In everyone's favourite rag :-)
To be a substitute is a nightmare situation for any footballer. I've been lucky enough to start regularly for both Dagenham and Charlton in the last four-and-a-half years but now I haven't started a game since 3 January and I want to be playing football.
When you're in the manager's first-choice XI, you've got something there at the end of your training week whereas in this situation you're training but you know there's no end product.
On Thursdays, you know whether you're in the team or not because there's a practice game involving the first team against the players out of the side.
In my position, you just have to train that extra bit harder to prove that you should be in the side.
People mention going to speak to the manager but it is more difficult to do that if the team are winning - as we are at the moment. If I was in the team at the moment, I'd hope to carry on playing because we've won three on the bounce.
So I can't really blame our new manager, Chris Powell (right), for not being in the side.
Instead, I've got to look at doing enough in training to get into his plans.
Sometimes you just need that little twist of fate to go in your favour - and you're away. In 2005-06, my first season at Dagenham, I'd play one game and be out the next, just stop-start all the way through the season.
It looked as though it would be the same situation the following year but I came on as a sub and scored in a game at Aldershot early in the season.
The player who had been starting in my position, Cliff Akurang, couldn't play in the next match because he was ill, so I started and I scored again.
The following game, I played ahead of Cliff and I made it three goals in three games - and pretty much stayed in the team from then on until I left Dagenham last summer.
Had Cliff not been ill, I'm pretty sure he'd have stayed in the team, I'd have stayed on the bench and who knows what might have happened?
So while I'd never wish injury or illness on any team-mate, I know how quickly things can change and I have to be ready if something does happen so I can take my chance as I did before.
My team-mates have all been great since I've been out of the side. I drive in to training with Johnnie Jackson and Alan McCormack, both of whom have been telling me to keep doing what I was doing in training when I was in the team and scoring goals.
I also sat next to Christian Dailly, who played in the 1998 World Cup for Scotland, on the coach on the way to Yeovil last Saturday. He stressed the importance of not giving up in training because that's when it will start to go wrong.
I've never been like that anyway and I'm not about to start. Hopefully things will turn around soon.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23922118-being-benched-is-no-substitute-for-a-place-in-the-team.do 
Comments
And then if there is an injury, possible young Eccleston will get the nod over him, anyway.
From being Parkinson's first choice, Benson is now possibly Powell's fourth choice and the only thing he can console himself with is that Pawel Abbott must be even more fed up.
And the simple fact is that - whether it has got anything to do with Benno or is simply down to Powell and the raised confidence levels of other players - the team is playing better without him than it was with him.
Would recommend he focusses on that in training - if he can make an impact in a 20 min sub appearance, that might help his cause.
Individually:
1. Dailly
2. Benson
3. Abbott
4. Doc
Teams you give:
Abbott and Benson. I think the margin of Doc's slowness over those two outweighs the margin of Dailly's quickness over them.
However whether I'm right or wrong it is a pretty sorry indictment that we even need to discuss the probability that 3 professionals of 30 ish are appreciably slower than a 37 going on 38 year old, even one as fit as Dailly.
If this is the case then i'm sure he keeps up his fitness levels doing that on top of his dail(l)y training with the squad.
Yes there was an article about him in a programme which said that.
That is more or less what CP was saying about llerra and Abbot and sure it applies to all members of the squad. They know if they don't perform when they get their chance then they don't stay in the team.
Injury, suspension, loss of form, fatigue, tactics ......or just to ring the changes, that 1st choice eleven is bound to get holes in it.
As Benno himself says, "I know how quickly things can change and I have to be ready....".
Applies to the other squad players too.
And of course he has to stay patient and be ready if and when the call comes. But it must be hard for him and I do understand his frustration. He's 31 year old , he was a late starter and this is only his fourth season in league football. He's desperate to be playing every week. He has less time to be patient than a young kid like Eccleston, so when he describes being on the bench as a ''nightmare'' , I can see where he is coming from.
Plus he was the last manager's number one target during the summer and first choice striker until five weeks ago. Now under a new manager he's third or even fourth choice - and to make it even more frustrating, that's in large part because he got suspended at exactly the wrong time. If he'd been available for Powell's first game he would surely have played and would, no doubt, still be in the team.
It's a tough game sometimes and he has my sympathy.
He'll just have to wait his chance.
SCP seems to know that he wants pace up front (inc Waggy) so maybe Benno will be limited to those 20 min appearances / all hands on deck moments in games.
I see you have BWP who is scoring for fun atm, Anyinsah who I thought was a cracking player when we met at the Valley earlier in the season and Eccleston who seems to be more more favoured than Benno amongst you guys. Plus he scored a good goal against Plymouth was it? Maybe he could do a bit more with a starting role.
I know you need good back up for your promotion charge, but hey, Abbott can do that for you? He's no stranger to the football league, nor is Benno and I find it weird how a stiker with 8 league goals can't get in your team now but he was unfortunate with the suspension an new gaffer arriving etc etc. Let us have Benno back, we can stay up, and you have BWP, JA ,NE, and Pawel who can send you up!?
Good luck and looking forward to seeing you guys at our place! Preferrably with the club legend playing for the home team ;-)
Personally i like Benson and if played in the right postion (basically a goal poacher) i think he will be very affective for us. Under Parkinson i think he was asked to do too much, when he should just be a goalscorer. Which even Benson admits was the case. He will be a valuable person to have in the squad and i do think he will get his chance again. I actually quite like reading his column, its quite informative and gives a human side to footballers.
Eccleston i think deserves a longer run than 15 minutes at the end of the games. He is very fast, very keen and has good control. Although i don't believe that either BWP or Anyinsah deserve to be dropped just to accomodate either player. Both of them need to take their chances when they come and they will come.
I personally think Eccleston's pace against a leaky Peterborough defence would be awesome tomorrow. The problem is Peterborough although leak a lot of goals score shedloads. Our defence will need to be on their toes tomorrow big time. 1-0 will be scary score through the game for either team.
Reminds me of an interview a few years ago with Shelvey when he mentioned that it was great having Matt Holland to help him as he scored a goal in the World Cup
Powell is making the right choice at the minute though so Benson's got to improve if he wants that starting place.
CP seems to want to bud a top league 1 side and whilst Benno is effective I'm not convinced he's good enough for top of l1 or championship football.
He's a good poacher - but so is BWP and he also bring pace and trickery to the team.
Benno is a squad player and his recent appearances haven't changed that view
You obviously didn't see the one BWP missed against Yeovil, last Saturday.........!