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Declan Rudd

Declan Rudd

He's certainly had a few good games over this Christmas period. And compared to the 18/19 season, he's a much more confident and stable keeper than he was then.

We've still conceded a lot of goals this season though and our clean sheet record over quite a long period of time is very poor. We kept something like 9 clean sheets in 46 games last season. With 3 in 23 games at Deepdale. And until recently, that has carried on into this season, and as a key part of the defensive unit he can't be absolved of any responsibility for that, along with the rest of the defence.

I still think an aim in the near future for the club needs to be strengthening the goalkeeping department and giving him more serious competition. God forbid if he got injured at the moment, we would be screwed.

I think the main thing he seems to have improved on this season in particular is collecting crosses.
 
Rudd became a poor keeper when North End employed a goalkeeping coach who didn't earn a professional contract and whose highest level of football was the North West Counties league. Maxwell also went backwards during this period.

Rudd was a quality keeper when loaned to us from Norwich and has been when working with Gould and Pollitt.

Another example of North End doing things on the cheap.

Rudd is probably in the top 5 keepers in the Championship
 
pbc373 said:
Rudd became a poor keeper when North End employed a goalkeeping coach who didn't earn a professional contract and whose highest level of football was the North West Counties league. Maxwell also went backwards during this period.

Rudd was a quality keeper when loaned to us from Norwich and has been when working with Gould and Pollitt.

Another example of North End doing things on the cheap.

Rudd is probably in the top 5 keepers in the Championship
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He also went backwards after returning to Norwich from his loan spell here. I think he got a couple of games in the prem but basically was bench warming. It's taken him a bit of time (and a change of coach) to make the progress most of us thought he would have made earlier in his career.
Well done Declan.
 
He was always a good shot stopper. But he's become much more commanding. Maybe he's worked at it? Maybe something has clicked?

Whatever it is he is I'm pleased about it.
 
jumping mouse said:
He was always a good shot stopper. But he's become much more commanding. Maybe he's worked at it? Maybe something has clicked?

Whatever it is he is I'm pleased about it.
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Maybe it's the change of coach. Nobody had much good to say about Politt when he was appointed but he may just be what Rudd needed.
 
Looks a lot more confident and commanding this season.

The thought of him going off injured fills me with dread. We are vulnerable without a decent back up. Ripley yet to step up.
 
Definitely better at commanding his area than he was 18 months ago. His save percentage, for such a good 'shot stopper' has been worryingly low this season, but hopefully that's just been bad variance and it's reverting to the mean a bit now?
 
sedgwick__7 said:
I still think an aim in the near future for the club needs to be strengthening the goalkeeping department and giving him more serious competition. God forbid if he got injured at the moment, we would be screwed.
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Sentiments I’ve been expressing for months.
Declan has proved by Improving himself under Gould and now Pollitt. Agree with many areas identified by others where he’s shown improvement.
We can only wonder how good he would be if being challenged by a comparable keeper, and how, as you say sedgwick, screwed we’d be if he was injured or simply lost form.
If he goes down & looks injured my stomach turns; AN surely can’t be content with the ‘keeper bank here?
Kathryn sums up our potential predicament:
”We have Ripley and Hudson. We’ll be ok.😃”
But what if, in reality “Dec is injured....” 😱
 
Preston Lad said:
I’ve always thought he’s been a decent keeper at this level.

Not the best but nowhere near being the worst.
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I agree and it is good to see that he’s getting better. I said to a Cov supporting mate of mine the other day that Rudd is just about right for us - not so good that bigger teams will look at him, but does a decent job. At the minute he will definitely do for me.
 
pnenycx said:
Some players need to be kept on their toes with a competitive backup player but Rudd seems motivated with a good temperament.
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Rudd does seem more competent in areas he was previously lacking. He has shown improvement under recent guidance and I should hope as a professional football player that he is motivated. His character/temperament probably has bearing as much on team spirit as his professional abilities.
But no-one is perfect, and even if we pretend Rudd is, and would not benefit by being challenged by a comparable keeper, he would then have vast areas of knowledge to pass on to a competent back-up with understudy.
We are guilty of the equivalent of putting all our eggs in one basket if Rudd is the only ‘keeper we have confidence in within our current pool of ‘keepers. I have confidence in him but that means nought if, for example, he breaks a leg or loses form. Especially if that happens post this window and we maintain our ‘keeper stock as is.
A cull with experienced replacement is needed, as may be the case in several areas of the team this window.
 
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