A real rollercoaster season. At the start we wondered if we would still have a club to support and by the end of it miss out on a playoff spot by a whisker. We were completely screwed over at the start by the previous a-holes in charge and then the salary cap so to have come this close is a real positive IMO.
I think many of us at the beginning would have taken that in a heartbeat but by the end of it there is a sense of frustration at what could have been as I still feel this team was definitely good enough for a playoff spot if not automatic promotion.
Some strange decisions have cost us with Bowyer's square peg and midfielder decisions. Not to get another CB in January when we were shipping goals for fun was just bizarre. Sad to see Bowyer's tenure fizzle out but do think we're under better stewardship with Adkins in charge.
There are some good players in that side that was pulled together so quickly but a number who have not lived up to their reputations and another rebuild is required but hopefully we kick it off early and get our prime targets.
Highlight of the season is definitely Thomas Sandgaard. We have so much to thank him for and he really has saved our club. Depsite still being in League 1 I think we can look forward to next season with real optimism for the first time in years.
Onwards and upwards you Addicks!
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adkins has done well over the last 10 games and we now have a good owner. 20/21 is gone, time to stabilise and improve and look forward to 2021/22.
As someone else said, not signing a centre half in January was foolhardy and I just don't buy this there was no one better available.
I did not expect the latter. In fact I don't think many did. We are now being run like a professional outfit.
The fact is that we were not good enough as a squad over the season ... even in what most agree was a mediocre version of League 1.
I see it as an opportunity lost ... and a dent in Sandgaard's stated five/six/seven year plan to achieve top class football.
And make no mistake ... even with heavy investment over the Summer, there are no guarantees next season.
But we are Charlton. The hope burns eternal. We are on the right track now.
And ... where's the harm in one more glorious season as we party down in Cheltenham and tonk the toffs of Cambridge?
However what ever went on between November and March cost us a place in the play offs and possibly automatic promotion. For the last 3 months, even before Bowyer left, we have looked a different club, let alone team since the abomination that was the last Saturday of February.
This is a better squad than the one we had in 17/18 and we have seen in the last 10 weeks there is plenty of solid foundations to build on. Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I think Nigle knows that.
Points required for playoffs in last 5 years;
17/18 71
16/17 73
15/16 74
14/15 69
Regarding manager I think give him a summer to get in some players - massive Clear out required
Rue a lot of the misses and pub league defensive errors and sad how it turned sour with Bowyer after he steered us so magnificently through the choppy waters of the past few seasons however now it feels like we are truly a the start of a new chapter, daresay, era and I'm feeling very optimistic for the club on and just as importantly, if not more so given the past decade, off the pitch.
Would have been great to bounce back up at the first time of asking but now the rebuild starts and hopefully we will see our best pre season and summer squad build for years which will hopefully pay dividends next term under Adkins' stewardship and hopefully, at some point in the season at least, played out in front of a packed Valley.
The team has been much improved under a new positive environment that the new gaffer has brought but I still think we need to remember that this team served up some absolute dross this year and there is much improvement needed.
Missing the playoffs has to be considered a slight failure, but not a massive one. It was always going to be difficult to build a team with the late influx of players, but there have been periods of the season when the team has underperformed and not bringing in a CB in January was an odd decision, as without Inniss and Famewo we let in a ridiculous number of goals for a promotion chasing side.
Called Croydon and posting that.
You'll be a Selhurst regular with @LouisMend in no time at this rate! :-)