I still think our starting 11 could get us in the play offs. Unfortunately they all need to stay fit for the whole season which is not possible. A winger and a right back would have been great, but not to be. Luzon did say after the game Saturday there wouldn't be any activity. Ok we freed some wages so loans may be possible and we could still bring in pennant. Let's get henderson fit, our strikers fit, cabellos and moussa fit and I think we will be in better shape.
Don't think we have had a pleasant late surprise on transfer deadline day since Jerome Thomas arrived.
I could think of many words, but pleasant wouldn't be one of them.
Weird. Jerome Thomas may have lost his way in his last year or so with us, but when he arrived and broke into the team he was absolute quality for us in the Premier League.
What's so weird in what I said? Did I slaughter him? Say he was crap etc, etc? No. I only said that pleasant wasn't a word I'd use.
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Or that were trying to remain within the FFP criteria
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Or that were trying to remain within the FFP criteria
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Or that were trying to remain within the FFP criteria
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Can't quite agree there!
Like you and probably Luzon, I was slightly disappointed that we didn't address a couple of positions that we are weak in, but the only lack of depth is at right back and left midfield, but we do have players that can quite easily fill those positions.
When everyone is fit, name your first team and then see who is left for the bench, I'll think you may be surprised how strong we are in depth!
Even clubs like Palace etc. are already way out of our league in financial terms. With West Ham and their heavily subsidised OS + TV money this will only get worse.
Shame we didn't bring in anyone else as I would have thought the long list of injuries we have already suffered would have highlighted just how thin the squad is. Oh well, if we're lucky we can patch the squad up and push for the play offs, but if not as long as we keep what we've brought in this season together we can put together a proper squad to challenge next season
Shame we didn't bring in anyone else as I would have thought the long list of injuries we have already suffered would have highlighted just how thin the squad is. Oh well, if we're lucky we can patch the squad up and push for the play offs, but if not as long as we keep what we've brought in this season together we can put together a proper squad to challenge next season
Even clubs like Palace etc. are already way out of our league in financial terms. With West Ham and their heavily subsidised OS + TV money this will only get worse.
That boat has long since sailed. Solid championship club is about the best we can hope for.
RD said his football adventures are to continue for a certain amount of time. (another 7 or 8 years from now ? ) After that, I think he will sell everything. So, perhaps another 4 or 5 years untill EPL, and then sell CAFC with a profit ? I wouldn't be surprised if that's the plan ...
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Think about the squad we had at the point RD took over the club. Think about the squad now. It's way way better than then and the squad now is way better than the one that finished last season.
If you add into the equation the money spent on The Valley and the impressive plans for Sparrows Lane then I just can't understand the suggestion that RD is marking time. Surely that would imply no progress.
If this current squad can push on from last year then with the same level of commitment and investment next summer I really think we can mount a serious challange.
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Think about the squad we had at the point RD took over the club. Think about the squad now. It's way way better than then and the squad now is way better than the one that finished last season.
If you add into the equation the money spent on The Valley and the impressive plans for Sparrows Lane then I just can't understand the suggestion that RD is marking time. Surely that would imply no progress.
If this current squad can push on from last year then with the same level of commitment and investment next summer I really think we can mount a serious challange.
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Think about the squad we had at the point RD took over the club. Think about the squad now. It's way way better than then and the squad now is way better than the one that finished last season.
If you add into the equation the money spent on The Valley and the impressive plans for Sparrows Lane then I just can't understand the suggestion that RD is marking time. Surely that would imply no progress.
If this current squad can push on from last year then with the same level of commitment and investment next summer I really think we can mount a serious challange.
Is there any evidence to suggest otherwise ?
I agree with what you are saying but would be worried come next summer if we would be able to still hold on to JBG, JC AND TW.
Would be happy with pennant for the season & a decent RB if ones available on loan. We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Yes,disappointingly like last year,a good first 11 and no depth.Makes you think RD is marking time rather than having a plan for the club.
Think about the squad we had at the point RD took over the club. Think about the squad now. It's way way better than then and the squad now is way better than the one that finished last season.
If you add into the equation the money spent on The Valley and the impressive plans for Sparrows Lane then I just can't understand the suggestion that RD is marking time. Surely that would imply no progress.
If this current squad can push on from last year then with the same level of commitment and investment next summer I really think we can mount a serious challange.
Is there any evidence to suggest otherwise ?
I certainly don't think he is marking time but I said from the beginning that he would not run Charlton in the way that most owners run their clubs and consequently it would be a "bumpy ride" and so it has proved.
The investment in the ground and the planned investment in the training ground (not happened yet) are both very positive and any investment in the team would have been an improvement after the spiv brothers.
However two of the corner stones of RDs strategy of doing it differently were the network and FFP.
With Standard sold the network has little or nothing to offer us. Some would argue that the bad outweighed the good in any case and that with only Watt and Reza from the current squad having come from the network backs that up. There have been a few other good players but short term loans or buys who soon moved on meaning no stability or momentum.
FFP has been blown out of the water as the spending this summer shows. It will not bring other clubs' budgets closer to ours so we have to cope with relatively less money to spend. To counter that we have to rely on youth products stepping up and on getting by with a smaller squad. Which is what it seems we are doing.
The, IMHO, inherent weakness in Roland regime was the sub-standard recruitment (Le Pointless, etc, etc etc) but that seems to have been, finally after 18 months, addressed.
So no, Roland isn't standing still. He (and KM and GL) want us to progress. But then so does every other owner in this division.
The measure isn't do we have a better squad than last year but do with have a squad able to finish higher than 12th when put up against the other squads that have been assembled.
I think we do but it is still a mighty thin squad.
Shame we didn't bring in anyone else as I would have thought the long list of injuries we have already suffered would have highlighted just how thin the squad is. Oh well, if we're lucky we can patch the squad up and push for the play offs, but if not as long as we keep what we've brought in this season together we can put together a proper squad to challenge next season
Loans.
Let's hope so. In the past we've rarely made particularly strong use of the loan market under RD though. I get the feeling he's not a fan, possibly because loans don't fit the ideal of investing in a player who can be moved on for profit if needed. Last season we did very well in the new year bringing in unattached players so that could also be an option if the right players are out there
Shame we didn't bring in anyone else as I would have thought the long list of injuries we have already suffered would have highlighted just how thin the squad is. Oh well, if we're lucky we can patch the squad up and push for the play offs, but if not as long as we keep what we've brought in this season together we can put together a proper squad to challenge next season
Loans.
Let's hope so. In the past we've rarely made particularly strong use of the loan market under RD though. I get the feeling he's not a fan, possibly because loans don't fit the ideal of investing in a player who can be moved on for profit if needed. Last season we did very well in the new year bringing in unattached players so that could also be an option if the right players are out there
Think Loans make sense, we've got a good first team, easily capable of play offs IMHO, however as already mentioned injuries and suspensions can eat into our top layer of talent, so bolster it with loans, not forgetting Big Mak is a loanee.
Comments
Still would have liked some strengthening though
We are a bit thin sure but what we have got is good enough to compete.
Like you and probably Luzon, I was slightly disappointed that we didn't address a couple of positions that we are weak in, but the only lack of depth is at right back and left midfield, but we do have players that can quite easily fill those positions.
When everyone is fit, name your first team and then see who is left for the bench, I'll think you may be surprised how strong we are in depth!
Squad is fine imo, couple of loans and that is a good draft of players.
Even clubs like Palace etc. are already way out of our league in financial terms. With West Ham and their heavily subsidised OS + TV money this will only get worse.
That boat has long since sailed. Solid championship club is about the best we can hope for.
http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/68948/new-article-the-summer-squad-upgrade-our-top-10-1-observations/p1
If you add into the equation the money spent on The Valley and the impressive plans for Sparrows Lane then I just can't understand the suggestion that RD is marking time. Surely that would imply no progress.
If this current squad can push on from last year then with the same level of commitment and investment next summer I really think we can mount a serious challange.
Is there any evidence to suggest otherwise ?
The investment in the ground and the planned investment in the training ground (not happened yet) are both very positive and any investment in the team would have been an improvement after the spiv brothers.
However two of the corner stones of RDs strategy of doing it differently were the network and FFP.
With Standard sold the network has little or nothing to offer us. Some would argue that the bad outweighed the good in any case and that with only Watt and Reza from the current squad having come from the network backs that up. There have been a few other good players but short term loans or buys who soon moved on meaning no stability or momentum.
FFP has been blown out of the water as the spending this summer shows. It will not bring other clubs' budgets closer to ours so we have to cope with relatively less money to spend. To counter that we have to rely on youth products stepping up and on getting by with a smaller squad. Which is what it seems we are doing.
The, IMHO, inherent weakness in Roland regime was the sub-standard recruitment (Le Pointless, etc, etc etc) but that seems to have been, finally after 18 months, addressed.
So no, Roland isn't standing still. He (and KM and GL) want us to progress. But then so does every other owner in this division.
The measure isn't do we have a better squad than last year but do with have a squad able to finish higher than 12th when put up against the other squads that have been assembled.
I think we do but it is still a mighty thin squad.