rlb999
We want 4 stands!
I’m always amused that when a good quality kid comes through our youth set up that some fans immediately confuse “he could play at a higher level” with “he’ll play for England one day”. I’ve only seen 1 Southend player in my time as a fan that I thought was SO clearly out of place at our level that he could ‘go all the way’ and I’ll be lucky to see another Stan Collymore in my lifetime.
Bentley has lots of potential and an ego so big that he’ll get over any setbacks - not a bad thing to have. He’s comfortable in the championship at a lower club but he needs to eradicate mistakes from his game if he’s going much higher. Even if he does manage this, he’s facing an up hill battle because he’s a goalkeeper - there’s very few opportunities at the highest level and plenty of top quality keepers warming the bench at premier league level - Tim Krul is an example. You need luck to get a game and then you need to not get injured so your place gets nicked. Tom Heaton and Nick Pope are good examples - both really good keepers but there’s only room for one of them.
Jack Payne is a crowd pleaser and has done the right thing by ensuring he’s playing every week rather than sitting in Huddersfields stand. He’s good at this level, but was in and out of the team in the championship. The question is whether he can get himself up to that level and play regularly. He’s certainly not premier league standard.
The thing to remember is that we argue about Bentley and Payne but it could be someone else who makes it to the top of the tree. There was general agreement on these forums that Simon Francis couldn’t defend - who would have thought he’d be holding his own as a premier league centre half and captaining his side? There’s hope for them all!
Bentley has lots of potential and an ego so big that he’ll get over any setbacks - not a bad thing to have. He’s comfortable in the championship at a lower club but he needs to eradicate mistakes from his game if he’s going much higher. Even if he does manage this, he’s facing an up hill battle because he’s a goalkeeper - there’s very few opportunities at the highest level and plenty of top quality keepers warming the bench at premier league level - Tim Krul is an example. You need luck to get a game and then you need to not get injured so your place gets nicked. Tom Heaton and Nick Pope are good examples - both really good keepers but there’s only room for one of them.
Jack Payne is a crowd pleaser and has done the right thing by ensuring he’s playing every week rather than sitting in Huddersfields stand. He’s good at this level, but was in and out of the team in the championship. The question is whether he can get himself up to that level and play regularly. He’s certainly not premier league standard.
The thing to remember is that we argue about Bentley and Payne but it could be someone else who makes it to the top of the tree. There was general agreement on these forums that Simon Francis couldn’t defend - who would have thought he’d be holding his own as a premier league centre half and captaining his side? There’s hope for them all!