The Gaffer on Boro's newest signing...
Stevenage manager Gary Smith spoke to Boro Player this evening about securing the deadline day signing of Ben Chorley from Leyton Orient.
Smith described himself as “delighted” to capture the towering central defender and continued “I’ve known Ben for a good while, strangely enough he was one of the pros at Wimbledon when I started my coaching career so we’ve got a good history, we go back a reasonable way.
“Ben’s not just a very experienced player and a very effective player, especially at this level, he’s been in the professional ranks for a number of years, he’s got a number of games under his belt, there’s plenty of experience in this player that we bring into the group, but he’s also a terrific character. I think that personality and the ability to come into an already buoyant group, and a group full of personality anyway, is yet another terrific addition. It’s of course one that we can not only be grateful for at this point, but certainly for the future because he is on a two and half year deal which takes us into a period of time which continues that rebuilding process.”
It was an area that perhaps needed strengthening after the bitter blow to Jon Ashton last week, who will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his Achilles tendon, and Smith added “We’ve got plenty of bodies in there that have done a terrific job but of course part of the process in seeing Jon go down with a serious injury was to make sure that in the near future as well as the distant, we have got a good strong experienced back line that is not only going to get a job done but is going to push us towards those playoff positions again. I think Ben will be a terrific addition and somebody that we can all be pleased about adding.”
He described Chorley as a central defender with “a lot of the qualities that you’ve seen in the last two or three years in the two centre backs that have seen Stevenage have so much success – Mark Roberts and Jon Ashton.”
He continued “He is very uncompromising, courageous and aggressive, but I think what he will also bring is the ability to add a little bit more composure on the ball.
“Ben’s background and experiences have seen him come through some very good quality football and of course he has also played part of his career in that central midfield role. It’s not unaccustomed to him and therefore his development is slightly different to our guys and what they have had to endure.
“I am absolutely delighted to have him around and there’s no doubt in my mind that he gives us a real lift.”
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