Nowt between em man, Evans has become another boo boy. Weird.
Booing him for lack of quick distribution, when theres no one to chuck it too. Classic. WE ARE STANDING STILL.
Lob it quick to a bloke standing still. BOOOOOOO hes given it away, keeper smashes it long… BOOOO smashing it long is shit etc
No one can win.
Both seem decent 4th tier keepers, so i haven’t got a preference, except to say i don’t think it was fair to drop Smith for no apparent reason? that stinks of bad management
Smith for me.
Actually can play out. Makes such a big difference to our overall play. We play so much better with the ball on the deck and he helps us do that.
Evans’ only advantage is coming for crosses, but playing with three centre halves, you’d hope that wouldn’t be as much of a problem.
Smith for me. The team seem to play better with him in it.
Other then that like most people I think it’s 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
While watching the Gillingham game I noticed Smith had a bandage on his hand/wrist, could have a little injury.
Owen is done for me, I like his personality and he seems to command well, but he is too slow.
Owen Evans
Jackson Smith
Get Jackson back in the team, as long as he carry’s on playing as he was, sign him up for 2 more years and get someone in to compete for the 1st team place
Smith for me. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our form and performances picked up when he was i the side. He suits the way that Sadler wants to play and he’s much more in the mould of the modern keeper. The more direct approach has crept back in the last few games and for me it stems from Evans.
Evans has been put in a bit of a no win situation. If he performs well people will say “so he should, he’s out number one”. If he doesn’t play well then fans will want his head on a stick. As others have said, he’s far better at claiming crosses, and he’s also really vocal. My main concern with him though is that he concedes so many goals at his best post
If he did actually say that then obviously he was wrong. He’s arguably the second best keeper in Walsall yet alone the division.
If you don’t mind I’ll take Mat Sadler’s opinion over yours.
Appreciating all keepers aren’t perfect at this level, Smith’s command on crosses has had me shaking my head at game highlight reels.
That said, opposition strikers are clearly also error-prone, so he’s got away with quite a bit. That’s possibly because opposition teams don’t expect the gift he gives. Over time that’ll change as teams do their homework and testing him becomes an opposition tactic.
Smith edges it for me , his distribution is a lot better than evans and he plays the ball out a lot quicker than evans.
Theyre just about on a par at shot stopping , but Smith still goes for the shots Evans watches skim past his post. As someone stated a third of the goals Smith conceded was against Stockport who are smashing nearly every team put before them .
I also believe the upturn in our form smith was just as instrumental as the priest due to his quicker play and better distribution at rhe moment for a goalkeeper in this league id rate smith as 7/10 and Evans 5.5/6/10 so its smith for me all day long
Smith out the two. Early on Saturday Evans seemed to be distributing it quicker, i said as much to the chap sat by me that I assumed he’d been told to do so. Then he stopped and slowed things right down when we should have been taking it to them.
IMHO, Evans just shades it for me. Yes, his delaying tactics are a little annoying, but you want that from a keeper when we’re 1-0 up with 10 minutes to play, at least that’s what I would want a our goalie to do.
We’re fortunate to have two very good keepers on our books, one will be gone in the summer no doubt.
Sadler is going to have to sort it out at the end of the season.
Last 10-15 minutes yes do it, its like the last 5 minutes when outfield players take it to the corner flag run down the clock , but 10 minutes into a match at 0-0 makes no sense too me
Must admit, as a former goalkeeper myself(albeit mostly 5 aside) but still played in full sized goals lol, i have the utmost admiration for any keeper at any level, there is probably more pressure on you, than anywhere else on the pitch.
If a striker misses, it is just classed as a miss and he will get another chance, if a midfielder messes up, the opposition still has to get through other midfielders and the defence, but the keeper IS the last line of defence, and any mistake is blindingly obvious, and there is no hiding, you can’t afford to be off your game and you can’t hide behind another player
Whilst opinions are fine, they also have to bear scrutiny.
There isn’t a metric on earth that would lead anyone to seriously hold the same opinion as Mat Sadler.
Comparing the stats of the two Walsall keepers Smith is streets ahead of Evans
1.18 goals conceded per game versus 1.57. 78.1 percent of shots saved versus 63.5, 28.6 percent clean sheets versus 14. 3, and crucially the teams results Evans p21 w5 d5 l8, Smith P 7 (starts) w 5 d 0 l2.
Whilst stats arn’t the be all and end all, that’s a pretty stark contrast. Also Smith’s small sample of league starts include the wins over Notts County, Wrexham and Crewe, plus the annihilation of Grimsby. That’s arguably 4 of the best results and performances of the season.
In the games against Tranmere (at the time a crucial win in the context of the season), and those against Crewe and Wrexham Smith saved 100% of on target shots in every game (pens apart), something which Evans has only managed 4 times from 3 times as many starts.
Probably all just coincidence though eh? Sadler knows best .
Very misleading set of stats! Evans spent the first half of the season behind “rookie” defenders and his saves during that time saved us some points. Smith has had the benefit of being behind a steady back 3 and our defence has certainly tightened up since Farquaharson has been fit. Smith is a decent keeper but I prefer Evans since he is marginally better at claiming crosses.
Must say those stats are very damning for evans didnt quite realise how far apart they seem too be in certain aspects of the GK role. It was my personal opinion Smith should be the number 1 for the forseeable barring catastrophic mistakes but those stats just seal it for me theres no further discussion needed
Maybe he was behind rookie defenders but you have to play the hand your dealt. Also i dont think any of us are naive enough to blame the GK when it could clearly be the defences fault the majority of us can or could see who is too blame. No one is going to blame Evans or Smith if its clear to see the defence or midfield put them under unnecessary pressure.
Yes smith had a settled defence in front of him but thats the way the cookie crumbles fine margins.
I believe Smith was just as instrumental in our upturn as much as the Priest’s return was.
At times Evans looked shaky , lacking in confidence and would rather make a routine save to make it look like a worldie that doesnt fill the rookie defenders with much confidence knowing if they dont cut out that ball or cross have you got faith in your GK to keep it out the old onion bag, shakiness and lack of confidence then becomes evident through the whole team.
IMHO Smith has been dealt a very raw deal , didnt do much wrong , big part of our upturn in form , excellent distribution resulting in quicker plays from front to back , then suddenly hes dropped to the bench 
Smith has been on fire
As others have said, it’s very tough to choose as they both offer different attributes and styles. I personally prefer Jackson Smith as he impacts and affects the team so positively with his distribution and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that our brilliant run of form was with him starting.
I find Evo’s time wasting and nonchalance when retrieving the ball to be completely insufferable. I don’t understand why urgency hasn’t been injected into him by Sadler at this point.
As much as I prefer Jackson, I do think that peoples’ view on him might be slightly different if we had been punished when he has made mistakes in games. He has made quite a few clangers and is fortunate that teams have squandered those chances.
