Ben Marshall - Undr The Cosh

[Alex Moss 2,165]

If there’s one thing us Norwich supporters can take from this interview, then it’s to remember it the next time a seemingly talented footballer gets relegated to the reserves never to return for no apparent reason. I think Daniel and Stuart got the measure of this lad very quickly and he didn’t like that - there’s a lot of bitterness there, slagging off the city itself shows that.

[alex_ncfc 662]

Wow what a total arsehole. Good riddance.

[YellowYawner 6]

Agree with the thoughts on bitterness being a key factor in his comments about us.

On the other hand I do feel sorry for him a bit. Our city / location may have been the excuse he told himself then but that starts to look a bit thin when he's all but retired at 29 and can't find another club.

Hopefully he can sort whatever issues he has out

 

[Midlands Yellow 3,984]

He was hardly putting the effort in at his previous clubs before Norwich. Missing training because he’d been drinking until breakfast time and wouldn’t go on the Leicester Far East tour because he didn’t fancy it. At the end of the day he just didn’t want it but was happy to screw clubs for hundreds of thousands of pounds. 

[TeemuVanBasten 3,327]

6 hours ago, YellowYawner said:

but that starts to look a bit thin when he's all but retired at 29 and can't find another club 

He had offers, defo had one from Rotherham, guess he just weren't up for it anymore. 

[sgncfc 1,227]

It always disturbs me a bit when a player says that the contract Norwich offered was stupidly high in comparison to others. Wildshut said the same thing, so did Pritchard. I really hope those days of being suckered are over, but maybe not.....

[andrew norwichcity 8]

Ultimately hes a northern lad who enjoys a sesh but wound up accepting a move due to money and bam career ended. He was pants playing for us and can only imagine our training broke his enthusiasm. This is an example of why some players get frozen out at Norwich or don't make it. I genuinely remember thinking he suited league 1 more!

[canarydan23 4,060]

Didn't bother me at all. At the end of the day, I suspect the "castle" he referred to as home whilst at Norwich was Dunston Hall and I think I'd be depressed if I was living alone, away from all of my mates, in a hotel room out of a suitcase.

Norwich and Norfolk won't be everyone's cup of tea, particularly a Northern lad from suburban Manchester and I think his comment was a little bit tongue in cheek anyway. And if we're being brutally honest, it sounds like he prefers Blackburn as a place to Norwich, so it's not really an opinion that carries any weight, is it? Have you been to Blackburn? Good god.

He signed for the money, played like crap, his career went south and he's a little bitter towards the club where it all properly fell apart. Nothing surprising, nothing worth getting annoyed about. I quite enjoyed the interview. Sounds like he's using the cash he was given (and there were two parties who agreed the amounts that exchanged hands, remember) from his Norwich contract to focus on his partner and kid. Fair play to the lad and good luck to him.

[Beefy is a legend 224]

If you look at the history with this guy, with Owen Coyle and Gary Megson, it seems that he was given a fair bit of rope, going on holidays, not turning up for training etc. 

One thing we do know about the Farke regime is that the training is intense and days off are limited, as Marshall alludes to in the interview and which I think we also know from the likes of Jerome, Russ Martin, Howson. One suspects Marshall didn't have the same freedom as at previous clubs and, basically, wasn't able to 'get away' with the same behaviour as at previous clubs. 

Also the fact that he was stuck alone at Dunston Hall without close friends, a long way from home, would have been difficult for him. He wasn't keen to come in the first place but did so as a result of a very good contract. I suspect the same was the case with Steven Naismith although SN clearly was a much better professional. 

 

 

[cambridgeshire canary 6,717]

Much as I do feel for him for his clear depression, drinking problems, bad work ethics and attitudes.. He does sound like he's trying to find an excuse for those and is blaming the club/us for it rather than himself.

Needs to look in the mirror me thinks

Edited December 17, 2020 by cambridgeshire canary

[Don’t be Krul 399]

Complete kn0b

[canarycat 27]

Also listened, so much of it was a front. Some deep rooted mental illnesses there, seems such a shame clearly a talented player but for whatever reason cant cope with the professional lifestyle required. Cant help but feel he will massively regret it in the future, deep down he knows where the problem lies and seems like hes trying to convince himself everything else is the problem.

as other's have mentioned at the end of the day hes 29 and cant find a club, should be in the prime of his career but he has burnt to many bridges and as little as i want to body shame people he is clearly not fit.

Waste, but hope he gets better.

[Rock The Boat 1,332]

On 15/12/2020 at 17:57, Old Shuck said:

He said all the right things when we signed him...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44668232

...mind you, there's always a bit of 'I'm delighted to have joined <insert club name here>, quite a few clubs were in for me but when I knew <insert coach or manager name here> was interested, I wanted to get it all done as quickly. This is a massive club/sleeping giant and I am looking forward to the challenge ahead'.

 

Media department always tightly controls player interviews. They get given a script to read. when a player goes off-script you know it's a sign they are on the way out.

[Indy_Bones 441]

As someone who's also suffered badly with depression over the years, I can approach this with a degree of understanding and support, and yet I still feel like we've been shown a total lack of commitment and an unnecessary level of disrepect from a former player.

Nobody forced him to come here and he knew what the situation would be in terms of friends, distance and living arrangements before he signed on the dotted line, but it appears that all he was looking at were pound signs and to hell with the rest.

The job is PROFESSIONAL footballer, that means that professionalism and commitment are absolutely expected of each and every player in our squad, so not wanting to train as hard as required whilst wanting to be able to go out for a few beers whenever you feel like it is hardly meeting these standards is it?

If a player is struggling with mental health issues, many clubs will be very supportive and try to give the best help they can as long as the player is doing their best with the process as well, but you can't just down tools and blame everything else and then have the temerity to complain about it a year or two later!

I hope he's turned things around, is getting the help he needs and that he manages to beat this and live a nice life with his family, I just don't see why he needed to be so disrepectful to a club who gave him his best ever contract and were only asking of him exactly what they were asking of ALL our players.

[Crabbycanary3 994]

1 hour ago, Indy_Bones said:

As someone who's also suffered badly with depression over the years, I can approach this with a degree of understanding and support, and yet I still feel like we've been shown a total lack of commitment and an unnecessary level of disrepect from a former player.

Nobody forced him to come here and he knew what the situation would be in terms of friends, distance and living arrangements before he signed on the dotted line, but it appears that all he was looking at were pound signs and to hell with the rest.

The job is PROFESSIONAL footballer, that means that professionalism and commitment are absolutely expected of each and every player in our squad, so not wanting to train as hard as required whilst wanting to be able to go out for a few beers whenever you feel like it is hardly meeting these standards is it?

If a player is struggling with mental health issues, many clubs will be very supportive and try to give the best help they can as long as the player is doing their best with the process as well, but you can't just down tools and blame everything else and then have the temerity to complain about it a year or two later!

I hope he's turned things around, is getting the help he needs and that he manages to beat this and live a nice life with his family, I just don't see why he needed to be so disrepectful to a club who gave him his best ever contract and were only asking of him exactly what they were asking of ALL our players.

For those of us with limited sporting prowess but are fans, it's historically been a complaint that players who have the talent, and do not apply it to the max, are wasting it, and ultimately the only people who may regret it in years to come,are the players who do not fulfill their talent to the max. There are of course, those that have the talent yet, cannot apply themselves to exploit it fully. That is fair enough, as you can't force yourself to like something forever and a day. Life changes and moves on, and mental health plays a huge part in this.

As you say Indy, Marshall has shown a great level of disrespect without actually offering up a reason why. Norwich just didn't suit him, yet suits hundreds of other players who have moved here, and many have settled here. It's just what makes the World go round. He'd have been far better saying , as another poster did, that we (Club/player) were not a good match for each other. But no, he had just had to get a cheap jibe in to make himself look good and still be 'one of the 'lads'. Sad

 

 

[Alex Moss 2,165]

Just seems to me that he knew exactly what he was doing so I have no sympathy for this less than humble bloke. Probably had no real intention to even play for us by the sounds of it - just get the 4 year contract signed and sealed, and then screw us over is how it sounded to me. Dodgy character, buying and selling cheap knock off designer shoes etc says it all really.

[anonamoose 4]

Comes across as a bit of a "twit" I think.

Moves for the money and finds himself unhappy, quelle surprise. Can't imagine many fun loving northerners enjoying quiet Norfolk. What I find surprising is that he knew that's what he was signing up for, but seems surprised when he found what he expected.

Shame to hear that he suffered with depression and fair play for giving it up for a move to happiness. At least he learnt something. 

[AJ 1,219]

Wouldn't wish depression on anybody, and I'm sure in his head what he's said is probably what he truly believes is the truth, but it doesn't mean it actually is. The reality is he didn't live up to the high expectations at the club and got ousted by someone who looks nailed on to be England's future No1 right back which I don't see any shame in. I hope he's in a better place now but his comments just sound bitter and unnecessary. 

Edited December 17, 2020 by AJ

[GenerationA47 752]

11 hours ago, anonamoose said:

At least he learnt something. 

8 hours ago, AJ said:

I hope he's in a better place now but his comments just sound bitter and unnecessary. 

From the interview content, it certainly seems he has a way to go yet on his ‘journey’ to resolve this issues

[Jim Smith 2,317]

Apart from the quip about "anyone at Norwich would get a bit of depression" what he says about his time with us is not actually so bad. Sounds like he had no mates, was stuck in a big house and wasn't playing regularly so got a bit depressed. 

[lake district canary 4,531]

2 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Apart from the quip about "anyone at Norwich would get a bit of depression" what he says about his time with us is not actually so bad. Sounds like he had no mates, was stuck in a big house and wasn't playing regularly so got a bit depressed. 

He had every opportunity. He obviously early on he decided not to buy in to playing at right back - he just wanted to come to Norwich run up and down the wing a few times, get paid a lot and that was it.  He must have hoodwinked Webber and Farke into thinking he would try hard to fit in. 

Depression is serious and you can imagine he must have been at a low ebb in Norwich with few friends, staying in a hotel, not playing much, so now with a partner and a kid, he has something tangible to focus on, but overall his bitterness - or is it northern humour -  doesn't paint him in a good light. In hindsight it's easy to see why he wouldn't fit in at Norwich - but when we got him, he would have been a different character, bubbly and confident after his success at Millwall and raring to go - and then reality sruck home about what he would have to if he wanted to fit in. 

[essex canary 496]

Interesting to read the WSC article concerning the ex Spur Steven Caulker. He clearly went through similar issues to Marshall. He states that English clubs are then reluctant to take players on when they have faced difficulties and is now playing in the top division in Turkey. Perhaps the excess time and money that footballers have on their hands proves difficult for some of them to manage even if many of us would consider it a nice problem to have. Good to see that Caulker has found a solution.