Guy Luzon spoke to the local media at the club’s training ground on Thursday afternoon ahead of the London derby against Brentford at The Valley on Saturday (3pm).
Charlton will be eager to bounce back from the defeat against Preston North End when the Bees arrive in SE7 and Luzon revealed to the press that he hopes to have a number of more senior players available to him.
The Head Coach said that goalkeeper Stephen Henderson was looking ready to start, while also discussing his confidence going into the tie, how he fully understands fans' frustrations and his determination to turn the corner.
Injuries beginning to clear up“The last two months we have had crazy situations, a crisis, with injuries. It is unbelievable what has happened.
“At this point, we are more positive as, after two months, some of them will be able to come back into the squad and the eleven on Saturday.
“Johnnie Jackson will be ready, Simon Makienok will be back in, Moussa, Henderson, Reza are all back to be involved.
“We showed earlier in the season that we were capable of playing well and getting results. Now that we are starting to get players back, I am confident that we can return to this.”
Confidence ahead of the clash “In football, to win games you need the tools. At the start of the season, when we had our full squad, we knew how to bring results and to play well. A lot of our players are coming back now and now it is our job to show our quality.
“This league is a long journey and I hope that we can move again now. We are focussed on putting our best players in the squad and on the field. I am fully confident that we have the quality in the squad. We showed it last season and at the beginning of this season. Now that we are getting players back, I am fully confident that we will show it again.
“We are not a team that should be fighting in the relegation war - we have more than this. I am sure that when we are past this injury crisis period then we will return to winning games.”
Understanding fans' frustrations“I understand it because fans, as well as me, work with emotion. As a fan, when you love the club and the team it is normal that they get worried. I am sure that they’ll will be with us on Saturday.
“They want the club to succeed. They don’t want to go against the team and coach, but they did on Tuesday because they were disappointed; I understand that because when you work through emotions that is normal.
“Also 99 per cent of the time and also last season they supported the team and pushed us forward. We can’t take them for granted because at a lot of clubs the fans go against the team always. That’s not the situation here.
“We have very honest fans. We don’t have any problem with them and we can only appreciate them when they come to games home and away. We know that we have let them down in the last month and I really understand them because I have the same feeling.
“I’m not the kind of person who, after losing, says ‘it’s ok, we have the next game’. That’s not me - I take it to heart and the fans are the same.”
On turning the corner“All of us are not happy with our situation that we are in. Myself and the players, we know in recent games that we have not even showed 50 per cent of our quality. At the start of the season we showed more but in the last games we have not.
“We are aware of it, we are not happy or satisfied. We are sad like the fans and everyone around the club but, despite this situation, we are fully confident that we have the quality in the squad and that we have what we need to do, which is to bring results. We are going to do that.”
Read more at
http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/charlton-athletic-guy-luzon-pre-match-brentford-2759313.aspx#kBw9DDof7XgsvODm.99
Comments
" Crippling injury list"
Sorry, Guy we have heard every excuse in the famous why Charlton are losing list.
Except that is precisely what he has been coming out with over the past few weeks. "We go again, blah, blah, blah".
Guy 'gets it'. 100% support from me.
COYR
Remarkably Guy Luzon comes over as more on point than he often does. He certainly talks a good game, very positive about returning players. he 'promises' things will get better, and he is convinced it will be because of 'quality', and seems to feel our players are of good 'quality' so that will leads us to the sunny uplands.
I admire his hutzpah, but what else can he say? He is not exactly going to be all doom and gloom so he is trying to talk things up, and he does that in spades. These events are usually five minutes, this one is seventeen.
The good news is that he knows that he has to deliver results, he has reasons for our troubles rather than excuses, and he recognised the inbalance in Tuesdays side.
What now remains is for him to deliver the points and results in game after game.
And surely that's every manager's dream .
Guy has had to join the same circus that last Saturday's ref comes from, albeit as a tightrope walker.
Balancing the need for certain influential players to start with tired legs/bodies from international matches and of course our bête noire- those feckin injuries- must be hell for any manager.
But add to that the meagre squad that our owner has allowed him to assemble and what do you get ?
A no win situation in more ways than one.
I believe that Saturday will make or break Guy's tenure at the helm and it's up to the players to step up to the plate for him and for us.
Time, once again, for us to make some noise .....of the positive kind.
Keep the faith !
However, this does not hide the fact that RD left us short of quality players in the small squad we have and whilst GL might well be able to turn this around (now that the injuries are subsiding and players are coming back), what happens if we get another injury crisis (god forbid) later in the season? RD needs to realise that while GL may be the man that can, he cant do it with both hands tied behind his back!!! Lets hope RD finally sees some sense and looks to bolster the squad, now (freebies and decent loans) and not wait until January.
I really hope I'm wrong, and that he proves me wrong, but I doubt it.
“In football, to win games you need the tools"
Well we had plenty of them both on and off the pitch on Tuesday.
Although I'd be rather grateful if he could score four goals in a match again, then its just up to the Defence to try and ensure that we don't concede five goals (Gulp)
Im not having that.
Think we'll know the answer by 5pm tomorrow.