Charlie Kirk (p68 - released by Barrow)

mendonca

Kirk wins the award for the most unfancy fancy dan. 

cafcsinger

Chunes said:

I doubt anybody is surprised. The problem was never his ability, it was that he never wanted to be here. 

That's just not true, what was Kirk good at as a footballer? Couldn't shoot, tackle, head it, wasn't fast or strong. Ok crosser/passer of the ball but that's it

NabySarr

He almost scored on Saturday but for an amazing save from the Harrogate keeper 

https://x.com/harrogatetown/status/1759171148732883368?s=46&t=mEmS51nyCqmemhJshcDkBA

Chunes

cafcsinger said:

Chunes said:

I doubt anybody is surprised. The problem was never his ability, it was that he never wanted to be here. 

That's just not true, what was Kirk good at as a footballer? Couldn't shoot, tackle, head it, wasn't fast or strong. Ok crosser/passer of the ball but that's it

I'm not gonna get into an argument on CL where I find myself defending Charlie Kirk 

Scoham

cafcsinger said:

Chunes said:

I doubt anybody is surprised. The problem was never his ability, it was that he never wanted to be here. 

That's just not true, what was Kirk good at as a footballer? Couldn't shoot, tackle, head it, wasn't fast or strong. Ok crosser/passer of the ball but that's it

You don’t achieve his goal and assist stats even at L2 level over a 6 seasons without showing some ability. Two of those seasons were in L1.

I don’t think it can be argued that Kirk truly wanted to be here, he never really looked like he put everything into his performances. We paid £500k and gave him a long contract because of the form he showed with Crewe, and despite his form here they brought him back.

Chunes

Going back to Crewe just about sums him up. Where is he supposed to go from there? Any other club would think twice before giving him that big opportunity again. At least if he went to another club e he could've proved he can make it somewhere else. 

Chris_from_Sidcup

Chunes said:

Going back to Crewe just about sums him up. Where is he supposed to go from there? Any other club would think twice before giving him that big opportunity again. At least if he went to another club e he could've proved he can make it somewhere else. 

If he did well over the next 18 months and i was a northern club in league 1 then i'd certainly consider him.

I don't think he's a bad player, just didn't like it in London and never settled. It can happen. Some players just don't fit at one club and are great for another, that's football. Even the likes of Bergkamp and Henry didn't settle or play well (both in Italy) but were then incredible for Arsenal. Obviously not for 1 second saying Kirk is 'incredible' but you get my point about players settling.

ElfsborgAddick

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

captainbob said:

My Crewe-supporting colleague told me today that Kirk was the best player on the pitch on Saturday, was causing havoc on the wing (with the full back overlapping) and very nearly scored the winner. 

Just saying.

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he start on the subs bench?

Started the second half.

usetobunkin

The £notes he was paid were perfect. 

They didn’t not try or say we are down in London and don’t fancy it.

J BLOCK

Chunes said:

I doubt anybody is surprised. The problem was never his ability, it was that he never wanted to be here. 

I doubted his ability, didn't see anything from him in a Charlton shirt. 

Karim_myBagheri

He was cack. Gave him a lot of allowances due to his father passing away but there came a moment where I thought well I know we come across as a charity with the amount of injured players we have but this is taking the piss. 

That man city bloke Florina or whatever his name is reminds me of Kirk. Which is no compliment. 

Marriott110

We never played in a system that he played in at Crewe which prompted us to buy him in the first place & he showed no real willingness to adapt, neither side covered themselves in glory with the whole transfer

Kips

Marriott110 said:

We never played in a system that he played in at Crewe which prompted us to buy him in the first place & he showed no real willingness to adapt, neither side covered themselves in glory with the whole transfer

 He had a number of managers at cafc plus 2 loan stints in that time where he never shone despite playing in a variety of formations. They can't all have been wrong.

So Kirk was solely the problem in my opinion.

MintoHumbugs

Lazy, couldn’t tackle , didn’t take on a player, couldn’t shoot . Apart from that he showed promise.

SDAddick

cafcsinger said:

Chunes said:

I doubt anybody is surprised. The problem was never his ability, it was that he never wanted to be here. 

That's just not true, what was Kirk good at as a footballer? Couldn't shoot, tackle, head it, wasn't fast or strong. Ok crosser/passer of the ball but that's it

He played the equivalent of just under 22 games (admittedly spread across 35 appearances) last season between us and Burton. 

He scored five goals and assisted four more. It's a "goal contribution" the equivalent of every 2.4 matches. Which is not terrible by any stretch.

I do think Kirk is a brilliant player, and he's not someone I would build around. But I do think we sometimes go overboard in saying how bad he is. He's not Ben Watson in his second season with us, for example. But obviously him being here, from how he ended up here, to not recruiting players to help accommodate for him and get the best out of him, was an absolute mess. 

Another example of the club spending money and spending it poorly.

SporadicAddick

I’ll never forget him collapsing like a bag of shit at The Valley against Cray Valley PM after being tackled. The most embarrassing behaviour I’ve ever seen from a Charlton player.

Bangkokaddick

I happened to be in Crewe a week ago. I spoke to some Crewe fans explaining I supported the other CAFC and they immediately thanked me (well Charlton) for letting them have Charlie Kirk back.

One of the women must have been something to do with the club. She was apparently pleading with Kirk's girlfriend  to stop him joining Charlton because of the situation with his father, suggesting he left it until the next window but the money spoke. He was not in the right frame of mind for obvious reasons and she believed he simply never settled after that initial traumatic time.

All makes sense. You can't blame him for leaving when the money offered was so much more but it was a disaster. 

I'm sure he will do very well back at Crewe. Not sure he'll get another big money move though.

BalladMan

Bangkokaddick said:

I happened to be in Crewe a week ago. I spoke to some Crewe fans explaining I supported the other CAFC and they immediately thanked me (well Charlton) for letting them have Charlie Kirk back.

One of the women must have been something to do with the club. She was apparently pleading with Kirk's girlfriend  to stop him joining Charlton because of the situation with his father, suggesting he left it until the next window but the money spoke. He was not in the right frame of mind for obvious reasons and she believed he simply never settled after that initial traumatic time.

All makes sense. You can't blame him for leaving when the money offered was so much more but it was a disaster. 

I'm sure he will do very well back at Crewe. Not sure he'll get another big money move though.

Doubt he needs another big money move after rinsing Charlton for 3 years @ 300k per year. 

ElfsborgAddick

BalladMan said:

Bangkokaddick said:

I happened to be in Crewe a week ago. I spoke to some Crewe fans explaining I supported the other CAFC and they immediately thanked me (well Charlton) for letting them have Charlie Kirk back.

One of the women must have been something to do with the club. She was apparently pleading with Kirk's girlfriend  to stop him joining Charlton because of the situation with his father, suggesting he left it until the next window but the money spoke. He was not in the right frame of mind for obvious reasons and she believed he simply never settled after that initial traumatic time.

All makes sense. You can't blame him for leaving when the money offered was so much more but it was a disaster. 

I'm sure he will do very well back at Crewe. Not sure he'll get another big money move though.

Doubt he needs another big money move after rinsing Charlton for 3 years @ 300k per year. 

He does if he wants to take it easy after packing it in.

SDAddick

BalladMan said:

Bangkokaddick said:

I happened to be in Crewe a week ago. I spoke to some Crewe fans explaining I supported the other CAFC and they immediately thanked me (well Charlton) for letting them have Charlie Kirk back.

One of the women must have been something to do with the club. She was apparently pleading with Kirk's girlfriend  to stop him joining Charlton because of the situation with his father, suggesting he left it until the next window but the money spoke. He was not in the right frame of mind for obvious reasons and she believed he simply never settled after that initial traumatic time.

All makes sense. You can't blame him for leaving when the money offered was so much more but it was a disaster. 

I'm sure he will do very well back at Crewe. Not sure he'll get another big money move though.

Doubt he needs another big money move after rinsing Charlton for 3 years @ 300k per year. 

He didn't offer himself the contract. 

I don't put much weight in what players are rumored online to make. But whatever it was, the club offered it. 

Bangkokaddick said:

I happened to be in Crewe a week ago. I spoke to some Crewe fans explaining I supported the other CAFC and they immediately thanked me (well Charlton) for letting them have Charlie Kirk back.

One of the women must have been something to do with the club. She was apparently pleading with Kirk's girlfriend  to stop him joining Charlton because of the situation with his father, suggesting he left it until the next window but the money spoke. He was not in the right frame of mind for obvious reasons and she believed he simply never settled after that initial traumatic time.

All makes sense. You can't blame him for leaving when the money offered was so much more but it was a disaster. 

I'm sure he will do very well back at Crewe. Not sure he'll get another big money move though.

That's sad but it makes sense. And in fairness to Kirk, what happens if he does his ACL between the summer and January windows and he's left a huge pay raise on the table?

This is something where I would really like to know more about how the club evaluates players' personalities when lining up transfers. In Kirk's case, everything we've heard is that he never settled, and I want to know if the club considered this. Obviously it's hard because he lost his dad just before joining Charlton, so they may have evaluated him before that and then he had a major traumatic upheaval in his life that would change anyone. 

But I think about how we've seen some leaks about "unprofessionalism" in the squads down the years and it makes me wonder how good the club is at evaluating players' attitudes off the pitch. 

mendonca

I do think you can blame somebody if they move for money and it doesn't work out. 

ElfsborgAddick

mendonca said:

I do think you can blame somebody if they move for money and it doesn't work out. 

In isolation with the Kirk signing, the guy has my 100% sympathy with the passing of his father and the emotions that go with it.

As a Charlton fan, he signed a potentially life changing contract(I still understand Taylor f****** us over) with all this going on. 

 He was okay to uproot 180 miles for the dough so I am not agreeing with the emotional side.

Off_it

Marriott110 said:

We never played in a system that he played in at Crewe which prompted us to buy him in the first place & he showed no real willingness to adapt, neither side covered themselves in glory with the whole transfer

Back in my playing days I played at centre back. However, in one game I played centre forward, but the team never really played to my strengths - which was tapping in a cross in front of an open goal from under 6 yards. Not running the channels, holding the ball up or winning headers. So it never really worked.

I still blame that team for not playing to my strengths. The bastards.

Fortune 82nd Minute

Anyone see the wonderful interview with our Charlie in the Football League paper yesterday?

Apparently, Charlie says he's been given a lift returning to an environment where he feels loved!

As for us horrid Charlton he says "I had 5 managers and 2 owners at Charlton and every time I thought I was doing well, the manager would get sacked and you'd have to start over again."

But here's the best bit. "I feel at the moment they're a club who don't know where they want to go or, if they do know, how to get there. I left at the right time because  I need stability which is what I feel at Crewe."

Well Charlie I have to say the club does know where it wants to go. It wants to go forward without people like you!

Sage

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

Anyone see the wonderful interview with our Charlie in the Football League paper yesterday?

Apparently, Charlie says he's been given a lift returning to an environment where he feels loved!

As for us horrid Charlton he says "I had 5 managers and 2 owners at Charlton and every time I thought I was doing well, the manager would get sacked and you'd have to start over again."

But here's the best bit. "I feel at the moment they're a club who don't know where they want to go or, if they do know, how to get there. I left at the right time because  I need stability which is what I feel at Crewe."

Well Charlie I have to say the club does know where it wants to go. It wants to go forward without people like you!

Genuinely up there with the most useless, pathetic excuses of a so called professional footballer.

soapy_jones

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

Anyone see the wonderful interview with our Charlie in the Football League paper yesterday?

Apparently, Charlie says he's been given a lift returning to an environment where he feels loved!

As for us horrid Charlton he says "I had 5 managers and 2 owners at Charlton and every time I thought I was doing well, the manager would get sacked and you'd have to start over again."

But here's the best bit. "I feel at the moment they're a club who don't know where they want to go or, if they do know, how to get there. I left at the right time because  I need stability which is what I feel at Crewe."

Well Charlie I have to say the club does know where it wants to go. It wants to go forward without people like you!

Thanks Charlie.  I had hoped you would of tried as hard on the pitch as you have in slagging your employers off to the press.

swordfish

So a player who was unhappy at the club, and felt unwanted having failed to live up to expectations, makes a remark about the managerial instability during his time there. My opinion of him isn't changed by that and I agree with him that he needed to leave.

Manic_mania

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

Anyone see the wonderful interview with our Charlie in the Football League paper yesterday?

Apparently, Charlie says he's been given a lift returning to an environment where he feels loved!

As for us horrid Charlton he says "I had 5 managers and 2 owners at Charlton and every time I thought I was doing well, the manager would get sacked and you'd have to start over again."

But here's the best bit. "I feel at the moment they're a club who don't know where they want to go or, if they do know, how to get there. I left at the right time because  I need stability which is what I feel at Crewe."

Well Charlie I have to say the club does know where it wants to go. It wants to go forward without people like you!

don't forget the 2 managers that you had when on loan that didn't want you either.

*Shrug*

North Lower Neil

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

Anyone see the wonderful interview with our Charlie in the Football League paper yesterday?

Apparently, Charlie says he's been given a lift returning to an environment where he feels loved!

As for us horrid Charlton he says "I had 5 managers and 2 owners at Charlton and every time I thought I was doing well, the manager would get sacked and you'd have to start over again."

But here's the best bit. "I feel at the moment they're a club who don't know where they want to go or, if they do know, how to get there. I left at the right time because  I need stability which is what I feel at Crewe."

Well Charlie I have to say the club does know where it wants to go. It wants to go forward without people like you!

He was never doing well.

But it's a pretty normal interview to be honest, we were a mess when he was here, changing owners, managers, coaches  players all the time etc.  And a footballer will almost always blame that, say they didn't have the stability and it didn't work out the way I wanted because of that etc.

In Kirk's case, I think that all contributed, but so did a lot of other things that were on him and not Charlton.

Stig

Fortune 82nd Minute said:

Anyone see the wonderful interview with our Charlie in the Football League paper yesterday?

Apparently, Charlie says he's been given a lift returning to an environment where he feels loved!

As for us horrid Charlton he says "I had 5 managers and 2 owners at Charlton and every time I thought I was doing well, the manager would get sacked and you'd have to start over again."

But here's the best bit. "I feel at the moment they're a club who don't know where they want to go or, if they do know, how to get there. I left at the right time because  I need stability which is what I feel at Crewe."

Well Charlie I have to say the club does know where it wants to go. It wants to go forward without people like you!

I'm not going to blame him for trying to posit a rosy view of himself, even if that view doesn't look good for the club. Hopefully, we've turned a corner now, though. I'm just glad he's not with us anymore.