Dom Ballard

[macca155]

3 hours ago, saintant said:

Sign him up!

I doubt it would take much to resign him. Make Orient an offer they can't refuse and Dom would be able to rejoin his home club.

Doubt our board have that vision though 

[East Kent Saint]

Depends how he would perform against defenders at a higher level ! as we found out in the Prem .

[S-Clarke]

5 minutes ago, East Kent Saint said:

Depends how he would perform against defenders at a higher level ! as we found out in the Prem .

We don't play against high level defenders anymore, and won't do for many many years - so he'd be a good fit!

I'm really pleased for Dom personally, he's had a horrible time with injuries. His goal scoring record in the under age groups was always epic, proper fox in the box type striker. I hope he's over those because I did doubt if he'd be able to contribute, but this season for him has been epic.

Were we wrong to sell him? I'd have probably renewed his deal and loaned him to Leyton Orient, but we probably looked at it financially and took the money. Hindsight and everything though, but given that the club happily renewed Stephens and didn't bother with Ballard certainly shows their skewed way of working.

[Nordic Saint]

A goal and an assist for him today in Leyton Orient's 2-1 win at Northampton.

[ally_uk]

Hat trick and on 21 goals for Orient now.. 

[Monk]

Just now, ally_uk said:

Hat trick and on 21 goals for Orient now.. 

Not a believer of the 'imagine if he stayed he would've banged them in' there's too many variables as when players leave and they start performing. The 'rejection' itself could be a factor into his output, drop in division and therefore level all will play a part. 

However, I always look to see how he's getting on and what if he did stay.

I expect a bottom - mid table Champ club or even one of the relegated sides to move for him in the summer. 

[beatlesaint]

35 minutes ago, Monk said:

Not a believer of the 'imagine if he stayed he would've banged them in' there's too many variables as when players leave and they start performing. The 'rejection' itself could be a factor into his output, drop in division and therefore level all will play a part. 

However, I always look to see how he's getting on and what if he did stay.

I expect a bottom - mid table Champ club or even one of the relegated sides to move for him in the summer. 

Maybe so but the question I would ask is if/when Stewart is injured and you need backup for Larin who would you rather have come on - Archer or Ballard? 

[MindtheGab]

56 minutes ago, ally_uk said:

Hat trick and on 21 goals for Orient now.. 

Had the opportunity to watch him tonight as he played against my local team. He was simply unplayable, best player on the pitch by far. Albeit two of his goals were tap ins.

Will be very interesting to see how his career turns out but for me he was clearly above League 1 level in terms of movement and technical ability. 

 

[ally_uk]

Any chance we could get him back? Exchange with Archer 🤣

[captainchris]

10 minutes ago, MindtheGab said:

Had the opportunity to watch him tonight as he played against my local team. He was simply unplayable, best player on the pitch by far. Albeit two of his goals were tap ins.

Will be very interesting to see how his career turns out but for me he was clearly above League 1 level in terms of movement and technical ability. 

 

Crazy that we let him go, who ever made that decision is clearly not good enough themselves….

[Luke SkyWalker-Peters]

2 minutes ago, captainchris said:

Crazy that we let him go, who ever made that decision is clearly not good enough themselves….

He had a horrific injury and the club did everything they could to get him into the first team, but he struggled on loan at both Blackpool and Cambridge after the injury.

There comes a point where letting a player go so that they can develop properly is what is best for them. Another season on the fringes of the team and going out on multiple loans wouldn't have helped him at all.

Evidently the club and Dom made the right decision. I do wonder whether he would have been more involved had he not torn his patella at Reading. That was a horrific injury and he is honestly lucky that his recovery has gone so well.

It would be great to have him back. I always believed he could be a top championship or decent premier league player. Not an elite athlete or technical player, but has enough about him and that rare goal instinct. Always seems seems to be in the right place at the right time and has the quality and composure to score.