Judging on his sh1te performances last season Benson certainly needs a kick up the arse and his eead shekkin.
Duff may be the man to do it.
Spectemur Agendo
From Barnsley Chronicle.
MICHAEL Duff believes Barnsley fans will soon see that his former player Josh Benson is a ‘very very good footballer’.
Benson is the only current Reds player that new boss Duff has worked with before this week, signing him for Burnley under 23s in 2018 after his release from Arsenal.
Duff then spent four years as Cheltenham manager, almost securing a loan for Benson who instead played briefly for Burnley in the Premier League then moved to Barnsley a year ago.
It was a difficult first season for the the 22-year-old midfielder, who struggled for consistent form in a side that would finish last in the Championship, as well as two bouts of Covid and injuries.
“I signed Josh after he got released by Arsenal.
“He’s a very very good footballer as I am sure people will see. He learned the tactical and physical side of the game at Burnley which is why Barnsley paid a lot of money for him. I have not seen him play much recently but I am looking forward to working with him. He will know what’s coming because I am the same now as when I was doing the under 23s. He might not like it, he might be the first one asking to leave. But I had a good working relationship with him at Burnley. Hopefully he understands I tried to help him and he ended up going from a free to a few hundred thousand pound move. Hopefully we can do that with all of them.”
Interesting !
Judging on his sh1te performances last season Benson certainly needs a kick up the arse and his eead shekkin.
Duff may be the man to do it.
Spectemur Agendo
Only players that did owt last season IMO were Collins and Morris.
All the rest went backwards including Stiles, Helik and Mads.
This coming season I’m expecting some of the players will come to life and surprise us.
I saw enough of Benson and Cole to know there are good players in there trying to get out.
Thomas and Kane are another two that could easily come good.
They just need the right platform to flourish.
Aye alreight nudge,
Thar on a parallel universe.
The "right platform to flourish" could well be the Third Division Nudge.
The phrase "found their level" may spring to mind with a few players.
Daniel Stendel, to add to his infectious enthusiasm and attacking style, had a strong, fairly stable, squad of players for the Third Division. It remains to be seen which players, and how many, we sell in the coming weeks. It also depends on the qualities of the incoming players. It has always been the case that incoming players are built up as the best thing since sliced bread but we need to see them over at least ten games to begin to get a true idea of their quality.
Last edited by SBRed48; 28-06-2022 at 07:41 AM.
I’ve seen a poll on the BBS recently asking posters to vote on where they are expecting the team to finish at the end of next season.
Most saying lower to mid table.
Now we all know Barnsley fans have very short memories - but have they already forgotten that the vast majority of these players finished 5th in the Championship only a short while ago !?!?!
I posted something a couple of weeks ago saying - if we replace Mowatt and Dike the squad that finished bottom last season would storm the 1st Division.
However - because of the meddling of Mr Conway the club has found itself relegated with a shortfall of money to find - players have to be sold to claw back that money - consequently we can’t start the season with the same squad - with the two additions mentioned.
IMO - the fewer the changeover of players - the bigger chance we have of going straight back up.
To add to that we need to add an older head in midfield to replace Mowatt and one maybe two strong target strikers in the squad to take the heat off Morris.
Obviously with players leaving there will be opportunities to fill SOME of their places.
But at the moment we seem to be bringing in players in the hope and expectation that players are going to be sold.
For example:
Two centre backs - are these the replacements for Helik and Mads ?
One left sided midfielder and another (Portuguese guy) possibly on there way here - for the replacement of Stiles ?
Helik was in champion**** team of the year not bad for a relegated team and a player going backward
We all know Helik is a good player - and one of the three I hope we keep hold of along with Collins and Morris.
However- the season before last the 3 central defenders played as a unit - moved up together - and moved back together.
Last season they didn’t.
They all looked like they had just met - they were all over the place - hence goals conceded.
Non of the back line came away with any credit last season.
They may have individual skills but they didn’t play as a team.
I’m not laying the blame on individuals BTW - it was instructions from above that caused the mayhem.
IMO - the directors have looked for this, the ability to organise, in their appointment of Duff.
Which head coach has had success in the lower leagues - plays a similar style to Ismael - and has the same organisational skills as Ismael.