[Archived] charlton away

[MCMC1875]

Tom and to all those who are eager to get Hanley out of the club, have you forgotten that two of the above are currently injured?

No

[47er]

Seriously Theno, Hanley should have a good hard look at himself. He played better in the Premier League than he does now.

If he's a high earner but arguably our 4th best centre-back at the moment, its a bit of a no-brainer.

Sorry its reaching that stage but he has no-one to blame but himself.

[thenodrog]

Seriously Theno, Hanley should have a good hard look at himself. He played better in the Premier League than he does now.

If he's a high earner but arguably our 4th best centre-back at the moment, its a bit of a no-brainer.

Sorry its reaching that stage but he has no-one to blame but himself.

I don't disagree but you cannot disagree either that this season has seen just about every player bar Olsson and Baptiste suffer dips in form. It happens frequently in football so why pick on just one individual? We know he can play and there is nothing wrong with dropping him if others have stronger claims to the CH spot. His remuneration and contract situation doesn't really come into his selection or otherwise.

[47er]

The reaults when he does play seem to speak for themselves though? Its not a personal thing at all.

[thenodrog]

Maybe not but it is a team game remember.

[Gav]

The reaults when he does play seem to speak for themselves though? Its not a personal thing at all.

A blind man on a galloping horse can see Hanley is the weak link in our defence, sadly Bowyers horses must be galloping fasting than most as he cant see it.

Maybe recent results have pointed him in the right direction.

[thenodrog]

It was Robinson/Steel for some, then Lowe now it is Hanley. there is always one.

Notwithstanding the excellent contributions of Kilgallon, Baptiste and Duffy and as I have already said I believe from watching recent matches that Brown has made a significant contribution by defending from the front.

[Stuart]

It was Robinson/Steel for some, then Lowe now it is Hanley. there is always one.

Notwithstanding the excellent contributions of Kilgallon, Baptiste and Duffy and as I have already said I believe from watching recent matches that Brown has made a significant contribution by defending from the front.

If the weakest link was a good player we wouldn't be having these conversations. But a team will only ever be as good as its weakest player.

Hypothetically, ignoring Lowe and Hanley, who would be next weakest on the list? Mine would probably be Henley, Cairney or Steele. Not too shabby.

[thenodrog]

If the weakest link was a good player we wouldn't be having these conversations. But a team will only ever be as good as its weakest player.

Hypothetically, ignoring Lowe and Hanley, who would be next weakest on the list? Mine would probably be Henley, Cairney or Steele. Not too shabby.

Henley probably although from match to match most of them can go from hero to zero and back again.

[Gav]

It was Robinson/Steel for some, then Lowe now it is Hanley. there is always one.

Notwithstanding the excellent contributions of Kilgallon, Baptiste and Duffy and as I have already said I believe from watching recent matches that Brown has made a significant contribution by defending from the front.

Hanley has been ever present in that defence for years now Gordon and still we can't defend, same mistakes over and over again, bad marking, not picking up the man, reckless tackles, school boy stuff really.

But the main thing for me is Hanley hasn't improved since he came into the side, I can't think of one aspect of his game thats improved and that speaks volumes for me. I don't only blame Grant for that, you need coaches to help improve, but he's behind Kilgallon and Baptiste for sure in that central defensive pairing.

[thenodrog]

Fair enough. Both are decent defenders but beware though cos Baptiste and Kilgallon both have very weak left feet ..... which is doubly serious in Kilgallon's case cos he IS left footed!

[PeteJD13]

Great game I enjoyed the way we picked up after the Charlton goal, Cairney when playing centrally had an excellent second half. Positive performance lets hope for more on Tuesday. A special mention to the 30 or so 9000 Crew from Gent who were sat in with the Charlton fans pure entertainment those lads!.

[Daremz]

Had an amazing day at the Valley, together with the missus for her Rovers-debut, she also enjoyed it a lot (including the pre match Antigallican)! Lot of things have been written in this topic, agree on most of them, my three conclusions:

• Baptiste MotM, hands down. Can't remember seeing him making a mistake, looked rock-solid, great in the air and vital tackles. Henry is a great tackler, but looks a bit shaky on the ball, we were very lucky Charlton didn't get their first goal seconds before half-time after he slipped. First time in about 15 visits I actually saw a solid Rovers backline; Spurr & Henley very decent too.

• Read so many things about Jordan Rhodes on these boards, but, just like the last times I visited, the only thing I notice is that he works tirelessly to create space and chances. Gets a lot of difficult passes from the back but tries to make the most out of it. You could just see that the Charlton defenders were scared of him, because they looked very shaky. Both goals were class in terms of positioning & finishing. Don't underestimate the difficulty of his header, very tricky to get that one right. Brown was especially useful the last 30 minutes, he can keep the ball very, very well. Not a goalscorer though.

• I loved the effort of the complete squad after the Charlton goal. Was really scared we would collapse, but, after the 1-on-1 that was missed right after the goal (not sure what would have happened if that had gone in), we got back into the match and got a grip on the midfield. Could have been 4 or 5 if Cairney finished his chances, although he had a good match in my opinion.

Those Belgian fans were AA Gent Ultra's. Crazy bunch, walked past a group of them after the match back to Northern Greenwich, but the fact I could reply their English 'swearing' in their own language left them flabbergasted.

Great day out, makes me proud to be a Rover.

[PeteJD13]

Had an amazing day at the Valley, together with the missus for her Rovers-debut, she also enjoyed it a lot (including the pre match Antigallican)! Lot of things have been written in this topic, agree on most of them, my three conclusions:

• Baptiste MotM, hands down. Can't remember seeing him making a mistake, looked rock-solid, great in the air and vital tackles. Henry is a great tackler, but looks a bit shaky on the ball, we were very lucky Charlton didn't get their first goal seconds before half-time after he slipped. First time in about 15 visits I actually saw a solid Rovers backline; Spurr & Henley very decent too.

• Read so many things about Jordan Rhodes on these boards, but, just like the last times I visited, the only thing I notice is that he works tirelessly to create space and chances. Gets a lot of difficult passes from the back but tries to make the most out of it. You could just see that the Charlton defenders were scared of him, because they looked very shaky. Both goals were class in terms of positioning & finishing. Don't underestimate the difficulty of his header, very tricky to get that one right. Brown was especially useful the last 30 minutes, he can keep the ball very, very well. Not a goalscorer though.

• I loved the effort of the complete squad after the Charlton goal. Was really scared we would collapse, but, after the 1-on-1 that was missed right after the goal (not sure what would have happened if that had gone in), we got back into the match and got a grip on the midfield. Could have been 4 or 5 if Cairney finished his chances, although he had a good match in my opinion.

Those Belgian fans were AA Gent Ultra's. Crazy bunch looking for trouble, walked past a group of them after the match back to Northern Greenwich, but the fact I could reply their English 'swearing' in their own language ('Jammer jongens, maar ik ben tenminste niet voor niets de Noordzee overgestoken!' - Translate that) left them flabbergasted.

Great day out, makes me proud to be a Rover.

Yeah they really were something else no in a good way the stone island flag gave it away!, it was entertaining from the stand but not sure I would have been happy to bump into them, I had parked my car on the heights which was a 10 min walk which was really convenient.

I thought Cairney played well using the space created by Brown pulling the defence out, I agree I was pleased with how we responded after the penalty we got back on the front foot. Baptiste looked solid really marshalled the back line well overall just really pleased I haven't enjoyed a game so much for quite a while it was also my wife's rovers debut so everything went to plan!.