I think we are kidding ourselves - the midfield is shockingly poor - if you compare Levitt, Vennings, Oztumer etc with Bielik, Cullen, Aribo etc we will have no chance of promotion with this midfield - Gilbey looks OK but its early days - tbh I’m not very optimistic about this season. It normally takes us 3 years to get out of this division and despite Thomas’s expectations, I think its pretty unrealistic
When we first signed Bielik and Cullen how many people thought they would have had the season they had
No reason Gilbey, Levitt or Vennings couldn't do the same
Gilbey maybe, but neither Vennings or Levitt have exactly hit the ground running.
Bielik and Cullen had both had loan spells before in this division and in Cullens case reached the play offs with Bradford. If you had to pick which was the Man Utd player and who came up through our academy today - who would you have chosen ? Levitt is not ready or strong enough, Vennings is promising but not ready yet
Getting a little bit concerned now that others have said Alfie looked a bit disinterested this afternoon. And now others have said he's a bit of a square peg in a round hole!
Surely we have to keep hold of him?
Selling this boy doesn't fit with the vision Sandgaard has presented. I think he's got the tools to go to the very top.
Bowyer's success has been with a diamond. The squad, the last 18 months, was built to play that. Doughty does not, naturally, fit into it.
He has to play Doughty because he is one of his best players.
There is no point selling him because he wouldn't be able to spend the money anyway.
Bielik and Cullen had both had loan spells before in this division and in Cullens case reached the play offs with Bradford. If you had to pick which was the Man Utd player and who came up through our academy today - who would you have chosen ? Levitt is not ready or strong enough, Vennings is promising but not ready yet
Cullen was 22 when he joined us, with plenty of experience on loan already
Levitt is far more raw. Yes he has talent, but I'm yet to see why Bowyer and Gallen were so keen to bring him in to fill (at the time) our ONE spare place in the squad instead of a defender
Bowyer has never played with wingers, out of choice.
As I have said before Doughty gives him a bit of a head ache.
He doesn't with Maddison coming in from RW in a 433.
To make that work he needs a different striker, and different midfields, and probably full backs to what he has got.
To me it's looking like he will go with a 4-1-2-1-2 in the middle term.
Really wouldn't surprise me if he sold Oztumer and Lapslie, maybe even JFC, to balance that as he is going to end up with players who have no chance of playing.
4-1-2-1-2? I would love to be in a dressing room hearing an explanation of how that works. Not even the diamond works like that.
I think we are kidding ourselves - the midfield is shockingly poor - if you compare Levitt, Vennings, Oztumer etc with Bielik, Cullen, Aribo etc we will have no chance of promotion with this midfield - Gilbey looks OK but its early days - tbh I’m not very optimistic about this season. It normally takes us 3 years to get out of this division and despite Thomas’s expectations, I think its pretty unrealistic
When we first signed Bielik and Cullen how many people thought they would have had the season they had
No reason Gilbey, Levitt or Vennings couldn't do the same
Gilbey maybe, but neither Vennings or Levitt have exactly hit the ground running.
Hope you're right though.
Vennings has just turned 20 though. Has plenty of time to progress. Levitt even younger, I’m sure he’ll get better as the season goes on.
If Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Steve Gallen and Lee Bowyer all like Levitt and think he is a great player then who are we to write him off after 3 games, think I will wait a bit before deciding how good he is
If Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Steve Gallen and Lee Bowyer all like Levitt and think he is a great player then who are we to write him off after 3 games, think I will wait a bit before deciding how good he is
I think we are kidding ourselves - the midfield is shockingly poor - if you compare Levitt, Vennings, Oztumer etc with Bielik, Cullen, Aribo etc we will have no chance of promotion with this midfield - Gilbey looks OK but its early days - tbh I’m not very optimistic about this season. It normally takes us 3 years to get out of this division and despite Thomas’s expectations, I think its pretty unrealistic
When we first signed Bielik and Cullen how many people thought they would have had the season they had
No reason Gilbey, Levitt or Vennings couldn't do the same
Gilbey maybe, but neither Vennings or Levitt have exactly hit the ground running.
Hope you're right though.
Vennings has just turned 20 though. Has plenty of time to progress. Levitt even younger, I’m sure he’ll get better as the season goes on.
I agree, I thought Vennings had a good game. The fact is, if we had a good side and one of those players were introduced into it they would perform better.
If Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Steve Gallen and Lee Bowyer all like Levitt and think he is a great player then who are we to write him off after 3 games, think I will wait a bit before deciding how good he is
Agree, although it’s not true to say that all Man Utd youths make it in the game, nor is it true to say they aren’t sending him out hoping he does well and watching on eagerly. Having said that, he is a full Wales international now.
We all know the squad is v unbalanced. My main concern is that few of our best performers are "in their prime".
We have experience - but towards end of career - in Watson, Pratley and, you could say, Pearce.
Then we have youth - and with that comes inconsistency - Doughty, Barker, Famewo, Levitt, Morgan, Lapslie, Vennings and more.
So we are very reliant on Purrington, Oshilaja, Oztumer, Washington, Aneke, who have decent experience and should be "in their prime" but tbh are the ones that you would question as being at / above their level in League 1.
Amos is striking me as the stalwart. Gilbey has potential to rise above. And Williams, if he can get his act together.
The squad is really very thin when I think about it like this.
Think back to Powell's record breakers and there is little comparison.
Next two weeks are indeed critical but not much room for manoeuvre at this stage.
Ideally, I think we still need around another 6 or so players if we are to be serious about competing.
It’s a long old season with games coming thick and fast when we return from the international breaks. We can’t rely on young players to get us through, it simply would not be fair.
Amos Maynard-Brewer
New Right-Back New Right-Back New Centre-Back Oshilaja Pearce Famewo Purrington New Left-Back
Watson Pratley Levitt Forster-Caskey Gilbey Lapslie Morgan Williams Oztumer Maddison Doughty New Attacking Midfielder/Winger
New Striker New Striker Washington Aneke
Some may say that’s too many, but you’ve got a good handful of players in that lot who unfortunately are either likely to get injured at some point, or unable to play games in such quick succession. You then have the suspensions and loss of form, it’s important we don’t leave ourselves short.
This also allows players like Barker and Vennings to naturally develop without the pressure of trying to win promotion from what is a tough league to get out of if you don’t get it right. It allows us to send Davison out on loan, at least until January, get him some better experience and scoring some goals.
Phillips I am sure will be sold before the window shuts. I hope we don’t lose anyone else.
We desperately need a few defenders, another midfielder because the quality is just not there yet, and so desperately need a couple of good strikers who can play, and score regularly.
Lots of work still to do, but I am sure we will get a flurry of them in soon. The sooner the better and they can be settled and worked with throughout this break.
Quality over quantity, I know, but we need both, so the quantity must have the quality too. That’s the tough part.
If Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Steve Gallen and Lee Bowyer all like Levitt and think he is a great player then who are we to write him off after 3 games, think I will wait a bit before deciding how good he is
Thought he was class against Lincoln but terrible today. Classic case of being a young player and learning the game. Probably didn’t help movement was non existent in front of him
We need 7-8 new players still and in an ideal world we would loan out Lapslie, Davidson and Morgan until January and move on JFC.
Oshilaja, Purrington, Oztumer, Pratley and Washington should all be back up at best.
I feel so too about the players you list. Maybe except for Washington, he needs a striking partner. We have Gilbey and Pearce who are out injured though, who will be good for us when coming back, and the same goes for Maddison when he is match fit. A midfield with Watson, Gilbey and Maddison would be quite good actually. We do urgently need a senior RB, CB and striker.
Ideally, I think we still need around another 6 or so players if we are to be serious about competing.
It’s a long old season with games coming thick and fast when we return from the international breaks. We can’t rely on young players to get us through, it simply would not be fair.
Amos Maynard-Brewer
New Right-Back New Right-Back New Centre-Back Oshilaja Pearce Famewo Purrington New Left-Back
Watson Pratley Levitt Forster-Caskey Gilbey Lapslie Morgan Williams Oztumer Maddison Doughty New Attacking Midfielder/Winger
New Striker New Striker Washington Aneke
Some may say that’s too many, but you’ve got a good handful of players in that lot who unfortunately are either likely to get injured at some point, or unable to play games in such quick succession. You then have the suspensions and loss of form, it’s important we don’t leave ourselves short.
This also allows players like Barker and Vennings to naturally develop without the pressure of trying to win promotion from what is a tough league to get out of if you don’t get it right. It allows us to send Davison out on loan, at least until January, get him some better experience and scoring some goals.
Phillips I am sure will be sold before the window shuts. I hope we don’t lose anyone else.
We desperately need a few defenders, another midfielder because the quality is just not there yet, and so desperately need a couple of good strikers who can play, and score regularly.
Lots of work still to do, but I am sure we will get a flurry of them in soon. The sooner the better and they can be settled and worked with throughout this break.
Quality over quantity, I know, but we need both, so the quantity must have the quality too. That’s the tough part.
I agree with most of what you say, but think Doughty is a left back and is only playing up front because of the deficiencies in the squad.
Ideally, I think we still need around another 6 or so players if we are to be serious about competing.
It’s a long old season with games coming thick and fast when we return from the international breaks. We can’t rely on young players to get us through, it simply would not be fair.
Amos Maynard-Brewer
New Right-Back New Right-Back New Centre-Back Oshilaja Pearce Famewo Purrington New Left-Back
Watson Pratley Levitt Forster-Caskey Gilbey Lapslie Morgan Williams Oztumer Maddison Doughty New Attacking Midfielder/Winger
New Striker New Striker Washington Aneke
Some may say that’s too many, but you’ve got a good handful of players in that lot who unfortunately are either likely to get injured at some point, or unable to play games in such quick succession. You then have the suspensions and loss of form, it’s important we don’t leave ourselves short.
This also allows players like Barker and Vennings to naturally develop without the pressure of trying to win promotion from what is a tough league to get out of if you don’t get it right. It allows us to send Davison out on loan, at least until January, get him some better experience and scoring some goals.
Phillips I am sure will be sold before the window shuts. I hope we don’t lose anyone else.
We desperately need a few defenders, another midfielder because the quality is just not there yet, and so desperately need a couple of good strikers who can play, and score regularly.
Lots of work still to do, but I am sure we will get a flurry of them in soon. The sooner the better and they can be settled and worked with throughout this break.
Quality over quantity, I know, but we need both, so the quantity must have the quality too. That’s the tough part.
I agree with most of what you say, but think Doughty is a left back and is only playing up front because of the deficiencies in the squad.
See I think it's pretty much the opposite, didn't he play on the wing in the youth sides mostly and only played left wing back/left back as an emergency?
Ideally, I think we still need around another 6 or so players if we are to be serious about competing.
It’s a long old season with games coming thick and fast when we return from the international breaks. We can’t rely on young players to get us through, it simply would not be fair.
Amos Maynard-Brewer
New Right-Back New Right-Back New Centre-Back Oshilaja Pearce Famewo Purrington New Left-Back
Watson Pratley Levitt Forster-Caskey Gilbey Lapslie Morgan Williams Oztumer Maddison Doughty New Attacking Midfielder/Winger
New Striker New Striker Washington Aneke
Some may say that’s too many, but you’ve got a good handful of players in that lot who unfortunately are either likely to get injured at some point, or unable to play games in such quick succession. You then have the suspensions and loss of form, it’s important we don’t leave ourselves short.
This also allows players like Barker and Vennings to naturally develop without the pressure of trying to win promotion from what is a tough league to get out of if you don’t get it right. It allows us to send Davison out on loan, at least until January, get him some better experience and scoring some goals.
Phillips I am sure will be sold before the window shuts. I hope we don’t lose anyone else.
We desperately need a few defenders, another midfielder because the quality is just not there yet, and so desperately need a couple of good strikers who can play, and score regularly.
Lots of work still to do, but I am sure we will get a flurry of them in soon. The sooner the better and they can be settled and worked with throughout this break.
Quality over quantity, I know, but we need both, so the quantity must have the quality too. That’s the tough part.
I agree with most of what you say, but think Doughty is a left back and is only playing up front because of the deficiencies in the squad.
See I think it's pretty much the opposite, didn't he play on the wing in the youth sides mostly and only played left wing back/left back as an emergency?
Agree with this, his best defensive attribute is his pace. Defensively a natural full back in a flat back four he isn't imo which was very apparrent when he first broke into the first team.
He has improved defensively, no doubt with Jacko's coaching and that's not to say he won't make a good wing back in a five man defence but a solid LB he's not at present.
I bet Maddison knows what strikers are going to be joining us otherwise I don’t think he would have signed.
Maddison joined Charlton because he was out of work; that was the main reason. I believe he wants to work with Lee Bowyer but the main reason is a troubled footballer needs to play football. He stated he was unhappy and down on his 27th birthday last week before signing.
Artists need to paint Casanova's need to shag Singers need to croon Gareth Bale needs to play golf.
Comments
Hope you're right though.
If you had to pick which was the Man Utd player and who came up through our academy today - who would you have chosen ?
Levitt is not ready or strong enough, Vennings is promising but not ready yet
He has to play Doughty because he is one of his best players.
There is no point selling him because he wouldn't be able to spend the money anyway.
What would you do? Like I said it's a headache.
Levitt is far more raw. Yes he has talent, but I'm yet to see why Bowyer and Gallen were so keen to bring him in to fill (at the time) our ONE spare place in the squad instead of a defender
We have experience - but towards end of career - in Watson, Pratley and, you could say, Pearce.
Then we have youth - and with that comes inconsistency - Doughty, Barker, Famewo, Levitt, Morgan, Lapslie, Vennings and more.
So we are very reliant on Purrington, Oshilaja, Oztumer, Washington, Aneke, who have decent experience and should be "in their prime" but tbh are the ones that you would question as being at / above their level in League 1.
Amos is striking me as the stalwart. Gilbey has potential to rise above. And Williams, if he can get his act together.
The squad is really very thin when I think about it like this.
Think back to Powell's record breakers and there is little comparison.
Next two weeks are indeed critical but not much room for manoeuvre at this stage.
It’s a long old season with games coming thick and fast when we return from the international breaks. We can’t rely on young players to get us through, it simply would not be fair.
Amos
Maynard-Brewer
New Right-Back
New Right-Back
New Centre-Back
Oshilaja
Pearce
Famewo
Purrington
New Left-Back
Watson
Pratley
Levitt
Forster-Caskey
Gilbey
Lapslie
Morgan
Williams
Oztumer
Maddison
Doughty
New Attacking Midfielder/Winger
New Striker
New Striker
Washington
Aneke
Some may say that’s too many, but you’ve got a good handful of players in that lot who unfortunately are either likely to get injured at some point, or unable to play games in such quick succession. You then have the suspensions and loss of form, it’s important we don’t leave ourselves short.
This also allows players like Barker and Vennings to naturally develop without the pressure of trying to win promotion from what is a tough league to get out of if you don’t get it right. It allows us to send Davison out on loan, at least until January, get him some better experience and scoring some goals.
Phillips I am sure will be sold before the window shuts. I hope we don’t lose anyone else.
We desperately need a few defenders, another midfielder because the quality is just not there yet, and so desperately need a couple of good strikers who can play, and score regularly.
Quality over quantity, I know, but we need both, so the quantity must have the quality too. That’s the tough part.
We need 7-8 new players still and in an ideal world we would loan out Lapslie, Davidson and Morgan until January and move on JFC.
Oshilaja, Purrington, Oztumer, Pratley and Washington should all be back up at best.
With the right service he should be very decent. As he showed with the scuffed volley and instinct header from Deji's bullet header.
He has improved defensively, no doubt with Jacko's coaching and that's not to say he won't make a good wing back in a five man defence but a solid LB he's not at present.
Maddison joined Charlton because he was out of work; that was the main reason.
I believe he wants to work with Lee Bowyer but the main reason is a troubled footballer needs to play football. He stated he was unhappy and down on his 27th birthday last week before signing.
Artists need to paint
Casanova's need to shag
Singers need to croon
Gareth Bale needs to play golf.