Joe Bennett

[JUAN PABLO]

I believe Joe Bennett has got it, I always have, AND with the correct guidance, I believe he can be a top player.

weird thing is , my Boro mates said we had a great signing and he was one of their best players.

[oswald funkletrumpet]

I believe Joe Bennett has got it, I always have, AND with the correct guidance, I believe he can be a top player.

this time next year rodney

[nigel]

Always thought he had the ability.
Yes, he did struggle in the PL, but, I felt he was hung out to dry many a time by other team members.
His last few games at the end of a season, a couple of years back I think, showed what he is capable of.
He and Matt Lowton were wonderful going forward and could certainly cross the ball. They would have worked really well in a 3-5-2 (ish) formation with them being wing backs rather than full backs.

[Leicester_Villian]

I think that Bennett with Amavi further forward would be excellent on the left side ...Bennett has ability and with help down the left side defending would be fine - we would then be a massive threat on the left and the quality of ball in from both with offer the strikers a real chance

[Chinchilla Bathhouse]

It’s a damning indictment of our recent management that four years after he signed we’re still debating whether or not Joe Bennett could make the grade at this club.  He and others (not just members of the “young and hungry” experiment) have been dreadfully let down by the assortment of buffoons who should have been overseeing their development.

The young and hungry approach in itself is not a bad idea.  In essence spotting and nurturing talent is fundamental to all sport; buying potential and working hard to realise it is a perfectly viable way for a club to achieve success without spending trillions on the finished article.  The thing is that strategy’s only going to work if you have the coaching set-up to implement it; that’s people with proven experience at turning rough diamonds into something shiny and useful, as opposed to a bewildered chancer and his heavies.

We did the first bit quite well, we were undeniably skilled at buying on the cheap, but when our bargains arrived Lambert didn’t have the first idea of how to turn them into Premier League footballers.  He did half a job, the easy half, and then made a complete pig’s ear of the most crucial bit.  The less said about his successor the better, although I wouldn’t like to miss the opportunity to call him a vacuous loathsome gobshite.

And as I said, it’s not only the young and hungry players who’ve suffered.  As well as discussing Bennett we’re debating Clark, Gardner, Westwood, Baker, all players who have been here years now and have at some point - however briefly - shown fleeting glimpses that they may not be Frank Spencer after all.  That we still cannot be sure of their capabilities shows what a miserable waste of four years this has been for everyone.  I desperately want Di Matteo to bring out the best in these players, not just to help us win promotion but to highlight what a colossal berk Paul Lambert is.

[PeterWithesShin]

You only have to look at Bertrand to see how badly players have been coached here.

[placeforparks]

You only have to look at Bertrand to see how badly players have been coached here.

i caught up with a burnley mate on friday, said matt lowton was brilliant for them.

he also reckons sean dyche could get the best out of ashley westwood on a consistent basis.

as an aside, i remember a left wing back at spurs who was great going forward but was absolutely crucified in his first couple of seasons and written off... gareth someone?

[Rudy65]

You only have to look at Bertrand to see how badly players have been coached here.

i caught up with a burnley mate on friday, said matt lowton was brilliant for them.

he also reckons sean dyche could get the best out of ashley westwood on a consistent basis.

as an aside, i remember a left wing back at spurs who was great going forward but was absolutely crucified in his first couple of seasons and written off... gareth someone?

TSM Nearly signed Bale on loan when at SHA

[PeterWithesShin]

Wasn't it just paper talk that they were interested in signing Bale for a few million as they spent all that Yeung money, and it was never more than that, rather than they nearly signed him?

[Dante Lavelli]

You only have to look at Bertrand to see how badly players have been coached here.

i caught up with a burnley mate on friday, said matt lowton was brilliant for them.

he also reckons sean dyche could get the best out of ashley westwood on a consistent basis.

as an aside, i remember a left wing back at spurs who was great going forward but was absolutely crucified in his first couple of seasons and written off... gareth someone?

I agree.  Whilst you cannot polish a turd I think our approach to coaching has been woeful.  The buy young and develop approach is not a bad policy for a club that cannot afford to buy the finished product but to adopt that strategy and have poor coaches, sometimes not even enough of them, is bonkers.

[Toronto Villa]

Wasn't it just paper talk that they were interested in signing Bale for a few million as they spent all that Yeung money, and it was never more than that, rather than they nearly signed him?

Correct, but it's still astonishing what we know now that just a few years ago he was being linked at that level. An almos certain dead end to a career. Shows that things can change with the right opportunity, application, motivation and coaching. It's a million miles from where Bennett is or might be but he is still young enough to make something of his career.

[four fornicholl]

Probably going against the grain here, but a manu fan, who is a very good and respected friend of mine, commented a few years back after we played them,that he thought Lowton and Bennett were, in his opinion, very good players.

[PeterWithesShin]

An Albion mate of mine couldn't stop raving about Lowton after the 6-1 Sunderland game.

[Toronto Villa]

The control, run and set up for Weimann's goal will still be my favourite goal from that night and one of the best of that season. Of course that's only if he hadn't done what he did at Stoke a couple of weeks prior.

[SoccerHQ]

Lowton was too slow for this level really particularly when wingers got past him like Young for that Falcao though.

Always thought he had a football brain though, you could see he was decent in possession and had a good cross on him, just needed to work on his positioning.

Don't see that at all in Bennett, his one on one defending is a complete car crash.