v Hull City (h) - 29/12/2024

[Michael123458]

Trying to not let the excitement and adrenaline of Leeds away and dingles at home within 3 days get to me just yet but very difficult. Went to hull a cupul of weeks back should be routine…….

Rovers 3 0 hull.  

[Forever Blue]

Peeps predicting a 3-0 win. The football gods aren’t keen on hubris. We’re getting beat. 

[Old Codger]

2 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

Peeps predicting a 3-0 win. The football gods aren’t keen on hubris. We’re getting beat. 

You get my thumbs up for the use of the word 'Hubris' in connection with the Rovers today. We can all remember dark times not too long ago when there was absolutely no cause for 'extreme pride, arrogance or dangerous over-confidence, leading to complacency and failure'! At least we can feel some pride these days, and with good cause.

Agreed it is somewhat foolhardy to go predicting a win by a large margin, lest we forget the maxim that 'anyone can beat anyone in this league'. However, the team is currently led by someone who is the antithesis of hubris!

Here's hoping we get another dose of hubris-inducing pride in the shirt, commitment to the cause and heart-swelling excitement on Sunday!

COYB!!

[Ossydave]

Leonard has to start for me, embrace the confidence he will have gained from yesterday and let him loose for 90 minutes, he could be crucial for the remainder of the season if he kicks on. 

Their game v Preston was wide open, that biting twat missed a few sitters. If we're on our game we could bang a few in, but they've also got the potential to cause an upset.

2-0 home win.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Forever Blue said:

Peeps predicting a 3-0 win. The football gods aren’t keen on hubris. We’re getting beat. 

If we had a week off between fixtures I'd fancy us against Hull - new manager bounce an' all.

As it is I think we'll be in for a hell of a battle on Sunday. It's simply too many games, too often for this tiny squad. 

[Exiled_Rover]

26 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Leonard has to start for me, embrace the confidence he will have gained from yesterday and let him loose for 90 minutes, he could be crucial for the remainder of the season if he kicks on. 

Their game v Preston was wide open, that biting twat missed a few sitters. If we're on our game we could bang a few in, but they've also got the potential to cause an upset.

2-0 home win.

Genuinely, where would you play him?

I think he's too small / slow to play as a #9. Do you play him out wide? Do you shift Cantwell out wide and play him as a #10?

[Ossydave]

45 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

Genuinely, where would you play him?

I think he's too small / slow to play as a #9. Do you play him out wide? Do you shift Cantwell out wide and play him as a #10?

I'd be tempted to play him off Gueye tbh. Whilst I'm not a huge fan of Gueye, you have to respect his assist count and I think he'd give Leonard some ammo. A modern day Quinn/Phillips combo.

[BankEnd Rover]

Not sure on Leonard to be honest - still think he needs to be loaned out before we can class him as ready. 
 

When he popped a few in last season, JDT threw him into to start a few games and he looked like a lost puppy...Watford away especially stood out...Mind you I don't think we had any other options. 
 

By all means bring him on as a sub but he needs a good loan before leading the line for us.

Edited December 27, 2024 by BankEnd Rover

[Andy]

I do like the idea of him as a 'second striker', behind Gueye, running onto flick-ons and picking up scraps.

But I don't think we can afford to drop Cantwell; he's just got that extra bit of quality that, even if he has a crap game, he can pop up with a moment of magic.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Apparently Hull have plenty of injuries to key Players going into this game.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

10 minutes ago, Andy said:

I do like the idea of him as a 'second striker', behind Gueye, running onto flick-ons and picking up scraps.

But I don't think we can afford to drop Cantwell; he's just got that extra bit of quality that, even if he has a crap game, he can pop up with a moment of magic.

We tried that with Gueye and Ohashi at Millwall, it didn’t work. And Ohashi has a lot more about him than Leonard has. Plus it meant we had to shove Cantwell out wide left where he looked like a fish riding a bike.

Edited December 27, 2024 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[London blue]

Leonard is a number 9, playing him elsewhere would be defeating the point of bringing him in as a rotation as we would have to play a striker anyway.

He's got good movement and an eye for goal, despite a few misses. I can't really understand the too small comment, either. Is being big a prerequisite for being a striker?

[Forever Blue]

2 minutes ago, London blue said:

Leonard is a number 9, playing him elsewhere would be defeating the point of bringing him in as a rotation as we would have to play a striker anyway.

He's got good movement and an eye for goal, despite a few misses. I can't really understand the too small comment, either. Is being big a prerequisite for being a striker?

He looks no smaller than Ohashi.

I think he has a lot of potential, it’s just how best to develop him. Perhaps a loan to a L1 club in Jan if we sign a striker.

[Mattyblue]

Isn’t he over 6 foot? How tall do you need to be?

[DeeCee]

10 minutes ago, Forever Blue said:

He looks no smaller than Ohashi.

I think he has a lot of potential, it’s just how best to develop him. Perhaps a loan to a L1 club in Jan if we sign a striker.

Few games before the window opens, time to give him a chance?

[norwichblue]

This one feels quite important in the grand scheme of things. Not expecting much from the following two fixtures after this, so could really use the three points on the table to keep us in the mixer.

Fingers crossed for a nice controlled home performance and win like we did against Luton. But it’s never that easy against anyone in this league!

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

29 minutes ago, Mattyblue said:

Isn’t he over 6 foot? How tall do you need to be?

Gally was 6’4” but who would you rather play against, the likes of  Gally or the likes of David Speedie or Paul Dickov ?

It’s not how big you are it’s how big you play. From what I’ve seen of Leonard he’s not a physical player, doesn’t really lead the line etc, not a particularly energetic presser etc. He’s a penalty box operator, ok for bringing on like we did the other day when we needed somebody to find a space in a crowded goal mouth.

[rigger]

2 hours ago, Ossydave said:

I'd be tempted to play him off Gueye tbh. Whilst I'm not a huge fan of Gueye, you have to respect his assist count and I think he'd give Leonard some ammo. A modern day Quinn/Phillips combo.

It would mean changing our system, but I agree.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, London blue said:

Leonard is a number 9, playing him elsewhere would be defeating the point of bringing him in as a rotation as we would have to play a striker anyway.

He's got good movement and an eye for goal, despite a few misses. I can't really understand the too small comment, either. Is being big a prerequisite for being a striker?

To lead the line as a #9 in a 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 you need to either be big (to act as a focal point) or fast (to run in behind). Ideally you're both. 

The post below yours mentions that he's no smaller than Ohashi - Ohashi doesn't contribute a great deal when he leads the line. He's too small and isn't fast enough to trouble teams. 

Ideally Leonard needs 6 months in L1 playing week in, week out. Having a bit-part role here will still develop him, but not as quickly as we'd like and he's already lost nearly 12 months of development with injuries. 

[Paul Mani]

In any other scenario, you probably ‘go again’ and JE might do, but we definitely have to manage the loads on full backs, Sonny and the front four.

Heres what I’d do….

                   Pears

JRC.    Hyam.    Batth.     Beck

            Baker.    Sonny

     ACD.     Dolan.    Weimann

                  Gueye   
 

Subs - Toth, Litherland, Mcfadz, Brittain, Buckley, Hedges, Cantwell, Ohashi, Leonard.

Beck and Sonny are the ones most at risk from overloading, ideally both come off around the 60 mins mark.

Rovers 2 - 0 Hull

[London blue]

7 hours ago, Exiled_Rover said:

To lead the line as a #9 in a 4-2-3-1 / 4-3-3 you need to either be big (to act as a focal point) or fast (to run in behind). Ideally you're both. 

The post below yours mentions that he's no smaller than Ohashi - Ohashi doesn't contribute a great deal when he leads the line. He's too small and isn't fast enough to trouble teams. 

Ideally Leonard needs 6 months in L1 playing week in, week out. Having a bit-part role here will still develop him, but not as quickly as we'd like and he's already lost nearly 12 months of development with injuries. 

I don't think he's particularly small or slow. He's technically sharp and has a bit of nouse about him. 

I agree that a league 1 loan would be beneficial, but that's only if we bring in someone better. I'm just not buying that strikers can only come in two varieties.

[Ricky]

I’d suggest that we look to make a few changes for Sunday, not sweeping changes but just the opportunity to make sure we can go into the Burnley game with as strong a squad as possible. Travis will already be a huge miss for that. He’s the one player we have who could really get in their heads and just be a general shithouse! 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

38 minutes ago, Ricky said:

I’d suggest that we look to make a few changes for Sunday, not sweeping changes but just the opportunity to make sure we can go into the Burnley game with as strong a squad as possible. Travis will already be a huge miss for that. He’s the one player we have who could really get in their heads and just be a general shithouse! 

We’ve got the Leeds away match before the Burnley game. I agree about Travis. He was the one player we really needed.

[philipl]

If Hull hadn't had a problem with banjoes and bovine rear ends, they would have given PNE a real tonking on Boxing Day. 

New manager syndrome means the replacements for injured Tigers players will be seeing OPPORTUNITY when they step out at Ewood.

Anything less than a fully motivated Rovers team will be courting problems.

But a well set-up Eustace outfit deploying any 11 from the 18 or so fully fit first team squad should have too much for Hull if we maintain our normal chances to goals ratio. So a one or two goal margin the likeliest outcome but no foregone conclusion.

[islander200]

13 hours ago, rigger said:

It would mean changing our system, but I agree.

Why would we want to change our system when it has us fifth in the league?