Daniel Bentley ...... Time for a change ????

[Just Who Is the 5 O'Clock Hero]

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I think that dan is a great shot stopper , but he has cost us so many goals this season through bad judgement , yeah he has the potential to be a good goalkeeper but he is still young for a keeper and still has a lot to learn ,but his confidence / inexperience has cost us even going back as far as Newport away when he rushed out of his area unneccesarily and cost us a goal ,and this is happening more and more , for me I think it's time for a change and would play Paul Smith
Maybe his head has been turned by all this good enough to play for England bullocks , but his concentration and consistency throughout a whole match seems to be all over the place at times , Smith got crucified last season for a lot less than Bentley's inconsistency , I know that we have a lot more problems within the team and I am not blaming it all on Bentley , but if we are gonna improve our poor run then surely a change throughout the whole team is needed and if we are giving away needless goals through individual errors then they should also be changed which Bentley seems to be making them more and more often , maybe a change will bring him back to reality and realise that ALL players can be replaced through bad mistakes as they indeed should !!!

 

[wiggy]

I really don't think Brown is capable of making a big decision like this. He should be changed as he is costing us most weeks but bu ll*** Bill will only say he is going to make changes in the press and then do nothing. Paul CLark pre match had it spot on, the opposition know exactly how we play with the same old players as Phil is stuck in a December timewarp!

 

[davewebbsbrain]

The last thing we need is Smith behind the current back four. What we need is Prosser back, a bit of stability at the back

 

[mgh]

I think that dan is a great shot stopper , but he has cost us so many goals this season through bad judgement , yeah he has the potential to be a good goalkeeper but he is still young for a keeper and still has a lot to learn ,but his confidence / inexperience has cost us even going back as far as Newport away when he rushed out of his area unneccesarily and cost us a goal ,and this is happening more and more , for me I think it's time for a change and would play Paul Smith
Maybe his head has been turned by all this good enough to play for England bullocks , but his concentration and consistency throughout a whole match seems to be all over the place at times , Smith got crucified last season for a lot less than Bentley's inconsistency , I know that we have a lot more problems within the team and I am not blaming it all on Bentley , but if we are gonna improve our poor run then surely a change throughout the whole team is needed and if we are giving away needless goals through individual errors then they should also be changed which Bentley seems to be making them more and more often , maybe a change will bring him back to reality and realise that ALL players can be replaced through bad mistakes as they indeed should !!!

out of all the issues with the team at the moment, the keeper is probably only second to left full back as being the LEAST of them.
Bentley may have cost a couple of points with mistakes this season (and opinion is even split from yesterday as to whose fault it was) but he has won us many times more with some amazing saves, particularly one-on-one.
As I said elsewhere, ALL players in League 2 makes mistakes, or else they'd be in the Premiership.Of course, when it's keepers it's more noticeable, but he has made no more mistakes on crosses than any other keeper I've seen at Roots Hall this season.
The major issue for Dan is the defence he is playing behind; without Prosser there is less solidity, so any keeper would be more unsure, especially on crosses. I'm sure once we have White-Egan-Prosser-Coker playing regularly, things will be back to normal...

And of course, a team only scoring one goal a game is lacking in other areas...

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

Oh dear........to this thread

 

[shrimperjon]

out of all the issues with the team at the moment, the keeper is probably only second to left full back as being the LEAST of them.
Bentley may have cost a couple of points with mistakes this season (and opinion is even split from yesterday as to whose fault it was) but he has won us many times more with some amazing saves, particularly one-on-one.
As I said elsewhere, ALL players in League 2 makes mistakes, or else they'd be in the Premiership.Of course, when it's keepers it's more noticeable, but he has made no more mistakes on crosses than any other keeper I've seen at Roots Hall this season.
The major issue for Dan is the defence he is playing behind; without Prosser there is less solidity, so any keeper would be more unsure, especially on crosses. I'm sure once we have White-Egan-Prosser-Coker playing regularly, things will be back to normal...

And of course, a team only scoring one goal a game is lacking in other areas...

He has cost us more than a couple of points and it's no good making great saves but then making a howler. Smith was hounded for this type of thing last season.

 

[shrimperton]

He has cost us more than a couple of points and it's no good making great saves but then making a howler. Smith was hounded for this type of thing last season.

Bentley is by far the better keeper but he has the fans backing which Smith never got, Smith has been dealt with harshly by some on here, even the game at Orient where he was a brick wall in the area final he got slated on here, but then it goes to prove that some fans on here play in the Sunday league & think they are Alex Ferguson!

 

[OldBlueLady]

There is something fundamentally wrong in defence at the moment, whether it's just missing Prosser's superb marshalling and organisation or not, I don't know. I do think it might just be worth giving Smith a game on Tuesday, just to give Bentley a bit of a break and to maybe watch the defence in action.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

There is something fundamentally wrong in defence at the moment, whether it's just missing Prosser's superb marshalling and organisation or not, I don't know. I do think it might just be worth giving Smith a game on Tuesday, just to give Bentley a bit of a break and to maybe watch the defence in action.

Against Scunthorpe who as in top form. Really?

 

[WESTY_SUFC]

So it's Bentleys fault the other 10 in front of him have been poor for a month now. I always wondered why?

 

[OldBlueLady]

So it's Bentleys fault the other 10 in front of him have been poor for a month now. I always wondered why?

I'm not blaming him really, just think he doesn't have the confidence in them, and his lack of experience is affecting his judgement a bit. Smithy's experience might well be the right thing at this time and for this game as he won't give a toss about the defence, and just get on with doing HIS job on the day.

 

[Jcd]

People are so quick to jump to Bentley's defence. I think he is a very good keeper,yes, but he has cost us goals over this period, that is undeniable. Mansfield, Kick vs Exeter, Should have claimed the cross vs Northampton and the disaster yesterday.

I don't think he's been any worse than the others out there, but as we all know goalkeepers mistakes are always in the spotlight.

 

[Big Bad Barry Corr]

Change Bentley? What a great idea eh? Replace him with a keeper intensely disliked by the fans who took absolute delight in crucifying him following his dreadful display v Dagenham and Redbridge in the Johnstone's Paint Cup. Something which will undoubtedly happen again following the first sign of Smith making a mistake if he ever plays in the first team again.


I cannot even begin to think how anybody would even contemplate that this would be something that would be in anybodies best interests?

 

[BrettieAngell]

I really don't think Brown is capable of making a big decision like this. He should be changed as he is costing us most weeks but bu ll*** Bill will only say he is going to make changes in the press and then do nothing. Paul CLark pre match had it spot on, the opposition know exactly how we play with the same old players as Phil is stuck in a December timewarp!

What should he do then, put your mate Smith back in goal?

 

[onceknownasrab]

All good teams are based on a solid defence. Often when the back line is right it matters a great deal less who is between the sticks as they have less to do and receive greater cover. Bringing this bad run to an end is going to happen all the quicker when the defence starts getting it right again for sure but then that also brings in the midfielders who are covering the defence.

The glaring problem in this side is simple. The midfield has too few options in front of it and that means invariably the ball is coming back with interest added and the defence are under pressure again.

Our midfield is pretty good at this level but can often be made to look ordinary because of what happens in the final third. Yes Hurst has bagged a few goals but nobody expected that many and the other midfielders are producing too few between them. At the end of the day we expect the midfield to break up play, control the pace, retain possession, create opportunities and SCORE. Why? Because they do not have a striker in front of them.

Corr does his best granted but he is not up top enough and thats where we need the kind of player noted for goals which our midfielders are not. This results in little or no outlet for the midfielders and the loss of penetration. Barnard's strengths are not being played to so he looks like a mug when really we do not want Cor and Barney on the pitch at the same time. Both players would like to be the focus of forward balls and would benefit from having some pace alongside them.

When the team has done fantastically well, which our team did, I can accept where the manager does not want to change things when a poor run starts. Maybe for three or four games. But after the length of poor run we have endured it takes a numbskull to persist with a team that on paper should be winning but clearly can't. Something is wrong, something has to give and at this juncture I can only believe that PB has got to put his a**e in gear and accept that his selections are letting him down and so it is time to stop picking people that will only let you down.

 

[Teenage-shrimper]

Bentley may have cost us a few goals this season due to his lack of experience but what you are forgetting is that he has also saved us points with some really good and some outstanding saves this season. Its easier to notice mistakes but you need also need to notice when he does well to give him a fair judgement in which in my opinion you are not.

Dropping him for Smith is counter-productive seeing as he is one the most nervous keepers out there and always looks like he is going to make a mistake except for the one game against Brentford which to give credit was one of the best displays i've personally seen from a goalkeeper but it was a one off and has had an extreme lack of match practice this season.

Bentley shouldn't be the one being criticised and saying he should be replaced with Smith in my opinion is ridiculous, it is a team effort as to why we are through this poor run of form. Lacklustre defending and a severe lack of attacking threat in recent weeks is to blame. Every player at this moment in time is going through a poor bit of form. Remember this is the same goalkeeper that was keeping those clean sheets during our good run of form as well.

 

[rlb999]

Smith will get slated by the crowd as soon as he goes anywhere near the ball, so putting him back in isn't really an option. It's a shame - I think a couple of games on the bench would do Bentley no harm so could re-focus and come back a better player. It never hurt David De Gea.

 

[Harry Bullocks]

Ted Smith....or Paul Smith ??

How long before Mr Prosser's expected back......

History has taught me that Southend United never like to do things in a straightforward manner....we are duty bound to ride the roller-coaster until the Burton game..

 

[Jcd]

Smith will get slated by the crowd as soon as he goes anywhere near the ball, so putting him back in isn't really an option. It's a shame - I think a couple of games on the bench would do Bentley no harm so could re-focus and come back a better player. It never hurt David De Gea.

This.
Think a few games out of the spotlight would be good but as you say we aren't in a position to be able to do that.

 

[spoons]

Bentley is having the spotlight on him as we cast around for people to blame. He cost the goal yesterday and in other games but he keeps us in games with his ability. He has limitations due to inexperience sure but the defending needs to be by the whole team not just our backs. The midfield need to start putting a shift in particularly Timlin. Some have said the midfield lack options due to Corr and Barnards lack of form but the biggest option of all is to hold the ball and wait for a good pass even if we have to play it sideways at times. Browns lack of experience at this level is also beginning to show now and I admit I never rated him as a saviour and he surprised me for the first half of the season but having serious doubts now.