Ben Old (AS Saint-Étienne | France)
Inconsistency is common with youth but I felt he was better than that. So I’m pleased that there’s a legitimate reason for it rather than being a flash in the pan. Wish him well.
Phoenix midfielder playing through injury since Christmas | Stuff https://t.co/XkrvNrRz4y
— Phillip Rollo (@ByPhillipRollo) February 6, 2024
Hopefully once Salas is available, he can get the rest he needs.
Flight of the Conchords syndrome.
— Jacob Spoonley (@JacobSpoonley) March 5, 2024
pic.twitter.com/S4cALsl8y8
Flight of the Conchords syndrome.
— Jacob Spoonley (@JacobSpoonley) March 5, 2024
pic.twitter.com/S4cALsl8y8
My newly found favourite guy here in QLD (father of school friend of my twins) is incredibly self-deprecating. At English/Irish, or NZ levels. But you are right it's rare in Australia. The brutal un PC put down, the more common humour take.
Australia's version of comedy news show "Have You Been Paying Attention" (the original) is a no holds barred, not much off limits effort. The show's host (Tom Gleisner - Working Dog Productions) goes back a long way in Australian comedy. For sure if it was in NZ, alot of it would be censored. Melanie Bracewell, Guy Montomery, Ray O'Leary, Urzila Carlson & Hayley Sproull are often on the Aussie version. Ray an easy target. I'm sure they notice the difference.
The much loved, brilliant John Clarke (RIP & considered by many the best comic ever based in Aussie) made Kiwi comics popular in Oztraylia. Maybe Palmy North's best ever export. Sorry off topic
As we well know, the Phoenix have several outstanding youngsters in their squad. But there are three in particular: Ben Old, Alex Paulsen, and Finn Surman. Throwing it back to the mission statement of the Welly Nix Academy, those are the three guys with immediate potential to draw transfer fees from European clubs. Others have the capacity to get there with a couple more seasons under their belts, but these three are already there. Whether they stay another year or two or three, that’s up to them and how patient they want to be. But you can absolutely guarantee that foreign scouts have their names written down already.
Here’s a stat for you: There are nine players born in 2002 or later who have played at least 1300 minutes this season (as of the date of publishing here) and three of those players are from the Wellington Phoenix. Ben Old actually isn’t one of them, due to all the substitute appearances he made at the start of the season while they were managing his fitness, but he’s fast on his way having started nine of the past 13 matches, firmly establishing himself as a key player in his team’s quest for the Premiership.
Giancarlo Italiano: “I think he’s growing every week. The reason why I used him for ninety [vs Adelaide], I’m trying to build his fitness up. Hes been injured for so long, we’ve had to manage that quite extensively. Our physio Cory Glover’s done an excellent job with him. For me, he’s going to be a vital player in our push to create a really good season. He’s the sort of player who needs a little bit of love but he also needs the space and the set-up around him to bring his best attributes out. That’s running with the ball, taking players on, having good players in front of him to combine.”
The other thing that The Chief said about Old is that he’s “such an exciting prospect that you’ll only see how good he is until he leaves and goes overseas”. The same can be said of Alex Paulsen and Finn Surman, to be fair. There’s a bubble around the A-League, especially with homegrown players, which makes it hard to envisage their place in the wider world... until they get there and suddenly the distance doesn’t seem so far. The last few years have seen a surge in younger A-League players finding their way to Europe which has given us a much clearer idea of where the A-League sits globally.
I assume this is good for Oldy? https://t.co/hJQEoYAV4r
— RR (@Ryans_Rovers) April 5, 2024
He had some good chances yesterday to off load and set up others but just kept on running.... to nowhere.
Get that out of his game and he will be absolute class by kiwi standards.
I assume this is good for Oldy? https://t.co/hJQEoYAV4r
— RR (@Ryans_Rovers) April 5, 2024
And Pennington and Rufer better than average too!
Macarthur FC have agreed an undisclosed fee with Coventry City for Raphael Borges Rodriguez, who will leave for the UK imminently to put pen to paper on a multi-year deal. [ftbl]https://t.co/Sd4glwOEUr
— A-League Hub (@AleagueHub) May 22, 2024
Age 20, 38 ALM games, 6 goals. 4 goals this breakout season at MAC.
Biggest player transfer MAC have had in their short existence?
Old good enough to go to The Championship?
Age 21, 71 ALM games, 7 goals . 5 goals in this his breakout season.
Anyone know what Ben Old's passport situation is? I would think NZ's low FIFA rank would be the biggest hurdle for a move to the UK.
Ben Old (2002) clear about his desire to head to Europe. He absolutely deserves a move - he’s had an outstanding season.
— AussieScout (@scout_aussie) May 24, 2024
Ben Old (2002) clear about his desire to head to Europe. He absolutely deserves a move - he’s had an outstanding season.
— AussieScout (@scout_aussie) May 24, 2024
According to transfermarkt they don’t have any out and put left wingers signed for next season yet. Their star LW Andres Schjelderup is on loan from Benfica.
They seem to be the best performing club after the heavyweights FCK, Brøndby and Midtjylland and it’s where Malia Steinmetz plays.
Midtjylland could also be an option though with the Reid and Kraev connections.
*GBE CRITERIA UPDATE*
— Andy Watson (@andywatsonsport) May 25, 2024
🇦🇺 has been added to Band 5.
What does this mean?
Players who want to move from the A League to England can now be accepted on an ESC slot, but probably not GBE
It also means that managers & coaches can be recruited directly as long as other criteria met
This might help Ben Old get a UK move. Between the Olympics and OFC Nations Cup, he should rack up the 5 competitive appearances needed for a country with a FIFA rank outside the Top 50.
According to transfermarkt they don’t have any out and put left wingers signed for next season yet. Their star LW Andres Schjelderup is on loan from Benfica.
They seem to be the best performing club after the heavyweights FCK, Brøndby and Midtjylland and it’s where Malia Steinmetz plays.
Midtjylland could also be an option though with the Reid and Kraev connections.
I actually think with the trajectory he's on he's better off playing another season or two in NZ/Australia and then going straight into the top leagues of Europe skipping Scandinavia all together.
He has the potential to play at the very top I think.
So Old should be sweet to sign for an English team, if any are interested.
He gets a mention in this article https://analyticsfc.co.uk/blog/2024/05/30/scouting-the-a-league-a-new-competition-opened-up-by-gbe-changes/
https://us.soccerway.com/national/france/ligue-2/20232024/regular-season/r77539/
Whilst Foley's Lorient (2nd last in Ligue 1) were relegated. Probably means Paulsen won't be being loaned to Lorient with them dropping a division.
Anyway that's the 2nd reasonable rumour about Old (after a Danish club story), so looks a good chance he will be moving on. I think Surman is even more likely to go, given his contract expires in 12 months, and the Nix will want a return on him.
CBs are a renewal. They need people shifted on or on the way out. They are often considered a foundation transfer. It’s rarer for someone to pick up a CB as the cherry on top for their squad. They’re the first position you look at and very thought through I’d say…
That said I think Ben Old should have and has been attracting attention for a considerable amount of time!