Benners wasted at Swine-Town?

[Gulliball]

Agree entirely, what we really need, as a foil for Howe, who regularly finds the net and had some class and is as strong as a bull, is a 8 stone weakling who couldn't hit water stood on a boat and falls over entirely unaided...

Matt

You must be thinking of somebody else. The player I had in mind scored 13 in 22(1) appearances for us last season.

[Scott Brehaut]

A striker who scores goals?

Yes please!!

[cambgull]

He would be great to have back. Considering he kept being played as a lone striker, which he was never built to do, he did an incredible job. With Howe linking up with him, he'll be superb.

[ferrarilover]

He did very little before those few matches for us, and he's done absolutely nothing since. I don't have a particular downer on Benners, I just really don't think, with Howe, Billy, Tai, and McFree as back up, available, he is the quality of player we should be hoping for.

Mat t.

[tufcbrett]

I dont know about that Matt, he scored 2 less than Zebs did all season or soemthing like that, this was by Jan.

I do feel we miss a poacher/on the last man striker. Rene likes to come deep to get the ball and so does Tai. Mchpee does the same i feel we are missing that sort of striker. I feel Bodin is set out on the wing from what Ling is doing.

I would happily see him back scoring 13 goals in half a season, scab goals or what ever even if he doesnt do much else. We can get the ball in the box just feel he would be deadly with our team now. Hes one of thoose players that wont do much but will score an important goal. At the end of the day he is there to put the ball in the back of the net.

Reminded me of Van Nisterooy at United didnt nothing all game but then scored which made up for it.

[ferrarilover]

I dont know about that Mat t, he scored 2 less than Zebs did all season or soemthing like that, this was by Jan.

I do feel we miss a poacher/on the last man striker. Rene likes to come deep to get the ball and so does Tai. Mchpee does the same i feel we are missing that sort of striker. I feel Bodin is set out on the wing from what Ling is doing.

I would happily see him back scoring 13 goals in half a season, scab goals or what ever even if he doesnt do much else. We can get the ball in the box just feel he would be deadly with our team now. Hes one of thoose players that wont do much but will score an important goal. At the end of the day he is there to put the ball in the back of the net.

Reminded me of Van Nisterooy at United didnt nothing all game but then scored which made up for it.

Wouldn't we all! Thing is, I don't think he would.

Mat t.

[Regiment]

the benners story is always going to split opinions.

i remember our BSP promotion season, benners spent a lot of time warming the bench, and many fans wanted to see more of him as he seemed to have a knack of coming off the bench and doing well. i think a lot of that was due to his work rate, coming on for last 20mins, the opposition defence didn't know what had hit them. he then got a few starts, and didn't seem as effective.

our first season back up, when we hit form and went on a great run at the end of the season, him and rendell seemed to click, he played very well, got some goals, and played a huge part in keeping us up. i'm sure we can all agree on that, and will be forever grateful for his contribution. it was that run of form that got him the fans player of the year award.

last season, yes, he started well, and i for one thought swindon had got themselves a player with good basics, excellent workrate, good attitude, that they could develop into a decent player. due to swindon's demise, i don't think he got the chances he was expecting, and it all went very pear shaped for him (and swindon).

i am more than happy with the squad that Ling has assembled, and have faith in the attacking options to do very well for us. i'd only want benners back here if we were unable to keep Bodin for longer, because i think we need that player who will chase, close down defenders, and do it for 90mins. benners certainly gave us that, and i think he'd work well off Howe (in particular), but would he improve the team as a whole if he came back ?? i don't think so. i'd take him back, but we don't need him back.

having said all that, can't see him going back to swindon, let alone back down here. he's playing "at home" now, and if he hits a bit of form, i reckon he'll stay there.

[stevegull]

Very good post regiment. Agree with everything in there!

We have a good balance and a few different things we can try when chasing a game (something Buckle failed to do!), so it isn't vital that we have someone like benners back here. I almost think losing Billy Kee to Burton was a good thing for us. With Kee gone Ling decided what we needed in that attacking department was a bit of pace and guile so in comes Bodin. Whilst i think Kee was a good player, he didn't exactly offer anything different in attack and i felt that Howe was simply a better Kee and would be our target man this season. So well done to Ling again, he used losing Kee to Burton as an advantage and managed to pull in Bodin to give us more options.

Returning to the original point, i would only look at benners if we couldn't keep Bodin for longer.