Aaron Connolly F Millwall b.2000

[pineapple stu]

Makes the bench today which I'm slightly surprised at - would have thought he might have needed longer to get to match fitness. But good to see. Hopefully he can kick on finally, but I won't be holding my breath anyway

[Trequartista20]

Liam Rosenior with some interesting thoughts on Connolly and the reason for the one-year contract.

Hull City boss explains reasons behind giving Aaron Connolly a one-year contract:

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/hull-city-aaron-connolly-contract-8651913

[Eirambler]

"Look, he's a moaner, he's a screamer, he's a shouter on the training pitch and he's horrible...We can't all be nice guys, we can't say the right things and do the right things because you won't get anywhere."

That's quite a quote about Connolly from the Hull manager - not sure I'd ever be asking him for a reference like!

[Fixer82]

So basically he’s a pain in the hole.
Shaper as well I’d add

[passinginterest]

Scores off the bench (man he replaced scored a Hattrick though!).

[pineapple stu]

Jaysus - will take that still!

[Demesne Lad]

Connolly reacting positively to the arrival of a proven goal-scorer, albeit in EFL 1.

Aaron Connolly's reaction to Hull City signing Scott Twine on loan from Burnley - Hull Live (hulldailymail.co.uk) (https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aaron-connolly-hull-city-twine-8687744)

[JR89]

Interesting signing for Hull. Would be competing with Tufan for a spot unless Tufan drops back into the midfield two or Twine plays wide. Though drop one of your wingers for a CB and they can go 3-4-2-1.

[Demesne Lad]

Twine starts, Connolly on the bench. Let us hope tha Connolly is more than a fringe player this season.

[pineapple stu]

A brace for Connolly! Amazing stuff; let's hope this isn't another false start.

[SkStu]

Guess who’s back. Back again. Aarons back. Tell a friend. :D

[Trequartista20]

Great stuff; delighted for him. He's got all the talent in the world - just needs to apply himself on a consistent basis.

He'll soon be forcing himself back into the international reckoning if he continues with this sort of form.

[irishfan86]

Great to see. Many on here quick to write him off. I admit I was beginning to fear the worst.

Hopefully he has finally sorted himself out and has the maturity to stick with whatever changes he’s made (presuming he has actually changed his approach and this isn’t a freak burst).

[Eirambler]

Five goals in his last six games now for Hull either side of the injury. Can't realistically expect him to keep up that scoring rate, but it's very encouraging. A few really nice striker's finishes among those goals as well, including the two today.

[elatedscum]

Great to see. Many on here quick to write him off. I admit I was beginning to fear the worst.

Hopefully he has finally sorted himself out and has the maturity to stick with whatever changes he’s made (presuming he has actually changed his approach and this isn’t a freak burst).

I do think he’s working with the perfect manager for him. Rosenior is an empathetic individual who’s inclined to boot his arm around the shoulder of a player rather than bollock them which is what Connolly responds best to. And someone who can embrace a bit of uniqueness. The fact he’s worked with Aaron at youth level probably means that he believes in his ability far more than any of his other coaches and is willing to persevere with him perhaps when others wouldn’t.

Hopefully it all pans in the long run. He’s got enough talent to be an excellent footballer if he can keep the confidence high and keep the rest of his life in check

[SkStu]

Both goals were fantastic finishes following perfectly timed runs. Great to see.

Of note also is the performance of Delap. He looks like he could be the real deal. Tall, strong and technically adept - was involved in everything positive that Hull did. Would be a great capture for us if he committed to green.

Wwl0wZDVjpY

https://youtu.be/Wwl0wZDVjpY

[tommy_c12000]

Looks more lean then previously too, let’s hope he keeps this up for the season

[seanfhear]

Twine tied some nice stuff together for Hull City there.

[Olé Olé]

Very good runs and lovely finishes. A front 3 of Ogbene, Connolly and Ferguson would give us something interesting in terms of Connolly's ability to run in behind. Ogbene's ability to stretch teams. Ferguson's ability to do everything but particularly his ability to come short and link up before transitioning to full on poacher.

[liamoo11]

Very good runs and lovely finishes. A front 3 of Ogbene, Connolly and Ferguson would give us something interesting in terms of Connolly's ability to run in behind. Ogbene's ability to stretch teams. Ferguson's ability to do everything but particularly his ability to come short and link up before transitioning to full on poacher.

If we play a front 3 we need to go back to 4 at the back as we have no where near the quality of athletic technical centre midfieldrs to play a 523 . Connolly is also muchness effective out wide, he is a central striker and would provide nice variation in combination with ferguson. Ogbene no where near connolly s level to play in a front 2 it's just not his game.

[Olé Olé]

If we play a front 3 we need to go back to 4 at the back as we have no where near the quality of athletic technical centre midfieldrs to play a 523 . Connolly is also muchness effective out wide, he is a central striker and would provide nice variation in combination with ferguson. Ogbene no where near connolly s level to play in a front 2 it's just not his game.
Yes and I think we do need to go to 4-3-3 and leverage Ogbene's tirelessness on the right to support on that side and deepest of the front 3 when out of possession.

[Eirambler]

It's Ferguson plus one for me, except maybe against Gibraltar type teams. Connolly the latest to put his hand up to be the plus one. Obviously at least two more bench options needed also, but we have about eight forwards competing for that one starting support forward position. Would guess Ogbene remains the man in possession right now, but it's wide open really.

[liamoo11]

Yes and I think we do need to go to 4-3-3 and leverage Ogbene's tirelessness on the right to support on that side and deepest of the front 3 when out of possession.

The problem as I see it with that is we are so short on full backs. Basically in a 4 we would only have o shea and Coleman as full backs. Manning doherty o dowda mcclean ebosele Stevens all wing backs all poor at defending even as wing backs definitely no where near good enough in defending as full backs. O shea poor going forward from full back and Coleman injured for the time being . Ogbene just not good enough in my opinion for us to be setting up the whole team to fit him in when we don't have full backs and don't have another natural wide player for the front three with johnson injured. Ogbene is poor technically lacks guile his game is based on pure pace and workload . That opportunity he butchered when he couldn't play the pass to put ferguson in against France just sums him up great athlete great pro great workrate but no where near the level of creative player you need to qualify for a tournament and certainly not the level that you decide to go back to a 4 at the back when you have no actual full backs of an international standard

[Olé Olé]

The problem as I see it with that is we are so short on full backs. Basically in a 4 we would only have o shea and Coleman as full backs. Manning doherty o dowda mcclean ebosele Stevens all wing backs all poor at defending even as wing backs definitely no where near good enough in defending as full backs. O shea poor going forward from full back and Coleman injured for the time being . Ogbene just not good enough in my opinion for us to be setting up the whole team to fit him in when we don't have full backs and don't have another natural wide player for the front three with johnson injured. Ogbene is poor technically lacks guile his game is based on pure pace and workload . That opportunity he butchered when he couldn't play the pass to put ferguson in against France just sums him up great athlete great pro great workrate but no where near the level of creative player you need to qualify for a tournament and certainly not the level that you decide to go back to a 4 at the back when you have no actual full backs of an international standard

Okay. I think Ogbene has done well for Ireland. And I don't think 3-5-2 works anymore.

I would gladly see us go to 4 at the back and if it were Coleman, Egan, Collins and O'Shea then I wouldn't be upset.

[liamoo11]

Okay. I think Ogbene has done well for Ireland. And I don't think 3-5-2 works anymore.

I would gladly see us go to 4 at the back and if it were Coleman, Egan, Collins and O'Shea then I wouldn't be upset.

I think the 5 has a chance of working if you drop egan play collins centrally play I shea to the left and omobamidele right with manning and ebosele wing backs. That let's yiu push your wing backs high because you have pace in your centre halves which we don't have when we play egan and your full backs are athletic enough to get up and back which unfortunately doherty just wasn't in Greece which gave us issues. That allows you have a midfield 3 of Cullen molumby and smaallbone with knoght a good backup who don't have to cover all the wide areas in midfield by themselves because you can push your wingbacks high into this space and fill the space behind by pushing your back three high cause you have the pace to recover . In Greece our back 5 sat so deep poor small bone was ran ragged covering the wide area in 2/ 3 rds of the field. That let's you have ferguson up top with players like parrott, connolly and obafemi who can compliment him in different ways and players like idah and keane who maybe offer him backup . A set up like that let's you compress the game and keeps you compact with a keeper like Kelleher or bazunu who are comfortable having a starting position high in their area and prepared to swerp

[Eirambler]

Going a bit off topic here but I think there will have to be a discussion about Egan fairly soon. He's not particularly fast or a particularly good ball player, and some of his defending for both club and country in the last year has been poor. Not at all sure he's one of our best three or four centre backs at the moment.

[liamoo11]

Going a bit off topic here but I think there will have to be a discussion about Egan fairly soon. He's not particularly fast or a particularly good ball player, and some of his defending for both club and country in the last year has been poor. Not at all sure he's one of our best three or four centre backs at the moment.

I agree here. Has built a great career and a great pro. There is a reason though that he has never been signed by a side in the Premier league or any other top league in Europe. He hold our kine far too deep because he doesn't trust his pace(rightly) and doesn't have that ability to step out land play ike a collins has. If your holding a deep defensive line you have no chance of having your midfield andvsttack connected unless you have top top athletic technical midfielders which obviously we don't have. You end up then with your midfield dropped into your backl8ne with way too much distance between your midfield and attack which makes you toothless which we certainly are regardless of the attacking personel we play

[Strongbow10]

I'd play a back four also, with Dara O'Shea at RB. Collins and Egan at CB.

You could also play Omobamidele at RB, O'Shea at LB if just looking for pure defensive solidity.

[liamoo11]

I'd play a back four also, with Dara O'Shea at RB. Collins and Egan at CB.

You could also play Omobamidele at RB, O'Shea at LB if just looking for pure defensive solidity.

I think you get nothing going forward if you play those centre backs as full backs and you don't have the quality of wide forward players higher up the pitch to make up for it in terms of creativity . If you had mcgeady and duff at their peak and some kind of vague creativity in centre midfield I could maybe see the argument for playing the centre backs as fullbacks but not with what we have in those wide forward and creative midfield positions

[tetsujin1979]

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[Jolly Red Giant]

I'd play a back four also, with Dara O'Shea at RB. Collins and Egan at CB.

You could also play Omobamidele at RB, O'Shea at LB if just looking for pure defensive solidity.
I think Omobamidele should be in midfield - protection in front of a back four - and he is able to pass the ball (Collins could also play this role). We have a few CBs and we need to get one of them into the old Paul McGrath role.

[Jolly Red Giant]

Rosenior said after the game that Connolly isn't fit and can't play for more than 30 minutes - said he had a lot of work to put in to improve his fitness.

[seanfhear]

Rosenior said after the game that Connolly isn't fit and can't play for more than 30 minutes - said he had a lot of work to put in to improve his fitness.
Connolly is a bit chunky but I reckon he might look that way even if fully fit.

[Eminence Grise]

Interesting take on Wolves v Brighton at the weekend in the Guardian (fourth talking point on the list).

Is the use of a strike partnership the next tactical step in football? Wolves and Brighton both started – and played most of the latter’s 4-1 win at Molineux – in 4-4-2 formations (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/aug/21/premier-league-10-talking-points-from-the-weekends-action)

If three man midfields have been in vogue for about 25 years, and 442 for 25 years before that, we're probably due a tactical shift of some sort. We've probably always been better suited to 442 than any other formation, and it might allow us to make better use of our strike talent - two strikers unlikely to score are still more likely than one on his own! - but whether it's really coming into fashion again, who knows?

[seanfhear]

Interesting take on Wolves v Brighton at the weekend in the Guardian (fourth talking point on the list).

Is the use of a strike partnership the next tactical step in football? Wolves and Brighton both started – and played most of the latter’s 4-1 win at Molineux – in 4-4-2 formations (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/aug/21/premier-league-10-talking-points-from-the-weekends-action)

If three man midfields have been in vogue for about 25 years, and 442 for 25 years before that, we're probably due a tactical shift of some sort. We've probably always been better suited to 442 than any other formation, and it might allow us to make better use of our strike talent - two strikers unlikely to score are still more likely than one on his own! - but whether it's really coming into fashion again, who knows?Little and Large might make a comeback ! !

[Eirambler]

4-4-2 usually only worked for us in the sense that we completely bypassed central midfield when attacking, so there wasn't much point having three in there anyway. In defence we tended to sit our two centre midfielders deep in front of the centre backs to avoid being overrun (and then launched the ball long again once back in possession).

I'm not sure that works anymore, unless we're planning on going back to a very simplistic style of play. When playing any kind of passing game, three in midfield generally beats two in midfield eventually, as the extra man just gives you more chance of gaining control in that area. If anything I could see any future change in the game being towards a fourth central midfielder - so you could maybe have a variation on our current 3-5-2 where one of the centre backs pushes forward into midfield when we're in possession to create an effective four man centre midfield (Hi Nathan, you're up). A few teams have tried something similar to this previously I think, it is/was known as "overlapping centre backs" in that case (though slightly different as the centre back often overlapped into wider areas). Such a system puts a lot of responsibility on your full backs/wing backs to cover huge areas of the field though.

[elatedscum]

I’d play a 4-3-3 - I know why we moved to a 5-3-2 / 5-2-3 but I think it really hinders domination and control of the game. And we play more players out of position in it than the other way round.

I fully believe Doc can play at right back, and i also think Manning can come play at left back. He played a season at Swansea as a LCB.

Bazunu in goal

Doc on the right. (Backup Coleman)

Collins and one of Egan, Duffy, Omobamidele, O’Shea at centre back

Manning or O’Shea on the left

Cullen and Molumby deep, with Smallbone a little more advanced.

Ogbene on the right wing

Connolly or Johnston on the left

Ferguson up top.

[seanfhear]

Ferguson and a rejuvenated Connolly could make an interesting front two, if Connolly can stay fit and living as a professional footballer should.

[Eirambler]

We don't have the out and out fullbacks to play a straight back four right now against anyone decent. Well, we have one, but he's 34. Doherty and Manning just can't do it, it's not their game, they are wing backs. The alternatives are worse again.

[JR89]

Do a Man City and put four CBs across the defence. First and foremost you want your defenders to be able to defend. Apart from Coleman I wouldn't be highlighting the defensive capabilities of O'Dowda, Manning, Doherty, or Brady as positives. Three of them are wingers and Doherty is a FB that's only looked good when playing WB.

Don't see us getting second but it's still mathematically there till we at least play the Greeks. Think a lose to the Dutch and it's still not mathematically gone unless we fail to get three points at home to Greece. Don't see us getting a play off either as some teams below us in the NL are performing well in their groups.

So that will likely leave us with two friendlies in March and at least two in the summer. Whomever the manager is should roll the dice and use the friendlies next year to cap the young LBs in the U21s. U21s only have San Marino in March and no qualifiers in June. Won't get a more perfect time to try it out with the NL now bringing in promotion and relegation playoffs for all the leagues.

[MylesNotMiley]

I always wondered if Manning could play left of a midfield 3 - similar to the Brady role at Euro16?

[elatedscum]

That was where he played with the 21s along with Cullen and Rice. Looked both good and bad in that role. Probably a reason he’s found his home at LB/LWB/LCB - although I think he lacks pace at LWB to really be an outstanding option there

[nigel-harps1954]

Manning was very much an attacking winger in the LOI before going over to England.

[Razors left peg]

Manning and Ebosele were both very poor defensively this past weekend

[Fixer82]

I always wondered if Manning could play left of a midfield 3 - similar to the Brady role at Euro16?

Wasn't Brady just a straight LB at Euro 2016?

[MylesNotMiley]

Wasn't Brady just a straight LB at Euro 2016?


Only in the opener against Sweden. Ward played the next 3 games at LB.

[tommy_c12000]

Actually I didn’t think Ebosele was that bad defensively, has certainly improved his tracking back and tackling since Italian move. I’d have no qualms playing him.

To me, Manning is like a poor man’s Ian Harte. Nice going forward, delivers some good balls, and contributes with some goals. Awful defender. He was bad at the weekend against
Plymouth, God only knows how he will do at international level. I don’t get the clamor for his inclusion internationally, he’s not for me anyways.

[Razors left peg]

Agree on Manning 100%

[JR89]

Playing with WBs there's some leeway when it comes to the defensive side. They've got extra protection around them. He's also got something which we lack and that's someone with a decent delivery of the ball whether from open play or set pieces.

Himself and O'Dowda are poor defensively but his positives definitely outweighs O'Dowda's positives given our best chances of scoring is getting good deliveries into the box.

[pineapple stu]

To me, Manning is like a poor man’s Ian Harte. Nice going forward, delivers some good balls, and contributes with some goals. Awful defender. He was bad at the weekend against
Plymouth, God only knows how he will do at international level. I don’t get the clamor for his inclusion internationally, he’s not for me anyways.
The clamour, such as it is, around Manning is down to our dwindling options elsewhere.

Coleman is injured and probably starting into his last season as a Premier League player (given Everton's trajectory, if nothing else). McClean is injured and while I wouldn't rule out Kenny sticking with him until the end of the campaign, we've never capped someone in the fourth tier, and for good reason. Brady is injured I think; hasn't made the bench for Preston yet this season. Stevens is back starting in the Championship after an injury-hit spell but he's 33 and I think past his best.

Doherty has played all of 16 minutes since mid Jan but may be the only one of the old guard we have available for Sept. Browne and O'Dowda seem to be the succession plan to that lot, but I don't really buy it. They're being shoe-horned into the position.

So it entirely makes sense to consider a player on the Championship Team of the Season. We're desperate for options here. Others - Ebosele (also poor at the weekend it seems), McNamara, Lyons (but he's dropped a division) - who else?