Ben Williams

[Macaroon]

How did he do today? Any opinions from people heading back from Paisley?

Obviously there was the penalty stop which I have heard was very good, and he made a save from a 1-on-1 according to Open All Mics.

How was his overall game? :thumbsup:

:pfgwa:pfgwa

[GreenCastle]

Wasn't there but his penalty save was crucial - especially at 1v0.

For the first time in years I think we have found a solid keeper :agree:

[cleanyman]

I was at the game.

Ive always loved my Hibs keepers and this guy is a bear, but he got away with a lot today. Stunning penalty save but dropped 3 crosses and the Saints men somehow put it wide on the rebound.

Positive before the negative of course.

[Macaroon]

Wasn't there but his penalty save was crucial - especially at 1v0.

For the first time in years I think we have found a solid keeper :agree:

Definately reassuring.

He better get into the Team of The Week on FIFA :na na:

[DaveF]

Great penalty save and a couple of good blocks in the 2nd half but he misjudged a fair number of cross balls which could have led to trouble.

He'll need to work on that aspect of his game.

[Macaroon]

Great penalty save and a couple of good blocks in the 2nd half but he misjudged a fair number of cross balls which could have led to trouble.

He'll need to work on that aspect of his game.

He fluffed a couple during the Derby too from corners, he does seem to need to work on his decision making when it comes to dealing with crosses.

[blackpoolhibs]

He seems a decent shot stopper, a bit like Stack. He seems to organise the back 4, a bit like Stack. He seems to come and miss quite a few crosses, nothing like Stack. :timebomb:

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

Seems to have the basic ability and decent positional sense. Over to Scott Thomson to iron out the flaws.

[Hibercelona]

Wasn't there but his penalty save was crucial - especially at 1v0.

For the first time in years I think we have found a solid keeper :agree:

Don't we say that everytime before they make their first blunder? :tin hat:

[HibeeSince85]

Dealing with crosses is my concern, he's only played 3 games so I'm not writing him off. Looks solid in every other part of his game.

[Tricla]

He seems a decent shot stopper, a bit like Stack. He seems to organise the back 4, a bit like Stack. He seems to come and miss quite a few crosses, nothing like Stack. :timebomb:

FWIR Stack missed a fair few crosses too.

[Malthibby]

Think that was irony...................:greengrin

[CallumLaidlaw]

FWIR Stack missed a fair few crosses too.

I loved Stacky, but did he really come for crosses?

[blackpoolhibs]

I loved Stacky, but did he really come for crosses?

He was slaughtered on here for NOT coming for crosses, yet we now have a keeper who does come for crosses, but so far does not get to many?

I'm wondering if he's maybe trying to do a little too much, maybe trying to impress and coming for crosses he'd normally leave for the defenders?

Stacks gone, Williams is here now and he needs to work a little with the goalkeeping coach on this.

[matty_f]

Nee to I prove his clean sheet record at Hibs :greengrin But so far I have been impressed with what I have seen from Williams, and though I liked Stack, I think we've improved the keeper position by bringing Ben in.

[blackpoolhibs]

Nee to I prove his clean sheet record at Hibs :greengrin But so far I have been impressed with what I have seen from Williams, and though I liked Stack, I think we've improved the keeper position by bringing Ben in.

Cant say i have seen much difference myself, both were good shot stoppers and good organisers. Stack did not like to come off his line, and so far Williams has been poor at coming off his line.

[Macaroon]

Cant say i have seen much difference myself, both were good shot stoppers and good organisers. Stack did not like to come off his line, and so far Williams has been poor at coming off his line.

To be fair to Ben, I can't remember Stacky making a save of similar quality to Ben's at Tannadice. That was special.

I do think we have improved our GK, but I loved Stacky and his antics!

[blackpoolhibs]

To be fair to Ben, I can't remember Stacky making a save of similar quality to Ben's at Tannadice. That was special.

I do think we have improved our GK, but I loved Stacky and his antics!

There was one virtually the same against Ayr in the cup last season, a quick reaction save to stop them scoring.

He made a few saves of similar quality, he also came out and flapped at a few crosses. Personally Williams so far is no different to what we had in my opinion.

It seems to me if Stack had come and missed all these crosses, and its about 5 or 6 now in 2 games, he'd have been slaughtered?

[CallumLaidlaw]

There was one virtually the same against Ayr in the cup last season, a quick reaction save to stop them scoring.

He made a few saves of similar quality, he also came out and flapped at a few crosses. Personally Williams so far is no different to what we had in my opinion.

It seems to me if Stack had come and missed all these crosses, and its about 5 or 6 now in 2 games, he'd have been slaughtered?

I'd like to think we're giving him the chance to settle in to a new team & environment. We don't want to ruin his confidence too quickly :wink:

[Onion]

Thought he did well enough. Great pen save, even better save in the 2nd half from Thomson volley. Thought he could and should have come for the high deflected ball that led to the penalty, came for a number of crosses in the 2nd half and missed most of them, but got better as the half went on. Overall did an good enough job, and looks a better keeper than the last few we've had between the sticks.

IMHO Fenlon has been true to his word - he's signed players with a balls - McPake, Deegan. Cairney, Williams, Clancy... all looks like guys who you could rely on in a fight - exactly what we've been needing at ER for the last few years :thumbsup: Early days, but from the last 2 games, we might at long last be building a team that won't be kicked about, won't capitulate, can play a bit, and have some pride in the jersey they play in. HOW REFRESHING WOULD THAT BE ?

[blackpoolhibs]

I'd like to think we're giving him the chance to settle in to a new team & environment. We don't want to ruin his confidence too quickly :wink:

I agree, but he does need to cut out those superman impressions. He does need time to settle in, i just find it funny when we ignore these mistakes and some are saying the positions been strengthened when there's been no signs of that so far.

By the way, i'm not saying he's worse or better than Stack. :wink:

[DaveF]

Cant say i have seen much difference myself, both were good shot stoppers and good organisers. Stack did not like to come off his line, and so far Williams has been poor at coming off his line.

Maybe the biggest difference is the one we fans don't see and that's the influence (good \ bad) that one keeper has compared to the other in the dressing room and training ground.

[Pretty Boy]

Remember that's only the 2nd time Williams has played behind that defence.

Maybe trying a wee bit too hard to come for the crosses just now. Hopefully that settles down and he improves his decision making on when to come and when to let the defenders deal with it.

Not seen his save today but the one against United was fantastically good, no one who hasn't played in goals will appreciate how difficult that was.

[AB Hibby]

He was at Carlisle for a year and was exaxctly the same.........great shot stopper but flapped at crosses. I was at the game today and he had some excellent saves especially from thomson in second half but seems to get a rush of blood go the head for crosses/corners. I'm scared to highlight it though - or we'll end up creating the same negative atmosphere about keepers that we've had for last few seasons.

[blackpoolhibs]

Maybe the biggest difference is the one we fans don't see and that's the influence (good \ bad) that one keeper has compared to the other in the dressing room and training ground.

Maybe, or maybe not? As we cant see that we can only go on whats in front of us.

[frazeHFC]

I like the guy, did well and the penalty save was huge!

[Billy]

Footage of the penalty save can now be seen on the freeview player on the official website www.hibernianfc.co.uk

[Saorsa]

Footage of the penalty save can now be seen on the freeview player on the official website www.hibernianfc.co.uk (http://www.hibernianfc.co.uk):thumbsup:

[Pretty Boy]

Footage of the penalty save can now be seen on the freeview player on the official website www.hibernianfc.co.uk

Good to see most of the players go to him after the save. Shows team spirit.

Some save by the way.

[MagicSwirlingShip]

I agree, but he does need to cut out those superman impressions. He does need time to settle in, i just find it funny when we ignore these mistakes and some are saying the positions been strengthened when there's been no signs of that so far.

By the way, i'm not saying he's worse or better than Stack. :wink:

What's with trying to pick holes in every players performance? Can we not just concentrate on what they done well ie Keep us in the game with a penalty save. This forum gets me down sometimes! Id say our players would be alot more confident if half our fans werent trying to be some MOTD analyst half the time. No dig intended G, just the overanalysis of performances drives me potty. We won today!

[GreenCastle]

Good to see most of the players go to him after the save. Shows team spirit.

Some save by the way.

Was going to say the same thing - shows the team spirit and looks like things are changing and the players care more :agree:

Big save :aok:

[eebsie]

Maybe same quality of performance as Stack, but hopefully not injured as much!

[500miles]

To be fair to Williams, even if he is on a par with Stack, Stack wasn't a bad keeper. He didn't come for crosses - but for me, if your defence know that, they should be organising themselves with that in mind. When Colgan was in goals, Sauzee, Smith and Fenwick used to take responsibility at set pieces.

Stack's problem was that he was injured a lot, he was under a lot of pressure in a poor team (for me a goalie is only ever going to be as good as his outfield protection allows him to be), and he struggled with crosses.

The perfect goalkeeper doesn't sign for Hibs.

[truehibernian]

To be fair to Williams, even if he is on a par with Stack, Stack wasn't a bad keeper. He didn't come for crosses - but for me, if your defence know that, they should be organising themselves with that in mind. When Colgan was in goals, Sauzee, Smith and Fenwick used to take responsibility at set pieces.

Stack's problem was that he was injured a lot, he was under a lot of pressure in a poor team (for me a goalie is only ever going to be as good as his outfield protection allows him to be), and he struggled with crosses.

The perfect goalkeeper doesn't sign for Hibs.

Stack is exactly the sort of character Hibs should steer clear of from now on. I for one was delighted Pat saw it quite quickly.

[Stevie Reid]

Concerning that he has flapped at a few these last couple of weeks, but when Daniel Andersson was our keeper and missed the odd one I said that I'd rather have a goalkeeper who loses the occasional goal by always coming for crosses, than one who regularly loses goals by never coming off his line for them.

Obviously the ideal would be someone who comes and claims all the time, but such keepers are way out of our league. Williams has the best pedigree of any goalkeeper that we've signed in recent years, and as others have said, is just settling in behind our new back four - also, whilst him missing a few crosses isn't ideal, he's obviously a confident guy to keep coming for them, and confidence is a huge commodity for a goalkeeper. Let's see what happens, but I'm not worried.

[Jonnyboy]

Dunno if I'm imagining this or not but I seem to recall that Ben hardly came for a cross at all in the first half but came out for just about every one in the second?

[Capt Mainwaring]

Dunno if I'm imagining this or not but I seem to recall that Ben hardly came for a cross at all in the first half but came out for just about every one in the second?

He'll do for me. A few flaps at crosses but a good shot stopper and is always shouting and organising the back 4.

Only goalkeeping issue for me is that we have no senior back up if Willliams gets injured.

[HibbySpurs]

What's with trying to pick holes in every players performance? Can we not just concentrate on what they done well ie Keep us in the game with a penalty save. This forum gets me down sometimes! Id say our players would be alot more confident if half our fans werent trying to be some MOTD analyst half the time. No dig intended G, just the overanalysis of performances drives me potty. We won today!

:agree:. 100% correct. We should be looking at what influence the guy had on the game first and foremost.... Let's see... 1-0 up, the opposition get a penalty, the keeper makes an excellent save to preserve our lead and we're able to later double that lead and end up winning 2-1. This therefore in itself is a major contribution to the game and we've not even mentioned the other saves later in the game.

Yes he may have made some judgment errors coming for balls but (on this occassion) they cost us nothing. I think the guy deserves a bit of credit for his overall contribution rather than focussing on negatives which in the end had no bearing on the outcome of the match.

[GreenCastle]

Hibs.net at it's best.

This isn't the Real Madrid or Chelsea forum where you pick at every little mistake a 90k a keeper makes.

This is Hibs and considering the standard of GK in previous seasons I am happy with what I have seen in Williams.

The leadership and organising part is great and I would a keeper come for a cross and miss it once in a while then stay rooted to his line 24/7

Let's support the team and especially our keeper - it might even install some more confidence to our back 4 and we might become harder to score against and win more games :wink::greengrin

[SouthMoroccoStu]

Hibs.net at it's best.

This isn't the Real Madrid or Chelsea forum where you pick at every little mistake a 90k a keeper makes.

This is Hibs and considering the standard of GK in previous seasons I am happy with what I have seen in Williams.

The leadership and organising part is great and I would a keeper come for a cross and miss it once in a while then stay rooted to his line 24/7

Let's support the team and especially our keeper - it might even install some more confidence to our back 4 and we might become harder to score against and win more games :wink::greengrin

That's a brilliant idea!

It's so crazy, it might just work!!!!