gilkes review from rochdale fan site

There were a lot of threads on Gilks strengths/weaknesses a month or so ago because we all knew he was leaving.

He's a superb shot-stopper, he honestly does pull off saves that he has no right to get near. I'd say he's pretty good with one-on-one's as well, he very rarely gets beaten in that situation. He's got good handling when he does actually commit to coming for a ball, and usually releases the ball quickly if there's a player free.

His main weakness, IMO, is his judgement, or rather lack of conviction in his judgement. Sometimes's he'll start to come for a ball, then change his mind and stop, leaving himself in no mans land. We conceded a few goals last season where the ball was looped over him after hesitation coming for the ball. He perhaps doesn't dominate his area as much as you'd like him to. Some may say his kicking is poor but I think this is more of a historical thing. His kicking was awful when he first came into the side, but it has drastically improved year on year, I don't think its a problem anymore.

I think he's a very very good keeper who will carry on improving with full-time goalkeeping coaching at a Championship side like Norwich. He was a little under-appreciated at Dale, with certain people jumping on his back at every opportunity, but I feel the old analogy of "you don't know what you've got till its gone" will come back to bite us on the arse!

Posted By: roland rat on June 27th 2007 at 12:33:03

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