Decent window and we've spent some cash, but if Purrington or Stockley get injured we are stuffed
Possibly, but it would depend on when they were injured, as there’s always the January window.
Also, strikes me that Gunter may be improving in that LB position, and I remember Magennis getting injured and we picked up a four one away win. Stockley may be better than Josh, but he’s less influential than Lyle Taylor. Wiith our more new improved midfield I think we’ll be creating more chance and getting more players into the box. Of course continuing the optimistic vibe, we may pick up a free agent left back, we’ll see. The birds are singing etc etc.
Need someone to hold up the ball and bring the midfield into play for them to score goals... Leko isnt going to do that. With Stockley this team looks very dangerous, without him, i'm not sure that the ball will stick
Late signings as usual, we seem to have made it a habit recently, which keeps things interesting, but doesn't help in the early season.
The positives are that we have made more permanent signings, signing Stockley to a 3 year contract, the option to buy on Famewo, MacGillivray, Kirk and now Lavelle, we are starting to build a squad for the longer term. Along with DJ, we are now starting to develop a squad, which will help for future windows, as we (hopefully) won't be reliant on picking up 5 or 6 signings, but only 3 or 4, which should help us.
It isn't up there with Ipswich or Wigan, but it is a good start, and much better than the Roland days of signing randoms and washed up veterans who haven't played in the English leagues.
for whoever does an updated squad list: (I think it's right)
Cheers for that @Dazzler21,saved me wading through 500 posts from last night, God, some people must need some sleep today after that night shift!! One thing I see, thought Leko was a season long loan, you have it as 01/22?
I think you have to judge the window as a whole and compare it to the squad that finished last season. Which in my opinion should have got in the play offs. If we had stopped the rot at the start of February, not March, we would have done. In that time we beat Hull, Sunderland and Lincoln and drew with Oxford. So there would have been a chance we could have won the play offs.
Dobson and Clare are good replacements for Pratley and Shinnie, what they aren't is replacements for JFC and Gilbey. We have now addressed that with Arter and Lee. Better late than never.
Millar has been replaced by Kirk, very different type of player and time will tell of its an up grade or not but he is our player on a long contract.
Smith never played and has been replaced by Leko, in a different role but one we needed.
Deji mk1 has been replaced by a younger player on a long term contract. Looks like a significant upgrade.
Maatsen replaced by CBT, who obviously can't play left back but as IM was nearly always played as a winger under Adkins it's not a massive down grade.
Amos and Mcgivilray toss a coin and take your pick. Very different types of keepers but probably only a fag paper between them.
How the hell do you replace Aneke? I have no idea. Probably the truth is you can't.
The big criticism from me isn't the lack of left back now, nor that extra striker or even no back up keeper. It's JFC got injured in April and we only replaced him on deadline day. Gilbey has been out since the start of preseason and we didn't replace him until about 5 days ago. Purrington is/was injured before the season stated and that could have been a quick, cheap fix.
I'll give it a 9 for were we ended up but a 6 for how we got there.
Spot on. I’m now quite positive with a few reservations. Hopefully Sandgaard’s ego and guitar are now in check. He has spent a lot in this window in relative terms and we now (albeit a month late) have what appears to be a decent squad, certainly in terms of numbers. I expected to be disappointed today but I’m not. Sensible and appropriate recruitment for where we are at. Reservations are as follows:
1. Can Nigel now show sufficient flexibility to get the best out of his new squad as he has quite a few selection dilemmas when everyone is fit. Jury out but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.
2. We’re good in terms of numbers but are they any good? Dobson and Clare have not lit any fires since they arrived, is Arter a busted flush, can Leko find his mojo again etc? Kirk, perhaps understandably has not excited as much as we might have expected but it’s early days.
3. Left back. A fit Purrington is an improvement but not in himself the answer IMHO A big risk if we don’t bring in free agent cover.
4. Managing the youngsters. Elerewe and to a lesser extent Barker, Dempsey and Clayden have had their appetites whetted by necessity so far and they are now going to be down the list. Some will benefit from loans to be allowed to grow but Deji will need to be handled carefully as he’s now further down the CB list than he was yesterday.
5. Stockley. How do we maximise his benefits without being one dimensional? On the face of it our recruitment gives us options so long as they are up to it and Nigel let’s them loose. We are buggered if he gets injured although not as deeply as before now we have Leko.
Let’s turn off the blood letting for a few weeks till we see how this settles. If we are in the bottom six come Christmas then fill yer boots but I’m cautiously optimistic.
In my opinion... Great window. Strong team. Spent well over £1,000,000 signing young, talented, motivated players on long term contracts. Also signed players with links to CAFC (Lee, Arter, Leko & Clare) and signed natural leaders and players of the season (Lavelle Kirk & MacG). I also think the temperament of the players we've brought in has been well thought through.
Whats not to like? Yes, we might be a LB or a ST short, but I reckon we might dip into the free transfer market to plug whatever minute holes there might be.
Finally, a sensible window, not one where our sole target is to bring In 'bodies.'
Wow we spent a million. I will go Charlton and support the team as Always but I'm not expecting us to be anywhere near the play-offs. I think this is a below average squad. I hope I am wrong I honestly do. Playing some youngsters through the season will keep me interested and then mount a challenge next season. I'm not in a rush for promotion like others
I agree re. not rushing - however would you not agree this window is a step in the right direction though, a solid base on which to build?
Yes I'd agree we are building. I've no problem with that. But this squad compared to Sheff Wd, Sunderland,Ipswich even Oxford, we won't be challenging
Way too early to make that prediction. We don't know enough about Lavelle. Dobson and Clare need to improve, but made that first step tonight. We don't know what Leko or Arter we're getting either. I'd also predict few people know much about other League 1 squads in too much depth. Oxford look to have a very decent side but a lot of unknowns beyond that.
2 injuries and we are screwed mate
I think that puts us in the same position as 90% of the teams in the division though. In terms of pure numbers, most teams seem to have made roughly the same amount of signings as we have so I can't imagine that it's only Charlton facing potential injury crises.
We're coming out of a pandemic which as badly affected football clubs everywhere. Barcelona were holding a fire sale today! With this and the squad cap, like you say a lot of clubs in exactly the same position. We'll need a bit of luck but we added players today, it's slightly unbalanced but could have been a lot worse.
I am.not so sure we are out of this pandemic with 33,000 a day infected and 100 deaths a day and a lot of resistance to vaccine in some sections plus people so untiring to wear masks on public transport.
I didn't say we were out of it. But with fans allowed back in the ground, then it is getting back to normal for football clubs with increased revenue. Of course another lockdown changes that. However, despite this being the thread to discuss almost everything, it's definitively not to discuss Covid and restrictions.
People talk about "goals in the team" based on previous individual scoring records. But really I think goals come from team style of play and possession in dangerous areas. If we are attacking enough then goals can come from throughout the team.
So I wouldn't worry about individual goal tallys so much and instead we should worry about whether NA can get us ticking properly. That remains to be seen, but at least we are going in the right direction the past 2 matches.
Very good window, would say 2 signings away from excellent, 3 from perfect.
There is a limit on squad size.
How many spaces do we have?
If it’s true that we’re after two free agents they’ll presumably be two of a GK, LB and striker.
Clubs in League One are permitted to name up to a maximum 22 Players, of which a minimum of 8 must be a Home Grown Player. Under 21 players do not need to be named on the Squad List to be eligible to participate in a League Match.
After last night's performance and the arrivals I see no need for a GK (Harness looked solid) or striker (Davison looked sharp and ran strongly for 90 minutes).
The choice of available left backs is very limited and you can see why nobody got signed.
for whoever does an updated squad list: (I think it's right)
Cheers for that @Dazzler21,saved me wading through 500 posts from last night, God, some people must need some sleep today after that night shift!! One thing I see, thought Leko was a season long loan, you have it as 01/22?
Very good window, would say 2 signings away from excellent, 3 from perfect.
There is a limit on squad size.
How many spaces do we have?
If it’s true that we’re after two free agents they’ll presumably be two of a GK, LB and striker.
Clubs in League One are permitted to name up to a maximum 22 Players, of which a minimum of 8 must be a Home Grown Player. Under 21 players do not need to be named on the Squad List to be eligible to participate in a League Match.
After last night's performance and the arrivals I see no need for a GK (Harness looked solid) or striker (Davison looked sharp and ran strongly for 90 minutes).
The choice of available left backs is very limited and you can see why nobody got signed.
Not an expert on who was available but can't believe that's accurate. Joe Bennett was available until he signed for Wigan yesterday. Looking at squad numbers it's a surprise we couldn't get one on loan from the Prem who was U21.
Very good window, would say 2 signings away from excellent, 3 from perfect.
There is a limit on squad size.
How many spaces do we have?
If it’s true that we’re after two free agents they’ll presumably be two of a GK, LB and striker.
Clubs in League One are permitted to name up to a maximum 22 Players, of which a minimum of 8 must be a Home Grown Player. Under 21 players do not need to be named on the Squad List to be eligible to participate in a League Match.
After last night's performance and the arrivals I see no need for a GK (Harness looked solid) or striker (Davison looked sharp and ran strongly for 90 minutes).
The choice of available left backs is very limited and you can see why nobody got signed.
Not an expert on who was available but can't believe that's accurate. Joe Bennett was available until he signed for Wigan yesterday. Looking at squad numbers it's a surprise we couldn't get one on loan from the Prem who was U21.
Which is probably who we were in for as Cawley confirmed we were trying for one. We also had previously been in for Maatsen.
I'd guess after our targets were exhausted they just concluded our best option was sticking with Purrington. To be fair it's probably the least influential position on the pitch and we do have a solid one when fit and a passable backup in Gunter. It's not a disaster.
Positives 1) Younger players signed on decent contracts - Kirk and Lavelle stand out 2) MacG looks a decent keeper 3) Getting the likes of Stockley and Famewo back, meaning some continuity from last season 4) Lee looks a very good player at this level 5) Plenty of wide attacking options now
Negatives 1) The lack of action early in the window. I'm still baffled how we signed so few free agents back on July 1st - MacG was the only one 2) The lateness of much of our activity - 4 players out of the 11 arriving right at the end of the window is surely not what was planned, and other L1 clubs haven't left it so late (and no I don't count Ipswich as they had already done loads of business) 3) Lack of LB cover and to a lesser extent cover for Stockley 4) Going over the squad limit, despite the lack of LB cover. Things could have been easier if we had signed a couple of under 21s or maybe one less midfielder. We have 23 players, one over the limit.
At least one will have to be left out, with Dempsey, JFC and Schwartz the obvious candidates, but we will have to leave out more if we want to sign free agents aged over 21
Very good window, would say 2 signings away from excellent, 3 from perfect.
There is a limit on squad size.
How many spaces do we have?
If it’s true that we’re after two free agents they’ll presumably be two of a GK, LB and striker.
Clubs in League One are permitted to name up to a maximum 22 Players, of which a minimum of 8 must be a Home Grown Player. Under 21 players do not need to be named on the Squad List to be eligible to participate in a League Match.
After last night's performance and the arrivals I see no need for a GK (Harness looked solid) or striker (Davison looked sharp and ran strongly for 90 minutes).
The choice of available left backs is very limited and you can see why nobody got signed.
That last line is bullshit though isn't it? Plenty of under 21 premier League left backs, players like Ogilvie went in the window, and you can actually pay for a player like we did with Lavelle
I think you have to judge the window as a whole and compare it to the squad that finished last season. Which in my opinion should have got in the play offs. If we had stopped the rot at the start of February, not March, we would have done. In that time we beat Hull, Sunderland and Lincoln and drew with Oxford. So there would have been a chance we could have won the play offs.
Dobson and Clare are good replacements for Pratley and Shinnie, what they aren't is replacements for JFC and Gilbey. We have now addressed that with Arter and Lee. Better late than never.
Millar has been replaced by Kirk, very different type of player and time will tell of its an up grade or not but he is our player on a long contract.
Smith never played and has been replaced by Leko, in a different role but one we needed.
Deji mk1 has been replaced by a younger player on a long term contract. Looks like a significant upgrade.
Maatsen replaced by CBT, who obviously can't play left back but as IM was nearly always played as a winger under Adkins it's not a massive down grade.
Amos and Mcgivilray toss a coin and take your pick. Very different types of keepers but probably only a fag paper between them.
How the hell do you replace Aneke? I have no idea. Probably the truth is you can't.
The big criticism from me isn't the lack of left back now, nor that extra striker or even no back up keeper. It's JFC got injured in April and we only replaced him on deadline day. Gilbey has been out since the start of preseason and we didn't replace him until about 5 days ago. Purrington is/was injured before the season stated and that could have been a quick, cheap fix.
I'll give it a 9 for were we ended up but a 6 for how we got there.
Pretty much this.
Would liked to have seen the "spine" built in this window, and really it's 3/4's done, the missing part is that League 1 and beyond Midfielder - Lowery.
Stockley Kirk CM
Lavelle McGillivray
All on perms, all for 2+ years. That's a very decent spine for league 1 that COULD step up to lower championship which is where we need to be looking to establish ourselves over the next 2/3 seasons.
The Dobson/ Clare signings make sense as young potential but with the JFC/ Gilbey situation think it should have been a case of picking up one of them and using that extra cash to go out for Lowery, if either one of them had been fit then think that's how it would have gone anyway.
I was hoping for new LB that would be first choice ahead of Purrington, however, I think NA rates him and is confident in his ability at this level.
People keep saying we need a new Striker to back-up Stockley, but realistically who were we going to get to sit in the bench and only play if Stockley gets injured? I doubt they would be any better than Davison. Note - we didn’t let Aneke go, he chose to leave!
Lavelle was a must as Inniss is so fragile and Deji needs more game time with the 23’s or preferably out on loan.
Arter and Lee provide us with some bite, creativity and much needed experience.
Leko is exciting, similar to Aneke in that you don’t know what you’re going to get but can turn a game in a minute.
Some people questioning Purrington's ability at LB.
Sure, he's not the marauding attacking full back/wingback that perhaps is missing as an option from the squad.
But he's very good at keeping the shape of the defence.
Remember back in 2018/19 after Page was injured, our defence was being pulled all over the place and it was costing us plenty of points?
After Purrington was signed, the defence settled down and was a major factor as we found form to push for promotion.
He may have his limitations, but Purrington's own strength is that he's a very decent defensive fullback at League One level - as he proved in our 2018/19 promotion team.
Comments
Late signings as usual, we seem to have made it a habit recently, which keeps things interesting, but doesn't help in the early season.
The positives are that we have made more permanent signings, signing Stockley to a 3 year contract, the option to buy on Famewo, MacGillivray, Kirk and now Lavelle, we are starting to build a squad for the longer term. Along with DJ, we are now starting to develop a squad, which will help for future windows, as we (hopefully) won't be reliant on picking up 5 or 6 signings, but only 3 or 4, which should help us.
It isn't up there with Ipswich or Wigan, but it is a good start, and much better than the Roland days of signing randoms and washed up veterans who haven't played in the English leagues.
Does anyone know who the left back triallist was for the U23's yesterday?
Long old season ahead, but I look forward to seeing how we sit in January.
In 18/19 it felt like if we didn't go up we would have really struggled the following year. Even though we got promoted we still lost half a team.
That conversation may have already taken place between the 4 of them and that could be the plan?
One thing I see, thought Leko was a season long loan, you have it as 01/22?
So I wouldn't worry about individual goal tallys so much and instead we should worry about whether NA can get us ticking properly. That remains to be seen, but at least we are going in the right direction the past 2 matches.
After last night's performance and the arrivals I see no need for a GK (Harness looked solid) or striker (Davison looked sharp and ran strongly for 90 minutes).
The choice of available left backs is very limited and you can see why nobody got signed.
I'd guess after our targets were exhausted they just concluded our best option was sticking with Purrington. To be fair it's probably the least influential position on the pitch and we do have a solid one when fit and a passable backup in Gunter. It's not a disaster.
Positives
1) Younger players signed on decent contracts - Kirk and Lavelle stand out
2) MacG looks a decent keeper
3) Getting the likes of Stockley and Famewo back, meaning some continuity from last season
4) Lee looks a very good player at this level
5) Plenty of wide attacking options now
Negatives
1) The lack of action early in the window. I'm still baffled how we signed so few free agents back on July 1st - MacG was the only one
2) The lateness of much of our activity - 4 players out of the 11 arriving right at the end of the window is surely not what was planned, and other L1 clubs haven't left it so late (and no I don't count Ipswich as they had already done loads of business)
3) Lack of LB cover and to a lesser extent cover for Stockley
4) Going over the squad limit, despite the lack of LB cover. Things could have been easier if we had signed a couple of under 21s or maybe one less midfielder. We have 23 players, one over the limit.
At least one will have to be left out, with Dempsey, JFC and Schwartz the obvious candidates, but we will have to leave out more if we want to sign free agents aged over 21
It's to take us through the first half of the season and see where we are then. Remember, there will be another window in January.
I like the fact that some players have been signed for the future.
And some players for what's needed right now.
Pretty much this.
Would liked to have seen the "spine" built in this window, and really it's 3/4's done, the missing part is that League 1 and beyond Midfielder - Lowery.
Stockley
Kirk
CM
McGillivray
All on perms, all for 2+ years. That's a very decent spine for league 1 that COULD step up to lower championship which is where we need to be looking to establish ourselves over the next 2/3 seasons.
The Dobson/ Clare signings make sense as young potential but with the JFC/ Gilbey situation think it should have been a case of picking up one of them and using that extra cash to go out for Lowery, if either one of them had been fit then think that's how it would have gone anyway.
Arter and Lee provide us with some bite, creativity and much needed experience.
Leko is exciting, similar to Aneke in that you don’t know what you’re going to get but can turn a game in a minute.
Well done TS, SG, GR and NA!
I would have been quite happy signing the Arsenal Smith on a perm for this season but certainly not on loan.
Sure, he's not the marauding attacking full back/wingback that perhaps is missing as an option from the squad.
But he's very good at keeping the shape of the defence.
Remember back in 2018/19 after Page was injured, our defence was being pulled all over the place and it was costing us plenty of points?
After Purrington was signed, the defence settled down and was a major factor as we found form to push for promotion.
He may have his limitations, but Purrington's own strength is that he's a very decent defensive fullback at League One level - as he proved in our 2018/19 promotion team.