Forest give Bennett the thumbs up

We talk to Vital Nottingham Forest writer Kev to get the lowdown on new(ish) signing Julian Bennett. Take it away, Kev...

When Gary Megson brought Julian Bennett from Walsall to the City Ground in 2006, he was essentially a centre back, but he quickly established himself as first choice left back for the Reds.

He became something of a terrace favourite, due to his uncompromising style and never say die attitude to the game. The one thing that Wednesday fans will notice straight away, is he gives 100% effort, for 90 minutes of every game.

Bennett is an attacking wingback and loves to get forward whenever he can. He's capable of beating his man and delivering good balls into the box, when and where it counts. He also possesses a powerful shot and has scored a few belters in his time. You wont find a finer example of his tackling and shooting prowess, than this youtube video of his goal against Yeovil, in our promotion winning season of 2008.



That just about sums the guy up in one move.

He missed an entire year through injury and did well to recover from knee ligament damage, that would have ended many a players career.

He was never really given the opportunity in the Championship, to show if he was good enough for the step up from League 1. There are legitimate doubts about whether he would have been good enough, but many believe he deserved the chance to prove his doubters wrong.

The reasons for any doubt over his ability, stem from the fact that he can get caught in possession of the ball and has been guilty of the odd costly error. His short range passing needs to improve and his decision making has been called into question at times. These are all things that can be coached and he is still young enough to learn.

I think the majority of Forest fans will wish him well and bare him no grudge at all for moving on. There's very few supporters at any club that will say that about one of their own moving to pastures new. You have yourselves a fine player and best off all, you got him for free. You can thank us later, when you're back in the Champs!

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