[Archived] Benni Mccarthy's New Contract

[philipl]

When folks read problems into Bentley's new contract, it is worth remembering that Benni's new contract was reported as a done deal quite some time ago yet it is only being signed today.

[joey_big_nose]

If we play 3 upfront against united then they will murder us

Haha just saw this!

Awesome. ALthough to be fair I never thought we would go 3 up front either.

[1864roverite]

Great News for Rovers, now lets hope Bents follows suit before the season ends.

[B.R.F.C]

Great news and can only be good to have a quality striker like Benni in the squad be he lazy or not.

If JR doesn't depart over the summer I think its a case of as you are up front for us next season.

[allrovertheworld]

Great news and can only be good to have a quality striker like Benni in the squad be he lazy or not.

If JR doesn't depart over the summer I think its a case of as you are up front for us next season.

I agree

Not sure if this has been mentioned on here but benni scores a goal every 2.4 games for rovers, that is impressive. I have never thought Benni was lazy just a different type of player. Not sure why folk slag him off. Benni clearly isn't a work horse and that is not what Hughes bought him for. If we wnat a bunch of grafters up front we can have Kuqi Dickov and Roberts. But we have moved on. As much as I like JR and Cruz for me Benni is still our best striker, get him back in form and he will start scoring again.

This extension shows that the club can retain its top players and ith benni committing we can only attract better players.

[S15]

Unsure what to make of this. Hughes obviously believes him and Santa Cruz can play together.

If this sorts McCarthys' head out somewhat it could pay off, however my gut instinct is that this isn't the best move. If it is merely to remove the £5m release clause I'm not sure the turnaround is worth it. £5m plus no wage increase and signing on fee is worth more than keeping him potentially IMO.

[Mozzer]

theres no doubting he has ability, and when on form along with bentley and santa cruz i believe he is one of our best players-but this season he hasnt looked interested, and ive been disappointed with him..

hopefully this new contract will get him to up his game..

[Alan75]

£40,000 per week, that means that Rovers have to sell over 5000 season tickets to pay his annual salary.

[S15]

Hughes not in market for striker this summer.

[Roversider]

It never ceases to amaze me when people criticise Rovers for making decisions on who to sign or retain. At what point will people begin to actually accept that Sparky does appear to know what he is doing! McCarthy had a blinding first season but by his own admission hasn't done so well this time out - but - he has accepted being on the bench and when he has come on in the short cameos he has been allowed looks okay to me.

It's really important that we carry four quality strikers on the books to cover for injuries or loss of form, they all have to be willing to sit out on the sidelines at times. Would we prefer some of the pouts and arm-flaps of Berbatov to McCarthy? Mark Hughes knows how to judge players and it will be nice to start next season without having to pull another striker rabbit out of the hat trick.

Anyway Benni signing is hopefully a signpost for the other players because I'm sure he could get another club fairly quickly if he wanted to put out the 'come and get me' notice.

Good signing, hope there is more to come.

[thenodrog]

I've said before that the 4 of em offer Hughes plenty of attacking options as none of em are at all similar and all have different strengths and weaknesses. Their individual strengths though really are exceptional.... and especially when their combined costs are taken into account! Whatever their estimated individual worth today (RSC excluded) we would never replace them for the same outlay.

RSC is a fantastic target man, Roberts pace and power is fearsome, Derbyshire although probably the weakest is a real goalpoacher and Benny's skill and invention is mesmerising at times. Thing is that this season RSC has been a revelation and has rightly taken Benny's place up top leaving Benny struggling to adapt to playing the unfamiliar deeper role.

The above 'options' though were displayed last match when RSC was played wide right to 'weigh on' the diminutive Evra and was an absolute revelation! Roberts was then left to outmuscle Vidic and Rio and the tactic looked brilliant. So whose to say that the same formation with RSC out wide might not also work just as well in certain games and against different opposition with Benny up top in JR's place? We all realise (aka Frank Bruno) with JR that carting muscle about is tiring and he struggles to keep up the tempo over 90 mins so who better to share the cf duty with than a player of Benny's class?

This new contract is not the gamble that signing a new player would be, we know all about BM's sublime talents and goal taking ability, the trick is simply to shuffle the pack to get the best out of all. Last week suggested that Hughes might just have done that. The real glaring weakness that simply must be addressed as priority and has this season been our missing link / Achilles heel is central midfield. Hughes has all summer to address that. Vogel / Huddlestone / a n other we'll just have to wait and see.

[Roversider]

The real glaring weakness that simply must be addressed as priority and has this season been our missing link / Achilles heel is central midfield. Hughes has all summer to address that. Vogel / Huddlestone / a n other we'll just have to wait and see.

Totally agree on the central midfield need, I really like Huddlestone for potential and given Ramos' inability to speak to him (unless Tom has learnt Spanish ) plus the addition of Modric maybe Spurs will let him go. Not certain that we want to retain Berner so another left sided midfield/defender might be a good idea.

What is clear is that we might need to make a big signing this close season rather than several cheapies, given the squad we have I don't think a reduced intake will be a problem.

[joey_big_nose]

Hughes not in market for striker this summer.

I guess thats true if we don't sell anyone but I think one out of Roberts and Bentley will go at least so we probably will need a striker.

However if we do keep them all and are not looking for another striker then I hope we buy a seriously quick left winger. We cannot go into next season with the same lack of pace.

As for MCarthy it is utterly pointless us keeping him unless we can figure out how to get the best out of him. Partly due to his effort but also due to the team dynamic he just never looks threatening with the ball this season. I think this new formation we are using could help get him in the areas he needs to be and certianly if we can inject pace anywhere on the pitch it will give him more chance to find space in and around the box.

We shall see.

[krislu]

Hughes obviously believes him and Santa Cruz can play together.

Which they can't! Another example of us just stacking up decent player and not looking at how they complement each other.

[rover6]

The contract must be quite lucrative to persuade McCarthy to hang around on our bench with his dreams of finishing his career as a Champs League player dwindling rapidly.

Let's face it, he's a self-centred so and so, who has a surfeit of self-belief. He will not be happy sitting on the bench. So for him to sign a new contract must mean either his attitude has changed and he no longer considers himself as superstar deserving of bigger things OR the contract was so lucrative and pragmatic (release clause?) that he couldn't turn it down.

Hopefully, we can see him motivated and enthusiastic again and scoring goals.

[Ozz]

Benni Admits "He Was ALWAYS talking to Mourinho"

Bloody Hell-he WAS messing us about all season after all!

[Atomicrover]

Benni Admits "He Was ALWAYS talking to Mourinho"

Bloody Hell-he WAS messing us about all season after all!

Seems so Hmm. Still, must have been low-key, or perceived by Benni to be more than it really was, otherwise the Club/Hughesy would have been filing "touch-up" charges before now I would have thought. Perhaps that's the reason for the bench-warming period. Takes a brave man to admit it knowing he has to face the fans again - let's hope he's reconciled and discovers his form

[Iceman]

So i reckon if benni has a good season again,then all it takes to distract him is to have a big team tapping him up.if thats his excuse for loss of form then,its very unprofessional of him.

[LeftWinger]

Benni Praised Roque and Robbo

[thenodrog]

Which they can't! Another example of us just stacking up decent player and not looking at how they complement each other.

Dunno about that krislu. The new formation with RSC wider on the right and Bentley in support might provea masterstroke by Hughes etc and lead to Benni thriving by being back in his chosen position. It certainly seems to suit Jason Roberts thats for sure.

[joey_big_nose]

Well I would say that there is room for McCarthy in the new formation but it would be in the withdrawn three rather than the one up top. Roberts excels there because he can hassle the defenders and always threaten with his pace in behind them. In physical terms he is terrifying to any defenders. McCarthy on his own up front would be easy street for centrebacks. They could push up to the half way line because there is absolutely no way McCarthy could get behind them with pace, win anything in the air or out muscle them.

If he was going to fit in it would be somewhere where his guile and intelligence with the ball could be used, and he would be able to find some space- like this imo:

------------------Roberts

Pedersen---McCarthy----Cruz

------------Vogel------Emerton

Roberts would do the bullying for him, Cruz and pedersen would worry the full backs leaving McCarthy room in front of the opposition defence to cause problems and then arrive in the box. The eagle eyed would spot there is no Bentley there which is on purpose really. Realistically McCarthy is going to need injuries or suspensions to get into the first team no matter which formation we play.

[Mr. E]

Benni Admits "He Was ALWAYS talking to Mourinho"

Bloody Hell-he WAS messing us about all season after all!

Thanks for admitting that Benni, now don't let the door hit you on the way out. I've always defended him, but enough is enough. Playing for Rovers is a privilege, it is not "just another step". If he doesn't appreciate that and is just there for himself then we don't need him.

[S15]

Just to play Devils' Advocate if we ever signed a player who saw Rovers as the highest point they could reach I'd be disappointed.

[thenodrog]

Just to play Devils' Advocate if we ever signed a player who saw Rovers as the highest point they could reach I'd be disappointed.

Very true shillitoe.

[Mr. E]

Just to play Devils' Advocate if we ever signed a player who saw Rovers as the highest point they could reach I'd be disappointed.

Personally I'd rather see us play in the Championship but with players who play for Rovers, not tourists in a temporary blue and white shirt.