Quote Originally Posted by Citizen's Nephew View Post
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.
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.