Dom Ballard

[suewhistle]

4 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Poor man’s Damion Downs

We heard you the first time..

[swedish dave]

On 18/01/2026 at 11:01, badgerx16 said:

As we may well find out again next season.

Everyone's career "starts" somewhere.  Jamie Vardy started at Fleetwood when they were in L2 (or was it

National League ? ).  Oh... and (that) Rickie Lambert started at the bottom of the pile, too. and this site was full 

of people who said that 30 goals in L1 - doesn't mean he's going to succeed in the Championship...

 

If Dom isn't a starter in our "re-vamped 2026/27 squad" ... I'd have him on the bench every week.

[swedish dave]

On 18/01/2026 at 11:01, badgerx16 said:

As we may well find out again next season.

Everyone's career "starts" somewhere.  Jamie Vardy started at Fleetwood when they were in L2 (or was it

National League ? ).  Oh... and (that) Rickie Lambert started at the bottom of the pile, too. and this site was full 

of people who said that 30 goals in L1 - doesn't mean he's going to succeed in the Championship...

 

If Dom isn't a starter in our "re-vamped 2026/27 squad" ... I'd have him on the bench every week.

[Saint86]

I mean, I'd re-sign him for the money. Ballard, Larin,, Stewart is a decent from 3 for this level. Value for money, Ballard has his whole career ahead of him, is home grown, and we have a sell on fee discount.

Edited Tuesday at 16:04 by Saint86

[chiknsmack]

19 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Poor man’s Damion Downs

More a poor man's Adam Armstrong. Part of the reason he was free to go was we already had an undersized, "too good for the championship but not good enough for the Prem" striker, so why would we also need an undersized striker whose good start to a League 1 loan was followed by a major knee injury and a second L1 loan where he scored 3 in 35?

As Larin and Stewart have proven (and was the arguably the case with Onuachu in the Prem too) we are better with a big targetman type striker than a relative midget like Armstrong or Archer (or Ballard).

I'm glad to see him having some success and am happy for him, and wouldn't be upset if he came back here. But recent recruiting shows that SR want big good strikers (Stewart, Larin, Onuachu), sometimes buy big shit strikers (BBD, Downs), and don't want small good strikers (Armstrong, Ballard).

[swedish dave]

8 hours ago, chiknsmack said:

More a poor man's Adam Armstrong. Part of the reason he was free to go was we already had an undersized, "too good for the championship but not good enough for the Prem" striker, so why would we also need an undersized striker whose good start to a League 1 loan was followed by a major knee injury and a second L1 loan where he scored 3 in 35?

As Larin and Stewart have proven (and was the arguably the case with Onuachu in the Prem too) we are better with a big targetman type striker than a relative midget like Armstrong or Archer (or Ballard).

I'm glad to see him having some success and am happy for him, and wouldn't be upset if he came back here. But recent recruiting shows that SR want big good strikers (Stewart, Larin, Onuachu), sometimes buy big shit strikers (BBD, Downs), and don't want small good strikers (Armstrong, Ballard).

Clearly you seemed to have missed the point of the argument.

Aside from those previous loans, it's his recent form as top scorer in League One that has drawn the attention

- and he achieved that in a team that narrowly missed relegation thanks to his 20+ goals.

 

Your comment about "undersized striker " was surely a spur of the moment comment.

We all like to see a big man up front, but a quick look at some of the " undersized " names in football 

would show you that many of the historical top names weren't " giants " either. 

[chiknsmack]

11 hours ago, swedish dave said:

Clearly you seemed to have missed the point of the argument.

I wasn't making any argument on the merits of Ballard today. I was just pointing out that he is more a poor man's Armstrong than a poor man's Downs, and that he'd been let go because of what he'd shown before last season. I even mentioned that I wouldn't be upset to see him back here on the back of what he did last season.

I also wasn't arguing the merits of undersized strikers, just pointing out that SR have primarily signed strikers over 6'1" and ditched shorter strikers like the poor prospect (as he was at the time) Ballard and the proven Armstrong, so it's unlikely he'll return.

[swedish dave]

On 03/06/2026 at 04:42, chiknsmack said:

I wasn't making any argument on the merits of Ballard today. I was just pointing out that he is more a poor man's Armstrong than a poor man's Downs, and that he'd been let go because of what he'd shown before last season. I even mentioned that I wouldn't be upset to see him back here on the back of what he did last season.

I also wasn't arguing the merits of undersized strikers, just pointing out that SR have primarily signed strikers over 6'1" and ditched shorter strikers like the poor prospect (as he was at the time) Ballard and the proven Armstrong, so it's unlikely he'll return.

On closer examination you can see that (Dom) was 21 in May, and already had 20 games for Young England

sides (U17-U20) between 2022-2024.   His 3 loan-outs saw him get game time on 45 occasions before those

two unfortunate freak injuries.   At two of those clubs he was used as a sub. for one of their regular strikers. 

 

Also he is not "so short" as we have been led to believe. He was listed at 5' 10" tall when signing for Orient.

who used him as their first choice striker and scored 23 times in 40 games last season.  I don't see him as a

front line striker, but alongside / behind a Stewart, or Larin, he could be a useful addition to our strike force, 

much as Adam Lallana was when paired with Rickie Lambert back in the day.  Orient's survival was entirely

due to his goal tally, and they will be glad of the income when he eventually signs for a higher level club.

 

As I noted in my opening post, I believe that in the chaos of last summer, he was simply " overlooked" by

the people who called the shots, and who had no knowledge of his record with the club, and saw him as

" a recovering young player "  who might not contribute to the cause. I'm glad that he had such a good 

season, but would be mindful that he might be a force to reckon with (in the Championship) - if we don't 

get him back - someone else will.

 

[Pip]

You are aware we sold him to Orient aren’t you?

[hypochondriac]

I'd consider him as an Archer replacement. Stewart and Larin will be rotated, leaving Ballard as another option. Would probably make a small profit signing him and selling Archer.