Not signing a left back already is criminal. However, what’s worse, far worse, is not looking to replace Aneke and his goals. How on earth can you expect to get into the top 6 when you don’t even look to replace your top scorer and most impactful player. It’s absolutely criminal.
Failure to bring in a left back is bad enough. Failure to replace Aneke is saying you’re naive and stupid enough to think you can be successful.
Stockley is/was the Aneke replacement. Aneke managed 15 goals across a whole season, Stockley got 8 in a half season.
Not denying we are still a body light though. We need someone to replace those Stockley goals. And ideally not wait until January to bring them in.
Stockley was never the replacement for Aneke. We wanted both to be at the club, Aneke chose to move to The Championship.
The fact is, we haven’t replaced him and his impact and we most certainly won’t find someone this late in the window that will.
Stockley and Aneke are different players, quite simply Aneke is a better player who has struggled with fitness/minutes for a number of reasons.
We missed out on the play-offs when we had Stockley and Aneke. We haven’t got a hope in hell when we only have Stockley.
Sure, the club wanted both and to say it how I did didn’t make a lot of sense. Obviously both were here at the same time so acting as if they were directly replacing each other doesn’t make sense.
With all that said, I just don’t think it’s quite the drama you’re making out. You would’ve been laughed off the forum if you had Aneke down for double digits this time last season. Who says Ronnie can’t be that guy this year? (LOL count just shot up I know). If it’s not him, I am expecting at least a loan arrival to walk through the door and provide those goals.
Getting a player in that has a skill set similar to Aneke’s is near on impossible. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s quick, he can score with his head and both feet. He’s only playing in the lower leagues owing to his injury history.
We just have to find someone who can chip in with enough goals. Last year we scored 70 which was one of the best returns in the league. Aneke grabbed 15, Washington 11 and Stockley 8.
If Stockley can get to Aneke’s 15, Washington back to 11, all we need from Player X (Schwartz, incoming loan, etc) is 8-10 goals.
And we'll miss out on the play offs again. We needed/need to improve.
I'd argue that we didn't miss out because of our goals. We missed out because we couldn't defend.
In an ideal world, would we have three strikers that have all proven they can score goals at this level? Obviously. Do I think it's a priority? Probably not. Stockley and Washington are our goal getters this year. Pigott and Bonne are Ipswich's options, Wyke and Keane are Wigan's etc.
Much more pressing in my mind is a resolution to the left back / full back issue. We will never see promotion with Gunter, Matthews and Purrington as our full back options. Get a couple of players in like Dujon Sterling at right back, Conor Grant at left back (two names that have been mentioned on here by myself and others) and watch the team be transformed.
The biggest issue in the team right now is the midfield. We have no control, don’t know how to play through the thirds, and have no movement meaning we simply go long to Stockley. Then the midfield is not progressive enough, or even good enough, to get close to him and pick up the second or loose balls. We have huge issues in this area of the pitch.
Left back is a massive concern. We need one to come in this week and they have to be good at attacking. I can deal with having an attacking left back to support Kirk’s influence and have Matthews at right back. All so long as we also sort out the midfield.
And finally, Wigan have Humphrys, Ipswich have Chaplin. Teams need more than what we have of Stockley and Washington, especially when you wouldn’t play Washington as a 9 in a front three. We had Taylor, Grant and Vetokele and was lucky that Taylor was so good and the midfield really stepped up in the back end of that season. This time we don’t have anything like that quality.
Also, as much as I like Stockley, he’s not mobile enough, he’s not going to stretch the defence of the opposition by making runs in behind, he’s going to spend the vast majority of the time with his back to goal or hoping we get the ball out wide quick enough for him to get his head on a cross. We need more than what he offers us, or if not more, a different option but of similar quality.
Not signing a left back already is criminal. However, what’s worse, far worse, is not looking to replace Aneke and his goals. How on earth can you expect to get into the top 6 when you don’t even look to replace your top scorer and most impactful player. It’s absolutely criminal.
Failure to bring in a left back is bad enough. Failure to replace Aneke is saying you’re naive and stupid enough to think you can be successful.
Totally agree. However, looking at the squad it seems that we have replaced Aneke......with Davison. Adkins basically said this 3 weeks ago when he bigged him up & played him against Palace in the psf.
Last season we sent Davison out on loan
This season he is in the matchday squad .....and coming on.
Not signing a left back already is criminal. However, what’s worse, far worse, is not looking to replace Aneke and his goals. How on earth can you expect to get into the top 6 when you don’t even look to replace your top scorer and most impactful player. It’s absolutely criminal.
Failure to bring in a left back is bad enough. Failure to replace Aneke is saying you’re naive and stupid enough to think you can be successful.
Stockley is/was the Aneke replacement. Aneke managed 15 goals across a whole season, Stockley got 8 in a half season.
Not denying we are still a body light though. We need someone to replace those Stockley goals. And ideally not wait until January to bring them in.
Stockley is not Aneke's replacement. Stockley was here last season WITH Aneke. Aneke has now left.....Stockley is still here.
And while we’re on bizarre decisions; why was Maynard-Brewer sent to Ross County to sit on the bench?! He could do that here.
We give game time to kids who aren’t ready but a keeper who was number two all last season, is sent to Scotland. Something definitely feels awry with our recruitment team.
We have a recall option which I am sure will be exercised if he has not been playing regularly by January. What makes it more strange is before he signed on loan for them, surely we would have had discussions about ensuring he is to play otherwise he would have gone elsewhere.
Not signing a left back already is criminal. However, what’s worse, far worse, is not looking to replace Aneke and his goals. How on earth can you expect to get into the top 6 when you don’t even look to replace your top scorer and most impactful player. It’s absolutely criminal.
Failure to bring in a left back is bad enough. Failure to replace Aneke is saying you’re naive and stupid enough to think you can be successful.
Stockley is/was the Aneke replacement. Aneke managed 15 goals across a whole season, Stockley got 8 in a half season.
Not denying we are still a body light though. We need someone to replace those Stockley goals. And ideally not wait until January to bring them in.
Stockley is not Aneke's replacement. Stockley was here last season WITH Aneke. Aneke has now left.....Stockley is still here.
20/21 - Stockley & Aneke
21/22 - Stockley
And what I was saying was…
20/21 - 34 goals between Aneke, Stockley and Washington
21/22 - 25 goals between Stockley and Washington is a fair expectation?
Replacing Aneke with another 15-20 goal-a-year man would’ve been ideal but in order to simply match what we managed last year (70 goals as a team wasn’t bad at all) we only need an 8-9 goal man, not a 15-20 goal superstar.
I think an improvement in full-backs would lead to an improvement in the midfield. In the 4-3-3 that Adkins seems to favour there are three forwards but no traditional wingers out wide. It needs attacking FBs to provide that width.
IF we somehow manage to rectify this, it gives Clare and Dobson other options than simply lumping it long to Stockley or giving it to Morgan who just isn't a proper playmaker in current form, but again might have more luck with overlapping fullbacks to pass to instead of playing in a narrow corridor.
Will the midfield suddenly become creative dynamos? Probably not. Has Adkins contributed (in part) to his own problems by completely committing to a formation we don't have the players for? Probably yes.
But for me, the wide areas in general and full backs in particular are actually at the root of a lot of our problems.
Not signing a left back already is criminal. However, what’s worse, far worse, is not looking to replace Aneke and his goals. How on earth can you expect to get into the top 6 when you don’t even look to replace your top scorer and most impactful player. It’s absolutely criminal.
Failure to bring in a left back is bad enough. Failure to replace Aneke is saying you’re naive and stupid enough to think you can be successful.
Stockley is/was the Aneke replacement. Aneke managed 15 goals across a whole season, Stockley got 8 in a half season.
Not denying we are still a body light though. We need someone to replace those Stockley goals. And ideally not wait until January to bring them in.
Was always going to be different under Adkins. Bows would have started Stockley/Washington with Aneke as the substitute, Adkins won't be thinking that he needs to do the same. I've never felt we necessarily needed to replace Aneke's goals because the intended tactics/style of play won't rely on it. Bowyer didn't have any attacking midfielders scoring goals, Adkins got goals from Gilbey and should have more depth out wide. If we get the service right and had a central midfielder chipping in, we wouldn't be doing bad. The real issue is going to be Stockley's cover more than a substitution IMO, Davison is the man currently but not good enough.
Not signing a left back already is criminal. However, what’s worse, far worse, is not looking to replace Aneke and his goals. How on earth can you expect to get into the top 6 when you don’t even look to replace your top scorer and most impactful player. It’s absolutely criminal.
Failure to bring in a left back is bad enough. Failure to replace Aneke is saying you’re naive and stupid enough to think you can be successful.
Stockley is/was the Aneke replacement. Aneke managed 15 goals across a whole season, Stockley got 8 in a half season.
Not denying we are still a body light though. We need someone to replace those Stockley goals. And ideally not wait until January to bring them in.
Stockley was never the replacement for Aneke. We wanted both to be at the club, Aneke chose to move to The Championship.
The fact is, we haven’t replaced him and his impact and we most certainly won’t find someone this late in the window that will.
Stockley and Aneke are different players, quite simply Aneke is a better player who has struggled with fitness/minutes for a number of reasons.
We missed out on the play-offs when we had Stockley and Aneke. We haven’t got a hope in hell when we only have Stockley.
Find it hard to believe we wouldn't have made the play offs had Stockley joined instead of Bogle in September/October.
Let’s face it’s not just the midfield or the full backs it’s the whole bloody lot… no area of the team is well set & its way worse than last season.
- CB’s no cover for injuries only a 34 YO or a 17 YO - FB awful options at right back and only one at LB - CM totally unbalanced, no attacking flair & AM who’s just not good enough as a CAM - wingers we only have two plus a L2 squad player & a square peg. - CF we only have one, a L2 kid, a Danish flop and Conor both of who can’t play up top alone.
The whole squad is ill suited for the task and that’s why Roddy | TS should be ashamed be embarrassed by the job they have done this summer.
And while we’re on bizarre decisions; why was Maynard-Brewer sent to Ross County to sit on the bench?! He could do that here.
We give game time to kids who aren’t ready but a keeper who was number two all last season, is sent to Scotland. Something definitely feels awry with our recruitment team.
People im sure we had that discussion with ross county about playing him but lets not forget Abit like levitt and the smiths from arsenal and city im sure we told them and there clubs they would all get a decent amount of game time it didnt happen and they sat on out benches or even worse not even in the squads at all
it happens both ways sometimes and not all loans work out unfortunately
And while we’re on bizarre decisions; why was Maynard-Brewer sent to Ross County to sit on the bench?! He could do that here.
We give game time to kids who aren’t ready but a keeper who was number two all last season, is sent to Scotland. Something definitely feels awry with our recruitment team.
I know the current ownership have tended to get deals done under the radar, and by that i mean they haven't always been common knowledge without many people posting inside info but we are less than a week away from deadline day and as far as i'm aware there has not been a single credible rumour on here for days. It's pretty concerning.
What happened to the Spurs kid (Tobi Omole?) we were linked with? He is still there, played for their U23s the other night. Josh Sims? Jack Tucker is still at Gillingham. Lowery at Crewe? Did Gallen go there last week or not? Jephcott is still at Plymouth. What about loans from the big clubs? Isn't there a Chelsea kid we can take on loan given our good connections there? Man City have a huge academy, must be 1-2 good kids there. Liverpool must've been pleased with Millar's loan given he was in the shop window and they then sold him, so we're in credit with them.
At this rate we'll be signing Madger Gomes on a short term deal.
This shows everything RD did wrong our one season in the Championship in 2019-20. Only losing £1.1M in a division where £10M+ is the norm is why we went down. If RD had just been willing to spend £9M more that season, he would have lost no more money than he did in 2018 and 2019. Nine million could easily have brought four 1.5 million dollar transfers, each player making £750k/year in wages. Add those four starters to our weakest positions in 2020 and we would have easily stayed up and might have been mid-table. The club would have attracted much more attention from potential investors and in the end Roland would have made much more money. Instead he rolled the dice he could break even and we would stay up. He was wrong. We had the third lowest payroll and finished third from bottom. The very definition of penny-wise and pound foolish.
I wonder if TS is going to do the RD season review plan in January i.e if there's a chance of promotion in January, boost the squad, if it's not likely keep your money in your pocket for the summer.
RD was an arse (we all agree), but one who tended to think as a businessman and not a fan. What kind of an owner is TS on financial risk and the acceptance of financial loss?
I wonder if TS is going to do the RD season review plan in January i.e if there's a chance of promotion in January, boost the squad, if it's not likely keep your money in your pocket for the summer.
RD was an arse (we all agree), but one who tended to think as a businessman and not a fan. What kind of an owner is TS on financial risk and the acceptance of financial loss?
He’s more likely to be doing a “season review plan” in January to see what he needs to invest to avoid relegation at this rate!
Is there an award for most disappointing (not worst) transfer window ever? Does this one win it?
Without at least 3/4 very good signings in the next week there’s no chance of promotion and TS is set to lose more over the next two seasons had we gone for it more.
One or two like Clare and Dobson in a strong squad is fine, the problem is they’re currently first choice players and others with even less experience are the squad players and cover.
Great to see relatively big fees spent on Kirk and Stockley but how much of the budget has that taken away from other positions? Clearly there was little left for Kirk and DJs cover, we’re hoping CBT will step up and that frees up money for elsewhere.
The way this window has gone it’s hard to believe it’ll be us getting the best loans. The first few games won’t help convince anyone to come here either.
Can we have some good news this week? And more again next week.
This is starting to feel like a previous window when we were all set up to believe our twat of a Chairman was trying to sign many players, and we couldn’t sign any because we had an embargo on. Whilst it’s understandable that some want to defend TS at all costs, it does feel as though we have been played and something is seriously wrong. For the first time in this division we have a relegation team. A couple of additions won’t change things, the planning has gone.
Wow, it is very depressing to be a Charlton fan at the moment. The rumours have dried up and we are desperately short in so many departments. Recruitment has been a failure to this point but we’ve still got under a week to go. I’m trying to keep faith but it feels like nothing will happen this week and we are hedging our bets on the last day of the window!
This shows everything RD did wrong our one season in the Championship in 2019-20. Only losing £1.1M in a division where £10M+ is the norm is why we went down. If RD had just been willing to spend £9M more that season, he would have lost no more money than he did in 2018 and 2019. Nine million could easily have brought four 1.5 million dollar transfers, each player making £750k/year in wages. Add those four starters to our weakest positions in 2020 and we would have easily stayed up and might have been mid-table. The club would have attracted much more attention from potential investors and in the end Roland would have made much more money. Instead he rolled the dice he could break even and we would stay up. He was wrong. We had the third lowest payroll and finished third from bottom. The very definition of penny-wise and pound foolish.
Roland thought he had accomplished his mission at Christmas. He sold the liability for £1 and still held on to the fixed assets. I really don’t think he cared whether the team was relegated after that.
We need to be careful with Sandgaard and not piss him off to the point he might become disillusioned and walk away.........even if it means another year or so in L1 we need to face up to that fact.....
I am fine with another year or so in league 1. My worry is that at present there is a risk of it being far worse than that (with our current squad and with an average expectations of injuries we are in a relegation fight IMO).
You honestly believe we are on a par with the likes of Cambridge, Crewe, moreCombe, Cheltenham, Plymouth, Fleetwood?
we have had a very bad start but to say we are in a relegation fight is crazy.
here are 10 clubs who the bookies think will finish below us
Has Josh Sims gone anywhere yet? Wonder if he’s the type we’ve put a lower wages offer to and he’s waiting to see if he gets more elsewhere, right up until deadline.
This is starting to feel like a previous window when we were all set up to believe our twat of a Chairman was trying to sign many players, and we couldn’t sign any because we had an embargo on. Whilst it’s understandable that some want to defend TS at all costs, it does feel as though we have been played and something is seriously wrong. For the first time in this division we have a relegation team. A couple of additions won’t change things, the planning has gone.
This. Something is seriously wrong. Still having no fit LB at the club is criminal, and after the start we've had i'd thought/hoped we'd at least bring in 2/3 signings by now.
We need to be careful with Sandgaard and not piss him off to the point he might become disillusioned and walk away.........even if it means another year or so in L1 we need to face up to that fact.....
I am fine with another year or so in league 1. My worry is that at present there is a risk of it being far worse than that (with our current squad and with an average expectations of injuries we are in a relegation fight IMO).
You honestly believe we are on a par with the likes of Cambridge, Crewe, moreCombe, Cheltenham, Plymouth, Fleetwood?
we have had a very bad start but to say we are in a relegation fight is crazy.
here are 10 clubs who the bookies think will finish below us
Lets circle back on that after we play Crewe on Saturday, who helped do our playoff chances in April when we had a much better team than we have now.
And so did they. One of their better players now plays for us.
if we don’t win on Saturday, we don’t get relegated
How does not winning Saturday mean we won’t get relegated?
I was replying to a comment suggesting that if we don't win on Saturday, we will be in league 2 next year and the season is already over. We still have 40 games to turn this around.
To talk of relegation now is stupid, the same people talking of relegation are the same people talking of championship play offs after 3 games, two years ago. We managed to turn that form around easily enough :-)
Its a long season still very very much in its infancy and any talk of relegation, play offs or automatic promotion is very premature for every club in the division at this stage.
Everyone needs to chill and just enjoy being at the games. As has been posted many times already, the table doesnt take shape for another 6-8 games yet.
We’re gambling on loans at the end of the window. And maybe players like Sims accepting a squad player wage.
There will be a lot of players willing to accept a squad player wage - the alternative will be unemployment. The current state of lower league football is parlous.
Appears that our dreadful start hasn’t pushed through an additional budget contingency and there’s me thinking something might change this week. TS is trusting the (his) process.
We really are in for a horrendous season.
For the superstitious ones amongst us, my last season ticket was 19/20, the one before that was 08/09, and I’ve got one this season, potential unwanted hat trick?
Comments
Left back is a massive concern. We need one to come in this week and they have to be good at attacking. I can deal with having an attacking left back to support Kirk’s influence and have Matthews at right back. All so long as we also sort out the midfield.
And finally, Wigan have Humphrys, Ipswich have Chaplin. Teams need more than what we have of Stockley and Washington, especially when you wouldn’t play Washington as a 9 in a front three. We had Taylor, Grant and Vetokele and was lucky that Taylor was so good and the midfield really stepped up in the back end of that season. This time we don’t have anything like that quality.
Also, as much as I like Stockley, he’s not mobile enough, he’s not going to stretch the defence of the opposition by making runs in behind, he’s going to spend the vast majority of the time with his back to goal or hoping we get the ball out wide quick enough for him to get his head on a cross. We need more than what he offers us, or if not more, a different option but of similar quality.
Last season we sent Davison out on loan
This season he is in the matchday squad .....and coming on.
Stockley is not Aneke's replacement. Stockley was here last season WITH Aneke. Aneke has now left.....Stockley is still here.
20/21 - Stockley & Aneke
21/22 - Stockley
20/21 - 34 goals between Aneke, Stockley and Washington
21/22 - 25 goals between Stockley and Washington is a fair expectation?
Replacing Aneke with another 15-20 goal-a-year man would’ve been ideal but in order to simply match what we managed last year (70 goals as a team wasn’t bad at all) we only need an 8-9 goal man, not a 15-20 goal superstar.
IF we somehow manage to rectify this, it gives Clare and Dobson other options than simply lumping it long to Stockley or giving it to Morgan who just isn't a proper playmaker in current form, but again might have more luck with overlapping fullbacks to pass to instead of playing in a narrow corridor.
Will the midfield suddenly become creative dynamos? Probably not. Has Adkins contributed (in part) to his own problems by completely committing to a formation we don't have the players for? Probably yes.
But for me, the wide areas in general and full backs in particular are actually at the root of a lot of our problems.
- CB’s no cover for injuries only a 34 YO or a 17 YO
- FB awful options at right back and only one at LB
- CM totally unbalanced, no attacking flair & AM who’s just not good enough as a CAM
- wingers we only have two plus a L2 squad player & a square peg.
- CF we only have one, a L2 kid, a Danish flop and Conor both of who can’t play up top alone.
The whole squad is ill suited for the task and that’s why Roddy | TS should be ashamed be embarrassed by the job they have done this summer.
it happens both ways sometimes and not all loans work out unfortunately
What happened to the Spurs kid (Tobi Omole?) we were linked with? He is still there, played for their U23s the other night.
Josh Sims?
Jack Tucker is still at Gillingham.
Lowery at Crewe? Did Gallen go there last week or not?
Jephcott is still at Plymouth.
What about loans from the big clubs? Isn't there a Chelsea kid we can take on loan given our good connections there? Man City have a huge academy, must be 1-2 good kids there.
Liverpool must've been pleased with Millar's loan given he was in the shop window and they then sold him, so we're in credit with them.
At this rate we'll be signing Madger Gomes on a short term deal.
This shows everything RD did wrong our one season in the Championship in 2019-20. Only losing £1.1M in a division where £10M+ is the norm is why we went down. If RD had just been willing to spend £9M more that season, he would have lost no more money than he did in 2018 and 2019. Nine million could easily have brought four 1.5 million dollar transfers, each player making £750k/year in wages. Add those four starters to our weakest positions in 2020 and we would have easily stayed up and might have been mid-table. The club would have attracted much more attention from potential investors and in the end Roland would have made much more money. Instead he rolled the dice he could break even and we would stay up. He was wrong. We had the third lowest payroll and finished third from bottom. The very definition of penny-wise and pound foolish.
Now I've soiled myself twice this week. WAKEY WAKEY
RD was an arse (we all agree), but one who tended to think as a businessman and not a fan. What kind of an owner is TS on financial risk and the acceptance of financial loss?
Is there an award for most disappointing (not worst) transfer window ever? Does this one win it?
One or two like Clare and Dobson in a strong squad is fine, the problem is they’re currently first choice players and others with even less experience are the squad players and cover.
Great to see relatively big fees spent on Kirk and Stockley but how much of the budget has that taken away from other positions? Clearly there was little left for Kirk and DJs cover, we’re hoping CBT will step up and that frees up money for elsewhere.
The way this window has gone it’s hard to believe it’ll be us getting the best loans. The first few games won’t help convince anyone to come here either.
If they get knocked down they will get back up again..........
What on earth has happened in this window.
To talk of relegation now is stupid, the same people talking of relegation are the same people talking of championship play offs after 3 games, two years ago. We managed to turn that form around easily enough :-)
Its a long season still very very much in its infancy and any talk of relegation, play offs or automatic promotion is very premature for every club in the division at this stage.
Everyone needs to chill and just enjoy being at the games. As has been posted many times already, the table doesnt take shape for another 6-8 games yet.
There will be a lot of players willing to accept a squad player wage - the alternative will be unemployment. The current state of lower league football is parlous.
We really are in for a horrendous season.
For the superstitious ones amongst us, my last season ticket was 19/20, the one before that was 08/09, and I’ve got one this season, potential unwanted hat trick?