Tonight’s Performance | Page 2 | Vital Football

Tonight’s Performance

Hanlon worked his bollocks off last night and was a constant threat running in behind which worried Blackpool, the only problem is that he doesn't make the most of his pace and movement when he gets into good positions. I was quite surprised he took Jak (who looks more of a goal threat) off instead of Hanlon when we were going for a winner.

Thought Hodson was ok, (not sure if it was him or O'Keefe who lost their runner for the first (haven't seen the goals back) but i thought Hodson offered little going forward especially in the second half. If we can get in a decent LB(looks like BG is surplus) I'd swap Fuller back to RB have Hodson on the bench.

Thought Fuller was excellent, the only blip being caught for their second in a foot race, but he should get extra mark for setting up our first goal. His energy, effort, attitude and will to win is an example to more technically talented youngsters.

Thought Mandron made a difference when he came on too.

We started at such a tempo and it was only when that tempo dropped that Blackpool came back into into and scored twice in that 5 minute spell. Overall a good attacking performance against a decent Blackpool team who with the front three they have will probably be up there this season. I also thought we stood up pretty well against such a physically big team.

The atmosphere was good to, so all in all it was a positive night. Play like that at home all season and we won't lose many. Many positives to take and first home game I've enjoyed for quite a while.
 
I thought it was a cracking game - best home game for some time. We dominated the first 30-35 minutes and were deservedly 2-0 up through a very tidy goal from Jakubiak with good link up play with Barry. Second goal was lucky, but deserved and looked like it was coming. We the. Went off the boil and looked to see it out until half time and almost instantly let in a first and adjust before half time let in an undeserved equaliser for Blackpool - both good moves but slack defending. We were warned as Blackpool hit the post just before scoring. However, before that we had severa good chances to extend our lead - List, Hanlon and O’Keefe all missing good chances even sitters.

The second half was end to end for about 30 minutes and a cracking open game - credit to Blackpool who came to play and looked for the win. Their defence was shaky though and prime for the taking. Both teams had good chances in that 30 minutes, but it was great to see us up the ante and dominate the last 15 minutes where we did everything but score and take a deserved 3 points.

Lots of positives though - much more spirit than last season and definitely some more craft and skill there with Jakubiak who, for me, was MoM. I thought Jones ran him close too - his control, passing and composure in centre mid was something we haven’t had for a while. Barry run them close too - great energy and he and Jakubiak created the first goal by themselves. List and Hanlon both flatttered to deceive for me - both have pace and talent, but their touches and control are poor and too often lose the ball or run into dead ends - seeing Jakubiak in similar areas, who nearly always found a cross, pass or shot highlighted their failings. To be fair, Hanlon did offer us our only outlet and showed some good strength and hold up play in the absence of a big man - can’t fault his effort. List too was played in a strange position in the hole behind the front two, which is a strange position for a pacey winger who hasn’t got a great touch. When Marshall came on, he seemed to slot into that position, but looked much more convincing when he went out wide - some positives signs from him too. Another positives was Mandron, who in 15mins or so, created plenty of mayhem in the Blackpool defence and looks like he good offer aerial threat we lack post Eaves. Bonham looked steady but I do agree with the comment that he didn’t look great on crosses - seemed tentative to come for crosses and unnecessarily poorly punched one that looked prime to be scooped from the air.

However, all in I enjoyed that and am enthused for the season. With a bit better defending, purring our chances away and a bit more luck, we’d have won that fairly easily and will do so if we play like that again. Blackpool look a decent side. But we shouldn’t be fooled by their top position - their defence looks shaky and we created more good chances. Think they’ll improve on last season and maybe have an outside playoff shout. If we play like that consistently, so should we...
 
Wayne.Kerr said:
Worse for me was that the attacker was completely unmarked from the resulting cross.
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Haven't seen it back but my reaction at the game was that no-one was close to Gnadullet(?) to put pressure on him. As with the first goal a bit of good movement seemed to undo us. In fairness it was still a good header to finish it.
 
I find it surprising that there are so many comments on Hanlon - not being able to take players on - ineffective - etc., almost as if he never played wide up front with Tom Eaves last year or, is it that memory fades?
 
Therealwaldo said:
I think some of the comments on Hanlan are a bit unfair. I think we can agree that last night was a more attacking home performance than we’ve seen for a long time. I think Hanlan played a big part in that. When Blackpool were getting pushed back in the second half on a number of occasions the play developed with a ball down the line to Hanlan. In those instances he did very well and twice down the left and once down the right he got into their box with speed and power past a defender. My slight issue is that when he did, he didn’t have much to pick out. It’s sometimes a problem with quick players that others can’t get up in support quickly enough. The one down the right, Marshall was the only player in the box and on countless TV commentaries they make the point that if you beat the defender and the goalkeeper with a cross, as a forward it’s the most you can do. Elsewhere I think there was a suggestion that there might have been a deflection on the cross anyway that took it away from Marshall. I thought Blackpool struggled to contain Hanlan more as the game wore on. Again we’re talking about a young player that I think needs encouragement. Last season people were saying we should get him signed on a longer contract to avoid the Eaves situation. Some seemed to have changed their mind based on a couple of games this season. Fickle or what.
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I don't think anyone is now saying that Hanlan is shite, more that he (and the rest of the team) need to play to his strengths. If I'm a typical league 1 defender I would not want him running at me.
 
Trashbat said:
Hanlan 6 - ineffective

Fuller 6 - at fault for second

Hodgson 6 - at fault for first

Disagree with Wayne. List was excellent. Worth his 7.
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It seems you're applying your ratings based on what happened when the goals were scored. If that were the case, why not mark Ehmer down, because he was with the big bloke who jumped for their 2nd goal, and he didn't.
Regarding Hanlan, although he's not the finished article, he really is a powerful player that gets in the defenders faces and unsettles them a lot. Must persist with him.

Obviously no player plays a perfect game all of the time, so it's easy to pick one aspect to have a pop at a player, but over all I wouldn't have a go at any of them last night. It was a really good all round team performance and with a bit of luck and better finishing, we would have had a good 3 points against a team who've won all four games this season.
 
SteveTreacle said:
I thought it was a cracking game - best home game for some time. We dominated the first 30-35 minutes and were deservedly 2-0 up through a very tidy goal from Jakubiak with good link up play with Barry. Second goal was lucky, but deserved and looked like it was coming. We the. Went off the boil and looked to see it out until half time and almost instantly let in a first and adjust before half time let in an undeserved equaliser for Blackpool - both good moves but slack defending. We were warned as Blackpool hit the post just before scoring. However, before that we had severa good chances to extend our lead - List, Hanlon and O’Keefe all missing good chances even sitters.

The second half was end to end for about 30 minutes and a cracking open game - credit to Blackpool who came to play and looked for the win. Their defence was shaky though and prime for the taking. Both teams had good chances in that 30 minutes, but it was great to see us up the ante and dominate the last 15 minutes where we did everything but score and take a deserved 3 points.

Lots of positives though - much more spirit than last season and definitely some more craft and skill there with Jakubiak who, for me, was MoM. I thought Jones ran him close too - his control, passing and composure in centre mid was something we haven’t had for a while. Barry run them close too - great energy and he and Jakubiak created the first goal by themselves. List and Hanlon both flatttered to deceive for me - both have pace and talent, but their touches and control are poor and too often lose the ball or run into dead ends - seeing Jakubiak in similar areas, who nearly always found a cross, pass or shot highlighted their failings. To be fair, Hanlon did offer us our only outlet and showed some good strength and hold up play in the absence of a big man - can’t fault his effort. List too was played in a strange position in the hole behind the front two, which is a strange position for a pacey winger who hasn’t got a great touch. When Marshall came on, he seemed to slot into that position, but looked much more convincing when he went out wide - some positives signs from him too. Another positives was Mandron, who in 15mins or so, created plenty of mayhem in the Blackpool defence and looks like he good offer aerial threat we lack post Eaves. Bonham looked steady but I do agree with the comment that he didn’t look great on crosses - seemed tentative to come for crosses and unnecessarily poorly punched one that looked prime to be scooped from the air.

However, all in I enjoyed that and am enthused for the season. With a bit better defending, purring our chances away and a bit more luck, we’d have won that fairly easily and will do so if we play like that again. Blackpool look a decent side. But we shouldn’t be fooled by their top position - their defence looks shaky and we created more good chances. Think they’ll improve on last season and maybe have an outside playoff shout. If we play like that consistently, so should we...
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Good points and I note that you agree with my view of list - when he went wide twice and easily got in good crosses; surely SE saw this or may be not as he took him off. I thought Blackpool's second goal deserved a bit more credit - they worked the triangles very well. What I saw was really encouraging but at the moment it was more a collection of good individual performances rather than a team effort. If we could just get a solid creative midfielder, who can stop, put his foot on the ball and look around occasionally.
 
daveycrocket said:
It seems you're applying your ratings based on what happened when the goals were scored. If that were the case, why not mark Ehmer down, because he was with the big bloke who jumped for their 2nd goal, and he didn't.
Regarding Hanlan, although he's not the finished article, he really is a powerful player that gets in the defenders faces and unsettles them a lot. Must persist with him.

Obviously no player plays a perfect game all of the time, so it's easy to pick one aspect to have a pop at a player, but over all I wouldn't have a go at any of them last night. It was a really good all round team performance and with a bit of luck and better finishing, we would have had a good 3 points against a team who've won all four games this season.
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Agreed. I’ll mark Ehmer down too.
 
Didn`t attend but watched the very good video coverage on iFollow.

I`m very pleased for our stalwart home fans who, at last, had an entertaining and industrious Gills side to watch at Priestfield.

Lots of encouraging signs and plenty of evidence that this group can be positively motivated. For me Jones was absolutely fantastic; this lad has excellent composure and bags of talent. Must be great for SE knowing that Jones will deliver, whether he puts him on the back line or further upfield - could turn out to be a wonder loan. Jakubiak too looks like a really good loan signing. Good performance all round and reassuring to know that we have other players who can/will step in and add that little bit of extra quality where it`s needed.

Well done Gills.
 
I went with a Chelsea season ticket holder last night, he spoke very highly of Hanlan, both his work rate and the trouble he was causing their defenders.
I guess we all have different views.
 
A lot to be encouraged by last night. We do need to tighten up the defence though. Shouldn't be opposition players completely unmarked in our box.
 
nitram77 said:
I went with a Chelsea season ticket holder last night, he spoke very highly of Hanlan, both his work rate and the trouble he was causing their defenders.
I guess we all have different views.
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Look how he developed last season; I don't think it will be long before that sort of form will return and he becomes one of our star players.
 
It has been a long time since I enjoyed a game as much as this. Blackpool will do well this season and we gave them a decent game.
It's early days I know,but well done to the Chairman,management and players on a good performance.
 
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