Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
The biggest fear is whether they have funds to back them. I'm not really bothered if Matt Southall is approachable on social media or not.
Matt seemed far more impressed with the transfer window than most of the fans.
6. Of course it wasn't just the playing budget. Whatever the revisionism now about our autumn performances ( @oohaahmortimer, I'm calling you out mate), many dispassionate commentators described our injury list as "biblical", and since Bow has had something like a squad again (but still a great big hole in midfield) we've started winning some games again. The whole medical/training set up is on a 3rd division budget like everything else. You think Bowyer's happy with that? You blame ESI for that?
I don’t know what you’re calling me out for , I’ve not been convinced about us all season , the results were beyond all dreams at the beginning but the stats (as a numbers man) made me feel we weren’t as good as results suggest . injuries added to our downfall and our best Loaned player going elsewhere but even with the returning players I’m not convinced about us right here right now , Barnsley we werent that great , Luton could have turned on a lino call and forest making 6 changes helped us big time . i always lean towards the negative side but I say as I see , I called us getting to the play off final most of the last third of the season (admittedly I expected defeat ) we have a cheap Roland infested squad and it didn’t improve in January and why buy a football club if you wanna run a sensible non loss making business , this isn’t the place to be . Roland is partially gone , let’s get him fully gone and safe or down that’s a reason to celebrate .
Why should you have been "convinced" in the autumn? We had the lowest budget in the division, and we had Duchatelet. It was an effing miracle that until injuries hit, we were top half. (according to the stats). What about West Brom and Fulham away, and Leeds, to name two that i watched the full 90 of?
Our position was decent and plenty were talking promotion and looking up , I was still a 4th bottom will do me but of course the teams position would have punters looking up and understandably so . Yes I know we had the lowest budget hence when it was all swimmingly I would have been having a lot lower expectations than most people . Leeds we had 29% possession 3 shots to Leeds 19 Wba was a good performance with us having 53% possession and same shots as wba a more than helpful penalty at the end for us cancelling out the missed handball in the build up to one of their goals . Fulham we had 30% possession and 14 shots to their 20
these are part of the stats that led me to believe we were in a false position .
i have never said we should be higher and accept we are where our budget suggests we should be, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have looked to improve on what we had .
i think you’re calling me out for being right , such is life 🤷♂️
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
I can’t see that much done that merits praise.
On the plus side, as any new owner should, they nailed down key staff with new contracts. That’s it really.
On the negative side they made a lot of noise raising expectations about signings. It came to light it’s a partial takeover currently, with the real estate still to be bought.
It would have been better to have put effort into managing expectations rather than bullshit tweets intended to make the new owners mouthpiece seem to be one of us.
I have thought all season that staying up is all we need to do this year. Hopefully we do and the owners complete the purchase of the club and actually start to implement their plans for the club judicially and effectively.
Talk about an over-reaction! I get worried when normally sensible talk such rubbish, it can become an epidemic. 6 points from 6 games is better than ok. The whole club (including fans) getting behind Bowyer has undoubtably helped the team in the last year. Let's keep positive (and by the way you can defend positively, being positive doesn't mean attacking) COYR
It's 9 from 6 btw.
February, was the month people were worried about in terms of games coming thick and fast.
(RR) = Relegation Rivals W 2-1 vs Barnsley (RR) L 1-3 vs Stoke (RR) W 1-0 vs Forest L 0-2 vs Blackburn W 3-1 vs Luton (RR) L 0-1 vs Wednesday
This means we will achieve a minimum of 9 points from the 7 games in February, with a potential of 12 from 7. That's a very decent return all things considered.
Just a reminder in January we also got 2 in 4 games so overall since ESI have been on the scene we've got 11 points from 10 games so far. (In Roland's last 10 we get just 6 points)
On a massive tangent now... Going by Bowyer's 9 game chunks:
1st 9 (ended on 28/09) - 17 points (RT 17) 2nd 9 (ended on 26/11) - 6 points (RT 23) 3rd 9 (ended on 11/01) - 6 points (RT 29) 4th 9 (ends on 29/02) - 10 points (RT 39) - Huddersfield to play 5th 9 (Ends with Wigan) - tbc Leeds - tbc
We may not like how we're doing it, but it can't be denied, Bowyer's tactics and the return of Lyle are working for us.
I'll leave this massive tangent with one final point... I really hope Huddersfield are the chosen side for our once every couple of season spankings. But I'll take a scrappy 1-0.
whether the tactics were right or whether it really was a free kick the one thing remains is that we let in a very soft goal that should have been defended and wasn't
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
The biggest fear is whether they have funds to back them. I'm not really bothered if Matt Southall is approachable on social media or not.
Matt seemed far more impressed with the transfer window than most of the fans.
Totally understand that and I'm the same re' their funds, but it will only become apparent after the Summer, so I still don't know what they could've done differently up until this point short of sharing a photo of a bank statemet. Whether the transfer window was any good is down to personal opinion, but as said before, bearing in mind that it was January and Bowyer and Gallen seemed happy enough with it, maybe MS did get carried away with his euphoria. To me, MS does seem a little out of his depth at the moment, but hoping he's learning too and will come good.
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
Purchased the club (which didn't happen so that they could hammer January signing), tbh talk of super duper mega deal phones and playing man city in 2 years hardly sets people up to manage expectations.
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
I was going against the idea that we would somehow be worse if ESI hadn't arrived.
There is a happy medium between spending next to nothing and signing Neymar. They could have been somewhere in there. I know Matt Southall liked to tell us how hard it is, but Matt Southall says a lot of things. It might be harder than summer, but it is far from impossible. Especially if you have money.
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
The biggest fear is whether they have funds to back them. I'm not really bothered if Matt Southall is approachable on social media or not.
Matt seemed far more impressed with the transfer window than most of the fans.
Totally understand that and I'm the same re' their funds, but it will only become apparent after the Summer, so I still don't know what they could've done differently up until this point short of sharing a photo of a bank statemet. Whether the transfer window was any good is down to personal opinion, but as said before, bearing in mind that it was January and Bowyer and Gallen seemed happy enough with it, maybe MS did get carried away with his euphoria. To me, MS does seem a little out of his depth at the moment, but hoping he's learning too and will come good.
I'm desperately hoping things work out okay. Firstly we need to stay up.
It was always going to be a struggle in the Championship with Duchatelet still in control. Any normal owner would have strengthened the squad. We didn't, and it shows when you compare the playoff final squad with that of last night. I'm not sure we can blame ESI for what has turned out to be a poor window. Looking at the playoff side, it had much more quality than now, but not too much attacking threat, with four defensively minded midfielders, and Parker assisting Taylor, but the difference was players like Cullen were able to get forward when it mattered, and bringing on Williams made us a much more attacking threat at the sharp end of the game. And Aribo was always a threat. Of course Sarr was an unavoidable absentee last night, and might have made a difference.
WEDNESDAY PLAYOFF FINAL Phillips Phillips Matthews Bielik
Lockyer Bauer Pearce Sarr Oshilaja Dijksteel Doughty Pratley Cullen Cullen Oztumer Aribo Davis Purrington Bonne Parker Taylor Taylor
SUBS Purrington Pearce Amos Forster-Caskey McGeady Reeves Green Solly Smith Williams Hemed Maxwell Lapslie Lapslie
My god, I get that people are rightly sick after another disappointing performance and result, but the speed and depth of spite some people turn against is truly awful to witness.
Can understand why the paid people in this game show so little loyalty when fans can turn against so easily.
Got no time for people that want Bowyer gone or players to never wear the shirt again, but football is an emotive sport and we put our hopes in 1 man and his squad of players. If they keep making the same mistakes then they are not above criticism, which for the most part, has been completely justified.
Exactly this. I turned the air blue when that goal went in last night and gave Bo absolute pelters when he came over at the end, but I'm not calling for him to be sacked.
Football is all about emotion - limbs when you score and expletive-filled criticism when you lose. That's the same up and down the football pyramid and it will never change.
i_b_b_o_r_g said:Whether the transfer window was any good is down to personal opinion, but as said before, bearing in mind that it was January and Bowyer and Gallen seemed happy enough with it
I’m not sure they’d have been happy with it , although they’re not gonna come out and ever say “that was pony we got our Z list targets and didn’t sniff any on the A list “
I’m fine with losing, it’s the manner in which we lose which is increasingly becoming frustrating. To time waste at 0-0 against a team that hasn’t won in 11 is unacceptable imo, and that game management comes direct from Bowyer and co, for which they deserve criticism. People suggesting for him to go is silly however, he’s done a brilliant job.
To an extent, the negativity is also down to how the bottom 3 have played. If Wigan, Barnsley and Luton had earned 5 points between them in February and were all stranded, then we'd be more relaxed.
I wasn't happy with our January dealing though, and said so at the time. After the initial loan signing of Green at the start of the month, it was pretty underwhelming to wait until the last day of the window, and then bring in 3 loan players when we needed bodies in earlier, as Bowyer repeatedly said. And it's clear that none of the 3 were our main targets either, they're extra bodies which is good, but nowhere near the same calibre of the player we lost, Gallagher.
i_b_b_o_r_g said:Whether the transfer window was any good is down to personal opinion, but as said before, bearing in mind that it was January and Bowyer and Gallen seemed happy enough with it
I’m not sure they’d have been happy with it , although they’re not gonna come out and ever say “that was pony we got our Z list targets and didn’t sniff any on the A list “
You'd be lucky to get any "A list" in January mate. After the Summer, I can see your point, but not after January. Add to that the position we were in, Bowyer contract negotiations ongoing and we weren't exactly a bright proposition for any "A list" players at that time.
i_b_b_o_r_g said:Whether the transfer window was any good is down to personal opinion, but as said before, bearing in mind that it was January and Bowyer and Gallen seemed happy enough with it
I’m not sure they’d have been happy with it , although they’re not gonna come out and ever say “that was pony we got our Z list targets and didn’t sniff any on the A list “
You'd be lucky to get any "A list" in January mate. After the Summer, I can see your point, but not after January. Add to that the position we were in, Bowyer contract negotiations ongoing and we weren't exactly a bright proposition for any "A list" players at that time.
Yep totally agree but maybe a C or D lister would have helped ;-)
Talk about an over-reaction! I get worried when normally sensible talk such rubbish, it can become an epidemic. 6 points from 6 games is better than ok. The whole club (including fans) getting behind Bowyer has undoubtably helped the team in the last year. Let's keep positive (and by the way you can defend positively, being positive doesn't mean attacking) COYR
6 points from 6 games would extrapolate to 46 points over this season , it won’t be enough to keep you up
Just as well it is 9 from 6. Which is 69 points a season. which is top half of the league form. If we can keep that running we'll finish on 54, that will be enough.
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
Talk about an over-reaction! I get worried when normally sensible talk such rubbish, it can become an epidemic. 6 points from 6 games is better than ok. The whole club (including fans) getting behind Bowyer has undoubtably helped the team in the last year. Let's keep positive (and by the way you can defend positively, being positive doesn't mean attacking) COYR
6 points from 6 games would extrapolate to 46 points over this season , it won’t be enough to keep you up
Just as well it is 9 from 6. Which is 69 points a season. which is top half of the league form.
i_b_b_o_r_g said:Whether the transfer window was any good is down to personal opinion, but as said before, bearing in mind that it was January and Bowyer and Gallen seemed happy enough with it
I’m not sure they’d have been happy with it , although they’re not gonna come out and ever say “that was pony we got our Z list targets and didn’t sniff any on the A list “
You'd be lucky to get any "A list" in January mate. After the Summer, I can see your point, but not after January. Add to that the position we were in, Bowyer contract negotiations ongoing and we weren't exactly a bright proposition for any "A list" players at that time.
Yep totally agree but maybe a C or D lister would have helped ;-)
Whatever list a player belongs in is obviously down to opinion, but I can't see Bowyer putting on an act of being happy when he ain't tbh. In fact, he don't look happy when he is lol
whether the tactics were right or whether it really was a free kick the one thing remains is that we let in a very soft goal that should have been defended and wasn't
I mean that was an easy header for Pearce who slipped. Then whoever was next to him failed to react as quick as the Wednesday man.
it's always a bit like that on here after a kick in the teeth type defeat, but there are some people of whom I'd expect better, who seem to have completely lost it.
It wasn't a good performance. No doubt about that. But:
1. "We set up too defensive/ for a point". Well 4-4-2 away today isn't considered "defensive" normally. A problem was that Bonne started for the first time in ages, and he and Taylor need to strike up a partnership. Who among the critics was calling for Hemed? Who thought starting Green was obviously better than starting Bonne?
2. What about the midfield that would create all those openings? The available player in that role was Oztumer, basically. That's it. The other option was to try and get Doughty forward down the flank, but as the Valley Pass lads spotted early, Wednesday set up very well to cut off that route, and as a kid, Doughty didn't have the nous to out-think them. (and his control let him down sometimes)
3. Was that midfield selection Bowyer's "fault"? Williams got a freak injury, but the much bigger problem was the disgraceful removal of Gallagher due to the activities of his agent (and Swansea are really challenging at the top, aren't they?. FFS).
4. And now to this shit about ESI "not spending". Do none of you look at what happens beyond your own noses? The biggest transfer fee splashed by a Champ club this window was £1m. That was Bristol City, with cash in the bank and the transfer was widely expected. Even in the FAPL the window was very quiet. You cannot be successful in a market if there isn't sufficient supply in the market, do you not understand that?
That's not to say I am convinced ESI have the money. But I am convinced they did the best they could in that dead window. "The best they could" means somehow, half way through, dealing with having Chelsea (or elements within Chelsea) doing the dirty on them. If there was another Conor Gallagher available, he would have been snapped up way before mid January, by someone else.
5. Bowyer started with the lowest salary budget in the league. I doubt it has much changed as a result of the window. All studies by people with brains and a bit more than a video game at their disposal, show that there is a close correlation between playing budget and final league position. So far Bowyer therefore has been massively over-performing.
6. Of course it wasn't just the playing budget. Whatever the revisionism now about our autumn performances ( @oohaahmortimer, I'm calling you out mate), many dispassionate commentators described our injury list as "biblical", and since Bow has had something like a squad again (but still a great big hole in midfield) we've started winning some games again. The whole medical/training set up is on a 3rd division budget like everything else. You think Bowyer's happy with that? You blame ESI for that?
So get a grip. Get an effing grip. Anyone who wants to be negative, be negative with me, but make sure you've got your arguments together, and don't give me any "happy clappy" nonsense. But FFS give Bowyer a break. You want someone to scapegoat, go for Gallagher's agent. We'd have attacked, and won that game, with Conor in midfield last night, of course we would.
Rant over. Available for arguments at various times during the day :-)
How much do you charge for an argument? Can I have the 5 minute argument or does it have to be a 30 minute one?
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
I was going against the idea that we would somehow be worse if ESI hadn't arrived.
There is a happy medium between spending next to nothing and signing Neymar. They could have been somewhere in there. I know Matt Southall liked to tell us how hard it is, but Matt Southall says a lot of things. It might be harder than summer, but it is far from impossible. Especially if you have money.
I believe we would have been worse off.
If we stayed up under Roland, he'd lose Bowyer and co for free and we'd struggle to find new owners that would have time to sign new players, management and prepare for the new season in the remainder of the pre-season.
We'd have been proper fudged if we got relegated as it'd be all of the above, but in the league below.
At least with them here in January it creates the opportunity for them to plan & prepare for both situations. Of course this assumes our options were ESI in January or no one until the season was over.
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
I was going against the idea that we would somehow be worse if ESI hadn't arrived.
There is a happy medium between spending next to nothing and signing Neymar. They could have been somewhere in there. I know Matt Southall liked to tell us how hard it is, but Matt Southall says a lot of things. It might be harder than summer, but it is far from impossible. Especially if you have money.
I believe we would have been worse off.
If we stayed up under Roland, he'd lose Bowyer and co for free and we'd struggle to find new owners that would have time to sign new players, management and prepare for the new season in the remainder of the pre-season.
We'd have been proper fudged if we got relegated as it'd be all of the above, but in the league below.
At least with them here in January it creates the opportunity for them to plan & prepare for both situations. Of course this assumes our options were ESI in January or no one until the season was over.
It's hard for me to get behind that concept that RD would lose everyone for free when that's just not been the case since he's been here. In league one, the guy had been trying to sell the club for years, yet we still signed Taylor, Bielik, Purrington etc. This wasn't done behind RD's back.
I hoped that the club would move on and still hope better times are ahead, but comparing ESI to a 'worst-case' RD Charlton just doesn't do anything for me. It's just nonsense and based off conjecture.
There is nothing to get excited about YET with ESI because all the evidence at this moment ranges from 'meh' to 'worrying'.
I agree that having new owners in place for the summer is good, but I just hope we have good owners.
I was not at Hillsborough, and did not watch on a stream, but based on the description of the match which I read on CL I do wonder at this BBC quote from Bowyer:- (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51533062)
"I'm disappointed, frustrated and angry. My players gave absolutely everything and they didn't deserve not to come away with anything."
This suggests he was happy with the negativity and time-wasting reported on here, and the general performance of all the players.
Now, I would not want Bowyer to slag off members of the team in public, but if that assessment against a team who have been having a very poor run of games is accurate, then I am worried. Yes we do still have some key injuries - but it is unlikely we will ever have a full squad all fully fit available for selection at this stage of the season. The question is whether he is making the best of the players available, and setting them up in the most advantageous way.
Games rarely seem to end happily for us when we set out with a defensive mindset, and for Bowyer to then go on to blame it all on the ref's decision in extra time... "It wasn't a foul for their goal. One hundred percent, it wasn't a foul. I spoke to the ref and he said, 'It's because your player's sandwiched him'. A six foot seven striker has got sandwiched. "I'm sure it's still a contact sport and there was minimal contact. He gave a foul and it was never a foul. It's becoming a non-contact sport now. That's the way it's going, anyway. "It's wrong because we deserved to come away with a point."
I hope Bowyer has other thoughts on reflection, because it seems to me as though, sadly, we got exactly what we deserved yesterday.
People are concerned that if we get relegated, we won't see ESI's collective arses for desert sanddust as they pack up their marquees and piss off. After years of Duchatelet and still no clarity as to our ownership future there is naturally a lot of angst still around, and this can be taken out on the players. And let's face it, we are Jeckyll and Hyde, chalk and cheese, turning in a few days from playing great stuff to a bunch of tottering pub players. Survival this season is vital, and you know what ? .. I reckon we'll just about manage it
We've lost Leko (blew hot and cold but scored some important goals), Gallagher and Field who were important players. The replacements aren't quite fitting in yet which is the main issue, then we have Williams and his constant fitness/injury issues which leaves us short of flair and attacking ability. It looks like Bowyer is just trying to keep us stable and hard to beat, which is a boring Slade tactic, but what else can he really do? His task was to not finish bottom with the lowest budget in the league, survival would be an amazing success, and we are capable of still doing that.
Bowyer has a job to do, and it isn't to entertain us as fans, it's to keep Charlton in the Championship. Last night was a poor game, and tactics were wrong, but let's remember he is still relatively new to management. I have faith in him and his management team, and if we go down then we go down, it gives us a chance to gut the team, rebuild, and then win L1!
Some of the abuse Bowyer getting last night and the new board who've been here 5 minutes...just imagine where we'd be now if Bowyer had walked and ESI never arrived.
ESI have done zero to warrant anyone's praise at this point.
Just out of interest, what could any new owner have done to warrant praise (Not that I think they're getting overly praised anyway) at this point in their ownership and this point of the season?
I can’t see that much done that merits praise.
Question was, what could they have done
Read my post it gives hints. Selective quoting is beneath you surely.
Comments
A player who could turn a crap game and performance into a 1-0 win. One chance, one goal, 3 points.
The biggest fear is whether they have funds to back them. I'm not really bothered if Matt Southall is approachable on social media or not.
Matt seemed far more impressed with the transfer window than most of the fans.
Yes I know we had the lowest budget hence when it was all swimmingly I would have been having a lot lower expectations than most people .
Leeds we had 29% possession 3 shots to Leeds 19
Wba was a good performance with us having 53% possession and same shots as wba a more than helpful penalty at the end for us cancelling out the missed handball in the build up to one of their goals .
Fulham we had 30% possession and 14 shots to their 20
these are part of the stats that led me to believe we were in a false position .
i have never said we should be higher and accept we are where our budget suggests we should be, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have looked to improve on what we had .
i think you’re calling me out for being right , such is life 🤷♂️
On the plus side, as any new owner should, they nailed down key staff with new contracts. That’s it really.
On the negative side they made a lot of noise raising expectations about signings. It came to light it’s a partial takeover currently, with the real estate still to be bought.
It would have been better to have put effort into managing expectations rather than bullshit tweets intended to make the new owners mouthpiece seem to be one of us.
I have thought all season that staying up is all we need to do this year. Hopefully we do and the owners complete the purchase of the club and actually start to implement their plans for the club judicially and effectively.
February, was the month people were worried about in terms of games coming thick and fast.
(RR) = Relegation Rivals
W 2-1 vs Barnsley (RR)
L 1-3 vs Stoke (RR)
W 1-0 vs Forest
L 0-2 vs Blackburn
W 3-1 vs Luton (RR)
L 0-1 vs Wednesday
This means we will achieve a minimum of 9 points from the 7 games in February, with a potential of 12 from 7. That's a very decent return all things considered.
Just a reminder in January we also got 2 in 4 games so overall since ESI have been on the scene we've got 11 points from 10 games so far.
(In Roland's last 10 we get just 6 points)
On a massive tangent now... Going by Bowyer's 9 game chunks:
1st 9 (ended on 28/09) - 17 points (RT 17)
2nd 9 (ended on 26/11) - 6 points (RT 23)
3rd 9 (ended on 11/01) - 6 points (RT 29)
4th 9 (ends on 29/02) - 10 points (RT 39) - Huddersfield to play
5th 9 (Ends with Wigan) - tbc
Leeds - tbc
We may not like how we're doing it, but it can't be denied, Bowyer's tactics and the return of Lyle are working for us.
I'll leave this massive tangent with one final point... I really hope Huddersfield are the chosen side for our once every couple of season spankings. But I'll take a scrappy 1-0.
There is a happy medium between spending next to nothing and signing Neymar. They could have been somewhere in there. I know Matt Southall liked to tell us how hard it is, but Matt Southall says a lot of things. It might be harder than summer, but it is far from impossible. Especially if you have money.
Any normal owner would have strengthened the squad. We didn't, and it shows when you compare the playoff final squad with that of last night.
I'm not sure we can blame ESI for what has turned out to be a poor window.
Looking at the playoff side, it had much more quality than now, but not too much attacking threat, with four defensively minded midfielders, and Parker assisting Taylor, but the difference was players like Cullen were able to get forward when it mattered, and bringing on Williams made us a much more attacking threat at the sharp end of the game. And Aribo was always a threat. Of course Sarr was an unavoidable absentee last night, and might have made a difference.
WEDNESDAY PLAYOFF FINAL
Phillips Phillips
Matthews Bielik
Pearce Sarr
Oshilaja Dijksteel
Doughty Pratley
Cullen Cullen
Oztumer Aribo
Davis Purrington
Bonne Parker
Taylor Taylor
Purrington Pearce
Amos Forster-Caskey
McGeady Reeves
Green Solly
Smith Williams
Hemed Maxwell
Lapslie Lapslie
;-)
Football is all about emotion - limbs when you score and expletive-filled criticism when you lose. That's the same up and down the football pyramid and it will never change.
I wasn't happy with our January dealing though, and said so at the time. After the initial loan signing of Green at the start of the month, it was pretty underwhelming to wait until the last day of the window, and then bring in 3 loan players when we needed bodies in earlier, as Bowyer repeatedly said. And it's clear that none of the 3 were our main targets either, they're extra bodies which is good, but nowhere near the same calibre of the player we lost, Gallagher.
Naby would be getting murdered for that.
If we stayed up under Roland, he'd lose Bowyer and co for free and we'd struggle to find new owners that would have time to sign new players, management and prepare for the new season in the remainder of the pre-season.
We'd have been proper fudged if we got relegated as it'd be all of the above, but in the league below.
At least with them here in January it creates the opportunity for them to plan & prepare for both situations. Of course this assumes our options were ESI in January or no one until the season was over.
I hoped that the club would move on and still hope better times are ahead, but comparing ESI to a 'worst-case' RD Charlton just doesn't do anything for me. It's just nonsense and based off conjecture.
There is nothing to get excited about YET with ESI because all the evidence at this moment ranges from 'meh' to 'worrying'.
I agree that having new owners in place for the summer is good, but I just hope we have good owners.
This suggests he was happy with the negativity and time-wasting reported on here, and the general performance of all the players.
Now, I would not want Bowyer to slag off members of the team in public, but if that assessment against a team who have been having a very poor run of games is accurate, then I am worried. Yes we do still have some key injuries - but it is unlikely we will ever have a full squad all fully fit available for selection at this stage of the season. The question is whether he is making the best of the players available, and setting them up in the most advantageous way.
Games rarely seem to end happily for us when we set out with a defensive mindset, and for Bowyer to then go on to blame it all on the ref's decision in extra time...
"It wasn't a foul for their goal. One hundred percent, it wasn't a foul. I spoke to the ref and he said, 'It's because your player's sandwiched him'. A six foot seven striker has got sandwiched.
"I'm sure it's still a contact sport and there was minimal contact. He gave a foul and it was never a foul. It's becoming a non-contact sport now. That's the way it's going, anyway.
"It's wrong because we deserved to come away with a point."
I hope Bowyer has other thoughts on reflection, because it seems to me as though, sadly, we got exactly what we deserved yesterday.
After years of Duchatelet and still no clarity as to our ownership future there is naturally a lot of angst still around, and this can be taken out on the players. And let's face it, we are Jeckyll and Hyde, chalk and cheese, turning in a few days from playing great stuff to a bunch of tottering pub players. Survival this season is vital, and you know what ? .. I reckon we'll just about manage it
Bowyer has a job to do, and it isn't to entertain us as fans, it's to keep Charlton in the Championship. Last night was a poor game, and tactics were wrong, but let's remember he is still relatively new to management. I have faith in him and his management team, and if we go down then we go down, it gives us a chance to gut the team, rebuild, and then win L1!