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THERE'S ONLY ONE DEREK STILLIE

Last updated : 25 January 2005 By Pars Mad

Stillie making yet another good save
You know…there are a number of things which puzzle me at East End Park these days. Has the PA Announcer bought a record in the last ten years? (Judging by the guff music which is piped out I’d say no!) Why has no-one ever lunged wildly at Sammy The Tammy? And where in christ’s name are all the stay-away supporters hiding these days? But we’ll deal with those questions another time. No, the thing which puzzles, and downright irritates, me most nowadays is the stick which Derek Stillie receives from a number of Pars at almost every single home game.


One bad kick out and bang! Criticism and abuse almost instantly – most of which I must say seems to emanate from the Norrie McCathie stand. A fact rightly highlighted by Assistant Manager Billy Kirkwood at the Fans Forum only a fortnight: “One bad kick-out from Derek and some fans are on his back for the next 15/20 minutes” said Billy. Billy also rightly pointed to the fact that Derek’s respect and appreciation for the fans at East End is second to none, something which, for the most part, is mutual. Now I’m not saying that because Derek appreciates the fans and applauds the fans at the beginning of the match that he should be absolved from any blame on the park. Far from it. But if consider how much good Derek does for the club when on the park and then consider how abuse the guy gets if, say, he sclaffs a kick out, it simply just doesn’t add up.


Once again Derek seemed to be the scapegoat for a handful of Dunfermline fans after Saturday’s draw with Dundee Utd. It was his fault. He should never have let Barry Robson get his head to the ball. Aye, that’s right…it was all Derek’s fault. Aaron Labonte’s failure to track Barry Robson’s run wasn’t at fault, oh no. Andrius Skerla carelessly allowing Stevie Crawford to nip in for the finish wasn’t at fault, not at all. I’d just like to point out that both Labonte and Skerla are players that I hugely admire – particularly big Andrius who, as I’ve said before, is, in my opinion, the best defender in the SPL. But why no blame attached to those two players? Why was it just Stillie that was labeled as the fall-guy? The truth of the matter is that had it not been for Stillie on Saturday then we would have been sitting ruing three points lost instead of just two. Aswell as making a few other very decent stops, Derek’s saving tackle at the feet of the onrushing James Grady – when Dundee Utd were in the ascendancy – was in essence a match-saving tackle. Yet this incident seemed to be conveniently forgotten by some of the Pars fan, no doubt the same ones who didn’t hesitate to get on the keeper’s back when he sliced a first-half kick-out on collection of a corner.


Derek’s distribution of the ball seems to be the aspect which most of the keeper’s critics point to. They point to his kicking being poor and often unpredictable. But for the life of me I cannot, off the top of my head, think of another keeper – which the possible exception of Shay Given – whose kick-outs, whether from hand or on the ground, are perfect almost 100% of the time. Some also point to Stillie’s tendency to kick the ball instead of throwing it. Granted Derek doesn’t throw the ball out a lot but once again I’m at a loss to think of an occasion when he could have thrown the ball out to a player instead of a kick-out. There are fans that have also criticized the keeper’s failure to come out for corners or, indeed, his tendency to punch the ball instead of catching it. With regards to his failure to come off his line, would you be happy if Derek was left stranded in no man’s land after flying across his box for a corner? I wouldn’t imagine so. Charlton keeper Dean Kiely – one of the best keepers in the Premiership – chooses not to come of his line for corners, preferring instead to let his tall defenders to take care of the corners. Scott Wilson, Andy Tod, Andrius Skerla, Jesper Christiansen. Are they not good enough in the air and tall enough to deal with an aerial threat form a corner? In relation to Derek’s decision to punch a lot of the high balls, from my recollection each and every time that Derek has punched the ball clear it is always to safety or, rather, far enough from the danger area to allow the Pars defenders the chance to regroup. You never know, maybe if there was at least one Pars player not in the box when defending a corner then maybe Derek’s punches would actually reach a black and white shirt!


Now everyone’s entitled to an opinion. You are free to criticize Stillie if you want. I’m sure the keeper doesn’t need me or anyone else to defend him. But all I’m saying is the level of criticism which Derek receives after a mistake – mistakes which rarely leads to a goal – is definitely out of order. Those calling for Jamie Langfield to be given a chance are well within their rights. Jamie’s a very decent goalkeeper, but he’s not, in my opinion, on the same level as Stillie. Without a doubt the best shot-stopper in the SPL, Derek’s performances have often kept the Pars in a certain game and, more often than not, saved the side from a humiliation – Celtic (A), Hearts (A), Hibs (A) all this season spring immediately to mind.


Sixteen clean sheets – Stillie’s achievement last season – is no fluke and hopefully, with a bit of sense, new Scotland gaffer Walter Smith will recognize that Stillie is a top quality keeper. The best that Scotland and, in my opinion, the SPL has. The sooner the small minority of Stillie-bashers at East End Park realize this, the better!