January transfer window rumours.

[spt_claret]

It's batshit mental that his worldie goals are somehow being used as a negative?

If you think his game is just scoring a few shots after cutting in top bins then you don't know what the **** you're watching.

"All he can do is regularly put it in from 25 yards after being explicitly targeted and doublemarked by the opposition to stop that, he's not good enough".
More than our other wingers save Odobert and JBG are doing (although I do still see a player in Larsen, but he'd be behind Benson in the pecking order for me, faded after a few early signs of promise). And it's not all he can do anyway, he can go outside and either loop a cross in or fizz a ball across, did it a few times last season hanging balls into the far post or across the box. Forget who it was against but he did a beauty of one for Tella.

He's not the most defensively effective, I'll admit to that. The 'oh but what if hes lazy in training' talk is such pointless speculation, literally on 'what if Muric's dad is in the Kosovan mafia' tier just without the imagination. There's literally no evidence of him being lazy in training it's a fully circular argument "he doesnt play so he must be lazy in training, hes lazy in training so he doesnt play", it's on the person making the positive supposition (that he IS lazy) to provide evidence for it, and they don't. They point to his absence from the team to prove that he's lazy, when they're pointing to laziness to prove why he's absent from the team. He might be lazy in training but until you actually prove that he is I'm not going to start assuming that a guy who did wonders for us last season is lazy just because it makes it easier to agree with his absence. Tresor has been visibly lazy ON THE PITCH and still plays, yes I know he's made a few tackles, he's a better tackler than Benson (which to me isn't nearly enough reason to pick him as an attacking winger, or we'd be playing Robert as the first choice winger), doesn't mean he doesn't look lazy to me.

[123EasyasBFC]

Absolutely 100% spot on, every word.
There'll be people who won't like it though because they have to blindly agree with everything the club does nowadays, apparently if you don't do that you're not a true supporter and are just trying to take potshots at Saint Alan's glorious regime.

Does being ok with benson potentially leaving instantly mean you support every decision the club makes or is it simply having a different opinion?

[spt_claret]

Does being ok with benson potentially leaving instantly mean you support every decision the club makes or is it simply having a different opinion?

No, it doesn't, wasn't aimed at you. Was aimed at a few posters who do always back the club's decisions, every time, even if it's the opposite of what they said they wanted 5 minutes ago.
Plus again, anybody okay with him leaving- if that's the case, I refer to jedi's post where it makes little sense if they wanted him gone now when his value has diminished and he's not been given the chance to prove himself, but didn't want him gone in the summer when his value was at a higher watermark.

[Woodleyclaret]

Benny is vital to our survival chances and who gives a shite if he can't tackle. Skinning defenders then switching onto his left to bury chances is what people pay for

[123EasyasBFC]

No, it doesn't, wasn't aimed at you. Was aimed at a few posters who do always back the club's decisions, every time, even if it's the opposite of what they said they wanted 5 minutes ago.
Plus again, anybody okay with him leaving- if that's the case, I refer to jedi's post where it makes little sense if they wanted him gone now when his value has diminished and he's not been given the chance to prove himself, but didn't want him gone in the summer when his value was at a higher watermark.

Again being ok with him leaving also doesn’t mean you want him to leave. Nobody actually knows if AC Milan wanted him in the summer for 20m as that Turkish reporter who’s known for tweeting nonsense. If the loan with an option to buy is more than what we paid for him then his value hasn’t diminished. Like I mentioned about the lad from Bournemouth who’s actually going to end up being sold for more than what they paid without rarely featuring. If Southampton have an option of 15-20m then that’s probably correct value.

The only problem I have is people criticising kompany for not picking him just based off last season without having any idea about what might be going on behind the scenes, there seems to be no balanced view. I think it’s clear to see why kompany would trust someone like JBG over benson

[dermotdermot]

Benson seemed at ease scoring his goals last season but I did notice, when he played against Everton, McNeill simply marked him out of the game and he’s not even a full back. Benson didn’t get past him once.

[Goliath]

I have noticed we tend to become very predictable whenever Benson is on the pitch. Thr game olan becomes give the ball to Benson as much as ppssible, i dont think its intentional but hes just the type of player that seems to just attract the ball constsntly and in a way dictate the game.

I remember Chris Eagles being similar in that sense when he played, we became very one dimensional. No idea if that comes into VK's thinking, just an observation i've made

[Bordeauxclaret]

Benson seemed at ease scoring his goals last season but I did notice, when he played against Everton, McNeill simply marked him out of the game and he’s not even a full back. Benson didn’t get past him once.

He was only on for ten minutes wasn’t he?

[CoolClaret]

Writing Benson off for 10 minutes here and there against PL opposition is beyond laughable.

Could say the same about every single one of our squad bar Foster this year based on odd 10 minute displays here and there.

[Bigvince]

It’s like Groundhog Day on here.

[Firthy]

It’s like Groundhog Day on here.

More like a groundog version of groundhog day

[burnley007]

It’s like Groundhog Day on here.

Is that a polite way of saying boring as f***?

[Steddyman]

Came here after seeing three new pages on the transfer rumours thread, expecting some signings.

Instead just another three pages of people feeling the need to convince others that they are right about Benson, and the manager who sees him in training every day is wrong.

[ksrclaret]

That's the thing about public social media forums - everyone is entitled to post as they wish (within reason) and nobody owns the space.

This board isn't any one posters personal property and so sometimes you have to be prepared to read things that don't particularly interest you.

[ClaretSam]

Love Benson but if we can get a decent fee, this is the correct decision for me. Just cannot stay fit and I don’t think we can afford to start him with his non existent off the ball work.

We need a consistent right midfielder who will work hard and is available to play every week.

Crikey let’s get George Boyd and scotty arfield on the blower then

[CoolClaret]

Came here after seeing three new pages on the transfer rumours thread, expecting some signings.

Instead just another three pages of people feeling the need to convince others that they are right about Benson, and the manager who sees him in training every day is wrong.

Such a non-argument this -

Same manager that's on 12 points from 21 games?

Plenty of managers make poor decisions - Lampard decided Doucoure wasn't good enough for Everton, with Dyche he's been their most important player.

[Clovius Boofus]

Came here after seeing three new pages on the transfer rumours thread, expecting some signings.

Instead just another three pages of people feeling the need to convince others that they are right about Benson, and the manager who sees him in training every day is wrong.

The thread header is the biggest misnomer on here.

[burnleymik]

FFS. All those extra pages and I got excited thinking there was some new news!

[CharlieinNewMexico]

That Sacha has just deleted a tweet saying Leeds are signing a right back from Belgium because he’s actually going to Luton, he’s such a fraud

You’re getting so boring

[CharlieinNewMexico]

there’s not been a single team in Europe linked to sign him on loan this Jan

Because the decision to let him go on loan was a) to get a loan fee and b) pay his wages and c) insert a high buy option and d) get more used to English football, not sauntering around in the Turkish league.

[123EasyasBFC]

Because the decision to let him go on loan was a) to get a loan fee and b) pay his wages and c) insert a high buy option and d) get more used to English football, not sauntering around in the Turkish league.

What does being not linked to clubs in Europe have anything to do with what you have just said other than ‘get more used to English football’. You can’t really think we are loaning him out to a league he’s already been in to get more used to it

[Big Vinny K]

Benson seemed at ease scoring his goals last season but I did notice, when he played against Everton, McNeill simply marked him out of the game and he’s not even a full back. Benson didn’t get past him once.

What else did you notice in this the game against Everton in the 82 minutes before Benson came on ?
Personally I noticed that we were out played in every single part of the pitch
…..it was like men against boys
……and pretty much everyone in a burnley shirt was rubbish

[123EasyasBFC]

What else did you notice in this the game against Everton in the 82 minutes before Benson came on ?
Personally I noticed that we were out played in every single part of the pitch
…..it was like men against boys
……and pretty much everyone in a burnley shirt was rubbish

Can’t judge anyone 2-0 after 80mins, I can understand not starting benson but in the games at home to palace and away to wolves, if he was fit I can’t understand how he wouldn’t get brought on for last 20-30min. If there’s other reasons why he’s not been in match day squads then that’s another matter

[jojomk1]

Benson will most likely go as it makes us a profit on his original cost in
It is the model that VK and Pace are working towards and would be a good example of their success (in their thoughts)
The fact that the model may not take account of his wages (especially the improved deal he got this summer) will be forgotten
Additionally, we have to clear a significant number of players off the current squad as it will not be sustainable next season
The "better" players will be easier to shift out

[Stayingup]

Benny is vital to our survival chances and who gives a shite if he can't tackle. Skinning defenders then switching onto his left to bury chances is what people pay for

Yes I mean does Messi defend well? Is he great in the tackle? There are other players in the TEAM for those roles.

[Rileybobs]

Yes I mean does Messi defend well? Is he great in the tackle? There are other players in the TEAM for those roles.

I think there’s a slight difference between a player like Messi, and the teams he plays for, than Benson and Burnley.

Of course a team in the bottom three of the Premier League needs players who are effective out of possession.

[Pickles]

Yes I mean does Messi defend well? Is he great in the tackle? There are other players in the TEAM for those roles.

It's become silly now.

[Cooclaret]

Benson is bang average.

He is a luxury player. We don’t have a place for a player like him at the moment. He, like Roberts ruin the intended system of play.

Both aren’t in the team.

Kompany sees them both most days and doesn’t put them
In the team.

I’m firmly in the ‘Kompany out camp’, but I trust him 100% with player selection.

[ISpeds00]

Benson can't do what Benson did in the championship, week in week out in the prem
He's too lightweight, injury prone and mostly a one trick pony cutting in with a left pinger of a shot
He hasnt had the gametime for a reason - but he's no better than the ones that have been playing

[jlup1980]

Some of the comments on here are ridiculous. Benson was a match winner last season - mainly from the bench. The PL is a step up but I'd much rather throw him on when we're chasing the game than Tresor or JBL, and I'd much rather have him in the Championship next season full stop.

For different reasons, I'm not expecting Amdouni, Odobert or Tresor to be with us next season and I wouldn't be surprised if we lose Koleosho as well (depends on how he recovers from his injury this season). Who are the match winners then? It's going to be the third rebuild in three seasons.

[boyyanno]

Acting like managers never make the wrong decision is absolutely barmy. We've just had one that achieved minor miracles with us and yet I seem to read most days about how he amassed an ageing squad and left us in a mess.

Weird how the ones who think VK couldn't possibly be wrong because he's had some minor success as a manger think that someone like Dyche, who had more success as a manager, was wrong about a number of things.

Double standards everywhere. We're back on the made up Benson kopps out of training stuff now I see.

[gandhisflipflop]

I am absolutely staggered that no full backs look close

[brexit]

I am absolutely staggered that no full backs look close

If you play three at the back, do you need fullbacks?

[Newcastleclaret93]

If you play three at the back, do you need fullbacks?

Can you imagine our wingers playing as wing backs

Odobert and Larsen would be abysmal in that role

[boatshed bill]

If you play three at the back, do you need fullbacks?

Yes, someone like Maatsen on the left, and possibly the improving Vitinho on the right... not likely to happen though.

[gandhisflipflop]

If you play three at the back, do you need fullbacks?

But we haven’t and don’t play 3 at the back.

[Vegas Claret]

I am absolutely staggered that no full backs look close

to be fair loads of our signing s have been under the radar, we all know we need a right back but they have to be much better than what we already have otherwise it's pointless - that wont be easy to do in the January window with us being in the position we are in. Just highlights even more how disjointed the summer was

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Also find it quite alarming the lack of full backs linked! As above hopefully a couple of signings under the radar.

[colne-claret]

Zaroury now linked with leaving on loan to Sevilla or a Ligue 1 club on loan with option to buy.

[Firthy]

Also find it quite alarming the lack of full backs linked! As above hopefully a couple of signings under the radar.

Plenty of links to full backs. Only problem is they're about our only two proper full backs (Roberts and Taylor) leaving

[Goody1975]

Zaroury now linked with leaving on loan to Sevilla or a Ligue 1 club on loan with option to buy.

Screenshot_2024-01-28-19-57-37-402_com.twitter.android-edit.jpg (430.5 KiB) Viewed 1378 times

123EasyasBFC will be delighted with the tweet.

[123EasyasBFC]

Screenshot_2024-01-28-19-57-37-402_com.twitter.android-edit.jpg


123EasyasBFC will be delighted with the tweet.

Oh aye yeah transfer guru has spoken, same recycled as the benson one just with different team now.

Sacha has said so it must be true right?

[Goody1975]

Oh aye yeah transfer guru has spoken, same recycled as the benson one just with different team now.

Sacha has said so it must be true right?

I don't know.

I know just the same as the average Joe, so pass.

[claretspice]

The re-writing of history r.e Manuel Benson is laughable.

Benson was arguably our biggest match winner last season. He scored several point/match winning goals and was one who got better and better as the season developed. He was the player who looked more than good enough for this league in the Cup games against higher opposition. Using his minutes on the pitch as a stick to beat him with is non-sensical - that was our strategy for the majority of the season. Wear teams down then unleash Benny. How is that something to have a go at the player for?

He was being linked with clubs like Milan in the summer and we were all delighted to see him sign a new contract. Undoubtedly if we had sold him in the summer for less than £20m, a large proportion of those now saying ‘right decision’ would have been incandescent with rage at us selling him. As it is, we got him a bumper new deal, signed a boatload of ineffective (exceptions being Koleosho and Odobert who both play off the left rather than right) wingers and didn’t give Benson a chance when fit. As a result his transfer value will be negiligble in comparison now you’d imagine.

Excepting Koleosho and Odobert who play off the left, our other wide options to Benson are hardly pulling trees up are they? Tresor (Looking a preposterous signing at €18m, left winger), Bruun-Larsen (Loan, buy? Doesn’t look good enough regardless), JBG (Old, injury prone), Zaroury (Out of form, left winger), Redmond (Long term injury, seemingly unwanted by Kompany).

This is also not even reflecting on the fact that we’re almost certainly relegated and selling one of our very best players for that division! I’m all for defending Kompany and the clubs overall strategy on buy young/sell high but we have utterly messed that up with Benson. If he wasn’t going to be in the picture the time to sell was last summer. As it is we have nosedived his valuation (like quite a few players…) and then let him go.

I think we need to get a bit of perspective on Benson personally.

Firstly, he was a really important member of the squad last season and integral to our success. He scored a lot of important goals and impacted plenty of games, mainly from the bench - and he was most definitely a match winner. There's a perfectly reasonable argument that his impact last season at Championship level means he is worth retaining now on the assumption we'll be back at that level again next season.

However, his contribution last season does need placing in context. It is a fact that despite his eye catching goals, he didn't actually nail down a starting berth last season. Indeed as the season wore on he became increasingly a player who was used from the bench. Apart from the back to back games in the autumn at Sheffield United and at home to Rovers, he didn't start any of the games last season which might be considered "clutch" games - particularly tellingly he was a sub for both games over Easter against Boro and Sheff U. In part that was because for chunks of the season, he was in effect in competition with Tella for the right sided forward berth, but even when Tella was unavailable or used off the left, others (often JBG) were used ahead of Benson - particularly away from home.

I am pretty sure that is for the same reasons he is not starting or featuring much this season. Of all the players who haven't featured from last season, Benson is for me the most logical. Against defences sitting deep and challenging us to break a low block, he was brilliant. Whenever, though, the game was more contested - as it often was in the games against the more ambitious sides in the division, like Boro (after Christmas), WBA, Sheff U, Luton and so on, he very quickly drifted out of it as an attacking force - and defensively I don't think he was ever trusted by Kompany to support his full back, and he didn't press very well either. I don't agree that the preference for JBG this season is a reflection on the quality of our right back options. That might be a part of it but it also reflects the fact that you have to have hard working wingers as a lower end Premier League team who will not shirk the ugly stuff. As someone else has said, that is particularly the case if you already have one winger who you are allowing to get away with leaving space (in our case Odobert, and previously Koleosho).

Those are also all the reasons I did think we might cash in last summer - given his age (he's at a tipping point in value terms). If we get a good offer for him now that brings in a decent return on our outlay then personally, I think there's a logic to selling and reinvesting. If we go down, it will be with a view to bouncing straight back and then having a better go at surviving, and whilst Benson can help with the former I think there's a pretty fair conclusion to be drawn that he's never quite going to be good enough to do the latter - and since last season he's fallen down the pecking order because we've signed wingers Kompany rates higher. Those goals, though, will live long in the memory.

[CoolClaret]

I am pretty sure that is for the same reasons he is not starting or featuring much this season. Of all the players who haven't featured from last season, Benson is for me the most logical. Against defences sitting deep and challenging us to break a low block, he was brilliant. Whenever, though, the game was more contested - as it often was in the games against the more ambitious sides in the division, like Boro (after Christmas), WBA, Sheff U, Luton and so on, he very quickly drifted out of it as an attacking force - and defensively I don't think he was ever trusted by Kompany to support his full back, and he didn't press very well either. I don't agree that the preference for JBG this season is a reflection on the quality of our right back options. That might be a part of it but it also reflects the fact that you have to have hard working wingers as a lower end Premier League team who will not shirk the ugly stuff. As someone else has said, that is particularly the case if you already have one winger who you are allowing to get away with leaving space (in our case Odobert, and previously Koleosho).

Bagged at Sheff United (and assisted their own goal) and bagged twice at Bournemouth.

He's perfect to have in a squad as an option. He offers something completely different to what we have.

[agreenwood]

IF Benson and Zaroury do go next week it’ll be a shame. I loved watching them last season.

That said, they’ve rarely been near the first team this year and, whilst we’re all free to speculate whether they are better options than those who have been in front of them, it’s not unusual for fringe players to be moved on.

[Goody1975]

In response to claretspice, didn't want to quote all the text.

I said earlier that you need balance and the left side has a good balance, the right side doesn't due to the weakness at full back, that can't be argued. Add to this the change from Brownhill to Amdouni in the number 10 role this season and we are so vulnerable when turning the ball over.

We have been more pragmatic in recent weeks but not sure where we can get the right balance with the current squad, right back and central midfield being the obvious areas of concern.

[Silkyskills1]

' the improving Vitinho'

Where have you read that?

[CoolClaret]

Heard it all now - 'Benson is bang average' and Zaroury fancied by Sevilla, whilst we're dropping to the Champ after barely giving them two a kick.

Well done VK & co for turning one of the most fun, unified and enjoyable teams we've seen into the shittest, gutless and unenjoyable to watch

[CharlieinNewMexico]

Oh aye yeah transfer guru has spoken, same recycled as the benson one just with different team now.

Sacha has said so it must be true right?

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz