[Albion] Aaron Connolly - joining Hull permanently

[Springal]

Potter too. He scored those goals against Spurs and Graham had him in the starting 11 for weeks after that. Needed to keep him grounded and continued blooding him in.

See De Zerbi after Enciso’s goal at Chelsea. The first thing he did was say he wasn’t happy with him after the goal in his post match interview.

That’s the difference between a good manager and an elite one.

Bloom was a bit to invested in Aaron as well from what we’ve heard. Probably desperate for what would have been our first academy ‘success’ in a long time at that point

 

[BevBHA]

Bloom was a bit to invested in Aaron as well from what we’ve heard. Probably desperate for what would have been our first academy ‘success’ in a long time at that point

Definitely. It had a feel of the fruits of his labour paying for the training ground finally coming out.

Have to remember Connolly was scoring a goal or 2 a game in the PL2 for the u23’s. He then won PL2 player of the season. So there was already a lot of hype about him before he’d even played a first team game.

Then when he scored those two goals I think we all thought we’d really found a diamond and got carried away. Hence being managed badly.

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

Potter too. He scored those goals against Spurs and Graham had him in the starting 11 for weeks after that. Needed to keep him grounded and continued blooding him in.

See De Zerbi after Enciso’s goal at Chelsea. The first thing he did was say he wasn’t happy with him after the goal in his post match interview.

That’s the difference between a good manager and an elite one.

To be fair, my recollections of Connolly's performances in the period immediately after the Spurs match are that the main criticism was that he went down too easily in the penalty area.
I suspect De Zerbi might be less keen on dropping players after good performances if the alternative was to start with a 36year old Glenn Murray.

Which is not to say he wasn't handled badly.

 

[Gabbiano]

I don’t think Potter and Bloom can take the brunt of the blame for Connolly going off the rails. He is responsible for his partying, presence in minor celebrity gossip columns and failed loan spells.

Maybe there could have been more guidance from the club for a 19yo who is newly making a bucketload of money, but ultimately he makes his own choices. Evan hasn’t made the same ones.

I hope a few years on he’s got his head in the right place and can fulfil his potential, starting with Rosenior at Hull. I genuinely wish him the best of luck, a real case of what could have been.

 

[BevBHA]

To be fair, my recollections of Connolly's performances in the period immediately after the Spurs match are that the main criticism was that he went down too easily in the penalty area.
I suspect De Zerbi might be less keen on dropping players after good performances if the alternative was to start with a 36year old Glenn Murray.

Which is not to say he wasn't handled badly.

I know not entirely the same. But there are similarities with Ferguson and Welbeck right now. How often does Welbeck start when we are all expecting Ferguson? I think De Zerbi is managing this situation alot better than Potter did with Connolly/Murray.

 

[Springal]

I know not entirely the same. But there are similarities with Ferguson and Welbeck right now. How often does Welbeck start when we are all expecting Ferguson? I think De Zerbi is managing this situation alot better than Potter did with Connolly/Murray.

There is a huge difference to Murray then, and Welbeck now though

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

I know not entirely the same. But there are similarities with Ferguson and Welbeck right now. How often does Welbeck start when we are all expecting Ferguson? I think De Zerbi is managing this situation alot better than Potter did with Connolly/Murray.

Murray was, with the best will in the world, past it by then. Whereas Welbeck is a few years younger than Murray was at the time and consistently does a good job even if he doesn't score.
Obviously there were various other alternatives to Connolly that could have been tried, but with the squad as it was at the time it's not at all obvious they would have worked out any better.

To be clear, this should be read as me being happy with how the club's developed over the last few years so that we're in a position to handle upcoming players well, not as me trying to do De Zerbi down.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Bouncers at Shoosh breathe out a collective sigh of relief.

There's a fair bit of truth to a lot of the posts above, even though they seem to be disagreeing. No doubt at all that we needed a striker to replace Murray, and when we got a young one who had just been PL2 player of the season scoring twice against Spurs (and making his full Ireland debut), of course we were delighted and wanted to push him on.

That all of this went instantly to his head and he started giving it the Billy Big Bollocks around town isn't necessarily down to anyone but Aaron, but you would think that a guy who was hired, among other things, for his university level emotional intelligence, would have done a better job bringing him down to earth.

He'll do ok at Hull. I can't think of a better person than Liam to keep him grounded - and the clubs there are shit.

 

[BevBHA]

I don’t think Potter and Bloom can take the brunt of the blame for Connolly going off the rails. He is responsible for his partying, presence in minor celebrity gossip columns and failed loan spells.

Maybe there could have been more guidance from the club for a 19yo who is newly making a bucketload of money, but ultimately he makes his own choices. Evan hasn’t made the same ones.

I hope a few years on he’s got his head in the right place and can fulfil his potential, starting with Rosenior at Hull. I genuinely wish him the best of luck, a real case of what could have been.

After the Dele Alli interview I don’t like to make judgement as could be for any number of reasons he made the choices he did.

Hence I wish him all the best, it seems he’s a valued member of the squad at Hull, not just by the manager/fans but also by the other players. I think this is really important for him.

 

[herecomesaregular]

Glad his time with us has now ended and hope he does well at Hull.

 

[RandyWanger]

Good luck to him, bags of potential once he finds his level.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I don’t think Potter and Bloom can take the brunt of the blame for Connolly going off the rails. He is responsible for his partying, presence in minor celebrity gossip columns and failed loan spells.

Maybe there could have been more guidance from the club for a 19yo who is newly making a bucketload of money, but ultimately he makes his own choices. Evan hasn’t made the same ones.

I hope a few years on he’s got his head in the right place and can fulfil his potential, starting with Rosenior at Hull. I genuinely wish him the best of luck, a real case of what could have been.

wise words.

 

[chaileyjem]

I know not entirely the same. But there are similarities with Ferguson and Welbeck right now. How often does Welbeck start when we are all expecting Ferguson? I think De Zerbi is managing this situation alot better than Potter did with Connolly/Murray.

After his first start v Spurs - he only started 10 more games that season (where he played more than 45 mins). He had one minor injury but was often on the bench. Potter wasn’t blessed with as many fwd choices as RDZ but it’s a myth that Connolly’s game time wasn’t managed. In the lockdown season he was on the bench a few times but only made a handful of starts but by then there were other issues getting in the way. .

 

[Sid and the Sharknados]

That all of this went instantly to his head and he started giving it the Billy Big Bollocks around town isn't necessarily down to anyone but Aaron, but you would think that a guy who was hired, among other things, for his university level emotional intelligence, would have done a better job bringing him down to earth.

He'll do ok at Hull. I can't think of a better person than Liam to keep him grounded - and the clubs there are shit.

Lot's of good beer choices at The Lion and Key though.
The reference to Potter's Master's does make me think about how my degree was all about how structures and soil and design work, and then I graduated and found myself under a bridge at 2am trying to persuade a bunch of access contractors to do a better job assembling the scaffold tower before they sit down to watch porn on their phone.

 

[chaileyjem]

Bouncers at Shoosh breathe out a collective sigh of relief.

There's a fair bit of truth to a lot of the posts above, even though they seem to be disagreeing. No doubt at all that we needed a striker to replace Murray, and when we got a young one who had just been PL2 player of the season scoring twice against Spurs (and making his full Ireland debut), of course we were delighted and wanted to push him on.

That all of this went instantly to his head and he started giving it the Billy Big Bollocks around town isn't necessarily down to anyone but Aaron, but you would think that a guy who was hired, among other things, for his university level emotional intelligence, would have done a better job bringing him down to earth.

He'll do ok at Hull. I can't think of a better person than Liam to keep him grounded - and the clubs there are shit.

It looks like he’s through the other side - club have given him multiple loans to help him reset his career and now it looks he’s made an impression on Liam/Hull.
Not sure the digs at Potter have merit here. We don’t know what he did to try and support the lad behind the scenes but it can’t have been easy. He certainly didn’t “overplay” him. And tbf RDZ isn’t known for his patience is he ?

 

[The Fits]

I'm over him acting like a prat. Some young people do. Rosenier believes in him which is a great sign, really hope he can knuckle down and have a decent career. Good luck to him.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

I'm over him acting like a prat. Some young people do. Rosenier believes in him which is a great sign, really hope he can knuckle down and have a decent career. Good luck to him.

Yep pretty much forgotten by many Albion fans, been a long time since he has worn the stripes.

As you say, hope things work out for him on Humberside. Nice for him to be going to a club managed by someone who knows him well, and obviously rates him.

 

[Springal]

Signed

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Now confirmed by the club and Aaron has left a nice goodbye message on his Instagram.

 

[Peppermint Tea]

Good luck to the lad. I hope he grabs this opportunity with both hands…