The referee got it wrong. Grant got to the ball first and was through on goal; the defender was last man, late and should have been dismissed. Denial of a goal scoring opportunity outside the area is still a straight red card.
Anyway, we weren't good enough. Looked tired in the first half. We passed it around the back, with not much movement in front from the midfield.
Barnsley scored 2 good goals, the first through a clever lay off by their striker, but their winger went past Dijksteel far too easily for their second, but great strike. They were then able to sit on their lead.
It took us until about the 70th minute to realise that we could play diagonals up to Taylor and get players around him.
Not sure we deserved anything from the game, but much better second half and we could have nicked a point. At half time, I thought we might roll over to a 4-0 type hammering.
Steer - distribution was sub par, couldn't have done much on either goal. Smart save at his near post to stop it being 3-0 before half time. Dijksteel - Poor at full back, and not much better in the middle. Probably needs to develop a nastier streak to his game as too passive at times. Bauer - Good Pearce - Solid enough, put some strong tackles in, which I think is where he hurt himself first half. Solly - Committed as ever. The red card came from a poor touch and then he lunged in chasing it. A slightly better touch and he could have had a shot. He got the ball, but he was overstretching and you can see why the ref gave him a second yellow. Pratley - Static and clumsy on the ball. Reeves - Had a few chances to deliver set pieces and was poor, and a horribly over hit through ball to Grant in the first half. Took his goal well. Bielik - Tried too much at times, but generally very good. Marshall - Tried hard and thought he did well (particularly after half time) Grant - Didn't offer much. Quiet. Taylor - Very quiet first half, got more into it in the second half, but nothing to write home about.
subs Fosu - Didn't all come off for him, but a few bright moments, and gave Barnsley problems Stevenson - Thought he added a lot when he came on. Gave us more balance on the left side, and he applied himself well. RHF - Put himself about, did ok.
I actually felt even in the first half our attacking intent was always very good and getting into good positions going forward. But it was the other end of the pitch which let us down a wee bit. Two great goals, could we have been a bit tighter on both? Probably! But those goals rocked us defensively and we looked nervous in that department for the most of the first half. We deserved to get one back before the break though. We contained them better second half. Got our goal and gave it a good go. Second Solly booking, I mean if you give a foul and a yellow card for that every time you would finish with six or seven aside. But it's only one game he is out. Ref was a homer though. How their lad ain't sent off for being the last man, I don't know.
“Second-half I thought we were by far the better side. I thought for large parts of the first half we were the better side, especially coming towards the end of the first half. All they’ve done is score two great strikes and I can’t really remember them hurting us other than that."
this is absolutely delusional from LB, and that's the first time I've said that
I see that, and raise you: "'Solly has got a second yellow card. It thought it was harsh. He won the ball. You can’t control where you are going once you’ve won the ball. The ref said he caught him on the follow through. When you’re sliding and you’re asking your players to put everything and give you everything, he slid, he’s won the ball and his momentum has took him into the lad. You can’t stop that. You can’t help that. That’s just part of the game at times. He hasn’t done anything intentionally. You don’t just win the ball and stop when you slide. That doesn’t happen. Now we’ll lose another player for the next game.'"
Did he win the ball? Didn't look like that to me. Still, THAT DOESN'T MATTER. It was a completely reckless challenge and again, he should have thanked the ref for not sending him off with a straight red.
Leuth's is obviously worse, but that one is pretty bad.
A good reminder this is Bowyer's first season as manager, second as a senior coach. This is the worst we've played this season. The pressure mounts this time of year. Hopefully everyone gets a day off tomorrow and can regroup on Monday.
What do you and Leuth expect Bowyer to say. I have not watched any of the game but Solly is a proper Charlton lad and don’t think a manager calling him out is really appropriate, of course he is going to back him whether he believes it or not.
Likewise, with a squad down to bare bones and having lost two on the bounce Bowyer is going to try to look for positives in the performance hence the comment that Leuth call delusional. It’s really just about trying to maintain motivation and confidence in a stretched squad.
From what I have read the lads gave everything against one of the best teams in the division away from home with 8-9 players missing and lost by the odd goal. It’s unlucky but it happens (a lot to Charlton!)
There's so much ground between "backing someone" and "calling them out." With Solly, it's late in the game, we're trailing, he's trying to win the ball back in their end and catches the player on the follow through. Simple enough, it happens. I don't think we need to be overly critical of Solly for this, I think it's clear what he's trying to do, but when you watch it back, there shouldn't be any argument that it's at least a booking.
On the larger performance, @Airman Brown does a really good job of walking through that. We're not quite down to the bare bones, but injuries have hurt. But to say we were better than them is wrong and papers over the cracks. Now, it's very possible he says that in public and something different to the players in private, and that's fair enough. But it doesn't mean it shouldn't be pulled up as anything other than a very inaccurate reflection of the match.
Also, if Robinson had done something like this, and he did on a few occasions, people would be losing their shit. I'm not saying we need to hold the two to exactly the same standard, but it should be a little closer than it is.
It's interesting to see the squad age profiles in our division, as Barnsley actually have the youngest squad on average, with everyone basically between 22 and 26, whereas we have a wider spread. Coventry also have a younger squad than us, did this benefit both teams over the Xmas period?
Taylor says that this is no time to lose focus, with the South Londoners still inside the play-off places and fixtures against Walsall and Sunderland still to come within the next week.
“We’re not going to lose confidence over two not so good results,” explained the Montserrat international.
It's interesting to see the squad age profiles in our division, as Barnsley actually have the youngest squad on average, with everyone basically between 22 and 26, whereas we have a wider spread. Coventry also have a younger squad than us, did this benefit both teams over the Xmas period?
Kevin Nolan's match report. Following hard on the heels of disappointing defeat at Coventry on Boxing Day, a visit to Barnsley, whose blue collar credentials are light years removed from the flashy commercial outlet that calls itself the Ricoh Arena, was hardly what Charlton’s doctor would have prescribed as an immediate pick-me-up.
We needed a new LB at the start of the season. And that is / was Roland's fault.
Whys that?
Bowyer was allowed to sign 6 players but decided to sign a load of CMs instead. He should take some responsibility too. We all knew of Pages injury issues but Bowyer didn’t sign a left back.
Of course it's Roland's fault. He's sufficiently wealthy, and we've made enough off player sales that Bowyer shouldn't be so limited with his budget. It shouldn't be an either/or situation where you have to sign the CMs you need or the reserve LB you need. Incidentally, he signed two CMs. Two. One was Darren Pratley, which is a stopgap signing and Cullen on loan, who didn't come in until 30th August. We've had to play Lapslie far more than we should have and Albie Morgan is considered part of the first team squad despite being nowhere near ready. Bielik is a CH who gets pushed awkwardly into central midfield because of the relentless injuries we get, and Ward is a winger/forward who never really looks comfortable in the formation Bowyer wants to play, which is the same problem we have with Fosu. We made two permanent signings this season and four loans. Incidentally, JFC's injury was announced on 4th August, so we knew we had to bring in an extra CM to cover that season long absence but I doubt the signing quota was adjusted to take that into account.
Also, which LB was available on the ridiculous budget Bowyer has? We know for a fact that we keep requesting Jay Dasilva from Chelsea but they want him to play at a higher level, so who else is available for the money we have? You can't not sign the players that are available because you're holding out for a reserve LB who may not exist. Imagine spending a season knowing your squad is too small, losing 5 first team players, losing one to a season-long injury (while knowing Clarke would miss half of it as well) and being told you can have 6 players, but only the money for two permanent ones. It's insane. At most you're getting the same inadequate squad size as the season before and knowing the cycle will continue from there.
Pratley was a "stopgap" signing that Bowyer made. We all know what Roland is like and everybody wants him out. You can't expect him to actively sell the club and splash the cash though. I certainly wouldn't do that in his position. But he should be intelligent enough to realise that the better we do the better the chances he has of selling the club. He's too stubborn to come to that realisation.
But in terms of squad numbers, we are only a left back light. Personally feel we need another 3 (defender, attacking midfielder and striker) to go up, offloading either Ajose/Igor, letting Ward go back and loaning out Dijksteel. But we had one of our better windows and we only sold Konsa.
The injury crisis is not Roland's fault, but I do agree that any reasonable owner would take a look at that and stretch the budget, even if we brought an extra loan in for 1/2 months until the likes of Cullen and Aribo return.
Yes, I know. Because that's what was available to him within his budget. Which is the problem. Not only is the budget too small for a club of our size, the not paying while selling argument doesn't hold water either. If he's that desperate to sell he could have sold the club 10 times over by now, but he's been holding out for an insane amount of money, all based on making back money he lost because of his mistakes, and it's rightly put investors off. Alternatively he could have spent enough to get us out of this league, which is dreadful this season, and had an asset that would more closely match his price expectations. He's doing neither though and trapping himself with us. He's an idiot.
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell
We needed a new LB at the start of the season. And that is / was Roland's fault.
Whys that?
Bowyer was allowed to sign 6 players but decided to sign a load of CMs instead. He should take some responsibility too. We all knew of Pages injury issues but Bowyer didn’t sign a left back.
Of course it's Roland's fault. He's sufficiently wealthy, and we've made enough off player sales that Bowyer shouldn't be so limited with his budget. It shouldn't be an either/or situation where you have to sign the CMs you need or the reserve LB you need. Incidentally, he signed two CMs. Two. One was Darren Pratley, which is a stopgap signing and Cullen on loan, who didn't come in until 30th August. We've had to play Lapslie far more than we should have and Albie Morgan is considered part of the first team squad despite being nowhere near ready. Bielik is a CH who gets pushed awkwardly into central midfield because of the relentless injuries we get, and Ward is a winger/forward who never really looks comfortable in the formation Bowyer wants to play, which is the same problem we have with Fosu. We made two permanent signings this season and four loans. Incidentally, JFC's injury was announced on 4th August, so we knew we had to bring in an extra CM to cover that season long absence but I doubt the signing quota was adjusted to take that into account.
Also, which LB was available on the ridiculous budget Bowyer has? We know for a fact that we keep requesting Jay Dasilva from Chelsea but they want him to play at a higher level, so who else is available for the money we have? You can't not sign the players that are available because you're holding out for a reserve LB who may not exist. Imagine spending a season knowing your squad is too small, losing 5 first team players, losing one to a season-long injury (while knowing Clarke would miss half of it as well) and being told you can have 6 players, but only the money for two permanent ones. It's insane. At most you're getting the same inadequate squad size as the season before and knowing the cycle will continue from there.
The injury crisis is not Roland's fault, but I do agree that any reasonable owner would take a look at that and stretch the budget, even if we brought an extra loan in for 1/2 months until the likes of Cullen and Aribo return.
You can't bring in an any loan for 1/2 months, can you?
It would have to be for remainder of season.
Ah I didn't know what, I thought it was still possible to sign someone on loan without it being until the end of the season.
Not for the past couple of seasons though.
Emergency loan for a goalkeeper, if you've got a keeper availability crisis, is still available.
We needed a new LB at the start of the season. And that is / was Roland's fault.
Whys that?
Bowyer was allowed to sign 6 players but decided to sign a load of CMs instead. He should take some responsibility too. We all knew of Pages injury issues but Bowyer didn’t sign a left back.
Of course it's Roland's fault. He's sufficiently wealthy, and we've made enough off player sales that Bowyer shouldn't be so limited with his budget. It shouldn't be an either/or situation where you have to sign the CMs you need or the reserve LB you need. Incidentally, he signed two CMs. Two. One was Darren Pratley, which is a stopgap signing and Cullen on loan, who didn't come in until 30th August. We've had to play Lapslie far more than we should have and Albie Morgan is considered part of the first team squad despite being nowhere near ready. Bielik is a CH who gets pushed awkwardly into central midfield because of the relentless injuries we get, and Ward is a winger/forward who never really looks comfortable in the formation Bowyer wants to play, which is the same problem we have with Fosu. We made two permanent signings this season and four loans. Incidentally, JFC's injury was announced on 4th August, so we knew we had to bring in an extra CM to cover that season long absence but I doubt the signing quota was adjusted to take that into account.
Also, which LB was available on the ridiculous budget Bowyer has? We know for a fact that we keep requesting Jay Dasilva from Chelsea but they want him to play at a higher level, so who else is available for the money we have? You can't not sign the players that are available because you're holding out for a reserve LB who may not exist. Imagine spending a season knowing your squad is too small, losing 5 first team players, losing one to a season-long injury (while knowing Clarke would miss half of it as well) and being told you can have 6 players, but only the money for two permanent ones. It's insane. At most you're getting the same inadequate squad size as the season before and knowing the cycle will continue from there.
Pratley was a "stopgap" signing that Bowyer made. We all know what Roland is like and everybody wants him out. You can't expect him to actively sell the club and splash the cash though. I certainly wouldn't do that in his position. But he should be intelligent enough to realise that the better we do the better the chances he has of selling the club. He's too stubborn to come to that realisation.
But in terms of squad numbers, we are only a left back light. Personally feel we need another 3 (defender, attacking midfielder and striker) to go up, offloading either Ajose/Igor, letting Ward go back and loaning out Dijksteel. But we had one of our better windows and we only sold Konsa.
The injury crisis is not Roland's fault, but I do agree that any reasonable owner would take a look at that and stretch the budget, even if we brought an extra loan in for 1/2 months until the likes of Cullen and Aribo return.
Yes, I know. Because that's what was available to him within his budget. Which is the problem. Not only is the budget too small for a club of our size, the not paying while selling argument doesn't hold water either. If he's that desperate to sell he could have sold the club 10 times over by now, but he's been holding out for an insane amount of money, all based on making back money he lost because of his mistakes, and it's rightly put investors off. Alternatively he could have spent enough to get us out of this league, which is dreadful this season, and had an asset that would more closely match his price expectations. He's doing neither though and trapping himself with us. He's an idiot.
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell
That might be the case, but in L1 managers have to adapt their tactics to the players available, we're not Man City or Chelsea where the new manager can change the personnel completely to match their way of playing.
Most of the injuries can't be blamed on squad depth though. 2 players with ACLs, 2 players with dislocated shoulders, that's bad luck. And I'm not convinced that other sides do that much rotation anyway. Barnsley have 6 players who have played 20 league games or more this season for example
We needed a new LB at the start of the season. And that is / was Roland's fault.
Whys that?
Bowyer was allowed to sign 6 players but decided to sign a load of CMs instead. He should take some responsibility too. We all knew of Pages injury issues but Bowyer didn’t sign a left back.
Of course it's Roland's fault. He's sufficiently wealthy, and we've made enough off player sales that Bowyer shouldn't be so limited with his budget. It shouldn't be an either/or situation where you have to sign the CMs you need or the reserve LB you need. Incidentally, he signed two CMs. Two. One was Darren Pratley, which is a stopgap signing and Cullen on loan, who didn't come in until 30th August. We've had to play Lapslie far more than we should have and Albie Morgan is considered part of the first team squad despite being nowhere near ready. Bielik is a CH who gets pushed awkwardly into central midfield because of the relentless injuries we get, and Ward is a winger/forward who never really looks comfortable in the formation Bowyer wants to play, which is the same problem we have with Fosu. We made two permanent signings this season and four loans. Incidentally, JFC's injury was announced on 4th August, so we knew we had to bring in an extra CM to cover that season long absence but I doubt the signing quota was adjusted to take that into account.
Also, which LB was available on the ridiculous budget Bowyer has? We know for a fact that we keep requesting Jay Dasilva from Chelsea but they want him to play at a higher level, so who else is available for the money we have? You can't not sign the players that are available because you're holding out for a reserve LB who may not exist. Imagine spending a season knowing your squad is too small, losing 5 first team players, losing one to a season-long injury (while knowing Clarke would miss half of it as well) and being told you can have 6 players, but only the money for two permanent ones. It's insane. At most you're getting the same inadequate squad size as the season before and knowing the cycle will continue from there.
Pratley was a "stopgap" signing that Bowyer made. We all know what Roland is like and everybody wants him out. You can't expect him to actively sell the club and splash the cash though. I certainly wouldn't do that in his position. But he should be intelligent enough to realise that the better we do the better the chances he has of selling the club. He's too stubborn to come to that realisation.
But in terms of squad numbers, we are only a left back light. Personally feel we need another 3 (defender, attacking midfielder and striker) to go up, offloading either Ajose/Igor, letting Ward go back and loaning out Dijksteel. But we had one of our better windows and we only sold Konsa.
The injury crisis is not Roland's fault, but I do agree that any reasonable owner would take a look at that and stretch the budget, even if we brought an extra loan in for 1/2 months until the likes of Cullen and Aribo return.
Yes, I know. Because that's what was available to him within his budget. Which is the problem. Not only is the budget too small for a club of our size, the not paying while selling argument doesn't hold water either. If he's that desperate to sell he could have sold the club 10 times over by now, but he's been holding out for an insane amount of money, all based on making back money he lost because of his mistakes, and it's rightly put investors off. Alternatively he could have spent enough to get us out of this league, which is dreadful this season, and had an asset that would more closely match his price expectations. He's doing neither though and trapping himself with us. He's an idiot.
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell
That might be the case, but in L1 managers have to adapt their tactics to the players available, we're not Man City or Chelsea where the new manager can change the personnel completely to match their way of playing.
Most of the injuries can't be blamed on squad depth though. 2 players with ACLs, 2 players with dislocated shoulders, that's bad luck. And I'm not convinced that other sides do that much rotation anyway. Barnsley have 6 players who have played 20 league games or more this season for example
I totally agree with this. You have to work with what you have in League One. To be fair, I think Bowyer has done that so far.
You are always going to get injuries and we have been unfortunate in that respect without question, but a squad imbalance has been an issue with Duchatelet's ownership from day one and always finds us out at points in the season,. I think it has ended up costing him money as a limited expenditure in balancing the squad would have kept us up in the first place.
We can't just look at the cost of our current squad without factoring poor purchases that we can't offload and have to pay above the going rate for. Bowyer looks like a manager who generally buys well. It would be worth a punt by the owner to give him a little support but we all know the opposite is most likely.
Yes, I know. Because that's what was available to him within his budget. Which is the problem. Not only is the budget too small for a club of our size, the not paying while selling argument doesn't hold water either. If he's that desperate to sell he could have sold the club 10 times over by now, but he's been holding out for an insane amount of money, all based on making back money he lost because of his mistakes, and it's rightly put investors off. Alternatively he could have spent enough to get us out of this league, which is dreadful this season, and had an asset that would more closely match his price expectations. He's doing neither though and trapping himself with us. He's an idiot.
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell
We needed a new LB at the start of the season. And that is / was Roland's fault.
Whys that?
Bowyer was allowed to sign 6 players but decided to sign a load of CMs instead. He should take some responsibility too. We all knew of Pages injury issues but Bowyer didn’t sign a left back.
Of course it's Roland's fault. He's sufficiently wealthy, and we've made enough off player sales that Bowyer shouldn't be so limited with his budget. It shouldn't be an either/or situation where you have to sign the CMs you need or the reserve LB you need. Incidentally, he signed two CMs. Two. One was Darren Pratley, which is a stopgap signing and Cullen on loan, who didn't come in until 30th August. We've had to play Lapslie far more than we should have and Albie Morgan is considered part of the first team squad despite being nowhere near ready. Bielik is a CH who gets pushed awkwardly into central midfield because of the relentless injuries we get, and Ward is a winger
Also, which LB was available on the ridiculous budget Bowyer has? We know for a fact that we keep requesting Jay Dasilva from Chelsea but they want him to play at a higher level, so who else is available for the money we have? You can't not sign the players that are available because you're holding out for a reserve LB who may not exist. Imagine spending a season knowing your squad is too small, losing 5 first team players, losing one to a season-long injury (while knowing Clarke would miss half of it as well) and being told you can have 6 players, but only the money for two permanent ones. It's insane. At most you're getting the same inadequate squad size as the season before and knowing the cycle will continue from there.
Pratley was a "stopgap" signing that Bowyer made. We all know what Roland is like and everybody wants him out. You can't expect him to actively sell the club and splash the cash though. I certainly wouldn't do that in his position. But he should be intelligent enough to realise that the better we do the better the chances he has of selling the club. He's too stubborn to come to that realisation.
But in terms of squad numbers, we are only a
Yes, I know. Because that's what was available to him within his budget. Which is the problem. Not only is the budget too small for a club of our size, the not paying while selling argument doesn't hold water either. If he's that desperate to sell he could have sold the club 10 times over by now, but he's been holding out for an insane amount of money, all based on making back money he lost because of his mistakes, and it's rightly put investors off. Alternatively he could have spent enough to get us out of this league, which is dreadful this season, and had an asset that would more closely match his price expectations. He's doing neither though and trapping himself with us. He's an idiot.
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell
I agree with a lot of what you say to be fair.
But short in midfield? That’s rubbish, we have Bielik, Pratley, Cullen, Aribo, Fosu, Ward, Marshall, Lapslie, Reeves and Clarke. Many fans are raving about Lapslie so how is he playing too much? And Clarke will be able to fit into a diamond midfield just fine. Lack of competition up front probably, lack of cover at full back, most definitely but certainly not in midfield.
And regarding Dijksteel, I do agree but Bowyer has to take responsibility. We have a load of midfielders, so maybe Bowyer should have signed 1 less midfielder, signed a full back and used Dijksteel as midfield cover. I think Bowyer was more then happy to have him as RB cover. But I do agree and think we need a new RB with Dijksteel out on loan.
We needed a new LB at the start of the season. And that is / was Roland's fault.
Whys that?
Bowyer was allowed to sign 6 players but decided to sign a load of CMs instead. He should take some responsibility too. We all knew of Pages injury issues but Bowyer didn’t sign a left back.
Of course it's Roland's fault. He's sufficiently wealthy, and we've made enough off player sales that Bowyer shouldn't be so limited with his budget. It shouldn't be an either/or situation where you have to sign the CMs you need or the reserve LB you need. Incidentally, he signed two CMs. Two. One was Darren Pratley, which is a stopgap signing and Cullen on loan, who didn't come in until 30th August. We've had to play Lapslie far more than we should have and Albie Morgan is considered part of the first team squad despite being nowhere near ready. Bielik is a CH who gets pushed awkwardly into central midfield because of the relentless injuries we get, and Ward is a winger/forward who never really looks comfortable in the formation Bowyer wants to play, which is the same problem we have with Fosu. We made two permanent signings this season and four loans. Incidentally, JFC's injury was announced on 4th August, so we knew we had to bring in an extra CM to cover that season long absence but I doubt the signing quota was adjusted to take that into account.
Also, which LB was available on the ridiculous budget Bowyer has? We know for a fact that we keep requesting Jay Dasilva from Chelsea but they want him to play at a higher level, so who else is available for the money we have? You can't not sign the players that are available because you're holding out for a reserve LB who may not exist. Imagine spending a season knowing your squad is too small, losing 5 first team players, losing one to a season-long injury (while knowing Clarke would miss half of it as well) and being told you can have 6 players, but only the money for two permanent ones. It's insane. At most you're getting the same inadequate squad size as the season before and knowing the cycle will continue from there.
Pratley was a "stopgap" signing that Bowyer made. We all know what Roland is like and everybody wants him out. You can't expect him to actively sell the club and splash the cash though. I certainly wouldn't do that in his position. But he should be intelligent enough to realise that the better we do the better the chances he has of selling the club. He's too stubborn to come to that realisation.
But in terms of squad numbers, we are only a left back light. Personally feel we need another 3 (defender, attacking midfielder and striker) to go up, offloading either Ajose/Igor, letting Ward go back and loaning out Dijksteel. But we had one of our better windows and we only sold Konsa.
The injury crisis is not Roland's fault, but I do agree that any reasonable owner would take a look at that and stretch the budget, even if we brought an extra loan in for 1/2 months until the likes of Cullen and Aribo return.
Yes, I know. Because that's what was available to him within his budget. Which is the problem. Not only is the budget too small for a club of our size, the not paying while selling argument doesn't hold water either. If he's that desperate to sell he could have sold the club 10 times over by now, but he's been holding out for an insane amount of money, all based on making back money he lost because of his mistakes, and it's rightly put investors off. Alternatively he could have spent enough to get us out of this league, which is dreadful this season, and had an asset that would more closely match his price expectations. He's doing neither though and trapping himself with us. He's an idiot.
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell
That might be the case, but in L1 managers have to adapt their tactics to the players available, we're not Man City or Chelsea where the new manager can change the personnel completely to match their way of playing.
Most of the injuries can't be blamed on squad depth though. 2 players with ACLs, 2 players with dislocated shoulders, that's bad luck. And I'm not convinced that other sides do that much rotation anyway. Barnsley have 6 players who have played 20 league games or more this season for example
Agreed, our squad really isn’t that small, just had terrible luck with injuries
Comments
Anyway, we weren't good enough. Looked tired in the first half. We passed it around the back, with not much movement in front from the midfield.
Barnsley scored 2 good goals, the first through a clever lay off by their striker, but their winger went past Dijksteel far too easily for their second, but great strike. They were then able to sit on their lead.
It took us until about the 70th minute to realise that we could play diagonals up to Taylor and get players around him.
Not sure we deserved anything from the game, but much better second half and we could have nicked a point. At half time, I thought we might roll over to a 4-0 type hammering.
Steer - distribution was sub par, couldn't have done much on either goal. Smart save at his near post to stop it being 3-0 before half time.
Dijksteel - Poor at full back, and not much better in the middle. Probably needs to develop a nastier streak to his game as too passive at times.
Bauer - Good
Pearce - Solid enough, put some strong tackles in, which I think is where he hurt himself first half.
Solly - Committed as ever. The red card came from a poor touch and then he lunged in chasing it. A slightly better touch and he could have had a shot. He got the ball, but he was overstretching and you can see why the ref gave him a second yellow.
Pratley - Static and clumsy on the ball.
Reeves - Had a few chances to deliver set pieces and was poor, and a horribly over hit through ball to Grant in the first half. Took his goal well.
Bielik - Tried too much at times, but generally very good.
Marshall - Tried hard and thought he did well (particularly after half time)
Grant - Didn't offer much. Quiet.
Taylor - Very quiet first half, got more into it in the second half, but nothing to write home about.
subs
Fosu - Didn't all come off for him, but a few bright moments, and gave Barnsley problems
Stevenson - Thought he added a lot when he came on. Gave us more balance on the left side, and he applied himself well.
RHF - Put himself about, did ok.
On the larger performance, @Airman Brown does a really good job of walking through that. We're not quite down to the bare bones, but injuries have hurt. But to say we were better than them is wrong and papers over the cracks. Now, it's very possible he says that in public and something different to the players in private, and that's fair enough. But it doesn't mean it shouldn't be pulled up as anything other than a very inaccurate reflection of the match.
Also, if Robinson had done something like this, and he did on a few occasions, people would be losing their shit. I'm not saying we need to hold the two to exactly the same standard, but it should be a little closer than it is.
“We’re not going to lose confidence over two not so good results,” explained the Montserrat international.
“It’s a horrible time of year. I can attest to the fact that we’ve spent absolutely no time with our families which is obviously hard. It’s hard for the fans spending their hard-earned money coming all this way over this period of time. I want to apologise because we expect to pick up better results than we have. We have no God-given right to but we expect to.
https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/striker-lyle-taylor-says-that-heads-mustnt-drop-after-play-off-chasing-charlton-suffer-consecutive-defeats/
Following hard on the heels of disappointing defeat at Coventry on Boxing Day, a visit to Barnsley, whose blue collar credentials are light years removed from the flashy commercial outlet that calls itself the Ricoh Arena, was hardly what Charlton’s doctor would have prescribed as an immediate pick-me-up.
Unbeaten at home this season, the Tykes are a tough proposition at the best of times. With his squad stretched to breaking point by a cruel string of long-term injuries, long-suffering Lee Bowyer was entitled to conclude that the last week of December 2018 was from his standpoint, if perhaps not the worst, then unarguably far from the best of times
https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/lee-bowyer-has-no-option-but-to-paper-over-the-cracks-developing-in-his-injury-hit-charlton-squad/
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell
Emergency loan for a goalkeeper, if you've got a keeper availability crisis, is still available.
Most of the injuries can't be blamed on squad depth though. 2 players with ACLs, 2 players with dislocated shoulders, that's bad luck. And I'm not convinced that other sides do that much rotation anyway. Barnsley have 6 players who have played 20 league games or more this season for example
You are always going to get injuries and we have been unfortunate in that respect without question, but a squad imbalance has been an issue with Duchatelet's ownership from day one and always finds us out at points in the season,. I think it has ended up costing him money as a limited expenditure in balancing the squad would have kept us up in the first place.
We can't just look at the cost of our current squad without factoring poor purchases that we can't offload and have to pay above the going rate for. Bowyer looks like a manager who generally buys well. It would be worth a punt by the owner to give him a little support but we all know the opposite is most likely.
Yes, I know. Because that's what was available to him within his budget. Which is the problem. Not only is the budget too small for a club of our size, the not paying while selling argument doesn't hold water either. If he's that desperate to sell he could have sold the club 10 times over by now, but he's been holding out for an insane amount of money, all based on making back money he lost because of his mistakes, and it's rightly put investors off. Alternatively he could have spent enough to get us out of this league, which is dreadful this season, and had an asset that would more closely match his price expectations. He's doing neither though and trapping himself with us. He's an idiot.
We did not only sell Konsa. We sold Konsa for peanuts to Brentford as Roland was accepting less for up-front payments. We also sold Magennis, who was more than adequately replaced by Taylor, Lennon, what was left of Jackson and Kashi, who was a big loss. We'd already bodged off Holmes the January before and frankly we didn't have anyone else saleable in the squad. The injury crisis isn't Roland's fault in the sense he isn't wandering round with a hammer knocking people's shoulders out of their sockets but he contributes to it by always ensuring we only have around 11 adequate players, meaning there's no option for regular rotation, and players are rushed back from injury too early which just adds to their problems.
I can't agree with you on squad numbers either. Aside from the fact we have too many loans, which stops us building for the future, we're short in midfield, not just in numbers but based on how Bowyer wants to play. Marshall, Fosu and Clarke don't really fit with how Bowyer wants to play and that means we're constantly having to chop and change as soon as one midfielder isn't available. We're regularly pushing Bielik up into midfield where he's nowhere near as comfortable, and Lapslie's playing too much because too many of the other senior players just don't fit the set-up. It's a mess. Dijksteel is also not a RB, he's a converted CM who has been put there because we just never ever have a decent reserve RB even though Solly's knees have been dust since the time of Powell I agree with a lot of what you say to be fair.
But short in midfield? That’s rubbish, we have Bielik, Pratley, Cullen, Aribo, Fosu, Ward, Marshall, Lapslie, Reeves and Clarke. Many fans are raving about Lapslie so how is he playing too much? And Clarke will be able to fit into a diamond midfield just fine. Lack of competition up front probably, lack of cover at full back, most definitely but certainly not in midfield.
And regarding Dijksteel, I do agree but Bowyer has to take responsibility. We have a load of midfielders, so maybe Bowyer should have signed 1 less midfielder, signed a full back and used Dijksteel as midfield cover. I think Bowyer was more then happy to have him as RB cover. But I do agree and think we need a new RB with Dijksteel out on loan.