May be a coincidence but when he came on it changed the game, we looked a lot better. Trouble is it's difficult to leave Leon out, he didn't have the best of games yesterday but overall he's been one of the best players this season.
Leon is too easily over run in midfield. Hassell is a good stop gap, but it is not his position and he should only be used there sparingly
Lets not get carried away! He had a good ten mins. If he had started he wud have f'd it up like always. Not a midfielder, don't forget it. Nxt two weeks should be used to sort the colace situ out.
A lot depends on the circumstances Yesterday we looked like Derby would overrun us in midfield in the second half. Leon was not having a good game. Against Coventry he was outstanding, but yesterday it wasn't working so SD made the correct decision and took him off. Hassell when he came on made the difference. He gave us that bit of bite in midfield and allowed Brian Howard to go forward a bit more. One thing I think people should realise, is that Hassell has been asked to be play a midfield role. As a true professional, he has agreed to try it, and I applaud him for that. He has played right back, left back, centre back, and midfield for this club, and although he maybe hasn't shone in all of these roles, he has tried his damnedest whenever he has pulled on the shirt. KO when he came on was just what we needed. If we are to pump high balls into the box we need someone big enough to cause problems. Hume isn't that sort of player. Jon Macken, who I thought battled away all game, is not the biggest of players, but he tried his best, and caused some problems. KO was fresh and ran his socks off, causing problems for a tiring Derby. All in all a "dirty" win, but in our circumstances, I'll take that.
Bobby has already gone on record as saying he prefers to play in defence He recently stated that he plays in midfield because the manager asked him to do so (in order to help out the team). I think that says a lot about the guy that he is prepared to do that, because there is a real chance that (as a result) he could lose his place in the team when everyone is fit.
and I have the Barnsley Football Weekly where Bobby says he was a midfielder until he was 16 and scored 30 - 40 goals a season. love to see hm doing that!