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Can We Sign A Penalty Taker Please !

Have played for Southend at senior level. All the way back to 1906.

#100 to make their debut was former Man Utd forward Tommy Nuttall in 1920. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Nuttall
#200 - George Cooke
#300 - Bert Oswald https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Oswald
#400 - Ron Gawler https://www.pressreader.com/uk/kentish-gazette-canterbury-district/20110317/282029028743263
#500 - Frankie Banks (needs no introduction)
#600 - David Keefe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Keefe
#700 - Peter Butler (see Frankie Banks)
#800 - Nathan Jones (ibid)
#900- Leon Constantine (ibid)
#1000 - Elliot Benyon (ibid)
#1100- Kenny Coker

Quite a selection!

I'm in the Paul Clark camp here, the keeper completely mugged Powell off. Showed him 2/3 of the goal, just before the kick moved back to the centre then dived to the side he's shown Powell the bigger part of the goal. If Powell had put his foot through the ball he'd probably still beaten the keeper, but placing it, went straight for the set up the keeper was hoping for.

Best penalty taker I have ever seen was Ray Stewart at West Ham (unfortunately), closely followed by Alan Moody! (Those of us that were there, how much pressure was there on that penalty @ Vicarage Road?!) Both of those two mentioned were defenders.

Doesn't always have to be a striker taking them, but penalty taking IS a special skill and we need a player PLUS a regular stand-in if the main man is off the pitch.

It's more about the strike on the ball whatever the technique. Stewart put his laces through the ball and took the keeper in the net if he went the right way, but knew how to keep the ball low, so never did a Chris Waddle. Moody was a side footer, but with power as well, and the speed on the ball is the secret for me.

Probably worth 5-8 goals a season depending how much penetration a team has into an opponents penalty area.

Easily worth half a dozen points over a season for a competent penalty taker. Cost us another two yesterday, luckily the season was over for us, but if we were playing for a play off place then could be costly, so it must be sorted.
Dave Cusack wasn't half bad either.

So much has changed since Moody and Stewart though (the rules, the balls, the size of the keepers they have to get the ball past etc) I’m not sure how translate-able that will be to the modern game.

You mention Waddle but just as big a factor in that penalty shootout loss was having an old school keeper like Shilton who refused to commit until the ball was in the back of the net. Although maybe that’s harsh: probably the last thing you’d want is Shilts betting one way or the other given the gambling debts he racked up…
That approach didn't do Cian Bolger or Adam Barrett any harm at Wembley
 
The best pen taker we had was Jimmy Evans.

Rhyl-born Jimmy Evans joined the club in 1919 from Ton Pentre. A left back, he won 4 Welsh caps whilst playing for the Shrimpers. In 1919-20 he was our top scorer with 10 goals, all from the penalty spot, which made him the only defender ever to finish a campaign as top scorer for a first class club. His penalty style was unique too, he would signal to the referee from the back that he was about to take the kick, then would run from his deep position to crack the ball into the net. We were forced to sell him to Burnley for £1,000 in 1923 as we needed the money, though Ted Birnie had started to rebuild the team around him. Jimmy died in his beloved home town of Rhyl in 1975 aged 81.
 
Although I never took to him as a player at SUFC (to me he always looked like he thought he was doing us a big favour just by turning up) I did like the way that Mike Marsh took penalties.

As I remember it he took a couple of steps away from the ball with his back to the goal then turned suddenly and just clobbered it. Took the old orb-thwarter by surprise every time.
 
Alan Moody's penalty record

Taken: 28, Scored 24.

11/10/74HTranmere RoversDiv 3Scored
05/04/75AHereford UtdDiv 3Missed - hit bar
27/09/75HShrewsbury TownDiv 3Scored
20/10/75HHalifax TownDiv 3Scored
13/12/75HDoverFACScored
26/01/76HHereford UtdDiv 3Scored
13/04/76AGillinghamDiv 3Missed - hit post
17/04/76AColchester UtdDiv 3Scored
19/04/76HChesterfieldDiv 3Scored
23/04/76HChesterDiv 3Scored
27/04/76AWrexhamDiv 3Scored
10/09/76HHalifax TownDiv 4Scored
18/09/76AHartlepoolDiv 4Scored
29/10/76HNewport CountyDiv 4Scored
01/01/77HAldershotDiv 4Scored
25/03/77HRochdaleDiv 4Scored
29/04/77HSouthportDiv 4Scored
03/09/77AAFC BournemouthDiv 4Scored
27/09/77ADoncaster RoversDiv 4Missed - saved
14/10/77HHartlepool UtdDiv 4Scored
19/12/77HAP LeamingtonFACScored
02/01/78HGrimsby TownDiv 4Scored
03/04/78HDoncaster RoversDiv 4Scored
15/04/78AWatfordDiv 4Scored
23/10/78HHull CityDiv 3Scored
23/12/78HBrentfordDiv 3Scored
02/02/79HChesterfieldDiv 3Scored
02/03/79HColchester UtdDiv 3Missed - wide
Spot On !
 
Dave Cusack missed one at the south Bank end! With The noise of ball hitting the advertising board echoing around the ground , the ref spotted a player encroachment, a re take and a goal for Big Dave!!
Dave Cusack was excellent rarely missed and Smashed everyone high in the Net with aplomb. Remember them with great memories.
 
There is a great pod cast with James English and Matt Le Tissier. Well worth a watch for all sorts of reasons.

His record was 47 from 48. He says he was always going the same way, keepers left. He used his peripheral vision and change only at the last nanosecond if the keeper was going the right way.
 
Alan Moody's penalty record

Taken: 28, Scored 24.

11/10/74HTranmere RoversDiv 3Scored
05/04/75AHereford UtdDiv 3Missed - hit bar
27/09/75HShrewsbury TownDiv 3Scored
20/10/75HHalifax TownDiv 3Scored
13/12/75HDoverFACScored
26/01/76HHereford UtdDiv 3Scored
13/04/76AGillinghamDiv 3Missed - hit post
17/04/76AColchester UtdDiv 3Scored
19/04/76HChesterfieldDiv 3Scored
23/04/76HChesterDiv 3Scored
27/04/76AWrexhamDiv 3Scored
10/09/76HHalifax TownDiv 4Scored
18/09/76AHartlepoolDiv 4Scored
29/10/76HNewport CountyDiv 4Scored
01/01/77HAldershotDiv 4Scored
25/03/77HRochdaleDiv 4Scored
29/04/77HSouthportDiv 4Scored
03/09/77AAFC BournemouthDiv 4Scored
27/09/77ADoncaster RoversDiv 4Missed - saved
14/10/77HHartlepool UtdDiv 4Scored
19/12/77HAP LeamingtonFACScored
02/01/78HGrimsby TownDiv 4Scored
03/04/78HDoncaster RoversDiv 4Scored
15/04/78AWatfordDiv 4Scored
23/10/78HHull CityDiv 3Scored
23/12/78HBrentfordDiv 3Scored
02/02/79HChesterfieldDiv 3Scored
02/03/79HColchester UtdDiv 3Missed - wide
20 at home and 8 away….
 
Julian Dicks was also a pretty good penalty taker I seem to recall. Someone's mentioned Leon Clarke on here, I'll swear the keepers dived to get out of the way of them. Hardest ball I've even seen struck.
 
But he took it properly, the others should learn. Weymouths keeper had a good game and read most of the situations well, Powell should have realised that.
As someone who was his club's penalty taker (I missed two in 12 seasons), I can confirm that the thing that is going through your mind when you are preparing to take a penalty is not how well the keeper has played so far and how well he has read most of the situations.
 
I guess things have changed over the years and are continuing to change, with keepers having more leeway in terms of positioning on the line and dancing about, but for me it's simply about choosing a corner. I think penalty taking has become over-complicated and sometimes comical - that hop, skip and jump thing looks ridiculous, even more so when it goes wrong (see Giorgino for Chelsea the other week).

Like some above, I was a penalty taker for some of the clubs I played for and tended to go the same way every time. On most occasions the keeper went the right way (all but two I think) but couldn't stop it because I struck it well enough and far enough into the corner. This included penalty shootouts. Think my record was something like 13 out of 16 so not as good as some but the keeper only got to one because there was a big puddle on the goalline and I had to adjust a bit and didn't quite strike it well enough. Even then it hit the post.

Weirdly, probably the best player I played with as a youngster - a guy called Richard Poole, who captained Leicester's reserves, which at that time featured a young Emile Heskey (Richard sadly did his knee in and had to retire) - really struggled with penalties and I'm not sure why. He tended to hit them down the middle but not well enough. Maybe the better players over-analyse penalties because they have more time than they would do in a game situation; even C Ronaldo and Messi have only modest success from the spot despite being world class players.
 
He has only taken one Penalty, Yes he did put it away ok.
But what happens when he is not on the field?

This response doesn't make sense. What if the penalty taker we sign isn't on the field?

Does that mean we need to sign 3 penalty takers, to ensure at least one playing - is even 3 enough ?
 
If a pro player hits it hard enough and near the corners it will usually be good enough (Kane style) but it's become more difficult. Compared with Alan Moody's era, keepers are generally much bigger and stronger. If they go the right way and it's not right in the corner they will save it. That's why it can become mind games and a lot of the top players aren't even looking at the ball, they're watching the keeper and waiting for him to move.
 
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