Ehmer and Hanlan | Page 3 | Vital Football

Ehmer and Hanlan

Paul Shaw was not an out and out striker. Hanlan is not an out and out striker. There obviously the comparison ends. Could Hanlan play just behind a front 2? I think he could.
I think Hanlan is a big talent that hasn't yet found its place.

Paul Shaw had an excellent touch and and eye for goal and a killer through ball. Hanlan has fantastic energy and enthusiasm but is a poor finisher and couldn't trap a bag of cement.
 
Maybe if Hanlon was seen as a winger , rather than a striker ?

Chip in with goals yes , but not have the pressure that comes with being labelled as a centre forward.

If he were cheap enough , I'd say he would replace Jordan Graham (if he were to move on)

I'm no doubt talking shite , but for me , JG is a one trick pony , who once sussed out , has been ineffective*

* or 'less' effective.
 
To play in the number 10 role you have to have the attributes of a Paul Shaw as I stated in my post. Hanlon doesn't have those attributes and never will.

Hanlon could play behind the front two, yes, he could also play in goal. Would he be effective in either, NO, because he simply isn't good enough too.
Well agree to disagree then
 
Maybe if Hanlon was seen as a winger , rather than a striker ?

Chip in with goals yes , but not have the pressure that comes with being labelled as a centre forward.

If he were cheap enough , I'd say he would replace Jordan Graham (if he were to move on)

I'm no doubt talking shite , but for me , JG is a one trick pony , who once sussed out , has been ineffective*

* or 'less' effective.

Two trick pony actually, he takes s great penalty 🙂
 
I would like to see Graham cut inside more and take players on in the box as he has great feet.
I would also like to see him get more shots off on goal. I reckon he would like to too.
I suspect, however, that he is doing what he is told and that is to get the ball in to the two big lads in the middle.
All supposition of course.
 
All players, especially good ones, will keep doing what works. Graham can go outside most defenders in our division. He only becomes "predictable" when they double and treble up and guess what that does elsewhere on the pitch. He has had such a stop start career that this period is his most consistent so I'd expect him to be able to develop further. Is there really anyone, who wouldn't keep him if they could?
 
It’s one thing knowing what a certain player is going to do but it’s sometimes difficult to do anything about it.
Graham’s advantage is that his left peg isn’t too shabby so if the defender shows him inside there is a chance that he’ll just cross with that.
When we played Stoke in the cup, we knew that they were going to launch long throws but putting Danny Jackman on to Peter Crouch wasn’t the answer 😉
 
I personally was sad to see Max going and saw him as a key player and was critical of the Scally/the club for seemingly not doing much to keep him. He hasn't been missed that much all in as the defence - both our own players and loan signings - have done pretty well and we've replaced his experience and captaincy generally with the likes of Dempsey and O'Keefe coming on strong. There have been occasions when I think the CBs in particular have lacked experience and Max probably could have added something. If there was an option on to take him on a free, I think his experience would be a good addition to the squad, but he wouldn's start as the key player he was and would be well down the pecking order.

I liked Hanlon's effort and never-say-die attitude and it looks like he's carried on in the same form for Rovers -a few goals, but hardly setting the world on fire. He had his time and chance at the Gills and had he stayed on, maybe he'd have developed into a much better player under SE rather than a tool like Barton and no-mark managers prior to Barton. However, if we were to add him to our current squad, in terms of attacking players, he'd be behind Oliver, Samuel, Akinde, Graham and Lee, and I would anticipate SE may well add other better attacking options than Brandon.
 
Comparing Hanlan and Shaw is the sentence is an insult to Shaw

Agree both in terms of quality and style of play. Shaw was a much technically better player than Hanlan and played a different role, playing in the hole behind a front man or as an attacking midfielder behind the front two, with his main strength being playing people in, or breaking through from a deep position and not getting picked up. I've never seen Hanlan play that role and he hasn't got the technical ability, touch, craft or intelligence to play there. For me his strength (probably only strengths) are pace and physical strength (something Shaw didn't particularly have), so he has to play in an advanced position either centrally or wide to latch on to balls over or past the last man.

The one similarity between Hanlan and Shaw is possibly not being clinical - and this only really applied to Shaw when he first came to us in his first season, where he played in a probably more advanced role and, despite, like Hanlan, having plenty of chances, he just couldn't seem to score and went some time before scoring regularly. However, once he got his first goal, he scored a quite a few and from a deeper position than Hanlan without as many chances coming his way with the likes of Iffy, Asaba and co about, but I guess the comparison might be that initial frustrating period Shaw had with us where he played really well, but just couldn't score, which is Hanlan's main fault (his goalscoring ratio for a striker doesn't match up to his efforts or performance).

And therein is Brandon's main problem (at least for us anyway). What is his best position? His finishing isn't good enough to be an out and out striker and your main goalscorer, but he's not really skillful enough and hasn't got a good enough touch, final ball or cross to play as a winger or attacking midfielder. I'd say his best position is a wide attacker in a front three, playing wide of a more proficient goalscorer and ideally a big man who can win the ball, but that is somewhat dictates the options for formation that a manager can play.
 
Maybe if Hanlon was seen as a winger , rather than a striker ?

Chip in with goals yes , but not have the pressure that comes with being labelled as a centre forward.

If he were cheap enough , I'd say he would replace Jordan Graham (if he were to move on)

I'm no doubt talking shite , but for me , JG is a one trick pony , who once sussed out , has been ineffective*

* or 'less' effective.
I thorougly agree with you there VG and it suprised me that so many (relatively) capable left-backs continued to let him get away with what is just a very simple movement. Not that I am criticizing him for doing so - if it works, don't fix it... trouble was, the more experienced players did figure him out thus rendering him pretty ineffective. All in all, I am still mighty happy with him.
 
I thorougly agree with you there VG and it suprised me that so many (relatively) capable left-backs continued to let him get away with what is just a very simple movement. Not that I am criticizing him for doing so - if it works, don't fix it... trouble was, the more experienced players did figure him out thus rendering him pretty ineffective. All in all, I am still mighty happy with him.

It’s important to mix it up a bit.
I remember playing against a full back who usually went to clear, then as you jumped, dummied it and took it round you. He did me three times in ten minutes but the fourth time, I didn’t jump, nicked the ball and set up a tap in.
Jordan needs to run into the box a few times more. No defender likes a player running in the box. You can’t get tight because any contact and you’ve got a pen.
 
I thorougly agree with you there VG and it suprised me that so many (relatively) capable left-backs continued to let him get away with what is just a very simple movement. Not that I am criticizing him for doing so - if it works, don't fix it... trouble was, the more experienced players did figure him out thus rendering him pretty ineffective. All in all, I am still mighty happy with him.

Agree. Jordan's limited, but very effective tricks, have got found out a bit as the season has progressed, but that's not saying that he isn't still dangerous, but just not quite of the killer threat he was before Christmas. I do genuinely wonder whether scouting and coaching is so poor at our level that teams are only starting to clock his tricks the second time they play us this season and take precautions to stop him in that second match.
 
It is difficult to criticise Graham ( I know no one is actually doing this) when he has weighed in with the goals and assists he has this season but as others have said he had been found out a bit as the season has progressed. I also think he slows our play down too much sometimes. It's strange that he keeps doing the same as he clearly has the ability to mix it up and terrorise defenses by running directly at them but if his instruction is to stick it up to the far post he's doing his job (though the quality of his crossing has also declined)
 
It is difficult to criticise Graham ( I know no one is actually doing this) when he has weighed in with the goals and assists he has this season but as others have said he had been found out a bit as the season has progressed. I also think he slows our play down too much sometimes. It's strange that he keeps doing the same as he clearly has the ability to mix it up and terrorise defenses by running directly at them but if his instruction is to stick it up to the far post he's doing his job (though the quality of his crossing has also declined)
Graham, Dempsey and Oliver have, without a shadow of a doubt, been our biggest assets this season and I think it is simple logic that other teams have studied them to try a nullify their effectiveness. Thankfully most of the opposition, like us, have suffered the same brain-farts at times which proved productive for us.

Of the three, Oliver been the one who has surprised the most and of the three, he is the one I would really like to see us keep. We knew what Graham was capable of doing having played for us last season. Most of us remember Dempsey playing for Fleetwood against us (it was even one of the games I actually got to see in person) and how he ran the show. He took over the mantle here and has been terrific. Oliver was a dark horse who Evans praised and we all nodded in the hope he was right. Well he was and I think Oliver is surely in with a shout for Player of the Season award and it would be well deserved in my estimation should he get it.

Just a thought, we could actually be the catalyst that sends Northampton down today (yes they could escape but it would be unlikely). I hope, should that turn out to be the case, we conduct ourselves with more dignity than the Nottingham Flourist supporters did when we lost our place - together with them - in the Championship. I detested them that day and still detest them today. When they lose, I laugh..... just remember the wise words of john Bradford. I quote "there but for the grace of God, go I"..... let's show the world that p-i-k-e-y's can still show some class.
 
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According to the Bristol Rovers forum, the tribunal to set Hanlan's fee is due to sit next Monday. A six figure sum was mentioned although it didn't say where the decimal point would be.
Makes you wonder why it’s taken an entire season to sort out the fee.
I’d be chuffed with anything over 50k or send him back so that he can continue to progress in league one.
I think he’d suit our current style of fast and long.
Not as the main striker, dare one say. 😁
 
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Most of those were from a different era though. And of course it is a lot easier to be loyal to a winning team and a club on the up, as we were at the time.
We saw that lot of 99/00 as good, loyal players. I expect Millwall said the same of Warner, Cahill, Ifill and Harris. City said it about Horlock, Goater and Dickov. PNE of Gregan, Moyes, Alexander, Etc.
"And of course it is a lot easier to be loyal to a winning team and a club on the up, as we were at the time."

And when the club had gone sh*t or bust with long expensive contracts in an attempt to get/stay in the Championship 🙄
 
Makes you wonder why it’s taken an entire season to sort out the fee.
I’d be chuffed with anything over 50k or send him back so that he can continue to progress in league one.
I think he’d suit our current style of fast and long.
Not as the main striker, dare one say. 😁
Pleeeease no!! I just can't bear watching him play superbly and then constantly misfire in front of goal. Seems to have done the same at Bristol. No more thanks. I wish him well but can't take any more emotional punishment.