The one thing I would say about KR, he talks the talk.....I dont think I have ever seen a manager talk the talk like Karl. It’s not a bad attribute to have in life especially if you follow it up with the walking the walk bit.....
Didn’t love him or hate him, liked his passion and positivity, feel he did a decent, not brilliant, job under extreme circumstances and no real backing, good luck to him.
If his departure, as I suspect, is because he was told he had no future once the takeover happens, speeds up the buying and selling process, great. He did what was right for him and his family, if, as we all suspect he ends up at Oxford, he jumped whilst the job was still open, rather than be out of work within 5-6 weeks.
Let's not paint Robinson as a martyr who left the club because he knew he was about to get sacked anyway. We don't know where the takeover is at, if on at all, and it's very convenient that a job he already hinted he wants is available.
His stats were bang on ordinary, defensively very poor in a very poor league and waffled over lack of offensive ability, best for all concerned he has gone wish him well at Oxford but they will probably drop; Played: 63, Won: 22, Drawn: 19, Lost: 22, Win%: 35%, Draw%: 30%, Lost%: 35%, Goals For: 78, Goals Against: 80 - very poor
Nearly perfect symmetry. How beautiful; That's in League 1 though, how shite is that.
I actually have a couple of good memories of KR, such as that win against Bristol Rovers back in august. He arrived with such a ridiculous air - that press conference praising RD and Meire should have made his agent weep. If he has lessons to learn, they are to loosen up with his tactics, and don't meddle in club politics. He was tarred as a Roland defender entirely because he chose to be. In answer to @JamesSeed , a lot of the over the top abuse he has got on here was down to his foolish decisión to get involved in the war between regime and fans, where tempers were running high. he could have got away with that but the combination of the injuries, his narrow tactical views and the fact we all knew he'd be stitched up in the transfer market by the people he was defending while it seemed to be a bolt from a clear blue sky for him, all paved the way to his failure. I have nothing against him, but he was burnt out months back and it's time for a new broom. I personally see this season as beyond saving - there are still games available, but unless Bowyer works a miracle, I don't see us as being nearly ready to recover. we need a takeover now to build for next season. Good luck in the future Robbo !
Good post. I probably underestimated how his words of praise for the ownership would have grated with fans opposed to the ownership. I didn’t see the press conference, but someone posted a transcript, and all I’d say in his defence is that it was only a couple of sentences. It was very naive of him to say anything about the regime however, even if they had spun him a line. That was his inexperience showing. His cards were marked pretty early on then. Sooner this disastrous owner moves on, the better. It’ll be great to get back to simple support for the club without all the subtexts and in-fighting and we can now moan about future managers without any baggage.
Feel for Robbo. A decent manager, who tried his best under difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, the club is rotten from the top down. Don't blame him for walking away
In what universe is Robbo a decent manager? Manager of what?
harsh, he was Pep Guardiola compared to some of the crap we have had.
Almost impossible task, he signed decent players but couldn't quite get us there. In other circumstances I feel we could have got promoted this year. Biggest downfall was stubborness in formation, not helped by only having 1 decent striker. A decent striker who's not really a goalscorer.
He liked the sound of his own voice but I can't dislike him too much because I genuinely believe he cared. Which is a lot more than can be said of most people we have had to deal with over the last few year,
Think some of you who are asking for 4-4-2 don't realise the balance of our squad won't let us play that. Jfc isn't good enough to play in a 2 by himself, hence wjy it didn't work out at Rotherham and we only have one natural winter in Marshall,who is cack.
I'm not sure anyone is outright demanding 4-4-2, just a bit more of a flexible approach and recognition of when 4-3-2-1 clearly isn't working.
I thought 4231 was ok away, but 442 might have worked at home?
Goodbye Robinson, you was warned before you took the job on how much of a shambles the club is, however like the all the other crap managers before you, you thought you could be a hero and do the unthinkable. We told you about Roland and Meire but straight away you came in telling us how wonderful they were. You are just like them a Liar and a failure.
You spouted so much crap, you told us what a wonderful squad we had, you told us we were going to have one of the fittest teams in the division especially when you tried to justify playing 3 games in 3 days when losing to some irish pub side. You played the same formation week in week out even though it went stale about 5 months ago. You told us we would be challenging for promotion.
As much as I have disliked you, especially because your a big mouth who talk's crap, now's your chance to redeem yourself by talking publicly about what a shambles the club is and how much of a disgrace the Rat is. I have a feeling you wont, no doubt you have sold yourself and everyone out and wont say anything as you have been given a little payoff to keep shut. If you keep quiet now your a disgrace of a man and I hope you go on to have a shit career in football like Russel Slade.
p.s. I look forward to your interview bouncing around like a school girl telling everyone what a big club Oxford is and how could anyone refuse to manage a team with a quarter of the ground missing and a bowling alley right outside.
It seemed like the players had had enough of his general bullshit and tactical inflexibility and stopped playing for him.
He is a league 1 manager and he sustained a league 1 midtable position with a league 1 club.
He would argue that was his brief and accuse the supporters of unrealistic expectations in aspiring towards promotion.
The King is dead. Long live the Kings.
Not sure that would be the case. i think some players just don't need excuses not to give everything or they take them. If they are quite good ability wise, it sometimes explains why they are playing at League One level. It probably helps in the short term that Bowyer and JJ are close to the team, they might be able to get something out of them. Emphasis on might!
I’ve only seen three games this season, but it’s been a drastic decline in performance. Bristol Rocers on day 1 had me dreaming of promotion. Oldham at home was hard fought, but we were dreadful really. Shrewsbury then taught us a lesson! I liked Robinson tbh. If he’d been able to strengthen the squad and had been a bit luckier with injuries, we’d Be in the playoff mix. We still are mathematically, but Bowyer needs to whip this lot into shape sharpish, as we seem to have thrown the towel in way too early. COYA
I was never going to warm to KR. I loathed him as manager of the franchise as I always thought he fed off the hatred opposition fans felt toward them. So having him at my club was just another reason to hate Douchbag. I hope this whole sorry episode teaches him some humility. But I very much doubt it.
I think that Karl Robinson did an ok job in extremely difficult circumstances.
On the plus side, he certainly worked hard to try and rekindle some enthusiasm in and around the club and, whilst not wishing to damn the man with faint praise, the football was better than watching the 'holy trinity' midfield of Crofts, Foley (just behind the striker) and Jacko under Slade (recognising that it could hardly have been worse). Robinson said some silly things about Duchatelet and Meire in the early days but I believe that he was trying to play them and that it was simply his attempt to manage upwards. I can see why it antagonised people but, personally, I took that with a pinch of salt, together with some of the bullshit he spouted on a fairly regular basis.
On the negative side, he lacked tactical flexibility (although having only one non-prolific striker didn't help) and failed to get the balance of the team right. A manager is also judged, to a significant degree, on his signings and, unfortunately, our two 'marquee' Bosman signings, Reeves and Marshall, have fallen well below expectations. They presumably accounted for a fair chunk of the budget and would have necessitated savings elsewhere, which is perhaps why we entered September in an extraordinary position with Magennis as our only striker (we'll speak no more of poor Joe Dodoo).
In the final analysis, though, it's a results business and losing as many games as he's won over a season and a half simply isn't good enough for a club like Charlton in what is an unusually weak League 1.
The one thing I would say about KR, he talks the talk.....I dont think I have ever seen a manager talk the talk like Karl. It’s not a bad attribute to have in life especially if you follow it up with the walking the walk bit.....
A lot of arse kissing of Robinson for being a decent guy and a real straight talker from people that belittled Parkinson for being a decent guy, he was better than any of Powell's replacements.
I know this is a move on moment, but at least Parky tried different things and was willing to talk openly and honestly when I spoke to him.
I'm not sure Karl has ever been completely honest.
I never belittled Parkinson for it, I always felt it was an admirable quality in him. I feel the same about Robinson, and that's not me "kissing his arse" (what would I stand to gain from that anyway?) it's my honest opinion of him.
Who knows what will happen next, but my gut feeling is this will not prove the massive boost to our fortunes many believe it will. Under Robinson we had two very poor spells of form, sandwiching a period in which we played some nice football and got some good results. In fact, around October when the idea of a takeover first got mooted the prevailing opinion on here, whilst not unanimous, was that any new owners should keep Robinson on as manager as we were moving in the right direction. Things have of course stalled badly since then, but injuries over Christmas and the increasing take over speculation and general lack of leadership at the club did not help, they simply cannot have done.
He's a marmite personality for sure and I think a lot of people nailed their colours to the mast with him too early. Those who took an early dislike have been waiting for the chance to say I told you so and are now out in force with unnecessarily personal and disrespectful posts. Those who took an early shine have perhaps been too willing to cut him slack when certain failings in his character and managerial style have been there for all to see for a while now.
Overall he has not been a success as the clear stated aim was promotion and that, while not completely ruled out, does not look at all likely right now. But at the same time this idea he's been an absolute disaster is over stating things. We're basically back to where we started with him, perhaps with a few better players in the squad, but still unbalanced and lacking certain key things like a goalscorer and some more players able to 'mix it'. But any commentary about KR's time here has to have a footnote about the shambolic environment he's been working in, especially since all this takeover speculation started and Roland's Rats started deserting the sinking ship. There are managers, especially the kind Roland has been minded to appoint, that could and probably would have done worse in that setting. It is certainly not an ideal environment for two new managers in Bowyer and Jackson to be cutting their teeth.
I don't get the hatred some seem to have for him, his crimes seem to be tactical inflexibility, a bit loose lipped sometimes, not bad mouthing his employer enough (like I'm sure everyone on here consistently does in public about their boss), and being Scouse. All hardly the crimes of the century, and he has consistently said good things about the club and the fans (I believe that statement from today is genuinely what he thinks about the club) and has worked hard to try and understand the club and improve it. So he failed on the improving bit, well, again, not grounds for hate in my book. He's not been negligent in his duties like certain former managers and risked running the whole club into the ground through his mismanagement. He came in with a plan, made some promises, and it didn't work out, that's life/football sometimes. Maybe if he was a bit more savvy he wouldn't have over promised, but he's a young enthusiastic guy, so again, forgivable mistakes in my eyes.
I'm sad it didn't work out, if he could have made his preferred style work consistently we could have been in for an exciting few years. But in the light of it's overall ineffectiveness and his seeming inability to change it up, I'm not too sad to see him go. He seems a decent enough bloke though so I certainly wish him no ill will. He's in the Luzon/Peeters category for me. Above Pardew and Dowie, but below Parkinson.
You just know that Robinson is going to work wonders at Oxford now!
It's definitely going to be interesting. They were setup to be a passing team by their former manager so theoretically should have the type of players KR wants to work with. They have an engaged and ambitious owner willing to spend money too. No guarantee of success of course, but it'll be an environment where it'll be harder for KR to make excuses if he doesn't deliver.
KR did his best for this club.he tried so hard to buy into its history and unite the fans with their club the way it used to be.I dont know if KM leaving had anything to do with his fading enthusiasm,but dealing direct with RD and not someone who was available most of the time must have been very stressful.The tactical approach of his teams was somewhat baffling,but to be fair,how often was the same team available on a regular basis.I wish him well.and h ope he is more appreciated at his new club.
PWR. Good news to get home to. I feel sorry in a way because I was a KR supporter at the start. I remember saying to my son, at the Bradford away match last season, it was the most positive I was feeling in a long time and I think that was a 0-0. This season can only be described as a disaster because of his stubbornness to continue with 4-2-3-1. It has proved he has limited capabilities as a coach and he needs to be more honest with himself. No doubt he will move on and play a blinder at his next club and further leave us shaking our heads. Except we all know the club is toxic and will only progress once the Belgian twat pisses off.
PWR. Good news to get home to. I feel sorry in a way because I was a KR supporter at the start. I remember saying to my son, at the Bradford away match last season, it was the most positive I was feeling in a long time and I think that was a 0-0. This season can only be described as a disaster because of his stubbornness to continue with 4-2-3-1. It has proved he has limited capabilities as a coach and he needs to be more honest with himself. No doubt he will move on and play a binder at his next club and further leave us shaking our heads. Except we all know the club is toxic and will only progress once the Belgian twat pisses off.
PWR. Good news to get home to. I feel sorry in a way because I was a KR supporter at the start. I remember saying to my son, at the Bradford away match last season, it was the most positive I was feeling in a long time and I think that was a 0-0. This season can only be described as a disaster because of his stubbornness to continue with 4-2-3-1. It has proved he has limited capabilities as a coach and he needs to be more honest with himself. No doubt he will move on and play a binder at his next club and further leave us shaking our heads. Except we all know the club is toxic and will only progress once the Belgian twat pisses off.
Comments
He is a league 1 manager and he sustained a league 1 midtable position with a league 1 club.
He would argue that was his brief and accuse the supporters of unrealistic expectations in aspiring towards promotion.
The King is dead. Long live the Kings.
If his departure, as I suspect, is because he was told he had no future once the takeover happens, speeds up the buying and selling process, great.
He did what was right for him and his family, if, as we all suspect he ends up at Oxford, he jumped whilst the job was still open, rather than be out of work within 5-6 weeks.
How beautiful;
That's in League 1 though,
how shite is that.
His cards were marked pretty early on then.
Sooner this disastrous owner moves on, the better.
It’ll be great to get back to simple support for the club without all the subtexts and in-fighting and we can now moan about future managers without any baggage.
Almost impossible task, he signed decent players but couldn't quite get us there. In other circumstances I feel we could have got promoted this year. Biggest downfall was stubborness in formation, not helped by only having 1 decent striker. A decent striker who's not really a goalscorer.
He liked the sound of his own voice but I can't dislike him too much because I genuinely believe he cared. Which is a lot more than can be said of most people we have had to deal with over the last few year,
You spouted so much crap, you told us what a wonderful squad we had, you told us we were going to have one of the fittest teams in the division especially when you tried to justify playing 3 games in 3 days when losing to some irish pub side. You played the same formation week in week out even though it went stale about 5 months ago. You told us we would be challenging for promotion.
As much as I have disliked you, especially because your a big mouth who talk's crap, now's your chance to redeem yourself by talking publicly about what a shambles the club is and how much of a disgrace the Rat is. I have a feeling you wont, no doubt you have sold yourself and everyone out and wont say anything as you have been given a little payoff to keep shut. If you keep quiet now your a disgrace of a man and I hope you go on to have a shit career in football like Russel Slade.
p.s. I look forward to your interview bouncing around like a school girl telling everyone what a big club Oxford is and how could anyone refuse to manage a team with a quarter of the ground missing and a bowling alley right outside.
I must say, the "bad" performances under Robinson were never terrible. Always played the ball round nicely, but just couldn't score.
Not as important as possession percentages, shots on and off targets and "passion" it seems these days but maybe I'm just old fashioned like that.
I loathed him as manager of the franchise as I always thought he fed off the hatred opposition fans felt toward them.
So having him at my club was just another reason to hate Douchbag.
I hope this whole sorry episode teaches him some humility.
But I very much doubt it.
Yet more evidence that operating under this ownership is a hiding to nothing (albeit I concede he could have been more flexible with his formations).
Sell up quick you nause
On the plus side, he certainly worked hard to try and rekindle some enthusiasm in and around the club and, whilst not wishing to damn the man with faint praise, the football was better than watching the 'holy trinity' midfield of Crofts, Foley (just behind the striker) and Jacko under Slade (recognising that it could hardly have been worse). Robinson said some silly things about Duchatelet and Meire in the early days but I believe that he was trying to play them and that it was simply his attempt to manage upwards. I can see why it antagonised people but, personally, I took that with a pinch of salt, together with some of the bullshit he spouted on a fairly regular basis.
On the negative side, he lacked tactical flexibility (although having only one non-prolific striker didn't help) and failed to get the balance of the team right. A manager is also judged, to a significant degree, on his signings and, unfortunately, our two 'marquee' Bosman signings, Reeves and Marshall, have fallen well below expectations. They presumably accounted for a fair chunk of the budget and would have necessitated savings elsewhere, which is perhaps why we entered September in an extraordinary position with Magennis as our only striker (we'll speak no more of poor Joe Dodoo).
In the final analysis, though, it's a results business and losing as many games as he's won over a season and a half simply isn't good enough for a club like Charlton in what is an unusually weak League 1.
Who knows what will happen next, but my gut feeling is this will not prove the massive boost to our fortunes many believe it will. Under Robinson we had two very poor spells of form, sandwiching a period in which we played some nice football and got some good results. In fact, around October when the idea of a takeover first got mooted the prevailing opinion on here, whilst not unanimous, was that any new owners should keep Robinson on as manager as we were moving in the right direction. Things have of course stalled badly since then, but injuries over Christmas and the increasing take over speculation and general lack of leadership at the club did not help, they simply cannot have done.
He's a marmite personality for sure and I think a lot of people nailed their colours to the mast with him too early. Those who took an early dislike have been waiting for the chance to say I told you so and are now out in force with unnecessarily personal and disrespectful posts. Those who took an early shine have perhaps been too willing to cut him slack when certain failings in his character and managerial style have been there for all to see for a while now.
Overall he has not been a success as the clear stated aim was promotion and that, while not completely ruled out, does not look at all likely right now. But at the same time this idea he's been an absolute disaster is over stating things. We're basically back to where we started with him, perhaps with a few better players in the squad, but still unbalanced and lacking certain key things like a goalscorer and some more players able to 'mix it'. But any commentary about KR's time here has to have a footnote about the shambolic environment he's been working in, especially since all this takeover speculation started and Roland's Rats started deserting the sinking ship. There are managers, especially the kind Roland has been minded to appoint, that could and probably would have done worse in that setting. It is certainly not an ideal environment for two new managers in Bowyer and Jackson to be cutting their teeth.
I don't get the hatred some seem to have for him, his crimes seem to be tactical inflexibility, a bit loose lipped sometimes, not bad mouthing his employer enough (like I'm sure everyone on here consistently does in public about their boss), and being Scouse. All hardly the crimes of the century, and he has consistently said good things about the club and the fans (I believe that statement from today is genuinely what he thinks about the club) and has worked hard to try and understand the club and improve it. So he failed on the improving bit, well, again, not grounds for hate in my book. He's not been negligent in his duties like certain former managers and risked running the whole club into the ground through his mismanagement. He came in with a plan, made some promises, and it didn't work out, that's life/football sometimes. Maybe if he was a bit more savvy he wouldn't have over promised, but he's a young enthusiastic guy, so again, forgivable mistakes in my eyes.
I'm sad it didn't work out, if he could have made his preferred style work consistently we could have been in for an exciting few years. But in the light of it's overall ineffectiveness and his seeming inability to change it up, I'm not too sad to see him go. He seems a decent enough bloke though so I certainly wish him no ill will. He's in the Luzon/Peeters category for me. Above Pardew and Dowie, but below Parkinson.
Good news to get home to. I feel sorry in a way because I was a KR supporter at the start. I remember saying to my son, at the Bradford away match last season, it was the most positive I was feeling in a long time and I think that was a 0-0.
This season can only be described as a disaster because of his stubbornness to continue with 4-2-3-1. It has proved he has limited capabilities as a coach and he needs to be more honest with himself.
No doubt he will move on and play a blinder at his next club and further leave us shaking our heads. Except we all know the club is toxic and will only progress once the Belgian twat pisses off.