Unpopular opinion...

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

Other than being turned inside out like he was playing Sunday league the morning after a bender by Shelvey, I felt that Grant Hanley looked decent against Newcastle considering he barely played competitive football last season. His passing whilst predictable was reliable and I thought he played the ball out pretty well for a big man.

I'm not saying he's anything other than fourth choice when all fit but we've had worse at the back at this level. 

Edited August 23, 2019 by TeemuVanBasten

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

Looking forward to Zimmermann coming back though of course. 

Edited August 23, 2019 by TeemuVanBasten

[kirku 1,332]

Don't see why any of those opinions would be unpopular..

[Mello Yello 2,273]

Give Hanley a break.....

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

2 minutes ago, kirku said:

Don't see why any of those opinions would be unpopular..

Seem pretty reasonable to me.

[Rich T The Biscuit 562]

1 hour ago, Mello Yello said:

Give Hanley a break.....

This might be slightly controversial but I don't think the goal was actually all Hanleys fault, Hanley has the Japanese guy down the line, the ball works it's way across, whoever it was in our midfield who had Shelvey passed him on to Godfrey (who was the closest to Shelvey and facing play), Shelvey made the run in between Godfrey and Hanley, Hanley at the time was sideways on tracking the Japanese player and it was Godfrey who was better placed to see the run as Shelvey had gone across him.

Hanley then turned as he was closest and almost fell over his own feet 🤦🏻‍♂️ but Godfrey could have stopped that play had he just gone with Shelvey as Lewis had the cover on the player near to Godfrey. 

[BobLoz3 492]

Yeah i don't get why we MUST have scapegoats every season. We're in a position whereby GH is the best bet at CB alongside Godfrey for now. So, give the guy a chance! He'll improve as the season moves on. I don't think he was awful at all. It's pretty positive on this thread but there are a LOT of posts tearing Hanley a new one.

If he does well in the side it may not be a guarantee that Klose or Zimbo come in. While I would like to see those guys back in action, if we're not losing games Hanley will stay in the side. We've seen that a fair bit with Farke.

Having said all of that, Zimbo is clearly Farke's man and he will likely be wanting him to be involved sooner rather than later. I just think we should support the players regardless and Hanley was clearly distressed with both of his big 'mistakes' thus far.

[Vazzza 62]

8 minutes ago, BobLoz3 said:

Hanley was clearly distressed with both of his big 'mistakes' thus far.

This is very true, you can see that he definitely takes it to heart. NCFC thru and thru!
He's pretty much guarenteed to start tomorrow. Maybe a good rendition of "You'll never beat the Hanley" after his first tackle of the game to help boost the confidence and we'll see an immaculate display... He's got it in him, just needs to cut out the little errors which at this level get punished.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

5 hours ago, kirku said:

Don't see why any of those opinions would be unpopular..

Me neither but based on all the negative comments I've seen about Hanley it feels like my opinion is unpopular at the moment. 

We managed to get by with Elliott Ward and Leon Barnett under Lambert... I think Hanley looks terrible in some people's eyes because we've got more quality at the back than we had since probably 1994, he's being compared to the best group of defenders we've had in twenty odd years. 

[GenerationA47 746]

5 hours ago, Vazzza said:

He's pretty much guarenteed to start tomorrow.

I read Klose could be back in , although granted a super sub appearance may be more likely

[splendidrush 698]

If Hanley scores the winner tomorrow, there will be scenes on here.....

[Chelm Canary 404]

There is little doubt that Hanley should be starting today and I'd be disappointed if he doesn't. 

He's earned that right.  

Edited August 24, 2019 by Chelm Canary

[Van wink 2,994]

Same team

[Chelm Canary 404]

Wonder if Man City will start getting salty about Patrick Roberts not getting a sniff. 

[Chelm Canary 404]

12 minutes ago, splendidrush said:

If Hanley scores the winner tomorrow, there will be scenes on here.....

I just want to make you aware the game is today ha. 

Oh there will be scenes on here tomorrow. My bad. 

Edited August 24, 2019 by Chelm Canary

[Indy 3,283]

As ever,  no one has criticised Hanley for lack of effort, his fight for our cause and his general place in our squad, it’s been about his performances and his level. No doubt as all players we all want him to keep improving to the point he warrants his starting place, but there’s little doubt he’s way behind our other three CB.

Here’s hoping he scores today and we keep a clean sheet.

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

1 hour ago, Indy said:

but there’s little doubt he’s way behind our other three CB.

Based on last season's form yes, they still need to try and replicate that in the Premier League before we can rush to that judgement.

Edited August 24, 2019 by TeemuVanBasten

[Indy 3,283]

Well based on the first half, he’s being turned inside out and struggling again, Godfrey outstanding again with his reading of the game and blocks.

Hopefully get a tighter defence second half.

[Indy 3,283]

And there we have it......Slow, turned easy then runs away from Abrahams, bloody way too slow for this league. If you think Hanley is worthy of the shirt then we’ll concede she’d loads.

[pete 318]

Well don't need to worry about Hanley being criticised any more.  After today won't be seeing big Grant again just blown his chance big time, a truly limited footballer.

[sonyc 5,482]

Klose and Zimbo will be back very soon.

[The Bristol Nest 513]

Hanley was not as bad as all that. The full backs struggled with only Godfrey looking on top of things at the back. I think that Klose will return but not because Grant is terrible but because Tim's game is better suited to this level.

[Herman 9,698]

3 minutes ago, sonyc said:

Klose and Zimbo will be back very soon.

Yep. I can see Hanley getting the next game just to give these the full amount of time to recover and strengthen, then after the break one of these wll be back.

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,776]

I don't think Hanley was particularly dreadful today. I think the defensive unit in general, including Trybull as the defensive midfielder, suffered at the hands of a very good team. Godfrey was the only one of the five defensive outfield players who seemed to handle it.

But is Hanley good enough to be a starter in this team? Sadly not. When Klose and Zimmerman are fully fit then he'll be out of the side.

[splendidrush 698]

10 hours ago, Indy said:

And there we have it......Slow, turned easy then runs away from Abrahams, bloody way too slow for this league. If you think Hanley is worthy of the shirt then we’ll concede she’d loads.

The sense of entitlement beggars belief, twelve months ago we struggled to get a point at 1p5wich, here we are now having played the European Champions and the Europa Cup Winners and you're throwing one of our players under the bus. Shameful 👎

[curious yellow 184]

We wanted to put Hanley out on loan but he decided to stay and try and get back in the team. 

Presumably we had someone else lined up so it is ironic how things turned out. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

13 hours ago, Indy said:

If you think Hanley is worthy of the shirt then we’ll concede she’d loads.

What part of only having two fit centre backs are you struggling to understand?

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

2 hours ago, curious yellow said:

We wanted to put Hanley out on loan but he decided to stay and try and get back in the team. 

Presumably we had someone else lined up so it is ironic how things turned out. 

He was set to join Blackburn on loan but then Zimmermann had knee surgery, we wouldn't have sanctioned even if we had a target. Two days after it was announced that Hanley was staying Zimmermann had his surgery. 

[Alex Moss 2,165]

12 hours ago, pete said:

Well don't need to worry about Hanley being criticised any more.  After today won't be seeing big Grant again just blown his chance big time, a truly limited footballer.

Grant didn’t play badly today, and I disagree that he is a ‘truly limited footballer’. He’s perfectly fine on the ball, and can get the odd headed goal via corners, but through no fault of his own he just lacks a little mobility and pace sadly, which for me are his only weaker points, and unfortunately that’s what seems to catch him out 9/10 based on what I’ve seen. Own goal giveaway can, and does, happen to any player - Grant was very unfortunate there, happens to the ‘best’ too.  

[Indy 3,283]

6 hours ago, splendidrush said:

The sense of entitlement beggars belief, twelve months ago we struggled to get a point at 1p5wich, here we are now having played the European Champions and the Europa Cup Winners and you're throwing one of our players under the bus. Shameful 👎

Jesus there’s some seriously touchy people on here! I’m glad you pointed out how we struggled until we changed the team first 6 games last year.

And no sense of entitlement, when you gain promotion into the richest league with European champions and Europa Cup winners with injuries mounting up, shouldn’t you strengthen the squad if an area needs it?

No scapegoating, just opinions and three games in who seriously thinks Hanley warrants keeping his place?

What if Klose’s hip injury doesn’t fully clear up and Zimbo breaks down in training? 

No one is saying he’s not trying or giving 100 percent, we’re just having a debate on the game and how we saw it! Didn’t see Godfrey slow to turn, slow to block or letting too many go past to take a shot?

Edited August 25, 2019 by Indy