Summer Window 2026 - Rumours and Discussion

Berkshire1970

The Red Robin said:

I don’t mind Dykes - I just don’t like the way we play with him in the team (long ball central) or playing him and Leaburn together as it doesn’t work. 

I think you’ll find a loan for Leaburn in the lower leagues. 

Jones to Millwall 

soapboxsam

cafc_se7 said:

The work Coventry does massively goes unnoticed. He’s been a cracking player for us and like mentioned above, was absolutely holding his own in the championship up until his period of injury! 

I was trying to work out when CL turned against Coventry who was Mr Consistent. 
I can now see that others like me think if he is 100% fit he could play a role.
We still need a new midfielder with a good passing range but don't write off Conor just yet.

I was always a big Dobson fan and was sad to see him go. 

Sword65pf

To save time can we just copy and paste the original Dykes thread. Can’t wait for the window to close so we can see what the actual plan was. I’m not seeing categorically better.

sillav nitram

panther10 said:

J r saki is it possible still ge will come back would be massive if he did 

Oh,FFS.

North Lower Neil

stjohnshill said:

A deal to resign Lyndon Dykes is in advanced stages and appears to be pretty close baring any last minute silly business from agents 

Hoped we'd aim higher this summer - he did sort of alright for a few months but we should be looking for better than sort of alright.

Braziliance

stjohnshill said:

A deal to resign Lyndon Dykes is in advanced stages and appears to be pretty close baring any last minute silly business from agents 

cabbles

If Dykes signs, Tanto and Kanu must both be on their way.  It’s not the worst signing.  He’s an effective target man and has lots of experience 

We absolutely need that central midfield bolstered and I still can’t see who’s first choice RWB if we’re sticking with 3-5-2

PaddyP17

Dykes would totally telegraph how we play.

Lump it up, try and recycle and win the second ball if he can't win the initial header, try and press higher up the pitch, get it wide to some combination of Grant/Alli/TC/whoever, lump it in the box, repeat ad infinitum. 

You don't need a Brian de Keersmaecker in a system like that I guess. It would not be the most enthralling season of football we'd see.

That said:

If Dykes is one of a couple of signings and we bring in some different midfield options, and we are building a true squad for the season - where we actually play different players depending on the team we're playing, whether it's to try and dominate or try and frustrate - then maybe I get it. But as it stands I would not want Lyndon to be the pinnacle of what we are going for.

Edit: should clarify I like him. He works hard and is better technically than I thought he was when he first joined us. But it limits how we set up.

Sword65pf

North Lower Neil said:

stjohnshill said:

A deal to resign Lyndon Dykes is in advanced stages and appears to be pretty close baring any last minute silly business from agents 

Hoped we'd aim higher this summer - he did sort of alright for a few months but we should be looking for better than sort of alright.

Inclined to agree, really not enamoured by the thought of his return….But, I just think this is where we are in our evolution,if his a bit of a cherry on top of some good starters then fine, I edging towards that not being the case. none of our signings have really got me excited in the slightest, time will tell if that changes. It seems we are wedded to the sustainable way and we have to hope NJ can make that work.Trouble is big signings will come with big salaries, are we making a bed for ourselves worrying about having a couple of players on a lot more than the rest and rocking the boat? Just thinking out loud🤷🏻‍♂️

PringlesCurtains

fenaddick said:

Someone on Twitter is claiming Kamara is following more Charlton players than he was yesterday

Highlight of the day on here. 👏

RoanRedNY

charltonbob said:

eastterrace6168 said:

Cafc451 said:

We raid wrexham for a centre midfielder.

Would take him back in a heartbeat

Him and Nick Berry as a central 2.  You’d get a tune out of one of them.

Sword65pf

PaddyP17 said:

Dykes would totally telegraph how we play.

Lump it up, try and recycle and win the second ball if he can't win the initial header, try and press higher up the pitch, get it wide to some combination of Grant/Alli/TC/whoever, lump it in the box, repeat ad infinitum. 

You don't need a Brian de Keersmaecker in a system like that I guess. It would not be the most enthralling season of football we'd see.

That said:

If Dykes is one of a couple of signings and we bring in some different midfield options, and we are building a true squad for the season - where we actually play different players depending on the team we're playing, whether it's to try and dominate or try and frustrate - then maybe I get it. But as it stands I would not want Lyndon to be the pinnacle of what we are going for.

Edit: should clarify I like him. He works hard and is better technically than I thought he was when he first joined us. But it limits how we set up.

The 1st sentence sums up a problem we had most of the season, we set up to win second ball but failed to do that in the most part.

Addicksi

In a top three with wingers either side he could be effective. Need to bring in the midfielder to make it work in my opinion. 

Emason32

Dykes helped us improve last season when we were in free-fall with 6 goals and assists in 21 appearances. Only Carey and Kelman got more over the entire season and Dykes only joined in January. Why wouldn’t we want him to renew?

DubaiCAFC

Dykes no doubt improves and strength our squad, I hope he isn’t a starter week in week out, but more of an impact. 

The squad is looking stronger than the end of last season. But as we all know, the midfield is still an issue. Hope we are just waiting for the right player, and willing to spend.

Sword65pf

RoanRedNY said:

charltonbob said:

eastterrace6168 said:

Cafc451 said:

We raid wrexham for a centre midfielder.

Would take him back in a heartbeat

Him and Nick Berry as a central 2.  You’d get a tune out of one of them.

At the moment we are going to have plenty of Greengrass in the middle of our pitch.

Alwaysneil

Garrymanilow said:

MuttleyCAFC said:

It is becoming increasingly noticeable how players fail to kick on with us. I wouldn't expect them all too, maybe only a few, maybe one or two!

He isn't always that popular here but TC went from being on the verge of leaving the club on a free for a team who had finished 16th in L1 to being the key attacking threat in a Playoff winning team and then an important part of a team that stayed up its first season in the Championship. Lloyd Jones was having such a confidence crisis and giving away goals so regularly he had to be dropped by Curtis Fleming. I remember him looking completely lost against Northampton and getting hauled off at half time a broken man after helping gift two goals. Then the next game against Blackpool he had to come on at half time after a knock to Gillesphey and almost immediately gave a goal away. You watch (don't, I just did and it genuinely made me feel really depressed) some of our highlights from 23/24 and compare that Lloyd Jones around December and January to this one. Coventry went from a non-entity in his first half season with us to Player's POTY in L1, Thierry Small was an unwanted outcast who couldn't get a game at St Mirren and now is a good Championship player, Kayne Ramsay was signed from L2 and now apparently is wanted in Serie A. I'd say he got more out of Gillesphey and Mannion than anyone expected as well. I don't think the improvements he gets out of players are spectacular but he's definitely got a hell of a lot more out of a fair few of our players

Jones - not very good until played for Jones
Ramsay - career going down toilet until played for Jones
TC - regularly named by oppo fans as our biggest threat and doubled up on when playing other than at wing back
Carey - career going nowhere, scored 7 or so goals, fell off form at the end of the season but likely to come back better

I think a few should have got more game time/kicked on more

Apter - not suited to last years system
Leaburn - not played enough post injury
Kelman - criminally dropped when cominv into form
Knibbs - injury
Rankin-Costello - looks like he's just stepped out of the smoking room with his smoking jacket on and could do with some pace
and athleticism 

I think its wrong to say none have kicked on but there's certainly a few whi'd better pull their finger out.

Addicksi

Supposedly a really nice guy off the pitch. On the pitch he looks like what he is, a bad geezer and I don't mind that. He's a decent addition with a  lot of experience imho if he comes back. 

golfaddick

stjohnshill said:

A deal to resign Lyndon Dykes is in advanced stages and appears to be pretty close baring any last minute silly business from agents 

To me this shows a lack of ambition.

This coming season seems to be same old same old. Pass it around the back an then hoof it to the big guy up front. 

RedRobin

Happy with Dykes, made a difference last season and adds more experience. 

21cws

Happy with dykes coming in, if you watched him properly he made decent runs and also can play with his feet. Not just good in the air. Brings people into play so with 2 pacey wingers think will work well

Covered End

I'm ok with Dykes if we can't do better, but the frustration of not being able to strengthen the priority midfield area is growing by the day.

AberystwythAddick

stjohnshill said:

A deal to resign Lyndon Dykes is in advanced stages and appears to be pretty close baring any last minute silly business from agents 

We can only hope 🤞

Marriott110

Don’t need new centre midfielders if we’re just gonna bypass them and lump it to Dykes anyway

Some excellent work by Nathan to save the owners a few £

Southbank

cabbles said:

If Dykes signs, Tanto and Kanu must both be on their way.  It’s not the worst signing.  He’s an effective target man and has lots of experience 

We absolutely need that central midfield bolstered and I still can’t see who’s first choice RWB if we’re sticking with 3-5-2

We won't be. We have no real attacking wingbacks, Mesic at a push. But we do have 4 or 5 fullbacks, so 4 at the back it is.

AndyG

golfaddick said:

stjohnshill said:

A deal to resign Lyndon Dykes is in advanced stages and appears to be pretty close baring any last minute silly business from agents 

To me this shows a lack of ambition.

This coming season seems to be same old same old. Pass it around the back a then hoof it to the big guy up front. 

I often make a mental note to ignore your posts (not because I think your wrong) as they depress me lol but this one has got me because I agree with you which is upsetting lol

having already booked an Airbnb for the weekend and planned the weekend around the Derby game I’m already regretting it and thinking I could have saved money and booked a European city break that weekend rather than watch hoofball 

fenaddick

Covered End said:

I'm ok with Dykes if we can't do better, but the frustration of not being able to strengthen the priority midfield area is growing by the day.

I agree it will be concerning if it carries on. I also wonder if this is all signifier that NJ just wants our two holding midfielders to just feed the runners though. If you have Mesík and Ramsay as full backs with TC/Grant and Alli as wingers as well as Carey all running forward on the counter that's a lot for a defence to cover

golfaddick

Emason32 said:

Dykes helped us improve last season when we were in free-fall with 6 goals and assists in 21 appearances. Only Carey and Kelman got more over the entire season and Dykes only joined in January. Why wouldn’t we want him to renew?

3 goals.  When a striker has to resort to counting assists to make his numbers look good then you are on a slippery slope. 

AberystwythAddick

He’s essentially ripped up his tactic for the past few years to now completely change how we play. Hes recruited along those lines. 

NJ gets paid to make these decision so let’s see where we are come November. 

If targets are not being met the board will need to ruthless. 

Garrymanilow

We've signed two wingers, look like we're trying to integrate another back into the squad and are apparently trying to sign another one from Hull. Half the people moaning are also the ones who complain that we don't get the ball wide or put in enough crosses. Bringing Dykes in to make the most of the wingers both in terms of bringing them into the game more and giving them a target to aim for makes a lot of sense. It's funny how quickly the positive contributions he made are forgotten by the kinds of fans who weirdly think a recently promoted Championship side are too good for a player like that. I think you might be looking for a different club.