Neil finished 8th after promotion on a shoestring budget and then 21st, one place below where you currently sit, He walked when we were 18th and now sits inside the play-offs with Cardiff after taking them from 14th place up to 6th. Now that's a good manager
Did he have to rebuild that promotion winning team?
Yes. We had to sign the likes of Jed Wallace, George Saville, Conor McLaughlin, Tim Cahill, James Meredith, Jake Cooper and other loans throughout the season.
Looks like he had a bit of an eye for a player as well
Let me try another one. We're you transfer embargoed after an injury crisis and unable to strengthen and did you have 3 owners in one season of which out the players future into uncertainty after they were told there was no money.
Neil finished 8th after promotion on a shoestring budget and then 21st, one place below where you currently sit, He walked when we were 18th and now sits inside the play-offs with Cardiff after taking them from 14th place up to 6th. Now that's a good manager
Did he have to rebuild that promotion winning team?
Yes. We had to sign the likes of Jed Wallace, George Saville, Conor McLaughlin, Tim Cahill, James Meredith, Jake Cooper and other loans throughout the season.
Looks like he had a bit of an eye for a player as well
Let me try another one. We're you transfer embargoed after an injury crisis and unable to strengthen and did you have 3 owners in one season of which out the players future into uncertainty after they were told there was no money.
Neil finished 8th after promotion on a shoestring budget and then 21st, one place below where you currently sit, He walked when we were 18th and now sits inside the play-offs with Cardiff after taking them from 14th place up to 6th. Now that's a good manager
Did he have to rebuild that promotion winning team?
Yes. We had to sign the likes of Jed Wallace, George Saville, Conor McLaughlin, Tim Cahill, James Meredith, Jake Cooper and other loans throughout the season.
Looks like he had a bit of an eye for a player as well
Let me try another one. We're you transfer embargoed after an injury crisis and unable to strengthen and did you have 3 owners in one season of which out the players future into uncertainty after they were told there was no money.
I knew someone would eventually get me.
No to all of the above
Good. Now go and sit on the naughty step and don't move until you are told 😊
The blokes and absolute legend and to get us to 46 points at this stage of the season with the squad and off field antics going on is astounding. He has my 100% support.
However, he, like all club legends, is not without criticism. Nobody is perfect, Lee will know this himself. Supporter forums and social media are an excellent platform for us fans to put across our views. Some people unfortunately don't construct their criticism in the correct manner and some get carried away. 'It is what it is'.
LB is a fantastic man manager and morale booster. He has the ability to make players run though walls for him. He does, from my point of view, need to become a better game manager. I feel we've lost more points that we should have from being in a good position within a match. Of course the quality of available players to him plays a big part but there are other ways to see out a game of football than simply battening down the hatches and trying to hang on for 20-30 mins.
Neil finished 8th after promotion on a shoestring budget and then 21st, one place below where you currently sit, He walked when we were 18th and now sits inside the play-offs with Cardiff after taking them from 14th place up to 6th. Now that's a good manager
Did he have to rebuild that promotion winning team?
Yes. We had to sign the likes of Jed Wallace, George Saville, Conor McLaughlin, Tim Cahill, James Meredith, Jake Cooper and other loans throughout the season.
Looks like he had a bit of an eye for a player as well
Let me try another one. We're you transfer embargoed after an injury crisis and unable to strengthen and did you have 3 owners in one season of which out the players future into uncertainty after they were told there was no money.
I knew someone would eventually get me.
No to all of the above
Good. Now go and sit on the naughty step and don't move until you are told 😊
We did, however, have Ryan Tunnicliffe, Tom Elliott and Jordan Archer during that time
This is an incredibly tough league to compete in with a low budget, let alone with a succession of dysfunctional owners with no long term strategy or cohesion with the playing side of the club. My biggest concern were we to be relegated is that Bowyer decides Charlton are a hopeless case and gives up on them.
Sure he probably makes mistakes like any manager but you saw the difference in skill levels between Brentford and Charlton last night. The one thing you could not fault last night, indeed for the whole season, was the effort the team put in. Add back 3 or 4 players with a bit more quality (e.g. Taylor, Gallagher etc) and Bowyer would have had them comfortably safe from relegation.
With the exception of I’d say Taylor (now unavailable), Cullen, Phillips and Lockyer. Bowyer has pretty much a league one squad. Add into that the shenanigans of his entire tenure and I would suggest he’s done pretty well. Any team going up a division is always likely to be up against it. Survival is a success. We’re not relegated yet.
Nah, not having this. Bowyer has done a great job but it's not like the players he has at his disposal are plucky losers. Let's go through the squad, shall we?
Phillips - Championship quality easily Matthews - Championship quality easily Purrington - ok he's a League One standard player, but a decent one Oshilaja - I'm not actually sure. Some days he seems Championship, others League Two Lockyer - Championship quality easily Pearce - juuuuust about Championship quality, raises his game against better opponents Williams - Championship quality easily JFC - when fit, Championship quality Taylor Aneke - the jury is out but I certainly think he could be good enough for this league Page - we'll never know alas Amos - who cares? McGeady - a fraud who puts the lie to 'quality' Pratley - Championship-quality defender Bonne - getting there Green - jury certainly out but has pedigree Morgan - Premiership-quality in training Solly Sarr - when Forest sign him you'll realise Cullen - top Championship quality Hemed - has the pedigree and the class - does he have the pace any more? Maybe Field - Premiership-quality in training Oztumer - yeah ok we've finally reached another inarguable League One player. But a really good one! Lapslie - yeah League One Doughty - Premiership-quality in training
I think that paints a rather different picture, don't you?
Compared to some teams, we do lack top end championship players who can pass the ball accurately and quickly. I'd argue only Cullen and Williams can actually do that for us atm.
It makes a big difference when it comes to breaking teams down. It is a bit telling that all of our goals post restart have come from headers.
Phillips - Championship quality easily Matthews - Championship quality easily Purrington - ok he's a League One standard player, but a decent one Oshilaja - I'm not actually sure. Some days he seems Championship, others League Two Lockyer - Championship quality easily Pearce - juuuuust about Championship quality, raises his game against better opponents Williams - Championship quality easily JFC - when fit, Championship quality Taylor Aneke - the jury is out but I certainly think he could be good enough for this league Page - we'll never know alas Amos - who cares? McGeady - a fraud who puts the lie to 'quality' Pratley - Championship-quality defender Bonne - getting there Green - jury certainly out but has pedigree Morgan - Premiership-quality in training Solly Sarr - when Forest sign him you'll realise Cullen - top Championship quality Hemed - has the pedigree and the class - does he have the pace any more? Maybe Field - Premiership-quality in training Oztumer - yeah ok we've finally reached another inarguable League One player. But a really good one! Lapslie - yeah League One Doughty - Premiership-quality in training
I think that paints a rather different picture, don't you?
My views based on what we have seen this season not just since the return.
Phillips - Championship Amos - who cares? - Agree.
Matthews - Championship Purrington - Lower Championship Oshilaja - Lower Championship Lockyer - Championship Pearce - Lower Championship - Down to his pace. Page - Injured all season, but previously Championship. Solly - Bottle Job Sarr - Championship
Williams - Championship JFC - Championship Field - Championship Oztumer - High L1/low Champ Lapslie - Mid League 1 Doughty - Championship McGeady - League 1/Lower Champ Pratley - Higher L1/ Lower Champ Green - League 1 Morgan - Championship Cullen - High Champ/Low Prem Gallagher - Premier League
Aneke - Lower Champ/Upper League 1 Bonne - Lower Champ/Upper League 1 Hemed - Low Championship, may score more with proper service, if he had pace he'd probably have 5 goals plus by now. Davison - Lower Championship/Upper L1 Leko - Championship Taylor Bottle Job.
Neil finished 8th after promotion on a shoestring budget and then 21st, one place below where you currently sit, He walked when we were 18th and now sits inside the play-offs with Cardiff after taking them from 14th place up to 6th. Now that's a good manager
Did he have to rebuild that promotion winning team?
Yes. We had to sign the likes of Jed Wallace, George Saville, Conor McLaughlin, Tim Cahill, James Meredith, Jake Cooper and other loans throughout the season.
Looks like he had a bit of an eye for a player as well
Let me try another one. We're you transfer embargoed after an injury crisis and unable to strengthen and did you have 3 owners in one season of which out the players future into uncertainty after they were told there was no money.
I knew someone would eventually get me.
No to all of the above
Good. Now go and sit on the naughty step and don't move until you are told 😊
We did, however, have Ryan Tunnicliffe, Tom Elliott and Jordan Archer during that time
Just to prove what a nice bloke I am. I hope you win 5.0 Today.
The problem for Bowyer is he will know things we don't. So Williams and Doughty probably were dead on their feat. Where we see negative subs, he will have seen necessary ones. But being a great manager doesn't mean he wont make mistakes. Especially in the high pressure situation he is in now. Whether the mistakes are the ones some of us identify is another matter. I am happy we have him in charge for our final games. He identified the issue with yesterday as us running out of steam and it certainly looked like that.
Williams i get maybe not match fit enough as he hasn't been playing. But Doughty is 20 years old, only played the last 15 against Millwall and then taken off after 70 minutes last night. If he's dead on his feet after playing 85 minutes in 4 days then it's a serious problem.
Doughty was playing for Bromley a few months back.
Last night he was expected to defend against arguably the best attack in the division and, being one of the few we have with a bit of pace, be one of our main creative attacking threats too as exemplified by his contribution to the goal.
In those circumstances it doesn't surprise me that an inexperienced player, having jumped from the 5th tier to the 2nd just a few months back, got knackered against the form team of the division.
Apart from Sarr and minimal fees for Bonne and Purrington do we have any other player who actually cost a transfer fee?
Pretty sure everyone else is a free transfer, a loan or came through the academy.
Compare that to Brentford last night whose keeper alone cost 3m.
To be fair Brentford also bring a lot of money in through player sales, so their net spend isn't high. They're very good at buying cheap and selling dear (e.g. with Konsa), whereas we've been terrible at it in recent years
With the exception of I’d say Taylor (now unavailable), Cullen, Phillips and Lockyer. Bowyer has pretty much a league one squad. Add into that the shenanigans of his entire tenure and I would suggest he’s done pretty well. Any team going up a division is always likely to be up against it. Survival is a success. We’re not relegated yet.
Nah, not having this. Bowyer has done a great job but it's not like the players he has at his disposal are plucky losers. Let's go through the squad, shall we?
Phillips - Championship quality easily Matthews - Championship quality easily Purrington - ok he's a League One standard player, but a decent one Oshilaja - I'm not actually sure. Some days he seems Championship, others League Two Lockyer - Championship quality easily Pearce - juuuuust about Championship quality, raises his game against better opponents Williams - Championship quality easily JFC - when fit, Championship quality Taylor Aneke - the jury is out but I certainly think he could be good enough for this league Page - we'll never know alas Amos - who cares? McGeady - a fraud who puts the lie to 'quality' Pratley - Championship-quality defender Bonne - getting there Green - jury certainly out but has pedigree Morgan - Premiership-quality in training Solly Sarr - when Forest sign him you'll realise Cullen - top Championship quality Hemed - has the pedigree and the class - does he have the pace any more? Maybe Field - Premiership-quality in training Oztumer - yeah ok we've finally reached another inarguable League One player. But a really good one! Lapslie - yeah League One Doughty - Premiership-quality in training
I think that paints a rather different picture, don't you?
Lol. Just writing "championship quality" after someones name doesn't mean it's true.
Another way of looking at it is to go through that list and ask yourself what division they were playing in last season. Mainly League One, or lower, and we didn't exactly storm the League One title last year, did we?!
Some of those players are on the way up and will no doubt go onto better things, whereas some are on the way down and will most likely never play at a level higher than they are now.
So, overall, I think it's difficult to argue with SHG's original point that at the start of the season it was "pretty much a league one squad".
With that background and starting squad there should be no doubt that Bowyer has done well this year regardless of whether we stay up or go down. But when you add in the horrific injury list, the behind the scenes fiasco, a budget you need a microscope to locate, the transfer embargo denying us any sort of meaningful reinforcements and losing your two best players (Taylor and Gallagher) for half a season, then it's an absolute miracle we weren't down by March!
Apart from Sarr and minimal fees for Bonne and Purrington do we have any other player who actually cost a transfer fee?
Pretty sure everyone else is a free transfer, a loan or came through the academy.
Compare that to Brentford last night whose keeper alone cost 3m.
To be fair Brentford also bring a lot of money in through player sales, so their net spend isn't high. They're very good at buying cheap and selling dear (e.g. with Konsa), whereas we've been terrible at it in recent years
Yeah they run a very decent business model.
Made over 40m in the summer when they sold Konsa, Maupay and Mepham.
Benrahma was signed 2 years ago for 2.7m, will probably be sold for at least 20m.
The problem for Bowyer is he will know things we don't. So Williams and Doughty probably were dead on their feat. Where we see negative subs, he will have seen necessary ones. But being a great manager doesn't mean he wont make mistakes. Especially in the high pressure situation he is in now. Whether the mistakes are the ones some of us identify is another matter. I am happy we have him in charge for our final games. He identified the issue with yesterday as us running out of steam and it certainly looked like that.
Williams i get maybe not match fit enough as he hasn't been playing. But Doughty is 20 years old, only played the last 15 against Millwall and then taken off after 70 minutes last night. If he's dead on his feet after playing 85 minutes in 4 days then it's a serious problem.
Do you even watch the games? See how much running he does. For much of the match Alfie was our most advanced player and our most defensive player. The system we play demands a huge amount from our fullbacks/wingbacks as it is but the way we use Doughty as an outlet (often the only one) makes this even more so. Age doesn't come into it. There is no athlete on earth that could do that role in the way he did against brentford without a drop off in levels by the end.
Think of Doughty a bit like Usain Bolt... Both can get up really impressive levels of speed but the trouble is it cant be sustained and like with any running, there has to be a period of recovery
Ask Bolt to run 100m straight after he's finished one race and he's not going to do it at the same speed that he's just achieved
Its why it baffles me why people wonder why Doughty hasnt gone on another lung bursting run down the wing moments after he's done it too
Think of Doughty a bit like Usain Bolt... Both can get up really impressive levels of speed but the trouble is it cant be sustained and like with any running, there has to be a period of recovery
Ask Bolt to run 100m straight after he's finished one race and he's not going to do it at the same speed that he's just achieved
Its why it baffles me why people wonder why Doughty hasnt gone on another lung bursting run down the wing moments after he's done it too
I’m not saying I agree with Chris, but you do get players than seem to be able to do it. Tariq Lamptey for Brighton seems to put the burners on every time he goes forward. Bale did it for Spurs every week. The problem Charlton and Doughty have, is that he will go on a lung busting run, then when he gets back into position it would be nice if we kept the ball for more than 5 seconds so he can recover.
Guys, even when you are playing for the dog and Duck 2nd team, how knackering is it if the opposition has the ball most of the time and you are constantly trying to get the ball back and last night's curry is still strong in the mouth. The way Brentford play is fluid with ease of pass which meant the combination of chasing the ball for Cafc for 98 minutes and especially in the last 30 when so many gaps opened up and we lost our shape after the early subs in the 60th minute. (Field and Williams, our best players at the time) they may of needed to come off but we were a weaker team after they departed.
Guys, even when you are playing for the dog and Duck 2nd team, how knackering is it if the opposition has the ball most of the time and you are constantly trying to get the ball back and last night's curry is still strong in the mouth.
Probably the most accurate description of my Sunday league days. Fortunately it was only like this in the season we chose to disband at the end of.
Guys, even when you are playing for the dog and Duck 2nd team, how knackering is it if the opposition has the ball most of the time and you are constantly trying to get the ball back and last night's curry is still strong in the mouth.
Probably the most accurate description of my Sunday league days. Fortunately it was only like this in the season we chose to disband at the end of.
I didn't get too knackered playing Sunday league. This was mainly down to the fact that there was really only so much running you could do, when you couldn't actually get out of your own penalty area. Running out of the penalty box, would've only served to get you away from the action....
Apart from Sarr and minimal fees for Bonne and Purrington do we have any other player who actually cost a transfer fee?
Pretty sure everyone else is a free transfer, a loan or came through the academy.
Compare that to Brentford last night whose keeper alone cost 3m.
To be fair Brentford also bring a lot of money in through player sales, so their net spend isn't high. They're very good at buying cheap and selling dear (e.g. with Konsa), whereas we've been terrible at it in recent years
This is exactly right and a large part of why Brentford have been so successful - it’s a positive feedback loop.
You make a profit on players, you can buy better talent, you make even more profit selling them which allows the purchase of even better talent and so on: Egan, Mepham, Konsa, Maupay and most likely Benrahma this summer...
IMO they are the current “model” club if you’re looking to rise up the EFL pyramid.
Apart from Sarr and minimal fees for Bonne and Purrington do we have any other player who actually cost a transfer fee?
Pretty sure everyone else is a free transfer, a loan or came through the academy.
Compare that to Brentford last night whose keeper alone cost 3m.
To be fair Brentford also bring a lot of money in through player sales, so their net spend isn't high. They're very good at buying cheap and selling dear (e.g. with Konsa), whereas we've been terrible at it in recent years
This is exactly right and a large part of why Brentford have been so successful - it’s a positive feedback loop.
You make a profit on players, you can buy better talent, you make even more profit selling them which allows the purchase of even better talent and so on: Egan, Mepham, Konsa, Maupay and most likely Benrahma this summer...
IMO they are the current “model” club if you’re looking to rise up the EFL pyramid.
Scrapped their academy, and put their resources into scouting young pros, with a lot of "moneyball" analysis. It's a very different model to ours
Comments
We're you transfer embargoed after an injury crisis and unable to strengthen and did you have 3 owners in one season of which out the players future into uncertainty after they were told there was no money.
No to all of the above
Now go and sit on the naughty step and don't move until you are told 😊
However, he, like all club legends, is not without criticism. Nobody is perfect, Lee will know this himself. Supporter forums and social media are an excellent platform for us fans to put across our views. Some people unfortunately don't construct their criticism in the correct manner and some get carried away. 'It is what it is'.
LB is a fantastic man manager and morale booster. He has the ability to make players run though walls for him. He does, from my point of view, need to become a better game manager. I feel we've lost more points that we should have from being in a good position within a match. Of course the quality of available players to him plays a big part but there are other ways to see out a game of football than simply battening down the hatches and trying to hang on for 20-30 mins.
Still, 100% support from me.
Sure he probably makes mistakes like any manager but you saw the difference in skill levels between Brentford and Charlton last night. The one thing you could not fault last night, indeed for the whole season, was the effort the team put in. Add back 3 or 4 players with a bit more quality (e.g. Taylor, Gallagher etc) and Bowyer would have had them comfortably safe from relegation.
Phillips - Championship quality easily
Matthews - Championship quality easily
Purrington - ok he's a League One standard player, but a decent one
Oshilaja - I'm not actually sure. Some days he seems Championship, others League Two
Lockyer - Championship quality easily
Pearce - juuuuust about Championship quality, raises his game against better opponents
Williams - Championship quality easily
JFC - when fit, Championship quality
Taylor
Aneke - the jury is out but I certainly think he could be good enough for this league
Page - we'll never know alas
Amos - who cares?
McGeady - a fraud who puts the lie to 'quality'
Pratley - Championship-quality defender
Bonne - getting there
Green - jury certainly out but has pedigree
Morgan - Premiership-quality in training
Solly
Sarr - when Forest sign him you'll realise
Cullen - top Championship quality
Hemed - has the pedigree and the class - does he have the pace any more? Maybe
Field - Premiership-quality in training
Oztumer - yeah ok we've finally reached another inarguable League One player. But a really good one!
Lapslie - yeah League One
Doughty - Premiership-quality in training
I think that paints a rather different picture, don't you?
It makes a big difference when it comes to breaking teams down. It is a bit telling that all of our goals post restart have come from headers.
Phillips - Championship
Amos - who cares? - Agree.
Matthews - Championship
Purrington - Lower Championship
Oshilaja - Lower Championship
Lockyer - Championship
Pearce - Lower Championship - Down to his pace.
Page - Injured all season, but previously Championship.
Solly - Bottle Job
Sarr - Championship
Williams - Championship
JFC - Championship
Field - Championship
Oztumer - High L1/low Champ
Lapslie - Mid League 1
Doughty - Championship
McGeady - League 1/Lower Champ
Pratley - Higher L1/ Lower Champ
Green - League 1
Morgan - Championship
Cullen - High Champ/Low Prem
Gallagher - Premier League
Aneke - Lower Champ/Upper League 1
Bonne - Lower Champ/Upper League 1
Hemed - Low Championship, may score more with proper service, if he had pace he'd probably have 5 goals plus by now.
Davison - Lower Championship/Upper L1
Leko - Championship
Taylor Bottle Job.
Pretty sure everyone else is a free transfer, a loan or came through the academy.
Compare that to Brentford last night whose keeper alone cost 3m.
I hope you win 5.0 Today.
Last night he was expected to defend against arguably the best attack in the division and, being one of the few we have with a bit of pace, be one of our main creative attacking threats too as exemplified by his contribution to the goal.
In those circumstances it doesn't surprise me that an inexperienced player, having jumped from the 5th tier to the 2nd just a few months back, got knackered against the form team of the division.
Another way of looking at it is to go through that list and ask yourself what division they were playing in last season. Mainly League One, or lower, and we didn't exactly storm the League One title last year, did we?!
Some of those players are on the way up and will no doubt go onto better things, whereas some are on the way down and will most likely never play at a level higher than they are now.
So, overall, I think it's difficult to argue with SHG's original point that at the start of the season it was "pretty much a league one squad".
With that background and starting squad there should be no doubt that Bowyer has done well this year regardless of whether we stay up or go down. But when you add in the horrific injury list, the behind the scenes fiasco, a budget you need a microscope to locate, the transfer embargo denying us any sort of meaningful reinforcements and losing your two best players (Taylor and Gallagher) for half a season, then it's an absolute miracle we weren't down by March!
Made over 40m in the summer when they sold Konsa, Maupay and Mepham.
Benrahma was signed 2 years ago for 2.7m, will probably be sold for at least 20m.
Ask Bolt to run 100m straight after he's finished one race and he's not going to do it at the same speed that he's just achieved
Its why it baffles me why people wonder why Doughty hasnt gone on another lung bursting run down the wing moments after he's done it too
The way Brentford play is fluid with ease of pass which meant the combination of chasing the ball for Cafc for 98 minutes and especially in the last 30 when so many gaps opened up and we lost our shape after the early subs in the 60th minute. (Field and Williams, our best players at the time) they may of needed to come off but we were a weaker team after they departed.
IMO they are the current “model” club if you’re looking to rise up the EFL pyramid.