Bring back Phil Chapple. Seriously … he was the architect the last time we were successful under Chris Powell. Knows his onions
Pretty sure he’s at Fulham.
I think Garry Nelson said, when talking about the old boys reunion for the Curbs stand unveil, before the Oxford game, that Chapple (Chaps) was scouting for Luton, and was there on business as well as to honour curbs!
I do wonder if we are going a bit over the top with criticism at the moment?
I know we’re not great at the moment and I’m not defending whether we are or not.
But didn’t Peter Varney have his son at the club for a time, different times, same thing?
And yet in general terms PV is highly thought of by the fanbase.
Time will tell whether all this is right or not, Thomas isn’t daft, if he can see things are not working, I’m sure he’ll make changes in time.
I think Alex Varney was in the academy before Peter joined the club but those accusations will always be made.
It’s not a problem when a senior club employee has a relative at the club. Why not. I’ve said before that as long as the coaching staff are happy with the footballing progress being made all’s well. Anybody not cutting it will soon be found out. I really hope Jacob goes on and forges a successful professional career. If he’s good enough I’m sure he will.
It's either just an "awkward coincidence" or "somewhat suspicious" that the one position where we seem to be most short in, just happens to be the one where Ged Roddy's son plays....
It's either just an "awkward coincidence" or "somewhat suspicious" that the one position where we seem to be most short in, just happens to be the one where Ged Roddy's son plays....
Not really. They've been playing a thirty something right back out of position instead of junior, if it was an actual conspiracy of any kind Jr would've been shoe horned into every game.
We do need a left back and we should have signed one by now but I think this is a bit of a stretch honestly.
Jacob Roddy hasn't been a total disaster on the field of play. Certainly no worse than plenty of other youth left-backs we've had. He clearly has ability, regardless of how much his move was smoothed by his dad's presence
I think whole thing about Jacob Roddy being there wouldn’t be hardly mentioned if we weren’t in a position where we didn’t have a fit left back at the club.
This kind of nepotism isn’t unheard in football and in some ways if was given a scholarship with the under 18s as he had shown some talent and wanted to be close to his dad at a tender age then you can sort of understand it.
What’s bothers me is though he came in seemed to be fast tracked into the first time with absolutely no merit whatsoever, we all saw against Wimbledon just how out of his depth he was.
im just getting sick of our football club being used. Whether that be Thomas using the club as a platform to promote his shit music or Roddy shoe horning his lad into the team.
what we need is more genuine people involved who have the clubs best interests at heart and not just wanting to satisfy their own hidden agendas
Jacob Roddy hasn't been a total disaster on the field of play. Certainly no worse than plenty of other youth left-backs we've had. He clearly has ability, regardless of how much his move was smoothed by his dad's presence
Does he?
I don’t think so but it’s all about opinions he’s got some ability but he’d be like a lamb to the slaughter in L1 football at the moment.
There have been grumblings about roddy for some time now from people at the training ground - his failings at reading seemed to relate to his lack of people skills and people I’ve spoken to can see why - insincere , head down and miserable. Let’s hope he has other attributes - curbs for DOF for me all day long
Released by Southampton at 16 is no disgrace. Two years at Bradford College then a Professional contract at a league one club. You can understand why questions are being asked and eyebrows raised.
Jacob Roddy hasn't been a total disaster on the field of play. Certainly no worse than plenty of other youth left-backs we've had. He clearly has ability, regardless of how much his move was smoothed by his dad's presence
Does he?
I don’t think so but it’s all about opinions he’s got some ability but he’d be like a lamb to the slaughter in L1 football at the moment.
Jacob Roddy hasn't been a total disaster on the field of play. Certainly no worse than plenty of other youth left-backs we've had. He clearly has ability, regardless of how much his move was smoothed by his dad's presence
Does he?
I don’t think so but it’s all about opinions he’s got some ability but he’d be like a lamb to the slaughter in L1 football at the moment.
Released by Southampton at 16 is no disgrace. Two years at Bradford College then a Professional contract at a league one club. You can understand why questions are being asked and eyebrows raised.
I was released by Arsenal at 16. Would love to throw my hat in the mix for this token left back spot, but unfortunately I’m currently ruled out by a ruptured waistline injury.
Released by Southampton at 16 is no disgrace. Two years at Bradford College then a Professional contract at a league one club. You can understand why questions are being asked and eyebrows raised.
I was released by Arsenal at 16. Would love to throw my hat in the mix for this token left back spot, but unfortunately I’m currently ruled out by a ruptured waistline injury.
Respect 👏, out of interest was that doing the limbo mate 😉.
Yes it's a little different and because Carl and Tracy Leaburn are club legends we will probably let it slide and rightly so. TS has looked at Brentford with a Danish owner and coach and their 'moneyball' approach. Is that how we are operating ? Maybe the stats for Dobson and Clare stood out ? Do we have an analytics expert now at the club ? Not sure but not been impressed TBH. Early doors but not heading in right direction.
Jumping in, remembered some mention of data analysis in an old interview from Adkins, tracked it down and:
Asked about the process of bringing in players, Adkins told the South London Press: “I like to be hands on but we have got a recruitment team here. Steve Gallen heads that up, Ged Roddy is in there – there is all the data analysis that goes on.
“There are attributes I’m looking for in the team. The guys are spending a lot of time researching the players who are out there. At the appropriate time we will sit down together and say ‘these are the players we can bring in, how do we go and do it?’ And I’ll be involved at that stage a bit more.”
From Gallen's interview on the OS after signing Clare
"We talk through all these things - myself, the manager, Ged Roddy [Technical Director] and the chairman. We’re all talking and giving our opinions, and we all decide whether to move for a player. We all agreed pretty quickly on Sean Clare, we were well aware of him."
Looks like the committee tried to build a horse and ended up with a camel. As it stands. There is still time to flatten the hump, just.
It's the "data analysis" and "research", no issue with using data to back up real world scouting, but brings up images of our much loved ex laptop scout , just hope it's not used as a first identifier on a player, it honestly sounds like searching for a player on FM, pick your attributes and hit search.
Would rather see Curbs as DOF....a real football man....no analytics just knows a good player when he sees one
I think there is far too much use of stats , a midfielder that just passes sideways and backwards must have great stats compared with a creative midfielder that tries to make things happen.
It's either just an "awkward coincidence" or "somewhat suspicious" that the one position where we seem to be most short in, just happens to be the one where Ged Roddy's son plays....
Not really. They've been playing a thirty something right back out of position instead of junior, if it was an actual conspiracy of any kind Jr would've been shoe horned into every game.
We do need a left back and we should have signed one by now but I think this is a bit of a stretch honestly.
Not entirely. From nowhere he got to play in the EFL Cup and was on the bench for the Oxford game. It wouldn't surprise me if he was taken to MK Dons as part of the wider squad (they usually take more than 18). That's one hell of a jump from where he was a couple of months ago.
I'm not saying it's suspicious, but it's hardly surprising that a few eyebrows have been raised. After all if the academy just wanted to recruit an 18 year old left back, surely there would have been other options e.g. from the London Premier League clubs who regularly release loads of players
The posse are looking to string someone up. Roddy fits the bill but I don't think any of us can be sure that the recruitment decisions and lack of them so far are down to him alone or even largely him. The man who will know where responsibility lies is Thomas Sandgaard and it's he who will be feeling the he most pressure because he has th he most yo lose. Let's see how he responds before we hang anyone. His son's appointment isn't helping him but if that was an inappropriate decision, let's judge that once we are clearer who Sangaard holds primarily responsible for the mess we appear to be in.
The posse are looking to string someone up. Roddy fits the bill but I don't think any of us can be sure that the recruitment decisions and lack of them so far are down to him alone or even largely him. The man who will know where responsibility lies is Thomas Sandgaard and it's he who will be feeling the he most pressure because he has th he most yo lose. Let's see how he responds before we hang anyone. His son's appointment isn't helping him but if that was an inappropriate decision, let's judge that once we are clearer who Sangaard holds primarily responsible for the mess we appear to be in.
Unfortunately, I think the detectives have already put two and two together and decided that Roddy is an enemy. Hard to really turn the tide on that once the assumption has set in.
I have no idea if the lad will turn out to be decent or not but I just cant see Adkins standing for a player being put in the squad because of who his dad is. But alongside that it does seem very weird looking at his record before arriving here. But I just cant see it happening as there is too much money involved from TS perspective and Adkins had a reputation to consider.
Adkins can't be happy with the budget he has unless we are paying big bucks, but the recruits we are bringing in wouldn't demand that money. He must be tolerating this and hoping for the best.
I have no idea if the lad will turn out to be decent or not but I just cant see Adkins standing for a player being put in the squad because of who his dad is. But alongside that it does seem very weird looking at his record before arriving here. But I just cant see it happening as there is too much money involved from TS perspective and Adkins had a reputation to consider.
Maybe he had the lad sprung on him like Bowyer had Schwartz? I just don't buy that he is a player we would have been interested in ordinarily. You can say it's only a small matter, but the way this lad has been fast tracked is highly questionable. And if Roddy is pulling a few strings for him how do we know he isn't pulling some more elsewhere in the club to satisfy his own interests? TS has certainly given him the clout to be influential right across this club.
Call me paranoid. Call me impatient. But I have for watched this football club have it's pants pulled down year after year as crooks and chancers have systematically tried to destroy it from within as have most of you.
If there's one fan base that have the right to question any of motives and decisions going on within their beloved football club and speak up if they don't think it's right then it's us.
The posse are looking to string someone up. Roddy fits the bill but I don't think any of us can be sure that the recruitment decisions and lack of them so far are down to him alone or even largely him. The man who will know where responsibility lies is Thomas Sandgaard and it's he who will be feeling the he most pressure because he has th he most yo lose. Let's see how he responds before we hang anyone. His son's appointment isn't helping him but if that was an inappropriate decision, let's judge that once we are clearer who Sangaard holds primarily responsible for the mess we appear to be in.
Maybe it's time for our Great Dane to put us straight on a few things before this goes too far.
He appears to be a good communicator & now is the time for him to demonstrate this to those who support our great club & without whom, there would be no Charlton Athletic.
An ex CEO once called us "customers" and, as such were not respected or acknowledged as playing a vitally important part in taking our club onwards & upwards.
I'm pretty confident that TS knows our worth and would totally endorse this if questioned.
What he needs to do now is to reassure the faithful that he understands our concerns and what measures he intends to take to address them.
Honesty, even if it is not what we want to hear, would go some way towards cementing the "special relationship" formed when he came on board & which currently appears to be an uncertain one.
Maybe CAST could convey this to him & suggest that he speaks on Charlton TV in the run up to Saturday's match ?
There is nothing strange afoot. It is no more than a matter of professional dynamics.
So can we please once again park the personality assassination. Last year it was Bowyer. What is this desperate need to personalise everything?
The club approach was evident from last year. Did you think Jaiyesimi was a Bowyer signing? I do not dismiss the lad he genuinely has potential but do you think Bowyer scouted him? Do you think Adkins scouted Dobson, Clare?
Ged Roddy is an extremely talented & successful strategist. He is a talented academic who played a large part in developing a sports university for young sporting talent at Team Bath where he had hands on experience at levels 7-9 of the football pyramid.
In dealing with such emerging talent he was identified as the person to design and implement the Premier League Elite Player Performance Plan. Over 8yrs It was an impressive piece of work proving to be a notable success at a PL level.
It is no doubt why Reading appointed him as their Academy Director. It did not appear to go well but in truth little has gone well at Reading for some years.
Note (As I referenced with Sage’s earlier post please take care in alleging Nepotism. It does not exist in isolation. If you assert his sons employment is nepotism then Messrs Avory & Adkins can but have been complicit.
If the club is unreasonably positioned to financially reward JR it is a misappropriation of funds. What is the difference with Mr Southall awarding a contract to his wife’s company? You want to go there? It is a puerile distraction.)
Mr Sandgaard has hired Roddy as Technical Director.
What does that mean? Without a specific definition it can mean anything & everything. There seems to be no definition beyond « aligning the technical footballing development of the club across all levels. » The strategic headlines register as - the one club approach - the development pathway.
The business need is defined by a simple question « How do you maximise the corporate investment benefit from the excellence of the Academy programme? As a business strategy it is extremely difficult to challenge.
For a new to the industry investor how do you build the plan? You do it by a process of consultation and industry based informed opinion from which you define a strategy and a related series of policies. In this case aligning recruitment at all levels, training regimes & integration from the Academy, through the Development Programme to the Senior Squad.
It is a role for a strategist. Strategists invariably come in all shapes & sizes. Not necessarily being people persons they rarely handle an operational portfolio more normally reporting directly to the CEO. The role is defined by clarity & definition of analytical thought not by shaking hands.
Once the strategy is designed the CEO, with all heads of business having had input, will ask them to sign into it. Thus Gallen, Roddy, Avory, maybe Murphy and Adkins will have been asked to own the strategy. That’s it.
Yet the CHALLENGE is not the strategy but how & when you implement it against the reality of the real-time workplace and the business infrastructure & culture you inherited.
It has been done a million times before across every industry and with every one it is the same. How do you align strategic direction with operational need because at some point with every strategy « the rubber has to hit the road ».
In case you were in any doubt the operational need is where Adkins is sitting.
Thus I have to ask where were you all when Bowyer left, and in May?
Why did we retain Jackson?
Why did you think Euell was promoted? Why was Hayes promoted?
Did not the retention list and the offered contracts send a message?
Did not the record level of young scholars taken on professional contracts send a message? Where do you think they were all going to play?
What did you think the integrated squad training implemented last year was about?
Everything screams continuity and stability and development from within. Why?
Where have you been for the abomination of the past 12yrs? Did you not notice it cost the club it’s Stadium & Training Ground? What you wanted to throw the dice just one more time?
What does it mean for the recruitment process? It means targeted data based recruitment against a range of performance & investment criteria. While we all reference Transfermarkt and Google our data analysts will have been doing the same across a range of different databases for a range of potential targets.
What does it look like for the recruitment we have seen, Mr Sandgaard has told you his panel - Mr Sandgaard (Finance), Mr Gallen (Market Intelligence & Negotiations), Mr Roddy (Data Analysis & Strategic Compliance), Mr Adkins (Performance Management).
I have added the titles but in essence everyone will also have had their « footballing input ».
I have zero problem with the CVs in the room but remain unconvinced they are all on the same page. That is an issue for the CEO.
Now you can moan, whinge, wine, complain and abuse but it is not about one man. Abusing one man will not change the strategy.
The results may change the pace of implementing the strategy. They probably should.
I have zero problem with the strategy. Would I have implemented it yet? No.
I don’t think the infrastructure or the culture of the club was/ is yet strong enough.
I will no doubt offend but for me for all of the excellence of the Academy, in relation to others, the cutting edge, the physicality, the decision making is not sharp enough. To grow their careers these young men have to survive a highly competitive, physically and mentality tough environment.
I know that sounds Bowyeresque but we are in League 1. If you like in an industrial landscape we are almost too nice, too academic.
If you watched any of the recent Millwall Fulham game (I recorded it) it defined the difference. For 75/ 80 minutes Fulham dominated the game through their technical skills & intelligence. For the last 10/15 Millwall nearly rescued a point through sheer physicality.
I readily concede senior recruitment as of now looks exactly like a committee compromise. Yet, no matter the strategy, in any transition there is one overriding principle. You have to empower the Clubhouse Manager. Diminish his authority and management of the clubhouse becomes almost impossible. When challenges arise players will look at one person for answers.
If you seriously think any experienced clubhouse manager would have elected to operate the preseason we have seen with the personnel he had by choice I respectfully disagree. Did you listen to any of Adkins ambitions in the close season? We missed every single milestone.
Where do we go from here? Much will depend once again for very different reasons on the closing days of the transfer window. It is still a journey to be completed. Even then with a largely wasted pre season we may have to see how the journey develops as the next phase of the season evolves.
Why we are here has to be open to question. I do feel in light of the journey we have travelled for the past 18 if not 36 months we seem to have added complications we needed not to have faced at this time.
That is very easy for me to say. It appears to have been, with one exception, a very difficult and painfully slow market for most clubs.
If mistakes have been made so be it. I remain entirely comfortable with the intent of the CEO and the quality of the CVs in the building. Clearly there is work to be done.
Comments
We do need a left back and we should have signed one by now but I think this is a bit of a stretch honestly.
For me, if what Richard Cawley reports is true then having Steve Gallen negotiating fees and contracts is a gross misallocation of skills and resource
im just getting sick of our football club being used. Whether that be Thomas using the club as a platform to promote his shit music or Roddy shoe horning his lad into the team.
what we need is more genuine people involved who have the clubs best interests at heart and not just wanting to satisfy their own hidden agendas
It's the "data analysis" and "research", no issue with using data to back up real world scouting, but brings up images of our much loved ex laptop scout , just hope it's not used as a first identifier on a player, it honestly sounds like searching for a player on FM, pick your attributes and hit search.
I'm not saying it's suspicious, but it's hardly surprising that a few eyebrows have been raised. After all if the academy just wanted to recruit an 18 year old left back, surely there would have been other options e.g. from the London Premier League clubs who regularly release loads of players
I just don't buy that he is a player we would have been interested in ordinarily.
You can say it's only a small matter, but the way this lad has been fast tracked is highly questionable.
And if Roddy is pulling a few strings for him how do we know he isn't pulling some more elsewhere in the club to satisfy his own interests? TS has certainly given him the clout to be influential right across this club.
Call me paranoid. Call me impatient. But I have for watched this football club have it's pants pulled down year after year as crooks and chancers have systematically tried to destroy it from within as have most of you.
If there's one fan base that have the right to question any of motives and decisions going on within their beloved football club and speak up if they don't think it's right then it's us.
He appears to be a good communicator & now is the time for him to demonstrate this to those who support our great club & without whom, there would be no Charlton Athletic.
An ex CEO once called us "customers" and, as such were not respected or acknowledged as playing a vitally important part in taking our club onwards & upwards.
I'm pretty confident that TS knows our worth and would totally endorse this if questioned.
What he needs to do now is to reassure the faithful that he understands our concerns and what measures he intends to take to address them.
Honesty, even if it is not what we want to hear, would go some way towards cementing the "special relationship" formed when he came on board & which currently appears to be an uncertain one.
Maybe CAST could convey this to him & suggest that he speaks on Charlton TV in the run up to Saturday's match ?
What does that mean? Without a specific definition it can mean anything & everything. There seems to be no definition beyond « aligning the technical footballing development of the club across all levels. » The strategic headlines register as - the one club approach - the development pathway.
The business need is defined by a simple question « How do you maximise the corporate investment benefit from the excellence of the Academy programme? As a business strategy it is extremely difficult to challenge.
It is a role for a strategist. Strategists invariably come in all shapes & sizes. Not necessarily being people persons they rarely handle an operational portfolio more normally reporting directly to the CEO. The role is defined by clarity & definition of analytical thought not by shaking hands.
Why did we retain Jackson?
Why did you think Euell was promoted? Why was Hayes promoted?
Where have you been for the abomination of the past 12yrs? Did you not notice it cost the club it’s Stadium & Training Ground? What you wanted to throw the dice just one more time?
I have added the titles but in essence everyone will also have had their « footballing input ».
The results may change the pace of implementing the strategy. They probably should.
I will no doubt offend but for me for all of the excellence of the Academy, in relation to others, the cutting edge, the physicality, the decision making is not sharp enough. To grow their careers these young men have to survive a highly competitive, physically and mentality tough environment.
I know that sounds Bowyeresque but we are in League 1. If you like in an industrial landscape we are almost too nice, too academic.
That is very easy for me to say. It appears to have been, with one exception, a very difficult and painfully slow market for most clubs.
If mistakes have been made so be it. I remain entirely comfortable with the intent of the CEO and the quality of the CVs in the building. Clearly there is work to be done.