Wish him the best of luck with this move if it is a done deal, would love to see him crack on and become a regular starter in France. Has so much potential to be a crazy exciting player.
Hello - St-Etienne Fan here - We would be glad to see Ben Old joining our team although we don't really know what to expect. However, he would get quite an amazing experience playing here, we have the craziest stadium and fans in France. We just came back to ligue 1, and we got a new investor (L.Tannenbaum) from Toroto, Canada who owns the majors licence of Toronto (Mapple leafs of NHL, Raptors from NBA...), he posted Ivan Gazidis ex-CEO of Arsenal FC and AC Milan as a new President. Joined by some data specialists from Arsenal they're planing to bring back the team to the top of Europe as it used to be in the 70's / 80's
I'm adding few video below for you guys ! All the best ! :)
Hello - St-Etienne Fan here - We would be glad to see Ben Old joining our team although we don't really know what to expect. However, he would get quite an amazing experience playing here, we have the craziest stadium and fans in France. We just came back to ligue 1, and we got a new investor (L.Tannenbaum) from Toroto, Canada who owns the majors licence of Toronto (Mapple leafs of NHL, Raptors from NBA...), he posted Ivan Gazidis ex-CEO of Arsenal FC and AC Milan as a new President. Joined by some data specialists from Arsenal they're planing to bring back the team to the top of Europe as it used to be in the 70's / 80's
I'm adding few video below for you guys ! All the best ! :)
Firstly, welcome, and thanks for the run down on St Etienne. Hopefully we'll see a bit more of you on here. 😀
Secondly, hopefully you lot aren't going to keep him from Olympic selection.
What sort of run down can you give us on the St Etienne squad by the way? Players that Ben Old will be competing against for minutes, what sort of system does the St Etienne team play etc. Just interested to see how our lad is going to fit in to the setup is all.
I reckon with Old leaving we'll see more of Mat Sheridan. I only remember him getting serious minutes once but he seemed similar to old ie. fast up the field, good dribbling and had some good crosses. main difference was Mat played up the right (obviously since he's a right back and Old's a left winger). So we could potentially see him filling the shoes of Ben Old.
"He is a unique talent, with his pace, close control and ability to beat players, with Michael McGarry the only comparable Kiwi player from the modern era."
Interesting comment - What about Rojas in his prime? Surely fits into that mould.
Can only assume Pine wanted to show his age or rather stop people from France looking up Rojas’s career in Europe and thinking wtf. With Mcgarry he could be pretty safe.
McGarry was not the same type of player as Old. Completely different style of play and strengths
Think OVH has a lot of potential, just hasn't had the best luck or regular opportunities to showcase his abilities. Hope to see him get some regular game time at the start of the season to see what he's capable of.
OVH imo seems to be missing 1 clear stand out attribute to be our next quality youth.
Quick, but not that quick. OK with the ball, but no likely to beat multiple players, isn't a finisher, not great in the air despite some size... decent cross and work rate.
i think the intended distinction between Rojas and Old & McGarry was probably the pace. Rojas isn't slow but Old & McGarry are a bit more explosive off the mark when it comes to raw speed Ninja
RR
All Whites and Wellington Phoenix midfielder Ben Old set for huge move to French Ligue 1 club St Etienne via @mikeburgess99 https://t.co/5cxlWc0T4L
"He is a unique talent, with his pace, close control and ability to beat players, with Michael McGarry the only comparable Kiwi player from the modern era."
Interesting comment - What about Rojas in his prime? Surely fits into that mould.
OVH imo seems to be missing 1 clear stand out attribute to be our next quality youth.
Quick, but not that quick. OK with the ball, but no likely to beat multiple players, isn't a finisher, not great in the air despite some size... decent cross and work rate.
Can only assume Pine wanted to show his age or rather stop people from France looking up Rojas’s career in Europe and thinking wtf. With Mcgarry he could be pretty safe.
McGarry was not the same type of player as Old. Completely different style of play and strengths
Old is moving at a different stage (compared to an 18 yr Tuiloma), with 74 A-League games behind him, along with seven All Whites appearances. His form last season – with five goals and four assists - along with many other telling interventions sparked interest from numerous clubs, as his analytics and output couldn’t be ignored. It’s understood there have been enquiries from clubs in England (Championship and League One), Denmark, Holland and the United States (MLS).
St Etienne have a storied history. They have been champions of France on 10 occasions (the last time in 1981) and they also reached the 1976 European Cup final, while Michel Platini is among their former players.
Just promoted back to Ligue 1, the club is seen as a sleeping giant. They have recently been taken over by Kilmer Sports Ventures, the huge conglomerate behind Toronto FC, the Toronto Raptors (NBA) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL). That move installed former Arsenal and AC Milan chief executive Ivan Gazidis as club president, indicative of their lofty ambitions, while legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is also involved in the project.
Sources in France indicated St Etienne have been tracking Old for some time, searching for a winger with his characteristics. While it will be a significant step up from the A-League, they obviously feel he can make the grade. There will be a settling-in period but Old will be expected to get game time from the first season.
He is a unique talent, with his pace, close control and ability to beat players, with Michael McGarry the only comparable Kiwi player from the modern era. There will be physical, tactical and technical adaptation needed, while it will also be challenging off the field, as only two players in the current St Etienne don’t have French as their first language, while the coach and most of his staff are also Francophones.
Old is currently in Vanuatu, one of the standouts for the All Whites in their run to the Oceania Nations Cup final, where they will face the home side on Sunday (4pm).
”It’s been an amazing experience,” Old told the Herald. “It’s a completely new challenge – I hadn’t been to the Islands since the Under-17 World Cup qualifiers [in 2018]. I’m learning a lot as a player and being able to get more game time than usual is amazing.”
Wenger is not directly involved in the project - Apparently it's just that he created the connexion between Saint-Etienne former heads and Gazidis / Tannenbaum. He doesn't has any specific role as far as we know in the new chart of St-Etienne teamcoochiee
Old is moving at a different stage (compared to an 18 yr Tuiloma), with 74 A-League games behind him, along with seven All Whites appearances. His form last season – with five goals and four assists - along with many other telling interventions sparked interest from numerous clubs, as his analytics and output couldn’t be ignored. It’s understood there have been enquiries from clubs in England (Championship and League One), Denmark, Holland and the United States (MLS).
St Etienne have a storied history. They have been champions of France on 10 occasions (the last time in 1981) and they also reached the 1976 European Cup final, while Michel Platini is among their former players.
Just promoted back to Ligue 1, the club is seen as a sleeping giant. They have recently been taken over by Kilmer Sports Ventures, the huge conglomerate behind Toronto FC, the Toronto Raptors (NBA) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL). That move installed former Arsenal and AC Milan chief executive Ivan Gazidis as club president, indicative of their lofty ambitions, while legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is also involved in the project.
Sources in France indicated St Etienne have been tracking Old for some time, searching for a winger with his characteristics. While it will be a significant step up from the A-League, they obviously feel he can make the grade. There will be a settling-in period but Old will be expected to get game time from the first season.
He is a unique talent, with his pace, close control and ability to beat players, with Michael McGarry the only comparable Kiwi player from the modern era. There will be physical, tactical and technical adaptation needed, while it will also be challenging off the field, as only two players in the current St Etienne don’t have French as their first language, while the coach and most of his staff are also Francophones.
Old is currently in Vanuatu, one of the standouts for the All Whites in their run to the Oceania Nations Cup final, where they will face the home side on Sunday (4pm).
”It’s been an amazing experience,” Old told the Herald. “It’s a completely new challenge – I hadn’t been to the Islands since the Under-17 World Cup qualifiers [in 2018]. I’m learning a lot as a player and being able to get more game time than usual is amazing.”
We are building a team capable to secure our position in first league. We will officially get a new center back on Monday named Y.Adbelhamid, well known veteran player of league 1. Ben Old should be next (?).
We do not know exactly how much money do we have for the forthcoming transfer window, however the goals within the next 5 years is to make sure we are capable to come back on European competitions.
I guess B.Old comes to replace numerically the departure from the academy of the young Maxence Rivera, who just left for 2 division team (Dunkerque). BTW St.Etienne is always on top 5 academy in France - We build the career of players such as : B.Gomis, W.Saliba, W.Fofana, K.Zouma, A.Saint-Maximin... We had numerous great talents that became famous in St.Etienne : Aubameyang, Matuidi, Payet...
Hello - St-Etienne Fan here - We would be glad to see Ben Old joining our team although we don't really know what to expect. However, he would get quite an amazing experience playing here, we have the craziest stadium and fans in France. We just came back to ligue 1, and we got a new investor (L.Tannenbaum) from Toroto, Canada who owns the majors licence of Toronto (Mapple leafs of NHL, Raptors from NBA...), he posted Ivan Gazidis ex-CEO of Arsenal FC and AC Milan as a new President. Joined by some data specialists from Arsenal they're planing to bring back the team to the top of Europe as it used to be in the 70's / 80's
I'm adding few video below for you guys ! All the best ! :)
Firstly, welcome, and thanks for the run down on St Etienne. Hopefully we'll see a bit more of you on here. 😀
Secondly, hopefully you lot aren't going to keep him from Olympic selection.
What sort of run down can you give us on the St Etienne squad by the way? Players that Ben Old will be competing against for minutes, what sort of system does the St Etienne team play etc. Just interested to see how our lad is going to fit in to the setup is all.
I wonder if there would be merit in Sutton moving into Old's role and LKH playing LB. Sutton, like so many other Nix alumni was a converted attacking player but I reckon he has a lot of similar traits to old that could be better used further forward. Not necessarily like for like as Old is more dynamic but certainly similar...
Asked – hypothetically – how he would feel about playing in France and dealing with a significant language barrier, compared to England, Northern Europe or the MLS, Old was unequivocal.
”It will be definitely a new challenge if that’s the route I take,” said Old. “But I really like the challenge aspect of going somewhere where they don’t speak English and hopefully being able to learn another language, which is something I’d love to do. And often the football does the talking. Although it would be difficult with the lifestyle, if I can play well with my football, everything else would fall into place.”
He has also been inspired by the recent transfers of Phoenix teammate and close friend Paulsen, along with All Whites contemporary Stamenic.
”It shows that the pathways are there,” said Old. “They are looking in the A-League and that if you work hard and perform well, then anything’s possible. It’s very, very motivating because in the past, it obviously feels like we’re so far away from everyone being in New Zealand.”
I like the move for Ben Old (and probably the club too) but selfishly I was hoping he would stay around for another season. I feel like he never really scored a screamer for us and now he never will... Definitely looked like he had the potential when he lost a few players and struck it on goal
"I feel like he never really scored a screamer for us...." Let me refresh your memory then :-) https://www.facebook.com/WellingtonPhoenixFC/videos/ben-old-goal-vs-adelaide-united/7275159729245185/
I like the move for Ben Old (and probably the club too) but selfishly I was hoping he would stay around for another season. I feel like he never really scored a screamer for us and now he never will... Definitely looked like he had the potential when he lost a few players and struck it on goal
"I feel like he never really scored a screamer for us...." Let me refresh your memory then :-) https://www.facebook.com/WellingtonPhoenixFC/videos/ben-old-goal-vs-adelaide-united/7275159729245185/
Don't get me wrong, thats a great goal but just not the style that I was expecting or hoping. I thought we were going to see him at one stage beat 2 or 3 defenders and bang it past the keeper from a tight angle.
Banging it in from outside the the box is more Sutton-esque
