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Considering he was to be the #1 keeper last summer until an injury opened the door for Hladky.
I know there is much discussion around Walton's ability to play as a sweeper keeper, but I don't think it is a mad thought to consider he's still in the thoughts for the #1 spot.
Will be very hard to get a keeper who is as good with his feet at Vaz so I just wonder if KM is thinking we might need to tweak our style this season. I must admit, I fear getting caught out a lot more if we continue as we were last season as Prem managers and players are cuter and faster.
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 15:25 - Jul 1 by Vaughan8
I don't know the stats off the top of my head, nor where to look, so someone with a better knowledge may know, but there was a period (not for ages) where nearly every shot on target against us was going in!
I don’t know the stats either, but there were also long runs of games where we didn’t concede a goal. And it seemed like Hladky was letting in a goal easily virtually every home game last season. Of course that wasn’t all down to him but then neither was ITFC having the best goals conceded stat in L1 with just 35 goals completely down to Walton.
I can’t recall anyone this time last year questioning whether or not Walton was good enough for the Championship and given he didn’t play last season nothing has changed. Plenty of queries about whether Hladky could do it - which of course he did.
But of course we are now PL and at the end of the day, I think we could do with a better keeper than both of them. Maybe Gunn of Norwich.
Only joking!!!
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 17:33 - Jul 1 with 1690 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 15:55 - Jul 1 by PositivelyPortman
“At his age”……he’s 5 years younger than Hladky!
Hladky used to be a no.10. Walton is very much of the traditional goalkeeper mould. You can't just suddenly become a great footballer with a bit of coaching. See also Joe Hart, there's a reason Pep binned someone we thought was the best keeper in the country at the time.
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 18:24 - Jul 1 with 1641 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 17:20 - Jul 1 by Churchman
I don’t know the stats either, but there were also long runs of games where we didn’t concede a goal. And it seemed like Hladky was letting in a goal easily virtually every home game last season. Of course that wasn’t all down to him but then neither was ITFC having the best goals conceded stat in L1 with just 35 goals completely down to Walton.
I can’t recall anyone this time last year questioning whether or not Walton was good enough for the Championship and given he didn’t play last season nothing has changed. Plenty of queries about whether Hladky could do it - which of course he did.
But of course we are now PL and at the end of the day, I think we could do with a better keeper than both of them. Maybe Gunn of Norwich.
Only joking!!!
Jokes aside, Gunn is a better shot-stopper (and overall keeper) than Walton or Hladky. Crumbled under the lights of the Euros and in the POs, definitely, but the guy's saved a higher proportion of shots in his worst Championship season than Walton has in his best. He's at or near the very top for 'goals prevented' analysis too, confirming that he hasn't just lived a weirdly charmed life over the years. But he's had opportunities in the Prem before and couldn't rise to the occasion.
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 18:26 - Jul 1 with 1632 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 17:33 - Jul 1 by Simonds92
Hladky used to be a no.10. Walton is very much of the traditional goalkeeper mould. You can't just suddenly become a great footballer with a bit of coaching. See also Joe Hart, there's a reason Pep binned someone we thought was the best keeper in the country at the time.
Walton was McKenna's number 1 and would have been last year too if he hadn't picked up an injury in preseason. Hladky came in and did well so deserved to keep his place but the idea that Walton doesn't fit with how McKenna plays is rather odd.
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 18:24 - Jul 1 by Vegtablue
Jokes aside, Gunn is a better shot-stopper (and overall keeper) than Walton or Hladky. Crumbled under the lights of the Euros and in the POs, definitely, but the guy's saved a higher proportion of shots in his worst Championship season than Walton has in his best. He's at or near the very top for 'goals prevented' analysis too, confirming that he hasn't just lived a weirdly charmed life over the years. But he's had opportunities in the Prem before and couldn't rise to the occasion.
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 18:24 - Jul 1 by Vegtablue
Jokes aside, Gunn is a better shot-stopper (and overall keeper) than Walton or Hladky. Crumbled under the lights of the Euros and in the POs, definitely, but the guy's saved a higher proportion of shots in his worst Championship season than Walton has in his best. He's at or near the very top for 'goals prevented' analysis too, confirming that he hasn't just lived a weirdly charmed life over the years. But he's had opportunities in the Prem before and couldn't rise to the occasion.
The stats are what they are. Gunn though to me looks weak, especially under pressure. Walton does not. I’d have Walton in my team over Mr Rubberwrists any time.
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 18:48 - Jul 1 with 1599 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 13:54 - Jul 1 by Simonds92
As a no.1, yes I have written him off. He is a good goalkeeper but he wasn't faultless and did let in a few soft ones when we were in L1. People suggesting he must have been working on his footwork and that it would suddenly bring him up to standard is ridiculous. If that was possible, we could all play football professionally with a bit of hard work for a season. Unfortunately he doesn't have those attributes and having a keeper who is comfortable on the ball is absolutely crucial to how we play. He can come in as backup and be absolutely fine, but a prolonged run of games is a problem for us and how we play. No different to us losing Hirst and replacing him with Kieffer.
"If that was possible, we could all play football professionally with a bit of hard work for a season."
That's got to go into TWTD lore as one of the daftest comments of all time. As if training Walton to be better with his feet is akin to training one of us to play professional football! You should do comedy!
Trust the process. Trust Phil.
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 22:44 - Jul 1 with 1481 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 14:38 - Jul 1 by itfcjoe
I haven't, but I think we've just seen a better keeper walk out the door and with only a 1 year deal left for Walton it's gong to be another difficult situation to manage over the course of this season.
Wouldn't surprise me if we sign 3 keepers this summer with Vas gone, Walton to go and Slicker out on loan
Never understood the rhetoric that Hladky is a better keeper. KM could have switched them in League One if he felt that way. If it weren’t for the injury, Hladky would have been back up. All credit to KM for allowing Hladky to remain after his performances but despite some excellent stats in L2 and the Championship I see little to be able to draw any definitive conclusions.
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 22:46 - Jul 1 with 1471 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 22:44 - Jul 1 by ibbleobble
Never understood the rhetoric that Hladky is a better keeper. KM could have switched them in League One if he felt that way. If it weren’t for the injury, Hladky would have been back up. All credit to KM for allowing Hladky to remain after his performances but despite some excellent stats in L2 and the Championship I see little to be able to draw any definitive conclusions.
Neither really imo is a better keeper overall, but they both have better attributes than the other.
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 22:44 - Jul 1 by ibbleobble
Never understood the rhetoric that Hladky is a better keeper. KM could have switched them in League One if he felt that way. If it weren’t for the injury, Hladky would have been back up. All credit to KM for allowing Hladky to remain after his performances but despite some excellent stats in L2 and the Championship I see little to be able to draw any definitive conclusions.
'Rhetoric' and 'allowing to remain' are interesting descriptive choices. The reality is that KM continued to pick Hladky last season because he saw him as the best option for winning games and accumulating points, or at least equal best. He's a top coach. He wasn't picking based on sentiment or soft spots. See Ladapo's departure, Harness and Jackson's dwindling minutes, Walton's exclusion from the starting XI.. it may be awkward for anyone who has strong opinions to the contrary, but KM preferred the overall package Hladky offered once he'd seen extended runs from both in his team, or he felt they were on par with each other. If he believed switching would deliver a performance advantage then he would have done so. The various international breaks or the winter struggles provided very opportune times to do it. Hirst and Burns came straight back in after their lay-offs.
Perhaps it's also worth noting that KM inherited Walton as #1, so the logic outlined in your post may easily be applied in reverse: Walton only retained the jersey for as long as he did because Hladky failed to meet Cook's original expectation. If Hladky hadn't surprisingly underperformed, he would have been KM's #1 keeper throughout.
If Walton is #1 next season then that's a huge boost for the 'Walton is better' camp. We haven't fought hard to keep Hladky because we think in Walton we have a player better suited to the PL's additional, perhaps different demands. If Walton is #2 then it will show KM didn't consider either well-placed for what's a very big step up. The first scenario is miles better so 🤞, but my instinct is we're bringing in a new face.
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 03:03 - Jul 2 with 1408 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 00:35 - Jul 2 by Vegtablue
'Rhetoric' and 'allowing to remain' are interesting descriptive choices. The reality is that KM continued to pick Hladky last season because he saw him as the best option for winning games and accumulating points, or at least equal best. He's a top coach. He wasn't picking based on sentiment or soft spots. See Ladapo's departure, Harness and Jackson's dwindling minutes, Walton's exclusion from the starting XI.. it may be awkward for anyone who has strong opinions to the contrary, but KM preferred the overall package Hladky offered once he'd seen extended runs from both in his team, or he felt they were on par with each other. If he believed switching would deliver a performance advantage then he would have done so. The various international breaks or the winter struggles provided very opportune times to do it. Hirst and Burns came straight back in after their lay-offs.
Perhaps it's also worth noting that KM inherited Walton as #1, so the logic outlined in your post may easily be applied in reverse: Walton only retained the jersey for as long as he did because Hladky failed to meet Cook's original expectation. If Hladky hadn't surprisingly underperformed, he would have been KM's #1 keeper throughout.
If Walton is #1 next season then that's a huge boost for the 'Walton is better' camp. We haven't fought hard to keep Hladky because we think in Walton we have a player better suited to the PL's additional, perhaps different demands. If Walton is #2 then it will show KM didn't consider either well-placed for what's a very big step up. The first scenario is miles better so 🤞, but my instinct is we're bringing in a new face.
I’d argue switching keepers is far more disruptive to a system than bringing in players like Hirst or Burns for example. Hladky kept the shirt on merit and it’s been a tried and tested formula for some time that a keeper retains the shirt on merit and performance for a long period if deemed worthy. As we were winning, there was no need to swap such a pivotal role and add any unecessary uncertainty.
I highly suspect both keepers would have been told that they are battling it out in pre season once more and at 33, it might have come into Hladky’s thinking regarding his contract. Bizarre he’s now lost the opportunity to play PL football. It’s the pinnacle of his career and while financial stability is important, spurning PL football suggests to me that maybe regular PL football wasn’t guranteed.
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Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 08:49 - Jul 2 with 1284 views
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 22:44 - Jul 1 by ibbleobble
Never understood the rhetoric that Hladky is a better keeper. KM could have switched them in League One if he felt that way. If it weren’t for the injury, Hladky would have been back up. All credit to KM for allowing Hladky to remain after his performances but despite some excellent stats in L2 and the Championship I see little to be able to draw any definitive conclusions.
It's not rhetoric, but just the fact that Hladky took our game to a different level as a goalkeeper last year and made it impossible for Walton to get back into the team.
Had he just been a solid keeper then Mckenna would no doubt have flipped them back over but he was much more than that with his footballing ability, and with the signing of Slicker it looks like what the club want in their goalkeepers is to be a footballer as well as a goalkeeper and it's not a style that really suits Walton - i.e. baiting the press, playing off both feet, etc
Have we, as fans, written Walton off already? on 08:49 - Jul 2 by itfcjoe
It's not rhetoric, but just the fact that Hladky took our game to a different level as a goalkeeper last year and made it impossible for Walton to get back into the team.
Had he just been a solid keeper then Mckenna would no doubt have flipped them back over but he was much more than that with his footballing ability, and with the signing of Slicker it looks like what the club want in their goalkeepers is to be a footballer as well as a goalkeeper and it's not a style that really suits Walton - i.e. baiting the press, playing off both feet, etc
That doesn’t make him a better goalkeeper. It makes him more suited to a system. Who’s to say we’ll use the same system this season? I suspect we’re not as Hladky has been allowed to walk unless we’re in for a like-for-like replacement.
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