Billy Clarke is a link man, a 7 out of 10 player, the polar opposite to Fosu who is unpredictable and is either 5.5 or 8.5. With Grant and Taylor up front, he could play in the number ten role with no pressure to score himself. Clarke and Cullen are about the short passes and link up play, where as Reeves is the longer pass player with a higher risk option. IF Clarke could replicate his form before his injury, now we have 2 strikers opposed to zero strikers last season, he could have a say in trying to secure a top six finish.
I still believe Fosu is a match winner, but as he proved against Gillingham he did the damage, in the middle, not on the wing. (For the CL who say he should play on Wing)
I'm slightly worried that some people are treating Billy Clarke as our saviour this season. He hasn't really done anything for us to warrant this 'saviour status'. Hopefully I'm proved wrong, but I'm not expecting an immediate impact from him when he eventually does return.
He's not a saviour and he's not a defensive/ holding midfielder.
He is a very good deep lying forward/no 10 as he showed before his injury.
Would you start him ahead of Fosu, or Jamie Ward if he stays?
Personally, I wouldn't. You could argue that he's our 3rd best option for the no.10 role.
Yes, without hesitation.
Fosu isn't a number ten, he's a winger, and neither is Ward, who has gone back to Forest anyway.
I don't think Bowyer really has the squad he needs to play the diamond. If you're going to play two strikers then at the tip of the diamond you want a 10 who is more a midfielder than a striker. Someone who can create but also drop deeper when needed and do some more of the midfield work. Clarke is more of a support striker and so it unbalances the team to have him at the tip of the diamond. Not fatally, but it's not ideal. Fosu is also problematic in that he wants to drift and pull wide and he doesn't really know how to play that way. Reeves is probably best suited of what we have but hardly perect. Similarly Bielik isn't the kind of player you want at the base of the diamond. JFC was perfect for it the way Bowyer wanted to play but he's not an option this season. We can put an 11 out but when the injuries hit the squad isn't set up with players signed with that shape in mind. It's not ideal that some of our better players were signed to fit Robinson's 4-2-3-1.
The attacking midfielder arrived at The Valley from the Bantams in the summer of 2017, but saw his debut season interrupted by an ACL knee injury that kept his out of action until November 2018. He now re-joins his former side after the club mutually agreed to end his contract with the Addicks.
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer said: “Billy has come and seen me the last couple of weeks wanting to play. Unfortunately for him there is no space for him to play and we couldn’t get him any minutes. He’s obviously come back from his long injury, he wanted to just play football again and it’s been frustrating for him since he came back, so he just asked if he could leave.
"I think we’ve got enough cover in his position so I think it was the right thing to do. He’s a good pro, a great lad, I didn't want to hold him back and it wasn’t easy to make that decision but for both parties it was the best thing to do. I wish him all the best and hopefully he goes on and does well at Bradford."
Clarke made a total of 25 appearances for the Addicks in all competitions, scoring two goals.
He said: "I want to thank everyone at Charlton - teammates, staff, fans and in particular physio Adam Coe - for the support I've received since joining the club 18 months ago. It's a shame my injury happened but that's football.
"I hope the boys get promoted and I wish everyone the best of luck."
Everyone at Charlton Athletic wishes him well in his future career.
The transfer window is set to close at 11pm tonight [Thursday] and the club's recruitment team are confident of bringing in a striker following yesterday's departure of Karlan Grant
before his injury he was one of the better ones to come in at the time. remember all the talk of Marshall from Bradford and yet it was Clarke who impressed me. (though not hard to do with the way Marshall has played most of the time with us) Clarke always gave his all and its a shame we wont see his work rate in a Charlton shirt again.
however Bowyer obviously doesn't see as much in him since coming back from injury so maybe he's not up to it as he once was.
17 games in 18 months .. he's not fully fit and in any case would not get in the team at the moment, best he went .. good luck except if he ever plays against us
Was not adverse to him leaving if we replaced with a striker but seeing as that's not going to happen I am angry to be honest, could still have played a part.
Was not adverse to him leaving if we replaced with a striker but seeing as that's not going to happen I am angry to be honest, could still have played a part.
I think the maths here is: Ward was a six month replacement for Clarke, and then Williams was a replacement for Ward who was a replacement for Clarke.
But I completely agree, he could have played a part in the run in. I suspect there's a feeling that he's still a ways off being recovered from injury. Either that or he's picked up a lot of niggles, but I'm surprised that he just hasn't been involved this month.
The bigger issue here is our like of center forwards. Clarke could have provided cover there, but he seems much better as a 10. We have Williams, Reeves, and Fosu who can all play there and who are all ahead of him.
Probably a fair decision to let him leave. When Bowyer didn’t use him over the Christmas break it was very obvious that Bowyer didn’t see him as a starter.
Since the start of the season, Lapslie and Morgan has stepped up and showed real promise and deserve to be in the first team squad.
Only makes sense for the squad if his wages were being freed up for an incoming player, as we now know thats not the case so all it has done is weakened the depth of the squad and reduced Rolands outgoings.
Best of luck to him, I thought he was a committed player that performed well last season before his injury.
Comments
With Grant and Taylor up front, he could play in the number ten role with no pressure to score himself.
Clarke and Cullen are about the short passes and link up play, where as Reeves is the longer pass player with a higher risk option.
IF Clarke could replicate his form before his injury, now we have 2 strikers opposed to zero strikers last season, he could have a say in trying to secure a top six finish.
I still believe Fosu is a match winner, but as he proved against Gillingham he did the damage, in the middle, not on the wing.
(For the CL who say he should play on Wing)
Fosu isn't a number ten, he's a winger, and neither is Ward, who has gone back to Forest anyway.
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer said: “Billy has come and seen me the last couple of weeks wanting to play. Unfortunately for him there is no space for him to play and we couldn’t get him any minutes. He’s obviously come back from his long injury, he wanted to just play football again and it’s been frustrating for him since he came back, so he just asked if he could leave.
"I think we’ve got enough cover in his position so I think it was the right thing to do. He’s a good pro, a great lad, I didn't want to hold him back and it wasn’t easy to make that decision but for both parties it was the best thing to do. I wish him all the best and hopefully he goes on and does well at Bradford."
Clarke made a total of 25 appearances for the Addicks in all competitions, scoring two goals.
He said: "I want to thank everyone at Charlton - teammates, staff, fans and in particular physio Adam Coe - for the support I've received since joining the club 18 months ago. It's a shame my injury happened but that's football.
"I hope the boys get promoted and I wish everyone the best of luck."
Everyone at Charlton Athletic wishes him well in his future career.
The transfer window is set to close at 11pm tonight [Thursday] and the club's recruitment team are confident of bringing in a striker following yesterday's departure of Karlan Grant
Another out..... not many incomings......
Odds on.
however Bowyer obviously doesn't see as much in him since coming back from injury so maybe he's not up to it as he once was.
Storck
Well-Known Member
Did they still owe us money from when they signed him?
#19 8 minutes ago
Probably
Clarke scores the winner at The Valley
I would have kept you till the end of the season.
Good luck Billy.
But I completely agree, he could have played a part in the run in. I suspect there's a feeling that he's still a ways off being recovered from injury. Either that or he's picked up a lot of niggles, but I'm surprised that he just hasn't been involved this month.
The bigger issue here is our like of center forwards. Clarke could have provided cover there, but he seems much better as a 10. We have Williams, Reeves, and Fosu who can all play there and who are all ahead of him.
I guess not everyone is as into what we thought we were creating before this window.
Overall it sucks, hope Clarke gets back to what we saw before his injury and finds a decent space to develop in.
Since the start of the season, Lapslie and Morgan has stepped up and showed real promise and deserve to be in the first team squad.
Good luck Billy.
Best of luck to him, I thought he was a committed player that performed well last season before his injury.