Greenhalgh...

[Deleted]

...conspicuous by his absence today?

[Deleted]

He's ill - put this on his Twitter page:

Never had to miss a game due to illness before or even an injury which makes this even more Frustrating. Don't like missing football

[Deleted]

Nov 29, 2014 17:21:28 GMT @jayser100 said:

He's ill - put this on his Twitter page:

Never had to miss a game due to illness before or even an injury which makes this even more Frustrating. Don't like missing football

Pity. He could have had a decent run out today. A much underrated player in my humble.

[Deleted]

Has anyone tried contacting his agent? It may have a foreign ring tone....?

[allingtonstone]

He had a 'run out' at Met Police last saturday..
it might be most polite to say he did little running from what i saw.
I Like Ben but needs to dig in more for team. Like Flish ,as we know he has ability.

[Deleted]

allingtonstone you are spot on. This has been holding back his career for a long time now. He needs to watch Flish and Matt Bodkin's workrate and then realise that if he could get somewhere close to that much effort, in combination with his sizeable natural talent, he could still make it as a pro. I think Ben is coming up to a crossroads now - if he doesn't do it soon, he will get to the age where it will become increasingly unlikely that he will make it into full-time football. Anyhow that's a digression, Ben if you read this, hope you're feeling better!

[tjh]

I like Ben, I think he's a nice lad who has bundles of natural ability. I do think there is alot of pressure on him due to being 'that guy, that won that show and played for Inter Milan'. When I watch him he is sometimes is very frustrating,he does something really good (good run, cross, pass) then two minutes later you see him walking back or getting robbed of possession too easily.

I believe he could start for us again like he did earlier in the season but the only place I can see him taking is either Bodkin's or May's. With May being so effective in holding the ball up, it's just Bodkin's spot that he battling for. When Ben came on in the FA cup he opened a few eyes but its a shame he can't do that week in week out.

As Jayser said, he is at a crossroads, the professionals that play in higher leagues really worked for it and constantly trained and played hard. It's up to Ben now as to how much he wants it!

[Deleted]

Undoubtably a talented individual. My only throught is that he can hold on to the ball too long and end up losing it. It is very frustrating when he runs round two players and then loses it to a third when he could have passed.

[Deleted]

Dec 1, 2014 7:14:10 GMT nws said:

Undoubtably a talented individual. My only throught is that he can hold on to the ball too long and end up losing it. It is very frustrating when he runs round two players and then loses it to a third when he could have passed.

You are right, Jayser, he could replace Bodkin and we'd never notice!

[Deleted]

NWS that is correct and it's a shame to note these are the same criticisms that were being made by the coaches at Milan - he doesn't seem to have kicked on and improved as much as he should in terms of his matchplay. I do sometimes wonder how much his heart is in it for us, too - obviously we all know he wants to be playing as a full-time pro and it must frustrate him at some level that he is back playing for us at step 7. When he got that chance at Inverness he must have thought he'd finally cracked it, and then it all went wrong. There's nothing like 100% motivation to make you go that extra distance, tracking back deep to pick up the ball and really putting in the miles. When you watch Flish play, you can see him putting his heart into every second of the game and I don't think we're seeing that from Ben. His understated goal celebrations (even when he was starting every game at the beginning of the season) also make me suspect that in his mind, he is just itching to get away again. The problem is, from his point of view, he needs to earn the next chance and that's only going to happen if he can put in the effort and commitment that would make it hard for Jay not to pick him. if he is as good as he thinks he can be, and most of us think he can be, that should be achievable but he isn't there yet. I hope he does it because I'd love to see him play the way I reckon he can, and if that leads to him eventually going off for his pro career, good luck to him. There are times when he gets on the ball that he oozes class but it doesn't happen often enough.

[Deleted]

Dec 1, 2014 13:07:29 GMT @jayser100 said:

NWS that is correct and it's a shame to note these are the same criticisms that were being made by the coaches at Milan - he doesn't seem to have kicked on and improved as much as he should in terms of his matchplay. I do sometimes wonder how much his heart is in it for us, too - obviously we all know he wants to be playing as a full-time pro and it must frustrate him at some level that he is back playing for us at step 7. When he got that chance at Inverness he must have thought he'd finally cracked it, and then it all went wrong. There's nothing like 100% motivation to make you go that extra distance, tracking back deep to pick up the ball and really putting in the miles. When you watch Flish play, you can see him putting his heart into every second of the game and I don't think we're seeing that from Ben. His understated goal celebrations (even when he was starting every game at the beginning of the season) also make me suspect that in his mind, he is just itching to get away again. The problem is, from his point of view, he needs to earn the next chance and that's only going to happen if he can put in the effort and commitment that would make it hard for Jay not to pick him. if he is as good as he thinks he can be, and most of us think he can be, that should be achievable but he isn't there yet. I hope he does it because I'd love to see him play the way I reckon he can, and if that leads to him eventually going off for his pro career, good luck to him. There are times when he gets on the ball that he oozes class but it doesn't happen often enough.

He said in this weeks NLP that Maidstone is starting to feel like home, that he would like to prove that he can stick with a club for more than a season and that it would take an offer from a much higher level to induce him to move now.

[Deleted]

I think given a proper run in the first team Ben would do very well but unfortunately for him everyone had established themselves by the time he arrived this season. We did look good when May was injured and we played Flish up front, the way Bodders, Flish, and Ben switched around quite a bit helped to confuse the opposition too. May has become a bit more vital since then though.

[Deleted]

Daveu I wasn't aware of that and it is certainly encouraging to know he thinks that way. He is also showing maturity in knowing that chopping and changing sides too much in a search for better things, might put other clubs off him. In that case let's hope he does stick around, hopefully we'll be in Conference South next season and so that gives him a chance to progress with the club.

[mrplow]

I really want him to do well but at the moment he is too inconsistent since he's come back, it's a pleasure to have him here. I want to see him challenging the likes of bodkin for a place but until he puts some work in and makes the correct decisions he won't progress as a player with us or even possibly further his own career elsewhere. The inter Milan show was a publicity gig, you must have big balls to make it in Italian football and it was obvious he wasn't going last long there and come back. He's still a good weapon from the bench on his day, hope it works out for him at the stones!

[Deleted]

To be fair mrplow, he was offered a contract extension after his first year at Milan, which they didn't have to do. I think it's a bit cynical to suggest a publicity stunt, I genuinely think they felt he had something about him.