After a good nights rest and a clear mind I can safely say I am not convinced by the new owners. Certainly won't be singing the chants of praise towards them today like I imagine will be. We didn't strengthen, we are a weaker team as far as we know than when Roland was in charge. I'm not going to praise them for keeping Taylor, Roland did that, the same with Bauer. I'm not gonna praise them for keeping Bowyer, Lee wanted to be at Charlton and would have signed terms under Roland again imo so it doesn't say much.
The signings, not bad. McGeady could be useful where we need a bit of quality, imagine he will be fired up as well to stake his place in the Ireland squad, Davis is a find, would have preferred it permanent but no one can deny he is something we needed, obviously know nothing about the Citeh kid so can't comment. That said we need to stop the narrative that we wouldn't have acquired loan signings under Roland, I hated that bloke, I was there for multiple protests, had my circumstances been better I would have gone to Belgium but let's not flip the script and turn the blinkers on, he did pay high wages for some players and none of these strike me as a changing of the hands. This was a Roland window.
Southall himself is my biggest concern, I am not some grumpy old git, I'm 28 but his social media antics wind me up. I appreciate that it's nice for transparency from a chairman and I like that we actually hear from him but there is one thing I can't stand and that's a bullshitter and so far some of his words have stunk up the place. None of those deals would have been hard to make in January football terms, none of them are significant enough to ensure survival, so why all the spin on social media. If he had just said 'a few signings in today, got to back Lee' I would have thought fair enough. It's the fact he has done some ridiculous tweets even done a game of who we are signing next? On what planet would any of us have guessed either? He's either incredibly dense or a WUM, latter isn't preferable after you have a fan base who were mugged off for 7 years or thereabouts.
Again early doors and I've not wrote them off but I just simply don't warm to Southall, same way I didn't Katrien, think there is something off about him like I did her and I hope this time I'm wrong. I'll judge again in the summer but like I said just sharing my thoughts, I don't think they deserve any praise yet.
I don’t agree with a lot of what you said but your points do give food for thought. I think it’s harsh to compare southall and the woman whose name I won’t even type. Southall has been guilty of acting like a kid with a new bmx but he will learn.she was just clueless. I doubt Matt will get it right 100% if the time but I think he will do more good than bad. She was just bad.
i think this window was all about the short term, the January window is ridiculous. We’ve got bodies in until the summer where we rebuild again. Hopefully long term rebuilding, not Roland rebuilding. I’m hopeful we will sign more permanent deals in the summer, supplemented by suitable loans. The club are trying to get the academy products on longer contracts, something that didn’t happen under Roland.
January is a difficult month in football to put out the fires lit by the previous owners and then start rebuilding in such a short period. I’m firmly in the see what happens up until August camp. If the squad is made up of academy players who aren’t ready and token loans, I’m with you on your views. I can see why people are negative, thanks Roland but I’m confident that the next window will be the window where the owners win over the fans. It’s hard to judge over such a short period, give them a chance and see what the summer brings
The new regime cannot be judged by this window but can with the next one.
MS does need to tone down the level of expectation though because, had he simply said "we are looking to keep all of our squad including the likes of Taylor and Phillips plus bring three or four bodies that LB believes will keep us up and then look to build on that come the summer" few would argue with the rationale or the signings made.
delighted we kept Lyle and covered midfield , looks like we will create chances even if Lyle is injured I think we have enough to start getting much needed wins and climb up the table
Lot's of assumptions there Braziliance mate. How about you forget about that and try and enjoy what's happening on the pitch in the next 17 games.
There's no point in mulling over MS and how he acts on social media. Football is a very fickle game and I can guarantee you if we go on a winning streak and pull away from the relegation zone your minds confirmation bias to make some of the points you just made will change.
All I think we can guarantee is that a Lee Bowyer side will give 100%, and even through these last set of injury hit games where I have moaned about us making silly mistakes, I've still enjoyed watching is compete in every game.
I'll never not back the lads, even though I come across pessimistic here at times I am always behind them at the games 100%
Just my thoughts, not doing it to plays devil advocate or anything just my gut instinct, again hope I'm wrong and in the summer we are still in this league and actually have a strong team
It's hard to be subtle about this ... I know the plan to build slowly is all jolly sensible, but the child within me still screams 'SHOW US YA 'KIN' MONEY!
We started the season well and then got hit by a huge injury list. Most of those players are back or close to, the back ups have a lot more experience and we drew two games against promotion chasing teams, we have four new loan players who will strengthen the squad further. we haven’t wasted money on panic buys. we lost Gallagher purely due to his parent clubs choices that we could not change- he was a punt at the start of the season so we had a lot of luck with him- he will go far- but it would now cost a huge amount to replace him with someone as good. We lost Leko to a long term injury / I like him but a lot of people blew hot and cold about him. Kayal also through injury but no loss as we have not really seen him. So overall lost three players we couldn’t really do anything about, gained four players who may strengthen us, and kept our talisman striker. Also not wasted any money So pretty good for me. Time will of course tell.
In the cold light of day it's been a much better window than I expected from Jan 1st. Especially if David Davis works out and we manage get him on a free in the summer.
Obviously was deflated last night after all the rediculous pravado from MS. But we need to remember, he's just a salesman. This also shows there is no proper money behind him or we would have signed a striker as well.
An ok window. We could certainly have done with another striker, given that Taylor, Bonne and Hemed are not fully fit, but front players come at a premium, especially in January and our league position won’t have helped. We just have to hope that our existing strikers get fit and stay fit for the last third of the season. This is our big area of potential vulnerability.
By far the best bit of business was retaining Lyle Taylor, whose departure could well have seen us back in League 1. If Duchatelet was still here, Lyle would certainly have gone, whilst Fulham’s enquiry for Alfie Doughty would have been encouraged and would probably have led to his departure as well.
I’m not worried about the Maddison deal falling through. It’s noteworthy that Peterborough were only able to secure a loan deal with Hull, despite the latter having sold their two best players. I imagine that Maddison wants to keep his options open for a big payday in the summer, although he needs to perform to achieve that and avoid injury. If we’re going to push the boat out on wages, I’d rather utilise the funds to try and keep Lyle.
ESI have talked about extending the deals of our best young players and they need to now quietly get on with that. I’d also like to see Lockyer’s deal extended, rather than letting him drift into the last year of his contract. We can’t afford to repeat the Patrick Bauer scenario and lose our most consistent defender again.
Happy enough. Stronger than we started the window with injuries coming back. Always about getting us through to the end of this season, not about the longer term. The next step can wait 'til the summer.
I think that Lee Bowyer and MS considering all feasible options and obstacles have done a good job as far, certainly good enough to keep us up. then after that we move forwards afterwards.
Rome was not built in a day, and we are only just rid of that Scumbag RD.
As a short term fix it's a good window. I would say 7/10 or there abouts.
It's not what I was expecting with both MS's twitter antics and Bowyer saying he was promised a striker in January almost since the last window shut.
The can has been kicked into August now. In the short term we need 15 to 20 points ASAP so we can at least start to plan for next season. As I see it, at a minimum, MS, SG and LB have got a lot to do. There are contracts for the coaches for a start.
Every player on our books, probably excluding Pratley and Purrington, either need new contracts or moving on between now and the 1st of August. Thats probably 20 new contracts to either current players or new signings.
What I don't understand is how you get to the point of sustainability, from where we are now.
A best guess is that the club will be around break even this season, may be a million either way. That's the whole club, academy, administration, executive, the whole lot.
Substainable improvement comes from selling 1 player to buy 2 or 3 and keep repeating. Curbs did that even Klopp has done that at Liverpool. We don't have anyone to sell!
To get to that position we need to stay in the championship, secure the assets on long term contracts, invest in players with sell on value, secure cat 1 status, increase expenditure on medical and sports science that's without rebuilding the skeleton staff left running the off field operations. And that's before any transfer fees are paid.
Unless you are going to invest a substantial sum of money I don't see how you get there organically. The last ten years have shown us that without external investment we will struggle to stay in the championship every season. It also shows us that the club is not financially viable, in its current form, in league 1.
bad .. all the PR about marquees and 4 or 5 in was just hot air and spin. The Chairman might be a right charmer but he needs to walk the walk, there again he is just a front man for the Syrian syndicate or whatever/wherever they are, they hold the very tight purse strings .. I am pleased we got McGeady and look forward to see how Bowyer will use him. The midfield is now player heavy with the Smith signing although we will still miss Gallagher. The gaps in defence and attack have not been dealt with, BUT Green might prove to be a good loan signing.
I would have been fairly happy with the outcome if it were not, as I said above, for the what I regard as false promises. ESI, just tell the truth and don't treat us like idiot children 3/10
As a short term fix it's a good window. I would say 7/10 or there abouts.
It's not what I was expecting with both MS's twitter antics and Bowyer saying he was promised a striker in January almost since the last window shut.
The can has been kicked into August now. In the short term we need 15 to 20 points ASAP so we can at least start to plan for next season. As I see it, at a minimum, MS, SG and LB have got a lot to do. There are contracts for the coaches for a start.
Every player on our books, probably excluding Pratley and Purrington, either need new contracts or moving on between now and the 1st of August. Thats probably 20 new contracts to either current players or new signings.
What I don't understand is how you get to the point of sustainability, from where we are now.
A best guess is that the club will be around break even this season, may be a million either way. That's the whole club, academy, administration, executive, the whole lot.
Substainable improvement comes from selling 1 player to buy 2 or 3 and keep repeating. Curbs did that even Klopp has done that at Liverpool. We don't have anyone to sell!
To get to that position we need to stay in the championship, secure the assets on long term contracts, invest in players with sell on value, secure cat 1 status, increase expenditure on medical and sports science that's without rebuilding the skeleton staff left running the off field operations. And that's before any transfer fees are paid.
Unless you are going to invest a substantial sum of money I don't see how you get there organically. The last ten years have shown us that without external investment we will struggle to stay in the championship every season. It also shows us that the club is not financially viable, in its current form, in league 1.
No club is sustainable in the Championship unless you accept a high chance of relegation - the likes of Burton and Rotherham in previous seasons - or you are incredibly good at buying cheap and selling high in the transfer market
Assuming we stay up (which isn't a given) the summer transfer window will show the level of budget and ambition ESI have
As a short term fix it's a good window. I would say 7/10 or there abouts.
It's not what I was expecting with both MS's twitter antics and Bowyer saying he was promised a striker in January almost since the last window shut.
The can has been kicked into August now. In the short term we need 15 to 20 points ASAP so we can at least start to plan for next season. As I see it, at a minimum, MS, SG and LB have got a lot to do. There are contracts for the coaches for a start.
Every player on our books, probably excluding Pratley and Purrington, either need new contracts or moving on between now and the 1st of August. Thats probably 20 new contracts to either current players or new signings.
What I don't understand is how you get to the point of sustainability, from where we are now.
A best guess is that the club will be around break even this season, may be a million either way. That's the whole club, academy, administration, executive, the whole lot.
Substainable improvement comes from selling 1 player to buy 2 or 3 and keep repeating. Curbs did that even Klopp has done that at Liverpool. We don't have anyone to sell!
To get to that position we need to stay in the championship, secure the assets on long term contracts, invest in players with sell on value, secure cat 1 status, increase expenditure on medical and sports science that's without rebuilding the skeleton staff left running the off field operations. And that's before any transfer fees are paid.
Unless you are going to invest a substantial sum of money I don't see how you get there organically. The last ten years have shown us that without external investment we will struggle to stay in the championship every season. It also shows us that the club is not financially viable, in its current form, in league 1.
No club is sustainable in the Championship unless you accept a high chance of relegation - the likes of Burton and Rotherham in previous seasons - or you are incredibly good at buying cheap and selling high in the transfer market
Assuming we stay up (which isn't a given) the summer transfer window will show the level of budget and ambition ESI have
Exactly you have to buy 5 Bonnes every year. Hope one is a diamond, 2 are quite good and get rid of the other 2 sharpish.
Sell Mr Diamond, keep the quite goods and buy 5 more.
We currently don't have Mr Diamond to sell.
Brentford manage to sell one, or even 2, every year. With out looking though I don't know how many they buy to achieve it but I doubt its a case of everyone is a winner.
You can do it, just don't see how we can, from where we are now, that doesn't involve money or a ton of good luck (which isn't a good business plan).
In the cold light of day it's been a much better window than I expected from Jan 1st. Especially if David Davis works out and we manage get him on a free in the summer.
Obviously was deflated last night after all the rediculous pravado from MS. But we need to remember, he's just a salesman. This also shows there is no proper money behind him or we would have signed a striker as well.
This window doesn’t prove that either way. And what is “proper money”? I’m sure we’ll pay fees for players in the summer.
As a short term fix it's a good window. I would say 7/10 or there abouts.
It's not what I was expecting with both MS's twitter antics and Bowyer saying he was promised a striker in January almost since the last window shut.
The can has been kicked into August now. In the short term we need 15 to 20 points ASAP so we can at least start to plan for next season. As I see it, at a minimum, MS, SG and LB have got a lot to do. There are contracts for the coaches for a start.
Every player on our books, probably excluding Pratley and Purrington, either need new contracts or moving on between now and the 1st of August. Thats probably 20 new contracts to either current players or new signings.
What I don't understand is how you get to the point of sustainability, from where we are now.
A best guess is that the club will be around break even this season, may be a million either way. That's the whole club, academy, administration, executive, the whole lot.
Substainable improvement comes from selling 1 player to buy 2 or 3 and keep repeating. Curbs did that even Klopp has done that at Liverpool. We don't have anyone to sell!
To get to that position we need to stay in the championship, secure the assets on long term contracts, invest in players with sell on value, secure cat 1 status, increase expenditure on medical and sports science that's without rebuilding the skeleton staff left running the off field operations. And that's before any transfer fees are paid.
Unless you are going to invest a substantial sum of money I don't see how you get there organically. The last ten years have shown us that without external investment we will struggle to stay in the championship every season. It also shows us that the club is not financially viable, in its current form, in league 1.
No club is sustainable in the Championship unless you accept a high chance of relegation - the likes of Burton and Rotherham in previous seasons - or you are incredibly good at buying cheap and selling high in the transfer market
Assuming we stay up (which isn't a given) the summer transfer window will show the level of budget and ambition ESI have
Exactly you have to buy 5 Bonnes every year. Hope one is a diamond, 2 are quite good and get rid of the other 2 sharpish.
Sell Mr Diamond, keep the quite goods and buy 5 more.
We currently don't have Mr Diamond to sell.
Brentford manage to sell one, or even 2, every year. With out looking though I don't know how many they buy to achieve it but I doubt its a case of everyone is a winner.
You can do it, just don't see how we can, from where we are now, that doesn't involve money or a ton of good luck (which isn't a good business plan).
ESI will surely have to accept making a loss next year, but with good recruitment we could have a squad built for the longer term. Remain in the Championship as a minimum and you could have a stand out player or two worth £10m+. Sell them on, reinvest a good chunk of it back into the squad, with the rest covering some of the losses.
If it was easy a lot more clubs would be doing it, but I think building the club up that way like Brentford have is probably the aim.
An 'ok I suppose' window. Unbalanced ins, all midfield, albeit each different in their own way. I guess with everyone fit or thereabouts we can get by and survive with the standard of defence and attack we have. Best thing Lyle staying, Bowyer signing and his team look like doing so as well.
I get why loans to see us through though having 6 is a bit weird. I am not sure how in the summer you start to break the wage structure with permanent signings and not pissing off your best current players. Perhaps gradually you improve terms for the ones you want to keep. I, like others, don't particularily like the start MS has made. He is coming over too much full of shite too often, albeit mixed with some real common sense as well. As an example one of his early quotes about an annual game of football his mates have and he is going to get curbs and bows to manage the teams for the game at the valley. Bit like a little kid who had a sweet shop bought for him. Bit too full of himself and a bit like a salesman.....oh. But then he is definitely enthusiastic. I really want to like him but he ain't making it easy.
I'm not turning somersaults of delight, but am quietly content with the business done this window. Especially pleased we retained Lyle.
I think we lost too much ground Nov-Jan for the play-offs to be realistic, and in the greater scheme of things there is no point pushing the financial boat out to achieve 7th in the table this season rather than steadying the ship to ensure we end up 17th or better. Maybe the acquisitions were not what MS foolishly led us to hope, but I think the players brought in should be sufficient to get us to mid-table, provided we avoid another major injury crisis.
Yes, it would have been more reassuring to have got an extra striker, but there are proven goalscorers amongst the midfielders, and they need to step up. An additional body in defence would have been nice, but a strong midfield will relieve some of the pressure on them, and some midfielders have shown they are able to play in defence if necessary.
I would prefer ESI to use whatever remaining funds they have allocated for this season to resolve the issues of the freeholds. My fear is that now Roland has rid himself of the financial liability of the club, there is no incentive for him to hurry over the completion of the sale. His investment is secure, and it's not as though at his age he is urgently needing cash in hand to invest in new long-term projects. And of course we still have not seen the colour of ESI's money... They may still be waiting for major sponsors or further investors.
Meanwhile Gallen, Bowyer & Southall can start compiling their wish list for the summer, when some major team rebuilding is going to be needed.
An 'ok I suppose' window. Unbalanced ins, all midfield, albeit each different in their own way. I guess with everyone fit or thereabouts we can get by and survive with the standard of defence and attack we have. Best thing Lyle staying, Bowyer signing and his team look like doing so as well.
I get why loans to see us through though having 6 is a bit weird. I am not sure how in the summer you start to break the wage structure with permanent signings and not pissing off your best current players. Perhaps gradually you improve terms for the ones you want to keep. I, like others, don't particularily like the start MS has made. He is coming over too much full of shite too often, albeit mixed with some real common sense as well. As an example one of his early quotes about an annual game of football his mates have and he is going to get curbs and bows to manage the teams for the game at the valley. Bit like a little kid who had a sweet shop bought for him. Bit too full of himself and a bit like a salesman.....oh. But then he is definitely enthusiastic. I really want to like him but he ain't making it easy.
i know what you mean but he's just coming across as a normal bloke - never gone with the reasoning that people have to 'act' a certain way just because they have a certain position - its normally coz there as stiff as a board and lack personality in my experience - love the fact he's organising that game - if he needs an extra player i might be available.
On the good side of OK. Matt Southall went too far with his tweets, but e will hopefully learn. As someone mentioned in the other thread, there seems to be a bit of the car salesman about him (basically agents, and property people have the same DNA it seems). But neither can you say he ended up looking stupid. He may have over-estimated how well most of the fanbase understands just what a mess the January window is.
On the morning news on R4 the sport section included the window. and what were their highlights? man Utd brought a bloke back from China nobody has heard of, and a 17 year old kid moved from Rochdale for £1m on the same day as he passed his driving test. And that was it. Tells you all you need to know about the window (or it should). I am glad we have 3 bodies through the door, and most of all that we still have Lyle and that Bow has his contract. Immediate job done.
You think all of that would have happened if this hadn't gone through, and that idiot were still in charge? If you don't think that, then what reasonably can you complain about? (and yes of course I'd like another bloody striker. I'd like a new Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid, but there's a similar problem...)
Its good the midfield is strenghtened. Having watched mid opposition teams kick our midfield off the pitch, Otzumer - home to Sheff Weds a good example, knowing there is no back up, this window addresses that. There is good defensive midfield cover and David Davies, adds some steel alongside Prately.
McGeady will hopefully provide some attacking midfield creativity alongside Johnny Williams and there is some cover to rest and rotate players. Not at all bothered by not getting Peterbourgh Maddison, if he does not
want to be at Charlton and wants to get a better deal when he is out of
contract then good luck to him.
A decent midfield helps to protect the defence. I think there is enough in centre defence.
I was disappointed that there was no left back cover. Page is not fit and even if he came back, he would need some cover. Charlton are left with Purrington on his own and I am not seeing any Under 23 left backs on the books.
Not getting a striker in is a gamble, we have Lyle Taylor and McAuley-Bonne who have both suffered injuries. Hemed is ok as a second but not the quickest. Davison may have benefited from loaning out to a League One club. The Bristol Rovers striker, Johnson Clarke-Harris appears quick and would have provided competition for McAuley-Bonne. That or the Norwich young loan striker.
A bit of a gamble this loan window. The next few months will see if it pays off or not.
Good - I for one am glad we are still doing things the Charlton way by building a team slowly that has a good attitude under Lee Bowyer. More will probably happen in summer.
By the sounds of all the rumours and MS and the crew tried hard to get some permanent signings but it just didn’t work out which can happen in January
The new owners have ambitions for the club unlike the last and we need to back them. Looking for a big difference between Roland and Matt Southall? Roland sacked Chrissy Powell the moment he got an excuse to get things done his way, but Matt tried to give Lee Bowyer a 5 year contract (reduced to 3 but still!) which is a big win for the club
onwards and upwards - just cos we are football fans doesn’t mean we need to always moan!
In the cold light of day it's been a much better window than I expected from Jan 1st. Especially if David Davis works out and we manage get him on a free in the summer.
Obviously was deflated last night after all the rediculous pravado from MS. But we need to remember, he's just a salesman. This also shows there is no proper money behind him or we would have signed a striker as well.
Not sure what to make of ESI. A lot of talk on plans so far. Great that Bowyer has a contract and that they did not off load Lyle Taylor or Alfie Doughty. Duchatelet would have surely sold Lyle Taylor. Charlton are just above the relegation places and strengthening the attack area would have been better.
Its no so easy to just spend and take punts on players due to the risks of points deductions. Derby and Birmingham and face points deductions taking this approach. Holding fire to the end of the season and hoping that Charlton are not relegated before spending makes sense. I just hope they have done enough to stay up.
The earlier the division is confirmed, the quicker the plans for the next season can start to be made. On the 101 point season, many of the decisions on players were made quickly and early.
It might be good for Matt Southall to manage expectations. I think he got a bit carried away on Twitter and this led to Charlton supporters thinking that things will turn around quickly. I am happy for the club to be sustainable. It may be fun to whip up expectation but there is a downside to that if the results don't mathch the hype.
Actions will speak louder than the PR. Confirming ownership of the assets will help alongside starting to build the Academy. Duchatlet made a lot of claims about the same things. I am not ready to accept the ESI PR as fact until they happen. Does Tahnoon Nimer have the funds to take the club forward or not ? I guess the next transfer window will tell alongside actions on the Valley and Sparrows Lane.
Trust is earned. I am ready / prepared to give them a chance for ESI to prove themselves.
Comments
i think this window was all about the short term, the January window is ridiculous. We’ve got bodies in until the summer where we rebuild again. Hopefully long term rebuilding, not Roland rebuilding. I’m hopeful we will sign more permanent deals in the summer, supplemented by suitable loans. The club are trying to get the academy products on longer contracts, something that didn’t happen under Roland.
January is a difficult month in football to put out the fires lit by the previous owners and then start rebuilding in such a short period. I’m firmly in the see what happens up until August camp. If the squad is made up of academy players who aren’t ready and token loans, I’m with you on your views. I can see why people are negative, thanks Roland but I’m confident that the next window will be the window where the owners win over the fans. It’s hard to judge over such a short period, give them a chance and see what the summer brings
MS does need to tone down the level of expectation though because, had he simply said "we are looking to keep all of our squad including the likes of Taylor and Phillips plus bring three or four bodies that LB believes will keep us up and then look to build on that come the summer" few would argue with the rationale or the signings made.
Loads of midfielder cover now. Got 3 or 4 that can play wide. Got at least 2 or 3 playmakers.
And we had a load of defenders anyway (we can possibly add Pratley to that group too now).
I'll never not back the lads, even though I come across pessimistic here at times I am always behind them at the games 100%
Just my thoughts, not doing it to plays devil advocate or anything just my gut instinct, again hope I'm wrong and in the summer we are still in this league and actually have a strong team
we haven’t wasted money on panic buys.
we lost Gallagher purely due to his parent clubs choices that we could not change- he was a punt at the start of the season so we had a lot of luck with him- he will go far- but it would now cost a huge amount to replace him with someone as good. We lost Leko to a long term injury / I like him but a lot of people blew hot and cold about him. Kayal also through injury but no loss as we have not really seen him.
So overall lost three players we couldn’t really do anything about, gained four players who may strengthen us, and kept our talisman striker. Also not wasted any money
So pretty good for me. Time will of course tell.
Obviously was deflated last night after all the rediculous pravado from MS. But we need to remember, he's just a salesman. This also shows there is no proper money behind him or we would have signed a striker as well.
I’m not worried about the Maddison deal falling through. It’s noteworthy that Peterborough were only able to secure a loan deal with Hull, despite the latter having sold their two best players. I imagine that Maddison wants to keep his options open for a big payday in the summer, although he needs to perform to achieve that and avoid injury. If we’re going to push the boat out on wages, I’d rather utilise the funds to try and keep Lyle.
feasible options and obstacles have done a good job as far, certainly good enough to keep us up.
then after that we move forwards afterwards.
Rome was not built in a day, and we are only just
rid of that Scumbag RD.
” Come on your Reds” 👍👍👍
It's not what I was expecting with both MS's twitter antics and Bowyer saying he was promised a striker in January almost since the last window shut.
The can has been kicked into August now. In the short term we need 15 to 20 points ASAP so we can at least start to plan for next season. As I see it, at a minimum, MS, SG and LB have got a lot to do. There are contracts for the coaches for a start.
Every player on our books, probably excluding Pratley and Purrington, either need new contracts or moving on between now and the 1st of August. Thats probably 20 new contracts to either current players or new signings.
What I don't understand is how you get to the point of sustainability, from where we are now.
A best guess is that the club will be around break even this season, may be a million either way. That's the whole club, academy, administration, executive, the whole lot.
Substainable improvement comes from selling 1 player to buy 2 or 3 and keep repeating. Curbs did that even Klopp has done that at Liverpool. We don't have anyone to sell!
To get to that position we need to stay in the championship, secure the assets on long term contracts, invest in players with sell on value, secure cat 1 status, increase expenditure on medical and sports science that's without rebuilding the skeleton staff left running the off field operations. And that's before any transfer fees are paid.
Unless you are going to invest a substantial sum of money I don't see how you get there organically. The last ten years have shown us that without external investment we will struggle to stay in the championship every season. It also shows us that the club is not financially viable, in its current form, in league 1.
I am pleased we got McGeady and look forward to see how Bowyer will use him. The midfield is now player heavy with the Smith signing although we will still miss Gallagher. The gaps in defence and attack have not been dealt with, BUT Green might prove to be a good loan signing.
I would have been fairly happy with the outcome if it were not, as I said above, for the what I regard as false promises. ESI, just tell the truth and don't treat us like idiot children
3/10
Assuming we stay up (which isn't a given) the summer transfer window will show the level of budget and ambition ESI have
Sell Mr Diamond, keep the quite goods and buy 5 more.
We currently don't have Mr Diamond to sell.
Brentford manage to sell one, or even 2, every year. With out looking though I don't know how many they buy to achieve it but I doubt its a case of everyone is a winner.
You can do it, just don't see how we can, from where we are now, that doesn't involve money or a ton of good luck (which isn't a good business plan).
If it was easy a lot more clubs would be doing it, but I think building the club up that way like Brentford have is probably the aim.
I'll have a little bet that Brentford value Fosu's share of that fee as £250k, so depriving us of a large sell on fee.
Best thing Lyle staying, Bowyer signing and his team look like doing so as well.
I get why loans to see us through though having 6 is a bit weird.
I am not sure how in the summer you start to break the wage structure with permanent signings and not pissing off your best current players. Perhaps gradually you improve terms for the ones you want to keep.
I, like others, don't particularily like the start MS has made. He is coming over too much full of shite too often, albeit mixed with some real common sense as well.
As an example one of his early quotes about an annual game of football his mates have and he is going to get curbs and bows to manage the teams for the game at the valley.
Bit like a little kid who had a sweet shop bought for him. Bit too full of himself and a bit like a salesman.....oh.
But then he is definitely enthusiastic. I really want to like him but he ain't making it easy.
I think we lost too much ground Nov-Jan for the play-offs to be realistic, and in the greater scheme of things there is no point pushing the financial boat out to achieve 7th in the table this season rather than steadying the ship to ensure we end up 17th or better. Maybe the acquisitions were not what MS foolishly led us to hope, but I think the players brought in should be sufficient to get us to mid-table, provided we avoid another major injury crisis.
Yes, it would have been more reassuring to have got an extra striker, but there are proven goalscorers amongst the midfielders, and they need to step up. An additional body in defence would have been nice, but a strong midfield will relieve some of the pressure on them, and some midfielders have shown they are able to play in defence if necessary.
I would prefer ESI to use whatever remaining funds they have allocated for this season to resolve the issues of the freeholds. My fear is that now Roland has rid himself of the financial liability of the club, there is no incentive for him to hurry over the completion of the sale. His investment is secure, and it's not as though at his age he is urgently needing cash in hand to invest in new long-term projects. And of course we still have not seen the colour of ESI's money... They may still be waiting for major sponsors or further investors.
Meanwhile Gallen, Bowyer & Southall can start compiling their wish list for the summer, when some major team rebuilding is going to be needed.
On the morning news on R4 the sport section included the window. and what were their highlights? man Utd brought a bloke back from China nobody has heard of, and a 17 year old kid moved from Rochdale for £1m on the same day as he passed his driving test. And that was it. Tells you all you need to know about the window (or it should). I am glad we have 3 bodies through the door, and most of all that we still have Lyle and that Bow has his contract. Immediate job done.
You think all of that would have happened if this hadn't gone through, and that idiot were still in charge? If you don't think that, then what reasonably can you complain about? (and yes of course I'd like another bloody striker. I'd like a new Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid, but there's a similar problem...)
By the sounds of all the rumours and MS and the crew tried hard to get some permanent signings but it just didn’t work out which can happen in January
The new owners have ambitions for the club unlike the last and we need to back them.
Looking for a big difference between Roland and Matt Southall? Roland sacked Chrissy Powell the moment he got an excuse to get things done his way, but Matt tried to give Lee Bowyer a 5 year contract (reduced to 3 but still!) which is a big win for the club
onwards and upwards - just cos we are football fans doesn’t mean we need to always moan!
*also deadline day should happen on Thursdays again so all the loaners could play on the Saturday (if fit and if less than six)