see how he continues his career here, such would be the lack of faith displayed in him.

I’m not having a go but you’ve sort of proved my sentiment point. The value thing is a complete unknown. We can’t keep soldiering on for an unknown fee that we may never receive.

 

[vibratingspider]

At Sheffield Wednesday he saved us from having an absolute hammering.
At Fleetwood at least two of his saves brought standing ovations.
How about apportioning a bit of blame for the headed goals conceded to the back 3.
On Saturday Wilson was at fault for the first goal as he got outpaced by the winger and rather than bring him down and take one for the team he let him get away.
It’s easy to blame goalkeepers but they need the help of the other 10 in front of them.

I think that's the problem with goalkeeping. You either make the save, or you don't. And if you don't, it's a goal. For me, if you gave me the choice between Cooper and Palmer, I'd vote Palmer. That's not to say I don't rate Cooper, but Palmer is so much more solid. Again, look at how many clean sheets Lincoln had last season with him in goal. It's chalk and cheese.

And yes, it's of course not just down to the keeper. Nobody's saying that, but we've got a huge weakness from crosses in our current setup - we were found out last season and it feels like the same patterns are returning this season. Something has to change. It's easier to change a goalkeeper to one that can command his 6 yard box a bit better than it is to re-engineer an entire defensive structure.

 

[PL2 3DQ]

Funnily enough Burton was in the same situation at Cambridge last season, he was on the bench for the first half of the season only playing in EFL Trophy games but was the number 1 keeper in the second half of the season, keeping 9 clean sheets and helping Cambridge win promotion.

I'm not saying he should replace Cooper but if Schumacher decides to make a change he has an able back up in Burton.

 

[Balham Green]

At Sheffield Wednesday he saved us from having an absolute hammering.
At Fleetwood at least two of his saves brought standing ovations.
How about apportioning a bit of blame for the headed goals conceded to the back 3.
On Saturday Wilson was at fault for the first goal as he got outpaced by the winger and rather than bring him down and take one for the team he let him get away.
It’s easy to blame goalkeepers but they need the help of the other 10 in front of them.

Re Wilson and the Lincoln goal I don't think he could get anyway near him to bring him down.

 

[ealinggreen]

Easy answer, Cooper is a better keeper than Palmer. Palmer made loads of errors in this division last year.

 

[Nobby]

I’m not having a go but you’ve sort of proved my sentiment point. The value thing is a complete unknown. We can’t keep soldiering on for an unknown fee that we may never receive.

My point if you stunt his development by benching him at this stage he’s not going to improve and also ruins any potential of a good fee. It’s got nothing to do with sentiment, it’s logic. We shouldn’t just play him to increase his fee, but given that he has proven he is a L1 starting calibre goalkeeper we should keep playing him so he continues to improve.

 

[arrythewurzel]

My point if you stunt his development by benching him at this stage he’s not going to improve and also ruins any potential of a good fee. It’s got nothing to do with sentiment, it’s logic. We shouldn’t just play him to increase his fee, but given that he has proven he is a L1 starting calibre goalkeeper we should keep playing him so he continues to improve.

How about a loan out?

 

[vibratingspider]

My point if you stunt his development by benching him at this stage he’s not going to improve and also ruins any potential of a good fee. It’s got nothing to do with sentiment, it’s logic. We shouldn’t just play him to increase his fee, but given that he has proven he is a L1 starting calibre goalkeeper we should keep playing him so he continues to improve.

I don't know Nobby, I think if you look at the frequency of goals we've conceded in the last season and a half (regardless of who's fault they might be), you might well think our goal concession is a little excessive.