Jamesino_LCFC Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Hi everyone, As we drive through a series of traffic lights in Leicester destination - The Walker's, we hear on Radio Leicester in the build up to the game that Kelly has made 4 changes. The changes spark our enthusiasm and we listen intently. The changes were; 1. Josh Low in for Alan Maybury 2. Darren Kenton in for Richard Stearman 3. Stephen Hughes in for Gareth Williams 4. Elvis Hammond in for Iain Hume. After much deliberating and chatting about the changes (which we were in favour of) we spoke about how Hammond will almost be 'on drugs' and will work very hard to gain and consolidate a starting place in the team. Our predictions were right and he worked his socks off in trying to win the ball and, as I pointed out during the game, he caused lots of truoble for the Ipswich defence. However one of the things my dad pointed out was sometimes his ball control is awful and he seems to have no control over the ball in most situations. In the Kop, you can hear some laughs and sniggers as he relentlessly tries to gain control of the ball. My dad also said on the way back from the game about how someone would see him as a footballer and how he 'made it', and that he may have been a runner or something similar. I felt sorry for the chap and I think Kelly made the right decision when bringing him off for Iain Hume as he was so knackered from working so hard for the team, a sight I, and I presume many others, love to see. Elvis gaining a more or less standing ovation from The Kop as he went off. So, what I thought is, what are your views on him? Does he deserve a starting place? Would you question his career in being a footballer? Thanks again everyone, and discuss. James. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maybes Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Fair point but i believe hume is a much better player as he showed his class when finishing ipswich off at the end. Now if that would have been hammond he may have stumbled over the ball. However you cant knock his commitment and effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shen Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 So, what I thought is, what are your views on him? Does he deserve a starting place? Would you question his career in being a footballer? Thanks again everyone, and discuss. James. Hume and Fryatt are miles and miles better, so to answer your question, no, he does not deserve a starting place. However, his inclusion in the first XI seemed to rejuvenate Hume when he came on. Hammond is useful backup really. It's quite easy to draw comparisons between him and Big Trev. He'll never play above this level again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcfc_jme Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 I don't understand how a footballer can become professional when they have as little control over the ball as Elvis has... He is good at chasing the ball down, getting round the back of the defence and putting people under pressure, but he hasn't got much else really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newms Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Hume is a great alternative on the bench though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesino_LCFC Posted 13 August 2006 Author Share Posted 13 August 2006 I don't understand how a footballer can become professional when they have as little control over the ball as Elvis has... He is good at chasing the ball down, getting round the back of the defence and putting people under pressure, but he hasn't got much else really Yer well that was the point raised by my dad. I think he is good for that competition between the strikers we have and I think Shen hit the nail on the head when saying that it rejuvinated Hume who taken his goal very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thracian Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Hume and Fryatt might be better footballers but Hammond's speed disturbs defenders. He might be trying too hard - which stops him being relaxed enough to make a good first touch - but he'll also be a bit match rusty. Anyway. He certainly helped give our attack some urgency. I wouldn't want to draw more hard and fast conclusions than that but before anyone dismisses what he did we scored three more goals than with our other starting line-ups, four if you count a perfectly good Fryatt header that was wrongly ruled out and six or seven if we'd converted our other decent chances. Our previous starting line-ups probably wouldn't have scored four goals in a month. So would I start the same again? It would be hard to argue against Kelly doing just that but if there are ways to make us even more dangerous I'd take em. I just wouldn't want to underestimate the value of raw pace but would, rather, being trying to isolate Hammond more often and give him chances to use it. In some ways he needs to imagine he's playing friendlies. It might help him relax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Fair point but i believe hume is a much better player as he showed his class when finishing ipswich off at the end. Now if that would have been hammond he may have stumbled over the ball. However you cant knock his commitment and effort. Didn't we use to say that about Trevor Benjamin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcfc_jme Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 In some ways he needs to imagine he's playing friendlies. It might help him relax. I don't know why he can't relax though. He knows RK isn't the sort of manager to go dropping players after 1 game, especially if the player puts in the effort.. So knowing he has the support of the gaffer should be all he needs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daggers Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 He might be trying too hard - which stops him being relaxed enough to make a good first touch - but he'll also be a bit match rusty. OMG! Again, we agree. I can only assume that one of us has started a new course of tablets. I think that this is one of those situations that have occurred as a result of 'booing'. You can see the poor lad has a fear of failure which is limiting his game at present. As the team continues to not lose I think the edge he feels will die down and allow him to express himself more naturally, to flow more smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thracian Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 COG has soon been dropped after five goals and three assists pre-season so he wouldn't necessarily think RK is quite like that and I can well imagine him not having a clue what he's done to deserve it. However, maybe RK's trying desperately to keep all his squad involved and active which cannot be easy with the lack of reserve matches and considering there is now an increasing number of first team contenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicfox Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Hammond is slated in the NOTW today, says to everyones frustration even his own team mates all Elvis did was run about like a head-less chicken with a shocking 1st touch on even the most straight forward of passes ??? Anyone who went agree ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcfc_jme Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Hammond is slated in the NOTW today, says to everyones frustration even his own team mates all Elvis did was run about like a head-less chicken with a shocking 1st touch on even the most straight forward of passes ??? Anyone who went agree ?? He did run around a lot, but he never gave up chasing the ball and putting pressure on the ipswich defence. True his first touch is shocking, and it may not be up to the standard required in this league, but he gives us pace, which is something that Hume and Fryatt don't have much of. It'll come together though with a little encouragement from the players, manager and fans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesino_LCFC Posted 13 August 2006 Author Share Posted 13 August 2006 Hammond is slated in the NOTW today, says to everyones frustration even his own team mates all Elvis did was run about like a head-less chicken with a shocking 1st touch on even the most straight forward of passes ??? Anyone who went agree ?? Yer I read that too, wouldnt agree to that though. Everyone else got a 6/7/8 and 9 for Hughesy as they named him man of the match and gave the 8 to Kisnorbo. I would completely agree with everything they said however I wouldnt agree with the slating that Hammond got, seems like they want someone to slate and someone to praise, I'm not sure what they're told Hendo got the save of the match and Hughesy also got the shot of the match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcfc_jme Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 9 for Hughesy as they named him man of the match and gave the 8 to Kisnorbo. I'd have given MOTM to Kisnorbo. He was solid and sure at the back and dealt with everything well. Hughes had a good game but he just got caught wanting too much time on the ball on a few occasions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thracian Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 I'd agree. Kisnorbo was back to his "die-for-the-cause" best and that was typicfied first half when he simply launched himself near-post to block off a close range Ipswich shot which actually evaded him and went safely into Henderson's arms. His marking and covering were virtually faultless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcfc_jme Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 I'd agree. Kisnorbo was back to his "die-for-the-cause" best. His marking and covering were virtually faultless. Seeing as you agree with me about that, would you agree that the next steps are maintaining the attacking football, and dropping Nils, switching Kenton to left back and playing Stearman back on the right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finn Claw Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 We should never have boght Hammond, we had him on a season long loan and should have done just that. WHy we paid £300K for i'll never know. His pace is useful in the last 20 minutes of a game though. I'd sell him if we got a decent offer for him. And Deep Freeze. We could offer a buy one get one free sort of deal. The 4 strikers i'd stick with are Hume, Fryatt, O'grady and Dodds. Sounds harsh but I think that is the best way forward. I've also seen Hammond and Johannson strutting around Fat Cats giving it the bigun, I was tempted to tell them that Wayne Rooney can get away with acting like a star but two medicore players should really know beter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brendan Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Why change a winning formula? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ithuriel Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 kisnorbo did well for us , kind of glad we didnt sell him like some were hoping leading upto the start of the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thracian Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Seeing as you agree with me about that, would you agree that the next steps are maintaining the attacking football, and dropping Nils, switching Kenton to left back and playing Stearman back on the right I'd certainly agree about maintaining the attacking football. My problem with everyone who has played left-back is that we seem to have so little when we've got the ball. Either the passing is bad or the supporting of attacks is bad, or both. Sheehan is excellent at both (plus free-kicks) but doesn't seem to defend as soundly as the other two and, presumably, that is being worked on and the quicker the better. Potentially he is the best option for all the jobs required of a left back but he has to have the single mindedness of Chris O'Grady in his determination to improve. Stearman seems to have lost his efforvescence for whatever reasons and is clearly in competition with Kenton and perhaps Maybury for the shirt . If for no other reason than the sake of our finances at some time, I hope Stearman faces the challenge and wins it. But I cannot and will not complain about Kelly dropping him. I've called for team selection to be "without fear or favour" and I've asked that RK pick the best possible (balanced) team for each game. Opinions will vary but I'll stick by the principles. Stearman seemed to lose his lose his focus and allowed his standards to slip. He could now be out for a while if his replacement does okay and the team keeps winning. I hope it will be a bloody good lesson for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maybes Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 He did run around a lot, but he never gave up chasing the ball and putting pressure on the ipswich defence. True his first touch is shocking, and it may not be up to the standard required in this league, but he gives us pace, which is something that Hume and Fryatt don't have much of. It'll come together though with a little encouragement from the players, manager and fans Hume has pace doesnt he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newms Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Hume has pace doesnt he? he has pace but i'd say Hammond has got to be one of the fastest players without the ball in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wils Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 he has pace but i'd say Hammond has got to be one of the fastest players without the ball in the league. Id say it was Gerry Taggart. Surely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted 13 August 2006 Share Posted 13 August 2006 Elvis has clearly decieved a few fans yesterday, he worked hard in periods but to what avail? Any run he made was ruined when he had to control/pass/shoot. Other periods of the game he ball watched. I don't rate him, if I played yesterday I would of worked hard like Elvis but just like Elvis I'd of added nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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