From todays Currant Bun.....
CHARLTON winger Jerome Thomas has been unable to agree a new contract at The Valley.
That has alerted Gareth Southgate’s Premier League strugglers Middlesbrough and rock- bottom Derby.
Thomas, 24, a former Arsenal trainee, signed for the Addicks for £100,000 in 2004 and has 18 months of his current deal to run.
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If there is any interest in Thomas then we should bite their bloody hands off and use the cash to bring in Gray and a couple of others. I know he has some talent but for me he has not produced the goods for way too long.
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Watching Pride and Premiership DVD last night, the bloke is a massive talent. Hope we dont sell him.
That's being honest. He does have talent I agree but i just think his attitude stinks and on the basis of this season he has done very little.
Some great play some of teh time and cant ba arsed other times
Ambrose, although maybe enigmatic, as described by many on here, influences in the right areas.
Whats the point in great skill on the half way line if it leads to a goal kick?
Some great play some of teh time and cant ba arsed other times[/quote]
like you i am unsure about him, he seems to be ok running at people ,alot of the time his final ball is poor ,his defence is questionable,
but it only takes one good run or cross and you seem to forget his down falls,
needs to show some consistencey for me.....
I agree how it's strange how people see different players, personally I think Thomas wins us alot of free kicks in dangerous areas, he can hold the ball well and go past someone like they are not there (I'll admit he doesn't do this enough and his final ball can leave alot to be desired) however I just fail to see what Ambrose brings to the team, for me he's had 2 good/o.k games all season, Blackpool and Ipswich, but far to often goes missing and doesn't want the ball...against blackpool was the first time I can really remember him delivering a decent corner !............given the choice of the two, I'd have Thomas every day of the week, I don't expect everyone to agree !!
If it came to it i wouldnt say no to £3mill or more but wont be happy if hes sold just to get in Gray.
For me he has entirely the wrong attitude for scrapping in this league. He is too often injured - yet those injuries don't seem to be major ones. The fact that he plays in gloves suggests that he takes to his bed every time he breaks a finger nail. He's a gifted player, but in my view he has a serious attitude problem which prevents him from performing at his best most of the time. When we bought him, he was unfit/overweight - Curbs refused to play him until that was sorted. When Pards took over, he had a similar issue with him and set him a challenge. He met that for approximately one game - West Ham, where he was brilliant.
Since then it's back to the same old "do I feel like it" Thomas. With his talent, he should be frightening the opposition to death in this league but other than fleetingly he has been at best average and at worst absent. Frankly I doubt whether he can be motivated enough at this level.
Sell him, I say.
'the fact he plays in gloves' - priceless, obviously no other players wear gloves eh !
Your argument falls at this one I'm afraid. Wenger, Dowie, Reed failed to motivate him when he was a Premier League player. Curbs got about one good season out of him before he slipped back to playing only when he fancies it. Pards got one decent performance out of him last season. This season he has shown only glimpses of what he can do. Even the Great Geordie Messiah wouldn't be able to motivate him sufficiently at this level.
No other Charlton player plays in gloves. Of course others play/played in gloves starting with John Barnes. For the life of me I can't understand why it's necessary for a footballer to wear gloves. Maybe if he didn't, it might encourage him to run around a bit more.
But really it's Thomas.
The only real fault with Ambrose is that he doesn't really impose himself and take the game by the scruff of the neck - and as most fans seem to follow the ball in a game they don't seem to see the other disciplines players are instructed to perform.
But love him or loathe him, he always seems to be involved in much of our key moments.
Now Thomas ........
He really is the archetypal show pony - so much talent but so little end product, as others have pointed out.
On his day he IS unplayable - but if only he would be a little more decisive and a little more direct, he would truly be international class.
Most of the time he is marginalised out on the wing where he can be more easily contained and out of the game.
He needs to make his runs into dangerous areas where he can do the most amount of damage - he should be winning us penalties every other game - and if he's not brought down he can set up & score himself.
The other problem is inside his head. He knows he's capable of being a worldbeater and at the training ground is probably untouchable. But all the while he comes across as casual & complacement, we've only got half a player.
It'll be a shame if he did leave because he is capable of producing that moment of magic to unlock defences.
But if generally we don't get the best out of him - then we might as well sell him & get somebody in to do his job more consistantly.
For me the main difference is their attitudes, Ambrose may not be the best but at least his failings are not down to a more or less permanent sulk. JT has the talent to make it to, or very close to the top, pity his head is not "right" and that is why Wenger let him go.
But its a bit like Curbs. Have they stayed too long. Do they have the hunger and the appetite for the task. Do they need fresh challenges. Do we need fresh faces. Maybe.
It's time to cash in, we can get good money for him now & my patience has run out with him now & it's not as if we cannot cover that position with players we already have in the squad. Time to go.....
I see I've got up your nose with my gloves point but likening that to playing in tights is a bit silly. Tights are normally worn to protect hamstring muscles in cold weather. They have a tangible benefit whereas wearing gloves is just pampering.
What I am saying is that the wearing gloves is an external representation of his inner state of mind i.e attitude which you have acknowledged isn't the best. "My hands are cold so I'm bloody well playing in gloves boss whether you like or not".
With players like Thomas, they believe that they are supremely talented and should be playing at the highest level in the game without having to try very hard. He lost his way at Arsenal because of that. Curbs "rescued him" in the Curbs "you've got something to prove" mode and got him playing for a while but he just slips back when the going gets tough. He ain't one for a scrap and thats what we are in. What is worse is that he can infect others with his "big time Charlie" attitude and for that reason as well, I think we should get rid of him.
Lets not forget the talented David Whyte whose attitude stank to high heaven, had problems getting out of bed and refused to pay for his post game fish and chips when the club's finances were dire. There is something of him in Thomas, I believe.
Sadly, our current finances may dictate that we accept any substantial fee he earns us (£2.5 to 3m?) and invest some of it in players who actually DO these things, even with a little less flair. Shame though.
mate, I am having an unbeliveably shite week and it's not your comments that got up my nose....so apologies if my reply sounded sarcastic, for some reason this debate has just rattled me !