Benkovic

[moore_94]

30 minutes ago, buzzer_b said:

Sounds like a possibility if he’s had a serious injury and has never been the same player since.

He was supposedly injury prone in Croatia before he joined us

 

Had the ankle injury at Celtic in March 2019

 

Had a further issue with that ankle in June 2019 with Croatia

 

First half of 19/20 season he was in and out of our under 23s, then did okay at Bristol City 2nd half of the season but had a slight issue with his knee when he first joined them

 

Had a hip injury September 2020, joined Cardiff on loan in the October where he continued to have fitness issues, completely unused by Leuven the 2nd half of the season

 

Now been out recently with illness/covid

 

No doubt there have probably been other small injuries when he has been in and out of our under 23s over the years as well

[justfoxes]

On 26/12/2021 at 17:41, adam said:

Can we just play him so we can see how bad he is. 

I honestly feel sorry for Benko he’s had a rough ride here his confidence must be as low as Jimmy Carrs humour, when at Celtic he was touted as being a quality defender then the sh1 T hit the fan and couldn’t defend for toffee so Why ?

what’s happened to a player we thought was going to be quality a player that was going to be a regular CB do we give him a few games whilst we’re struggling to fill a CB place or is he such a liability we can’t trust him either way can we afford not to give him a chance at proving himself?

[car1os]

If he’s wary of getting injured he’ll pull out of tackles and not put his body in a place where it might get hurt. Not saying players should be kamikaze in the way they play, but if he holds back (due to his mentality) he won’t be an effective defender. I wonder if this is the issue

Edited 29 December 2021 by car1os

[sacreblueits442]

1 hour ago, buzzer_b said:

But Brendan must rate him because didn’t he take him to Celtic when he was in charge there? I’m sure he was doing a decent job too. If he’s shit then I’m sure he would of been sold ages ago.

....a plethora of injuries has reduced him to a broken cookie!!!

  No discernable game time and poor judgement by our backroom staff has led to a player not fit long enough to evaluate.

  He really is not good enough or fit enough to compete in any level of the game, he needs to look elsewhere for the next stage of his life.

[iancognito]

39 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

He was supposedly injury prone in Croatia before he joined us

 

Had the ankle injury at Celtic in March 2019

 

Had a further issue with that ankle in June 2019 with Croatia

 

First half of 19/20 season he was in and out of our under 23s, then did okay at Bristol City 2nd half of the season but had a slight issue with his knee when he first joined them

 

Had a hip injury September 2020, joined Cardiff on loan in the October where he continued to have fitness issues, completely unused by Leuven the 2nd half of the season

 

Now been out recently with illness/covid

 

No doubt there have probably been other small injuries when he has been in and out of our under 23s over the years as well

We can probably discount this as nothing more than not being wanted by the coach. Kingy said in an interview that him, Benko and a couple of the young lads loaned to Leuven were simply not wanted by the coach because he saw them as Top's signings that didn't fit with his plan. Four of them played a total of about 20 minutes in 6 months apparently.

If he genuinely isn't going to play we should just pay up his contract and get shot of him. Every so often there's a player like this and it never has a happy ending.

[moore_94]

1 hour ago, iancognito said:

We can probably discount this as nothing more than not being wanted by the coach. Kingy said in an interview that him, Benko and a couple of the young lads loaned to Leuven were simply not wanted by the coach because he saw them as Top's signings that didn't fit with his plan. Four of them played a total of about 20 minutes in 6 months apparently.

If he genuinely isn't going to play we should just pay up his contract and get shot of him. Every so often there's a player like this and it never has a happy ending.

Oh yeah it was definitely because the Leuven manager didn’t even want him, been still wanted to include that he went there and didn’t play any football again for another 5 months or so

[Aus Fox]

1 hour ago, sacreblueits442 said:

....a plethora of injuries has reduced him to a broken cookie!!!

  No discernable game time and poor judgement by our backroom staff has led to a player not fit long enough to evaluate.

  He really is not good enough or fit enough to compete in any level of the game, he needs to look elsewhere for the next stage of his life.

Not sure what our back room staff have got to do with his injuries? As others have said, he was injury prone before he got here. He been given 4 loans, Celtic, Cardiff, Bristol City and OHL where other than the first half a season at Celtic he hasn’t cemented a first team spot.

He is clearly a decent player, full Croatian international, Celtic fans loved him when he was on the pitch and even Bristol City fans said he was great when he played, they couldn’t understand why he didn’t play more often.

It’s a bizarre case of a player who just doesn’t seem to be able to get himself fit enough to play.

[sacreblueits442]

1 minute ago, Aus Fox said:

Not sure what our back room staff have got to do with his injuries? As others have said, he was injury prone before he got here. He been given 4 loans, Celtic, Cardiff, Bristol City and OHL where other than the first half a season at Celtic he hasn’t cemented a first team spot.

He is clearly a decent player, full Croatian international, Celtic fans loved him when he was on the pitch and even Bristol City fans said he was great when he played, they couldn’t understand why he didn’t play more often.

It’s a bizarre case of a player who just doesn’t seem to be able to get himself fit enough to play.

....the reference to the backroom staff was in relation to the loans made, knowing that he was not in a mental or physical condition!!!

His time at Celtic was very highly praised, his subsequent injury has led to the present situation he now finds himself.

[Sly]

He’s been hanging out with AJ. 

[iancognito]

The biggest shame of it all is that if we could get him reasonably fit it would be the proverbial "new signing" situation. It's just bizarre to think that we signed him and Soyuncu as back ups to Huth, Morgan & Maguire (presumably expecting to sell Maguire after his England exploits a season before we actually did) and he's still here over 3 years later having barely kicked a ball for us with all 3 of them long since left/retired. Cags was supposed to be the one we took a risk on because he didn't speak a word of English!

[An Sionnach]

All these supposed problems between Benko and Rodgers need to be put to one side. He is an experienced CB and we must use him . Anyway if he puts in decent performances it will add value.

[HybridFox]

If he isn't in the matchday squad at the weekend he might as well be sold in January or even released from his contract. 

 

You can't justify keeping someone on the books when in a serious injury crisis, players in other positions and youth players are ahead in the pecking order.

 

Especially in a cup game, where rotation is expected.

Edited 4 January 2022 by TK95

[sacreblueits442]

1 hour ago, TK95 said:

If he isn't in the matchday squad at the weekend he might as well be sold in January or even released from his contract. 

 

You can't justify keeping someone on the books when in a serious injury crisis, players in other positions and youth players are ahead in the pecking order.

 

Especially in a cup game, where rotation is expected.

...I  suspect he will be in the squad, but that has happened on numerous occasions!!!

[Viva]

On 29/12/2021 at 20:56, buzzer_b said:

Obviously but I wouldn’t of thought he’s that bad that a club wouldn’t gamble on him, whether a loan or transfer.

Nobody will pay him the salary he is on here. He is also probably 9th choice centre back here, so I don’t think that makes him too attractive for another club to gamble on. 

[Hamilton Fox]

On 30/12/2021 at 01:05, Sly said:

He’s been hanging out with AJ. 

AJ seen more of him than we have 

[Hamilton Fox]

Last time I saw him play was in the cup against Wigan I think and thought he did really well, think he got injured again at the time which sums up his time here. If he’s fit I’d play him on sat as last chance saloon game

[Sly]

I believe he caught COVID recently, that’s why he hasn’t featured during our injury crisis. 
 

Where he caught it though is a mother question, as no one has seen him for months. 

[turlo]

 

Blackwell said he's planning to bring this up during Fridays press conference with Rodgers.

 

 

[moore_94]

On 05/08/2021 at 11:55, filbertway said:

Huge ask to be fair, but Liverpool managed it. They actually looked like a proper team when they played their players in their correct positions. if we sign someone short term to plug the gap then fair play. I'd rather play Benko or Nelson as CB than Amartey or Ndidi though. Liverpool played 2 players that had recently been playing for Bolton and Kidderminster and looked a lot better as a team than when they kept playing Henderson/Fabinho at the back.

Edited 4 January 2022 by moore_94

[An Sionnach]

I think its time Rodgers comes clean on this as Benko's contract probably stops him from speaking out. There has been too much speculation among the fans and we should be told the truth.

[sacreblueits442]

1 minute ago, An Sionnach said:

I think its time Rodgers comes clean on this as Benko's contract probably stops him from speaking out. There has been too much speculation among the fans and we should be told the truth.

....the only problem is that telling the truth perhaps prevents a sale!!!

If we are parading him on the bench, we are effectively saying he is part of our team and available to play. If arbitration is required then his appearances on our bench puts things in our favour.

  Perhaps throwing him on to the pitch would be confirmation that he is not worth what we would be potentially asking as a transfer fee and we want to get the best deal that we can.

[filbertway]

36 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

FAKE NEWS!!!

[An Sionnach]

10 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

....the only problem is that telling the truth perhaps prevents a sale!!!

If we are parading him on the bench, we are effectively saying he is part of our team and available to play. If arbitration is required then his appearances on our bench puts things in our favour.

  Perhaps throwing him on to the pitch would be confirmation that he is not worth what we would be potentially asking as a transfer fee and we want to get the best deal that we can.

Some fair points there ,but for me a prospective buyer would want to see him action. I  have yet to see any specific evidence that he is a poor player so I don't see why  he is not being played.

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

There’s been a few players we’ve signed down the years to a fanfare who have then barely played.

 

Hossein Kaebi springs to mind. I remember John Pantsil barely playing. Any others?

Edited 4 January 2022 by Wasyls Pec Deck

[sacreblueits442]

1 minute ago, An Sionnach said:

Some fair points there ,but for me a prospective buyer would want to see him action. I  have yet to see any specific evidence that he is a poor player so I don't see why  he is not being played.

....we really cannot afford to give confirmation of his limitations!!!

My personal view is that he is not robust enough for games, his level is now so low that he is over powered and out thought by 18 year olds, and just about copes in these instances. He is mentally not up to playing and is very much aware of the physicality which comes with the game, he is going to struggle playing the game in future and he needs to be honest with himself that this is not somewhere he really wants to be.

  Out of him and Soyuncu prior to coming in, I would have opted for him to be the more successful.