Squad is lighter, meaner, keener and younger but that comes with a risk. By losing and not replacing the very fringe players that had been allowed to accrue it means that the "sharp end" of the squad can be of a better quality. Our first 15 are the strongest it's been for some years. Is that enough to push for a playoff position ? Only if we are lucky with injuries and key players not losing form. If we are not lucky then the squad does at this point look thin. I don't doubt that at least in part that will be addressed with a couple of astute loans.
I've said it before but I still think that this season is still one of consolidation and strengthening but not an out and out push for promotion.
If the level of improvement in squad quality is again reproduced next summer even if that means a big sale or two in order to improve the overall strength then I believe we can look at a tilt at the playoffs either next season or the one after without Charlton adding to the madness of spending seen at our rivals.
I'm more than happy with the trend.
Your conclusion is theoretically sound, but will we have the Standard Liege network combing Europe for us in future? KM's honest statements to the SLP included the admission that Kashi and Bauer were discovered for us by SL scouts while looking at other players. Who will we rely on it future? Alcorcon and Ujpest scouts?
Possibly but very unlikely don't you think. Charlton swim in a bigger pool than either of those two teams arguably in a pool of the same size as SL. It's also worth noting that the two of Bauer and Kashi were not directly being scouted and even though the scouts in question were SL it was to Charlton that the players were headed.
Squad is lighter, meaner, keener and younger but that comes with a risk. By losing and not replacing the very fringe players that had been allowed to accrue it means that the "sharp end" of the squad can be of a better quality. Our first 15 are the strongest it's been for some years. Is that enough to push for a playoff position ? Only if we are lucky with injuries and key players not losing form. If we are not lucky then the squad does at this point look thin. I don't doubt that at least in part that will be addressed with a couple of astute loans.
I've said it before but I still think that this season is still one of consolidation and strengthening but not an out and out push for promotion.
If the level of improvement in squad quality is again reproduced next summer even if that means a big sale or two in order to improve the overall strength then I believe we can look at a tilt at the playoffs either next season or the one after without Charlton adding to the madness of spending seen at our rivals.
I'm more than happy with the trend.
Your conclusion is theoretically sound, but will we have the Standard Liege network combing Europe for us in future? KM's honest statements to the SLP included the admission that Kashi and Bauer were discovered for us by SL scouts while looking at other players. Who will we rely on it future? Alcorcon and Ujpest scouts?
Possibly but very unlikely don't you think. Charlton swim in a bigger pool than either of those two teams arguably in a pool of the same size as SL. It's also worth noting that the two of Bauer and Kashi were not directly being scouted and even though the scouts in question were SL it was to Charlton that the players were headed.
Yes, that's the point. We will have to root around and unearth these succulent truffles ourselves in future, unless there is a scouting agreement with SL that hasn't been disclosed so far.
I agree with AKFA's analysis and most of what has been said above. The quality of the squad has certainly improved but we (including Luzon and the board) all know that it falls short in terms of options and cover in a few key positions. That will inevitably catch up with us at some stage.
Some excellent business has been conducted over the summer, including securing the immediate futures of Jordan Cousins and JBG, as well as sourcing some very good new players. All concerned are to be congratulated for that. However, our scope for manoeuvre is bound to be fettered to some extent by the mistakes which were made in the transfer market in the early stages of the new regime and we are having to live with the ongoing consequences of those -notably, having to honour the long term contracts agreed with players like Tucadean, Paryszek and Reza. If we could have shifted one or two of those, there may have been more wriggle room in the budget.
I very much favour the incremental approach to progress but this is becoming increasingly difficult in the teeth of both the grotesque disparity in TV money between the Premier League and the rest and the many millions that several Championship club owners are prepared to gamble to get their noses in the trough. You only have to look at the insanity of the latest window and some of the prices paid for relatively unproven players, all of which underscore the rationale of RD's decision to shop in Europe. The difficulty for us is that if we have a good season - which I expect us to do - but we don't have enough to make the cut, our best players will be very much sought after and it will be extremely difficult to keep the core of the team together. In that event, we shall then have to start again; and so it continues....
Still, things are certainly looking up. Let's hope that we can unearth a gem or two from the loan or free agent market.
Can't argue with any of that not that good when it comes to articulating about squad matters (or alot of things for that matter) so that was a good read.
Reza is out for a month , he should be back a week after the International break and apparently moussa is training soon and watt started training end of last week. After the games against QPR and Hull fans were saying this is a team with great potential can see us getting play offs ect but I'm not sure it's because the loss against wolves or we didn't get involved in deadline day people are moaning again, if we sign pennant/a winger and right back cover id say we've got good strength in depth all over the pitch ( personally ).
So i tried to write the opening post as a balanced piece not getting too carried away at the time when we had put in a cracking opening month to the season.
Looking back now, the points raised in 3,5,7,8,10,10+1 all hold / have materialised, while sadly 9 has seen the opposite impact
I actually think we're in a much stronger position than we was last season with a better manager to start the season with , with better players and having the pre season playing together I can certainly see us having a better season than last season and not even flirting with relegation, we've spent more than we have done for years with Bauer 1m+ and Sarr 2m and Iv seen enough so far this season to say we'll be in top half and probably battling for play offs.
The only positions that need reinforcing is one more winger and cover for right back , I see a post on here yesterday saying choose your first 11 and see all the good players you will have to leave out. I'm still excited about this season even though we didn't rush around to sign players on deadline day , loan window is open next week and I'm sure we will bring in one or two.
Glass half full , confident Charlton fan.
I think it's more about looking forward though isn't it? Unless we're happy middling about the Championship?
It's about what can be achieved by slightly loosening the purse strings (I'm not talking to Derby County standards) to make the incremental gains needed to eventually challenge for promotion. Yes, the quality of individual players has increased but I think we are weaker as a squad and those couple of extra bodies could be the difference between the few nicked wins away from home that would see us push for play offs.
"Since May, 13 senior players have permanently left the squad:
Frederic Bulot Yoni Buyens Tal Ben Haim Simon Church Chris Eagles Roger Johnson Lawrie Wilson Oguchi Onyewu Neil Etheridge Christophe Lepoint Joe Gomez Loic Nego Andre Bikey-Amougou
A further six have been sent out on loan:
Marko Dmitrovic Callum Harriott Piotr Parzyszek George Tucudean Joe Pigott Zak Ansah
So the first team squad is now effectively 19 players lighter than it was in May.
Coming in, there have been 6 new permanent signings, and 1 loan signing:
Patrick Bauer Naby Sarr El-Hadji Ba Ahmed Kashi Cristian Ceballos Zakarya Bergdich Simon Makienok
Additionally, 2 have been permenently promoted from the U21 squad
Regan Charles-Cook Harry Lennon"
You can now add Lookman and Holmes-Dennis to the promoted from the U21 list.
Of the 7 new signings how have they done?
Patrick Bauer - Good. Not brilliant but dome well mostly Naby Sarr - So poor he can't get a game when Bauer is suspended El-Hadji Ba - BAmbi Ahmed Kashi - Was very good but now a long term injury Cristian Ceballos - Didn't show much even before he got injured Zakarya Bergdich - Rumoured that the club already want to off load him Simon Makienok - Was very good in some early games, now being jeered by his own fans
Finally
What has Franck Moussa done wrong? Fit enough to play for the U21s every week but not even in the 18.
And we can add Tony Watt to the list of loans out - inconceivable a few months ago. I just don't get the Moussa thing either - thought he was decent for a player who was out for so long with an injury and deserved better treatment from the club. Big sigh.
"Since May, 13 senior players have permanently left the squad:
Frederic Bulot Yoni Buyens Tal Ben Haim Simon Church Chris Eagles Roger Johnson Lawrie Wilson Oguchi Onyewu Neil Etheridge Christophe Lepoint Joe Gomez Loic Nego Andre Bikey-Amougou
A further six have been sent out on loan:
Marko Dmitrovic Callum Harriott Piotr Parzyszek George Tucudean Joe Pigott Zak Ansah
.
Of these who would strengthen us!
Frederic Bulot - definitely Yoni Buyens - definitely Tal Ben Haim -definitely Simon Church - think we have enough strikers Chris Eagles - hmm we need a winger but not sure he is the answer Roger Johnson - yep could organise the defense and bring experience &leadership Lawrie Wilson - yeah back up right back/right mid. Although not doing it for Bolton. Oguchi Onyewu - nope Neil Etheridge - never Christophe Lepoint - absolutely not Joe Gomez - obviously but was always going to leave so won't count him. Loic Nego - nope Andre Bikey-Amougou - possibly
A further six have been sent out on loan:
Marko Dmitrovic - better back up than Pope? Callum Harriott - if he can replicate his former for Colchester Piotr Parzyszek - god no George Tucudean -nah Joe Pigott - no Zak Ansah - not show enough yet
So 5 that would improve us and 4 that would add depth to the squad and could do a job! Think we should have tried harder to keep hold of some of these.. although that was obvious at the time!
Do these statements seem familiar? and look where both clubs are in the league. Let us hope RD is reading this Rotherham boss Neil Redfearn has said the club signed some "substandard" players in the summer. "We just scraped by last year and then we let good players go and replaced them with players who are substandard," Redfearn added. "This isn't going to go away. We have got to get better players in, players who know this level and can compete at this level." "We are relying on young guys who are trying to make their way in the game and they can't help themselves so they are going to struggle to help the rest. We didn't have enough men," Redfearn said.
Yep, Dan called it pretty much spot on & we all thought the same.
The only people that thought the squad was sufficient were the owner/CEO.
To be honest even those numbskulls, possibly didn't think it was strong enough, but they don't care as long as the wages are reduced and RD can play his stupid experiment.
Of those who left us, and whether realistically we could have kept them...
Frederic Bulot - a victim of politics between us and SL after the sale, a big loss. Yoni Buyens - wanted to go back home Tal Ben Haim - wanted to go back home, and lure of CL (!) Simon Church - understandably released Chris Eagles - understandably released as was a disappointment, and has done nothing much since Roger Johnson - should have been kept, did we offer him a contract for 15/16? Lawrie Wilson - I imagine he wanted more regular football Oguchi Onyewu - fringe player Neil Etheridge - fringe player Christophe Lepoint - fringe player Joe Gomez - would have loved to keep him, but no chance Loic Nego - fringe player Andre Bikey-Amougou - out of favour under Luzon, but would have been useful against Heskey last night
Plus
Rhoys Wiggins - sad to see him go, but a reasonable price and he's hardly played for Wednesday. Having seen how bad Bergdych is I would have kept him!
A further six have been sent out on loan:
Marko Dmitrovic - strange, if we want him to be a Charlton player, surely a short British loan would have made more sense? Callum Harriott - strange that it wasn't an emergency loan Piotr Parzyszek - correct George Tucudean - correct Joe Pigott - correct Zak Ansah - correct
So actually of the ones who left us, the majority probably were reasonable decisions or unavoidable, the worst being not to keep at least one of Johnson or Bikey, plus the loaning out on a long term basis of Dmitrovic and Harriott.
The one thing I noticed about our business this summer is the size of the contracts given to new signings and also valuable members of the squad in JBG and Cousins.
To me, this means we are building a strong squad piece by piece and won't go for it all in one big push. Next season our new players will have a whole season of Champ football in their experience bank. I'm expecting a top half finish this season and no less than a playoff place next year.
I'm naturally biased but I think on reflection it was a fair assessment at the time and a few of the concerns highlighted sadly did become an issue.
Worth noting that at the time I wrote the opening article, we were 8th in the league.
I think you were pretty much spot on, considering - I'll be taking more notice of your top 10 observations next season! (I assume this will be a regular feature?!)
Very good points. Something I banged on and on about was #7, that despite the fact that when fit we had good central midfielders, we had no one who could play in central midfield/through the middle and create. For me, this, along with the selection of strikers, none of whom naturally played up front on their own, was a failing of allowing the signings to be made by/for Luzon, who was a dogmatic 4-4-2 man who wanted his central midfielders holding (defending with six) and his wide players and two forwards attacking. This is something that a director of football could bring balance to, ensuring that players were recruited to allow for a different style of play.
Comments
So i tried to write the opening post as a balanced piece not getting too carried away at the time when we had put in a cracking opening month to the season.
Looking back now, the points raised in 3,5,7,8,10,10+1 all hold / have materialised, while sadly 9 has seen the opposite impact
"Since May, 13 senior players have permanently left the squad:
Frederic Bulot
Yoni Buyens
Tal Ben Haim
Simon Church
Chris Eagles
Roger Johnson
Lawrie Wilson
Oguchi Onyewu
Neil Etheridge
Christophe Lepoint
Joe Gomez
Loic Nego
Andre Bikey-Amougou
A further six have been sent out on loan:
Marko Dmitrovic
Callum Harriott
Piotr Parzyszek
George Tucudean
Joe Pigott
Zak Ansah
So the first team squad is now effectively 19 players lighter than it was in May.
Coming in, there have been 6 new permanent signings, and 1 loan signing:
Patrick Bauer
Naby Sarr
El-Hadji Ba
Ahmed Kashi
Cristian Ceballos
Zakarya Bergdich
Simon Makienok
Additionally, 2 have been permenently promoted from the U21 squad
Regan Charles-Cook
Harry Lennon"
You can now add Lookman and Holmes-Dennis to the promoted from the U21 list.
Of the 7 new signings how have they done?
Patrick Bauer - Good. Not brilliant but dome well mostly
Naby Sarr - So poor he can't get a game when Bauer is suspended
El-Hadji Ba - BAmbi
Ahmed Kashi - Was very good but now a long term injury
Cristian Ceballos - Didn't show much even before he got injured
Zakarya Bergdich - Rumoured that the club already want to off load him
Simon Makienok - Was very good in some early games, now being jeered by his own fans
Finally
What has Franck Moussa done wrong? Fit enough to play for the U21s every week but not even in the 18.
Frederic Bulot - definitely
Yoni Buyens - definitely
Tal Ben Haim -definitely
Simon Church - think we have enough strikers
Chris Eagles - hmm we need a winger but not sure he is the answer
Roger Johnson - yep could organise the defense and bring experience &leadership
Lawrie Wilson - yeah back up right back/right mid. Although not doing it for Bolton.
Oguchi Onyewu - nope
Neil Etheridge - never
Christophe Lepoint - absolutely not
Joe Gomez - obviously but was always going to leave so won't count him.
Loic Nego - nope
Andre Bikey-Amougou - possibly
A further six have been sent out on loan:
Marko Dmitrovic - better back up than Pope?
Callum Harriott - if he can replicate his former for Colchester
Piotr Parzyszek - god no
George Tucudean -nah
Joe Pigott - no
Zak Ansah - not show enough yet
So 5 that would improve us and 4 that would add depth to the squad and could do a job! Think we should have tried harder to keep hold of some of these.. although that was obvious at the time!
Rotherham boss Neil Redfearn has said the club signed some "substandard" players in the summer.
"We just scraped by last year and then we let good players go and replaced them with players who are substandard," Redfearn added.
"This isn't going to go away. We have got to get better players in, players who know this level and can compete at this level."
"We are relying on young guys who are trying to make their way in the game and they can't help themselves so they are going to struggle to help the rest. We didn't have enough men," Redfearn said.
The only people that thought the squad was sufficient were the owner/CEO.
To be honest even those numbskulls, possibly didn't think it was strong enough, but they don't care as long as the wages are reduced and RD can play his stupid experiment.
Frederic Bulot - a victim of politics between us and SL after the sale, a big loss.
Yoni Buyens - wanted to go back home
Tal Ben Haim - wanted to go back home, and lure of CL (!)
Simon Church - understandably released
Chris Eagles - understandably released as was a disappointment, and has done nothing much since
Roger Johnson - should have been kept, did we offer him a contract for 15/16?
Lawrie Wilson - I imagine he wanted more regular football
Oguchi Onyewu - fringe player
Neil Etheridge - fringe player
Christophe Lepoint - fringe player
Joe Gomez - would have loved to keep him, but no chance
Loic Nego - fringe player
Andre Bikey-Amougou - out of favour under Luzon, but would have been useful against Heskey last night
Plus
Rhoys Wiggins - sad to see him go, but a reasonable price and he's hardly played for Wednesday. Having seen how bad Bergdych is I would have kept him!
A further six have been sent out on loan:
Marko Dmitrovic - strange, if we want him to be a Charlton player, surely a short British loan would have made more sense?
Callum Harriott - strange that it wasn't an emergency loan
Piotr Parzyszek - correct
George Tucudean - correct
Joe Pigott - correct
Zak Ansah - correct
So actually of the ones who left us, the majority probably were reasonable decisions or unavoidable, the worst being not to keep at least one of Johnson or Bikey, plus the loaning out on a long term basis of Dmitrovic and Harriott.
Worth noting that at the time I wrote the opening article, we were 8th in the league.