HIBS goalkeepers Yves Ma-Kalambay and Andy McNeil are being unfairly criticised because of the mistakes of their predecessors, Easter Road boss Mixu Paatelainen claimed today.
The two youngsters have found every mistake they make is highlighted and debated, leading to claims the Easter Road club is suffering from a goalkeeping crisis. But today Paatelainen mounted a robust defence of both Ma-Kalambay and McNeil in the wake
of the latest negative headlines aimed at the towering Belgian under-21 internationalist.
While admitting that, as young goalkeepers, Ma-Kalambay and McNeil, a former Scotland under-21 player, are more likely to make errors than more experienced No.1s, Paatelainen revealed he believes the pair are put under the microscope because of the gaffes of former Hibs stars Simon Brown and Zibi Malkowski.
Both Brown and Malkowski were guilty of costly mistakes, particularly in high-profile matches and that, Paatelainen claims, has resulted in the Easter Road side's present custodians taking flak they don't deserve.
Ma-Kalambay was blamed in some circles for the goal lost at the Falkirk Stadium as Hibs battled back to claim a 1-1 draw with the Bairns. He allowed Burton O'Brien's free-kick to sail across his goal for the unmarked Darren Barr to head home.
However, today Paatelainen insisted O'Brien should be given credit for the quality of his cross while claiming culpability shouldn't rest solely on the former Chelsea youth player's shoulders.
He said: "Yves obviously anticipated the cross coming in, went for it but then realised he could not get there and was caught in no-man's land. You cannot argue about that but, on the other hand, Barr was totally free.
"I think you have to give O'Brien credit for his cross, it was fantastic, a deep, high ball right on the six-yard line on the byline, the sort of cross which is impossible for a goalkeeper to get to.
"Yves must have taken 99 per cent of the crosses which came in on the day, he was fantastic but it was a quality ball in.
"But one player fell asleep, didn't follow his man in, didn't do his job in terms of man-marking and their player got a free header. We must also defend as a team. When they see their goalkeeper coming for a cross which is quite far away from him then they should be getting on the goal-line.
"To my mind, the cross O'Brien put in would have been some test for the vast majority of goalkeepers, no matter who they might have been."
Paatelainen, of course, has been searching long and hard for an experienced goalkeeper, a succession of trialists having come and gone at Hibs' training centre, although the manager is hopeful of strengthening his squad with such an acquisition during the coming transfer window.
Even so, Paatelainen insisted both Ma-Kalambay and McNeil, neither of whom has yet made 50 first-team appearances for the Edinburgh club, are good goalkeepers.
He said: "There's no question about that but they are still young and young goalkeepers probably make more mistakes than experienced goalkeepers. What tells me they are good goalkeepers is the fact we have had trailists come in and show their ability and they have been no better or on a par with Yves and Andy. These are guys who have played first-team football in the Bundesliga or Holland's Eredivisie, two of Europe's bigger football countries."
Pointing out that even the most experienced of goalkeepers can make mistakes – Tottenham Hotspur's Heurelho Gomes, for instance, has been the target of much flak so far this season – Paatelainen admitted it was up to Ma-Kalambay and McNeil to both handle the criticism and learn from mistakes made.
He said: "The way to stop it is, of course, to cut out the silly mistakes but unfortunately, unlike outfield players, goalkeepers are in an exposed position where any little error is liable to be punished. Unfortunately, long before I became manager at this club, there were goalkeeping errors and now, I feel, both Yves and Andy have the spotlight put on them every time with people quick to criticise every time we lose a goal – which is unfair on them.
"They are paying the price for what has happened previously but they are both good goalkeepers who, I think, have shown terrific mental strength given the attention which is paid to them.
"I was pleased with Yves' performance on Saturday, he came to collect crosses, his distribution was good and, while Falkirk's goal was highlighted, the fact he made a couple of very good saves in the match seems to have been ignored by some."
While disappointed at the manner in which the goal was lost, yet another set-piece, Paatelainen insisted his team's resilience had again been evident as they bounced back yet again to claim a precious point. He said: "We knew Falkirk would have a lot of the ball but I told my players not to be fazed by that, to let them have it in the midfield and to make it count when we had it.
"Unfortunately our passing was not good enough, we have to do better.
"But nevertheless, we created at least four clear-cut chances other than our goal which, had we been sharper, we'd have taken and won the game."
Hibs' equaliser came as Falkirk goalkeeper Scott Flinders, as Bairns' boss John Hughes admitted, was "caught on his heels" as substitute Alan O'Brien whipped in a corner for Rob Jones who nodded it on for Colin Nish to claim his fifth goal of the season.
While a question could be raised against Flinders, Paatelainen said: "It was sheer determination from Rob, he made sure he was up before the goalkeeper and Colin was in the right place to knock it in."
The full article contains 984 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
