Ben House is something of an Imps stalwart. Signed in 2022, he is one of our longest-serving players.
Youth graduates aside, only Adam Jackson has been here longer, although Conor McGrandles has left and come back. Signed as something of a project player from non-league Eastleigh, House has always shown endeavour and 100% application during his Imps tenure.
According to FotMob, House has 28 goals and seven assists during his time with the Imps, and should he play the next three matches, he will hit the 150-appearance mark, putting him above Dean West (147), Tony Cunningham (148) and Kevin Austin (148). His 25 league goals tally sees him level with Anthony Scully and closing in on Colin Alcide (27) and Paul Smith (27).
They’re names and numbers that invoke certain memories, with West and Cunningham going on to play higher, Scully moving to a bigger club, and Austin certainly able, had he not got injured. Big names, higher levels, and plenty of bars raised in terms of their post-Lincoln careers. West and Cunningham were big successes a level or two above where they plied their trade for the Imps, and I think House has the attributes to be a success in the Championship for us, given a chance.
What I am now going to say probably disputes that, but read on. In terms of on-the-ball attributes, House might not seem Championship-level. He’s never been a lethal goalscorer, having only hit double figures once in his City career. While he was described as having ‘soft feet’ by Michael Appleton after he arrived, he’s never been one to beat three or four players and smash it into the top corner. He’s probably one of the few strikers we have who has lasted four-and-a-half seasons but underperformed their xG in two of those campaigns. Certainly, his ‘goals for’ tally might not be pitiful, but it doesn’t scream ‘Championship’.
In fact, at the beginning of this season, some so-called experts, including me, were asking where he fits into the Lincoln City XI put together by Michael Skubala. He went from starting number nine to fringe player, with James Collins, Freddie Draper and Rob Street ahead of him. In the ten, he had Jack Moylan ahead of him, and nobody really put him down as a wide player.
What has led Ben to now be the subject of an article, the first I’ve done specifically naming a player as Championship-ready, beyond doubt? What quality has he shown that has seen him surge through the pack? Well, to answer that, let me suggest something to you.
What is required in the Championship?
Some Championship attributes are skill-based. We have players in our team whose major attributes are on the ball, and while that works in League One, they would need to be tested in the Championship. Jack Moylan, for instance. Great on the ball, able to beat players and create something, and that’s been effective in League One. When you step up, the players in that division are better on the ball, better at creating chances, and technically more proficient. It will be for Jack to prove he can step up.
The same goes for defenders. Heading it away, kicking it away, that’s transferable, but strikers in the division above move quicker, they’re more deadly with a half chance. It means defenders have to be better; they have to be able to prove their skill set allows them to step up. Tom Hamer, for instance, has been excellent for us this season, but he’ll have a fresh challenge if we go up.
Why Ben House could play Championship football
That leads me to Ben House. What are his core strengths for us? We play a high press at times, we push for turnovers in key areas, and when we get a set piece, we look to pen teams in. That comes from high-energy work off the ball, awareness of who to press, when to press, when to enter a proper duel and fight for the ball. These are not skill-based in terms of having a ball at your feet, but they’re qualities that, in my opinion, are just as effective in League One as the Premier League and the Championship.
It doesn’t matter if Ben House is pressing Fraser Horsfall, Lloyd Jones or Cristian Romero. The outcome is the same. If you have the intelligence to know when to press, the energy to get there, and the application to put the pressure on, that is a transferable skill. It’s a bit like saying a natural goalscorer (Defoe, Charlie Austin) will score at any level. It’s one of those skills that is simply applicable everywhere and is not always determined by the level.
Ben House is Championship level in terms of pressing, and I know some at the club see his off-ball work as Premier League level, which obviously sounds like madness. However, when you think about it, how would we be a success, or at least survive in the Championship? By doing what we do now, working hard, being organised and clinical. The clinical bit might (I said might) require extra quality at the top end of the field, but hard work? Organisation? Pressing properly, doing it constantly? That is immediately transferable.
Ben House has the highest number of defensive duels per 90 in League One this season, the only out-and-out attacker in the top 15. Everyone else in the top 15 plays in defence, holding midfield, wing back and occasionally further forward, but House leads from the front. He’s utterly unique in his skill set, a player without any real direct comparison. The Streamlight app suggests CJ Hamilton is most like-for-like in terms of profile, and he contests 6.02 defensive duels per 90. Kyle Joseph at Hull is another, and he’s packing 5.57. Ben House? 10.59.
It is interesting that the two players most closely aligned to him in terms of their style and approach are both players who have played in League One and the Championship and have played a similar number of games per season in both divisions, further suggesting that a certain profile of player truly can flit between levels without too much impact.
Of course, we’ll need much more than just hard work if we do go up, and the club will find ways to exploit better teams and, hopefully, get as many points as we need if asked to compete in the second tier. I believe that, of all our current players, Ben House is one who is most likely to play the same role if we go up as he has this season.
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