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fbm

Blue tinted optimist⭐
Joined
Oct 28, 2003
Messages
10,024
Location
Cloud cuckoo land
So we have had debates on whether Mildenhall was a good keeper or not, better than Flahavan or not and now whether he was MOM against Hereford or not.

Well, I can sort of see both sides here. Often you hear someone talk about a "Man of the Match" performance and this is where a player absolutely runs the game and is head and shoulders above everyone else. Obvious really. Mildy wasn't in that category.

But it is for instance possible for a striker to score a hat trick but not actually play very well. So would the striker get the MOM award if the team were to win, say 3-2 (with the winner coming in the last minute)? I would say that he probably would, because his contribution to the game was such that he clearly won the match for his team. (Contrast this to Luther Blisset who got 3 for England against Luxembourg once when we won something like 9-1 but he was fairly poor and pretty lucky with at least one of his goals)

For me, the MOM is about the entire circumstances of the game and the result as much as the actual individual perfomance.

Mildenhall has had a torrid few weeks prior to Saturday. Whilst tall, he has often fumbled and not been as commanding as he should be. He has had the boo boys on his back and there have been calls from everyone at the club for the fans to lay off him. His confidence was on the floor.

So going into the Hereford match it was quite simply a game that could make or break his season.

After just a few minutes Hereford had a free kick which was pumped into the penalty area. Mildy came quickly off his line and claimed it, probably 13 or 14 yards out in a way Flahavan never would have done. That is a long distance for a keeper to come and was a brave decision, given the circumstances. If he had spilled the ball or been beaten to it by a striker then everyone would have been on his case.

But he didn't. He claimed it safely and securely... i.e. he did what he had been brought in to do. Nothing spectacular about that... except when you consider his state of confidence and then you realise what a brave decision that was to make.

Throughout the game his handling was safe and assured. It was easily his best game for the club. Good saves don't have to be spectacular... because of the height difference a routine diving save for him would have been a spectacular full length one for Darryl. There was one full length one on the deck in the first half that Darryl simply would not have reached.

He got better as the game progressed and the save he made when he got injured was very good indeed.

And then, with no sub keeper on the bench, he decided to play on, albeit in obvious pain, because a half fit proper keeper is preferable to one who has never played there.

That alone elevated him to hero status. If the x-rays had revealed a break (and they thought at that time it was broken), he would have been renowned for "keeping a clean sheet with a broken leg" and would have gone down in SUFC folklore.

But if he had gone off and been replaced with Revell, then the whole team tactics would have changed. We would have defended deeper, Hereford would have adopted a "shoot on sight" policy... we may well have dropped 1 and possibly all 3 points.

As it was all Hereford knew was that his foot was injured... no-one knew the extent of the injury AT THAT TIME... and we were able to hold a higher line.

In my view, although not a spectacular (in the flamboyant sense) performance, he wore his heart on his sleeve, was prepared to die (metaphorically) for the club - incidentally, isn't that the sort of player we all want down here? - and in my view last Saturday Steve Mildenhall was the figure whose actions and perfomance most influenced the result.

Therefore, in my opinion, he was a worthy MOM recipient - even if he wasn't flying around the goal and keeping the visitors at bay single handed.
 
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here here

he was my MOM for all the reasons you pointed out FBM.

I'd also like to add that having "Southend's Number One" chanted towards him at the start of the 2nd half probably done him a world of good.
 
He got better as the game progressed and the save he made when he got injured was very good indeed.

Best save I've seen at Roots Hall for quite a few years. He covered a lot of ground to get that block in. It was a real top class save.
 
im glad mildy had a good game & hopefully that will shut the idiots up that were chanting daryls name the previous home game,it was good to see him get a dtanding ovation at the end when he walked off-a very brave performance..i do think though that jf christophe had a fine game & looked very assured & covered back very well...
 
everyone gets very heated about this ....... but I personally would rather have Flahaven in goal -

I reckon they are about even in ability - but would prefer the 2 penalty saves in game Darryl
 
Thought Sawyer was excellent, but bearing in mind the abuse that Mildenhall has been suffering over the past few games, I thought he showed a lot a character to bounce back from that and turn in a fine display, even more so considering the injury that he sustained
 
not sure about MoM but he did have a good game. Like you say, it might shut the boo-boys up a bit.

Glad to see that he got a good reaction at the end of the game too. Let's hope he starts getting the crowd on side.
 
Not for me, they were rubbish and he didnt do enough to warrant a MOM.

Was a great save when he got hurt, and good on him for staying on but his performance didnt warrant a man of the match award.
 
Exactly Fbm, you're obviously just a much better illustrator of the point than I was on the Ratings thread. It was the turnaround in the circumstances that justified it for me, on top of what else he did during the game.
 
Not for me, they were rubbish and he didnt do enough to warrant a MOM.

Was a great save when he got hurt, and good on him for staying on but his performance didnt warrant a man of the match award.

Spot on. People are going over the top with calls of him being MOTM and being given 10 out of 10.
 
I wasnt at the game so cant comment on his performance. But its nice to hear people arguing over who was man of the match and not who the worst player was for once.
 
Thought Mildy looked exactly the 'keeper Tilly brought him in to be on Saturday. Commanding, confident and didn't make a handling error all game. Now, if only he could give Darryl's kicking boots back.

If he keeps that kind of form, after his enforced lay-off, then he's going to be a League One team of the season contender.

Much, much prefer a 'keeper who is able and prepared to come off his line to take pressure off the defence. Great shot-stopper that Flahavan was, his inability to come off his line cost us points and caused defensive panic on far too many occasions per game.
 
everyone gets very heated about this ....... but I personally would rather have Flahaven in goal -

I reckon they are about even in ability - but would prefer the 2 penalty saves in game Darryl

To go along with the numerous leakages of goals 5-1 Doncaster 4-1 leeds 4-1 notts forest could go on an on really
 
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