Agree. Hopefully someone is good enough to step up.
However finding a defensive midfielder with legs is a lot easier than finding a 20 goal striker. Long legged Plymouth DCM and even the Gills CM that scored against us are much better than what we’ve got. So even if there was not a player to take the championship by storm I am sure that we could have improved!
Doesn’t work if their clubs want big money for them though. The Rochdale winger looked good against us and then he ended up signing for Man City. Even if they’re available for us you’re not going to pay £1m+ for a player, give him a 3 or 4 year contract then convince him him to sign on only £2-3k due to the salary cap. They could be earning more than that already and get a better deal in the summer when clubs have more room in their budget (and no cap as it turns out).
On Quest they mentioned the pressure on Bowyer, so the wider football world is well aware that we're underperforming
Ally Maxwell noted the defensive record at home (9 games conceding 2 a game) but also thought Bowyer's demeanour and post match interviews over the last few months weren't helping getting the players in the right frame of mind
But net result is that this has wasted this season. We went out on a limb to buy a right mid. Lost out on the Gills man and then pushed the boat out for DJ. So money was there. We just focused on the wrong priority!
The best footballers play on instinct. That comes from their own ability and also clear direction from the coach. The combination of an individual being able to express themselves but within the coach's overall game plan.
Take Liverpool - last season they won the PL by 18 points from City. This season they are 22 points behind. That's a 40 point turn round. At times their players can't string three passes together. Even Klopp is feeling the pressure.
The difference between Klopp and Bowyer - Klopp has a track to run on and knows how he wants his team to play. He and the players have something to revert back to once that confidence returns. In the same way as Guardiola knew what he needed to do to get his team back on track, Klopp will do so too in time.
But what is LB's style of football? How was it that he managed to steer us towards promotion? I'm afraid the longer this goes on one questions whether he actually has a "style" and whether we were successful more on the back of a dozen players who are now plying their trade at Championship level or higher. With LB I see more a rigid expectation of what each player should be doing and when they aren't doing that they are blamed - in private or even public.
They are dropped as a result. If and when they return they are afraid to make the same mistakes, to not do exactly what the coach expects them to do. That is when instinct walks out the door, when they stop making the runs that they used to without ever thinking or to deliver even the most simple of passes. Failure becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
There is only one way to break that. I mentioned that stat about Cardiff under McCarthy on the post match thread. How does a team comprising of the same players go from taking 29 points from 24 games under one manager to immediately taking 21 from 9 under another? There's no "baggage" for a start. There's no same message week in week out falling on deaf ears. McCarthy is also experienced enough to go in with a clear vision and the presence and gravitas that enables him to carry that off.
But net result is that this has wasted this season. We went out on a limb to buy a right mid. Lost out on the Gills man and then pushed the boat out for DJ. So money was there. We just focused on the wrong priority!
I don’t think we can be certain about the priorities, it’s a window in which you can’t always get what you want and sometimes late on in the window you sign other players because you need the numbers. I think Matt Smith is an example of that. DJ not so much as we needed another winger, we only have two.
But net result is that this has wasted this season. We went out on a limb to buy a right mid. Lost out on the Gills man and then pushed the boat out for DJ. So money was there. We just focused on the wrong priority!
I don’t think we can be certain about the priorities, it’s a window in which you can’t always get what you want and sometimes late on in the window you sign other players because you need the numbers. I think Matt Smith is an example of that. DJ not so much as we needed another winger, we only have two.
Respectfully disagree. You don’t go into the last day just accepting what’s going spare. You have to make priorities and then attack them. I think Gallen did this. But my take is Bowyer never saw DCM as an issue. Why would we even bother with Smith? We needed a DCM and a CB. And we got neither. And yet we let Lapslie go. Honestly no point in spending money on Swartz and DJ unless the gaping hole was fixed first.
But net result is that this has wasted this season. We went out on a limb to buy a right mid. Lost out on the Gills man and then pushed the boat out for DJ. So money was there. We just focused on the wrong priority!
I don’t think we can be certain about the priorities, it’s a window in which you can’t always get what you want and sometimes late on in the window you sign other players because you need the numbers. I think Matt Smith is an example of that. DJ not so much as we needed another winger, we only have two.
The CBs weren’t injured on 31st December though. I genuinely don’t think Bowyer was that fussed because he’s always mentioned Gunter and Pratley covering there
But net result is that this has wasted this season. We went out on a limb to buy a right mid. Lost out on the Gills man and then pushed the boat out for DJ. So money was there. We just focused on the wrong priority!
I don’t think we can be certain about the priorities, it’s a window in which you can’t always get what you want and sometimes late on in the window you sign other players because you need the numbers. I think Matt Smith is an example of that. DJ not so much as we needed another winger, we only have two.
Respectfully disagree. You don’t go into the last day just accepting what’s going spare. You have to make priorities and then attack them. I think Gallen did this. But my take is Bowyer never saw DCM as an issue. Why would we even bother with Smith? We needed a DCM and a CB. And we got neither. And yet we let Lapslie go. Honestly no point in spending money on Swartz and DJ unless the gaping hole was fixed first.
How do you know they didn’t prioritise those positions? Not filling those gaps isn’t proof that they didn’t try. We don’t know who they went for but missed out on.
DJ was needed regardless as otherwise we’d only have one winger in a squad that lacks pace. Schwartz more debatable but we didn’t know we’d get Stockley at the time and only had 3 strikers (Smyth was never really a striker).
The situation is doing the next incumbent a massive favour. There will be a pick up and they’ll get credit and others will highlight how much Bowyer was holding us back.
Sometimes change and fresh starts are needed, even more so in football. It feels like now is in all parties best interests.
Karl Robinson is in no way a bad football manager, but this feels very much like the time when it was in everyone’s best interests for him to move on.
I suspect recency bias may play a part, but for me the performances/results feel even worse now than they did with Robinson.
Conceding an average of 3 goals per home game for about 2 months would be astonishingly bad for a team at the bottom of the Premier League, let alone one aiming for promotion from a dreadful League One.
It was n’t prioritised as we we were actually prepared to let Lapslie go and make the position weaker. There were probably 15 CMs and CHs in our league that would have improved us. Not to mention U23 teams. The point is that the bar set by our two DCMs was so so low that you could have blindfolded yourself and picked any other DCM is the league and they would be an improvement! In fact I’d go as far as saying that you’d probably be able to pick half of DCMs in League 2 and we’d look more mobile!
If he called a player out in public just the once, then that is ok. Its an open mistake and football is an emotional sport. He might apologise and be professional. Move on. An open forgivable mistake if it's just the once. He can't stop doing it now though and he is completely unable to shut up. Why on earth has he gone down this road?
Why has he gone back in time? He was a lot more content, professional and mature a few years ago. Surely the experience is a learning process and you move forward, not backwards. I don't get it.
That's why I assume he is going through a rough patch in his personal private life and he's just far from happy.
The short fuse has came back.
Unfortunately, it sounds like he is now simply, just an asshole.
Quite saddened by it to be honest. It's not who he really is.
If he called a player out in public just the once, then that is ok. Its an open mistake and football is an emotional sport. He might apologise and be professional. Move on. An open forgivable mistake if it's just the once. He can't stop doing it now though and he is completely unable to shut up. Why on earth has he gone down this road?
Why has he gone back in time? He was a lot more content, professional and mature a few years ago. Surely the experience is a learning process and you move forward, not backwards. I don't get it.
That's why I assume he is going through a rough patch in his personal private life and he's just far from happy.
The short fuse has came back.
Unfortunately, it sounds like he is now simply, just an asshole.
Quite saddened by it to be honest. It's not who he really is.
Unfortunately it feels like the younger Bowyer re-emerging, rather than the mature version mellowed by age and his fishing lake. Lets face it the younger Bowyer was an asshole
It was n’t prioritised as we we were actually prepared to let Lapslie go and make the position weaker. There were probably 15 CMs and CHs in our league that would have improved us. Not to mention U23 teams. The point is that the bar set by our two DCMs was so so low that you could have blindfolded yourself and picked any other DCM is the league and they would be an improvement! In fact I’d go as far as saying that you’d probably be able to pick half of DCMs in League 2 and we’d look more mobile!
Lapslie was already out on loan and isn’t a DM, he’s thrived at Mansfield in a more attacking CM role. I doubt many League 1 rivals would be letting their first choice DM go in January too easily. Different story in the summer with contracts ending and players being easier to replace.
So no one can pinpoint who Bowyer was digging out?
Says a lot
That is the blame culture that he has created. On the one hand he says that "it's down to me" but, in the very next breath he says that it is because of player "x", "y" or "z".
It's deflection from the root cause of the problem. There's a certain Manager in charge of a north London club who does that too. Which is why he loses so many dressing rooms. Because players become fed up with it. Ferguson would famously give players the hair dryer treatment in the dressing room but, in public, he would blame the Ref, luck, cheating of the opposition or even the colour of the other team's shirts.
But never, in a post match conference, would he single out a player for blame. Because once you do that to "x" this week you have to do it to "y" next. His own "enforcers" within the team are untouchable. Well possibly until he gets sent off for the second time in ten games that is!
So no one can pinpoint who Bowyer was digging out?
Says a lot
That is the blame culture that he has created. On the one hand he says that "it's down to me" but, in the very next breath he says that it is because of player "x", "y" or "z".
It's deflection from the root cause of the problem. There's a certain Manager in charge of a north London club who does that too. Which is why he loses so many dressing rooms. Because players become fed up with it. Ferguson would famously give players the hair dryer treatment in the dressing room but, in public, he would blame the Ref, luck, cheating of the opposition or even the colour of the other team's shirts.
But never, in a post match conference, would he single out a player for blame. Because once you do that to "x" this week you have to do it to "y" next. His own "enforcers" within the team are untouchable. Well possibly until he gets sent off for the second time in ten games that is!
Yeah I’m not a fan out him calling out players in public.
However I think we focus on the stuff we want to hear. I hear him blame himself as much as he does everything else.
Others just hear him blame players, refs and bizarrely weather.
He clearly wears his heart on his sleeve and just speaks his mind... rightly or wrongly
So no one can pinpoint who Bowyer was digging out?
Says a lot
That is the blame culture that he has created. On the one hand he says that "it's down to me" but, in the very next breath he says that it is because of player "x", "y" or "z".
It's deflection from the root cause of the problem. There's a certain Manager in charge of a north London club who does that too. Which is why he loses so many dressing rooms. Because players become fed up with it. Ferguson would famously give players the hair dryer treatment in the dressing room but, in public, he would blame the Ref, luck, cheating of the opposition or even the colour of the other team's shirts.
But never, in a post match conference, would he single out a player for blame. Because once you do that to "x" this week you have to do it to "y" next. His own "enforcers" within the team are untouchable. Well possibly until he gets sent off for the second time in ten games that is!
Yes, for example he defended Roy Keane completely until Keane slagged off teammates in public on Man U TV! Keep it behind closed doors.
Fergie also had really "aggressive" body language, looking like he would nut a journalist who suggested Man U were a bit rubbish! By contrast Bowyer has looked and sounded beaten and whiney before and after today's game
You can imagine Fergie storming across the pitch to Minto, bemoaning the state of refereeing, how his players were brilliant and deserved so much more etc. But then Fergie wouldn't have made so many changes to personnel, or swapped 4 players at half time
Have seen a couple of posts critical of the January signings, we can all see we needed a Centre Back and an energetic CDM but instead we got Ronnie.
Does anyone now think that this wasn’t a Bows signing and was forced upon by Thomas? - a vanity signing if you will to strengthen the Danish links?
Either way he’s been a complete did and maybe it’s the reason we then couldn’t get another defender in during the window? He cost £300k and decent wages I’m sure and he’s offers absolutely nothing
Sorry to say it, but it's time to for LB to go, we need someone with a deep bank of experience, a history of success, how about the block in the executive box who is in love with us?
I hope he's not the general tosser, one dimensional dressing room bully that his post match comments suggest.
That's not who he is.
He no longer has the understanding emotional connection to players. He's lost all patience and can't stand the fact that he has no direct control.
Which means it is now simply just about him...and how great he apparently thinks he is.
Bowyer is not a villain, but he definitely has lost it. It's just rather sad. He's lost the dressing room and lost professional dignity.
I suggest everyone gives this thread a light break. The digital age/Charlton being shit... has rather boring soul destroying internal dire consequences.
Logging off.
Footballers professional dignity goes no further than their monthly pay cheque. I'd suggest Bowyer does not need the dough and cares for the future of Charlton.
What do you think he does not need financial security? I honestly think he won’t get another football job after this. He only got a chance with us due to playing for us. I hope he gets a full pay off. Yes he’s sounding like an idiot now but on our darkest days he was someone that we could rally behind. That Wembley song now seems a long time ago.....
I think he accumulated enough prior to coming back to us.
Have seen a couple of posts critical of the January signings, we can all see we needed a Centre Back and an energetic CDM but instead we got Ronnie.
Does anyone now think that this wasn’t a Bows signing and was forced upon by Thomas? - a vanity signing if you will to strengthen the Danish links?
Either way he’s been a complete did and maybe it’s the reason we then couldn’t get another defender in during the window? He cost £300k and decent wages I’m sure and he’s offers absolutely nothing
He was signed at the beginning of the window. We then signed more players including DJ for a fee. That suggests to me that it wasn’t a case of Ronnie or someone else
The best footballers play on instinct. That comes from their own ability and also clear direction from the coach. The combination of an individual being able to express themselves but within the coach's overall game plan.
Take Liverpool - last season they won the PL by 18 points from City. This season they are 22 points behind. That's a 40 point turn round. At times their players can't string three passes together. Even Klopp is feeling the pressure.
The difference between Klopp and Bowyer - Klopp has a track to run on and knows how he wants his team to play. He and the players have something to revert back to once that confidence returns. In the same way as Guardiola knew what he needed to do to get his team back on track, Klopp will do so too in time.
But what is LB's style of football? How was it that he managed to steer us towards promotion? I'm afraid the longer this goes on one questions whether he actually has a "style" and whether we were successful more on the back of a dozen players who are now plying their trade at Championship level or higher. With LB I see more a rigid expectation of what each player should be doing and when they aren't doing that they are blamed - in private or even public.
They are dropped as a result. If and when they return they are afraid to make the same mistakes, to not do exactly what the coach expects them to do. That is when instinct walks out the door, when they stop making the runs that they used to without ever thinking or to deliver even the most simple of passes. Failure becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
There is only one way to break that. I mentioned that stat about Cardiff under McCarthy on the post match thread. How does a team comprising of the same players go from taking 29 points from 24 games under one manager to immediately taking 21 from 9 under another? There's no "baggage" for a start. There's no same message week in week out falling on deaf ears. McCarthy is also experienced enough to go in with a clear vision and the presence and gravitas that enables him to carry that off.
This is a very good post. There're some other posts on this thread that also point to the exact problem.
I don't think Bowyer is able to turn it around unless he dramatically changes his approach towards the players. I've mentioned my direct boss on this thread before. Actually I can sort of imagine how our players have been feeling in the past few months. Some of them definitely dread going to the training ground and maybe also dread playing matches under Bowyer. It's no good when employees constantly feel afraid of their boss. As many posters have pointed out, Bowyer has lost the dressing room. I used to think he had matured and mellowed but unfortunately he doesn't seem matured enough to be a good manager. He seems to lack man-management skills which are very important for a football manager to be successful.
Comments
Ally Maxwell noted the defensive record at home (9 games conceding 2 a game) but also thought Bowyer's demeanour and post match interviews over the last few months weren't helping getting the players in the right frame of mind
Take Liverpool - last season they won the PL by 18 points from City. This season they are 22 points behind. That's a 40 point turn round. At times their players can't string three passes together. Even Klopp is feeling the pressure.
The difference between Klopp and Bowyer - Klopp has a track to run on and knows how he wants his team to play. He and the players have something to revert back to once that confidence returns. In the same way as Guardiola knew what he needed to do to get his team back on track, Klopp will do so too in time.
But what is LB's style of football? How was it that he managed to steer us towards promotion? I'm afraid the longer this goes on one questions whether he actually has a "style" and whether we were successful more on the back of a dozen players who are now plying their trade at Championship level or higher. With LB I see more a rigid expectation of what each player should be doing and when they aren't doing that they are blamed - in private or even public.
They are dropped as a result. If and when they return they are afraid to make the same mistakes, to not do exactly what the coach expects them to do. That is when instinct walks out the door, when they stop making the runs that they used to without ever thinking or to deliver even the most simple of passes. Failure becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
There is only one way to break that. I mentioned that stat about Cardiff under McCarthy on the post match thread. How does a team comprising of the same players go from taking 29 points from 24 games under one manager to immediately taking 21 from 9 under another? There's no "baggage" for a start. There's no same message week in week out falling on deaf ears. McCarthy is also experienced enough to go in with a clear vision and the presence and gravitas that enables him to carry that off.
In February we got 4 points
In February Swindon got 10 points
DJ was needed regardless as otherwise we’d only have one winger in a squad that lacks pace. Schwartz more debatable but we didn’t know we’d get Stockley at the time and only had 3 strikers (Smyth was never really a striker).
Conceding an average of 3 goals per home game for about 2 months would be astonishingly bad for a team at the bottom of the Premier League, let alone one aiming for promotion from a dreadful League One.
He can't stop doing it now though and he is completely unable to shut up. Why on earth has he gone down this road?
Why has he gone back in time? He was a lot more content, professional and mature a few years ago. Surely the experience is a learning process and you move forward, not backwards. I don't get it.
That's why I assume he is going through a rough patch in his personal private life and he's just far from happy.
The short fuse has came back.
Unfortunately, it sounds like he is now simply, just an asshole.
Quite saddened by it to be honest. It's not who he really is.
It's deflection from the root cause of the problem. There's a certain Manager in charge of a north London club who does that too. Which is why he loses so many dressing rooms. Because players become fed up with it. Ferguson would famously give players the hair dryer treatment in the dressing room but, in public, he would blame the Ref, luck, cheating of the opposition or even the colour of the other team's shirts.
But never, in a post match conference, would he single out a player for blame. Because once you do that to "x" this week you have to do it to "y" next. His own "enforcers" within the team are untouchable. Well possibly until he gets sent off for the second time in ten games that is!
He clearly wears his heart on his sleeve and just speaks his mind... rightly or wrongly
Fergie also had really "aggressive" body language, looking like he would nut a journalist who suggested Man U were a bit rubbish! By contrast Bowyer has looked and sounded beaten and whiney before and after today's game
You can imagine Fergie storming across the pitch to Minto, bemoaning the state of refereeing, how his players were brilliant and deserved so much more etc. But then Fergie wouldn't have made so many changes to personnel, or swapped 4 players at half time
Does anyone now think that this wasn’t a Bows signing and was forced upon by Thomas? - a vanity signing if you will to strengthen the Danish links?
Either way he’s been a complete did and maybe it’s the reason we then couldn’t get another defender in during the window? He cost £300k and decent wages I’m sure and he’s offers absolutely nothing
I don't think Bowyer is able to turn it around unless he dramatically changes his approach towards the players. I've mentioned my direct boss on this thread before. Actually I can sort of imagine how our players have been feeling in the past few months. Some of them definitely dread going to the training ground and maybe also dread playing matches under Bowyer. It's no good when employees constantly feel afraid of their boss. As many posters have pointed out, Bowyer has lost the dressing room. I used to think he had matured and mellowed but unfortunately he doesn't seem matured enough to be a good manager. He seems to lack man-management skills which are very important for a football manager to be successful.