Indeed -What have the Belgians ever done for us eh??
Apart from;
Saving us from bankruptcy The new pitch, The new seating, Reducing season prices. Refurbishment of the Ground, New catering, A manager who kept us up, A new academy, New players, A squad that looks like it actually can contend in the Championship, Not having deliberately gotten us relegated (remember that one!?), Turning us into feeder club (lol!?) It's like they just don't care! And now the seventh signing this summer!
Proper fed up myself!
A good post from IAgree. We all knew 'the network' will play a big part in terms of who we bring in. 3 out of the 7 doesn't suggest we will be over reliant on it. The bigger picture now compared to where we were in December is one of progress, all of the above is testament to that. Some of the players we were given like Thuram didn't work out, but I would say that neither Church nor Gower have worked out. There is always a risk with any new player. Based on Kermorgant's record at Leicester, I'd have probably been quite quick to dismiss him. I think with all these players we have to let them bed in and play a few games first. Fine to have an opinion, but I'm guessing with someone like Tucudean, none of us have anything to base an opinion on (good/bad) apart from a few you tube clips and what other people have said.
At the very least let's try an err on the side of positivity for now, and if he's given the ball away 10 minutes into the Brentford game then we can all rip him to pieces (joking of course).
Hopefully we can start to get behind some of the work RD is doing now.
CONJECTURE - an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information… (also: guess, speculation, surmise, fancy, notion, belief, suspicion, presumption, assumption, theory, hypothesis… I could go on!!!)
Indeed -What have the Belgians ever done for us eh??
Apart from;
Saving us from bankruptcy The new pitch, The new seating, Reducing season prices. Refurbishment of the Ground, New catering, A manager who kept us up, A new academy, New players, A squad that looks like it actually can contend in the Championship, Not having deliberately gotten us relegated (remember that one!?), Turning us into feeder club (lol!?) It's like they just don't care! And now the seventh signing this summer!
Proper fed up myself!
Sure, but apart from saving us from bankruptcy, the new pitch, the new seating, reducing season ticket prices, refurbishment of the ground, new catering, a manager who kept us up, a new academy, new players, a squad that looks like it actually can contend in the Championship, not having deliberately gotten us relegated, not turning us into a feeder club and signing 7 new players - what have the Belgians done for us?
Signed, The Popular Front
PS. RD didn't save us from bankruptcy, but even if he had have done it's hardly an altruistic act on behalf of Charlton fans everywhere. There are lots of encouragingly sensible decisions being made and at face value some decent commercial deals as well - but if anything they show how bad TJ/MS were in those regards, and of course how much deep pockets help. Actually I welcome the win/win - if RD gives us a club that has a little success and is able to sustain itself, then I'm happy for him to profit from that.
But let's be honest, the Academy is a no-brainer (and is he actually putting the funds in for that?). He has absolutely no choice regarding the pitch because I have no doubt the Football League won't be as patient again with a string of postponements, and it makes sense to do it well now and save money in the long term. I'll reserve judgement on the catering until I've managed to get served within the window of half time - which rarely happened last season - with edible and drinkable fare. A good experience at the ground, including it being freshly painted, will make it more likely for the walk-ups to return.
As I say, RD seems to be making a lot of sensible business decisions - but ultimately he'll be judged on what happens on the pitch, and his record to date has been questionable at best. We've not seen any of these new players play in the fiercely competitive and strong Championship, and 25 appearances 10 years ago hardly makes big Bob an expert either.
I'd have felt an awful lot more confident if he'd just added quality to the spine of Hamer-Morrison-Stephens-Kermorgant.
PPS. We'll never know, but he might already have had a manager who would have kept us up... (lights touchpaper, steps away). ;-)
Dont want to take this too far off thread but I think we need to consider that we were not exactly flying with our Hamer-Morrison-Stephens-Kermorgant spine that was mentioned above. In fact, post RD coming in, that is when we improved (ie after the controversial changes were made).
And no I havent forgotten the games in hand. I was looking at the wins / games ratio as well.
Welcome, George. I will judge you on your performances rather than comments by people who've never seen you play. Good luck ...
I really don't see why we all have to keep repeating this all the time. Surely for 99% of us, that's a given ?
Anyone questioning, or not being 100% enthralled by a signing, is only giving an opinion, an initial loose one, based on little first hand knowledge. Surely that's what forums etc are for? if we all sat on the fence scared to give an opinion, then they wouldn't be worth visiting.
RD is taking risks. Like a building site manager, its cheaper to plug gaps with overseas workers than those based here and he is going that route. With the clear advantages that brings, there are at the same time equally clear risks as there are additional variables that have to come into play (foreign country / language, impact on squad togetherness, different style of play etc).
Players that don't work out in one place are moved around. We are getting off Liege (Tucudean) what St Truiden are about to get off us (Peter Parsley). They will either click elsewhere, or it will turn out all along they were simply not up to it.
Tucudean's record / background hasn't got me immediately shouting yes. Doesn't mean it won't be a success, and certainly doesn't mean i don't want it to be a success. Just to me it is yet another unknown quality on top of a lot of very similar arrivals.
Incidentally, Tucudean's arrival is another reason why I am so excited about the new season. Not knowing as much about the new players means that the first game turns into a really interesting 'scouting' mission for all us fans (think back to the Bournemouth game 3 years back). I remember signing the biggest and most recognisable names in my lifetime when Murphy, Rommedahl and Jeffers joined. And then we promptly got spanked at Bolton.
Incidentally, Tucudean's arrival is another reason why I am so excited about the new season. Not knowing as much about the new players means that the first game turns into a really interesting 'scouting' mission for all us fans (think back to the Bournemouth game 3 years back). I remember signing the biggest and most recognisable names in my lifetime when Murphy, Rommedahl and Jeffers joined. And then we promptly got spanked at Bolton.
Although Wigan and Derby will be a more reliable benchmark.
It's all a load of uncertainty right now but feels better than 12 months back. If you want certainty and success in football then the only way is to support big four/six or whatever. We're on a journey back to the Premier league which is more than many fans can say. As posted before I think 2015-16 looking good given the Massive restructuring of the squad this last six months. Some players will work out and others will go out on loan.
This is the a snippet of the level our George has been playing at from 09 to 10 and again from 2010 up to 2013.. Romanian second tier is an awful standard of football, but I believe he was a bright spark amongst it.
Disregarding stats in the Romanian second tier, his stats in Romanian top tier, cups and Belgian top tier.. in his 101 apps he has scored 19 goals, 14 in 86 in just league matches.
He could cut it if he works his socks off, but for me the CB's will be something he's never quite experienced, big challenge for him!
This is the a snippet of the level our George has been playing at from 09 to 10 and again from 2010 up to 2013.. Romanian second tier is an awful standard of football, but I believe he was a bright spark amongst it.
Disregarding stats in the Romanian second tier, his stats in Romanian top tier, cups and Belgian top tier.. in his 101 apps he has scored 19 goals, 14 in 86 in just league matches.
He could cut it if he works his socks off, but for me the CB's will be something he's never quite experienced, big challenge for him!
You'd never see conditions like that in the English Championship. No way.
This is the a snippet of the level our George has been playing at from 09 to 10 and again from 2010 up to 2013.. Romanian second tier is an awful standard of football, but I believe he was a bright spark amongst it.
Disregarding stats in the Romanian second tier, his stats in Romanian top tier, cups and Belgian top tier.. in his 101 apps he has scored 19 goals, 14 in 86 in just league matches.
He could cut it if he works his socks off, but for me the CB's will be something he's never quite experienced, big challenge for him!
blimey! that is a shocking pitch. good job we have never had to put up with playing surfaces like that.
This is the a snippet of the level our George has been playing at from 09 to 10 and again from 2010 up to 2013.. Romanian second tier is an awful standard of football, but I believe he was a bright spark amongst it.
Disregarding stats in the Romanian second tier, his stats in Romanian top tier, cups and Belgian top tier.. in his 101 apps he has scored 19 goals, 14 in 86 in just league matches.
He could cut it if he works his socks off, but for me the CB's will be something he's never quite experienced, big challenge for him!
No from 2010-2013 he was playing in the top tier for one of the best teams in Romania so that's wrong, with a short loan at the beginning of 2010.
Not entirely accurate - he hasn't played there since the end of 2010 when he rejoined them on loan. From early 2011 he had made his debut for and was playing for Dinamo Bucharest.
So that was only during his teenage years. It is not as if he was playing football on a potato field 1 year ago which is what the quote suggested ("the level our George has been playing at from 09 to 10 and again from 2010 up to 2013")
This is the a snippet of the level our George has been playing at from 09 to 10 and again from 2010 up to 2013.. Romanian second tier is an awful standard of football, but I believe he was a bright spark amongst it.
Disregarding stats in the Romanian second tier, his stats in Romanian top tier, cups and Belgian top tier.. in his 101 apps he has scored 19 goals, 14 in 86 in just league matches.
He could cut it if he works his socks off, but for me the CB's will be something he's never quite experienced, big challenge for him!
No from 2010-2013 he was playing in the top tier for one of the best teams in Romania so that's wrong.
Yes he was, but in part on loan back to the second tier during 2010-2013 (I think it was around 9 apps during 2010 - so not stretching as far as 2013 but hadn't checked dates). So it's not wrong, but yes he was at Dinamo and signed to Dinamo. He was purchased for 44k(EUR) by Dinamo and sold to Liege for 880k, shrewd business by Dinamo :-)
Stunned a club like Dinamo are being treated as if there a non league club but some on here
Perhaps i'm doing the Romanian top tier a disservice.
Personally, i'm not overly bothered about his goals record. Players like Igor and Reza, that's more important. if Tucudean's main assets are his hold-up play, ability to bring others in etc and he is good at it, then blinding. Because that's what we desperately need up there.
The big test will be how he stands up to the CH in this league. He scored some great goals on the vidio, but back to goal is the nard bit. Fingers crossed, but looks promising.
Stunned a club like Dinamo are being treated as if there a non league club but some on here
Perhaps i'm doing the Romanian top tier a disservice.
Personally, i'm not overly bothered about his goals record. Players like Igor and Reza, that's more important. if Tucudean's main assets are his hold-up play, ability to bring others in etc and he is good at it, then blinding. Because that's what we desperately need up there.
steaua bucharest, their main rivals, were one of the biggest clubs in Europe in the late 80s (winning the European Cup of course). They are ahead of Werder Breman, SL, Celtic, Newcastle and Udinese in the UEFA rankings. Dinamo go toe to toe with them (54-55 down in wins) and are historically serious rivals.
So Millwall v Charlton in front of 15000 at the toolbox wont exactly faze him! We are being a bit patronising here.
Stunned a club like Dinamo are being treated as if there a non league club but some on here
Perhaps i'm doing the Romanian top tier a disservice.
Personally, i'm not overly bothered about his goals record. Players like Igor and Reza, that's more important. if Tucudean's main assets are his hold-up play, ability to bring others in etc and he is good at it, then blinding. Because that's what we desperately need up there.
steaua bucharest, their main rivals, were one of the biggest clubs in Europe in the late 80s (winning the European Cup of course). They are ahead of Werder Breman, SL, Celtic, Newcastle and Udinese in the UEFA rankings. Dinamo go toe to toe with them (54-55 down in wins) and are historically serious rivals.
So Millwall v Charlton in front of 15000 at the toolbox wont exactly faze him! We are being a bit patronising here.
don't really see the relevance Damo in what an unconnected club did 30-odd years ago. And i'm referring solely to comparative standard and style of the game, not whether he will be fazed with playing against the Championship greats of Millwall and Rotherham. As i said above, perhaps i'm doing the Romanian top league a dis-service.
Lets put this in perspective in what our rivals have been doing (now and historically).
Boro sign Kike from Murcia (cant even find them in this list), Weds sign Niuhu (sp) from Rapid Vienna (98 in the list) and he did a job at this level for them Boro took Marvin Emnes from Sparta Rotterdam (below AZ) for the Prem
Not only does our recruitment look solid for the Championship, but there is nothing at all to suggest that George Tucudean cannot perform at Championship level.
Comments
He actually runs on gas
At the very least let's try an err on the side of positivity for now, and if he's given the ball away 10 minutes into the Brentford game then we can all rip him to pieces (joking of course).
Hopefully we can start to get behind some of the work RD is doing now.
Signed,
The Popular Front
PS. RD didn't save us from bankruptcy, but even if he had have done it's hardly an altruistic act on behalf of Charlton fans everywhere. There are lots of encouragingly sensible decisions being made and at face value some decent commercial deals as well - but if anything they show how bad TJ/MS were in those regards, and of course how much deep pockets help. Actually I welcome the win/win - if RD gives us a club that has a little success and is able to sustain itself, then I'm happy for him to profit from that.
But let's be honest, the Academy is a no-brainer (and is he actually putting the funds in for that?). He has absolutely no choice regarding the pitch because I have no doubt the Football League won't be as patient again with a string of postponements, and it makes sense to do it well now and save money in the long term. I'll reserve judgement on the catering until I've managed to get served within the window of half time - which rarely happened last season - with edible and drinkable fare. A good experience at the ground, including it being freshly painted, will make it more likely for the walk-ups to return.
As I say, RD seems to be making a lot of sensible business decisions - but ultimately he'll be judged on what happens on the pitch, and his record to date has been questionable at best. We've not seen any of these new players play in the fiercely competitive and strong Championship, and 25 appearances 10 years ago hardly makes big Bob an expert either.
I'd have felt an awful lot more confident if he'd just added quality to the spine of Hamer-Morrison-Stephens-Kermorgant.
PPS. We'll never know, but he might already have had a manager who would have kept us up... (lights touchpaper, steps away). ;-)
And no I havent forgotten the games in hand. I was looking at the wins / games ratio as well.
Anyone questioning, or not being 100% enthralled by a signing, is only giving an opinion, an initial loose one, based on little first hand knowledge. Surely that's what forums etc are for? if we all sat on the fence scared to give an opinion, then they wouldn't be worth visiting.
RD is taking risks. Like a building site manager, its cheaper to plug gaps with overseas workers than those based here and he is going that route. With the clear advantages that brings, there are at the same time equally clear risks as there are additional variables that have to come into play (foreign country / language, impact on squad togetherness, different style of play etc).
Players that don't work out in one place are moved around. We are getting off Liege (Tucudean) what St Truiden are about to get off us (Peter Parsley). They will either click elsewhere, or it will turn out all along they were simply not up to it.
Tucudean's record / background hasn't got me immediately shouting yes. Doesn't mean it won't be a success, and certainly doesn't mean i don't want it to be a success. Just to me it is yet another unknown quality on top of a lot of very similar arrivals.
We're on a journey back to the Premier league which is more than many fans can say. As posted before I think 2015-16 looking good given the Massive restructuring of the squad this last six months. Some players will work out and others will go out on loan.
Disregarding stats in the Romanian second tier, his stats in Romanian top tier, cups and Belgian top tier.. in his 101 apps he has scored 19 goals, 14 in 86 in just league matches.
He could cut it if he works his socks off, but for me the CB's will be something he's never quite experienced, big challenge for him!
2009–2010 UTA Arad 41 (13)
2010–2013 Dinamo București 51 (10)
2010 → UTA Arad (loan) 12 (9)
2013–2014 Standard Liège 11 (0)
2013–2014 → Dinamo București (loan) 22 (7)
2014– Charlton Athletic 0 (0)
So that was only during his teenage years. It is not as if he was playing football on a potato field 1 year ago which is what the quote suggested ("the level our George has been playing at from 09 to 10 and again from 2010 up to 2013")
Probably the one area (20 goal a season man) where it is very hard to get anything much without splashing the cash.
Makes for a very interesting season and more of a proper test of the RD approach.
Personally, i'm not overly bothered about his goals record. Players like Igor and Reza, that's more important. if Tucudean's main assets are his hold-up play, ability to bring others in etc and he is good at it, then blinding. Because that's what we desperately need up there.
So Millwall v Charlton in front of 15000 at the toolbox wont exactly faze him! We are being a bit patronising here.
Two-cho-dee-an or Tuh-co-dean or Tuh-co-dee-an or even Tuh-chuh-dee-an?
Game he scored 4 and 1 assist.
Years Team Apps† (Gls)
2002–2004 Vannes 49(11)
2004–2005 Châtellerault 29 (14)
2005–2007 Grenoble 59 (16)
2007–2009 Stade Reims 67 (13)
2009–2011 Leicester City 20 (1)
2010–2011 → Arles-Avignon (loan) 26 (3)
2011–2014 Charlton Athletic 89 (29)
2014– AFC Bournemouth 16 (9)
But if he can get near Yann's assists, i'd be happy. (9 last season, 8 the season before)
Lets go from the UEFA club rankings (obviously not solely how good the teams are, but a good measure of pressure and expectation perhaps) -
Tucudean - purchased from SL (58th in Europe just ahead of Celtic) and was top man at DB (133rd in Europe and ahead of Feyenoord)
JBG - purchased from AZ (25th in Europe and ahead of Lazio, Fiorentina and Bilbao amongst others) and a major player there
Vetokele - A major striker at FC Copenhagen (50th in Europe ahead of Fenebache and Roma)
Buyens - As above, SL are a strong team Europe wide compared to us.
SOURCE -
http://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/data/method4/trank2014.html
Lets put this in perspective in what our rivals have been doing (now and historically).
Boro sign Kike from Murcia (cant even find them in this list),
Weds sign Niuhu (sp) from Rapid Vienna (98 in the list) and he did a job at this level for them
Boro took Marvin Emnes from Sparta Rotterdam (below AZ) for the Prem
Not only does our recruitment look solid for the Championship, but there is nothing at all to suggest that George Tucudean cannot perform at Championship level.