Anything other than top 6 this season is a failure. On that basis, Karl is currently failing.
Long way to go of course, and we can still make it, but you can't blame fans for losing patience with Robinson when we are underperforming.
(I would in fact say anything other than promotion was a failure, but top 6 is a bare minumum)
I can't disagree with that.
The aim is season was promotion and while that is still more than possible there are legitimate doubts over the club's ability to deliver it.
As in nearly everything in life there is no one simple, one sentence, solution. If there was the guy at the bar in your local would be running the country.
The injuries are one factor, in particular losing Clarke and Fosu, but also Pearce and Bauer and now Mavididi.
The lopsided squad was another. One striker in Magennis who has to play every game because there is no alternative and he's needed for his defensive work. Dodoo. I don't need to say any more about how wrong the club got it over strikers.
The formation or the lack of variation in formation is another problem. Nothing wrong with 4231 when you have Clarke but teams soon worked out a way to beat or at least stifle it. We've kept on playing it.
The uncertainty at the top and the lack of commitment from Duchatelet and Meire, both only interested in getting out is another factor.
And there are others (none of which are to do with protests or CARD by the way) too.
Add that all together and you get what? 7th with some games in hand.
So, yes Robinson is responsible for some of those, Duchatelet and Meire for others, bad luck for others.
And with most it is a combination of all three.
But this is football and the bottom line is that the manager gets the credit for success and the blame for failure even if he's not 100% responsible or things were outside his control. Often that is grossly unfair and sometimes a new face, a new approach changes things around, even if only in the short-term.
You've gotta remain hopeful but let's face it, promotions very unlikely to happen this season...also especially after yesterday's disappointment.
Robin is a northerner and Barnsley are in the championship.
If he gets a good contract offer then in my opinion he will be off like a shot.
We will have new owners maybe in 3 weeks..... It would only be a pain via his potential departure because we need someone to hold the fort together until the takeover.
Other then that he can leave and it's also a bit safe to say "so what"
If he doesn't see a future with charlton then we can easily just say thanks and goodbye.
Not necessarily needed at all really and we can do much better.
If he stays...it would also not be the worst thing in the world.
I don't know what it is with Robinson but I just can't warm to him. I think he is very poor at making in game decisions and also poor when it comes to the use of substitutes. Even with the injuries we have had to endure this season with the players now at his disposal it would be a total failure if we don't make the playoffs. Time to start winning matches and prove to any new owners that you are worth keeping on. If we don't make the playoffs at least then he can have no complaints if he is replaced.
Our squad is amongst the best there’s little doubt of that just as there is little doubt of Robinson’s ability to manage it well. We’ve been beaten repeatedly by clubs with even smaller gates than us and less resources. As a basic indicator there aren’t many league 1 clubs that can get games postponed because players are on international duty.
Not sure. Karl's lost it a bit recently.
I prefer Aribo to Reeves, I preferred Best and KAG to Magennis, and I think subbing off Dasilva was a mistake, (although I can see the thinking behind it). I also prefer Bauer to Lennon by a huge margin. Karl will be judged on what we achieve this season. If we finish outside the top six he's probably done for. If we get promoted I'd stick with him and see what he can do with proper resources. If new owners remove him, that's their right, and let's hope a new man does better. He may well do. But managers don't necessarily need huge resources to improve the way a team play. Look at SCP at Southend.
If Robinson gets us promoted with this squad it will be nothing short of a miracle.
Our defence is shocking as are our options up front.
Our squad is easily amongst the 3-4 best in the division. Certainly better than Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe, not to mention in the summer we signed 2 of Bradford's best players from last year and they're still above us!
Have you watched much league one footy outside of Charlton? Shrewsbury have got an excellent defence, far better than ours. Scunny are overall probably even with us.
I would say we have three or four players who are good enough to get us out of this league.
How many of our current players, excluding loans would have got in to Powell's league winning team? My opinion is two! Pearce for Taylor and Fosu for Green/Wagstaff.
It was an odd choice to bring in two additional wide men on loan. It's clear that is not what we are lacking....
It's a shame, because if Robinson had been given some dosh to spend I think he'd got us out of this league.
What's he got against Aribo, he had a little run in the team, played well then gets dropped.
In fact you could say the same about Grant, whilst I am not his biggest fan, scored a few goals got a bit of confidence, gets dropped, gets shipped out on loan.
To me he has his favourites and will more or less play them whatever form they are in. England manager in the making!
Gone by end of season if the takeover takes place.
A question for everyone. And assuming the takeover goes ahead.
If you was the person heading the consortium who was investing £30-£40 million to buy the club would you be happy to continue with our current manager.
My personal view is no I would not. The reasons being I think that his tactics are poor, and his lack of experience in football shows, To make poor substitutions in the last five minutes two weeks running that has cost us two wins, and to have lost 10 points this season from winning positions is terrible. Letting Novak go on deadline day with no cover in place. Bringing in his old mate Ben Reeves who was clearly unfit, and is still struggling was a terrible decision.
All in all I do not think this is the man to take Charlton onto better things. And if I was the new owner a new manager would be the first thing that I would do.
What's he got against Aribo, he had a little run in the team, played well then gets dropped.
In fact you could say the same about Grant, whilst I am not his biggest fan, scored a few goals got a bit of confidence, gets dropped, gets shipped out on loan.
To me he has his favourites and will more or less play them whatever form they are in. England manager in the making!
Gone by end of season if the takeover takes place.
A question for everyone. And assuming the takeover goes ahead.
If you was the person heading the consortium who was investing £30-£40 million to buy the club would you be happy to continue with our current manager.
My personal view is no I would not. The reasons being I think that his tactics are poor, and his lack of experience in football shows, To make poor substitutions in the last five minutes two weeks running that has cost us two wins, and to have lost 10 points this season from winning positions is terrible. Letting Novak go on deadline day with no cover in place. Bringing in his old mate Ben Reeves who was clearly unfit, and is still struggling was a terrible decision.
All in all I do not think this is the man to take Charlton onto better things. And if I was the new owner a new manager would be the first thing that I would do.
The first thing I'd do would be to get that sofa back.
If Robinson gets us promoted with this squad it will be nothing short of a miracle.
Our defence is shocking as are our options up front.
Our squad is easily amongst the 3-4 best in the division. Certainly better than Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe, not to mention in the summer we signed 2 of Bradford's best players from last year and they're still above us!
Have you watched much league one footy outside of Charlton? Shrewsbury have got an excellent defence, far better than ours. Scunny are overall probably even with us.
I would say we have three or four players who are good enough to get us out of this league.
How many of our current players, excluding loans would have got in to Powell's league winning team? My opinion is two! Pearce for Taylor and Fosu for Green/Wagstaff.
It was an odd choice to bring in two additional wide men on loan. It's clear that is not what we are lacking....
It's a shame, because if Robinson had been given some dosh to spend I think he'd got us out of this league.
They're performing better than us, there's no doubt about that. But the point is about the overall squad. Our squad is (on paper) way better than Shrewsbury! We have internationals, youth internationals, guys with experience in much higher divisions. Shrewsbury's squad (aside from their loan players) are almost all from the lower leagues and non league.
You don't have to have the best players to make the best team, at the moment we have a lot of good individuals but we're not playing like a team who want's it enough.
If Robinson gets us promoted with this squad it will be nothing short of a miracle.
Our defence is shocking as are our options up front.
Our squad is easily amongst the 3-4 best in the division. Certainly better than Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe, not to mention in the summer we signed 2 of Bradford's best players from last year and they're still above us!
Have you watched much league one footy outside of Charlton? Shrewsbury have got an excellent defence, far better than ours. Scunny are overall probably even with us.
I would say we have three or four players who are good enough to get us out of this league.
How many of our current players, excluding loans would have got in to Powell's league winning team? My opinion is two! Pearce for Taylor and Fosu for Green/Wagstaff.
It was an odd choice to bring in two additional wide men on loan. It's clear that is not what we are lacking....
It's a shame, because if Robinson had been given some dosh to spend I think he'd got us out of this league.
They're performing better than us, there's no doubt about that. But the point is about the overall squad. Our squad is (on paper) way better than Shrewsbury! We have internationals, youth internationals, guys with experience in much higher divisions. Shrewsbury's squad (aside from their loan players) are almost all from the lower leagues and non league.
Unfortunately for your argument they have players brought in from Man Utd, Swansea and Burnley (Prem) and from Reading, Wolves, Derby, Sheffield Utd, Barnsley and two from Norwich (Championship). They have loan players, the same as we do @Chris_from_Sidcup
If Robinson gets us promoted with this squad it will be nothing short of a miracle.
Our defence is shocking as are our options up front.
Our squad is easily amongst the 3-4 best in the division. Certainly better than Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe, not to mention in the summer we signed 2 of Bradford's best players from last year and they're still above us!
Have you watched much league one footy outside of Charlton? Shrewsbury have got an excellent defence, far better than ours. Scunny are overall probably even with us.
I would say we have three or four players who are good enough to get us out of this league.
How many of our current players, excluding loans would have got in to Powell's league winning team? My opinion is two! Pearce for Taylor and Fosu for Green/Wagstaff.
It was an odd choice to bring in two additional wide men on loan. It's clear that is not what we are lacking....
It's a shame, because if Robinson had been given some dosh to spend I think he'd got us out of this league.
They're performing better than us, there's no doubt about that. But the point is about the overall squad. Our squad is (on paper) way better than Shrewsbury! We have internationals, youth internationals, guys with experience in much higher divisions. Shrewsbury's squad (aside from their loan players) are almost all from the lower leagues and non league.
Unfortunately for your argument they have players brought in from Man Utd, Swansea and Burnley (Prem) and from Reading, Wolves, Derby, Sheffield Utd, Barnsley and two from Norwich (Championship). They have loan players, the same as we do @Chris_from_Sidcup
Might be an idea to save the anti Robbo stuff until the end of the season.
Shrewsbury’s defence is ‘better’ than ours because they have a manager and coaching team that organises them brilliantly. Man for man they are not better than ours, but collectively they are.
They also score plenty of late goals to WIN games. Another sign of good management and team mentality. In the last 15 minutes of games this season Shrewsbury and us have both scored 10 goals, but they’ve conceded 4. We’ve conceded 14!
If Robinson gets us promoted with this squad it will be nothing short of a miracle.
Our defence is shocking as are our options up front.
Our squad is easily amongst the 3-4 best in the division. Certainly better than Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe, not to mention in the summer we signed 2 of Bradford's best players from last year and they're still above us!
Have you watched much league one footy outside of Charlton? Shrewsbury have got an excellent defence, far better than ours. Scunny are overall probably even with us.
I would say we have three or four players who are good enough to get us out of this league.
How many of our current players, excluding loans would have got in to Powell's league winning team? My opinion is two! Pearce for Taylor and Fosu for Green/Wagstaff.
It was an odd choice to bring in two additional wide men on loan. It's clear that is not what we are lacking....
It's a shame, because if Robinson had been given some dosh to spend I think he'd got us out of this league.
They're performing better than us, there's no doubt about that. But the point is about the overall squad. Our squad is (on paper) way better than Shrewsbury! We have internationals, youth internationals, guys with experience in much higher divisions. Shrewsbury's squad (aside from their loan players) are almost all from the lower leagues and non league.
Unfortunately for your argument they have players brought in from Man Utd, Swansea and Burnley (Prem) and from Reading, Wolves, Derby, Sheffield Utd, Barnsley and two from Norwich (Championship). They have loan players, the same as we do @Chris_from_Sidcup
Might be an idea to save the anti Robbo stuff until the end of the season.
Did you not see the bit where i said "aside from their loan players".
Anyway if you look through the side that has played the vast majority of their games, they're all from the lower/non leagues.
Henderson (the keeper) is on loan from Man U, Godfrey and morris are on loan from norwich. And they signed a kid from Middlesbrough just a few weeks ago.
So you really cannot argue that their squad is better than ours.
Robinson has a style of football he wants to play, and a type of player he likes to have. Indeed, this is potentially one of the most attractive squads we've ever had, in terms of the number of flair players we have
My worry all along has always been about the solidity, the ability to grind out wins at grim northern locations or against teams full of giants. I think we're a bit soft.
I think Robinson would be better suited as a coach / assistant rather than a manager. I like his approach to the game and he's clearly implemented a style of play but I think he's pretty limited tactically, especially in-game. He needs a bit more experience alongside him rather than just Bowyer and Jackson.
What's he got against Aribo, he had a little run in the team, played well then gets dropped.
In fact you could say the same about Grant, whilst I am not his biggest fan, scored a few goals got a bit of confidence, gets dropped, gets shipped out on loan.
To me he has his favourites and will more or less play them whatever form they are in. England manager in the making!
Gone by end of season if the takeover takes place.
A question for everyone. And assuming the takeover goes ahead.
If you was the person heading the consortium who was investing £30-£40 million to buy the club would you be happy to continue with our current manager.
My personal view is no I would not. The reasons being I think that his tactics are poor, and his lack of experience in football shows, To make poor substitutions in the last five minutes two weeks running that has cost us two wins, and to have lost 10 points this season from winning positions is terrible. Letting Novak go on deadline day with no cover in place. Bringing in his old mate Ben Reeves who was clearly unfit, and is still struggling was a terrible decision.
All in all I do not think this is the man to take Charlton onto better things. And if I was the new owner a new manager would be the first thing that I would do.
If Robinson gets us promoted with this squad it will be nothing short of a miracle.
Our defence is shocking as are our options up front.
Our squad is easily amongst the 3-4 best in the division. Certainly better than Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe, not to mention in the summer we signed 2 of Bradford's best players from last year and they're still above us!
Have you watched much league one footy outside of Charlton? Shrewsbury have got an excellent defence, far better than ours. Scunny are overall probably even with us.
I would say we have three or four players who are good enough to get us out of this league.
How many of our current players, excluding loans would have got in to Powell's league winning team? My opinion is two! Pearce for Taylor and Fosu for Green/Wagstaff.
It was an odd choice to bring in two additional wide men on loan. It's clear that is not what we are lacking....
It's a shame, because if Robinson had been given some dosh to spend I think he'd got us out of this league.
They're performing better than us, there's no doubt about that. But the point is about the overall squad. Our squad is (on paper) way better than Shrewsbury! We have internationals, youth internationals, guys with experience in much higher divisions. Shrewsbury's squad (aside from their loan players) are almost all from the lower leagues and non league.
Unfortunately for your argument they have players brought in from Man Utd, Swansea and Burnley (Prem) and from Reading, Wolves, Derby, Sheffield Utd, Barnsley and two from Norwich (Championship). They have loan players, the same as we do @Chris_from_Sidcup
Might be an idea to save the anti Robbo stuff until the end of the season.
Did you not see the bit where i said "aside from their loan players".
Anyway if you look through the side that has played the vast majority of their games, they're all from the lower/non leagues.
Henderson (the keeper) is on loan from Man U, Godfrey and morris are on loan from norwich. And they signed a kid from Middlesbrough just a few weeks ago.
So you really cannot argue that their squad is better than ours.
I'm not arguing that their squad is better than ours. I'm arguing against your proposition that our squad is way stronger than theirs. They have eleven players brought in from higher leagues. Whether they are loanees or not isn't relevant. Both squad have loans. You can't leave them aside.
I feel that given the circumstances Karl's done a half decent job so far, but I will judge him at the end of the season. I won't judge him based on what Shrewsbury are, or are not doing.
It's fair to criticise him for tactics and substitutions, but this squad argument is tenuous at best.
hes done alright but then most managers would do alright we've hardly got a shit squad, maybe he can go to oakwell and tell them what a buzz the place has about it and how much he wants to be there, if he doesn't get playoffs, don't think many charlton fans will want him here.
Robinson is a decent league one manager. That's fine, that's where we are. Our inconsistency is entirely consistent with having a lot of young players, many of whom (particularly at the back) have had to play because of the ridiculous amount of injuries, which hardly helps the sort of settled team Powell benefitted from.
To be honest, I like the way his teams play football. Many games this season we've been a finisher away from taking the points (Igor anyone?) having demonstrated some magical approach play, but for whatever reason we don't have that. He can't magic it out of the air.
I think we are where we should be given how the season's panned out. Challenging for the playoffs (and we have a couple of games in hand lest we forget).
Whatever happens post RD, I'd like us to get back to having a manager for the long term, and it's beyond question that we've improved under Robinson. Not his greatest fan, but some credit where it's due.
If Karl persists with playing one up front. Which he obviously Will,then that person simply has to score a minimum of 15 goals a season if you want success. It is putting far to much pressure on the midfield players to expect them to score all the goals. I like Josh as a person and I admire his work rate but he simply doesn't score enough goals for this system to work. If Robinson is still in charge next season he must either change magennis up front or change to a 4 4 2. Unfortunately I don't think he will do either.
If Karl persists with playing one up front. Which he obviously Will,then that person simply has to score a minimum of 15 goals a season if you want success. It is putting far to much pressure on the midfield players to expect them to score all the goals. I like Josh as a person and I admire his work rate but he simply doesn't score enough goals for this system to work. If Robinson is still in charge next season he must either change magennis up front or change to a 4 4 2. Unfortunately I don't think he will do either.
You're probably right, although Fosu was a key part of the system and had already scored seven goals before being injured. Mavididi was also showing that he had goals in him when he was crocked. Neither he nor Fosu showed any signs that they were anxious; they were almost 'scoring for fun'. I'd have expected Marshall to have scored a few as well, and I'm sure he will soon given a chance. But it's almost freakish how few goals Josh has scored given the amount of game time he has had up front. You've got to put some of that down to bad luck, as you'd expect a few tap ins at least. Would really love to see his luck changing soon. Zyro you would think is the ready replacement, and I'd like to see him getting more than 20 minutes in that role.
In terms of his working environment Mr Robinson has done a job. As per Slade his industry contacts/ experience has allowed the club to trade as a professional football club over the past 12 months
To his credit the players enjoyed the first proper pre-season in years. It was an OK close season in dealing with a number of legacy issues though the final day of the transfer window was lunacy. That one day could have cost us promotion.
Exceptionally he has been the ONLY club spokesman. In large part he has operated in a vacuum. No matter his verbose undisciplined style leaves him as a permanent hostage to fortune his job is to deliver results.
The club is still competing for a play off position. Unless you have an exceptional candidate to replace him, it is enough to allow him the chance to finish the job.
In such terms how many were surprised by the Oxford, Doncaster and Bradford results? Do they not fit into a pattern we have seen through the season?
Once again there are positives on show. We see creativity, we see mobility, we see technical ability, we see hard work. With the ball we have the "potential" to be a very good side but invariably fall short as there is too little end product.
How many clear scoring opportunities do we create week in week out?
The ambition appears to focus on playing attractive, high tempo, passing football on the assumption goals will come. They will not unless you have the right personnel to exploit it to hurt other sides, build confidence and secure consistent results.
We simply do not hurt other sides.
I recall in my youth playing a Penhill Standard team who passed my side off the park. Brilliantly drilled we could not get near the ball for 70% of the game. We won 2-0. We later played a Lucien Masiello (AWOL from his Italian club) coached Catford team. It was the same. We drew 0-0.
Equally as good as you can be with the ball you have to mirror such performance without the ball. It requires balance, discipline, shape, physicality, game management & leadership.
On any given day we are able to produce a team with the technical ability to beat anyone in League 1. We do not have a squad able to do so on a sufficiently consistent basis to secure a promotion. Mr Robinson seems to have built a team not a squad.
Much is made of our injury misfortunes, with KR now "worrying" over Fosu, but no "team" ever wins a promotion. A squad of players competing for their position wins you promotion. Half of this team do not have to compete for their positions.
Amos, Solly, Dasilva, Forster-Caskey, Kashi and Magennis have had no competition for their positions. Only Ahearne-Grant and Aribo have been given half chances to compete. It is not enough. We have competition at Centre Back and in the 3 attacking midfield positions.
We made much about bringing in players to freshen the team. Mavididi, Kaikai, Zyro, Ajose, add to the numbers but other than a last throw of the dice do we use them add to the options and strengthen areas where we are deficient?
As at 31 Jan we had the chance to relaunch a squad for an 18 game season to secure promotion or a play off spot. We have dropped 7pts out of 9.
I am troubled by the frequency of certain players seemingly physically unable to complete a game. It is a built in redundancy which guarantees you automatically have to bring in, often unhelpful, changes.
Why are we always falling away late in games? Is it fatigue? Are the demands of a high tempo, pressing passing game in a physically demanding division simply too much to maintain for 90 minutes? Is the gamble every game to score enough when we are on top and then hang on for grim death?
To keep working to the same pattern with largely the same players and expecting a different end product is the definition of no plan B.
Players get injured. Players lose form. Players become stale. Players become complacent. These are not unique challenges. Every team in every team sport suffers the same issues. You can accept the consequences, shrug your shoulders, and endlessly commiserate with everybody, including yourself, or you can manage them.
We have been unlucky with injuries in central defence but do we adjust the system to protect the spine of the team. Against Oxford we probably played our 7th choice combination in central defence. Did we adjust to protect them?
We lost because it took until late in the game for Oxford to change their pattern of play to truly test the back four. They changed because they were losing and had nothing to lose. Teams do that. We could not respond. We were found out.
I like Forster-Caskey and Kashi. They are compact, mobile, normally industrious and technically able tidy midfielders. Would I employ either to protect the back four? No. If Dasilva is to provide a key attacking threat is either Kashi or Forster Caskey ideally suited to drop into the back four to cover? Both are well able to "put their foot in" which whilst welcome does not a defensive midfielder make. Where is the physicality so badly needed in League 1?
I could ask the same question of the entire squad.
If players offer value but have their challenges you adapt the system to meet those challenges not plough on regardless. If the CB's are not consistently strong enough you bolster their protection. If you do not have natural personnel to do that then you numerically strengthen the spine and shape of the team.
The 4-2-3-1 system as the standard template has to go, not by asking players recruited to play such a system to change but by playing players naturally suited to another pattern of play. We have to play a central defensive midfield player be that Djiksteel or Aribo (or Diarra). Someone has to protect the back four.
We face the physical challenge of two diminutive full backs, both on their day are excellent players but it will be default for opposing sides to seek to isolate them for any aerial threat. I greatly admire Solly but at the moment he has lost a yard and is struggling.
If Pearce is fit Konsa would be my the first choice right back alongside Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva. A central midfield 3 comes from Forster-Caskey, Kashi, Aribo, Dkijsteel, Jackson, (or maybe Diarra)
Marshall, Kaikai, Fosu then compete for a wide midfield position with Mavididi (when fit), Zyro, Magennis, Ajose, Kaikai competing for 2 central striking positions.
Reeves for all his technically ability appears to be a luxury we can ill afford. When he plays he has to hurt the opposition. He doesn't.
We have the players to make a decent fist of it. With the ball we have the makings of a very decent side. Without we do not. We have zero game management and precious few leadership skills.
We and I suggest Robinson still have 15 games left to make something happen. Simply plugging and playing into the same system will not work. The "can't win" substitutions of the last few games have confirmed it.
I liked how Penhill Standard & Catford tried to play. I like how Robinson is trying to play. Will it secure a play off spot and promotion? Unless there is a magic switch for everything to suddenly fall into place the answer is no.
His style is not to my liking and I do not agree with half of his decisions but the job is his to lose. It is his squad. Can he and they be enough? We need him and them to take this opportunity to seize the prize.
Out of respect for the conditions he has worked under I suggest it is beholden on us to support him and his players efforts to do just that. The end results to our season will play into our, their and his future.
There will be time enough, for everybody, to review the next steps at a later stage.
Comments
Can’t finish teams off and subsequently can’t close games out. Tactically inept and too quick to pass the blame.
Give him till the end of the season and with the 99% probability we’ll still be in this ball bag league next season, send him packing in May
The aim is season was promotion and while that is still more than possible there are legitimate doubts over the club's ability to deliver it.
As in nearly everything in life there is no one simple, one sentence, solution. If there was the guy at the bar in your local would be running the country.
The injuries are one factor, in particular losing Clarke and Fosu, but also Pearce and Bauer and now Mavididi.
The lopsided squad was another. One striker in Magennis who has to play every game because there is no alternative and he's needed for his defensive work. Dodoo. I don't need to say any more about how wrong the club got it over strikers.
The formation or the lack of variation in formation is another problem. Nothing wrong with 4231 when you have Clarke but teams soon worked out a way to beat or at least stifle it. We've kept on playing it.
The uncertainty at the top and the lack of commitment from Duchatelet and Meire, both only interested in getting out is another factor.
And there are others (none of which are to do with protests or CARD by the way) too.
Add that all together and you get what? 7th with some games in hand.
So, yes Robinson is responsible for some of those, Duchatelet and Meire for others, bad luck for others.
And with most it is a combination of all three.
But this is football and the bottom line is that the manager gets the credit for success and the blame for failure even if he's not 100% responsible or things were outside his control. Often that is grossly unfair and sometimes a new face, a new approach changes things around, even if only in the short-term.
So Karl, just win games.
Robin is a northerner and Barnsley are in the championship.
If he gets a good contract offer then in my opinion he will be off like a shot.
We will have new owners maybe in 3 weeks..... It would only be a pain via his potential departure because we need someone to hold the fort together until the takeover.
Other then that he can leave and it's also a bit safe to say "so what"
If he doesn't see a future with charlton then we can easily just say thanks and goodbye.
Not necessarily needed at all really and we can do much better.
If he stays...it would also not be the worst thing in the world.
I think he is very poor at making in game decisions and also poor when it comes to the use of substitutes.
Even with the injuries we have had to endure this season with the players now at his disposal it would be a total failure if we don't make the playoffs.
Time to start winning matches and prove to any new owners that you are worth keeping on.
If we don't make the playoffs at least then he can have no complaints if he is replaced.
I prefer Aribo to Reeves, I preferred Best and KAG to Magennis, and I think subbing off Dasilva was a mistake, (although I can see the thinking behind it). I also prefer Bauer to Lennon by a huge margin.
Karl will be judged on what we achieve this season. If we finish outside the top six he's probably done for. If we get promoted I'd stick with him and see what he can do with proper resources. If new owners remove him, that's their right, and let's hope a new man does better. He may well do. But managers don't necessarily need huge resources to improve the way a team play. Look at SCP at Southend.
I would say we have three or four players who are good enough to get us out of this league.
How many of our current players, excluding loans would have got in to Powell's league winning team? My opinion is two! Pearce for Taylor and Fosu for Green/Wagstaff.
It was an odd choice to bring in two additional wide men on loan. It's clear that is not what we are lacking....
It's a shame, because if Robinson had been given some dosh to spend I think he'd got us out of this league.
If you was the person heading the consortium who was investing £30-£40 million to buy the club would you be happy to continue with our current manager.
My personal view is no I would not.
The reasons being I think that his tactics are poor, and his lack of experience in football shows,
To make poor substitutions in the last five minutes two weeks running that has cost us two wins, and to have lost 10 points this season from winning positions is terrible.
Letting Novak go on deadline day with no cover in place.
Bringing in his old mate Ben Reeves who was clearly unfit, and is still struggling was a terrible decision.
All in all I do not think this is the man to take Charlton onto better things. And if I was the new owner a new manager would be the first thing that I would do.
Robinson is making two plus two equal three.
They have loan players, the same as we do @Chris_from_Sidcup
They also score plenty of late goals to WIN games. Another sign of good management and team mentality. In the last 15 minutes of games this season Shrewsbury and us have both scored 10 goals, but they’ve conceded 4. We’ve conceded 14!
Anyway if you look through the side that has played the vast majority of their games, they're all from the lower/non leagues.
Henderson (the keeper) is on loan from Man U, Godfrey and morris are on loan from norwich. And they signed a kid from Middlesbrough just a few weeks ago.
So you really cannot argue that their squad is better than ours.
My worry all along has always been about the solidity, the ability to grind out wins at grim northern locations or against teams full of giants. I think we're a bit soft.
I feel that given the circumstances Karl's done a half decent job so far, but I will judge him at the end of the season. I won't judge him based on what Shrewsbury are, or are not doing.
It's fair to criticise him for tactics and substitutions, but this squad argument is tenuous at best.
To be honest, I like the way his teams play football. Many games this season we've been a finisher away from taking the points (Igor anyone?) having demonstrated some magical approach play, but for whatever reason we don't have that. He can't magic it out of the air.
I think we are where we should be given how the season's panned out. Challenging for the playoffs (and we have a couple of games in hand lest we forget).
Whatever happens post RD, I'd like us to get back to having a manager for the long term, and it's beyond question that we've improved under Robinson. Not his greatest fan, but some credit where it's due.
Which he obviously Will,then that person simply has to score a minimum of 15 goals a season if you want success.
It is putting far to much pressure on the midfield players to expect them to score all the goals.
I like Josh as a person and I admire his work rate but he simply doesn't score enough goals for this system to work.
If Robinson is still in charge next season he must either change magennis up front or change to a 4 4 2.
Unfortunately I don't think he will do either.
Mavididi was also showing that he had goals in him when he was crocked. Neither he nor Fosu showed any signs that they were anxious; they were almost 'scoring for fun'.
I'd have expected Marshall to have scored a few as well, and I'm sure he will soon given a chance.
But it's almost freakish how few goals Josh has scored given the amount of game time he has had up front. You've got to put some of that down to bad luck, as you'd expect a few tap ins at least. Would really love to see his luck changing soon. Zyro you would think is the ready replacement, and I'd like to see him getting more than 20 minutes in that role.
To his credit the players enjoyed the first proper pre-season in years. It was an OK close season in dealing with a number of legacy issues though the final day of the transfer window was lunacy. That one day could have cost us promotion.
Exceptionally he has been the ONLY club spokesman. In large part he has operated in a vacuum. No matter his verbose undisciplined style leaves him as a permanent hostage to fortune his job is to deliver results.
The club is still competing for a play off position. Unless you have an exceptional candidate to replace him, it is enough to allow him the chance to finish the job.
In such terms how many were surprised by the Oxford, Doncaster and Bradford results? Do they not fit into a pattern we have seen through the season?
Once again there are positives on show. We see creativity, we see mobility, we see technical ability, we see hard work. With the ball we have the "potential" to be a very good side but invariably fall short as there is too little end product.
How many clear scoring opportunities do we create week in week out?
The ambition appears to focus on playing attractive, high tempo, passing football on the assumption goals will come. They will not unless you have the right personnel to exploit it to hurt other sides, build confidence and secure consistent results.
We simply do not hurt other sides.
I recall in my youth playing a Penhill Standard team who passed my side off the park. Brilliantly drilled we could not get near the ball for 70% of the game. We won 2-0. We later played a Lucien Masiello (AWOL from his Italian club) coached Catford team. It was the same. We drew 0-0.
Equally as good as you can be with the ball you have to mirror such performance without the ball. It requires balance, discipline, shape, physicality, game management & leadership.
On any given day we are able to produce a team with the technical ability to beat anyone in League 1. We do not have a squad able to do so on a sufficiently consistent basis to secure a promotion. Mr Robinson seems to have built a team not a squad.
Much is made of our injury misfortunes, with KR now "worrying" over Fosu, but no "team" ever wins a promotion. A squad of players competing for their position wins you promotion. Half of this team do not have to compete for their positions.
Amos, Solly, Dasilva, Forster-Caskey, Kashi and Magennis have had no competition for their positions. Only Ahearne-Grant and Aribo have been given half chances to compete. It is not enough. We have competition at Centre Back and in the 3 attacking midfield positions.
We made much about bringing in players to freshen the team. Mavididi, Kaikai, Zyro, Ajose, add to the numbers but other than a last throw of the dice do we use them add to the options and strengthen areas where we are deficient?
As at 31 Jan we had the chance to relaunch a squad for an 18 game season to secure promotion or a play off spot. We have dropped 7pts out of 9.
I am troubled by the frequency of certain players seemingly physically unable to complete a game. It is a built in redundancy which guarantees you automatically have to bring in, often unhelpful, changes.
Why are we always falling away late in games? Is it fatigue? Are the demands of a high tempo, pressing passing game in a physically demanding division simply too much to maintain for 90 minutes? Is the gamble every game to score enough when we are on top and then hang on for grim death?
To keep working to the same pattern with largely the same players and expecting a different end product is the definition of no plan B.
Players get injured. Players lose form. Players become stale. Players become complacent. These are not unique challenges. Every team in every team sport suffers the same issues. You can accept the consequences, shrug your shoulders, and endlessly commiserate with everybody, including yourself, or you can manage them.
We have been unlucky with injuries in central defence but do we adjust the system to protect the spine of the team. Against Oxford we probably played our 7th choice combination in central defence. Did we adjust to protect them?
We lost because it took until late in the game for Oxford to change their pattern of play to truly test the back four. They changed because they were losing and had nothing to lose. Teams do that. We could not respond. We were found out.
I like Forster-Caskey and Kashi. They are compact, mobile, normally industrious and technically able tidy midfielders. Would I employ either to protect the back four? No. If Dasilva is to provide a key attacking threat is either Kashi or Forster Caskey ideally suited to drop into the back four to cover? Both are well able to "put their foot in" which whilst welcome does not a defensive midfielder make. Where is the physicality so badly needed in League 1?
I could ask the same question of the entire squad.
If players offer value but have their challenges you adapt the system to meet those challenges not plough on regardless. If the CB's are not consistently strong enough you bolster their protection. If you do not have natural personnel to do that then you numerically strengthen the spine and shape of the team.
The 4-2-3-1 system as the standard template has to go, not by asking players recruited to play such a system to change but by playing players naturally suited to another pattern of play. We have to play a central defensive midfield player be that Djiksteel or Aribo (or Diarra). Someone has to protect the back four.
We face the physical challenge of two diminutive full backs, both on their day are excellent players but it will be default for opposing sides to seek to isolate them for any aerial threat. I greatly admire Solly but at the moment he has lost a yard and is struggling.
If Pearce is fit Konsa would be my the first choice right back alongside Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva. A central midfield 3 comes from Forster-Caskey, Kashi, Aribo, Dkijsteel, Jackson, (or maybe Diarra)
Marshall, Kaikai, Fosu then compete for a wide midfield position with Mavididi (when fit), Zyro, Magennis, Ajose, Kaikai competing for 2 central striking positions.
Reeves for all his technically ability appears to be a luxury we can ill afford. When he plays he has to hurt the opposition. He doesn't.
We have the players to make a decent fist of it. With the ball we have the makings of a very decent side. Without we do not. We have zero game management and precious few leadership skills.
We and I suggest Robinson still have 15 games left to make something happen. Simply plugging and playing into the same system will not work. The "can't win" substitutions of the last few games have confirmed it.
I liked how Penhill Standard & Catford tried to play. I like how Robinson is trying to play. Will it secure a play off spot and promotion? Unless there is a magic switch for everything to suddenly fall into place the answer is no.
His style is not to my liking and I do not agree with half of his decisions but the job is his to lose. It is his squad. Can he and they be enough? We need him and them to take this opportunity to seize the prize.
Out of respect for the conditions he has worked under I suggest it is beholden on us to support him and his players efforts to do just that. The end results to our season will play into our, their and his future.
There will be time enough, for everybody, to review the next steps at a later stage.