Southall vs Pickford

He was World No 1 when he played and worth many a point each season. It was real pity he never got to play in a World Cup or Euros, as that would have enhanced his reputation even further.

Pickford has grown whilst he’s been here and is the only keeper we’ve had that comes close to Southall. If we can win a couple of trophies with Jordan then he can take place on the plinth with Neville - we’d all be over the moon if that happened!

Southall still pips it for me, mainly because he played in a great team and won lots. He also helped us win the FA Cup in ‘95, he rolled back the years with some stunning saves in the final. Proper legend.

I still maintain that Georgie Wood was better than both of them.

But, even then you could tell he was coming to the end and I'll never forget a game against Wimbledon in '96 when he was glued to his line. We lost 4-2 and their keeper, Neil Sullivan, absolutely dominated his box and looked the far better keeper on the day.

So, from what I've seen with my own eyes, Jordan Pickford is the best keeper we've ever had. Even though he does frustrate me at times and I absolutely hate the time-wasting (I know every keeper does it).

I get the feeling that it's only a matter of time before the rest of the country wake up to how good he is and the Love-In will begin. Our imminent upturn in fortunes will change the narrative.

And 15 years from now everyone will be wishing England had a keeper as good as Pickford was.

The mistake in the derby was colossal but his ability to recover from that shows remarkable character.

His excitable demeanour and lack of extreme height seem to act against him when it comes to public opinion. He’s arguably England’s greatest ever goalkeeper. And over the last couple of years in particular he has performed brilliantly with two notably world class performances against Liverpool and Chelsea that stand out.

Big Neville however, was better.

Makes it hard to judge / compare.

Jordan Pickford is not the best goalkeeper in the Premier League but he is without doubt the 5th or 6th best keeper in the league and he is a country mile ahead of all the other English keepers.

Yes, that blunder at the end of the derby in 2018 probably destroyed him mentally for a while, but he saw a sports mind specialist of some kind and it clearly paid off.

Pickord's distribution is inconsistent but his shot-stopping is first class. But sorry, he is not at Southall's level.

Some 40 years later (am realising every day just how old I am), Neville Southall remains the last goalkeeper to win the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year.

Southall is the best

Nev and Pickford are better but I got sod all from either of those two stingy sods.

I shall in particular long cherish his Tomacevski- like performance in a draw at Mordor that the exasperated Guardian described as “a 1-1 massacre”

We could have gone on to great things. We could have been contenders with players like, George, Lyons, Pejic, Mckenzie, King, Dobson, Thomas, Latchford, etc…. Forming the nucleus of a title challenge.

But Everton have been cursed by either mismanagement (board) or bad management (in this case, Gordon Lee) but mostly by both.

George was an entertainer as well as a great goalie. He deserves his place in the pantheon of great Everton goalies.

Lots of ifs and buts, but those of who us who saw the potential know how shortsightedness robbed us of our destiny, time and time again. So frustrating.

Just joking, Ryan. George used to have a snack sometimes hidden in his towel and would have a sneaky bite . We used to ask him to share but all we got was a cheeky wink.

There is no reason on earth that he should have stayed with us and not been bought by a CL playing club over the past 5 years. For us to keep him means we must have been bribing journalists into saying he's crap.

He has kept us in the Premier League... but Big Nev is still the best.

When a shot came in with Nev in goal, we expected him to save it.

Joking aside, Pickford is a huge player for us and has kept us in the PL over the last few years. I’m astonished that we’ve managed to keep hold of him. He’s a bit nuts, just like the very best keepers, and has absolute confidence in himself, another top-goalie trait. I wouldn’t have any other PL keeper over Pickford, he’s essential to us, but…

…Southall is our greatest ever keeper and possibly the best ever goalie full-stop.

As a keeper myself, albeit in amateur Saturday/Sunday leagues, he was and is my all time footballing hero (along with Ferenc Puskas but that's another story) so I would plump for Southall every time - no matter who you put him up against.

I'm also predominantly Welsh with some English, Danish and a hint of Norwegian, Scottish and Irish according to my DNA so I have a soft spot for all things from the valleys.

Neville is also a thoroughly decent human being and champions minorities so my love for him has only grown over the years.

Pickford is a good goalkeeper and I have a lot of admiration for him, but Neville is the greatest goalkeeper that ever lived and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise!

Didn’t that “thoroughly decent human being,” ditch his wife aged 40 and run off with a 17 year old girl?

Neville was great.

(Jordan Pickford, he’s dynamite!)

I can guess that's a controversial opinion but I started watching Everton at the end of the 86 season when Nev was injured...He came back and we won the league and he was still a worldie GK, but come the early 90's I do think his levels had dropped as had the teams.

I guess Nev being the better at his best and Jordan's longevity make it a draw.

However, I don't think either Southall or Martyn would have been capable of this!

Link

Pickford had a few dodgy moments in the first couple of seasons but he's been consistent for years now.

Gavin and Peter have a point. Martyn was here fleetingly. Southall went from bin man to world class to fat fat bloke who ate all the pies in about 5 years. Pickford has been consistent for longer for club and country.

Pickford is the best current English keeper by miles and from this list:
http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamGkprs/GkprsChron.html
I'd say he's been the best on that list since I can recall back to the 80s.

Yes, fair enough, Neville made some mistakes near the end of his Everton career that he hadn't made before in his early career. Jordan made plenty of cock-ups in his early career and he is still making them now, along with his world class saves. I don't think you could say he has been consistently good.

Nigel Martyn wasn't here long but he was an excellent goalkeeper wherever he played.

As ever, it's all about opinions.

I think Neville would have been across his goal and headed that out for a throw-in. Not being funny but both Southall and Martyn have made better saves than that. So has Jordan, the two saves off the same move v Chelsea now they were exceptional.

Ordinary keepers make exceptional saves so one exceptional standout save doesn't make the goalie an exceptional one.

As Dave Abraham has said — there is no comparison between the two.

As a kid, Neville Southall was my hero, he won trophies and was the best keeper in the world for a couple of seasons.

But without Jordan, we would be playing in the Championship and if England had won the 2020 Euros he would probably have been player of the tournament ahead of Donnarumma - would that not have made him one of the best keepers in the world?

It's too close to call between the two for me.

But I can confidently say that George Wood shouldn't even be in the conversation -- didn't he wear contact lenses, for fuck's sake?