O'Neil: Form Behind Keeper Change
Saturday, 19th Sep 2026 18:45

Town boss Gary O’Neil says form and Christian Walton impressing in training having got back to his best after injury were the reasons he switched goalkeepers for today’s game at Everton.

Walton was handed his first Premier League start of the season having been in the team which played both Carabao Cup ties with summer signing Kjell Scherpen dropping to the bench having been in the XI for the previous four games, conceding 10 goals.

O’Neil also gave Abdoul Ouattara his full Premier League debut at right-back with skipper Dara O’Shea moving into the middle for Jacob Greaves, while he has preferred Jack Clarke to Daizen Maeda for the last two games.

“Just form,” O’Neil said when quizzed on the goalkeeper switch. “Change of left winger, change of right-back, change of centre-back and change of goalkeeper today.

“So, no big decision made around who’s the better goalkeeper and who’s the number one, just that Walts has trained well.

“He missed a lot of pre-season with injuries, he’s getting back to his best level now, Walts, I think, and I felt like what he would bring today would help the team more than what Kjell would bring. So just based purely off form, and I thought Walts would help the group today.

“And he didn’t have much to do, in truth. Two shots on target, but I thought he did bring calm, he did make some good decisions.

“Kjell responded well, trained well yesterday after the news, was excellent around the group today.

“So they’ll get back at it now for the next three weeks and see who’s in the best moment for the next one.”

Regarding Maeda being left out, O’Neil added: “Just Jack Clarke I thought would bring some quality today that we needed.

“Always fine with Daizen. We have a good squad, we’ve put a 27-man squad together for a reason.

“I will make changes. I will try and pick a team that I think best suits the game. Daizen did well when he came on, gave us some energy. Was unlucky, he nearly nicked one off [Jarrad] Branthwaite right in front of the goal.

“So no problem with Daizen. He’s part of a group but that is going to have changes made to it.

“We’re not going to pick the same XI every week. We’re going to use the tools that we have in the group to try and make us competitive and Daizen will be an important part of that.”

Photo: Matchday Images

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Blue_In_Boston added 19:00 - Sep 19 So has Walton always been our first choice keeper and only hasn't started the season because he was on his way back from injury? Either way I have no issues with it, form applies to every other position - including the manager.
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Ipswichbusiness added 19:15 - Sep 19 Scherpen has been disappointing in the first few games, I’m not surprised at the change.
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Linkboy13 added 20:23 - Sep 19

Im a fan of Walton but i always say it as it is and after the Arsenal game i thought he'd blown his chance. Defenders normally let the manager know if they are not happy with their keeper as with the case with Muric who McKenna percievered with but gave in to pressure from his defence who also weren't blameless by the way. Only time will tell if Walton is the answer either way he won't be exempt from criticism from me.

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ipswichone added 21:26 - Sep 19

The defenders have been working harder to protect sharpen,which is why the defenders were more shaky.with Walton in goal,defenders was calm and in control bringing the ball out brilliantly today,with no errors.for people to judge him in the arsenal performance was totally unjust.he is not going to be fully up to scratch in one game.No panic running up to strikers,just calm play which the foundation starts with the keeper,then runs through the team as shown today

ChrisFelix added 22:28 - Sep 19 Walton has always lost his place because of injury. Never form. Twice division 1 golden glove winner & if he had played the full season in our last championship im sure he would have pipped Rushwood to the award. He control his box well & gives his defence confidence
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jas0999 added 22:53 - Sep 19 Walton was awful Tuesday. But up to GON.
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Bazza8564 added 00:07 - Sep 20 Waltons distribution for me today was very poor. I shall watch the teamsheet for Fulham with great interest. Football is all about opinions and for me Walton does not look like a PL keeper
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Linkboy13 added 08:41 - Sep 20

People need to get real Walton's not going to be dropped because of his distribution .Ive supported the Town for 60 years and Walton is probably the most consistent keeper ive seen Paul Cooper is possibly the best and most underrated keeper having played at a high level for a long time. When it comes to distribution i don't hear our defenders getting criticised when they make mistakes. McKenna and O'Neil both seem to rate Walton and they see him at close quarters day in day out. We are not Arsenal, Manchester city or Liverpool so i think we are always going to struggle playing out from the back they have technically better players.

kpblues added 10:05 - Sep 20 Good news for me is that people can win their place on form. Kieran sometimes stuck with people who were out of form so pleased about this.
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SpiritOfJohn added 10:36 - Sep 20 I have nothing against Walton. But to say he is our best keeper since Cooper? What about Craig Forrest, Richard Wright and Bartosz Bialkowski?
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RetroBlue added 10:39 - Sep 20 Need to get that keeper back from his euopean loan ..ridiculous leaning him out to sit on their bench.
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Lightningboy added 10:59 - Sep 20 I just wish that football coaches in general would quit with making the keeper's play out from the back when it's dangerous to do so..it's clown football and every fan thinks so,why do they insist on persisting with it?...Walton got caught out the other night and nearly did again yesterday...madness.
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Cadiar added 13:49 - Sep 20 Walton did nothing to inspire me yesterday, poor distribution & doesn't command the bow. Was worse v Arsenal
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Edmundo added 13:50 - Sep 20 Really happy for Walton. He's had a tough week living where he does, bur showed great character.
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Facefacts added 17:33 - Sep 20 Big call to drop Scherpen. Walton is just about ok but wasn't really put under the spotlight. Their lucky goal, the offside disallowed goal. Unless you think Scherpen would have dealt better with the cross that led to the goal. The punc out was so poor. Walton was lucky his limitations weren't highlighted. We are bang in trouble.
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armchaircritic59 added 18:20 - Sep 20

This is going to rumble on. Time might prove that our best keeper is currently employed keeping a seat warm on the Valencia bench. We haven't seen anything like enough of him to pass any judgement, though we know he's excellent with his feet, just needs to prove he's as good with his hands, if so, there wouldn't be a tiny shred of doubt about it. In the meantime, we just need to get behind whoever is between the posts each match, because we aren't going to improve things by constant sniping.

superblues9 added 19:39 - Sep 20 Yes I don't know about best since copper I'm a Big fan of Walton though one keeper always gets overlooked as wasn't there long was Neil Alexander he was a top keeper remember him saving 2 penalties in 3 days as well not many keepers do that
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superblues9 added 19:40 - Sep 20 I'd have to say wright is best since the 70/80s
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armchaircritic59 added 01:01 - Sep 21 Oh, one last thing, form couldn't have been the reason for CW coming in. You show form in an actual game, not on the training ground. CW has only appeared for the Arsenal game, nothing there to suggest he's the form choice.
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Linkboy13 added 10:58 - Sep 21

A friend of mine who is disabled in a wheelchair insisted i take him down to the training ground a couple of years ago. After having a word with one of the ground staff i was told it was not really allowed for obvious reasons. My mate wouldn't take no for an answer it was very embarrassing. Eventually we were told we could watch from a distance. A short training session was followed by a 30 minute game i was amazed at the pace and intensity of it . There were certain players that were struggling to keep up or make any impact . My point although a bit long winded is that all players are assessed in training for their fitness and ability to cope at a high level this happens at all clubs. We all have our opinions but coaches know what's best and they are normally right at least ninety percent of the time.