Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Think Harris will have questions to answer at his next press conference.
Wonder if Benkovic been tipped off about Harris' comments?

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Well if that’s the way Harris is running his side of the Club it’s shocking. He should get on his bike.

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Harris has hardly covered himself in glory but neither has Benkovic. He hardly played at Bristol City either, so that's 4 managers who think he's not up to it (Holden, Johnson, Harris and Rodgers). I don't think Harris can turn round to him and say "you're not good enough" when he might need him (like he did at Wycombe) but he can't promise him game time or starts if he doesn't think he's any good.

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Reading between the lines it does seem as though he wasn’t Harris’s man. Was he brought in by the football brains at boardroom level? After all Leicester won the Premier League a few seasons back so he must be good!!!!

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Attitude at play perhaps , underachiever ?

I find it hard to understand if Harris or the "they " he refers to is correct if we are in need of quality why would we not speak to him ??


“(At Cardiff) they didn't speak much to me there. When I asked why I barely played, I was told they were quite happy with me. But in the end, the coach opted again for the guys who were there last season. It made no sense to stay there.”

I wonder if the Covid rulings have also adversely effected contact , were there language barriers ? at least we have chatted with Wilson ??

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

All else apart, his line of:

“I have yet to learn to stay focused for 90 minutes. At the age of 23 I am still young and I realise that there are quite a few aspects that need to be improved"

doesn't fill me with confidence about him. He's 23, not 17, a 23 year old should be able to stay focused for 90 minutes at the bare minimum surely

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

"At Celtic I felt very happy and had a very good season. I took the title and two cups. I am still very proud of that"

He made 20 "appearances". Out of what? 60+ games. I think I could have snuck into that side and not done too much damage.

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

I would have preferred him to stay, despite the performance against Wycombe.

With a run of games he should have got a lot better.

With Pack out until later in February, Mozzer out for weeks more (?), Sol's injury and now serious illness, and dodgy form all across the backline (Joel Bagan exempted), we need another experienced defender - even if not match fit. He would have had a stress free run out against Forest after the 3rd minute if he was still with us - and the risk of Bennett at CB would have been avoided.

It sounds as if the club were fine with letting him go back, but that it was Leicester who made the call as it was clear that when Mozzer is fit again Benkovic would have been back on the bench again - at best. They have a fast depreciating asset and need to get him playing somewhere if they are going to salvage any of their £13m fee. Can't see him ever breaking into the Leicester first team based on his form in recent years and the attitude that comes through in that news site report.

So he is just one more in a long list of poor or failed loan signings.

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

I wonder sometimes how many loan signings are reluctant participants who rock up and just do enough ,to think the Wilfred Zaha that terrorises some premiership defences looked so appalling for us is perhaps evidence of that .

Do some clubs use loaning out to say a Championship club as threat as an under performing threat , and eventually that becomes a reality and a pissed off player dumped in Wales miles from home and friends ??

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

I think Harris made a judgement and decided he couldn't play him. COVID will definitely have affected things though, he can't take him in his office and discuss things.

Benkovic isn't going to make it at PL level, they signed him 3 and a half years ago and he's no closer to breaking into the side. I can see why they like(d) him, but he switches off and as delmbox says, he's 23 for crying out loud. He's 6 months away from being 24! I don't think there's going to be a massive improvement coming.

He hardly played at Bristol City and he flopped here, I think he's got to wake up and smell the coffee, and buckle down. I think he's probably on his last chance at Leicester, I don't know where his career goes if this move doesn't work out.

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Is Pack injured as well?

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

I think he means Flint.

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Our current form of 25 goals conceded are not down to Benkovic. Harris needs to own that record and take responsibility as well as the rest of the squad need to own it too. Harris should have played him, eased him in, rotated - dare I say - managed him. He could have brought him on many times when he was on the bench the many times when we were losing matches. He brought Mark Harris on in the 95th minute when we were losing!

I see no point in critiquing Benkovic for not making the Leicester side either or not being PL quality. Wilson and Ojo are not PL quality players and never will be in sides like Liverpool. Celtic is an anomaly as the Scottish League is so weak. Benkovic should be a really good championship CB. In my view, Morrison should never have been allowed anywhere near our Premiere League squad and was not up to it yet he's constantly played ever since our relegation and is even captain (he also needs to step up and sort out problems on the pitch rather than just go through the motions each match). Too many players too comfortable with not enough competition and a manager who excels at mediocrity.

And Nelson? Is Nelson better than Benkovic? How can that possibly be the case? Nelson was a terrible signing IMO and is another player who is just....OK. He came from Oxford United and before that Plymouth Argyle and has played 55 matches for us. Again, Benkovic, just the 1 match and yes, it was a mare. But give the lad a break and focus on the real problems.

For me, Harris's management is a big problem as well as a whole load of under-performing players with sloppy attitudes and I'll judge him and them based on 22 matches (excluding the pathetic cup matches) not just 1 against Wycombe.

Re: Benkovic- they hardly spoke to me at Cardiff.

Right, a few things. I don't know if you're looking for bites as this whole thing is ridiculous but here goes.

Why on earth would you bring a centre back on when you're losing? He would get crucified on here and it doesn't make any sense either. For all our faults, we've rarely got stuffed. Our issue is when we have to chase games, we can't break sides down. Bringing on a striker when you're losing is common, as you're trying to score a goal.

Nelson is a Championship regular, Benkovic has been a Championship sub for two clubs. Nelson is keeping Benkovic out of the side. How you can say Nelson is a poor signing I dont know. He cost nothing, has been a first team regular for over 12 months. Is Nelson fantastic? No, that's why he plays for us. He's a Championship level player. Last season, Morrison and Nelson were our strength, along with Lee Tomlin.

Sean Morrison was one of the best centre backs in the league last year. I think he got in Sky's team of the season, and certainly got in some. He is not having his best season but he's definitely good enough for us. He was our best player in the Championship and if him and Bamba struggled in the PL, all of our squad were going to (as they did).

The honest truth is, none of us have any idea how good Benkovic is. All the signs point to the fact he isn't very good. He didn't play regularly for Bristol City, he wasn't selected for Leicester when they played full backs at centre back earlier in the season and he couldn't get a sniff here, and when he did play he was bloody awful.