Players who didnt work out at Eastleigh

[Paul Satts]

http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=68462

 It never ceases to amaze me that some players come to a club, in this case/story Chris Flood came to Eastleigh from QPR, had a trial and trained with us etc, but never broke into the first team & didnt even look that good in the Reserve team, So didnt show enough for the manager to sign them/him. But then within weeks they go to a club in a higher league do very well and their career goes upwards?

What does this tell us:-
1) They just couldnt be bothered to knuckle down at the lower club, in this case Eastleigh
2) They try harder at a higher club because the wages are higher..?
3) Training full time has huge benefits (rather obvious, but doesnt always work that way)?
4) The manager/coaches dont know how to spot the lads talent?
5) The coaches dont know how to get the best out of the player?

[josefc]

4 and 5 on two many occation.

[Paul Satts]

Hmm maybe your right Paul.
I remember that alot of fans were commenting at the time that he was a bloody good player on reputation, and people had seen him at QPR e.t.c., but i have to say in our managers defence, i never saw anything in him either & i saw him for our reserves a few times too. Strange that he can get into a side that are higher up the footballing pyramid than we are, but couldn't get a look in here.

Here's something else to ponder...How many of our current squad do you feel would hold down a starting 11 place in your average Conference Premier side?
I'll go for 4:-
1)  Jason Matthews
2)  Chris Holland (have only seen him once, but given he woul dhave been first choice if he stayed at Bath City, then hes in)
3)  Anthony Riviere
4)  Richard Gillespie

[josefc]

Matthews no chance IMO Maybe a few yrs ago

[MichaelEFC]

Not entirely convinced any of those could. The best bet for the coming season would be Gilly.

[RendelFC]

Matthews did a few years ago for Weymouth!

Its a complicated subject you raise Paul depending on lots of factors.

I reckon you could take some league 1 or 2 players that wouldn't hold down a place in a BSS side and probably take some BSS players that wouldn't look out of place in a league 1 or 2 side.

Is say a player like Jo Tessem (played a fair few games in the prem) a better more skillfull player than (dare I say it) Andy Forbes was at his peak? I'm not so sure!

 

[Paul Satts]

 Good point Rendel and one i complately agree with. So a huge chunk of it is luck really, being right place and right time and having a manager fancy you when know one else does. Doesnt really mean the manager is right or wrong, unless the player plays regularly and they win something or get promoted with him in the side.
  Ashley Carew was another enigma for me, Played pro for Barnet, although how he got into their side as a Right back is beyond me, i never saw him make a tackle when he was with us!  But he did have some talent that we saw on occasions, but have to say was a player i would never have in my side. Too lazy and not a team player and wasnt genius enough to allow him a free role, in my opinion.

[josefc]

Richards the right back was a great player who was with saints.but the manager didn't rate him.
Marshall was a shock to me when he went to Swindon "I" didn't rate him.not much of a team player

[RendelFC]

Does/did Frances Benali have more talent than say Luke Byles?

In another sitaution could Byles have been the player playing 300+ prem games and Benali been a non leaguer throughout his whole career?

I don't know - just asking the question!

[Paul Satts]

 I never saw Benali at Eastleigh, but i know 99% of you all say he was awful.
I think Luke is a League 1 player at least and with full time training and Premiership or Championship coaches he could move up. He still has time to improve aswell, as I think he's only in his early/mid 20's, so he still stands a chance of making it as a Pro, if he gets back here & starts playing again  .
I dont think i've ever seen him have a bad game, if i were giving marks he's a 9/10 week in week out and that kind of consistancy doesnt go unnoticed by the scouts.

[josefc]

I don't think anyone saw Benali play for EFC which was so disappointing.

[Loud & Proud]

I don't think anyone saw Benali play for EFC which was so disappointing.

How right you are mate.

Nice bloke tho

[MichaelEFC]

It was shocking, truly shocking.

[enzee199]

Could have been 'cause he was out of condition or just the type of football played at the level didn't really suit. I remember seeing Le Tiss turning out for Eastleigh and apart from hitting the bar with a free kick was totally anonymous.

[MichaelEFC]

Le Tiss was unbelievably unfit. he played one really good game for us against Whitchurch; they were a team who were very slow and he was able to play football because they gave him space to play. Le Tiss was proof, if proof be needed, that if you aren't fit you aren't going to impact on a match. Benali was fit (as fit as a butchers dog if you believed Dosswell), but he couldn't pass a ball to save his life, he had no positional awareness at all, and even the basics like trapping a ball were beyond him. Even to this day I am baffled by what we saw from Benali, some things are just meant to be beyond comprehension.

[RendelFC]

Its quite a thought with Le Tiss as he was only 33 when he played for us and  it was in the Wessex league  (3 levels below where are now). Shows you how quickly players can lose fitness and also that you need to be pretty damn fit to play semi pro football (if anyone doubted that!).

Although he was clearly unfit (despite playing in the prem a year or two earlier) I believe he did show some glimpses of brilliance for us and scored 3 goals.

[enzee199]

Poor old Franny, and as someone else has said you never hear a bad word about him either. I heard once from someone who said they had experience of playing with him that he was 'like Pele compared to us' us being in that case an ex  junior saint. Think Franny was also an England schoolboys striker as well. I saw him a lot at Saints back in the day and he didn't ever look like Pele but he ran and ran and was 100% dedicated to the cause.

I think a lot of it is systems. The system saints played gave Matty maximum protection, played to his strengths and made up for any deficits in his game. Maybe that's why he stayed there so long. As the best player by far they would be stupid not to tailor their whole system to him. Would a bigger club have done this? Maybe not for long. It's the same issue with England players who do well in their clubs system but struggle in a different system when they turn out for their country.

When I saw Matty at Eastleigh (V Newport I.O.W) I don't think he had the support on the pitch he had from the team at Saints and the cut and thrust didn't suit him, plus the opposition raised their game against him. I think he was only being a nice guy and doing someone a favour by bringing in the crowds anyway so it wasn't ever particularly serious.  The funniest thing about the game was when Matty was substituted and the Newport keeper turned to the crowd and said "you can all f-off home now"

[Paul Satts]

I've just read that Crawley paid Salisbury £10,000 for Chris Flood aswell..... Nice business for Salisbury, they only had him a few months!