Andy Gorams early Rangers career

evo14

evo14

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With the scum across the city having their goalkeeping options scrutinised, do any bears remember Andy Gorams early days? Not that he was anywhere near as bad as those two, but I remember in his book he mentioned he had a few howlers and was getting a lot of stick off the press. Obviously he eventually made them eat their words by being the best Scottish keeper of his generation.

I was maybe a bit young to remember (born in 85), but what was the press coverage like? Was he getting pelters from them?
 
WinkieWATP said:
Nothing even close. Let in poor goals against Hearts and against Sparta Prague(I think)
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Goram refers to a howler against Hibs too, I’m wary of slaughtering the Greek lad in case I get the “ha you were wrong” type comments.

Which is very unlike myself :))
 
Another factor is that Chris Woods was excellent for us so he had big...gloves to fill.

I remember the hearts one very well, Scott Crabbe right at the start of the game.
 
erskine bear said:
Goram refers to a howler against Hibs too, I’m wary of slaughtering the Greek lad in case I get the “ha you were wrong” type comments.

Which is very unlike myself :))
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This guys save to shot ratio must be under 20%.

Although the defenders in front of him seem to be getting away with murder. Duffy aside.
 
The Prague one was a mystery. A save anyone on here could've made comfortably.

He didn't half make up for the early errors though. :)
 
I only really remember the howler at Tynecastle. I remember him getting loads of stick in the early days but not thinking he’d been awful, just that he wasn’t as good as Woods had been pre-illness. But the Hearts one stuck in the mind.
 
evo14 said:
With the scum across the city having their goalkeeping options scrutinised, do any bears remember Andy Gorams early days? Not that he was anywhere near as bad as those two, but I remember in his book he mentioned he had a few howlers and was getting a lot of stick off the press. Obviously he eventually made them eat their words by being the best Scottish keeper of his generation.

I was maybe a bit young to remember (born in 85), but what was the press coverage like? Was he getting pelters from them?
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Andy Goram had a poor first season. The rest is history.
 
Scott Crabbe
I was there as well, we all thought, oh oh we’ve bought a donkey.

ended up with a pig!
 
He as guilty of a couple of howlers and it left me wondering about the wisdom of Goram eplacing Woods, who as a class keeper.

But he proved me wrong and won over any doubters.
 
0028 said:
Yes I remember it, Tynecastle, Hibs at Hampden in the League cup semi & Sofia in the european cup.
After that he was immense, I would go so far as to say the Best Scottish Keeper Ever!
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The 1-0 at Tynecastle lives long in the memory. Was at the game with a mate who was of the view that we needed a new keeper and that we should go for Maxwell of Motherwell. All these years later he has not been allowed to forget that comment!
 
Misjudged a Scott Crabbe cross/shot at Tynecastle and let in an absolute howler against Sparta Prague for a Nizzy og after a Stuart McCall double had us ahead in the tie.

That was just about it in terms of mistakes for the next 7 years.
 
There were 2 or 3 big mistakes. I think he was a bit down after the Hearts game especially and Smith had words with him after he leathered a ball away during training and was made to go fetch it.

Barkas in contrast just isnt getting near shots. Lee Robinson would be a more direct comparison so far.
 
It crossed my mind a few weeks ago but its not the same.
Goram had a couple of howlers.
This guy is different, any shot on target has ended up in the back of his net. :D
 
bluenosebazza said:
There were 2 or 3 big mistakes. I think he was a bit down after the Hearts game especially and Smith had words with him after he leathered a ball away during training and was made to go fetch it.

Barkas in contrast just isnt getting near shots. Lee Robinson would be a more direct comparison so far.
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Bit harsh on Lee. :))
 
DarthVader said:
He as guilty of a couple of howlers and it left me wondering about the wisdom of Goram eplacing Woods, who as a class keeper.

But he proved me wrong and won over any doubters.
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At the time we had the 3 foreigner rule in Europe so we replaced Woods with Goram to open up an outfield position for another non-Scottish player.

I was a big fan of Woods, but seemed like a sensible compromise at the time. I had no idea how good Goram could become and he was fantastic for us over several years.
 
ssblue said:
Misjudged a Scott Crabbe cross/shot at Tynecastle and let in an absolute howler against Sparta Prague for a Nizzy og after a Stuart McCall double had us ahead in the tie.

That was just about it in terms of mistakes for the next 7 years.
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He made a bad mistake v Hibs in the league cup semi in that period which put us out.
 
He explains the one at Tynecastle as thinking it was going wide did he not?

It was a shot from distance and he just lifted his arms up as if to say "got it covered lads".

I am sure he talks about those mistakes being the making of him at the club. Something like would play for Hibs, get beat 6-0 and still be man of the match, but at Rangers had to make 1 save and if he didn't make it he would get pelters.

Said it improved his concentration as a result.

I think that is his explanation in 'the Goalie' video.
 
TheGoalie11 said:
He explains the one at Tynecastle as thinking it was going wide did he not?

It was a shot from distance and he just lifted his arms up as if to say "got it covered lads".

I am sure he talks about those mistakes being the making of him at the club. Something like would play for Hibs, get beat 6-0 and still be man of the match, but at Rangers had to make 1 save and if he didn't make it he would get pelters.

Said it improved his concentration as a result.

I think that is his explanation in 'the Goalie' video.
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He didnt have to really explain the one at Tynecastle, everyone knew thats what had happened. He puts his hands up then watches it fly into the net.

Him thinking it was going wide was the problem. :D
 
The game at Tynecastle myself and one of my Daughters were right behind the goal post and I screamed "he isnae going for it" My mother who was Chris Woods crazy she told me he is hopeless, I told her he will be a great keeper and she thought i was mad
 
texascot said:
At the time we had the 3 foreigner rule in Europe so we replaced Woods with Goram to open up an outfield position for another non-Scottish player.

I was a big fan of Woods, but seemed like a sensible compromise at the time. I had no idea how good Goram could become and he was fantastic for us over several years.
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Like you, I was a huge fan of Woods. But even as a kid, it was obvious he wasn’t the guy we’d seen in the first couple of seasons. He never recovered from that illness so it didn’t feel like a huge surprise we were replacing him. Don’t think any of us expected Goram to become what he did though.
 
He made the errors as have been stated & he also blundered in the 1st leg of the Sparta tie. Heard him say many times in the Quarry bar that he wasn't prepared for the step up in standard from Hibs to Rangers & he took some time to find his feet. I can't remember which game he mentioned was the one in which he felt he had turned the corner.
 
He made a number of high profile errors between the start of the season and a 3-2 win at Pittodrie 29 years ago tonight.

In that game he made a magnificent save, clawing away a top corner bound shot from Ian Cameron very late on.

From that night he never looked back, and was the best goalkeeper in the world until his knee operation after the cup final in May 1993.

After he recovered from that - and his lengthy post-recuperation binge - he was still in the top 5.

Andy Goram is Rangers and Scotland’s greatest ever goalkeeper.

I am happy to argue my case with anybody on this :))
 
Goram had the humility to bring in his former goalkeeping coach (Alan Hodgeson??) to help him out, not only with the technical aspects, but to help the mental aspects of playing for Rangers.

It wasn't just a case of the rest is history, the Goalie made a conscious effort to get better and improve. Almost as importantly , Walter stuck by him at that point.
 
Livibear said:
He made a number of high profile errors between the start of the season and a 3-2 win at Pittodrie 29 years ago tonight.

In that game he made a magnificent save, clawing away a top corner bound shot from Ian Cameron very late on.

From that night he never looked back, and was the best goalkeeper in the world until his knee operation after the cup final in May 1993.

After he recovered from that - and his lengthy post-recuperation binge - he was still in the top 5.

Andy Goram is Rangers and Scotland’s greatest ever goalkeeper.

I am happy to argue my case with anybody on this :))
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Goram was genuinely world class for most of his time with us.
 
In answer to the OP Goram was getting stick of the fans in the early days, he did lose a lot of goals at Hibs, and made a few errors in his early career with us, the first two months iirc
I remember going to East End Park during this time a he was getting stick of fellow bears and me and pals started singing "Scotlands number one, Gorams number one", then most other bears around us joined in.
 
Livibear said:
He made a number of high profile errors between the start of the season and a 3-2 win at Pittodrie 29 years ago tonight.

In that game he made a magnificent save, clawing away a top corner bound shot from Ian Cameron very late on.

From that night he never looked back, and was the best goalkeeper in the world until his knee operation after the cup final in May 1993.

After he recovered from that - and his lengthy post-recuperation binge - he was still in the top 5.

Andy Goram is Rangers and Scotland’s greatest ever goalkeeper.

I am happy to argue my case with anybody on this :))
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Goram made a number of high profile errors in his first season and his last season for us.

See in between ? I wouldn't have swapped him for anyone else in the world. People talk about 92/93 but see after Walter read him the riot act in 1994 ? He was even better. Genuinely saved us from absolute drubbings in Europe.

Walter should've threatened to batter him weekly.
 
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The first game I saw him play for us was pre season friendly at Hampden against Queen's Park. He let in a soft goal there if I remember, he misjudged the bounce and the ball went over him. After the game he was the topic of discussion, mainly comparing him with Woods - negatively. We won something like 8-2.
After the Hearts and Prague games we wondered what we had got.. He turned out not too bad in the end!
 
SDF said:
Goram made a number of high profile errors in his first season and his last season for us.

See in between ? I wouldn't have swapped him for anyone else in the world. People talk about 92/93 but see after Walter read him the riot act in 1994 ? He was even better. Genuinely saved us from absolute drubbings in Europe.

Walter should've threatened to batter weekly.
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His knees were shot by his last season, and TBH he should have saved Hearts second goal in the SCF, but by then he couldn't keep that constant movement his coach had him do. But, he's still part of that group of players who gave everything and more to try to win ten- something which them over the road don't have. As I've said before, Goram and others would play on Sunday if Stevie called them. Maybe need a wee Merlot or two before and after, but they'd come when duty called.
 
mfgorm said:
The first game I saw him play for us was pre season friendly at Hampden against Queen's Park. He let in a soft goal there if I remember, he misjudged the bounce and the ball went over him. After the game he was the topic of discussion, mainly comparing him with Woods - negatively. We won something like 8-2.
After the Hearts and Prague games we wondered what we had got.. He turned out not too bad in the end!
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I was at that game as well and remember the new goalkeeper looking a bit nervous and not as convincing as the England international that we had just sold... what the hell was this new manager playing at?

As an aside, I enjoyed going to that friendly at Hampden for a few years around then. It was a decent runout and gave the fans a chance to get an early look at new signings etc.
 
EstreetRanger said:
After the LC game against Hibs, Goram said if had stayed at Hibs he would be getting a medal, to which Ally replied "if you had stayed at Hibs we would all be getting medals". Something to that effect anyway
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Correct mate, was going to post this.
We were rotten that night.
 
Although his punch out against Hibs cost us a goal, we were rotten that night. It was like we turned up expecting to win.

The Sparta one was the costliest in terms of European progression, at a time when we should have been regulars post Christmas in Europe we were lucky to get past August.
 
Barkas is absolutely honking, there is no comparison to Goram’s first few months at Rangers. Watching their goals, I can’t recall Barkas making any sort of save. In his (non) defence, that mob in front of him don’t help whereas Goram could rely on a top class defence to guide him a bit.
 
erskine bear said:
That is the exact reason I’m not joining in on the Barkas bashing.
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I played in goal for various teams when I was a lad, my son Now plays in goal. I always look at keepers we play.
His confidence is shot to bits, also his angles a wrong quite frequently. His reflexes and reaction times aren’t great either.
just my observations.
 
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