League Two Rovers v Harrogate

[dollar'sbloke]

Hemmings at 29 wanted a contract as good as possible after his long term tier 3 one was expiring. His lust to play would be second to the wonga, so that rumour is pure bunkum. He plays all the time because he is the only qualified forward on the books and was putting remarkable shifts in until Saunders was signed ie every minute.
I wouldn't play him. I would play all the second year pros and above who have not convinced thus far. I would get Hockenhull back play him with Jamieson. I'd get McAlear back put him in with Hughes and Strats. Play Mumbo with Saunders then Burton.
The whole scene is a complete mess, four homegrown midfielders and other people's products you signed last summer who have been unable to sit on a half empty bench.
If Taylor and Lomax are seen as having futures what is the point in having older but inferior types? Palios needs to get a grip, the manager will be irrelevant unless the effectively useless are not dispatched.
Joe's injury may allow another ludicrous signing to be fully exposed, again.

 

[Ian]

I would play all the second year pros and above who have not convinced thus far. I would get Hockenhull back play him with Jamieson. I'd get McAlear back put him in with Hughes and Strats. Play Mumbo with Saunders then Burton.

Now this would be some horror show for the fans. A clearout is needed obviously.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Now this would be some horror show for the fans. A clearout is needed obviously.

Yes, I am not sure that would tell us much. We already know the majority of those players are not good enough, certainly if they are all lumped in together.

 

[Boz]

Hemmings needed substituting more in the first half of the season, there were games where he appeared to have been ground down or drifted out of games and ought to have come off. Have to wonder if he’d been playing with an injury and that’s been a factor in his extended absence.

While we’ve seen enough of some of the squad players to form an opinion, even if we’re not all agreed on individuals, there are others who should be given match time in those remaining games where nothing is at stake. Certainly Taylor and Fisher (if fit). The impression given from footage on the Rovers site was that Stratulis would be getting assessed, but he came back injured and has since been farmed back to Connah’s Quay. Lomax looked promising in the Pizza Cup cameos, Hockenhull and Williams I have no idea.

 

[Sparky]

Harrogates manager has been talking pre match about our diamond and how they’ll try and overcome it. Interesting they have been watching not only last weeks Colchester game but also those when Dawes was in charge before Hill came along and we had that winning run.

I like the diamond but I’m still not sure hawkes is suited to the number 10 role. Don’t forget he’s become our top scorer mainly drifting in from the left. When he played on the right he put some great deliveries in the box but our poor attack wasn’t good enough to score from them.

Hopefully tonight we’ll see from width from the fullbacks

 

[Keith Hill (Bolton)]

Am going for a draw, like last week, it does look likely to be a 0-0 but I believe there could be a a goal in it somewhere.
I am hoping for us to open the scoring, and be a bit more resilient as the tactics and pressure mounts. Think we will concede. Hence a draw!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

I like the diamond but I’m still not sure hawkes is suited to the number 10 role. Don’t forget he’s become our top scorer mainly drifting in from the left. When he played on the right he put some great deliveries in the box but our poor attack wasn’t good enough to score from them.

Hopefully tonight we’ll see from width from the fullbacks

Yes, I agree completely with this. The diamond formation suits the ball-playing midfielders but not others, including Hawkes. The full backs also don't have as much licence to get forward under that system, as there is no protection ahead of them.

 

[Boz]

Will be interesting to see if Dawes has a plan B, should Harrogate be able to nullify the benefits of the diamond. Inclined to agree that it doesn’t suit some of our better players like Hawkes and the full-backs

 

[Ian]

Dawes seems fairly focused on playing the diamond but @Boz makes a good point. It it's not working, is there a plan B? Regarding Hawkes, he may adapt. He did play a killer pass for the Saunders goal last week.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Hewelt in goal but no sub goalie or defender. Five subs are attacking players and two are midfielders. Just shows how thin the squad is!

 

[Boz]

Guessing Hemmings not fully fit if only on the bench. O’Connor and Merrie could potentially play in defence, but agree with BBTC that we’re thin there. Wonder who the new Theo Whitmore is should Hewelt get injured or sent off…

 

[bigmart]

We signed a young keeper from Stoke in the summer, surely he should be on bench

 

[Boz]

We signed a young keeper from Stoke in the summer, surely he should be on bench

Is he still with us? Seems daft not having any keeper on the bench if we’ve got the option. It’s not as though the sub options are rammed with experienced pros.

 

[bigmart]

Is he still with us? Seems daft not having any keeper on the bench if we’ve got the option. It’s not as though the sub options are rammed with experienced pros.

I thought he signed for a year but I'm not sure

 

[dollar'sbloke]

No defenders and Hockenhull is on the bench for Rylands now!

 

[Boz]

I thought he signed for a year but I'm not sure

He did play in the Liverpool Senior Cup game last month.

 

[Boz]

No defenders and Hockenhull is on the bench for Rylands now!

Is he that bad? Know Rylands had a change of manager mid-season, maybe if he doesn’t rate him we should have brought back. Any defender better than none etc. See they lost the last game despite ex-keeper Luke Pilling between the sticks.

 

[O4anotherplayoff]

Surprised and pleased to hear Andy Hogden has rejoined the club.

Re Hockenhull, he got sent off recently so maybe manager is making a point, but he had been a regular starter before that.

 

[bigmart]

1 down already, poor start and a poor crowd

 

[Sparky]

The visitors showing their attacking prowess taking an early lead. On the flip side we look poor in the final third. A couple of decent crosses already into the box and surprise surprise, no one on the end of them