Nottingham Forest manager Martin O’Neill has lumped praise on goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon following Saturday’s draw.
The boss told the Nottingham Post that the ex-Manchester City man should get a real confidence boost from his performance.
The Reds drew 1-1 with Ipswich Town but Pantilimon made two big saves in the second half to maintain parity.
The big Romanian is quickly becoming Forest’s marmite man.
Some rate him, others don’t. I guess that’s football in a nutshell.
The boss was pleased with his contribution at the weekend regardless.
He told the Nottingham Post: “He made a couple of big saves there for us. As Roy Keane often says, that’s what he is there to do.
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“But yes, he did make two really, really good saves for us when we were absolutely stretched. I’m delighted he made those saves because it will give him a confidence boost.”
Pantilimon has played all 37 of Forest’s league games, keeping 13 clean sheets.
Under O’Neill, he has looked vastly improved, down in no small part to the meticulous goalkeeping coaching of Seamus McDonagh.
His distribution is better and the commanding of his box is getting there.
There seems to be a real perception with Forest supporters that because the stopper is so large in height that he must save everything.
Goalkeeping simply doesn’t work like that. Indeed, if he saved absolutely everything, he probably wouldn’t have been sold by Manchester City or Watford.
Some criticism earlier in the campaign was probably justified. He did concede some silly goals, but he will be honest enough to know that.
Under O’Neill, however, you’d have to be a pretty harsh critic to say that he hasn’t remotely improved.
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