Ba looked jittery to say the least last night but played well in several games at the start of the season when we were luxuriating in the tricky choice of which two from Ba, Kashi, and Cousins to play in the centre. Bu t let's overlook that so we can have another scapegoat when we're feeling pissed off - after all it worked well with Francis and Stephens didn't it? Clearly neither of them were worthy of our great shirt!
Said it last night badly badly miss Kashi he looked a class act
Colin, this is true. At the start of the season he looked like a genuinely decent player. But for how long can we trot out the excuse that we're missing players? We're actually missing very few now, this is why you need to build a squad, this is why so many of us said at the start of the season that the squad was woefully short, this is why we're in the bottom three. It was obvious to everyone with an ounce of footballing knowledge way back in August that the squad was short even when the team looked good.
Sadly, that's around an ounce of footballing knowledge more than Roly and Katrien share between them.
Don't agree, last night we had Kashi, Ceballos and Igor all still out injured, plus Bauer suspended. Yes I do agree we still have a thin squad, but Kashi started the season well, Igor don't know where to start and Bauer is a big loss because of moving Diarra to CB.
Ceballos could be a big return for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I actually think his creativity could come in handly regardless. Secondly, what impact will it have on JBG? He has been one of the first names on the teamsheet. If we go 4231 though, we have Lookman and Reza playing better than him so that leaves 1 more. If Ceballos comes in and impresses, he gets that spot, relegating JBG to the bench. With the euros coming up, he has 2 options, ask to leave or sort himself out. Sitting on the bench for the rest of the season isn't going to get him in that Iceland team so I hope it gives him a kick up the backside.
I'd still maintain that this is no more than you would expect to be missing at this stage of the season.
Igor has been a doubt for a long long time and other than his first couple of months in the team has failed to perform (potentially due to injury but it's been a year since he was turning in good performances so to rely on him to be a starter would be foolish).
A centre half picking up a suspension during the season is hardly a surprise, plus they had a centre half that they signed on the bench so didn't have to move Diarra. Or at least they wouldn't have if they had signed a centre half that was actually proven to be suitable for this league rather than one that a spreadsheet suggested they could make a profit on.
And much as I hope you're right in your assessment of Ceballos, we've seen no evidence so far that he would make the first eleven (he'd only accumulated 4 league appearances before he got injured) and no real evidence that he would make an impact even if he did, to be honest I only actually remember him for taking the worst corner I've ever seen (not that I'm saying that he should be judged on this, just that for me he made little impact when I did see him play).
Based on his early performance, Kashi is a real miss but our squad shouldn't be so weak that this is enough to see us relegated!
Too many good players have been allowed to leave the club and too many substandard players brought in to replace them. Couple it with a substandard manager and unless there are a number of signings made in January then in my opinion you can look forward to League One football next season.
Said it last night badly badly miss Kashi he looked a class act
Colin, this is true. At the start of the season he looked like a genuinely decent player. But for how long can we trot out the excuse that we're missing players? We're actually missing very few now, this is why you need to build a squad, this is why so many of us said at the start of the season that the squad was woefully short, this is why we're in the bottom three. It was obvious to everyone with an ounce of footballing knowledge way back in August that the squad was short even when the team looked good.
Sadly, that's around an ounce of footballing knowledge more than Roly and Katrien share between them.
Don't agree, last night we had Kashi, Ceballos and Igor all still out injured, plus Bauer suspended. Yes I do agree we still have a thin squad, but Kashi started the season well, Igor don't know where to start and Bauer is a big loss because of moving Diarra to CB.
Ceballos could be a big return for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I actually think his creativity could come in handly regardless. Secondly, what impact will it have on JBG? He has been one of the first names on the teamsheet. If we go 4231 though, we have Lookman and Reza playing better than him so that leaves 1 more. If Ceballos comes in and impresses, he gets that spot, relegating JBG to the bench. With the euros coming up, he has 2 options, ask to leave or sort himself out. Sitting on the bench for the rest of the season isn't going to get him in that Iceland team so I hope it gives him a kick up the backside.
I'd like to agree. However Ceballos showed nothing of promise in the few games he played.
Just another lightweight player, who didn't get a look in.
The only memorable thing he did was "that corner".
Said it last night badly badly miss Kashi he looked a class act
Colin, this is true. At the start of the season he looked like a genuinely decent player. But for how long can we trot out the excuse that we're missing players? We're actually missing very few now, this is why you need to build a squad, this is why so many of us said at the start of the season that the squad was woefully short, this is why we're in the bottom three. It was obvious to everyone with an ounce of footballing knowledge way back in August that the squad was short even when the team looked good.
Sadly, that's around an ounce of footballing knowledge more than Roly and Katrien share between them.
Don't agree, last night we had Kashi, Ceballos and Igor all still out injured, plus Bauer suspended. Yes I do agree we still have a thin squad, but Kashi started the season well, Igor don't know where to start and Bauer is a big loss because of moving Diarra to CB.
Ceballos could be a big return for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I actually think his creativity could come in handly regardless. Secondly, what impact will it have on JBG? He has been one of the first names on the teamsheet. If we go 4231 though, we have Lookman and Reza playing better than him so that leaves 1 more. If Ceballos comes in and impresses, he gets that spot, relegating JBG to the bench. With the euros coming up, he has 2 options, ask to leave or sort himself out. Sitting on the bench for the rest of the season isn't going to get him in that Iceland team so I hope it gives him a kick up the backside.
I'd like to agree. However Ceballos showed nothing of promise in the few games he played.
Just another lightweight player, who didn't get a look in.
The only memorable thing he did was "that corner".
possibly, but needs a few more games to be judged on fairly. I never actually said anything about him being a key player, more that it's another player to put pressure on JBG. I really feel we need him back to his best to start being more prolific up top. With Euros fast approaching, pressure on him can only have 2 options as above.
I've made an early new years resolution to not judge any of the players too harshly under this managerial circus.
Had I seen Ba play 10 games under a Curbishley, Bruce, Macarthy etc. and he still looked dodgy then I'd say get rid, but under the current regime who knows.....
Said it last night badly badly miss Kashi he looked a class act
Colin, this is true. At the start of the season he looked like a genuinely decent player. But for how long can we trot out the excuse that we're missing players? We're actually missing very few now, this is why you need to build a squad, this is why so many of us said at the start of the season that the squad was woefully short, this is why we're in the bottom three. It was obvious to everyone with an ounce of footballing knowledge way back in August that the squad was short even when the team looked good.
Sadly, that's around an ounce of footballing knowledge more than Roly and Katrien share between them.
Don't agree, last night we had Kashi, Ceballos and Igor all still out injured, plus Bauer suspended. Yes I do agree we still have a thin squad, but Kashi started the season well, Igor don't know where to start and Bauer is a big loss because of moving Diarra to CB.
Ceballos could be a big return for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I actually think his creativity could come in handly regardless. Secondly, what impact will it have on JBG? He has been one of the first names on the teamsheet. If we go 4231 though, we have Lookman and Reza playing better than him so that leaves 1 more. If Ceballos comes in and impresses, he gets that spot, relegating JBG to the bench. With the euros coming up, he has 2 options, ask to leave or sort himself out. Sitting on the bench for the rest of the season isn't going to get him in that Iceland team so I hope it gives him a kick up the backside.
Who's going to be the next player to be slagged off?
I know - we've always had one or 2 scapegoats that the fans love to hate - but now it's one or 2 that the fans like and all the others are slagged off. I understand how frustrating it is to see players make mistakes, shoot too soon or chose the wrong pass but there's no point in singling out Ba or Makienok for last night's result - the team as a unit were poor and I believe the tactics deployed by the coach were completely wrong - with JBG and Lookman effectively playing up front and offering little or nothing defensively - we ended up with a 2 man midfield so it's no surprise that Jackson and Cousins were overrun. Even with 4 attacking players on the field our best chance in the second half has a Lennon header which hit the bar. Even allowing for the disappointment of chucking away a 2 goal lead by half time we had a full half to score a winner against a pretty poor Bolton.
I realise I'll be in the minority, but I honestly don't believe he is as bad as he has shown so far. I also realise you could say that for most of our players.
The game against Sheffield Wednesday was probably the best midfield performance I've seen from a Charlton player this season, but the obligatory booking cost him 90 minutes. I know Diarra has had a few good games in the same position but felt against Sheffield Wednesday, Ba actually showed more than a few glimpses of quality. I think his problems stem from (and again, I concede this is probably true of many) a lack of confidence and consistency.
I have no doubt in my mind that he offers more from a technical perspective than the majority of our midfield options, which will probably be an unpopular view. He is so frustrating. His good work is almost always undone by a bad decision or pass, but think you'll see that cut out of his game if given a decent run of matches. The other night was typical of his career so far. He beat a man, carried the ball forward and instead of playing the easy ball left to KAG, he passed it right and we lost momentum. A microcosm of his season, if you like.
Happy to revisit this post at the end of the season and see if my opinion has changed, but for the time being, I do genuinely think that there's a useful player in there somewhere.
He is so frustrating. His good work is almost always undone by a bad decision or pass.
The other night was typical of his career so far. He beat a man, carried the ball forward and instead of playing the easy ball left to KAG, he passed it right and we lost momentum. A microcosm of his season, if you like.
I think the telling "parts" are above. But I agree, if he gets confident, plays for 6 months or so, improves, starts to pass to Charlton players instead of the opposition, he might become a good player.
I reckon he's not that old but he is quite prone to delivering the ball to exactly the wrong place. Like Nick Pope. Has a nice touch most of the time and some good skills on the ball but he does make the wrong call 7 times from 10 and maybe he can learn that with some familiarity in the team? Maybe not.
That 5th booking may have halted his progress and done some real damage.
Who knows.
Ba performance 1st half was excellent against Wednesday, he got back into bad habits 2nd half.
Just don't think he has played enough 1st team football in the last 3 seasons to be match sharp. His decision making with his passing is too hit and miss, but he could be decent, but we need an established midfield playmaker, as we don't have one. Diarra can be the defensive midfielder in Kashi absent, Cousins the water carrier (not skilled enough to be the playmaker) JJ should not be playing every week but used as a tactical sub to either shore up the defense or attacks the penalty box from corners etc. JBH can be the forward in a diamond but we still need two midfielders. Being a decent passer should be mandatory in a championship midfielder.
Decent technique, mobile, energetic, willing to make a tackle.
Downsides, wants too much time on the ball, prone to making the wrong decision and giving the ball away.
Looks to me like a foreign player struggling to adapt to the pace of English football - he did after all spend a good amount of time back in France on loan rather than playing for Sunderland. If that's the case he'd hardly be the first or the last.
He's also still only 22 and, according to Soccerbase at least, still played in less than 50 first team games (24 starts, 11 subs - of which 8 and 6 respectively have been for Charlton).
Another one we are writing off too soon, imho. I think as much as anything we are seeing some of the signs of his lack of experience as much as lack of ability and the atmosphere around the club is not going to helping any of the players flourish at the moment, however justified the discontent may be.
He is so frustrating. His good work is almost always undone by a bad decision or pass.
The other night was typical of his career so far. He beat a man, carried the ball forward and instead of playing the easy ball left to KAG, he passed it right and we lost momentum. A microcosm of his season, if you like.
I think the telling "parts" are above. But I agree, if he gets confident, plays for 6 months or so, improves, starts to pass to Charlton players instead of the opposition, he might become a good player.
That 5th booking may have halted his progress and done some real damage.
Who knows.
Ba performance 1st half was excellent against Wednesday, he got back into bad habits 2nd half.
Just don't think he has played enough 1st team football in the last 3 seasons to be match sharp. His decision making with his passing is too hit and miss, but he could be decent, but we need an established midfield playmaker, as we don't have one. Diarra can be the defensive midfielder in Kashi absent, Cousins the water carrier (not skilled enough to be the playmaker) JJ should not be playing every week but used as a tactical sub to either shore up the defense or attacks the penalty box from corners etc. JBH can be the forward in a diamond but we still need two midfielders. Being a decent passer should be mandatory in a championship midfielder.
"Being a decent passer should be mandatory in a championship midfielder" - I agree with you, but Ba certainly isn't the only one who falls short of this benchmark. Cousins is more than guilty, too. Probably one of the worst passers in his position I've ever seen at Championship level, in fact.
The sad thing is, Cousins is playing in central mid now, and is being exposed because as i said his passing isn't skilled enough for him to be the midfield playmaker, but Jordan played his best when either playing alongside Stevens in his last few months at the club or Poyet when he was very steady. What JC can do well at times is run with the ball and he does cover more ground and cover for other players when they are out of position. There is no escape for even POTY at CAFC at the moment as Solly found out earlier in the season when his form deserted him for a while.
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Igor has been a doubt for a long long time and other than his first couple of months in the team has failed to perform (potentially due to injury but it's been a year since he was turning in good performances so to rely on him to be a starter would be foolish).
A centre half picking up a suspension during the season is hardly a surprise, plus they had a centre half that they signed on the bench so didn't have to move Diarra. Or at least they wouldn't have if they had signed a centre half that was actually proven to be suitable for this league rather than one that a spreadsheet suggested they could make a profit on.
And much as I hope you're right in your assessment of Ceballos, we've seen no evidence so far that he would make the first eleven (he'd only accumulated 4 league appearances before he got injured) and no real evidence that he would make an impact even if he did, to be honest I only actually remember him for taking the worst corner I've ever seen (not that I'm saying that he should be judged on this, just that for me he made little impact when I did see him play).
Based on his early performance, Kashi is a real miss but our squad shouldn't be so weak that this is enough to see us relegated!
Too many good players have been allowed to leave the club and too many substandard players brought in to replace them. Couple it with a substandard manager and unless there are a number of signings made in January then in my opinion you can look forward to League One football next season.
Just another lightweight player, who didn't get a look in.
The only memorable thing he did was "that corner".
He's got a few decent attributes. We could do with a decent coach to get the most out of Ba and others too.
To be honest, with that circus act running the show up stairs it's little surprise it's falling to pieces on the pitch.
Should have saved the 2nd mind.
Had I seen Ba play 10 games under a Curbishley, Bruce, Macarthy etc. and he still looked dodgy then I'd say get rid, but under the current regime who knows.....
The game against Sheffield Wednesday was probably the best midfield performance I've seen from a Charlton player this season, but the obligatory booking cost him 90 minutes. I know Diarra has had a few good games in the same position but felt against Sheffield Wednesday, Ba actually showed more than a few glimpses of quality. I think his problems stem from (and again, I concede this is probably true of many) a lack of confidence and consistency.
I have no doubt in my mind that he offers more from a technical perspective than the majority of our midfield options, which will probably be an unpopular view. He is so frustrating. His good work is almost always undone by a bad decision or pass, but think you'll see that cut out of his game if given a decent run of matches. The other night was typical of his career so far. He beat a man, carried the ball forward and instead of playing the easy ball left to KAG, he passed it right and we lost momentum. A microcosm of his season, if you like.
Happy to revisit this post at the end of the season and see if my opinion has changed, but for the time being, I do genuinely think that there's a useful player in there somewhere.
The trouble is we'll be relegated by then.
I thought he was superb against Sheff Wed.
That 5th booking may have halted his progress and done some real damage.
Who knows.
Just don't think he has played enough 1st team football in the last 3 seasons to
be match sharp. His decision making with his passing is too hit and miss,
but he could be decent, but we need an established midfield playmaker,
as we don't have one.
Diarra can be the defensive midfielder in Kashi absent,
Cousins the water carrier (not skilled enough to be the playmaker)
JJ should not be playing every week but used as a tactical sub to either shore up the defense or attacks the penalty box from corners etc.
JBH can be the forward in a diamond but we still need two midfielders.
Being a decent passer should be mandatory in a championship midfielder.
Decent technique, mobile, energetic, willing to make a tackle.
Downsides, wants too much time on the ball, prone to making the wrong decision and giving the ball away.
Looks to me like a foreign player struggling to adapt to the pace of English football - he did after all spend a good amount of time back in France on loan rather than playing for Sunderland. If that's the case he'd hardly be the first or the last.
He's also still only 22 and, according to Soccerbase at least, still played in less than 50 first team games (24 starts, 11 subs - of which 8 and 6 respectively have been for Charlton).
Another one we are writing off too soon, imho. I think as much as anything we are seeing some of the signs of his lack of experience as much as lack of ability and the atmosphere around the club is not going to helping any of the players flourish at the moment, however justified the discontent may be.
because as i said his passing isn't skilled enough for him to be the midfield playmaker, but Jordan played his best when either playing alongside
Stevens in his last few months at the club or Poyet when he was very steady.
What JC can do well at times is run with the ball and he does cover more ground and cover for other players when they are out of position.
There is no escape for even POTY at CAFC at the moment as Solly found out earlier in the season when his form deserted him for a while.