[Archived] Portimonense - 13 July 2013

[neophox]

Nice to see U21 team beat Conference League side Southport 2-0, Raheem Hanley and Anton Forrester scoring.

[blueboy3333]

http://www.rovers.co.uk/news/article/portimonense-0-rovers-1-913134.aspx

[Salgado Is A Hero]

I do hope Leon Best stays fit this season. He will have something to offer us and I liked the look of him in the pre-season game he got injured in against AEK Athens. Quick feet for a big man and all that jazz.

My Newcastle mate said he'd be good for us. Their fans generally seemed to like him also. The less prolific strikers can be just as useful if they bring others into play more, who will in turn score themselves, so I'm not that worried about Best's lack of "prolificness" before coming here.

[Sparky Marky]

Best is going to be our main man I reckon.

[gumboots]

Definitely hope not. If Rhodes goes we'll need to find someone better than Best and Campbell imo to stay in this league let alone end in the play off places

[JAL]

I do hope Leon Best stays fit this season. He will have something to offer us and I liked the look of him in the pre-season game he got injured in against AEK Athens. Quick feet for a big man and all that jazz.

My Newcastle mate said he'd be good for us. Their fans generally seemed to like him also. The less prolific strikers can be just as useful if they bring others into play more, who will in turn score themselves, so I'm not that worried about Best's lack of "prolificness" before coming here.

Lets hope he pulls his finger out this season and plays like a man unlike last.

[Clitherover]

I was never expecting Best to return to form after being out for so long last season. This time he's got no excuse, with a full pre-season's training behind him hopefully we'll see a decent player.

[Andy]

Best is going to be our main man I reckon.

God help us if that is the case.

He's awful.

[Sparky Marky]

God help us if that is the case.

He's awful.

In your opinion. I happen to believe he's our only real Premier League forward, when firing on all cylinders. If Bowyer can get him playing and also JR adding his normal 20ish goals, we might stay up.

[RoverScot]

30 secs of the game including the goal:

[NH1875]

It was Best's attitude when he came back from injury which concerned me, never looked willing to fight when we were staring down the barrel at times towards the end of the season.

[Hekla]

The reason for his bad attitude after his injury was because of his buddy Kean being sacked, it must be.

[chaddyrovers]

The reason for his bad attitude after his injury was because of his buddy Kean being sacked, it must be.

I don't think that had anything to do with it. I think it was a mental problem with him. thought he was going to get serious injured again. he was very aware of any tackles near his knee. he will take ages for him to get over it and trust his knee

anyway here are Best comments on the Rovers website:-

Leon Best hopes to make the most of Rovers’ pre-season friendlies, in a bid to be fighting fit for the start of the season.

The 26-year-old joined Rovers from Newcastle last summer, but spent almost the entire 2012-13 season on the sidelines after suffering cruciate knee ligament damage in a friendly against AEK Athens 12 months ago.

Leon insists he is still overcoming both the physical and mental effects of the injury, but hopes to be firing on all cylinders come August 4th.

“This pre-season is massive for me,” said Leon, who scored the winning goal in Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Portimonense.

“What happened last pre-season is still in my head and so it keeps me focused. It’s just about doing everything right. Rest is just as important as doing all the runs, but the main thing for me is I want to be playing in that first game, feeling 100%, with no injuries.

“The week in Portugal has been good, but it’s also been hard – running in the heat and taking part in some tough sessions, but that’s what pre-season is all about, getting yourself fit.

“From the first game (Wrexham) to the second game (Portimonense), I think it’s paid off. Speaking to the boys, everyone felt a lot better and looked a lot better.

“The goals are always nice, to get me in the swing of things and get me used to doing it, but the main thing for me is fitness.

“I have to take each game as it comes and work a little bit harder. If that’s 45 minutes or 60 minutes here and there, just so when that first game comes, I’m lively and ready and fit and sharp, because that’s when everything counts.

“Even now I get frustrated with myself in games and training, because I’m still not back to my normal self. A lot of people won’t see it with me, but I definitely feel it.

“It’s just about me working hard, doing the right things in the games, getting used to everything again and getting myself back to where I want to be.”

With less than three weeks to go until the big kick-off, Leon insists there is a great team spirit in the camp and he believes the players will have learnt a lot of lessons from last season’s testing campaign.

“I can feel that there’s a good buzz about the place at the minute,” he added.

“Hopefully it’s going to be a good year. There’s a good feeling, the boys that have been brought in are good lads and I think everyone knows what we need to do now.

“We had the warm-up season in the Championship to let everyone know what the Championship’s about and I think now we can go in and show what we can do.”

Read more at http://www.rovers.co.uk/news/article/best-pre-season-is-massive-for-me-916060.aspx#8yfEDUIvtX4QYwoH.99

[rhodie]

Couldn`t agree more Chaddy, after a cruciate ligament injury its a natural thing to worry about whether your healed enough, is your knee going to take the twisting and turning or will it just flare up again. having experienced the injury myself and suffering a few setbacks whilst recovering, believe me I know. Wasn`t that long ago the injury was considered a career ender. once he gets a couple of games under his belt and rebuilds his confidence he`ll soon be banging them in.