Elliott Bennett

[roversfan99]

Couldnt see a topic specifically on this, but surely the time has come now to move on Bennett. 

I think Mowbrays reasoning for selecting Bennett over Nyambe, that the latter has lacked confidence is a joke. That isnt going to help!

Mowbray also said that "Bennett brings some character and personality to our team and takes the game-plan on to the pitch." Absolute rubbish. The game plan wasnt evident and certainly didnt work. Its such a feeble reason to select his favourite player.

I have a stat which I saw on Lancs Live which sums up how much of a liability Bennett is and why he needs not only to be dropped but moved on as soon as is possible:

Bennett has captained 26 games this season, we have lost 13. Lenihan has captained us 14 times, we have lost once.

I dont think its because Lenihan was wearing the armband. It is because how much of a weakness Bennett becomes when he plays. 

Does anyone think he should stay even as a squad player anymore? He is as much of a liability as Mulgrew is.

Further reason why its time for a change of manager too.

[Amo]

Jason Lowe Mk II. Manager's pet. Son-in-law material. He's certainly not being kept for footballing reasons.

There must be a lad in the U23s who can do the same job for half the wage.

[Bigdoggsteel]

His contribution to the team is minimal, if not negative. He is selected based off Muddled Mowbrays perception of him. A perception which I think is incorrect. 

Edited July 15, 2020 by Bigdoggsteel

[tomphil]

Mowbrays digging out Nyambe similar to he did with Raya there's a scapegoat ready made there and it'll only end the same way.

Bennett will be a shoe in when it does.  If he's so good to have around get him on the coaching staff instead, player coach not captain.  Could probably still be the club captain if that was the case but the team captain should be in other hands.

[K-Hod]

He’s been a reasonable enough servant, but our best eleven doesn’t contain him. Now is the time to get rid. 
Do I think Mowbray will do so? Absolutely not.

[Dreams of 1995]

Elliott Bennett is a liability and has been for yonks. His briefest glimpses of form came in midfield, in a league where the more you run and throw yourself around the more chance you have of winning. Akinfenwa just got promoted from that league by essentially lifting weight and being hard to mark - he'll be laughed out of the Championship.

We need a change in captain because you are meant to be able to look at him for a bit of inspiration. Half the time Bennett is on the floor. I don't have any time for him left as a football player- if his influence is so great then bring him on as a development coach on the fitness side or something, because his influence on the pitch is worrying.

[roversfan99]

The reason that Bennett became this "versatile" and "trusty" teachers pet was because 2 and a half years ago, in a lower league, when playing in his natural position out wide, he was not scoring at all and he was rarely assisting. He was not standing out even at a lower level and wasnt contributing anywhere near enough from an attacking sense, something even at the time I remember arguing.

Because he wasnt that important in his natural position, he was expendable enough to move around if need be. His performance with Smallwood v Shrewsbury is his Emerton v Wolves moment. It was full of energy and I think it fooled people into thinking he was a capable central midfielder going forward, but he doesnt have the intelligence or the technical ability to do that role either, energy and work rate is not enough. Thus, he then was moved to right back to over Nyambe near the end of the season, around the time of promotion, everyone was happy, the fist pump was born, and his inadequacies in that position were covered up.

As a full back, central midfielder or winger, he is not good enough.

[DE.]

Switching Bennett to right back has been one of Mowbray's worst decisions and left us exposed countless times over the past few years. At best Bennett is a midfield harrier to come on for the last 10-15 minutes of a game to inject some energy and disrupt play. That's it. I doubt he's on a wage reflecting that kind of squad status though so he really does need to move on. 

[Miller11]

I liked Elliott Bennett, the busy midfielder with the occasional 30 yard screamer in his locker a lot better than Elliott Bennett, the incompetent full back with the frequent rousing fist pump in his locker. Maybe he could still do a job on occasion in a midfield role, not sure.
 

I’ve seen him described on more than one occasion as a club legend, which is an unfunny joke. K-Hod has summed him up perfectly - a reasonable enough servant. Worth mentioning his tenure has coincided with one of the worst ever periods in the clubs history. Can’t fault his effort, but he’s just become the new Jason Lowe.

The horrible reality is I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see us start with a back four of Bennett, Lenihan, Williams and Bell in the first game of next season.

[Bigdoggsteel]

Long, long time since he has scored a 30 year screamer. 

[Rogerb]

Been with us for four and a half years now. Wrong side of thirty. Performance in decline at a normal club would feature less and less. Not the ingredients to be captain. With twelve months left on contract. You just know good only Tony will give him a new deal

[roversfan99]

7 minutes ago, DE. said:

Switching Bennett to right back has been one of Mowbray's worst decisions and left us exposed countless times over the past few years. At best Bennett is a midfield harrier to come on for the last 10-15 minutes of a game to inject some energy and disrupt play. That's it. I doubt he's on a wage reflecting that kind of squad status though so he really does need to move on. 

 

6 minutes ago, Miller11 said:

I liked Elliott Bennett, the busy midfielder with the occasional 30 yard screamer in his locker a lot better than Elliott Bennett, the incompetent full back with the frequent rousing fist pump in his locker. Maybe he could still do a job on occasion in a midfield role, not sure.
 

I’ve seen him described on more than one occasion as a club legend, which is an unfunny joke. K-Hod has summed him up perfectly - a reasonable enough servant. Worth mentioning his tenure has coincided with one of the worst ever periods in the clubs history. Can’t fault his effort, but he’s just become the new Jason Lowe.

The horrible reality is I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see us start with a back four of Bennett, Lenihan, Williams and Bell in the first game of next season.

The thing is, his energy especially in cameos is often counter productive. I have never seen a player give away so many free kicks in dangerous positions.

Even as a midfielder, he doesnt score enough or assist enough as a winger, even when in League 1. That was the start of the rebirth of this supposedly versatile favourite son. I dont know if maybe a serious knee injury when at Norwich has removed him of his main asset but he is not a competent winger at this level. And he is nowhere near competent enough to play in central midfield. That one game v Shrewsbury is not indicative of what he can do there, indeed his last performance there I think was at Villa against an admittedly impressive McGinn but I cant recall a player looking so far out of his depth since I saw Edinho playing up front for us!

[DE.]

Just now, roversfan99 said:

The thing is, his energy especially in cameos is often counter productive. I have never seen a player give away so many free kicks in dangerous positions.

Even as a midfielder, he doesnt score enough or assist enough as a winger, even when in League 1. That was the start of the rebirth of this supposedly versatile favourite son. I dont know if maybe a serious knee injury when at Norwich has removed him of his main asset but he is not a competent winger at this level. And he is nowhere near competent enough to play in central midfield. That one game v Shrewsbury is not indicative of what he can do there, indeed his last performance there I think was at Villa against an admittedly impressive McGinn but I cant recall a player looking so far out of his depth since I saw Edinho playing up front for us!

Even if Bennett was a capable impact sub for a game's final stages, do we want players in the squad who are only useful in small bursts and can't be relied upon to play a full match without disadvantaging the team? Probably not. Bennett's versatility is, from my perspective, a myth. He has been played in numerous positions but how many of them does he look decent in? Any player could be deemed "versatile" if they were played all over the pitch regardless of performance.

[roversfan99]

Just now, DE. said:

Even if Bennett was a capable impact sub for a game's final stages, do we want players in the squad who are only useful in small bursts and can't be relied upon to play a full match without disadvantaging the team? Probably not. Bennett's versatility is, from my perspective, a myth. He has been played in numerous positions but how many of them does he look decent in? Any player could be deemed "versatile" if they were played all over the pitch regardless of performance.

A player who is versatile is by definition almost equally competent in various roles. Bennett does come into that category if you add the letters "in."

[DE.]

EB on Twitter:

 

 

 

 

[unleaded]

What does the future hold for BRFC when the manager drops an exciting young right back for a has been ... to cap it off makes him the captain... says a lot of the manager that he’s out of touch ....

Hes not learning and keeps making the same mistakes ... TM out and take EB with you ... 

[Guest]

Sometimes I feel for our worse players. Elliott Bennett doesn't pick himself, Tony Mowbray does. If the manager tells me I'm at right-back tonight, that's where I'm playing and I'll do it to the best of my average ability. For people to berate a clearly average football for simply not being a promotion worthy footballer is baffling to me. It's not as if anyone was under the illusion EB was this amazingly quality footballer - so why do people find it appropriate to blame him for his constant inclusion in the team?

The buck with the team stops with the manager.

[Leonard Venkhater]

Bennett is innocent! it is the manager, who routinely plays him out of position.

[chaddyrovers]

Lenihan should be captain now going forward

[roversfan99]

2 hours ago, JoeH said:

Sometimes I feel for our worse players. Elliott Bennett doesn't pick himself, Tony Mowbray does. If the manager tells me I'm at right-back tonight, that's where I'm playing and I'll do it to the best of my average ability. For people to berate a clearly average football for simply not being a promotion worthy footballer is baffling to me. It's not as if anyone was under the illusion EB was this amazingly quality footballer - so why do people find it appropriate to blame him for his constant inclusion in the team?

The buck with the team stops with the manager.

The vast majority of people if not all are blaming Mowbray for it, so not sure what you mean by this?

You get the odd idiot giving him a bit of abuse on social media, but to be honest I dont really understand why footballers go on social media full stop, not that it excuses it, but putting the sort of tweets that he did will always provoke the idiots.

If a few people are going to tweet calling me a shit footballer, again not saying that it is acceptable, for thousands of pounds a week to play football, its hardly reason to get the tissues out.

49 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Lenihan should be captain now going forward

He wont. Bennett will be until he leaves the club, and if Mowbray stays, he has a year left plus will probably get a new deal. Do you still think Bennett should stay as a squad player? And if so, you would strip him of the captaincy but keep him?

[Ewood Ace]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

Lenihan should be captain now going forward

The captain next season should be someone who is not currently at the club. That is a big problem with our current squad, we lack leaders and are mentally weak. We need a captain with a no nonsense winning mentality. Someone who will inject a bit of fire and spirit into our lads, lift our heads when we concede a goal and bang a few heads together when needed.

[chaddyrovers]

 

[roversfan99]

The reason that people repeatedly pick him out as a weak link is that he is repeatedly a weak link. Hes not being scapegoated, he has a consistent negative impact on the team in terms of results when he plays.

The fact that he tries his best makes it unacceptable that a minority of idiots decides to send him tweets (very mild ones from what ive seen) but lets not pretend that hes an underappreciated but necessary member of the team because hes not good enough anymore. The majority of criticism is aimed at the manager for picking him.

[K-Hod]

That twitter thread is classic buck passing.

Bennett gets criticised regularly for regularly playing poorly and making mistakes. 
The same as Walton. 

[Ewood Ace]

If only Bennett was half as good at football as he is manipulating gullible fans to hang on his every word.