I'll be honest I don't feel quite as negative about our long term prospects as a lot of others seem to. Things look bleak now and I never expected to see a club I have supported all my life in the relegation zone of league one however I've felt much more pessimistic about the club in the past than I do at the moment.
TS is clearly here for the long haul and his motives are clearly much better intentioned than previous owners. Granted he has probably made mistakes, and will continue to make them, however he is new to this and when you consider along with the general complexities of running a football club he has also had covid and the mess from previous owners to contend with it was never going to be a quick process. I would rather have an owner with commitment and passion for the club who can learn from his mistakes as opposed to owners we have had in the past, and there are a number of clubs in and around us who have had, or still do have, owners who do not have the best intentions for their clubs.
Many are saying TS needs to bring in more experienced operators behind the scenes but then I also read that people want Roddy sacked. I'm not convinced anyone knows the inner workings of the club that well to know how good Roddy is at his job. I have mentioned before a well run club off the field doesn't always translate to a successful team on the pitch, and vice versa. There are numerous cases of teams who are a shambles off the pitch yet somehow end up doing well on the pitch.
Same goes for those criticising JJ and Ewell and saying they are part of the Problem, nobody knows whether they are or aren't as nobody sees what happens on the training pitch. For all we know JJ and Euell could be exceptional coaches being stifled by NA, I'm not saying that's the case, only that nobody really knows as we don't see what happens during training and behind the scenes.
I don't have an issue with the transfer committee as a lot of fans seem too. That strategy is employed by numerous clubs now, and has been for many years. One of the reasons being for a situation like we now find ourselves in when there is potential NA could be gone, you don't then have a situation where the players have been brought in by one manager who then disappears after a few months. I don't know the inner workings of other clubs around us that well but I would hazard a guess we are not the only club employing a similar approach, and it is certainly adopted by clubs in higher leagues. People could argue as a league one club we are not yet in the right position to adopt this model, and others might say the manager should be signing players, but it's not some revolutionary concept that only Charlton use.
I also think our transfer business was similar to a lot of teams, very few had their squads finalised before the start of the season and I think we picked up some players with potential. Granted many are not living up to that potential at the moment however 10 games is not enough time to judge, especially when many haven't actually played all of those 10 games anyway. I think if teams like Ipswich hadn't gone out on their splurge like they did this summer then we'd look at our incomings and think it had been overall pretty decent. It could have been better but I suspect other than Ipswich every fan in League one probably thought their teams business could have been a little better.
This squad should be nowhere near bottom of the table after ten games. However I don't look at this squad of players and think any manager coming in would struggle, I'm convinced with the right management (Whether that is a new manager or NA turning things round) that this squad should be in contention for play off spots. I suspect with our poor start that may be beyond us already even at this stage of the season however I don't think any other prospective manager would look at our squad and think we should be in for a relegation battle.
Does anyone genuinely think if we appointed the best manager out there tomorrow, say Chris Wilder as example, that this squad of players would still be in a relegation battle at the end of the season? I don't think they would. That suggests to me at least that the issues are with the Management as opposed to the wider running of the club.
Left at 3-1, dlr were cancelled.. bus to Greenwich, cab to London Bridge and now a train hitchin. Add to that I'm piss wet through and it's been a shitshow of an evening all round.
Players coming across as petulant if what being discussed is true. One thing thinking it/discussing it with your team mates. It’s another thing leaking it to fans/mates. Complete lack of professionalism and just feeds in to that line of this squad of players (not all) being unlikable. Squad needed a fresh start but it didn’t happen.
Considering the whole panic buying of toilet paper and petrol will tell you that we are genuinely weird as a human race, and the fact whenever a football team performs poorly you often hear the same thing, I'd probably argue that some people are being very liberal with the truth for whatever reason they feel necessary.
I was sceptical at Adkins's appointment, but he impressed in the run in last season, and I hoped he'd succeed this. I'd usually defend a manager after just 10 games of the season, especially with so many players changing, late signings etc.
I just don't see it getting better. Too many changes, and it's criminal how unfit we look a quarter into the season. I'm a bit sad saying this because I don't think it's entirely Adkins's fault, but it needs a change.
If I was in charge I'd be talking to Curbs right now to persuade him to take over. Whilst he's been out of management a while, he's experienced, he can see clearly what's wrong, and will have an idea how to get the best out of this set of players. I just think we need a familiar safe pair of hands to see us through a season or two before JJ takes over.
Big chance missed by Washington at 1-2 (the lob just past the near post). I like him and his off the ball movement but he needs a lot of chances.
Didn't look like our goalie made much of an effort for Bolton's first goal. Think he's got to save that one (he looked similarly suspect at Wycombe). But maybe I'm expecting too much from a Div 3 keeper.
Dunno how Washington can be blamed for that, wasnt a straight forward finish and the 'keeper stayed on his feet
Lobbing from an angle and high enough over a standing Goalkeeper is never going to be easy
Washington does seem to have an uncanny knack of nearly scoring but don’t actually score, which is slightly concerning!!😂
Hopefully people on this website will now realise how poor Matthews is as a defender. He is OK going forward but 3 of the last 6 goals has been down to him showing his player inside rather than down the wing and they have scored 3 times and he was possibly at fault for two other goals , so many people on this website keep saying how great he is and hopefully they will now realise how wrong they are . There is a reason why so many Welsh managers have given Gunter over 100 caps and Matthews only 14 because a Right Back needs to be a defender first which clearly Matthews cannot do !!! Please wake up to the fact that Matthews cannot defend
No but I've realised that you know bugger all about football. Have you not noticed the lack of defensive cover from the midfield. None of them track runners, ever. It's difficult to defend when you've got at least two players coming towards you, time and time again. Matthews is infinitely better than Gunter. Whether he had been over the last ten years I don't know, but in a Charlton shirt he certainly has.
Not quite right. Watch the replay of their first goal and you'll see Leko sprinting back to mark the wide player. So what does Matthews do? Partly cover the wide player anyway, which shows Afolayan inside, allowing him to shoot (and score). That's two weeks in a row he's backed off allowing a player to score. Sorry, he's not really good enough.
He'd got the story the rest of us got about building blocks in place, the recruitment of fit young players, sustainability with long term contracts and the vision of premiership football in five years.
I noticed a change in his demeanour in the week before the season began. He started to say that this project was going to take time and Rome wasn't built in a day. Maybe he realised then that the recruitment was below par? Our marquee signings were actually quite ordinary, whilst other signings were unfit waifs and strays who were simply looking for a home that could nurse them back to health.
Nigel has to go because he is the manager and that's the way it works. I wonder if Thomas, Steve and Ged can look him in the eye.
Not sure what's worse, that performance or the first train after FT being cancelled. Standing in the pissing rain at Charlton station seems about the right way to end this evening.
I feel for your who went tonight.
I stayed an extra day in England for this match. After the match I slipped in the shower at the hotel and cut my foot.
At least the lollipop that's been in the pocket of my waterproof for 3 months was nice.
Hats off to Davison , Leko CBT and Clare - thought he gave us the legs in the first half we had been missing in midfield for all of the season so far. When the oppo broke past him he sprinted back to get goal side.
Can’t understand why we fall off a cliff after a half of football though we have not really been able to put a full 90 mins together at all this year. Can only be fitness ?
Don’t want Jackson or Euell in the job, this is too critical now and we need an experienced head.
I’d argue that’s the last thing we need.
An experienced manager at this level means a “big name” like Adkins dropping down, or someone who’s been at this level for years and not made the step up.
Give JJ and Euell a few games to see if they get a reaction, if not bring in a good young manager on the way up.
Successful managers at this level tend to be younger. Maybe it’s fresh ideas, more drive to do well or finding it easier to relate to players? Whatever it is it works more often than the likes of Adkins and Slade stepping down and feeling like they’re doing us favour.
Hard to know how much influence JJ has under Adkins but isn't he somewhat responsible for this mess too?
Partly, but Bowyer had very different ideas to Robinson. JJ can a go as caretaker and if it doesn’t work out get someone else in. It’s worth a gamble to see if he can turn it around.
The problem there though is money, so we give JJ and Euell 15 games and we're still in the relegation zone, does Sandgaard then spend more money sacking them off and bringing in a whole new manager and coaching staff?
Two rounds of payoffs and some new appointments, don't see that happening personally.
When I said caretaker I meant 1-3 games, no reason to give them a guaranteed 15 games.
But what if that's what the fans want? Already singing JJ's red and white army.
You said yourself the reason he didn't get shot of Bowyer was because of fan support. Would it be any different with them in charge? If they're appointed permanently or as caretakers they'll get the fan support and a lot more time. What if it goes wrong?
What if the next appointment, is, say Wilder, is he going to come in with JJ and Euell as his coaches? Will he want his own? If he wants his own will Sandgaard pay for them, and keep JJ and Euell on the payroll?
I joked at the time on the match thread ‘60 minutes up. Jonny Williams and Chuks Aneke about to come on’.
I honestly think there’s a chance we would have won if that had happened!
Although I agree, Lee is an upgrade on Williams, one of the few positives.
I really like Elliott Lee, think he’s a real intelligent player
Yep - he’s good at this level - and I also think we will see a superb player in Clare when fully fit - his movement and control is good, but he isn’t fully fit yet
And whilst we have some positive comments, on what is largely a depressing thread (understandably) we need to secure CBT long term - I also hope that Leko’s knee hasn’t gone on him, if only for the lads career
Hopefully people on this website will now realise how poor Matthews is as a defender. He is OK going forward but 3 of the last 6 goals has been down to him showing his player inside rather than down the wing and they have scored 3 times and he was possibly at fault for two other goals , so many people on this website keep saying how great he is and hopefully they will now realise how wrong they are . There is a reason why so many Welsh managers have given Gunter over 100 caps and Matthews only 14 because a Right Back needs to be a defender first which clearly Matthews cannot do !!! Please wake up to the fact that Matthews cannot defend
No but I've realised that you know bugger all about football. Have you not noticed the lack of defensive cover from the midfield. None of them track runners, ever. It's difficult to defend when you've got at least two players coming towards you, time and time again. Matthews is infinitely better than Gunter. Whether he had been over the last ten years I don't know, but in a Charlton shirt he certainly has.
Agree he is sometimes over run but on all the goals that he has been at fault at , it has been him on a 1 on 1 situation and he has let the player inside ,rather than showing him the line, maybe you should listen to Brownie on the CAFC TV and he also blames Matthew - maybe he don’t know about football either -even though he played in the premiership!!
He did play in the Premier League but he does also talk some shit. As much as I loved him as a player I can't stand him as a co-commentator.
Pleased to hear that you also know more about football than him or anyone else that comments on here . Did not realise that you played at premiership level as you seem to know better than anyone else .
Hopefully people on this website will now realise how poor Matthews is as a defender. He is OK going forward but 3 of the last 6 goals has been down to him showing his player inside rather than down the wing and they have scored 3 times and he was possibly at fault for two other goals , so many people on this website keep saying how great he is and hopefully they will now realise how wrong they are . There is a reason why so many Welsh managers have given Gunter over 100 caps and Matthews only 14 because a Right Back needs to be a defender first which clearly Matthews cannot do !!! Please wake up to the fact that Matthews cannot defend
No but I've realised that you know bugger all about football. Have you not noticed the lack of defensive cover from the midfield. None of them track runners, ever. It's difficult to defend when you've got at least two players coming towards you, time and time again. Matthews is infinitely better than Gunter. Whether he had been over the last ten years I don't know, but in a Charlton shirt he certainly has.
Not quite right. Watch the replay of their first goal and you'll see Leko sprinting back to mark the wide player. So what does Matthews do? Partly cover the wide player anyway, which shows Afolayan inside, allowing him to shoot (and score). That's two weeks in a row he's backed off allowing a player to score. Sorry, he's not really good enough.
Leko does run back, but where is the midfield cover? Matthews does show the player outside but the Bolton player does well to turn inside. Where was the cover inside? Just because you shown them the outside doesn't mean that that is where they will go. A proper defence will have cover in case the forward cuts inside. This team, defensively, is a shambles.
Thought the likes of Davison, Leko, Lee and Clare gave their best and genuinely felt sorry for them at the end. Also think the management team and yes JJ and JE are part of the same as NA were stitched up in pre-season with a very slow transfer window. I still believe that this has contributed heavily to this dreadful start, but now the rut is setting in, the manager and coaches cannot get the right response out of our squad to give the players and fans a proper lift and platform from which to try to build something. That is their job, all of them, including our former playing heroes.
NA is going to end up the inevitable scapegoat, but I do hope the entire executive (particularly those on the recruitment side) undertake a proper lessons learned review and acknowledge that they have contributed a lot to this awful start.
TS has to bite the bullet now surely, but question is what budget would be available to fire and then hire? That might have been blown when TS realised that we were shopping on the wrong floor early part of the window…
Comments
TS is clearly here for the long haul and his motives are clearly much better intentioned than previous owners. Granted he has probably made mistakes, and will continue to make them, however he is new to this and when you consider along with the general complexities of running a football club he has also had covid and the mess from previous owners to contend with it was never going to be a quick process. I would rather have an owner with commitment and passion for the club who can learn from his mistakes as opposed to owners we have had in the past, and there are a number of clubs in and around us who have had, or still do have, owners who do not have the best intentions for their clubs.
Many are saying TS needs to bring in more experienced operators behind the scenes but then I also read that people want Roddy sacked. I'm not convinced anyone knows the inner workings of the club that well to know how good Roddy is at his job. I have mentioned before a well run club off the field doesn't always translate to a successful team on the pitch, and vice versa. There are numerous cases of teams who are a shambles off the pitch yet somehow end up doing well on the pitch.
Same goes for those criticising JJ and Ewell and saying they are part of the Problem, nobody knows whether they are or aren't as nobody sees what happens on the training pitch. For all we know JJ and Euell could be exceptional coaches being stifled by NA, I'm not saying that's the case, only that nobody really knows as we don't see what happens during training and behind the scenes.
I don't have an issue with the transfer committee as a lot of fans seem too. That strategy is employed by numerous clubs now, and has been for many years. One of the reasons being for a situation like we now find ourselves in when there is potential NA could be gone, you don't then have a situation where the players have been brought in by one manager who then disappears after a few months. I don't know the inner workings of other clubs around us that well but I would hazard a guess we are not the only club employing a similar approach, and it is certainly adopted by clubs in higher leagues. People could argue as a league one club we are not yet in the right position to adopt this model, and others might say the manager should be signing players, but it's not some revolutionary concept that only Charlton use.
I also think our transfer business was similar to a lot of teams, very few had their squads finalised before the start of the season and I think we picked up some players with potential. Granted many are not living up to that potential at the moment however 10 games is not enough time to judge, especially when many haven't actually played all of those 10 games anyway. I think if teams like Ipswich hadn't gone out on their splurge like they did this summer then we'd look at our incomings and think it had been overall pretty decent. It could have been better but I suspect other than Ipswich every fan in League one probably thought their teams business could have been a little better.
This squad should be nowhere near bottom of the table after ten games. However I don't look at this squad of players and think any manager coming in would struggle, I'm convinced with the right management (Whether that is a new manager or NA turning things round) that this squad should be in contention for play off spots. I suspect with our poor start that may be beyond us already even at this stage of the season however I don't think any other prospective manager would look at our squad and think we should be in for a relegation battle.
Does anyone genuinely think if we appointed the best manager out there tomorrow, say Chris Wilder as example, that this squad of players would still be in a relegation battle at the end of the season? I don't think they would. That suggests to me at least that the issues are with the Management as opposed to the wider running of the club.
I just don't see it getting better. Too many changes, and it's criminal how unfit we look a quarter into the season. I'm a bit sad saying this because I don't think it's entirely Adkins's fault, but it needs a change.
If I was in charge I'd be talking to Curbs right now to persuade him to take over. Whilst he's been out of management a while, he's experienced, he can see clearly what's wrong, and will have an idea how to get the best out of this set of players. I just think we need a familiar safe pair of hands to see us through a season or two before JJ takes over.
Sorry, no - but I know for a fact he has, and it's happened before with him.
@bobmunro Posted without getting to the next couple of pages and seeing your reply to @Uboat about the same question as mine.
Sorry for that, take your point of reply.
He'd got the story the rest of us got about building blocks in place, the recruitment of fit young players, sustainability with long term contracts and the vision of premiership football in five years.
I noticed a change in his demeanour in the week before the season began. He started to say that this project was going to take time and Rome wasn't built in a day. Maybe he realised then that the recruitment was below par? Our marquee signings were actually quite ordinary, whilst other signings were unfit waifs and strays who were simply looking for a home that could nurse them back to health.
Nigel has to go because he is the manager and that's the way it works. I wonder if Thomas, Steve and Ged can look him in the eye.
At least the lollipop that's been in the pocket of my waterproof for 3 months was nice.
I honestly think there’s a chance we would have won if that had happened!
1st half was our best performance of the season.
Hats off to Davison , Leko CBT and Clare - thought he gave us the legs in the first half we had been missing in midfield for all of the season so far. When the oppo broke past him he sprinted back to get goal side.
But what if that's what the fans want? Already singing JJ's red and white army.
You said yourself the reason he didn't get shot of Bowyer was because of fan support. Would it be any different with them in charge? If they're appointed permanently or as caretakers they'll get the fan support and a lot more time. What if it goes wrong?
What if the next appointment, is, say Wilder, is he going to come in with JJ and Euell as his coaches? Will he want his own? If he wants his own will Sandgaard pay for them, and keep JJ and Euell on the payroll?
And whilst we have some positive comments, on what is largely a depressing thread (understandably) we need to secure CBT long term - I also hope that Leko’s knee hasn’t gone on him, if only for the lads career
Matthews does show the player outside but the Bolton player does well to turn inside. Where was the cover inside? Just because you shown them the outside doesn't mean that that is where they will go. A proper defence will have cover in case the forward cuts inside. This team, defensively, is a shambles.
NA is going to end up the inevitable scapegoat, but I do hope the entire executive (particularly those on the recruitment side) undertake a proper lessons learned review and acknowledge that they have contributed a lot to this awful start.
TS has to bite the bullet now surely, but question is what budget would be available to fire and then hire? That might have been blown when TS realised that we were shopping on the wrong floor early part of the window…