I'm really happy with this window. Looking at it objectively, we've:
- Replaced Leko with Green - Replaced Gallagher with Smith - Replaced Kayal with Davies - Added McGeady in a role we've struggled to fill, as someone with an x-factor - Kept Taylor
It's all very well including Morgan, Lapslie, Doherty and Dempsey as midfielders available to us, but Bowyer hasn't felt they're ready at the start of the season and arguably only Doherty has done enough to change that view. They've all got potential but we've had to ask too much of them in the last few months, and it's shown in the results.
Given the injuries we've had across the midfield and they're only just coming back, I think it's a decent window and smart to prioritise midfield. We have Cullen, Pratley, Field, Williams and Otzumer to complement the new guys.
I'd have liked another CB or LB, but our defense was a lot tighter earlier in the season with a decent midfield in front of it. I'd have liked another forward, but Green replaces Leko and with Taylor staying it's more valuable than most new signings available in Jan. I expect Aneke will be used up front more off the bench given the other options in midfield - I've not been impressed by him yet but time will tell. Hemed will hopefully stay fit and with Bonne back soon we have enough options again. Hopefully Davison and some of the other youngsters will get a loan.
Ultimately Bowyer, Gallen and Southall seem to have balanced the squad (bearing in mind we often play 6 midfielders over 90 minutes) replaced those leaving / long term injured and have addressed the major weaknesses in the squad. It won't get us promoted this year and you can find things to remain concerned about, but challenging for promotion wasn't the aim and save for a second worst-in-the-country injury crisis should be more than enough to see us stay up. Davies and McGeady are superb signings that add genuine quality to the squad.
Bowyer needs to get them integrated into the squad asap and taking some of the weight. With the returning players, the extra support and the added bonus of McGeady we should start picking up wins and moving towards safety. Bring on Barnsley.
Great assessment @Beardface. Having slept on it this is how I feel. Last night I got distracted by foolish expectations as a result of Matt's foolish tweets
I’m not even sure the whole Maddison thing was entirely genuine. Bit of back scratching going on between McAnthony and his old mate Southall.
Southall gets some fan brownie points by appearing to be interested in signing him,... when he never really was ( what happened to that £2.5million?)
And McAnthony sees the premium go up and draws a few in. Which seems to have failed spectacularly.
I have said for years that something like this could possibly happen between chairman.
Chairman 1 wants his fans to think his club is going to be active in the transfer market.
Chairman 2 wants his fans to think that although they haven't got any money to spend they can at least keep hold of the players they have.
Chairmen agree to put out a story that Chairman 1 has bid £xxx for a certain player belonging to Chairman 2 but Chairman 2 is adamant that said player is going nowhere. Nothing happens & player stays. Chairman 1 tells his fans......."I did the best I could, but they wouldn't budge". Chairman 2 says to his fans....."I stood up to them & didnt sell".
Win/win.
I can't believe that a chairman would risk unsettling a key asset to help a rival out, even if that rival is a mate.
My thoughts on the window are, that I was unimpressed, but on reflection, I am happy with the incoming players. Loan signings seem sensible for now and seem to be the positions we needed.
Most of us were worried at the potential loss of Lyle, so keeping him is a major boost that we wouldn't have had under the previous owner.
It seems clear that all the talk of loads of money was way wide of the mark and we do not appear to be a rival to Man City. Can't say as that disappoints me at all.
I am cautiously optimistic right now. Onwards and upwards.
The Davis signing gives us the CB back-up we were after. Now Pratley can fill in at CB and Davis play the defensive midfield role. Very clever! We may not have the raw ability in Gallagher but we now have real strength in depth. In Bowyer we trust!
So out of our current midfield we could only have 2 of them still here in summer if Williams doesn’t sign a new deal. Shambles.
That is not an issue at all. Means less deadwood to ship out. More budget to go straight into the players Bowyer and Gallen wish to build their squad around in the Summer.
Gallen said last summer that he doesn’t want to keep doing the rebuilding job. It can’t work forever. Now, with the new owners and our management team here for the long term. They can be offering 2-3-4 year contracts to the right players at the right time.
Now it seems it's not happening, care to share the name you heard @Sage ?
Genuinely didn’t know the name mate. FA, and MIA, will back me up, all I got told was that we were very close to a signing and that when I asked if it was a striker, they said yeah. Whether we missed out on a player or not, I don’t know. But we ended up signing Davis and that’s a great signing and weakens a team around us.
I am disappointed we didn’t sign a striker because Gallen made it clear at the beginning of the window that Green wasn’t here to replace Leko, and Bowyer when asked in his post match press conference after West Brom at home said we really need to bring in a striker.
Overall, very happy because the midfield signings are strong, we’ve added experience and we have kept Taylor, Doughty, Williams etc. We’ve got more than enough to get us over the line to stay up and we go again in the summer.
Good window for me, enough to keep us up and then I think we can really judge their ambition after a full summer window...squad looks a lot better now with returning players, just need Bonne back for the additional option.
Now the transfer window has shut I reckon some people need a little break from the internet judging by this thread
bring on Barnsley, let’s get behind the boys and roar us onto a nice 3-0 win
Im not sure the new owners are as loaded as people think. Time will tell with that. Yesterday was about getting enough reinforcements in to keep us in the division, hopefully we've achieved that. I think Southall went a bit overboard with the Twitter stuff given that we've only bought in a few loans. The way he was carrying on, you would've thought he was spending millions to bring in established stars. I personally think he needs to reign it in a bit, as I don't think he 'walked the walk' as he said in his interview. He's new to the role though and still learning the job so hopefully he learns from it.
I know people keep saying there was no way we could sell Lyle, but there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that had Roland still been in charge, Lyle would've gone yesterday
The Remit for Lee Bowyer in August under Duchatelet was to finish 21st or above. What has taken most Charlton fans by Surprise after acquiring an owner from a stable in form: UAE, is the bar hasn't been raised in January.
My perception from Matt Southall after he watched every game in November was he understood the injury crisis and from (January 2nd) would bring Green in for Leko and a loan striker as we were down to one fit striker. 29 days later and 3 loan players come in on deadline day; Wasn't our Deadline day earlier than the 31st January?
Lee Bowyer is happy now because he feels he can carry out his remit but the nagging doubts remain. Questions still need to be put to Matt, but not today.
Only blind loyalty today, as this is our first Cup final in February
Im not sure the new owners are as loaded as people think. Time will tell with that. Yesterday was about getting enough reinforcements in to keep us in the division, hopefully we've achieved that. I think Southall went a bit overboard with the Twitter stuff given that we've only bought in a few loans. The way he was carrying on, you would've thought he was spending millions to bring in established stars. I personally think he needs to reign it in a bit, as I don't think he 'walked the walk' as he said in his interview. He's new to the role though and still learning the job so hopefully he learns from it.
I know people keep saying there was no way we could sell Lyle, but there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that had Roland still been in charge, Lyle would've gone yesterday
Agree with all of your post except the last part. Roland would need us to stay in the Championship to sell the club at a good price. No doubt in my mind he'd offset a few million for Lyle to lessen the risk of relegation and a huge drop in sale price.
Probably would've sold Doughty, though. For 1.5 mil. No doubt a few years later we would watch him get sold for 15!
Now it seems it's not happening, care to share the name you heard @Sage ?
Genuinely didn’t know the name mate. FA, and MIA, will back me up, all I got told was that we were very close to a signing and that when I asked if it was a striker, they said yeah. Whether we missed out on a player or not, I don’t know. But we ended up signing Davis and that’s a great signing and weakens a team around us.
I am disappointed we didn’t sign a striker because Gallen made it clear at the beginning of the window that Green wasn’t here to replace Leko, and Bowyer when asked in his post match press conference after West Brom at home said we really need to bring in a striker.
Overall, very happy because the midfield signings are strong, we’ve added experience and we have kept Taylor, Doughty, Williams etc. We’ve got more than enough to get us over the line to stay up and we go again in the summer.
Happy to back you up Sage, you certainly didnt give me any names last night
And agreed it would have been nice to see a Grant replacement but as Mark Hughes said on Sky Sports News - Strikers this time of the year are so hard to sign, just look at Man Utd!!
I know Douchebag is the panto villain But it was his shout 5 minutes before the end of the summer window why Lyle is still here now. (We all know it wasn't for altruistic reasons)
I know Douchebag is the panto villain But it was his shout 5 minutes before the end of the summer window why Lyle is still here now. (We all know it wasn't for altruistic reasons)
Weren't that for his own benefit? I don't reckon it came from good place
Gutted about Bostock, especially if it was Toulouse basically not doing admin. Over 6ft left footed and creative. Also someone with a point to prove. Maybe we can go back in the summer.
I remember the Youth game against Spurs but am more influenced by the way he got Forest back into the game at the Valley.
That said I think McGready will give us some of that and Davis is a proven player at this level. Matt Smith is a punt. Interesting that he never really got a chance at QPR when you compare how we developed Gallagher.
Ideally I would have liked a centre back but maybe Lee sees Pratley in this role? Also a striker would have been nice. 7/10.
Plenty of work for SG to do now. We need to sign up the youngsters that have served us so well through the injury crisis and the squad members soon out of contract. We will then know what positions we need to be filling in the summer.
Now it seems it's not happening, care to share the name you heard @Sage ?
Genuinely didn’t know the name mate. FA, and MIA, will back me up, all I got told was that we were very close to a signing and that when I asked if it was a striker, they said yeah. Whether we missed out on a player or not, I don’t know. But we ended up signing Davis and that’s a great signing and weakens a team around us.
I am disappointed we didn’t sign a striker because Gallen made it clear at the beginning of the window that Green wasn’t here to replace Leko, and Bowyer when asked in his post match press conference after West Brom at home said we really need to bring in a striker.
Overall, very happy because the midfield signings are strong, we’ve added experience and we have kept Taylor, Doughty, Williams etc. We’ve got more than enough to get us over the line to stay up and we go again in the summer.
We were definitely after a striker this window, hence I'm not entirely convinced by our transfer business. Yes we've got masses of midfield cover, but if Lyle limps off this afternoon, we're already at the bare bones. Hemed up front next Saturday won't scare the Stoke defence.
Jose and his spurs squad desperately needed a striker to replace kane but couldn't get a deal done for one so did Lampard at chelsea wanted reinforcements he also failed Shows how hard it is in January what makes it any different for us We are a stronger side than we were 48 hrs ago that's for sure
I think Matt Southall is a breath of fresh air, but he can come across a bit like a kid in a sweetshop. He's clearly loving his new role in life, and wants to share his enthusiasm with the fans, ramping his coms amp up to 11. That's absolutely fine with casual fans and followers, but is less likely to go down well with the hardcore, who are much less easily impressed. If I was advising him I'd be saying 'just tone it down a bit, and then people will be pleasantly surprised by who we sign, rather than disappointed'.
I think Matt Southall is a breath of fresh air, but he can come across a bit like a kid in a sweetshop. He's clearly loving his new role in life, and wants to share his enthusiasm with the fans, ramping his coms amp up to 11. That's absolutely fine with casual fans and followers, but is less likely to go down well with the hardcore, who are much less easily impressed. If I was advising him I'd be saying 'just tone it down a bit, and then people will be pleasantly surprised by who we sign, rather than disappointed'.
Totally agree with what you’re saying, but equally we don’t know what deals were lined up/close and the ones that haven’t happened!
This is his first transfer window , and realistically a lot hinges on it! Of course he is going I be excited , but he wants to please fans and bowyer by bringing people in!
Job Done - bodies over the line to get us to mid table.
I think people are really underestimating the task ahead of us.... mid table? I’d bite your hand off for 21st and safe by a point. We got the players to gamble at achieving the bare minimum - not show promotion form which is what we would need for mid table
I'm fairly happy with the signings but I don't see keeping Taylor as some kind of massive accomplishment. Selling him was unthinkable. Our Championship status is worth more than a few million quid.
You don't get brownie points for a common sense decision that anyone (including every single one of us) could see.
Charlton have sold their best players, especially strikers, since before I was born. Big brownie points from me, writing off £3M they could have taken and most previous owners would have taken.
write off the tweets by Southall has just a bit of light hearted banter on what must have been a pretty stressful couple of days for those involved. Stuff like supa dupa deal phone was nothing more than a joke. I don’t think he’ll be doing the same next January but After watching last nights interview, I think they did a good job.
I am not unhappy or moaning but let's be honest and admit none of our new aquisitions will make much (any) difference to whether we stay up or not but we lost our best player and another first choice starter who both scored goals (Gallagher and Leko).
Despite the hype, the bottom line is that under this ownership, the squad is significantly weaker than it was in August under Roland.
What happened to our prime targets (not Maddison, who sounds like a dick anyway) but what about Parrot and Idah and why did they not wish to join CAFC and Bowyer??
Lack of money, fear of injury, fear of league 1 ??
Sorry, but that's just not true. Our new acquisitions will 100% make a difference to whether we stay up and it's just wrong to say they won't.
As for Parrot Spurs decided they were not going to loan him and Norwich presumably felt the same re Idah.
It would be good if people checked their facts before posting critical nonsense. Sorry.
The Remit for Lee Bowyer in August under Duchatelet was to finish 21st or above. What has taken most Charlton fans by Surprise after acquiring an owner from a stable in form: UAE, is the bar hasn't been raised in January.
My perception from Matt Southall after he watched every game in November was he understood the injury crisis and from (January 2nd) would bring Green in for Leko and a loan striker as we were down to one fit striker. 29 days later and 3 loan players come in on deadline day; Wasn't our Deadline day earlier than the 31st January?
Lee Bowyer is happy now because he feels he can carry out his remit but the nagging doubts remain. Questions still need to be put to Matt, but not today.
Only blind loyalty today, as this is our first Cup final in February
What questions need to be put to Matt? Just because our owners have changed, the objective must be to survive.
i think people get a bit carried away with some of bowyers comments like we can still make the play offs and the were f’ing rich chant.
New owners have not changed my expectation levels for this season. 21st or above. Next season is a different story and I expect us to be pushing for 15th, with improvements to the budget and league position every year.
I am not unhappy or moaning but let's be honest and admit none of our new aquisitions will make much (any) difference to whether we stay up or not but we lost our best player and another first choice starter who both scored goals (Gallagher and Leko).
Despite the hype, the bottom line is that under this ownership, the squad is significantly weaker than it was in August under Roland.
What happened to our prime targets (not Maddison, who sounds like a dick anyway) but what about Parrot and Idah and why did they not wish to join CAFC and Bowyer??
Lack of money, fear of injury, fear of league 1 ??
Sorry, but that's just not true. Our new acquisitions will 100% make a difference to whether we stay up and it's just wrong to say they won't.
As for Parrot Spurs decided they were not going to loan him and Norwich presumably felt the same re Idah.
It would be good if people checked their facts before posting critical nonsense. Sorry.
Pretty sure Spurs had to keep Parrott due to UEFA homegrown regulations.
Comments
Having slept on it this is how I feel.
Last night I got distracted by foolish expectations as a result of Matt's foolish tweets
My thoughts on the window are, that I was unimpressed, but on reflection, I am happy with the incoming players. Loan signings seem sensible for now and seem to be the positions we needed.
Most of us were worried at the potential loss of Lyle, so keeping him is a major boost that we wouldn't have had under the previous owner.
It seems clear that all the talk of loads of money was way wide of the mark and we do not appear to be a rival to Man City. Can't say as that disappoints me at all.
I am cautiously optimistic right now. Onwards and upwards.
Gallen said last summer that he doesn’t want to keep doing the rebuilding job. It can’t work forever. Now, with the new owners and our management team here for the long term. They can be offering 2-3-4 year contracts to the right players at the right time.
There is a job to do.
I am disappointed we didn’t sign a striker because Gallen made it clear at the beginning of the window that Green wasn’t here to replace Leko, and Bowyer when asked in his post match press conference after West Brom at home said we really need to bring in a striker.
Overall, very happy because the midfield signings are strong, we’ve added experience and we have kept Taylor, Doughty, Williams etc. We’ve got more than enough to get us over the line to stay up and we go again in the summer.
bring on Barnsley, let’s get behind the boys and roar us onto a nice 3-0 win
I know people keep saying there was no way we could sell Lyle, but there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that had Roland still been in charge, Lyle would've gone yesterday
What has taken most Charlton fans by Surprise after acquiring an owner from a stable in form: UAE, is the bar hasn't been raised in January.
My perception from Matt Southall after he watched every game in November was he understood the injury crisis and from
(January 2nd) would bring Green in for Leko and a loan striker as we were down to one fit striker. 29 days later and 3 loan players come in on deadline day; Wasn't our Deadline day earlier than the 31st January?
Lee Bowyer is happy now because he feels he can carry out his remit but the nagging doubts remain. Questions still need to be put to Matt, but not today.
Only blind loyalty today, as this is our first Cup final in February
Probably would've sold Doughty, though. For 1.5 mil. No doubt a few years later we would watch him get sold for 15!
And agreed it would have been nice to see a Grant replacement but as Mark Hughes said on Sky Sports News - Strikers this time of the year are so hard to sign, just look at Man Utd!!
I remember the Youth game against Spurs but am more influenced by the way he got Forest back into the game at the Valley.
That said I think McGready will give us some of that and Davis is a proven player at this level. Matt Smith is a punt. Interesting that he never really got a chance at QPR when you compare how we developed Gallagher.
Ideally I would have liked a centre back but maybe Lee sees Pratley in this role? Also a striker would have been nice. 7/10.
We will then know what positions we need to be filling in the summer.
We were definitely after a striker this window, hence I'm not entirely convinced by our transfer business. Yes we've got masses of midfield cover, but if Lyle limps off this afternoon, we're already at the bare bones. Hemed up front next Saturday won't scare the Stoke defence.
Shows how hard it is in January what makes it any different for us
We are a stronger side than we were 48 hrs ago that's for sure
That's absolutely fine with casual fans and followers, but is less likely to go down well with the hardcore, who are much less easily impressed.
If I was advising him I'd be saying 'just tone it down a bit, and then people will be pleasantly surprised by who we sign, rather than disappointed'.
Big brownie points from me, writing off £3M they could have taken and most previous owners would have taken.
Our new acquisitions will 100% make a difference to whether we stay up and it's just wrong to say they won't.
As for Parrot Spurs decided they were not going to loan him and Norwich presumably felt the same re Idah.
It would be good if people checked their facts before posting critical nonsense. Sorry.
i think people get a bit carried away with some of bowyers comments like we can still make the play offs and the were f’ing rich chant.