I think Kirk coming in will make a difference. At least he’ll be able to stretch the width and attack them. That will open up things for us. But, that’s not glossing over the fact that Morgan, Dobson and Clare are pretty weak. That area was where the main problems were today. Strange as it sounds, we needed Watson out there from the beginning to provide a cool head. We need Gilbey back but will he be the same player that we glimpsed at the end of last season?! DJ was totally ineffective today. Seemed like he was ill or injured? Very lethargic.
But how will he fit into the current formation ? I really hope it changes or else what's the point of buying wide attackers like Kirk and DJ ? We are so narrow and static today, I know DJ was poor today but he is being channelled into the middle, just not playing to his strengths.
Tough game to watch today. I hate the football we are playing!
Challenges
- Albies set pieces are poor inaccurate & too floaty - Albie takes too many touches with no end product (got caught for the first goal) - Conor constantly out of position either too narrow or not helping his fb - I don’t see what Clare offers he doesn’t influence going forward & doesn’t win the ball - the long ball stuff is so poor, we don’t have a 10 to pick up the flicks and are so predictable - Stockley is being targeted by refs - Nothing going forward from the midfield - Full backs add nothing, Matthew’s looks petrified and Gunter can’t use his left - Watson is getting minutes still! Davison right wing - Officials we’re bloody awful!
Positives
- I think Dobson is good at his job of pressing and winning the ball, keeping it simple but the other two are making him look bad by losing it every time - Akin looks really good and these driving runs are great - That’s it!!
I'm nearly home. Good to be doing an away day with life long friends. Piss poor performance but having supported us for the best part of 57 years nothing I ain't used to. Onwards and upwards as they say and an early night for me.
Best thing about today was on the lash all day on an away day for 18 months.. how I have missed it
Good day, meeting friends in Frankie & Benny's just outside the ground following a stop/start journey via the M25 & M40.
Nice meal lots of chat & catching up & 2 glasses of the pink stuff.
Then there was the match.
Sadly, we were no match for Oxford today.
After the euphoria of finally capturing one of our targets, inevitably ( this IS Charlton !) reality didn't take long to set in.
2 easy peasy goals for the Yellow Perils, a dearth of decent moves & forays into enemy territory from our lads and the game was all but won. I couldn't see where a goal was likely to come from & indeed it failed to materialise from open play. ONE thing the basically incompetent in the black did get right though & Wash didn't let us down.
Akin & Big Ryan didn't do much wrong & our goalscorer demonstrated that he is a class act as usual but the others....best I keep my thoughts to myself but suffice to say, not one impressed me in the slightest. In fact, as others agreed, I can barely remember the talented DJ being involved in anything remotely positive ! Albie tried so hard ( probably too hard) to make something happen but seemed to plumb the depths of despair whenever his offerings went awry Definitely can't fault him for effort.
So, another fruitless visit to the Kassam with nil points to bring south....again.
I haven't heard NA's thoughts on that disappointing, concerning 90+ minutes but will be very interested in his take on things as they stand at present with another match in 3 days' time. Even if our newest recruit starts on Tuesday evening, I fail to see how one player might influence the way in which our threadbare squad could fashion a win, or even a point, unless his name happens to be Lionel. Long balls to JS aren't working & a Plan B is urgently required.
IMO two things need to happen in tandem, and without delay.
Reinforcements, whether permanent or loanees must be brought in before heads drop further & confidence drains away. The latter seems thin on the ground already if today's performance is anything to go by.
And secondly, NA & his trusty assistants must find a different modus operandi to suit the players we will then have on board, at least until the January window opens. I sincerely hope that the gaffer is open to suggestions & constructive criticism from his team otherwise we may as well resign ourselves to another season in this ***** league ( insert your own adjective please ) and our owner will be fortunate to see 5k season tickets sold thereafter.
So, much for the powers that be to ponder and big decisions to make if the faithful has any chance of enjoying their first full season back after lockdown & restrictions. SO much promise & high expectations with supporters playing their part, as always.
Now it's time for TS & NA to step up to the plate and reassure us that our faith in them will not be in vain.
Fanny ... you are almost spot on.
The one bit that you got wrong ... Jaiyesimi. Talented? No.
He's a lump with no brain. People (including Adkins) have blamed the rest of the midfield for not getting Jaiyesimi involved today.
For a professional player, I find that embarrassing. The confident, the arrogant, the good players go looking if things are not coming their way.
You make it happen. You don't wait and hope.
We have that lump for another three years. And that, for me, was the first worrying sign of the new transfer policy. I called it after his first few games. A player to take us into the Championship and beyond? Oh, please.
I'm more optimistic about Kirk. But, oh my ... do we need another four or five like him.
This forum is becoming an ugly place.
Why does a negative opinion about a player = ugly?
Do you prefer "Laa, Laa, Laa ... everything is rosy in the Charlton garden?"
It’s the way you tell ‘em! I think he had a poor game, but looked decent last season and in the friendlies. A lump with no brain is just a weird description of any player. Just seems unnecessary.
And comments about a player being well paid meaning he should sit on the bench to play 20 minutes at Oxford shortly after his died? Case of getting things way out of proportion. It’s only effing football.
Things certainly aren’t rosy though, (I’m not saying they are) and asking fans to be patient isn’t going to go down well after years of underachievement. We all need something to cheer us up (and I’m watching the Handmaid’s Tale, which doesn’t help).
Good day, meeting friends in Frankie & Benny's just outside the ground following a stop/start journey via the M25 & M40.
Nice meal lots of chat & catching up & 2 glasses of the pink stuff.
Then there was the match.
Sadly, we were no match for Oxford today.
After the euphoria of finally capturing one of our targets, inevitably ( this IS Charlton !) reality didn't take long to set in.
2 easy peasy goals for the Yellow Perils, a dearth of decent moves & forays into enemy territory from our lads and the game was all but won. I couldn't see where a goal was likely to come from & indeed it failed to materialise from open play. ONE thing the basically incompetent in the black did get right though & Wash didn't let us down.
Akin & Big Ryan didn't do much wrong & our goalscorer demonstrated that he is a class act as usual but the others....best I keep my thoughts to myself but suffice to say, not one impressed me in the slightest. In fact, as others agreed, I can barely remember the talented DJ being involved in anything remotely positive ! Albie tried so hard ( probably too hard) to make something happen but seemed to plumb the depths of despair whenever his offerings went awry Definitely can't fault him for effort.
So, another fruitless visit to the Kassam with nil points to bring south....again.
I haven't heard NA's thoughts on that disappointing, concerning 90+ minutes but will be very interested in his take on things as they stand at present with another match in 3 days' time. Even if our newest recruit starts on Tuesday evening, I fail to see how one player might influence the way in which our threadbare squad could fashion a win, or even a point, unless his name happens to be Lionel. Long balls to JS aren't working & a Plan B is urgently required.
IMO two things need to happen in tandem, and without delay.
Reinforcements, whether permanent or loanees must be brought in before heads drop further & confidence drains away. The latter seems thin on the ground already if today's performance is anything to go by.
And secondly, NA & his trusty assistants must find a different modus operandi to suit the players we will then have on board, at least until the January window opens. I sincerely hope that the gaffer is open to suggestions & constructive criticism from his team otherwise we may as well resign ourselves to another season in this ***** league ( insert your own adjective please ) and our owner will be fortunate to see 5k season tickets sold thereafter.
So, much for the powers that be to ponder and big decisions to make if the faithful has any chance of enjoying their first full season back after lockdown & restrictions. SO much promise & high expectations with supporters playing their part, as always.
Now it's time for TS & NA to step up to the plate and reassure us that our faith in them will not be in vain.
Fanny ... you are almost spot on.
The one bit that you got wrong ... Jaiyesimi. Talented? No.
He's a lump with no brain. People (including Adkins) have blamed the rest of the midfield for not getting Jaiyesimi involved today.
For a professional player, I find that embarrassing. The confident, the arrogant, the good players go looking if things are not coming their way.
You make it happen. You don't wait and hope.
We have that lump for another three years. And that, for me, was the first worrying sign of the new transfer policy. I called it after his first few games. A player to take us into the Championship and beyond? Oh, please.
I'm more optimistic about Kirk. But, oh my ... do we need another four or five like him.
This forum is becoming an ugly place.
Why does a negative opinion about a player = ugly?
Do you prefer "Laa, Laa, Laa ... everything is rosy in the Charlton garden?"
It’s the way you tell ‘em! I think he had a poor game, but looked decent last season and in the friendlies. A lump with no brain is just a weird description of any player. Just seems unnecessary.
And comments about a player being well paid meaning he should sit on the bench to play 20 minutes at Oxford shortly after his died? Case of getting things way out of proportion. It’s only effing football.
Things certainly aren’t rosy though, (I’m not saying they are) and asking fans to be patient isn’t going to go down well after years of underachievement. We all need something to cheer us up (and I’m watching the Handmaid’s Tale, which doesn’t help).
OK, we'll disagree on that one.
And he is a lump in that he is overweight, ponderous and doesn't have quick feet.
No brain? I base that on his inability to get involved in a game which is passing him by.
Still weird?
Oh, and please don't quote me if your issue is about others saying that Kirk should have played.
I honestly have no idea where Sandgaard stands and I don't think anybody does, outlandish European football aims and a self proclaimed lack of patience, yet a woefully thin squad to start the season leaving everyone else a step ahead.
I think it's fairly obvious the budget is ridiculously small & it's difficult to understand why Adkins came to the club when he has turned down all offers made to him for the last two years & yet Sandgaard seems to have made in nigh on impossible to build a promotion chasing team.
Thanks to Sandgaard we still have a club to support, we got the Range Rovers back from the thieving scum, we have the womens team in house, we have a technical director + his son, we have an improved medical department, we have a fans advisor & we have a clear pathway into the first team for the youngsters (whether they're good enough or not). Unfortunately it seems he's unable or unwilling to fund a squad building that would give us a chance of winning promotion. We've had 3 months to build a squad plus most of last season to spot our targets & yet we're looking at maybe bringing in a few more at the end of the month. Obviously loans & who knows what sort of quality they will be. Premiership in 5 years ? hahaha
One thing you forget is that Adkins said from day 1 that he wanted to bring on the youth.....and that the average age of the squad was too high.
During the summer he has consistently & persistently said that the club want to use the youngsters. At the start of pre-season he mentioned the pre season friendlies & how he wanted to see the U23's in action & who could step up to the first team.
It's just some of you havent been listening. I believe NA was brought in BECAUSE he is willing to use U23's.
This is our future. You might want to get used to it.
Yes he said the average age of the squad was too high but I think he gave the impression that we would be buying young, hungry talent. ......He made the point that he wanted to involve the youngsters in training with the first team to give them a taste not that they would be involved in match day squads whether they were ready or not.
Yes he said he wanted to involve the U23's in the matchday squad. It is then your impression that he wasn't planning on using them. Ever since the players came back to pre season training he has said that if they are good enough he will play them. And then in the pre season games he said that he was impressed & would not hesitate to include them in the matchday squad. He then bigged up Davison saying that he could feature.......and then played him in a pre season friendly whilst resting Stockley.
The signs have been there.
But that's not really what's happened is it? If you ignore the cup game, which for this purpose we probably should.
The only 2 "youth" players that have played are really Morgan and Davison who are both 3 or 4 seasons into "men's" football. It really is time for them to either be worth a place or find a different line of employment. Claydon has had about 15 minutes, over two games.
If he "had to" play the kids, he wouldn't play a 32 year old right back at left back, he would play Roddy and brown nose his boss, or so we keep getting told.
We have reduced the average age by replacing Pratley and Shinnie with Dobson and Clare. We have signed Kirk. We have an option to buy Famewo. As it stands our "first XI" doesn't have a player over 30 in it, that's massively different to last season.
Obviously we are well short, still, in both quality and depth but there is no evidence that the solution, or the instruction, is to just play the u23s.
I didnt say he said he'd play the U23's I said he said he'd involve them in the matchday squad. Take a look at the bench. We had 2 "old 'uns" in Pearce & Watson, who we were told were squad players & not likely to feature much. Then we had the other 5 being U23's including a reserve goalkeeper & a left back who have yet to make their league debuts. It wouldnt take much for both to be playing. Imagine if Gunter had got injured today.........
After being away from the game and team I love for so so long, today was a huge downer. I didn't enjoy that one bit. To the point where I actually think I regret buying a season ticket. What worried me was the fact I couldn't work out an area where we looked remotely strong.
Good day, meeting friends in Frankie & Benny's just outside the ground following a stop/start journey via the M25 & M40.
Nice meal lots of chat & catching up & 2 glasses of the pink stuff.
Then there was the match.
Sadly, we were no match for Oxford today.
After the euphoria of finally capturing one of our targets, inevitably ( this IS Charlton !) reality didn't take long to set in.
2 easy peasy goals for the Yellow Perils, a dearth of decent moves & forays into enemy territory from our lads and the game was all but won. I couldn't see where a goal was likely to come from & indeed it failed to materialise from open play. ONE thing the basically incompetent in the black did get right though & Wash didn't let us down.
Akin & Big Ryan didn't do much wrong & our goalscorer demonstrated that he is a class act as usual but the others....best I keep my thoughts to myself but suffice to say, not one impressed me in the slightest. In fact, as others agreed, I can barely remember the talented DJ being involved in anything remotely positive ! Albie tried so hard ( probably too hard) to make something happen but seemed to plumb the depths of despair whenever his offerings went awry Definitely can't fault him for effort.
So, another fruitless visit to the Kassam with nil points to bring south....again.
I haven't heard NA's thoughts on that disappointing, concerning 90+ minutes but will be very interested in his take on things as they stand at present with another match in 3 days' time. Even if our newest recruit starts on Tuesday evening, I fail to see how one player might influence the way in which our threadbare squad could fashion a win, or even a point, unless his name happens to be Lionel. Long balls to JS aren't working & a Plan B is urgently required.
IMO two things need to happen in tandem, and without delay.
Reinforcements, whether permanent or loanees must be brought in before heads drop further & confidence drains away. The latter seems thin on the ground already if today's performance is anything to go by.
And secondly, NA & his trusty assistants must find a different modus operandi to suit the players we will then have on board, at least until the January window opens. I sincerely hope that the gaffer is open to suggestions & constructive criticism from his team otherwise we may as well resign ourselves to another season in this ***** league ( insert your own adjective please ) and our owner will be fortunate to see 5k season tickets sold thereafter.
So, much for the powers that be to ponder and big decisions to make if the faithful has any chance of enjoying their first full season back after lockdown & restrictions. SO much promise & high expectations with supporters playing their part, as always.
Now it's time for TS & NA to step up to the plate and reassure us that our faith in them will not be in vain.
Fanny ... you are almost spot on.
The one bit that you got wrong ... Jaiyesimi. Talented? No.
He's a lump with no brain. People (including Adkins) have blamed the rest of the midfield for not getting Jaiyesimi involved today.
For a professional player, I find that embarrassing. The confident, the arrogant, the good players go looking if things are not coming their way.
You make it happen. You don't wait and hope.
We have that lump for another three years. And that, for me, was the first worrying sign of the new transfer policy. I called it after his first few games. A player to take us into the Championship and beyond? Oh, please.
I'm more optimistic about Kirk. But, oh my ... do we need another four or five like him.
This forum is becoming an ugly place.
Why does a negative opinion about a player = ugly?
Do you prefer "Laa, Laa, Laa ... everything is rosy in the Charlton garden?"
It’s the way you tell ‘em! I think he had a poor game, but looked decent last season and in the friendlies. A lump with no brain is just a weird description of any player. Just seems unnecessary.
And comments about a player being well paid meaning he should sit on the bench to play 20 minutes at Oxford shortly after his died? Case of getting things way out of proportion. It’s only effing football.
Things certainly aren’t rosy though, (I’m not saying they are) and asking fans to be patient isn’t going to go down well after years of underachievement. We all need something to cheer us up (and I’m watching the Handmaid’s Tale, which doesn’t help).
OK, we'll disagree on that one.
And he is a lump in that he is overweight, ponderous and doesn't have quick feet.
No brain? I base that on his inability to get involved in a game which is passing him by.
Still weird?
As you say, we’ll disagree on that one. But actually, he might have put on a few pounds, so I might give you that one.
He has reasonably quick feet, but yes, it can all go horribly wrong, which is why he’s playing in league one.
Lots of players go missing from time to time. He wouldn’t be the first and he won’t be the last. It’s a criticism Crewe fans have levelled at Kirk, worryingly.
Three games in and even the naysayers now realise you can't win fuck all with no left back, no left winger and no creativity in.the middle of the park.
Kirk SHOULD have been on the bench. Ridiculous to not think he could have done 20 mins.
Oxford will be up there. At this point we are SO far away it is sad.
NOW people realise we are FIVE or SIX players off competing.
We have gone backwards. Hate it. Really hate how poor our current position is.
Yes Kirk could have done 20 mins, but as he's been mourning the death of his father, it is understandable he may have needed some time.
He managed to sign his bumper new contract after his £500,000 transfer.
20 minutes and a chance to earn us a point isn't beyond reasonable.
Wingers go missing all the time. Even at the top level it can happen. DJ did not have a good game today but he will be back better than ever, I have no doubt. Had to LOL the post that said he doesn’t have quick feet though…
It's still early days...... but - we simply lack football intelligence in the current team. There is some natural talent there, but unless you marry that with intelligence you're going nowhere.
Only Gilbey and Purrington to return this season, but if we want to challenge at the top or even top 6 then we are 5-6 players away from that, at least.
You can see it in our lack of creativity. 3 shots on target today, 3 against Wimbledon and 1 against Wednesday, nearly 300 minutes played and no goals from open play.
We don't play to our strikers ability, but neither are going to be prolific at this level. If we play the right way Washington & Stockley might get 20 or so between them, but for top 6, even with a tight defence that's relying on a lot of goals from midfield or defence or striker subs, neither of which look remotely likely based on what we've seen.
Lets hope Gilbey is back soon, Kirk is even better than in past seasons and we can get 5 decent players in.
Wingers go missing all the time. Even at the top level it can happen. DJ did not have a good game today but he will be back better than ever, I have no doubt. Had to LOL the post that said he doesn’t have quick feet though…
Based on what?
His step-over is a thing of wonder.
It achieves nothing apart from delaying the next piece of inevitable ineptitude.
Getting out of League One is not really complicated, you need to build a solid squad of about 20 senior professionals with at least one excellent goalscorer (SWP, Taylor) and a good range of attacking options.
We have one striker, Stockley, and a journeyman in Washington whose best return at this level was 13 league goals in 40 games back in 2014/15.
Let me offer some advice to our “Rockstar Owner” - put your guitar away and your song writing pad and get your chequebook out or things will turn very sour fast.
At present our squad is nowhere near as good as what we had under the execrable Duchatelet in our last promotion season, even under that old scrotum we had a squad full of senior professionals, right now we can’t even fill the bench with senior professional players.
If you don’t believe me then take a look at the squad we had back then…..
Gilbey was bang average for most of last season. Was better towards the end, but I don't remember seeing anything from him that warrants his saviour status on here? Charlton players get injured and suddenly they're as good as Messi.
He's a solid player, but he's not going to answer our prayers for a goal scoring CAM.
Gilbey was bang average for most of last season. Was better towards the end, but I don't remember seeing anything from him that warrants his saviour status on here? Charlton players get injured and suddenly they're as good as Messi.
He's a solid player, but he's not going to answer our prayers for a goal scoring CAM.
To be fair to Gilbey, he only played about 20 games last season and half of them were at the end of season.
It’s extremely early days in the season. Away team loses to home team shock… We are not and were never going to walk this league. Some we will win when unexpected and vice versa. Despite us not playing at all well we came away with a very narrow defeat today and an early pick your socks up reminder. I am looking forward to seeing how they react on Tuesday.
It’s extremely early days in the season. Away team loses to home team shock… We are not and were never going to walk this league. Some we will win when unexpected and vice versa. Despite us not playing at all well we came away with a very narrow defeat today and an early pick your socks up reminder. I am looking forward to seeing how they react on Tuesday.
Despite us not playing at all well we came away with a very narrow defeat today and an early pick your socks up reminder.
I was at the game and there was nothing narrow about it, with better finishing Oxford should have had 3 or 4. We only scored from a pen and barely troubled their keeper in the 2nd half.
I wasn’t there today so can’t offer anything on the game. I highly doubt the return of Gilbey will make much of difference personally. I have a feeling he’ll fit in quite aptly to what seems to be a lightweight midfield.
Too early for me to write off Clare and Dobson. Bit worried about DJ. Didn’t really look like he would set the world alight last season.
Still need to give it time imo, but I wasn’t over the moon when Matthews resigned as that pretty much made him first choice RB. We’ve known all along Purrington shouldn’t really be first choice LB, but it looks like he probably will be. Got to hope Inniss and Famewo stay fit otherwise we’re exposed
I’ve always liked Morgan, but if he gets a run in the team and a chance, he needs to take it.
Let’s see. You never know with football and if we get additional loans in then we still might have a chance. This team wasn’t great last season and we kept a lot of it together. For me this is the biggest challenge. I guess it was pretty much impossible, but I wanted a complete restructuring of the squad. I think we set the wrong precedent renewing the likes of Matthews
Was impressed with TS comments on Charlton TV about taking things slower in the transfer market etc than other competitors (I assume he was alluding to Ipswich and Wigan) Finding the right characters to fit the long-term goal is superimportant. If not Stockley, then certainly Kirk looks like the first significant piece of that jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps Famewo, Dobson, Clare, are also ones that will improve significantly on that journey and are for the long haul rather than expected to be overnight stars.
As Nelse said on Charlton TV any player who could come here and see the ground, the first class training ground and facilities at the club would def want to be part of this. I think I will give NA some latitude to experiment with different formations and tactics to get this squad motoring. Kirk looks really excited to be part of this journey. If he can settle here (which isn't always guaranteed) I have every belief he will be central to any future success. COYA
Was impressed with TS comments on Charlton TV about taking things slower in the transfer market etc than other competitors (I assume he was alluding to Ipswich and Wigan) Finding the right characters to fit the long-term goal is superimportant. If not Stockley, then certainly Kirk looks like the first significant piece of that jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps Famewo, Dobson, Clare, are also ones that will improve significantly on that journey and are for the long haul rather than expected to be overnight stars.
As Nelse said on Charlton TV any player who could come here and see the ground, the first class training ground and facilities at the club would def want to be part of this. I think I will give NA some latitude to experiment with different formations and tactics to get this squad motoring. Kirk looks really excited to be part of this journey. If he can settle here (which isn't always guaranteed) I have every belief he will be central to any future success. COYA
They always said the plan was to get good players in so that we wouldn't need 10 new signings every summer. By signing players who are relatively young to 2/3/4 year deals they're obviously doing that. The problem is it doesn't tie in with Sandgaard's 5 year plan and saying we'll blow through this league.
You can either build a squad slowly over 4-5 transfer windows or you can blow through the league. You can't really do both.
Was impressed with TS comments on Charlton TV about taking things slower in the transfer market etc than other competitors (I assume he was alluding to Ipswich and Wigan) Finding the right characters to fit the long-term goal is superimportant. If not Stockley, then certainly Kirk looks like the first significant piece of that jigsaw puzzle. Perhaps Famewo, Dobson, Clare, are also ones that will improve significantly on that journey and are for the long haul rather than expected to be overnight stars.
As Nelse said on Charlton TV any player who could come here and see the ground, the first class training ground and facilities at the club would def want to be part of this. I think I will give NA some latitude to experiment with different formations and tactics to get this squad motoring. Kirk looks really excited to be part of this journey. If he can settle here (which isn't always guaranteed) I have every belief he will be central to any future success. COYA
They always said the plan was to get good players in so that we wouldn't need 10 new signings every summer. By signing players who are relatively young to 2/3/4 year deals they're obviously doing that. The problem is it doesn't tie in with Sandgaard's 5 year plan and saying we'll blow through this league.
You can either build a squad slowly over 4-5 transfer windows or you can blow through the league. You can't really do both.
Good point Chris. I think the "blow through this league" comment was probably a "fifth pint, Friday night" comment. Let's leave it in the pub!
Slow and steady wins the race. A rebuild that is designed to really bear fruit long-term needs time for balls ups experimentation. Last season NA inherited a squad and clearly gave all to blag a spot in the play offs. But the rebuild starts now.
On today's perfornance though it was woeful defending and the second goal was conceded by our player in their box losing possession and a catalogue of errors all the way back to our goal. McGillivray was to blame for one of the goals. Easily should have pushed the ball out for a corner and instead gave their man a gift. Sloppy. Easy to remedy. Lets give them time. If by November we are still sloppy then perhaps it's time to look at where we are at with "the plan". For now ~ we've not even passed mid August.
Comments
But how will he fit into the current formation ? I really hope it changes or else what's the point of buying wide attackers like Kirk and DJ ? We are so narrow and static today, I know DJ was poor today but he is being channelled into the middle, just not playing to his strengths.
- Albies set pieces are poor inaccurate & too floaty
- Albie takes too many touches with no end product (got caught for the first goal)
- Conor constantly out of position either too narrow or not helping his fb
- I don’t see what Clare offers he doesn’t influence going forward & doesn’t win the ball
- the long ball stuff is so poor, we don’t have a 10 to pick up the flicks and are so predictable
- Stockley is being targeted by refs
- Nothing going forward from the midfield
- Full backs add nothing, Matthew’s looks petrified and Gunter can’t use his left
- Watson is getting minutes still! Davison right wing
- Officials we’re bloody awful!
Positives
- I think Dobson is good at his job of pressing and winning the ball, keeping it simple but the other two are making him look bad by losing it every time
- Akin looks really good and these driving runs are great
- That’s it!!
Cant wait to drive to MK after work on Tuesday
They all had shit games at some point in there Charlton careers.
Grow up mate..might or might not be your tweet but understand that every pro player plays poorly at some point.
Think I might leave it another 40.
What?
And he is a lump in that he is overweight, ponderous and doesn't have quick feet.
No brain? I base that on his inability to get involved in a game which is passing him by.
Still weird?
Oh, and please don't quote me if your issue is about others saying that Kirk should have played.
Sigh.
Only Gilbey and Purrington to return this season, but if we want to challenge at the top or even top 6 then we are 5-6 players away from that, at least.
You can see it in our lack of creativity. 3 shots on target today, 3 against Wimbledon and 1 against Wednesday, nearly 300 minutes played and no goals from open play.
We don't play to our strikers ability, but neither are going to be prolific at this level. If we play the right way Washington & Stockley might get 20 or so between them, but for top 6, even with a tight defence that's relying on a lot of goals from midfield or defence or striker subs, neither of which look remotely likely based on what we've seen.
Lets hope Gilbey is back soon, Kirk is even better than in past seasons and we can get 5 decent players in.
By the end of the month we'll know.
His step-over is a thing of wonder.
It achieves nothing apart from delaying the next piece of inevitable ineptitude.
Oh and ... LOL.
Getting out of League One is not really complicated, you need to build a solid squad of about 20 senior professionals with at least one excellent goalscorer (SWP, Taylor) and a good range of attacking options.
We have one striker, Stockley, and a journeyman in Washington whose best return at this level was 13 league goals in 40 games back in 2014/15.
Let me offer some advice to our “Rockstar Owner” - put your guitar away and your song writing pad and get your chequebook out or things will turn very sour fast.
At present our squad is nowhere near as good as what we had under the execrable Duchatelet in our last promotion season, even under that old scrotum we had a squad full of senior professionals, right now we can’t even fill the bench with senior professional players.
If you don’t believe me then take a look at the squad we had back then…..
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018%E2%80%9319_Charlton_Athletic_F.C._season
….there is no comparison between that squad and this one - just look at who we had.
Phillips
Djiksteel - Bauer - Bielek - Sarr
Fosu - Cullen - Aribo - Doughty
Taylor - Grant
Those players are ALL playing at a higher level than us now, that tells you everything you need to know.
He's a solid player, but he's not going to answer our prayers for a goal scoring CAM.
Too early for me to write off Clare and Dobson. Bit worried about DJ. Didn’t really look like he would set the world alight last season.
Still need to give it time imo, but I wasn’t over the moon when Matthews resigned as that pretty much made him first choice RB. We’ve known all along Purrington shouldn’t really be first choice LB, but it looks like he probably will be. Got to hope Inniss and Famewo stay fit otherwise we’re exposed
I’ve always liked Morgan, but if he gets a run in the team and a chance, he needs to take it.
Let’s see. You never know with football and if we get additional loans in then we still might have a chance. This team wasn’t great last season and we kept a lot of it together. For me this is the biggest challenge. I guess it was pretty much impossible, but I wanted a complete restructuring of the squad. I think we set the wrong precedent renewing the likes of Matthews
As Nelse said on Charlton TV any player who could come here and see the ground, the first class training ground and facilities at the club would def want to be part of this. I think I will give NA some latitude to experiment with different formations and tactics to get this squad motoring. Kirk looks really excited to be part of this journey. If he can settle here (which isn't always guaranteed) I have every belief he will be central to any future success. COYA
You can either build a squad slowly over 4-5 transfer windows or you can blow through the league. You can't really do both.
Slow and steady wins the race. A rebuild that is designed to really bear fruit long-term needs time for balls ups experimentation. Last season NA inherited a squad and clearly gave all to blag a spot in the play offs. But the rebuild starts now.
On today's perfornance though it was woeful defending and the second goal was conceded by our player in their box losing possession and a catalogue of errors all the way back to our goal. McGillivray was to blame for one of the goals. Easily should have pushed the ball out for a corner and instead gave their man a gift. Sloppy. Easy to remedy. Lets give them time. If by November we are still sloppy then perhaps it's time to look at where we are at with "the plan". For now ~ we've not even passed mid August.