He is having a bad patch and needs to be taken out for a while but we can’t really do that at the moment.
Saying that if we do have a bit of money in January the first thing I would look to do is bring in a left back.
It doesn’t give me any pleasure in saying it but he is seriously poor. Half decent in a very strong side last year but woeful for weeks this season.
Ben goal scoring hero at Wembley Purrington is struggling since he injured his calf when forced to play because of lack of options at LB. Had a few mares of late but can't remember him looking out of his depth until the injuries piles up in front of him. I said in August that our defence were mainly League 1 who would need to be at the top of their game to compete. Doughty can play wing back but we are so short at the moment that who ever is fit gets picked with no chance of merit coming into the selection.
Sure, couldn't agree more. I mean with our raft of fit, experienced, quality left backs sitting on the bench and in the stands I just don't get why he keeps getting game time
Ben is a committed Charlton player who has put his body on the line and played through illness and injury a lot of the time this season. That has caught up with him both physically and mentally so he is going through a bad patch.
No he's not Chris Powell or Mark Reid but a fit Ben Purrington will always do a job. Given Page having to miss whole seasons where would we be without the willingness of Ben Purrington?
I like ben, 2 bad games recently but he isn't as crap as people make out, I'd have him over page all say long, however I do think we need someone else to push him.
Granted I’ve made a couple of comments on here about him, but I’ll support him for as long as he wears the shirt. However, if we do have money to spend in January, LB / LWB should be one of the first positions we look to improve
Not the time to be digging out players at present - we need to get behind them.
I have never jeered a player at a match but this is a conversational forum
"Time for him to not play again" That is your opinion and some of us think that is harsh despite the consenus believing he is struggling with form since returning from injury and illness.
Not the time to be digging out players at present - we need to get behind them.
I have never jeered a player at a match but this is a conversational forum
"Time for him to not play again" That is your opinion and some of us think that is harsh despite the consenus believing he is struggling with form since returning from injury and illness.
It is harsh, I agree with you. Ben Purrington has proved to be a willing and very able team player in a strong balanced side. But we don't have that right now and his form has fallen away.
Invariably, we've recently been frequently 3-5-2 with wing backs; His strength is also, like Solly, as a flat back 4 full back, not wing back. He just is not as comfortable there.
Some people also forgetting that Purrington has been exposed time and time again because of our young inexperienced makeshift midfield, doubled up on and overloaded by opponents seeing this ....... and his confidence shot to pieces.
He needs to be taken out for a while to recover. Bowyer has already recognised that - but says he hasn't got cover to do it.
Meanwhile, when he plays ....... cheer him, give him your support. He needs it.
Definitely needs a rest and Doughty can play there.
Personally i think he's a decent league one left back and would be ok as occasional left back cover in the championship but not first choice. Left back is definitely an area we should look to strengthen if/when ESI take over.
It doesn't help that there's rarely been any meaningful help in front of him this year - certainly since the injury crisis developed - and he's been overloaded down the wing often.
Equally - he's not that quick, nor is he as good a one-on-one defender as (for instance) Solly. Putting it all together, he looks miles worse than he probably is, while also playing through injury and illness.
So ultimately I'd say Ben is at, or very near, his footballing ceiling, and if we had other options I would want us to explore them. Hopefully we can get by with Doughty as a wing back for a game or two.
Always gonna love the bloke for that goal, though, and he works hard.
A new left back in January will be just what we need, regardless of how well or poorly Ben is playing. Like Bowyer said, he just looks nervous out there at the moment and he needs an arm around him and his teammates to lift him and help him find that form again, unfortunately we are not in a position to carry him through that right now, but we don't have many other options.
Worse than the bad backpass was the wild lunge that could have seen red. When players start doing that for no good reason it's time to take them out of the picture for a bit
It isnt meant to be a criticism when I say Ben is league 1 standard. It’s just a statement of fact. We have Ben, and others, on our books at the moment because we have been forced to shop at Lidl for reasons of which we are all too familiar. Of course he’s struggling in this league because he is simply out of his depth. All the more so because of the factors others have highlighted above with regard to playing through injury, having no support in front of him and the pressures of the situation we find ourselves in through injury etc. The guy will forever have a place in our hearts for that Wembley goal and for a good solid contribution to our promotion heroics. But he should be nowhere near a squad that has championship ambitions. It isn’t scapegoating. Half of our team shouldn’t be playing but circumstances have dictated that they must. They have our support as long as they wear the shirt but on a forum such as this it is fair game to voice reasonable opinions about players and their abilities.
Expect us to continue playing wingbacks for a while so imagine he'll be on the bench with Doughty playing. Probably do him some good to have a break from it.
I'm not sure it's entirely correct to say that Purrington is only a L1 player, as I think he can do a job at this level BUT he is massively out of form/confidence/whatever at the moment
I'm not sure it's entirely correct to say that Purrington is only a L1 player, as I think he can do a job at this level BUT he is massively out of form/confidence/whatever at the moment
This.
Purrington was instrumental in our 'good start.' People have short memories sometimes.
I'm not sure it's entirely correct to say that Purrington is only a L1 player, as I think he can do a job at this level BUT he is massively out of form/confidence/whatever at the moment
this .. pity as he was terrific for us last season .. BUT, that was last season .. jeering and tutting at him will do nothing for his confidence
Ben's a rotational player at this level. He's being forced to play more often than he should be because of our injury situation/squad limitations whilst clearly being nowhere near 100% himself. He deserves a lot more slack than some on here are giving him.
I'm not sure it's entirely correct to say that Purrington is only a L1 player, as I think he can do a job at this level BUT he is massively out of form/confidence/whatever at the moment
This.
Purrington was instrumental in our 'good start.' People have short memories sometimes.
TBH, i dont think he was that instrumental. It was primarily coz of the lightning starts made by Lyle,Josh and Conor. Be interesting to look at LL's stats.
EDIT: As suspected, Purrington has an average of 6.15 after the Hull game- the lowest of all the players marked. After collecting a couple of marks in the 7's for first 2 games, his marks have seemingly got progrssively worse- and, i suspect, after Saturdays game could drop into the 5's.
Listened to, or read a poignant interview in the last couple of days, for the life of me, can't remember who. The crux was that when playing, they didn't fear career ending injury but loss of form, being no longer able to beat a player, and not know if was temporary or permanent. Think that is where Ben is now.
TBH, if LB wants to play with wing-backs, then Purr and Solly (sadly) are not the solution. Im quite surprised that Oshilaja hasnt been more prominent at right wing back, as the time he did play there against Stoke, i think, or maybe Forest, he was very good. But we def need a LB and CB (Dan Burn would be nice), however, i like Doughty, think he is going to be a very good player- and he could well do a very good job for us in that role in the future.
I'm not sure it's entirely correct to say that Purrington is only a L1 player, as I think he can do a job at this level BUT he is massively out of form/confidence/whatever at the moment
This.
Purrington was instrumental in our 'good start.' People have short memories sometimes.
TBH, i dont think he was that instrumental. It was primarily coz of the lightning starts made by Lyle,Josh and Conor. Be interesting to look at LL's stats.
EDIT: As suspected, Purrington has an average of 6.15 after the Hull game- the lowest of all the players marked. After collecting a couple of marks in the 7's for first 2 games, his marks have seemingly got progrssively worse- and, i suspect, after Saturdays game could drop into the 5's.
No it won't mate under LL's rules because he wasn't on the pitch long enough to be marked.
Earlier this afternoon his "Likes" included a Palace fan tweet asking "Who is laughing now" after we got relegated
Ben has since this evening tweeted saying someone from Newbury gained access to his account in the last hour and did it on his behalf
Just in case anyone saw the inital tweet and was ready to be pissed with him
Don’t think I ever stopped laughing at Palace. I was kind of hoping they would make the Europa League as would have love to seen them get slapped across Europe after coming across legitimate ultras instead of teenagers.
Earlier this afternoon his "Likes" included a Palace fan tweet asking "Who is laughing now" after we got relegated
Ben has since this evening tweeted saying someone from Newbury gained access to his account in the last hour and did it on his behalf
Just in case anyone saw the inital tweet and was ready to be pissed with him
Don’t think I ever stopped laughing at Palace. I was kind of hoping they would make the Europa League as would have love to seen them get slapped across Europe after coming across legitimate ultras instead of teenagers.
Couldn't agree more. The 'who's laughing now?' thing has always seemed stupid to me. Who's laughing? Me, still. Whenever I think of the fact that Charlton relegated Palace in the 82nd minute of the final game of the PL season off a goal from a youth academy centre half in a game that wouldn't affect Charlton's season in any way I laugh. Because it's hilarious. Sure, there's plenty for them to laugh at us about now, but I'm still chuckling about that day.
Comments
Ben goal scoring hero at Wembley Purrington is struggling since he injured his calf when forced to play because of lack of options at LB. Had a few mares of late but can't remember him looking out of his depth until the injuries piles up in front of him.
I said in August that our defence were mainly League 1 who would need to be at the top of their game to compete.
Doughty can play wing back but we are so short at the moment that who ever is fit gets picked with no chance of merit coming into the selection.
No he's not Chris Powell or Mark Reid but a fit Ben Purrington will always do a job. Given Page having to miss whole seasons where would we be without the willingness of Ben Purrington?
He needs our support not our criticism.
Team for Boxing Day; Phillips - Lockyer Pearce Sarr - Matthews Pratley Morgan Gallagher Doughty - Bonne Taylor
Given the current injury situation being over critical is probably not a great idea.
That is your opinion and some of us think that is harsh despite the consenus believing he is struggling with form since returning from injury and illness.
Invariably, we've recently been frequently 3-5-2 with wing backs;
His strength is also, like Solly, as a flat back 4 full back, not wing back. He just is not as comfortable there.
Some people also forgetting that Purrington has been exposed time and time again because of our young inexperienced makeshift midfield, doubled up on and overloaded by opponents seeing this ....... and his confidence shot to pieces.
He needs to be taken out for a while to recover.
Bowyer has already recognised that - but says he hasn't got cover to do it.
Meanwhile, when he plays ....... cheer him, give him your support. He needs it.
Personally i think he's a decent league one left back and would be ok as occasional left back cover in the championship but not first choice. Left back is definitely an area we should look to strengthen if/when ESI take over.
Equally - he's not that quick, nor is he as good a one-on-one defender as (for instance) Solly. Putting it all together, he looks miles worse than he probably is, while also playing through injury and illness.
So ultimately I'd say Ben is at, or very near, his footballing ceiling, and if we had other options I would want us to explore them. Hopefully we can get by with Doughty as a wing back for a game or two.
Always gonna love the bloke for that goal, though, and he works hard.
Purrington was instrumental in our 'good start.' People have short memories sometimes.
Be interesting to look at LL's stats.
EDIT: As suspected, Purrington has an average of 6.15 after the Hull game- the lowest of all the players marked. After collecting a couple of marks in the 7's for first 2 games, his marks have seemingly got progrssively worse- and, i suspect, after Saturdays game could drop into the 5's.
But we def need a LB and CB (Dan Burn would be nice), however, i like Doughty, think he is going to be a very good player- and he could well do a very good job for us in that role in the future.
Earlier this afternoon his "Likes" included a Palace fan tweet asking "Who is laughing now" after we got relegated
Ben has since this evening tweeted saying someone from Newbury gained access to his account in the last hour and did it on his behalf
Just in case anyone saw the inital tweet and was ready to be pissed with him