Benson disappointed as Pompey spells ends (From Swindon Advertiser)

If Paul Benson can set his very understandable frustration to one side, the Cheltenham deal is obviously local and may be a good solution for him. Providing his wages are OK?

I would be very confident he can score a good few goals for Cheltenham, just like he did for Swindon last season.

Good luck in whatever happens, a fine player who should not be forgotten for helping seal promotion last year.

Unfortunately Portsmouth are living on the bread line and if Benson wanted to stay there he may have had to pay THEM!
...
Sadly the ideal world doesn't always exist and Benson needs to play regular football as he is a class act in league 2 or a good solid player in league 1.
---.
Come on Benno - forget the issues with the money men and think about you and what you need - Cheltenham would be a good opportunity of another medal!
...
Good luck either way!...and Thank You!

joey butler wrote:
If Paul Benson can set his very understandable frustration to one side, the Cheltenham deal is obviously local and may be a good solution for him. Providing his wages are OK?

I would be very confident he can score a good few goals for Cheltenham, just like he did for Swindon last season.

Good luck in whatever happens, a fine player who should not be forgotten for helping seal promotion last year.

Good post JB,i fully agree with you.

Benson is the ultimate professional and i can understand him not wanting to move his family to Bradford as hes from the south plus a bit of a culture shock going there.

His attitude is totally professional and his committment to the cause is secong to none and i wish him well whatever his decision as he helped us massivley last season and will always be held in high esteem by Swindon fans.

Good luck benson hope all works out for you go to Cheltenham on loan and hope Pompey come back for you next season as they will be playing league two next season. Thanks for all the goals always welcome at sn1.

Yes, Thanks for last season and good luck..

A difficult situation as it's clear we need him off the wage bill but Portsmouth are broke.
*
Let's hope the Cheltenham deal works out, and if a loan they will pay most if not all of his wages. Even if he has to take a cut, he may see it as a better option than not playing here, especially if there's a contract at the end of it - which clearly he won't get here.

I thought Paolo wonted him out and not on loan....
The only way this is going is the same way Risser went...
Well thats what i would do if i was Benson

I agree with all the above, especially JB as Benson does seem to be the "forgotten man".

I also think there is a bit more to this otherwise we would have had an article this morning at or around 6 am as usual.

There have been a few clubs interested in Benson but limited to offers from Bradford and Cheltenham. Southend were strongly rumoured as well earlier in the month.
I do believe any fee received will secure Hollands and Martin here for the rest of the season, hence our managers remarks after the last two games about something happening over the next few days.

I wish Paul the very best of luck.

Shocked why he wanted to stay as they just got rid of four of there best players today.
I'm sure Cheltenham would be a good a move now Swindon born chris zabroski has had his contract torn up, due to not wanting to play against the pox.
Good luck Benno a true pro who gave his all.
Onwards and upwards

Dont see why he is upset, Pompey wanted him for practicaly nothing and we might as well have him back if we are paying his wages, doesn't matter if he wanted to stay at Pompey, if that was the case asked to be released from your Town contract for nothing and join them on a month to month on a third of your current wages...

Is that you Lovesey wrote:
Dont see why he is upset, Pompey wanted him for practicaly nothing and we might as well have him back if we are paying his wages, doesn't matter if he wanted to stay at Pompey, if that was the case asked to be released from your Town contract for nothing and join them on a month to month on a third of your current wages...

Couldn't agree more. He is hardly powerless

Gents, is he looking for a Risser type pay off ??, then a signing on fee with any new club.

The players have ALL the power in football..... This is just an unfortunate sign of the times.

PB was a great player for town last season and would do well with Cheltenham... Doesn't even need to move the family... What isn't to like....? The wages maybe as I guess he's on a far amount with us.... But better a new contract now, rather than nothing in the summer....

Totally agree with town pulling the plug on the Pompey loan... Bet they are paying practically nothing.

Surely the best option for us is to make him put his money where his mouth is - offer to cancel his contract. And I mean cancel, no massive pay off like Risser. If he's desperate to go to back to Pompey then he would be free to do so.

I doubt he would be interested though, as what he really means is he wants to play at Pompey but still with the amount of wages we are paying. Well sorry but if he wants to stay on our wage bill then he has to go to whichever club is best financially for us

So PB was disappointed that we couldn't accomodate his 'freebie' stay any longer at Pompey....
.
This is laughable, and I'm sure it is the sort of situation that infuriates Andrew Black.
.
It questions how much Phil Spencer is in touch with players contracts at our level because it appears that nobody else can afford our reserves at League 1 level, and we are talking about players who we signed for league 2.

If Benno loved his time at Pompey so much, and wanted to stay, then he should haveagreed to rip uphis town contract and play for them for whatever wage was availlable.
.
Trouble is we have now set a precedent with Risser and Benno will be the next in a long line of rejects to want full payment for leaving.
.
I only hope that he accepts the Cheltenham offer and that can hopefully allow us to keep Hollands and Martin until the end of May.
.
Its time to shed the excess baggage without having to pay the penalty charges, and perhaps seek agent fees compensation from Phil Spencer for early contract termination.

You have to question the advice players are being given. Benson seems like a decent, straightforward chap with his head screwed on. But holding out for a bigpayoff (and missing game time at his age) is pretty dumb anyway you view it. Hope he sees sense

One player that if returned with another club would get a standing ovation.......
The Cherry on the cake last season.

A slight change of subject chaps but something I was going to mention Sunday.Given how bad the conditions were on Saturday, were they better or worse than the conditions leading up to the cancelled games recently ? It goes to show in my mind how determined the ref was to do the game and prevent a fixture back log. By all accounts the ref was decent, but it beggars the question, how much influence do some clubs put on the ref about the conditions to get the game cancelled because they have an injury list. This weekend because of ground frost over what is likely to be several days I can see a legitimacy in a few games being cancelled, but for rain, in the days of drainage systems etc, is there a decent excuse ?

Guess Benno wants to play at L1 level but Pompey the only club who want him at that level and have no money.

Bradford offer looks a good one to me although maybe he doesn't want to step on Connells toes who can't get a game. I'm sure the Connell - Benson partnership will win a few games, even if their other striker, Wells is it?, is probably first choice.

Whatever happens as JB and others have said, top striker who won't be forgotton here in a hurry.

wizard- the ref was shocking on saturday should have sent one of their players off and should have booked several but looked as though he forgot his cards,

Im sure the orient and colchester games could have been played and i reckon they had a friendly ref as they are both having a bad patch and wanted the games cancelled.

LeGod wrote:
wizard- the ref was shocking on saturday should have sent one of their players off and should have booked several but looked as though he forgot his cards,

Im sure the orient and colchester games could have been played and i reckon they had a friendly ref as they are both having a bad patch and wanted the games cancelled.

Thanks for that, I was unaware on the ref, but the weather on Saturday was worse than before the two cancelled games but the players won through. I accept your point on the ref, but he did extend half time to get get the game completed, so I'll give him something for that.

Haydonender wrote:
Surely the best option for us is to make him put his money where his mouth is - offer to cancel his contract. And I mean cancel, no massive pay off like Risser. If he's desperate to go to back to Pompey then he would be free to do so. I doubt he would be interested though, as what he really means is he wants to play at Pompey but still with the amount of wages we are paying. Well sorry but if he wants to stay on our wage bill then he has to go to whichever club is best financially for us

If he wants to stay on our wage bill then he has to go to whichever club is best financially for us

It dont work that way as STFC were the club that gave PB the contract in the first place...

IF Benson was to say no im not going out on loan or im not going to a club were i will get less wages there is nothing we can do..

He has every right to just stay at Swindon until his contract runs out

Benson is an absolute gem and PDC acknowledges this. The club have moved faster than the players in terms of ability to perform. However, I would prefer we respect the players we have and so far have done so. If Martin goes back it will be a shame but I would prefer this than dis respect a terrific person in benson who is a privilege to his profession.

Some of the comments on here are very unfair to a true professional, and based on huge assumptions. This guy played his heart out every game last year and wherever he goes he can hold his head up high.
The club are pretty good at playing cards close to their chest at a time of much detailed negotiation... what the media are told and happily print as gospel is simply part of that poker game.... so far we have signed or extended the players we want to keep and begun the process of offloading others. You don't buy a car at the first price quoted and I doubt there will be many excess personnel still hanging around come 31st January....

DarrenSTFCRomain wrote:

Haydonender wrote: Surely the best option for us is to make him put his money where his mouth is - offer to cancel his contract. And I mean cancel, no massive pay off like Risser. If he's desperate to go to back to Pompey then he would be free to do so. I doubt he would be interested though, as what he really means is he wants to play at Pompey but still with the amount of wages we are paying. Well sorry but if he wants to stay on our wage bill then he has to go to whichever club is best financially for us

If he wants to stay on our wage bill then he has to go to whichever club is best financially for us It dont work that way as STFC were the club that gave PB the contract in the first place... IF Benson was to say no im not going out on loan or im not going to a club were i will get less wages there is nothing we can do.. He has every right to just stay at Swindon until his contract runs out

Bang on Daz. As far as we know, he would have been happy to stay with us anyway. It was said last season that the only way to get players to sign was to give them a decent length contract, i.e. a bit of security. The club can't have it both ways - tempt the player with a good contract and then try to wriggle out of it. Good luck to the bloke.

NORTH STAND wrote:
Some of the comments on here are very unfair to a true professional, and based on huge assumptions. This guy played his heart out every game last year and wherever he goes he can hold his head up high. The club are pretty good at playing cards close to their chest at a time of much detailed negotiation... what the media are told and happily print as gospel is simply part of that poker game.... so far we have signed or extended the players we want to keep and begun the process of offloading others. You don't buy a car at the first price quoted and I doubt there will be many excess personnel still hanging around come 31st January....

If I may say so, NS - well said! It will all be sorted out one way or another, and if Benson gets his contract paid up in full (which I doubt will happen) it would be no more than he deserves.

DarrenSTFCRomain wrote:

Haydonender wrote:
Surely the best option for us is to make him put his money where his mouth is - offer to cancel his contract. And I mean cancel, no massive pay off like Risser. If he's desperate to go to back to Pompey then he would be free to do so. I doubt he would be interested though, as what he really means is he wants to play at Pompey but still with the amount of wages we are paying. Well sorry but if he wants to stay on our wage bill then he has to go to whichever club is best financially for us

If he wants to stay on our wage bill then he has to go to whichever club is best financially for us

It dont work that way as STFC were the club that gave PB the contract in the first place...

IF Benson was to say no im not going out on loan or im not going to a club were i will get less wages there is nothing we can do..

He has every right to just stay at Swindon until his contract runs out

Agree he doesn't have to go on loan if he doesn't want to but just meant that we have the final say on who we accept loan offers from i.e. we aren't giving him the option of going back to Portsmouth, we are just saying if you want to go out on loan then you are going to Cheltenham because there's is a better offer for us

A lot of what has happened with Paul Benson brings the integrity and loyalty of PDC and The Board into doubt.

You cannot give a player a contract, be grateful when he contributes a major part to getting promoted, but then discard him when you feel like it.

Somewhere down the road, a player will take us to a tribunal for such actions, which will be very expensive and waste even more money.

I hope Benson does sign for Cheltenham and gets them promoted with his goals, just like he did with us!!

Paul was super for us last seasons, his goals were the deferent’s between promotion and champions. Who could forget his first goal for town, the winner against Wigan in the FA cup (right place, right time I know).

I do think that Cheltenham would be a better move than Pompey. They maybe league 1 but are looking down, why go to a club who are looking odds on for the drop.

Whereas Cheltenham are at the top end of league 2 looking up, again Benson could be the deferent’s between promotion and play offs for Cheltenham (or even champions at a push), of course it’s closer as well.

No brainer for me. Best of luck whatever you decide Paul !

joey butler wrote:
A lot of what has happened with Paul Benson brings the integrity and loyalty of PDC and The Board into doubt.

You cannot give a player a contract, be grateful when he contributes a major part to getting promoted, but then discard him when you feel like it.

Somewhere down the road, a player will take us to a tribunal for such actions, which will be very expensive and waste even more money.

I hope Benson does sign for Cheltenham and gets them promoted with his goals, just like he did with us!!

Good post.

Not sure I fully understand the details of his contract and also accept that it is up to the Manager to pick his squad.

That said, Benno has always been a true pro, a proven gaol scorer and a big factor in out recent development.

Good luck Benno.

Why not pick him at least for the bench
he may like to advertise his skills for \paolo!!!!!!!!!

joey butler wrote:
A lot of what has happened with Paul Benson brings the integrity and loyalty of PDC and The Board into doubt.

You cannot give a player a contract, be grateful when he contributes a major part to getting promoted, but then discard him when you feel like it.

Somewhere down the road, a player will take us to a tribunal for such actions, which will be very expensive and waste even more money.

I hope Benson does sign for Cheltenham and gets them promoted with his goals, just like he did with us!!

Disagree - Contracts are breached by players and clubs.
The fact that a Club has a player under contract and the player wants out brings in a transfer fee.

Why would it go to tribunal ? - Player could sit in the stands and not be selected. Quite within the players right to simply stay put and collect his wages. However you would have thought that most players want to actually play football thus they would look at options elsewhere.

Swindon are doing nothing wrong. Manager feels the player is not capable of delivering in Div 1 and giving him opportunity to move on (note the players age). I have to agree we have better players to cut it in Div 1.

As for Benno, done us proud last year and a great pro hence I hope he finds another Club and delivers.

Sorry Joey but my priority is STFC and our future and thus I am with PDC all the way here and the Board supporting him.

the wizard wrote:

LeGod wrote:
wizard- the ref was shocking on saturday should have sent one of their players off and should have booked several but looked as though he forgot his cards,

Im sure the orient and colchester games could have been played and i reckon they had a friendly ref as they are both having a bad patch and wanted the games cancelled.

Thanks for that, I was unaware on the ref, but the weather on Saturday was worse than before the two cancelled games but the players won through. I accept your point on the ref, but he did extend half time to get get the game completed, so I'll give him something for that.

Wizard the ref does deserve credit for getting the game completed but as Le god says he wasn't great in his handling of the game. Given that even the Tarmac paths around the stadium and car parks were under water it is a wonder the game finished.
However it is also fair to say that I didn't really notice the ball actually stopping between passes although it certainly slowed down and the players adjusted well to the conditions when playing the ball. Got a feeling if the forecast for fri/sat is right then we won't be seeing a game on Saturday :(

TheDukeOfBanbury wrote:

joey butler wrote: A lot of what has happened with Paul Benson brings the integrity and loyalty of PDC and The Board into doubt. You cannot give a player a contract, be grateful when he contributes a major part to getting promoted, but then discard him when you feel like it. Somewhere down the road, a player will take us to a tribunal for such actions, which will be very expensive and waste even more money. I hope Benson does sign for Cheltenham and gets them promoted with his goals, just like he did with us!!

Disagree - Contracts are breached by players and clubs. The fact that a Club has a player under contract and the player wants out brings in a transfer fee. Why would it go to tribunal ? - Player could sit in the stands and not be selected. Quite within the players right to simply stay put and collect his wages. However you would have thought that most players want to actually play football thus they would look at options elsewhere. Swindon are doing nothing wrong. Manager feels the player is not capable of delivering in Div 1 and giving him opportunity to move on (note the players age). I have to agree we have better players to cut it in Div 1. As for Benno, done us proud last year and a great pro hence I hope he finds another Club and delivers. Sorry Joey but my priority is STFC and our future and thus I am with PDC all the way here and the Board supporting him.

Duke, shouldn't we have thought about the player's age and ability when we gave him the contract? I don't think Benson has ever said he wants to leave us, so isn't the onus on the club to honour his contract or pay it up in full? What is right and what is good for STFC might not be the same things. Of course I would like us to come out of it well financially but not at the expense of a player who gave his all for us and wanted to carry on doing so (as far as I know). What would it say to other potential signings if we are seen as a club that hangs good professionals out to dry well before their contracts are finished?

Well feel for the player is not part of the current squad.Has been a faithfull servant to the club,however for the Town to pay Pompey a bigger % of his wages aint on if them or any other club want him surely an agreement must be reached.
I do hope for PB and th club this is resolved.
Changing subject is the game still on Sat ??????

joey butler wrote:
A lot of what has happened with Paul Benson brings the integrity and loyalty of PDC and The Board into doubt.

You cannot give a player a contract, be grateful when he contributes a major part to getting promoted, but then discard him when you feel like it.

Somewhere down the road, a player will take us to a tribunal for such actions, which will be very expensive and waste even more money.

I hope Benson does sign for Cheltenham and gets them promoted with his goals, just like he did with us!!

Joey,

When we let Benno go on loan to Pompey, as you quitr rightly said it was in our interest to keep the player match fit as he wasn't being considered as a contender to be involved with us at the time. I was there for his last appearance and I thought he did OK, but after Paolo's match comments it was clear he was not nolonger in his future plans.

Contrary to your opinion that we discarded him unfairly, it's the managers decision which players he thinks will do a job for him, Benson was not in his plans going forward and IMHO we did him and Pompey a huge favour by letting him go there without them paying anything substantial to his salary. I see this as STFC giving support to another club that has found itself in trouble. Unfortunately we are in a bad situation ourselves by letting him play for them for practicly nothing whilst we have to lower our own wage bill, so sentiment is no longer a option, We have to get Benson off the wage bill to allow Holland and Martin to stay, end of hopefully benson understands he has no future in staying here and at his age should be looking at any club prepared to offer hin a two year contract

Are we the first team to ever try and move a player on in January?
.
By some of the comments you would think so!
.
Lets not forget Charlton were in a very similar position to us last year and had Benson on their books and moved him on to us!
.
The only thing potentially questionable is the 2 1/2 year deal - maybe it should have been 18 months
.
As it has been said numerous times sometimes longer deals are needed to get the signature (ie Bradford were doing the same!)
.
It was certainly the right decision as PB was vital in helping us secure promotion let alone the title
.
Lets not forget he was also in PdC plans up until about October - and it was only due to performances this year that he slipped down the pecking order
.
That's not a sign of disloyalty that's football!
.
Otherwise you will never progress
.
I have no issues with us saying no to low contributions either and only accepting deals which pay more - after all we are a business not a charity
.
However, we must accept (which I think the club do) that PB also has a say and just because X make an offer doesn't mean he should have to take it
.
Also some of the comments aimed at PB are totally disrespectful and uncalled for
.
What has he actually done wrong?
.
He said he was enjoying his loan and wanted to see it out and would like to extend it if possible (didn't Martin and Hollands say the same thing about us?)
.
He then said he didn't feel Bradford was right for him or his family - fair enough
.
So what is wrong with that?
.
PB if he ever returns will always get an applause from me
.
Model pro who gave his all - it's just unfortunately his all is not at our level anymore
.
Now I a partial pay-off is need to pave the way to Cheltenham so be it - we offered the deal so need to make good by it
.
However that should only be a top up to parity - not full wages only for him to hen get more elsewhere on top

Oi Den! wrote:

TheDukeOfBanbury wrote:

joey butler wrote: A lot of what has happened with Paul Benson brings the integrity and loyalty of PDC and The Board into doubt. You cannot give a player a contract, be grateful when he contributes a major part to getting promoted, but then discard him when you feel like it. Somewhere down the road, a player will take us to a tribunal for such actions, which will be very expensive and waste even more money. I hope Benson does sign for Cheltenham and gets them promoted with his goals, just like he did with us!!

Disagree - Contracts are breached by players and clubs. The fact that a Club has a player under contract and the player wants out brings in a transfer fee. Why would it go to tribunal ? - Player could sit in the stands and not be selected. Quite within the players right to simply stay put and collect his wages. However you would have thought that most players want to actually play football thus they would look at options elsewhere. Swindon are doing nothing wrong. Manager feels the player is not capable of delivering in Div 1 and giving him opportunity to move on (note the players age). I have to agree we have better players to cut it in Div 1. As for Benno, done us proud last year and a great pro hence I hope he finds another Club and delivers. Sorry Joey but my priority is STFC and our future and thus I am with PDC all the way here and the Board supporting him.

Duke, shouldn't we have thought about the player's age and ability when we gave him the contract? I don't think Benson has ever said he wants to leave us, so isn't the onus on the club to honour his contract or pay it up in full? What is right and what is good for STFC might not be the same things. Of course I would like us to come out of it well financially but not at the expense of a player who gave his all for us and wanted to carry on doing so (as far as I know). What would it say to other potential signings if we are seen as a club that hangs good professionals out to dry well before their contracts are finished?

The thing is would he have signed with a shorter deal and if we failed to get out of the division would he have been kept on this season ?

I guess we will never know this.
Players are always transfer listed, sold on or contracts paid up with clubs progressing.

We are lucky seeing this at the present time.

Could not argue against Benno in this just simply a result of the circumstances.
PDC admires him for sure but needs better players which got us out of Div2

Benno - Can only praise him for everything he did last season.