Last week Niculae made a complete erse of a spot kick against Hibs which cost us dearly....  :008: 

I don't think he should get another chance.... Brewster would be my first choice.....  :022:

Thoughts..?

Rankin

ICAT

Whoever feels confident they will score !!!

Niculae didnt miss, it was saved by the keepers foot ! It may not have been a great penalty but thats not to say he shouldnt take them. However, if Rankin, Cowie, Brewster or anyone else feels more confident, then let them take them. not much chance of getting one this week though !

Michael Fraser.  And yes I am serious.

He didn't take the best of penalties, but when the keeper had sold himself diving full length to his left he got lucky as when Marius hit it down the middle, it curled slightly and hit the six foot seven inch eepers foot :029:

Bit unfortunate, but he should have given it more green.  Bazza for me.

brester cant and shouldnt take pens.

Barry Wilson if he's on the field otherwise whoever is feeling confident.

like anything else that happens on a football field, taking penalties is 95% skill and about 5% confidence.

the person who takes the best pens in training should take them on the match day, it sounds too simple but its proven to work.

the german national team practice penalty taking an hour a day before big cup matches, they perfect hitting the ball low and hard into a corner, by taking hundreds of penalties until they werent missing them anymore.  by the time they end up in a shootout theyre so drilled and set in their style of kicking that their footballing autopilot takes over the nerves, they then step up and slot the thing away.  arsene wenger talks about it in his book, he believes that preparing for a penalty shootout not only makes a player a better penalty taker but it also strengthens his confidence when the time comes to step up and decreases nerves during extra time.  he also points out that players should be taught to hit the ball low on penalties, as they arent likely to sky it under the goal  :015: 

anybody who has ever been in a situation where they are under intense pressure, no matter the audience, will afterwards know how critical the relationship between practice and performance is.

if we practice kicking the ball 12 yards at the goalkeeper, then we will get better at it, there will be nerves of course but the more prep thats done the better

like anything else that happens on a football field, taking penalties is 95% skill and about 5% confidence.

if we practice kicking the ball 12 yards at the goalkeeper, then we will get better at it, there will be nerves of course but the more prep thats done the better

That kind of practice wouldn't do our keepers any harm either.....

another soundbite from the professor goes something like "goalkeepers have a 43% chance of saving the ball if they stand still compared to just 30% chance, if they move"

here he is trying to calculate the chance arsenal have of winning the league (as a percentage) in the next 10 years

Please, please, Mr Craig Brewster, read Clacher's message above - we get so few penalties as it is, we must score, and the logic seems good to me..... please, please.....

We must score the few penalties we might be granted this season.....

Please, please, and I might then promise not bring my rattle to the Reserve Games again.... or maybe then, I might......

Clacher, totally agree with your post on penalty taking.

Only a great keeper will save in any of his four corners of the goal, only a confidant goal scorer will put it in one of thees four corners.

The rest is pure math.    ROSCO !

almost right cozmo, replace 'confident' for 'brainwashed'  :004:

he is a hero of mine.

look at his hair, definitely one for the ladies

Paul Sheerin

There should be a "pecking" order fer penalties and those selected should practice regularly. Sheerin is a good shout and so is Bazza. When one is missed the best penalty takers have the guts to take the next one and score.

Perhaps that is the case at ICT but I suspect Marius was given the task as a morale booster. It was a bad penalty at Easter Road, irrespective if it was missed or saved.If he is top of the pecking order however he should take the next one.

The real Arsene Wenger .