Benkovic

[surrifox]

This guy can’t get a game at OHL and wasn’t involved at Cardiff . I’m sure there’s a player in there somewhere but our £13 mill is looking not to secure at the moment.

 

Remember when Celtic fans were desperate for the club to buy him ?

Edited 11 March 2021 by surrifox

[Buce]

1 minute ago, surrifox said:

This guy can’t get a game at OHL and wasn’t involved at Cardiff . I’m sure there’s a player in there somewhere but our £13 mill is looking not to secure at the moment.

 

Remember when Celtic fans were desperate for the club to buy him  to buy him ? 

 

I do, I do.

Edited 11 March 2021 by Buce

[Bert]

Surely he’ll be released on a free and likely head back to Croatia. 

[moore_94]

2 years left on his deal, probably best at this point to try and find some chump to give us at least a fraction of our money back that we have spent on him

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

For every Fofana, Soyuncu, Tielemans, Castagne there is a Benkovic 

[winteriscoming]

Does beg the question how bad is he after we signed Bennett last season? 
Did he fall out with Brendan when at Celtic? 

[ParkerPen]

1 minute ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

For every Fofana, Soyuncu, Tielemans, Castagne there is a Benkovic 

fortunately for us, it hasn't been a 1:1 ratio recently !

[surrifox]

10 minutes ago, Wasyls Pec Deck said:

For every Fofana, Soyuncu, Tielemans, Castagne there is a Benkovic 

That’s true and the club recognised pretty quickly that the likes of Ghezzal were a mistake but Benkovic seemed to have more about him and I think most thought at first he would be a more likely first team player than Cags 

[Alf Bentley]

There must be a specific problem with him.

 

- Played regularly for Dinamo Zagreb, including in Champions' League

- Picked by Croatia (a decent footballing nation) at youth levels, even 1 full national cap

- Celtic fans rated him highly when he played for them

- Looked fine during his couple of brief appearances for us

- My Bristol City mate was impressed with him, when he made a few loan appearances there

 

If it was just a case of him not being quite good enough for the top half of the Premier League, surely he'd have moved on and made a career at a lower level like, say, Knockaert or Schlupp.

If he had just not fitted in at LCFC for some reason, he might have gone and been a success elsewhere, like Kramaric.

 

I wonder what the problem is? Injury-prone? Psychological issue (perhaps due to repeated injuries)? Attitude/personality/homesickness? 

[Simonb]

Surely has to be a psychological issue, perhaps started after that injury at Celtic.

 

I remember watching him play for Celtic a couple of times and he looked quality. A celtic supporting mate said he's the best defender they'd had since VVD, and I'm sure one or two mentions of that were said on here too. Got injured, and suddenly noone will give him a game. Has to be psychological. You wouldn't lose the know how, and at his age, much of the mobility, so something rocked his confidence.

 

Odd... I for one thought he'd be the ready made centre back to replace Maguire, not Cags... funny how things turn around

[sacreblueits442]

42 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

2 years left on his deal, probably best at this point to try and find some chump to give us at least a fraction of our money back that we have spent on him

...so, Celtic it is then....!!!

[TJB-fox]

Classic FoxesTalk 

Young footballer moves to foreign country and club in Europe, struggles to earn a place in the team. 

Foxestalk : he must have mental problems

[davieG]

39 minutes ago, surrifox said:

That’s true and the club recognised pretty quickly that the likes of Ghezzal were a mistake but Benkovic seemed to have more about him and I think most thought at first he would be a more likely first team player than Cags 

....and yet it's Ghezzal who's doing better on loan at Beşiktaş with 1 goal and 11 assists in 19 games. 

[davieG]

Just now, TJB-fox said:

Classic FoxesTalk 

Young footballer moves to foreign country and club in Europe, struggles to earn a place in the team. 

Foxestalk : he must have mental problems

Aye it's mental isn't it?

[Alf Bentley]

5 minutes ago, Simonb said:

Surely has to be a psychological issue, perhaps started after that injury at Celtic.

 

I remember watching him play for Celtic a couple of times and he looked quality. A celtic supporting mate said he's the best defender they'd had since VVD, and I'm sure one or two mentions of that were said on here too. Got injured, and suddenly noone will give him a game. Has to be psychological. You wouldn't lose the know how, and at his age, much of the mobility, so something rocked his confidence.

 

Odd... I for one thought he'd be the ready made centre back to replace Maguire, not Cags... funny how things turn around

 

That seems the most likely explanation, doesn't it?

 

- He has had subsequent minor injuries, but hasn't been continuously injured all this time

- As recently as last year, he was reportedly looking good at upper Championship level for Bristol City....yet that fizzled out & he then couldn't get into the Cardiff team

- I don't remember any manager ever criticising his attitude or conduct

- If it had just been homesickness, he could surely have been loaned to a top Croatian team

[FoxOnWheels]

Completely forgot about benkovic

[MPH]

6 minutes ago, TJB-fox said:

Classic FoxesTalk 

Young footballer moves to foreign country and club in Europe, struggles to earn a place in the team. 

Foxestalk : he must have mental problems

 

to be fair we’ve come a long way. Couple of years ago and we’d have been sending death threats to his family on Twitter.

[sacreblueits442]

29 minutes ago, Alf Bentley said:

There must be a specific problem with him.

 

- Played regularly for Dinamo Zagreb, including in Champions' League

- Picked by Croatia (a decent footballing nation) at youth levels, even 1 full national cap

- Celtic fans rated him highly when he played for them

- Looked fine during his couple of brief appearances for us

- My Bristol City mate was impressed with him, when he made a few loan appearances there

 

If it was just a case of him not being quite good enough for the top half of the Premier League, surely he'd have moved on and made a career at a lower level like, say, Knockaert or Schlupp.

If he had just not fitted in at LCFC for some reason, he might have gone and been a success elsewhere, like Kramaric.

 

I wonder what the problem is? Injury-prone? Psychological issue (perhaps due to repeated injuries)? Attitude/personality/homesickness? 

...I  have said it before, it is a psychological problem with him akin to PTSD!!!

  Sending him out on loans is not going to help and the only thing he will get from them is a sense of failure, as time and again he is seen as not good enough. Instead of this  continuing folly, get him to speak to someone professional to talk about himself and make it an order and not an option for him to exercise. 

  We have a new Training center and staffing it with employees who deal with the wellbeing of the mind maybe a good thing to do. 

  I am sure if Pearson was still here that aspect would have been taken care of.

  There are margins to be gained by looking outside of football and embracing other methods to enhance your environment. 

[sacreblueits442]

8 minutes ago, TJB-fox said:

Classic FoxesTalk 

Young footballer moves to foreign country and club in Europe, struggles to earn a place in the team. 

Foxestalk : he must have mental problems

...it has now happened too often and at clubs based in Britain!!!

  This is not a one off situation and the club needs to take some responsibility for putting him in a situation geared for failure. 

[Alf Bentley]

8 minutes ago, TJB-fox said:

Classic FoxesTalk 

Young footballer moves to foreign country and club in Europe, struggles to earn a place in the team. 

Foxestalk : he must have mental problems

 

Care to offer your opinion?

 

If you believe a football forum shouldn't be used to speculate about footballers, you might be fighting a losing battle. 

 

Mind you, it sounds as if you're speculating that he might not be quite good enough (apparently for Bristol, Cardiff or Leuven, not just LCFC) or might be struggling to adapt to a foreign country?

 

[TJB-fox]

25 minutes ago, Alf Bentley said:

 

Care to offer your opinion?

 

If you believe a football forum shouldn't be used to speculate about footballers, you might be fighting a losing battle. 

 

Mind you, it sounds as if you're speculating that he might not be quite good enough (apparently for Bristol, Cardiff or Leuven, not just LCFC) or might be struggling to adapt to a foreign country?

 

Haha was only playing devils advocate. 

No idea mate. Was obviously highly rated when he came here and then went and did well up in Scotland, but the jump from Croatia/Scotland to the prem is obviously huge. Chuck in a few ‘failed’ loan spells in the championship and you have probably got a player devoid of any confidence. Maybe just not as good as the club thought, maybe his injuries have been a big factor. 

[baldeagle]

1 hour ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...I  have said it before, it is a psychological problem with him akin to PTSD!!!

  Sending him out on loans is not going to help and the only thing he will get from them is a sense of failure, as time and again he is seen as not good enough. Instead of this  continuing folly, get him to speak to someone professional to talk about himself and make it an order and not an option for him to exercise. 

  We have a new Training center and staffing it with employees who deal with the wellbeing of the mind maybe a good thing to do. 

  I am sure if Pearson was still here that aspect would have been taken care of.

  There are margins to be gained by looking outside of football and embracing other methods to enhance your environment. 

Our of interest what evidence to you have pointing  to it being a physiological issue or anything close to PTSD  and with your second post again what evidence to you have on the club not taking responsibility and gearing him up to fail . I only ask because everything  I have heard some of it from Rodgers own mouth it’s all to do with his lack of fitness nothing to do with lack of ability or mental state . 

[sacreblueits442]

10 minutes ago, baldeagle said:

Our of interest what evidence to you have pointing  to it being a physiological issue or anything close to PTSD  and with your second post again what evidence to you have on the club not taking responsibility and gearing him up to fail . I only ask because everything  I have heard some of it from Rodgers own mouth it’s all to do with his lack of fitness nothing to do with lack of ability or mental state . 

...a professional team with a player which neglects their fitness!!!

  How long do you tolerate anything where that lack of the fundamental is overlooked and the potential of that mindset spreading throughout the team. 

  You either nip that in the bud and put him straight, reduce his wages and consign him to the "stiffs" in order to set an example.  Allowing this to continue over such a period only suggest that you have failed to connect with that player.

  If the reason for the lack of fitness comes down to injuries,  then come out and say so, saying he is unfit without an explanation of the overriding reason throws the player under the bus.

  Either way, sending him here and there does not address the problem.

[baldeagle]

You didn’t answer the questions what  eviden

7 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...a professional team with a player which neglects their fitness!!!

  How long do you tolerate anything where that lack of the fundamental is overlooked and the potential of that mindset spreading throughout the team. 

  You either nip that in the bud and put him straight, reduce his wages and consign him to the "stiffs" in order to set an example.  Allowing this to continue over such a period only suggest that you have failed to connect with that player.

  If the reason for the lack of fitness comes down to injuries,  then come out and say so, saying he is unfit without an explanation of the overriding reason throws the player under the bus.

  Either way, sending him here and there does not address the problem.

You didn’t answer my questions. And what makes you think he neglects his fitness . It’s been stated on several occasions that he’s been sent on loan to get playing time and match fitness . Lack of match fitness is different to neglecting fitness . 

[sacreblueits442]

Just now, baldeagle said:

You didn’t answer the questions what  eviden

You didn’t answer my questions. And what makes you think he neglects his fitness . It’s been stated on several occasions that he’s been sent on loan to get playing time and match fitness . Lack of match fitness is different to neglecting fitness . 

.. I  was not saying he has been neglecting his fitness...that was sarcasm in response to the comment relating to his supposed lack of fitness!!!