TheGunnShow 5,993 Posted August 8, 2022 As much as I rated him as a keeper (and the username hints), could Bryan Gunn possibly have been overrated a fair bit by many of us? (Dare I say it, even including me). Don't get me wrong, he was a very good keeper and at his peak he didn't make many errors at all, which is probably the sign of a decent goalie. But I always think, in hindsight, he was good at getting the close cases you'd expect a keeper to get and didn't have many "worldies" in his locker. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SwearyCanary 1,179 Posted August 8, 2022 Ivo ‘badge kissing’ Pinto. Did nothing except run down dead ends, lose the ball, cross poorly, rinse and repeat BUT everyone loved him because he did the whole passion act Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chicken 2,642 Posted August 8, 2022 40 minutes ago, TheGunnShow said: As much as I rated him as a keeper (and the username hints), could Bryan Gunn possibly have been overrated a fair bit by many of us? (Dare I say it, even including me). Don't get me wrong, he was a very good keeper and at his peak he didn't make many errors at all, which is probably the sign of a decent goalie. But I always think, in hindsight, he was good at getting the close cases you'd expect a keeper to get and didn't have many "worldies" in his locker. Different game back then. One thing he was good at was not getting pushed about. Commanded his area incredibly well. Not a bad shot stopper, but he could pluck balls out of the air decently. Wouldn't be pushed around like some modern keepers are. Could be my kid brain isn't remembering it all that clearly but that's what my 10-16yr old brain remember in any case. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheGunnShow 5,993 Posted August 8, 2022 29 minutes ago, chicken said: Different game back then. One thing he was good at was not getting pushed about. Commanded his area incredibly well. Not a bad shot stopper, but he could pluck balls out of the air decently. Wouldn't be pushed around like some modern keepers are. Could be my kid brain isn't remembering it all that clearly but that's what my 10-16yr old brain remember in any case. You could try pushing him around but it would probably have turned out very badly, I vaguely remember he was very much involved in the Battle of Highbury and chucking his weight around. I get the impression some of the badinage between him, Malky Mackay and Grant Hanley if they were playing together would be highly entertaining. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheGunnShow 5,993 Posted August 9, 2022 4 hours ago, TheDarkKnight said: Are you regretting your choice of username? 😛 As Scotland fan, I liked him. He only had 6 caps and was desperately unlucky that he had 2 genuinely world class goalkeepers ahead of him (Leighton and Goram). I win he was playing now. His best performance was as The Kurgan in "Highlander' Not at all, in fact, I'd argue that the fact he only got 6 caps does make me wonder if we were all a bit too high on him. Goram was definitely a world-class stopper, Leighton could hit that level on his day but I always remember he seemed more prone to a schnitzer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert N. LiM 4,477 Posted August 9, 2022 19 hours ago, TheGunnShow said: As much as I rated him as a keeper (and the username hints), could Bryan Gunn possibly have been overrated a fair bit by many of us? (Dare I say it, even including me). Don't get me wrong, he was a very good keeper and at his peak he didn't make many errors at all, which is probably the sign of a decent goalie. But I always think, in hindsight, he was good at getting the close cases you'd expect a keeper to get and didn't have many "worldies" in his locker. I take the point about the worldies, but I think where he really scored was in the more intangible stuff: you always got the sense he was in command of his back four. He never took a backward step. And he was ahead of his time in being a really good footballer. Will always remember him dribbling round Lee Chapman in front of the away fans at Elland road. And most of all, he embodied the spirit of that wonderful team. So maybe, maybe technically not as good as we rated him, but in the words of Barry Davies, "frankly, who cares?" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 7,664 Posted August 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Robert N. LiM said: I take the point about the worldies, but I think where he really scored was in the more intangible stuff: you always got the sense he was in command of his back four. He never took a backward step. And he was ahead of his time in being a really good footballer. Will always remember him dribbling round Lee Chapman in front of the away fans at Elland road. And most of all, he embodied the spirit of that wonderful team. So maybe, maybe technically not as good as we rated him, but in the words of Barry Davies, "frankly, who cares?" This is where my concern lies with his son- when he plays I just don't feel he's got the same command that Krul does. His shot stopping is good but I'm not sure about the rest of his game right now. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KeiranShikari 1,431 Posted August 9, 2022 20 hours ago, SwearyCanary said: Ivo ‘badge kissing’ Pinto. Did nothing except run down dead ends, lose the ball, cross poorly, rinse and repeat BUT everyone loved him because he did the whole passion act Onel Hernandez for a lot of the same reasons. Had 1 decent season which was also full of frustration. *just posting this so he bangs in a couple of goals tonight* 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GJP 79 Posted August 9, 2022 I would agree about Bryan Gunn. I think we've had some better keepers than him since. I would also suggest a winger who played for us in the 90s. I know a lot of people who felt he was destined for greatness only for injuries to scupper that. He was a good player but never likely to be a great one, in my view. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites