Some players just need the right manager to get the best out of them. In this case, if the move is confirmed, lets hope that Bob Peeters is that man for Tony Watt.
..and a lot of the bad press is coming from Menzo, who sounds a bit of a dick.
heard someone say Standard would be paying his wages whilst he was here, if so then surely its a win win
But therein possibly lies the problem.
Charlton may need a player and Duchatelet/whoever say bring one over from the 'network' so it saves on a transfer fee.
Surely if we get a player like Watt without us using any of our wage budget surely its a no lose situation, if he plays well we have a good player for the rest of the season, and if he dont he is used of the bench like Bulot and we have more depth on the bench
at the end of the day if it costs us nothing I am all for it
I'll cast my mind back to January with the 'quality' that came in then on a foc basis.
No, Paulie's right here, there's nothing to worry about. If Watt comes in and is crap then he won't play. This will have cost us nothing. People seem to assume that by getting in Watt we won't be getting anyone else in but there's nothing to say that. If we were buying two cheap strikers instead of the one decent striker we need in order to save money then I'd be concerned but we could sign Watt and Wood or Watt and Aguero, the cost for Watt would still be the same. Cheer up!
Lets hope he comes in and is a success.
Too many people are very sceptical about the players coming over from Duchatelet's other clubs.
heard someone say Standard would be paying his wages whilst he was here, if so then surely its a win win
But therein possibly lies the problem.
Charlton may need a player and Duchatelet/whoever say bring one over from the 'network' so it saves on a transfer fee.
Surely if we get a player like Watt without us using any of our wage budget surely its a no lose situation, if he plays well we have a good player for the rest of the season, and if he dont he is used of the bench like Bulot and we have more depth on the bench
at the end of the day if it costs us nothing I am all for it
I'll cast my mind back to January with the 'quality' that came in then on a foc basis.
No, Paulie's right here, there's nothing to worry about. If Watt comes in and is crap then he won't play. This will have cost us nothing. People seem to assume that by getting in Watt we won't be getting anyone else in but there's nothing to say that. If we were buying two cheap strikers instead of the one decent striker we need in order to save money then I'd be concerned but we could sign Watt and Wood or Watt and Aguero, the cost for Watt would still be the same. Cheer up!
Lets hope he comes in and is a success.
Too many people are very sceptical about the players coming over from Duchatelet's other clubs.
heard someone say Standard would be paying his wages whilst he was here, if so then surely its a win win
But therein possibly lies the problem.
Charlton may need a player and Duchatelet/whoever say bring one over from the 'network' so it saves on a transfer fee.
Surely if we get a player like Watt without us using any of our wage budget surely its a no lose situation, if he plays well we have a good player for the rest of the season, and if he dont he is used of the bench like Bulot and we have more depth on the bench
at the end of the day if it costs us nothing I am all for it
I'll cast my mind back to January with the 'quality' that came in then on a foc basis.
No, Paulie's right here, there's nothing to worry about. If Watt comes in and is crap then he won't play. This will have cost us nothing. People seem to assume that by getting in Watt we won't be getting anyone else in but there's nothing to say that. If we were buying two cheap strikers instead of the one decent striker we need in order to save money then I'd be concerned but we could sign Watt and Wood or Watt and Aguero, the cost for Watt would still be the same. Cheer up!
Lets hope he comes in and is a success.
Too many people are very sceptical about the players coming over from Duchatelet's other clubs.
3 out of 8 have been any good so far.
Eight players so far, wonder how many more we will have in the next twelve months.
I wonder if anybody listens to Damian Matthew and who he rates in this country.
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
This young man clearly has bags of talent and I find it quite exciting that he may be coming to The Valley. If Big Bob can get the lad's head in the right place then he will be an asset - a talented player who should easily score goals aplenty at this level if given the service. Peeters has two problems here - one, getting the lad in the right mindset and two, getting the lad the service to enable him to do his job. Maybe this will give Bob more confidence to go out to win games - and play to finish off the opposition when we get ahead. Worst case scenario is the boy is just too uncontrollable a la Balotelli and we have to give George a bigger stage - he showed yesterday that he can really do the business when CAFC are positive, assertive and playing with a serious desire to win.
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
Take notice of the word proven Mr Duchatelet.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
Take notice of the word proven Mr Duchatelet.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
Elfsborg, RD has brought in many players who have never or rarely played at any level in England, with some decent success - Buyens, Gudmundsson, Tucudean, Onyemi and hopefully this Tony Watt lad will be up for it. Astrit Adjarevic also very capable but lacked fitness. Tucudean, I strongly believe, will do the business.
This clearly suggests that he knows what standard of player is required at this level so we should be confident he can get us nearer the promised land or at least in the right direction - which we certainly are compared to this time last season.
Marcus Evans has been at Ipswich some 7 years or so and only now is he seeing his investment come to something - and many of Mick McCarthy's players are hand me downs from his previous clubs (proven Championship players, yes, but many coming to the end of their careers).
Buyens and Gudmundsson are certainly good enough to play at the next level up - and young enough so there is a chance to build an established team.
Considering RD has only had the club 9 months, he has done pretty damn well to bring in the right players to bring some success - at many clubs, some success means staying in the Championship and not dropping to the lower tier!
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward. </blockquote
Well we are talking about attitude. I seem to remember that when Di Canio came we were also a proven premiership team.
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
Take notice of the word proven Mr Duchatelet.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
Elfsborg, RD has brought in many players who have never or rarely played at any level in England, with some decent success - Buyens, Gudmundsson, Tucudean, Onyemi and hopefully this Tony Watt lad will be up for it. Astrit Adjarevic also very capable but lacked fitness. Tucudean, I strongly believe, will do the business.
This clearly suggests that he knows what standard of player is required at this level so we should be confident he can get us nearer the promised land or at least in the right direction - which we certainly are compared to this time last season.
Marcus Evans has been at Ipswich some 7 years or so and only now is he seeing his investment come to something - and many of Mick McCarthy's players are hand me downs from his previous clubs (proven Championship players, yes, but many coming to the end of their careers).
Buyens and Gudmundsson are certainly good enough to play at the next level up - and young enough so there is a chance to build an established team.
Considering RD has only had the club 9 months, he has done pretty damn well to bring in the right players to bring some success - at many clubs, some success means staying in the Championship and not dropping to the lower tier!
In the main I would not disagree with you.
I think you have hit my thoughts with your third paragraph(proven championship players). This to me is the way we need to go, coupled with Ipswich sticking to McCarthy being a very good manager at this level who knows it inside out.
I cannot argue that compared to 12 months ago the club and the team are in a better place, but I am sure you would agree that things are not perfect, nothing is of course.
What would your thinking be though IF we were to sack Peeters(this to me would be a bad move) and have a new manager for the start of next season. That would then be the fourth manager in 13 months.
I know we've been here a million times but "proven championship players" is not the way we are going to go. They are too expensive and don't fit with RD's attempt to run us as a break even club. Remember Chris O'Grady ? Reported 15k a week !!!!!!
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
I know we've been here a million times but "proven championship players" is not the way we are going to go. They are too expensive and don't fit with RD's attempt to run us as a break even club. Remember Chris O'Grady ? Reported 15k a week !!!!!!
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
**I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't**
The core of the Leicester and Burnley sides were British, with British managers and look what they did last season(yes okay I know that they may go straight back down).
To balance this, the same applied to Charlton and look at our season!
I do not know the answer but do you plough money in like Bournemouth who are flying and have been progressing fantastically well with a great manager, the same could be said to a lesser degree with Brentford. Alternatively, without money and being careful things are possibly going to take a bit longer.
The question is if the proven championship way does not work, and then if Duchatelet's way does not, what do we do next?
I know we've been here a million times but "proven championship players" is not the way we are going to go. They are too expensive and don't fit with RD's attempt to run us as a break even club. Remember Chris O'Grady ? Reported 15k a week !!!!!!
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
**I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't**
The core of the Leicester and Burnley sides were British, with British managers and look what they did last season(yes okay I know that they may go straight back down).
To balance this, the same applied to Charlton and look at our season!
I do not know the answer but do you plough money in like Bournemouth who are flying and have been progressing fantastically well with a great manager, the same could be said to a lesser degree with Brentford. Alternatively, without money and being careful things are possibly going to take a bit longer.
The question is if the proven championship way does not work, and then if Duchatelet's way does not, what do we do next?
I know we've been here a million times but "proven championship players" is not the way we are going to go. They are too expensive and don't fit with RD's attempt to run us as a break even club. Remember Chris O'Grady ? Reported 15k a week !!!!!!
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
**I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't**
The core of the Leicester and Burnley sides were British, with British managers and look what they did last season(yes okay I know that they may go straight back down).
To balance this, the same applied to Charlton and look at our season!
I do not know the answer but do you plough money in like Bournemouth who are flying and have been progressing fantastically well with a great manager, the same could be said to a lesser degree with Brentford. Alternatively, without money and being careful things are possibly going to take a bit longer.
The question is if the proven championship way does not work, and then if Duchatelet's way does not, what do we do next?
And how much did Leicester spend to get to the PL ? Will they go on and establish themselves ? History at least is against it. There will always be examples that buck the trend but getting out of the Championship and staying in the PL for medium let alone small clubs is almost impossible. They go up (Charlton included) try hard come down and invariably go skint. The financial odds are hugely stacked against any clubs barring the big club clique. Do you honestly think that Bournemouth or Brentford are potential long term members of the elite. I don't regardless of whether they get there at some point in the next couple of seasons.
Nobody knows if Mr. Duchatelet's attempt to do something different will work and at this point we don't even know what measure of success means for our owner. Perhaps he will consider his experiment a success if he achieves break even and a stable comfortable mid table championship club. I don't think he is stupid enough to think just getting into the Premier League is the easy part.
I know we've been here a million times but "proven championship players" is not the way we are going to go. They are too expensive and don't fit with RD's attempt to run us as a break even club. Remember Chris O'Grady ? Reported 15k a week !!!!!!
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
**I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't**
The core of the Leicester and Burnley sides were British, with British managers and look what they did last season(yes okay I know that they may go straight back down).
To balance this, the same applied to Charlton and look at our season!
I do not know the answer but do you plough money in like Bournemouth who are flying and have been progressing fantastically well with a great manager, the same could be said to a lesser degree with Brentford. Alternatively, without money and being careful things are possibly going to take a bit longer.
The question is if the proven championship way does not work, and then if Duchatelet's way does not, what do we do next?
And how much did Leicester spend to get to the PL ? Will they go on and establish themselves ? History at least is against it. There will always be examples that buck the trend but getting out of the Championship and staying in the PL for medium let alone small clubs is almost impossible. They go up (Charlton included) try hard come down and invariably go skint. The financial odds are hugely stacked against any clubs barring the big club clique. Do you honestly think that Bournemouth or Brentford are potential long term members of the elite. I don't regardless of whether they get there at some point in the next couple of seasons.
Nobody knows if Mr. Duchatelet's attempt to do something different will work and at this point we don't even know what measure of success means for our owner. Perhaps he will consider his experiment a success if he achieves break even and a stable comfortable mid table championship club. I don't think he is stupid enough to think just getting into the Premier League is the easy part.
Burnley have not spent a lot to get where they are.
Of course it is extremely unlikely that Bournemouth or Brentford would last long in the Premier League.
I reckon Duchatelet realises we can potentially make him more money than Standard would. One season in the Premier would gulf the money made in the Champions League, assuming the Belgians do not win it!
If he was to class his 'experiment' a success by breaking even and becoming mid-table I would be very surprised as we are potentially so close to the money pot that is the Premier League.
Neither you or I are right or wrong, all about opinions, and Duchatelet has created that most certainly!
I know we've been here a million times but "proven championship players" is not the way we are going to go. They are too expensive and don't fit with RD's attempt to run us as a break even club. Remember Chris O'Grady ? Reported 15k a week !!!!!!
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
**I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't**
The core of the Leicester and Burnley sides were British, with British managers and look what they did last season(yes okay I know that they may go straight back down).
I'm sure RD would accept the £60/70m Leicester blew chasing that promotion, I'm not so sure you're going to find it though, even if you do it's no guarantee of success, look how many seasons Leicester blew money for.
I know we've been here a million times but "proven championship players" is not the way we are going to go. They are too expensive and don't fit with RD's attempt to run us as a break even club. Remember Chris O'Grady ? Reported 15k a week !!!!!!
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
Take notice of the word proven Mr Duchatelet.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
Yes, he's only scored against Barcelona in the Champions League. How's he going to cope with Rotherham?
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
Take notice of the word proven Mr Duchatelet.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
Yes, he's only scored against Barcelona in the Champions League. How's he going to cope with Rotherham?
What has he done since?
But as I have said before, he has scored 20 in 70 games and he will get a chance from me before I can judge him.
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
Take notice of the word proven Mr Duchatelet.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
Yes, he's only scored against Barcelona in the Champions League. How's he going to cope with Rotherham?
What has he done since?
8 goals in 17 games for Lierse in the Belgian top tier last season.
If he comes in and scores 8 goals in the last 23 games of the season, I'll more than take that. It's equal to the amount Igor has managed in the first 23.
Really don't understand some of you lot. We are desperate for a striker and Watt is available through Roland's network. He's british so won't take too long to settle and ok has an attitude. Di Canio came with attitude and he did ok. I like players with a bit of attitude if it can be focussed in the right direction. When this guy fails then let him have it with both barrels but until then I think you should be glad we've got him and give him some support.
Di Canio also came as a proven Premier League forward.
Take notice of the word proven Mr Duchatelet.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
Yes, he's only scored against Barcelona in the Champions League. How's he going to cope with Rotherham?
What has he done since?
8 goals in 17 games for Lierse in the Belgian top tier last season.
If he comes in and scores 8 goals in the last 23 games of the season, I'll more than take that. It's equal to the amount Igor has managed in the first 23.
My point was in response to the scoring against Barcelona.......................
I don't understand. Someone mentioned he scored against Barcelona. You asked "what has he done since?" and I told you he scored 1 every 2 games in Belgian top tier last season.
I don't understand. Someone mentioned he scored against Barcelona. You asked "what has he done since?" and I told you he scored 1 every 2 games in Belgian top tier last season.
I don't understand. Someone mentioned he scored against Barcelona. You asked "what has he done since?" and I told you he scored 1 every 2 games in Belgian top tier last season.
Okay, you win this little joust, I give in.
I'm sure we both want him to do well should he run out at the Valley wearing red. For some players, they just "work" with one club but not others. Let's hope that Tony Watt and Charlton are made for each other.
I don't understand. Someone mentioned he scored against Barcelona. You asked "what has he done since?" and I told you he scored 1 every 2 games in Belgian top tier last season.
Okay, you win this little joust, I give in.
I'm sure we both want him to do well should he run out at the Valley wearing red. For some players, they just "work" with one club but not others. Let's hope that Tony Watt and Charlton are made for each other.
Comments
And before anyone asks, yes this most definitely came from the picture database of topless footballers I have stored on my computer.
Too many people are very sceptical about the players coming over from Duchatelet's other clubs.
I wonder if anybody listens to Damian Matthew and who he rates in this country.
If Big Bob can get the lad's head in the right place then he will be an asset - a talented player who should easily score goals aplenty at this level if given the service.
Peeters has two problems here - one, getting the lad in the right mindset and two, getting the lad the service to enable him to do his job.
Maybe this will give Bob more confidence to go out to win games - and play to finish off the opposition when we get ahead.
Worst case scenario is the boy is just too uncontrollable a la Balotelli and we have to give George a bigger stage - he showed yesterday that he can really do the business when CAFC are positive, assertive and playing with a serious desire to win.
We would like proven championship players, not asking much.
This clearly suggests that he knows what standard of player is required at this level so we should be confident he can get us nearer the promised land or at least in the right direction - which we certainly are compared to this time last season.
Marcus Evans has been at Ipswich some 7 years or so and only now is he seeing his investment come to something - and many of Mick McCarthy's players are hand me downs from his previous clubs (proven Championship players, yes, but many coming to the end of their careers).
Buyens and Gudmundsson are certainly good enough to play at the next level up - and young enough so there is a chance to build an established team.
Considering RD has only had the club 9 months, he has done pretty damn well to bring in the right players to bring some success - at many clubs, some success means staying in the Championship and not dropping to the lower tier!
I think you have hit my thoughts with your third paragraph(proven championship players). This to me is the way we need to go, coupled with Ipswich sticking to McCarthy being a very good manager at this level who knows it inside out.
I cannot argue that compared to 12 months ago the club and the team are in a better place, but I am sure you would agree that things are not perfect, nothing is of course.
What would your thinking be though IF we were to sack Peeters(this to me would be a bad move) and have a new manager for the start of next season. That would then be the fourth manager in 13 months.
Staying competitive and breaking even in the championship looks daunting and RD'S network He believes gives him a chance to buy potential at decent value on the continent and when it's not working try shifting it about to other network clubs to see if that works. Sometimes it will but often it won't. He can reinforce using loans without huge cost. We will see a bigger turnover of players than the normal model and it's going to be sometimes very frustrating. It is what it is.
I don't know if long term it will work but sure as hell the other model doesn't. RD has owned us almost exactly one year and he and his generals are still on a steep learning curve. Overall I think he's done pretty well for us given what was needed and looking at where we currently are.
The high spending clubs are just part of a boom bust cycle which we've all seen before. Those building slowly like Ipswich are doing it their way and good luck to them but they still won't break even and having older experienced championship players sometimes brings its own problems. Ask Millwall.
The RD plan is not going to be easily judged in the short term and I think after five years we will see if it has or is in the verge of being viable.
Not sure patience is a common commodity in football fans.
The core of the Leicester and Burnley sides were British, with British managers and look what they did last season(yes okay I know that they may go straight back down).
To balance this, the same applied to Charlton and look at our season!
I do not know the answer but do you plough money in like Bournemouth who are flying and have been progressing fantastically well with a great manager, the same could be said to a lesser degree with Brentford. Alternatively, without money and being careful things are possibly going to take a bit longer.
The question is if the proven championship way does not work, and then if Duchatelet's way does not, what do we do next?
Nobody knows if Mr. Duchatelet's attempt to do something different will work and at this point we don't even know what measure of success means for our owner. Perhaps he will consider his experiment a success if he achieves break even and a stable comfortable mid table championship club. I don't think he is stupid enough to think just getting into the Premier League is the easy part.
Of course it is extremely unlikely that Bournemouth or Brentford would last long in the Premier League.
I reckon Duchatelet realises we can potentially make him more money than Standard would. One season in the Premier would gulf the money made in the Champions League, assuming the Belgians do not win it!
If he was to class his 'experiment' a success by breaking even and becoming mid-table I would be very surprised as we are potentially so close to the money pot that is the Premier League.
Neither you or I are right or wrong, all about opinions, and Duchatelet has created that most certainly!
But as I have said before, he has scored 20 in 70 games and he will get a chance from me before I can judge him.
If he comes in and scores 8 goals in the last 23 games of the season, I'll more than take that. It's equal to the amount Igor has managed in the first 23.