Hanlan

[Usher wide.]

Hamlin looked good for the time he was on. He looked a bit of a nuisance, hard to knock off the ball. Probably needs longer on the pitch.

Is this a wind up?
He’s absolutely useless.
The more the weeks go by the more pissed off I’m getting about our strikers recruitment.
It’s not good enough.
Get rid of Lasagne and Hanlan in January. Both offering us nothing.

He’s played 252 mins of league football and started 2 games. Massively extreme opinions on him are probably slightly premature.

The reason he’s only played those amount of minutes is clearly because the manager, having seen him in training & the game time he’s been given, doesn’t rate him despite signing him in the summer.

In yesterday’s ‘cameo’, he got the ball out wide with his back to the goal. He then turned, beat off the challenges of four Barnsley defenders & surged into the box close to the byline. The South Stand roared their approval & I thought ‘Wow this is good, he’s going to cut it back into the six yard box now”, but sadly ‘the mist’ that separates good players from also rans came down & he chose to ‘achieve acceptance’ of the manager, supporters & team mates as the noise from the crowd increased & he made an attempt to score from the tightest of angles but his ‘shot’ merely bulged the side netting.

Brandon didn’t so much miss a bulls a**e with his banjo as fail to thread his camel through the eye of a needle.

Of course he wasn’t the only one who scorned chances yesterday but the OP is ‘about’ him & in my opinion (& it appears also to be that of the managers) the fact remains Brandon is not ‘the answer’ upfront.

We badly need ‘that striker’ come January otherwise our season may peter out by February.

[ncRover]

When it comes to criticising the attacking recruitment, I guess the Hanlan business is an easier target than the Sharp business - who also signed a new contract in the summer and has played far more minutes.

Had we not offered Billy one, we would have had another option to fill a striking slot with someone more appropriate.

Middleton has also not scored a goal yet and doesn’t have a five page thread. Just feels like Hanlan is getting ganged up on.

[Usher wide.]

When it comes to criticising the attacking recruitment, I guess the Hanlan business is an easier target than the Sharp business - who also signed a new contract in the summer and has played far more minutes.

Had we not offered Billy one, we would have had another option to fill a striking slot with someone more appropriate.

Middleton has also not scored a goal yet and doesn’t have a five page thread. Just feels like Hanlan is getting ganged up on.

Start an OP criticising Sharp if it makes you feel any better.

[Reg of the Rovers]

I'm in the give Hanlan a chance group, he needs games and a system which allows him to flourish. There's a player in there for me, he's strong and fast, can compete and seems to want to work at it. Going from bench to not even in the squad from week to week can't be helping him, and if we had Rob Street in last seasons form, plus Sharp on the bench then you couldn't argue with that. Sharp is working his nuts off every game but not getting the chances / goals, so surely it's time to try something else.

While I'm making a rod for my own back, I also don't think Olusanya is as bad as being made out. Any two of those three, in a team which plays through / over teams would work well, rather than a deep lying team which breaks slowly and puts all it's attacking focus on playing round teams with wide players that can't cross.

[Chris Black come back]

I'm in the give Hanlan a chance group, he needs games and a system which allows him to flourish. There's a player in there for me, he's strong and fast, can compete and seems to want to work at it. Going from bench to not even in the squad from week to week can't be helping him, and if we had Rob Street in last seasons form, plus Sharp on the bench then you couldn't argue with that. Sharp is working his nuts off every game but not getting the chances / goals, so surely it's time to try something else.

While I'm making a rod for my own back, I also don't think Olusanya is as bad as being made out. Any two of those three, in a team which plays through / over teams would work well, rather than a deep lying team which breaks slowly and puts all it's attacking focus on playing round teams with wide players that can't cross.

Share this view of Hanlan. He is a talented player who we need to make more use of. He just isn't going to be the number 9 that people want. He plays off or wide of the number 9. That's pretty clear.

[jmt23]

He’s clearly not had enough game time, and is not being played in a system that he thrives in.

How good he is, is yet to be seen, but he is being beaten up on social media and forums for not being Rob Street, which is totally unfair.

I’ve yet to see him perform so badly he deserves the amount of crap he gets.

[goalkick]

Give him the full 90 mins next time v Bradford and then we will see if it’s lack of game time and if his critics are right.

[The Beast]

Give him the full 90 mins next time v Bradford and then we will see if it’s lack of game time and if his critics are right.

Agreed it’s a good chance for the fringe players to show us what they’ve got on Tuesday, give them a start and let’s see who will stand up and be counted, a great opportunity.

[sedwardsdrfc]

We normally make a few signings in Jan that make us better fingers crossed this time too.

But I’ve said this before and will again I lose a bit of faith in GM because how can he sign players and never give them a chance or offer a contract extension then bin them.

Imagine he’s spending your money on 2k week 2 year contracts and within 2 games it’s ah sorry he ain’t going to work can I have another 2-4k a week to sign someone else.

[mpc123]

If he signs someone else then maybe the oruginal person misses out. He hasnt really binned them. It gives options if injuries hut and creates competition and it generally enables a big enough squad to have a decent cup run to being the monies in.

People are asking him to pick a settlrd team, which means people will be left out and the ones he thinks will play play. Its common with squads, i dont get what you are moaning at, or is it just something else to moan about

[Donnybax]

I think the effects of his knee injury are worse than McCann was promised.

[i_ateallthepies]

If he signs someone else then maybe the oruginal person misses out. He hasnt really binned them. It gives options if injuries hut and creates competition and it generally enables a big enough squad to have a decent cup run to being the monies in.

People are asking him to pick a settlrd team, which means people will be left out and the ones he thinks will play play. Its common with squads, i dont get what you are moaning at, or is it just something else to moan about

How fat are your fingers?

[mpc123]

My hands are really big

[The Beast]

Give him the full 90 mins next time v Bradford and then we will see if it’s lack of game time and if his critics are right.

Agreed it’s a good chance for the fringe players to show us what they’ve got on Tuesday, give them a start and let’s see who will stand up and be counted, a great opportunity.

At half time I thought Hanlan was done as a Rovers player. As with the team’s turnaround, I’ve never seen such a contrast in a second half.
He looked a player, involved in every goal and a sublime finish!
Think he at least deserves half hour on Saturday, he showed character, hopefully he’s buzzing after his second half performance.

[Bentley Bullet]

Strikers, especially, need a run in the team without fear of getting subbed or dropped at every opportunity.

The problem is that it is such a vital job, and time is of the essence in making an impact.