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.
Craig Noone of Cardiff come very close to joining us late yesterday expect us to try again for a loan deal
That would be a good signing. Pennant really must be a last resort if we're going after Championship wingers like Henry, Bennett and Paterson.
I think the problem with Pennant is that he is a right winger whereas we need a left winger which Henry, Paterson and Noone can play. Not sure about Bennett but I think he's a right sided player too....but has the advantage that he can also play right back and therefore would appeal more.
I remember luzon said he wanted to see pennant in training when the team aren't playing 2 games a week. That would be when the training wasn't so intense and probably more tactical this would allow him to decide.
I wouldn't be surprised if RD just won't pay the transfer fees/salaries for the domestic players we've been linked with. Can't blame him, as the quality of 'foreign' players we've brought in during the window that just 'slammed' shut has been high and I'm sure at a fraction of the cost that is now being bandied about domestically. I don't blame him in playing hardball.
He's now set on using the loan system. That's how I see it anyway.
Loanees come for game time not to warm benches. What are we going to get from Sho-Silva cooling his butt (Won't be warming it up there) on the bench at Inverness?
So the loan market is not the answer is it? OK we did get a good one in Coquelin but remember, if someone like that comes then someone who RD has bought and paid for won't be playing.
So you think RD is going to like the idea of bringing in someone else's player to prove his worth to someone else whilst someone he has invested in is losing value on the sidelines? Odd logic there mate.
Another young hungry premiership player in the mould of Coquelin would be great. This summer's astute additions have strengthened the squad measurably and I am sure GL has loan targets that would do well. Pennat, although right sided, would be a good addition IMO.
Comments
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.
He's now set on using the loan system. That's how I see it anyway.
So the loan market is not the answer is it? OK we did get a good one in Coquelin but remember, if someone like that comes then someone who RD has bought and paid for won't be playing.