I don't suppose this will be popular but I am going to say it nonetheless. The extremes in emotions on social media about our performances over the last 18 months or so (good and bad) are very new and becoming a real pain-in-the-arse. Charlton fans over the years have learnt not to get too far ahead of themselves, safe in the knowledge that success is only ever fleeting and for every high there is inevitably a low. We have always expected more than our Millwall brethren, who have accepted their lot and been prepared simply to back their side, enjoy their good times because they know they will return sooner or later to whence they came, so our eventual disappointment has always come with a bit more frustration, but the current hysterics that follow every disappointment coincides with the rise in our younger support. That support has been great to see, by the way, but I wish these people could see the bigger picture and be a bit more realistic.
We started this season with another enforced squad churn. There were plenty of new faces and we knew we had the smallest budget in the league. Every year for a long time, the three sides with the smallest budget have finished in the bottom six. We were favourites for relegation. It's not a huge surprise. However, Bowyer and his team got us off to a cracking start and we genuinely looked competitive at the top of the table but injuries have taken their toll and it should be no surprise to anyone that results have gone against us of late and that we are understandably struggling. Naby Sarr grew into a beast of player for us last season and has the promise of much more to come, but has made a few mistakes which have cost us but the abuse he's suffered for it on social media has way out-of-order. If those two goals at Millwall had been at Luton, I am sure it wouldn't have been nearly as bad but that's just another result of some fans' unrealistic expectations. Others have been scapegoated too, the defence in general. It's not surprising we are struggling at the back. Their workload has doubled due to injuries in midfield which have meant us having to play on the back-foot. I am pretty sure Bowyer sees this and is doing what he can to try and make up for it but it's difficult with so many players unavailable through injuries. That's why we started with five at the back and only three in midfield last night.
All of our supporters need to get real here and start backing the team and stop abusing individual players for every single mistake they make. You would think we had four or five howling first-teamers given the levels of hysterical abuse. The fact is, we haven't, we are just desperately short and having to play our weakest possible sides which is inevitably putting us under more pressure and contributing to more errors. When the injury situation improves, which it should do, the same hecklers will be grand-standing improved performances again and no doubt we will hear the cringey return of the "he used to be shit, but he's alright now" song.
Bowyer and his boys need our backing and the negativity should be fired at Duchatelet who still refuses to support Bowyer properly and is content for a sub-standard squad and who doesn't care about results or performances.
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https://twitter.com/JonathanAvis4/status/1199433165498138624
Then I came on here and the same shone through. People do of course discuss players and have views, I am not a Sarr fan and will be glad when his disproportionate wages can be put to better use but I don't boo him.
Twitter and facebook are made for morons unfortunately and if players do not like abuse on there or feel it getting to them then they should just come off it and ignore it, really is that easy - of course it shouldn't be like that but it is at every club in the land.
Mr Duchatelet, if you're reading this then do yourself a favour and hand over the entire running of the football side to young Thomas D - he is one of the few who clearly knows what he's talking about. With him the sky's the limit and I would expect, no demand, that we as a minimum achieve a play-off spot, but really the expectation should be an outright. Young Tommy is the only way you can protect your huge investment in time, money, and more importantly your passion.
Nurse! NURSE!
Got to be a Palace fan in reality.
Just summarises social media these days really, it does annoy me but then I kind of expect it now.
Completely agree we should look at the bigger picture, the start of the season anyone would have snapped your hand off if we said we can stay up, that is still the aim. I have enjoyed our terrific and unexpected start but still the amount of injuries there is no surprise really.
Interestingly, there was a long article in the Luton programme from one of the Directors (in response to grumbles from a few of their fans after losing 5 on the spin I assume), talking about the importance of their new stadium and investing in their academy, and how they wouldn't be gambling the club's finances just to stay in the Championship (or taking any betting money as sponsorship). Indeed the article also mentions that the finishing position is directly linked to the budget...
In fact, I think some kind of thought/experience transplant should be developed whereby it ensures experience distribution so that everyone has the same experiences, or at least the memories that go with them.
I don't have access to Twitter, neither do I read the views posted on the various Charlton related FB groups.
And I agree with our friend from The Toolbox that those expressed on this forum are invariably balanced & honest, whilst there are a few occasions when criticism of a certain player appears OTT.
But, most of us have left our teenage years behind and, some of us are now in the "wrinkly" category so whilst I agree with the OP's words, I would ask everyone to reflect on the emotions & even expectations that Addicks in those age groups will often express.
The young 'uns may "demand" the best, frequently without stopping to think about the reasons why this is subject to numerous factors ( eg a multitude of injuries to the squad) ...but didn't we use our hearts as opposed to our heads when we were their age ?
At the other end of the scale, we wrinklies, who have invariably supported through the good, the bad & the downright ugly years, may regress as we yearn for success & the return of those good times whilst we're still able to actively support our club. Of course, we have ridden the rollercoaster of life & learned some of the hard lessons it brings but as we get older, I believe our emotions often rise to the surface once again - I know mine have hence the blubbing whilst watching the Cardiff match at home last Saturday.
This is why CL is such an important vehicle for venting those frustrations, sharing those views, however extreme, with the knowledge that fellow Lifers will either agree or choose to argue against our opinions but without resorting to abuse or outright condemnation ( well, in 99% of cases!) The well balanced discussions that ensue can be reassuring or indeed change our mindset / make us question our views, especially if they've been made using our hearts , not our heads....
Not sure where all this has come from as I'm still recovering from a nightmeire 4 hour journey home from the match last night due to the closure of our access to the M25, followed by the same when we tried to use the North Circular....& Fanny's head finally hit the pillow at 3am . So, apologies if this is totally irrelevant to the thread & I'm actually speaking in tongues.
Finally, I heard no abuse or calling out of certain players last night and after the final whistle, although disappointment was evident in everyone's faces, I heard most exiting the ground bemoaning the cr*p hand that Lady Luck has currently given us & agreeing that little more can be expected of the lads until more bodies are available for selection.
But, as I wrote in another thread at the weekend, whilst we continue to give those wearing the shirt our unending & loud support, we should not forget the limitations imposed on Bow & on our progress in general from Belgium. IF those rumours beginning to surface once again have any validity, then the removal of the heaviest millstone around our necks for many a year will surely restore the equilibrium of all concerned with peace and love returning to our Valley.
I promise to do the unthinkable and get down on my knees to our owner if it would help to make him sell.....:-)
I’m on facebook but long ago learned never to go on Charlton pages as the one I saw seemed to have attracted a vociferous, idiotic minority who's live’s I assume are so meaningless they wished to drag everyone else down into their void of pretend gangsta misery.
It is super easy to avoid both and live in what I think is the world of the majority of our fans on here and at games. Don’t let the sad, uneducated and unenlightened comments of the few tarnish a whole generation of the young. There are wrong’uns in every generation, social media just gives too greater voice to those that want to shout loudest nowadays.