Live: Bradford City v Exeter (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Another 3 pts today! Feed the Nak and he will score!

Well - I feared our promotion campaign would stutter and it's come to a full stop - five points from last five games at home - enough said.

Don't seem to be able to score in first half and very little on offer in second half. Whilst defence is obviously hard pressed - missing Reid - should not be an excuse.

The midfield goal tally and dare I say Hanson is not promotion material.

Two word: ROSS HANNAH

I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah.

Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second.

PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should.

Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level.
I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax.

Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple.

That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together.

Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal.

We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt.

Hannah's loan is coming to an end.
So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Bring Ross Hannah back!!!!

Poor performance.

Playing like that on tuesday it will be another loss.

Ref = joke

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

You could well be right.Hannah scored 2 more today and the fact is city are not now putting away the chances.Worse the amount of possesion is not as great as it was.This can in some way be down to missing players but if city are to go up it does need to change smartish. This manager is a good manager but does seem to be a little bit off Hannah still i may well be wrong for a lot of us can do the Managers job better than him (I Dont think so) Have Faith.

One of the worst performances by a referee in many a season.

However, I can't but help thinking we've been talking things down all week with talk of tiredness and fixture pile up.

This has been our most successful season in years, yet today was the almost inevitable outcome of all the negative noises coming from PP this week.

Earlier this week I outlined the downsides of using loans. Egan has performed well for us but Forsyth hasn't impressed and Naylor was underwhelming today. Given our alternative resources in midfield, Doyle could have started at right back, a position he filled with distinction during his first spell at the club.

Connell has a good football brain but we don't really know how to accomodate him. Garry Thompson has been a major disappointment and I'd like to see him shipped out and Ross Hannah recalled from loan. At least he has some enthusiasm for the job

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

I didn't say he was my first name on the team sheet but as PP is a manager in the mould of Tony Pulis with strength all over the park, a big man up front and a tricky winger (or sometimes 2), then Hanson gets the nod over everybody.

The question is, who gets to play with him?

For me it's Hannah and always has been since the minute he joined and I only hope he gets the chance to prove me right.

Nahki barely got a look in until Xmas last year and then his career took off.
I truly believe Hannah could do the same this year, probably better since he's near his prime and already a goal machine.

He's the only thing our team is missing.

We've lost a whole back four - and a very strong one at that, yet we've replaced it completely and we're still very resilient.

We're missing only 2 attacking players, Reidy arguably missed the most, so we can't or shouldn't be bemoaning injuries for lack of goals.

That for me, lies with the fact that we don't have a finisher, well, we do, it's just we don't play him at all.

Pablo wrote:
One of the worst performances by a referee in many a season.

However, I can't but help thinking we've been talking things down all week with talk of tiredness and fixture pile up.

This has been our most successful season in years, yet today was the almost inevitable outcome of all the negative noises coming from PP this week.

Earlier this week I outlined the downsides of using loans. Egan has performed well for us but Forsyth hasn't impressed and Naylor was underwhelming today. Given our alternative resources in midfield, Doyle could have started at right back, a position he filled with distinction during his first spell at the club.

Connell has a good football brain but we don't really know how to accomodate him. Garry Thompson has been a major disappointment and I'd like to see him shipped out and Ross Hannah recalled from loan. At least he has some enthusiasm for the job

We looked like a mid-table team in the first half, devoid of width and pace in the midfield, obviously due to missing Reid and Hines.

I wonder why we can't play Wells on the wing in such circumstance, allowing Connell to partner Hanson? His pace frightens defenders and he can easily knock it past and chase him. His final ball would be a concern, as today he was far too casual - in the second half he half-heartedly lashed at the ball some 35 yards out.

Thompson was poor today, he went for the hero effort from miles out then missed the target altogether when he should have at least hit it. He's probably the player who's impressed the least considering what reputation he came here with.

Village Bantam wrote:

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

I didn't say he was my first name on the team sheet but as PP is a manager in the mould of Tony Pulis with strength all over the park, a big man up front and a tricky winger (or sometimes 2), then Hanson gets the nod over everybody.

The question is, who gets to play with him?

For me it's Hannah and always has been since the minute he joined and I only hope he gets the chance to prove me right.

Nahki barely got a look in until Xmas last year and then his career took off.
I truly believe Hannah could do the same this year, probably better since he's near his prime and already a goal machine.

He's the only thing our team is missing.

We've lost a whole back four - and a very strong one at that, yet we've replaced it completely and we're still very resilient.

We're missing only 2 attacking players, Reidy arguably missed the most, so we can't or shouldn't be bemoaning injuries for lack of goals.

That for me, lies with the fact that we don't have a finisher, well, we do, it's just we don't play him at all.

We have the following missing through injury:

Darby
Davies
Oliver
Meridith
Reid

We have today lost at home, not a regular event. Man U lost at Norwich and Chelsea at West Brom. Neither Chelsea or Man U are without their entire back four and a creative player.

We have played more games than any other club. We are threadbare.

Therefore the calls for the return of Hannah are ridiculous.

I follow Ross on Twitterand he comes across as a lovely lad. However, he's a non league player. He's done nothing for City yet.

A few more points:

1) PP sees him in training every week. He's better judged in his ability than you.

2) you are suggesting dropping one of league 2s top scorers, in Wellls, for someone who hasn't proved himself in the league.

3) you don't drop your top scorer

I'm not Hansons biggest fan but you say he won nothing today. Did you go? He won everything but nobody got onto his headers.

In short, your post is vitally flawed.

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

If you call having 2 players with arms wrapped round and having shirt pulled all game as playing like garbage then you know nothing about football!

Hansons game has not progressed since his first season in the football league when I thought he looked quite promising! If anything it's stagnated! He brought nothing to the table today! He didn't hold it up! He didn't direct any flicks to a claret and amber shirt! I don't know what the fuss is about. Will will not get promoted with him as our spearhead! Anybody who thinks other wise is naive or stupid!

Onebrianmitchell wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

I didn't say he was my first name on the team sheet but as PP is a manager in the mould of Tony Pulis with strength all over the park, a big man up front and a tricky winger (or sometimes 2), then Hanson gets the nod over everybody.

The question is, who gets to play with him?

For me it's Hannah and always has been since the minute he joined and I only hope he gets the chance to prove me right.

Nahki barely got a look in until Xmas last year and then his career took off.
I truly believe Hannah could do the same this year, probably better since he's near his prime and already a goal machine.

He's the only thing our team is missing.

We've lost a whole back four - and a very strong one at that, yet we've replaced it completely and we're still very resilient.

We're missing only 2 attacking players, Reidy arguably missed the most, so we can't or shouldn't be bemoaning injuries for lack of goals.

That for me, lies with the fact that we don't have a finisher, well, we do, it's just we don't play him at all.

We have the following missing through injury:

Darby
Davies
Oliver
Meridith
Reid

We have today lost at home, not a regular event. Man U lost at Norwich and Chelsea at West Brom. Neither Chelsea or Man U are without their entire back four and a creative player.

We have played more games than any other club. We are threadbare.

Therefore the calls for the return of Hannah are ridiculous.

I follow Ross on Twitterand he comes across as a lovely lad. However, he's a non league player. He's done nothing for City yet.

A few more points:

1) PP sees him in training every week. He's better judged in his ability than you.

2) you are suggesting dropping one of league 2s top scorers, in Wellls, for someone who hasn't proved himself in the league.

3) you don't drop your top scorer

I'm not Hansons biggest fan but you say he won nothing today. Did you go? He won everything but nobody got onto his headers.

In short, your post is vitally flawed.

First of all, you're mixing up two opinions because I never said anything about Hanson, let alone in a negative sense, nor did I criticize Wells, I suggested we play a natural goalscorer in Hannah - that's all.

You think my post was flawed yet you obviously didn't understand it.

Have I been to the game? Does it matter if I used my eyes or someone else's to form my opinion? If I was blind I could still have a view could I not - I'm overseas but listened to the match online.

Nahki Wells has scored in only 7 of our 18 league games, so he only scores in 38% of the games he plays.

In addition, there's been 12 games in which we've failed to score more than one goal - which means 66% of the time we score 1 or less.

Also, there has been 6 games in which we've failed to score altogether - a third of our games we don't even register a goal.

I think we've got a great team, I actually believe we have the best team in the league - except for our finishing.

Count the points dropped from the games in which we created sack fulls of chances and came away with very little: Accy, Vale and Rochdale instantly spring to mind and that's 7 points dropped already plus Vale would have 3 less - where would that put us now?

Our team has almost everything, except for a natural finisher.

You say, he's never proved himself but that doesn't mean he can't either prove himself or make it at this level but today, he's fired Grimsby to the top of the Conference and after only a few short weeks he's now their leading goalscorer.

Very few teams that come up from the conference struggle in our league as most of the players are good enough.

People were saying the same as you when he joined, that he was unproven and couldn't make the grade, that though was when he was firing in 52 goals for Matlock - some 4 or 5 divisions below City, they were still saying the same last year when he bagged a load of Goals for Halifax and almost got them promoted some 2 or so divisions higher - now you're still saying the same even though he carries on being prolific for the team at the top of the league below us - it's no wonder the lad's never had a chance.

You're right though, PP does see him a lot in training which is why he's commented many times regarding his fantastic attitude, his amazing work rate and his tremendous finishing.

It's all subjective though, which is why I can't say you're wrong and until the poor lad gets a chance, neither can I say I'm right.

Village Bantam wrote:

Onebrianmitchell wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

I didn't say he was my first name on the team sheet but as PP is a manager in the mould of Tony Pulis with strength all over the park, a big man up front and a tricky winger (or sometimes 2), then Hanson gets the nod over everybody.

The question is, who gets to play with him?

For me it's Hannah and always has been since the minute he joined and I only hope he gets the chance to prove me right.

Nahki barely got a look in until Xmas last year and then his career took off.
I truly believe Hannah could do the same this year, probably better since he's near his prime and already a goal machine.

He's the only thing our team is missing.

We've lost a whole back four - and a very strong one at that, yet we've replaced it completely and we're still very resilient.

We're missing only 2 attacking players, Reidy arguably missed the most, so we can't or shouldn't be bemoaning injuries for lack of goals.

That for me, lies with the fact that we don't have a finisher, well, we do, it's just we don't play him at all.

We have the following missing through injury:

Darby
Davies
Oliver
Meridith
Reid

We have today lost at home, not a regular event. Man U lost at Norwich and Chelsea at West Brom. Neither Chelsea or Man U are without their entire back four and a creative player.

We have played more games than any other club. We are threadbare.

Therefore the calls for the return of Hannah are ridiculous.

I follow Ross on Twitterand he comes across as a lovely lad. However, he's a non league player. He's done nothing for City yet.

A few more points:

1) PP sees him in training every week. He's better judged in his ability than you.

2) you are suggesting dropping one of league 2s top scorers, in Wellls, for someone who hasn't proved himself in the league.

3) you don't drop your top scorer

I'm not Hansons biggest fan but you say he won nothing today. Did you go? He won everything but nobody got onto his headers.

In short, your post is vitally flawed.

First of all, you're mixing up two opinions because I never said anything about Hanson, let alone in a negative sense, nor did I criticize Wells, I suggested we play a natural goalscorer in Hannah - that's all.

You think my post was flawed yet you obviously didn't understand it.

Have I been to the game? Does it matter if I used my eyes or someone else's to form my opinion? If I was blind I could still have a view could I not - I'm overseas but listened to the match online.

Nahki Wells has scored in only 7 of our 18 league games, so he only scores in 38% of the games he plays.

In addition, there's been 12 games in which we've failed to score more than one goal - which means 66% of the time we score 1 or less.

Also, there has been 6 games in which we've failed to score altogether - a third of our games we don't even register a goal.

I think we've got a great team, I actually believe we have the best team in the league - except for our finishing.

Count the points dropped from the games in which we created sack fulls of chances and came away with very little: Accy, Vale and Rochdale instantly spring to mind and that's 7 points dropped already plus Vale would have 3 less - where would that put us now?

Our team has almost everything, except for a natural finisher.

You say, he's never proved himself but that doesn't mean he can't either prove himself or make it at this level but today, he's fired Grimsby to the top of the Conference and after only a few short weeks he's now their leading goalscorer.

Very few teams that come up from the conference struggle in our league as most of the players are good enough.

People were saying the same as you when he joined, that he was unproven and couldn't make the grade, that though was when he was firing in 52 goals for Matlock - some 4 or 5 divisions below City, they were still saying the same last year when he bagged a load of Goals for Halifax and almost got them promoted some 2 or so divisions higher - now you're still saying the same even though he carries on being prolific for the team at the top of the league below us - it's no wonder the lad's never had a chance.

You're right though, PP does see him a lot in training which is why he's commented many times regarding his fantastic attitude, his amazing work rate and his tremendous finishing.

It's all subjective though, which is why I can't say you're wrong and until the poor lad gets a chance, neither can I say I'm right.

Simply. Yes it does matter if you are at the game or not.

I don't knock you if you're not. I actually respect you if you are abroad etc and take the time to listen and care about the result.

However, it's fact that if you don't attend you are generally listening on the radio. Therefore you are listening, by fact, to the opinion of others. Men who give thier opinion. That cannot be the same as everyone.

By virtue of the fact that you are on a debating site, you obviously don't take the opinion of another as fact. Therefore radio is a false medium. As its just a man or twos opinion.

My friend, I agree with you. We need a natural goal scorer. Hannah is not the man.

He's not very good. If he was he'd be playing.

Onebrianmitchell wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:

Onebrianmitchell wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

I didn't say he was my first name on the team sheet but as PP is a manager in the mould of Tony Pulis with strength all over the park, a big man up front and a tricky winger (or sometimes 2), then Hanson gets the nod over everybody.

The question is, who gets to play with him?

For me it's Hannah and always has been since the minute he joined and I only hope he gets the chance to prove me right.

Nahki barely got a look in until Xmas last year and then his career took off.
I truly believe Hannah could do the same this year, probably better since he's near his prime and already a goal machine.

He's the only thing our team is missing.

We've lost a whole back four - and a very strong one at that, yet we've replaced it completely and we're still very resilient.

We're missing only 2 attacking players, Reidy arguably missed the most, so we can't or shouldn't be bemoaning injuries for lack of goals.

That for me, lies with the fact that we don't have a finisher, well, we do, it's just we don't play him at all.

We have the following missing through injury:

Darby
Davies
Oliver
Meridith
Reid

We have today lost at home, not a regular event. Man U lost at Norwich and Chelsea at West Brom. Neither Chelsea or Man U are without their entire back four and a creative player.

We have played more games than any other club. We are threadbare.

Therefore the calls for the return of Hannah are ridiculous.

I follow Ross on Twitterand he comes across as a lovely lad. However, he's a non league player. He's done nothing for City yet.

A few more points:

1) PP sees him in training every week. He's better judged in his ability than you.

2) you are suggesting dropping one of league 2s top scorers, in Wellls, for someone who hasn't proved himself in the league.

3) you don't drop your top scorer

I'm not Hansons biggest fan but you say he won nothing today. Did you go? He won everything but nobody got onto his headers.

In short, your post is vitally flawed.

First of all, you're mixing up two opinions because I never said anything about Hanson, let alone in a negative sense, nor did I criticize Wells, I suggested we play a natural goalscorer in Hannah - that's all.

You think my post was flawed yet you obviously didn't understand it.

Have I been to the game? Does it matter if I used my eyes or someone else's to form my opinion? If I was blind I could still have a view could I not - I'm overseas but listened to the match online.

Nahki Wells has scored in only 7 of our 18 league games, so he only scores in 38% of the games he plays.

In addition, there's been 12 games in which we've failed to score more than one goal - which means 66% of the time we score 1 or less.

Also, there has been 6 games in which we've failed to score altogether - a third of our games we don't even register a goal.

I think we've got a great team, I actually believe we have the best team in the league - except for our finishing.

Count the points dropped from the games in which we created sack fulls of chances and came away with very little: Accy, Vale and Rochdale instantly spring to mind and that's 7 points dropped already plus Vale would have 3 less - where would that put us now?

Our team has almost everything, except for a natural finisher.

You say, he's never proved himself but that doesn't mean he can't either prove himself or make it at this level but today, he's fired Grimsby to the top of the Conference and after only a few short weeks he's now their leading goalscorer.

Very few teams that come up from the conference struggle in our league as most of the players are good enough.

People were saying the same as you when he joined, that he was unproven and couldn't make the grade, that though was when he was firing in 52 goals for Matlock - some 4 or 5 divisions below City, they were still saying the same last year when he bagged a load of Goals for Halifax and almost got them promoted some 2 or so divisions higher - now you're still saying the same even though he carries on being prolific for the team at the top of the league below us - it's no wonder the lad's never had a chance.

You're right though, PP does see him a lot in training which is why he's commented many times regarding his fantastic attitude, his amazing work rate and his tremendous finishing.

It's all subjective though, which is why I can't say you're wrong and until the poor lad gets a chance, neither can I say I'm right.

Simply. Yes it does matter if you are at the game or not.

I don't knock you if you're not. I actually respect you if you are abroad etc and take the time to listen and care about the result.

However, it's fact that if you don't attend you are generally listening on the radio. Therefore you are listening, by fact, to the opinion of others. Men who give thier opinion. That cannot be the same as everyone.

By virtue of the fact that you are on a debating site, you obviously don't take the opinion of another as fact. Therefore radio is a false medium. As its just a man or twos opinion.

My friend, I agree with you. We need a natural goal scorer. Hannah is not the man.

He's not very good. If he was he'd be playing.

I may have got this wrong, but didn't I recently see you championing Ritchie Jones in recent weeks? If you have been, can you please explain why. Because in your bizarre rationale, he must be poor because PP never picks him....!

Whilst I don't agree that Hannah should be recalled to replace Wells, I also don't agree with you that Hannah is rubbish. The fact is, in the brief runs he has had, he has done ok. He certainly did more than Thompson has given us and looked more lively that Connell.

A week and half ago, we were flat against Chesterfield, but the excuse was that Hanson wasn't playing. Today, due to injuries and tiredness, we were weak again. However, as Hanson did play, our excuse is the lack of Reid etc Make your feckin minds up.....!

Hanson did win lots of ball again today, but in areas of the field where it was never going to hurt them. As somebody else has pointed out, he is often too deep and hasn't got the pace to join his partner after flicking on. This isn't a criticism of the player, but more about our tactics.

For those that are arguing that Hanson is simply a target man and not a goal scorer, be honest and admit you lambasted Peter Taylor for playing a non-scoring target man called Luke Oliver. He won all his headers too, but because he didn't have a Wells alongside him, the tactic was criticised...!

Thought the officiating was bizarre today...i'd go as far as saying it was bent officiating, how was the stiff arm on Wells not penalized..the free kick the muppet gave when Wells was in a dangerous position was bizarre and ludicrous. The clear handball in the box was also missed by the fella running the line. Shocking stuff but also not a great performance from BCFC. We need more pace with both Hines and Reid out..another winger speed merchant is needed.

In a tight division matches are often decided by the slightest of margins, and unfortunately the ref has cost us the game today.

He was quite happy to blow for petty little fouls, yet their guy is climbing all over I thought it was McHugh, and they score from the resulting knock down.

Then their defender realised they haven't put enough weight on the back pass and leans across Wells; it's a penalty and a red card as he's the last man.

If the ref makes the correct decisions then there's no way we lose that game.

1st half I thought we showed the affects of playing too many games and extra time midweek, but after the break we gave it a real go and certainly deserved a point.

I can't remember the last time I can honestly say we were lucky to win a game, but sides seem to regulary come here and manage to sneek a victory or point that they didn't deserve.

In a tight division matches are often decided by the slightest of margins, and unfortunately the ref has cost us the game today.

He was quite happy to blow for petty little fouls, yet their guy is climbing all over I thought it was McHugh, and they score from the resulting knock down.

Then their defender realised they haven't put enough weight on the back pass and leans across Wells; it's a penalty and a red card as he's the last man.

If the ref makes the correct decisions then there's no way we lose that game.

1st half I thought we showed the affects of playing too many games and extra time midweek, but after the break we gave it a real go and certainly deserved a point.

I can't remember the last time I can honestly say we were lucky to win a game, but sides seem to regulary come here and manage to sneek a victory or point that they didn't deserve.

Terrible officiating. The Midland Road side liner was shocking. He couldn't see throughout the game and was constantly mopping his brow. Mind you it did stretch from his eyebrows to the back of his neck! Unfortunately we were allocated the crew determined to get their jollies by winding up the big crowd again.
On the playing side Wells should observe Cureton and see how he chased down everything. Wells was a passenger today and poor Hanson was getting mugged by their centre-halves with impunity. As for the fool suggesting Hanson should not only be winning headers but actually directing them to a C&A shirt you must be a helluva player ,son. Who is it you play for again? Wells should be closer to Hanson to feed off the flicks but today he couldn't be bothered. Frankly if someone was offering decent money for him I'd let him go.

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:
Hansons game has not progressed since his first season in the football league when I thought he looked quite promising! If anything it's stagnated! He brought nothing to the table today! He didn't hold it up! He didn't direct any flicks to a claret and amber shirt! I don't know what the fuss is about. Will will not get promoted with him as our spearhead! Anybody who thinks other wise is naive or stupid!

Is that what your help for the blind carer tells you, as you obviously don't get to watch clearly!

Had a brief read of most of the comments. I was there yesterday and All of us agree that the ref was absolute garbage and ruined what was a very good game. Exeter didn't come for a draw but for a win and played imo, some good football. Some have said the ref LOST us 3pts but he didn't because Exeter were leading. yes, I thought that was a foul on Mchugh which led to their goal and the clothesline on Wellsy in the area which imo WAS a pen and a red card. I'm not gonna go through all the players who had a bad day as it's already been mentioned. Get rid of Hanson & Wells some of you say and bring back Hannah. We all know Hannah loves it at Grimsby and is asking the club to let him go. I say get rid of that right winger who thinks he's a striker who couldnt score to save his life. Now, everytime we lose at home,we seem to put the blame on refs. We had FOUR strikers on the pitch for the last 20min and none of them could score. Blame the players. On the subject of injuries, We had five regular players out that we could have done with but we had cover and those who played did really well. Most of the other teams in this league havn't had most of their key players out and havn't played as many games as us, but xmas is comming and it could easily happen to them. they will start to lose games too and our players will be back and we are back to winning ways again. When we all comment, it's all about ifs and buts and we would be up there. We are ONLY FOUR POINTS behind 3rd place and its a long season and I believe that at the end of the season, we will finish in the top three. c.t.i.d.

I have always said Ross Hannah should be given a chance to prove himself.
He goes to Grimsby, is their top goal scorer with 6 goals and Grimsby are sitting top of the blue square league
The lad must be doing something right.
BRING HIM HOME.
ctid.

Just for information, Ross has scored 7 in 11 games for Grimsby

Got to say always thought Hannah deserved a chance he is a natural goalscorer although i fear he i suffering from the famous Parky your face doesnt fit syndrome.
Yesterdays game was destroyed by possibly the worst refereeing ever and why were the linesmen there they may as well of stayed at home for all the good they did.
The defence was understandably out of sorts whilst far from his biggest fan Hanson must be black and blue today his treatment and lack of defence from the ref was nothing short of embarrasingly bad.
Midfield arent scoring any where near enough goals and note for Parky Atkinson is NOT i repeat NOT a bloody winger!!! yes hes done better in midfield even so far as to say pretty good but once again he is not a winger.

Big figure....my information was taken from the BBC site and the figure there was 6 however 7 is one more lol.

Im never one to blame the "Ref"!!....But!!... dear oh dear, he was a shocker!!.
That apart..... I dont think anyone can get too down about that performance!!.
Even "Deadbeat" came out with credit, with some very good tactical changes in the second half!.
On another day (and with a non blind ref) we could easily have got points from that game.
Perhaps the MOANING about fixture pile up (2 games a week!!!) didnt help !!.

Regarding the official...he simply didn't do his job...what was quite scary was the free kick he gave us when Wells was breaking through the Exeter City defence in the second half (not the stiff arm non decision on the same player)...the ref was in a perfect position to play advantage yet pulled the play back for a free kick for BCFC thus penalising BCFC..make of that what you may but it was one a few bizarre and crucial decisions to go against BCFC.

shaun from richmond wrote:
Im never one to blame the "Ref"!!....But!
!... dear oh dear, he was a shocker!!.
That apart..... I dont think anyone can get too down about that performance!!.
Even "Deadbeat" came out with credit, with some very good tactical changes in the second half!.
On another day (and with a non blind ref) we could easily have got points from that game.
Perhaps the MOANING about fixture pile up (2 games a week!!!) didnt help !!.

I think you have a point moaning about two games a week Shaun. It can give individuals an excuse/justification to feel tired. Derren Brown makes a great living out of the 'power of suggestion'.

PP can always reduce the quantity and intensity of training if energy levels are being depleted by games played. The technical and tactical stuff can still be worked on. I think the problems are more to do with recovering fully from bumps and knocks rather than fitness because Tuesday night to Saturday afternoon should be ample recovery time fitness wise.

Anyway I think your right, lets stop telling players they should be feeling tired?

i think he should give Hannah a crack but i can not see it happening (unless desperate). our whole system is based on having 2 holding midfield players, attacking down the wing and getting the ball in the box. in the first half we play it safe and quite often the defence misses the midfield and hits it straight to Hanson, with the hope of a flick on to Wells. Personally i dont think Wells should start every game and might in games where they opp comes for a draw be more effective. but the system we play relies on having a big CF. Hanson is the biggest we have and IMO Well is the only striker that Hanson has had any kind of successful partnership with. add to that the new signing and no room for Hannah?

bradford321 wrote:

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:
Hansons game has not progressed since his first season in the football league when I thought he looked quite promising! If anything it's stagnated! He brought nothing to the table today! He didn't hold it up! He didn't direct any flicks to a claret and amber shirt! I don't know what the fuss is about. Will will not get promoted with him as our spearhead! Anybody who thinks other wise is naive or stupid!

Is that what your help for the blind carer tells you, as you obviously don't get to watch clearly!

We will not gain promotion with Hanson being the pivitol figure up front! Simples! He is an utter donkey! Maybe it's you who needs the specsaver vouchers! Everyone sat around me agrees!

What really irritated me yesterday was the admission (albeit not to our players) that he got the penalty decision wrong. Shortly after Wells was blocked off by an arm, the same defender gave away a free-kick. When booking the player, the referee pointed to three offences, INCLUDING ONE IN THE PENALTY AREA....!

That said, we were poor yesterday and devoid of any ideas other than lumping to Hanson to flick on. In fact I'd go as far as to say we were just as toothless, if not more so, than we were against Chesterfield. BUT HANG ON, DIDN'T WE SAY HANSON WOULD HAVE MADE THE DIFFERENCE AGAINST THE SPIRITES?? Didn't seem to help turn us from toothless to a team with bite. Lethargic performance anybody?

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH

I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah.

Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second.

PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should.

Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level.
I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax.

Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple.

That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together.

Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal.

We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt.

Hannah's loan is coming to an end.
So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Who would u drop for Hannah??

Waynus1971 wrote:
What really irritated me yesterday was the admission (albeit not to our players) that he got the penalty decision wrong. Shortly after Wells was blocked off by an arm, the same defender gave away a free-kick. When booking the player, the referee pointed to three offences, INCLUDING ONE IN THE PENALTY AREA....!

That said, we were poor yesterday and devoid of any ideas other than lumping to Hanson to flick on. In fact I'd go as far as to say we were just as toothless, if not more so, than we were against Chesterfield. BUT HANG ON, DIDN'T WE SAY HANSON WOULD HAVE MADE THE DIFFERENCE AGAINST THE SPIRITES?? Didn't seem to help turn us from toothless to a team with bite. Lethargic performance anybody?

No waynus we said we didn't win a ball in the air against Chesterfield. Hanson won the ball in the air at Aldershot and also did enough in the air to win the ball from a defender and get a shot on goal that resulted in us scoring. His winning the ball in the air made all the difference because Nahki scored two goals off the back of him.

Did Hanson win the ball in the air on Sat? If he did then he was doing what he was expected to do. Whether that is always the right tactic is another matter but Hanson can only head the ball on, he can't trap it.

Quote from the Exeter manager:

"I happen to think one-nil is exactly what we needed, it just shows to the players they can grit out 50 minutes of very threatening football.

"That's us at our best away from home.

"I went defensive but I'm not ashamed of that. We stuck it out and I think our physio is going to have a tough couple of days, we've got four or five players who are bruised and battered.

"We stuck it out, we got to the ball, it wasn't pretty but we did what we had to."

the question of back up strikers needs to be addressed and in this respect I feel we need to recall Hannah.

This seson what have Connell and Thompson contributed by way of goals. What did Hannah produce last season:some woud argue his goals off the bench earned us enough points to stay up. He is in form:the others are not and he can play a little wider than the other two.

He has to be recalled and given a real opportunity at this level

tyker2 wrote:
the question of back up strikers needs to be addressed and in this respect I feel we need to recall Hannah. This seson what have Connell and Thompson contributed by way of goals. What did Hannah produce last season:some woud argue his goals off the bench earned us enough points to stay up. He is in form:the others are not and he can play a little wider than the other two. He has to be recalled and given a real opportunity at this level

"some woud argue ......". Who are these 'some'? Because I would argue that his goals 'saved us' just two points, thus not saving us from relegation at all.

Other than that point, I do agree he should be recalled and given more of a chance than last season, albeit, not starting in front of Hanson or Wells.

lonniejockstrap wrote:

Waynus1971 wrote: What really irritated me yesterday was the admission (albeit not to our players) that he got the penalty decision wrong. Shortly after Wells was blocked off by an arm, the same defender gave away a free-kick. When booking the player, the referee pointed to three offences, INCLUDING ONE IN THE PENALTY AREA....! That said, we were poor yesterday and devoid of any ideas other than lumping to Hanson to flick on. In fact I'd go as far as to say we were just as toothless, if not more so, than we were against Chesterfield. BUT HANG ON, DIDN'T WE SAY HANSON WOULD HAVE MADE THE DIFFERENCE AGAINST THE SPIRITES?? Didn't seem to help turn us from toothless to a team with bite. Lethargic performance anybody?

No waynus we said we didn't win a ball in the air against Chesterfield. Hanson won the ball in the air at Aldershot and also did enough in the air to win the ball from a defender and get a shot on goal that resulted in us scoring. His winning the ball in the air made all the difference because Nahki scored two goals off the back of him. Did Hanson win the ball in the air on Sat? If he did then he was doing what he was expected to do. Whether that is always the right tactic is another matter but Hanson can only head the ball on, he can't trap it. Quote from the Exeter manager: "I happen to think one-nil is exactly what we needed, it just shows to the players they can grit out 50 minutes of very threatening football. "That's us at our best away from home. "I went defensive but I'm not ashamed of that. We stuck it out and I think our physio is going to have a tough couple of days, we've got four or five players who are bruised and battered. "We stuck it out, we got to the ball, it wasn't pretty but we did what we had to."

No Lonnie, you may have been referring specifically to Hanson's aerial threat (and maybe one other poster), but the general opinion was that we WOULD have beaten Chesterfield had hanson played. My point is that, yes, we would have won more headers and given their defenders more to think about, however, there was no guarantee that that alone would have given us any more points.
A point I believe may have been proved on Saturday.

I'm not sure what the quote was about? What value did that have as to whether we would have scored against Cheterfield or not? The fact is, hanson was man-handled for 90mins against Exeter and we were awarded nothing. Their players are battered and bruised? My 4R5E..! It is Hanson that was battered and the referee should have protected him more.

Onebrianmitchell wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:

Spenvalleyspartan wrote:

Village Bantam wrote:
Two word: ROSS HANNAH I'm a big fan of PP but IMO he's making a mistake leaving out Hannah. Like most, he believes the better strike partnership is Hanson and Wells but for me, if Hanson's name is the first on the team sheet, then Hannah must be the second. PP doesn't get much wrong, even today when Exeter's shape was causing us trouble, he was smart enough to change it for the second half and swing the game in our favour but like all season, we're creating the chances and simply not converting them as well as we should. Hannah has his doubters since the million goals per season he scores have been at a lower level. I made the same case last season and people scoffed although he was loaned out at a slightly higher level and still banged them in for Halifax. Now he's fired Grimsby to the top of the conference with something like 8 goals in 7 games and if Fleetwood, York, Crawley, Stevenage, Dageham et cetera can flourish in our league after coming up from the same division with largely the same players, then that, for me, tells you everything you need to know about the lad - he's a goal scorer and he's good enough, it's that simple. That's not taking anything away from the likes of Wells or Connell but if there's only 2 births up for grabs - well, one if you concede that Hanson is a starter, then my choice would go to Hannah, they also looked good pre season together. Wells is still a work in progress and from the 10 league goals he's scored for us, I think 8 of them came in 4 games or something like that plus 3 were penalties which means there's an awful lot of games he doesn't score in and for a team that is going reasonably well this season - we're awfully shy in front of goal. We're probably the best team in this division - for my money, yet if we had someone who could finish, then we'd be on top, without a doubt. Hannah's loan is coming to an end. So far in City colours, he's been a little unlucky not to get more starts and pre-season didn't help when we signed Thompson (who I reckon was signed by the Chairmen) and Connell as that pushed him down the ranks but surely now we need to give him a shot before he walks in the summer and nets 30 goals for a rival team next year.

Why is Hanson first on team sheet? He was garbage today. Won nothing! Near the end he was getting out jumped by Docherty! He was bullied into submission today! Until we have competition for the big bustling centre forward then we're going nowhere!

I didn't say he was my first name on the team sheet but as PP is a manager in the mould of Tony Pulis with strength all over the park, a big man up front and a tricky winger (or sometimes 2), then Hanson gets the nod over everybody.

The question is, who gets to play with him?

For me it's Hannah and always has been since the minute he joined and I only hope he gets the chance to prove me right.

Nahki barely got a look in until Xmas last year and then his career took off.
I truly believe Hannah could do the same this year, probably better since he's near his prime and already a goal machine.

He's the only thing our team is missing.

We've lost a whole back four - and a very strong one at that, yet we've replaced it completely and we're still very resilient.

We're missing only 2 attacking players, Reidy arguably missed the most, so we can't or shouldn't be bemoaning injuries for lack of goals.

That for me, lies with the fact that we don't have a finisher, well, we do, it's just we don't play him at all.

We have the following missing through injury:

Darby
Davies
Oliver
Meridith
Reid

We have today lost at home, not a regular event. Man U lost at Norwich and Chelsea at West Brom. Neither Chelsea or Man U are without their entire back four and a creative player.

We have played more games than any other club. We are threadbare.

Therefore the calls for the return of Hannah are ridiculous.

I follow Ross on Twitterand he comes across as a lovely lad. However, he's a non league player. He's done nothing for City yet.

A few more points:

1) PP sees him in training every week. He's better judged in his ability than you.

2) you are suggesting dropping one of league 2s top scorers, in Wellls, for someone who hasn't proved himself in the league.

3) you don't drop your top scorer

I'm not Hansons biggest fan but you say he won nothing today. Did you go? He won everything but nobody got onto his headers.

In short, your post is vitally flawed.

I counted 5 second half knock downs in the penalty area alone. All into very dangerous places, no one moving to anticipate, Wells latched onto one knock down in the first half and fired off a first time shot, he never got close to any of those in the second half and they were all central and within 4 or 5 yards of the penalty spot.


I also agree here that PP has made the call on Hannah due to seeing what he offers and not fancying it over and above what he has already.

I wouldn't be too bothered if as someone above suggested, we farmed out Thompson and brought Ross back but it doesn't then give us any height up top at all if JH is out.

One final point, why wasn't Nahki 'forced' to change his boots 10 minutes into the game, he was slipping and sliding all over when no-one else was(aprt from Bambi Forsyth) PP should have called him over and TOLD him he was spending more time on his harris than he as on his feet and it must solely be down to studs, or lack of them, more like those pathetic blades.

hahaha, 'solely'

Waynus1971 wrote:

lonniejockstrap wrote:

Waynus1971 wrote: What really irritated me yesterday was the admission (albeit not to our players) that he got the penalty decision wrong. Shortly after Wells was blocked off by an arm, the same defender gave away a free-kick. When booking the player, the referee pointed to three offences, INCLUDING ONE IN THE PENALTY AREA....! That said, we were poor yesterday and devoid of any ideas other than lumping to Hanson to flick on. In fact I'd go as far as to say we were just as toothless, if not more so, than we were against Chesterfield. BUT HANG ON, DIDN'T WE SAY HANSON WOULD HAVE MADE THE DIFFERENCE AGAINST THE SPIRITES?? Didn't seem to help turn us from toothless to a team with bite. Lethargic performance anybody?

No waynus we said we didn't win a ball in the air against Chesterfield. Hanson won the ball in the air at Aldershot and also did enough in the air to win the ball from a defender and get a shot on goal that resulted in us scoring. His winning the ball in the air made all the difference because Nahki scored two goals off the back of him. Did Hanson win the ball in the air on Sat? If he did then he was doing what he was expected to do. Whether that is always the right tactic is another matter but Hanson can only head the ball on, he can't trap it. Quote from the Exeter manager: "I happen to think one-nil is exactly what we needed, it just shows to the players they can grit out 50 minutes of very threatening football. "That's us at our best away from home. "I went defensive but I'm not ashamed of that. We stuck it out and I think our physio is going to have a tough couple of days, we've got four or five players who are bruised and battered. "We stuck it out, we got to the ball, it wasn't pretty but we did what we had to."

No Lonnie, you may have been referring specifically to Hanson's aerial threat (and maybe one other poster), but the general opinion was that we WOULD have beaten Chesterfield had hanson played. My point is that, yes, we would have won more headers and given their defenders more to think about, however, there was no guarantee that that alone would have given us any more points.
A point I believe may have been proved on Saturday.

I'm not sure what the quote was about? What value did that have as to whether we would have scored against Cheterfield or not? The fact is, hanson was man-handled for 90mins against Exeter and we were awarded nothing. Their players are battered and bruised? My 4R5E..! It is Hanson that was battered and the referee should have protected him more.

Waynus,although I didn't make it clear, the quote was related to you asking what people thought about the team being lethargic. I was trying to make the point that Tisdale, the manager of Exeter, didn't seem to hold that point of view.

Must admit I thought it was a foul for their goal, but after seeing it again, he wasn't being held down; he just didn't jump.

Me too 1903...my exact thoughts, then on second seeing I agree with you, no jump or attempt to stop their player winning the far post knock down.