The thing I’ve noticed under Jacko is when we play sides who we expected to beat especially away from we just don’t have that lethal touch. The formation works well against better opposition but too many times against lesser opposition I feel we have been scared of taking risks
To go from the form we showed after Adkins left to what we are showing now is scary . The players had that inner desire and effort and now it’s just wanky crab , heartless , shit , clueless football . Only at Charlton could the free bet of Jacko go so right , then tits up , this early . Gallen could be the problem … Bielik , Cullen and Taylor’s don’t grow on trees and that’s what we had to get promoted last time . Something is seriously rotten in the state of Denmark at our club We won’t beat Pompey and we won’t go up next year , there just feels too much to do … we’re light years away from progressing as a club . Sounds over dramatic but this is our worst footballing period in our history and it doesn’t look like ending anytime soon, sugarcoat it however you want but we are a disgrace of a side at this point in time .
I've got absolutely no problem with sticking to 1 formation, and just tweaking the playing style here and there. In fact, that's the key to success. You can't go ripping up the system every couple of months unless you've got an adaptable squad.
The issue is that he chose a formation that has so many square pegs in round holes. I'd suggest that we could have played the 4-2-3-1 with reasonable success with the effort and application JJ got from his new manager bounce.
It's clear that the players just aren't running as much or showing for the ball any more, and JJ is determined to play this formation come hell or highwater. Just signing a wing back on loan and Marcus Browne isn't going to fix this situation sadly, and we are destined to limp our way to the end of the season.
So many of our players don't fit this formation. We can only hope that Stockley and JFC are the missing links.
I admit that I truly believed Jacko was the Messiah and we would just keep winning and make the play offs after his confirmation in the post.
Like most others, I did not foresee the wheels coming off the Jackson bus quite so abruptly. As someone else commented, it's not just losing a few matches - it's the sudden reversion back to the worst of the Adkins era with no movement, no pressing and a deep static defence aimlessly hoofing it upfield.
More recently, I thought we were outstanding in the Norwich fixture and made a PL side look very poor for most of the match, so I can't totally buy into the 'players are rubbish', as the sole reason for the poor performances. They looked pretty good only 17 days ago, so what happened? Do they not care so much when playing a low profile team up north on a freezing Tuesday night?
The performances against Crewe and Cheltenham were dire and I actually thought we were even worse against Fleetwood but scored twice. Didn't watch the Hartlepool game but the match thread said it all.
My worry is that Jackson is a better motivator than a tactician. Bowyer was widely criticised for changing the system/formation three times in one match. Jacko hasn't changed it once since he was appointed. We don't even make minor tweaks to be more defensive away from home and grind out some results. The opposition are obviously wise to the 5-3-2 approach and its not unusual to see DJ or the LWB with three defenders in front of him as he receives a pass.
But that theory does not explain the poor style of play or apparent confusion by the players.
The only other credible theory is that Jackson has 11 decent players and when they are all fit, motivated and fresh we are OK but we have next to nothing as back up to play this system.
JFC was our best player last season and he is out. Chuks was not replaced (until by himself this month) and Big Ronnie disappeared. So with the loss of Stockley and Washington, then the loss of form/fatigue of Lee and Gilbey, then the loss of form of Clare, we are stuffed. I don't think Morgan, Watson, Gunter, Kirk, CBT or the other left back whose name escapes me are up to it. Burstow is a great talent but he's still very young to be starting every match. Not convinced Leko offers us anything either despite his technical ability and, though good recently, Pearce was far too slow two seasons ago. The squad looks big but in reality there are very few options for a manager to change personnel or tactics. Far too much deadweight.
In short, Jacko's first 11 isn't a title winning outfit by any means but with some hard work and luck, they could sneak into the playoffs but any holes in that 11 and we are sunk. And we are now sinking.
I say stick with Jacko and beef up the squad with some young hungry talent in the summer - not ex-Charlton OAPS looking to retire to the south-east.
Signings like Cullen, Bielik and Taylor are becoming more and more irrelevant.
Can’t say we didn’t have a big enough budget when we’ve paid £500k for Kirk and are likely paying Watson, Gunter etc big L1 wages.
Not saying Gallen is entirely to blame but this season we haven’t been restricted by the salary cap. A lot of players are moving on after a year, some after about 6 months. Have to question our recruitment, other clubs are having similar rebuilds but doing a much better job than us.
Too many of these posts I agree with, however bad last night was, isn’t that the furthest we’ve ever got in this tin pot pizza trophy?
Got to the Area Semi-Finals (which would be the QFs in this modern format) and lost on penalties against Brentford back in 2010-11 - Our history of getting beyond the QFs in Cup Competitions is really bad.
Full Members Cup is the only time we've done it since we won the FA Cup.
Since then we've gone out at the Quarters on eight occasions.
Signings like Cullen, Bielik and Taylor are becoming more and more irrelevant.
Can’t say we didn’t have a big enough budget when we’ve paid £500k for Kirk and are likely paying Watson, Gunter etc big L1 wages.
Not saying Gallen is entirely to blame but this season we haven’t been restricted by the salary cap. A lot of players are moving on after a year, some after about 6 months. Have to question our recruitment, other clubs are having similar rebuilds but doing a much better job than us.
Gallen is not entirely to blame, but as head of the recruitment team he is ultimately responsible. I am underwhelmed at the least by the recruitment when you look at the players that were brought in this and last season.
Especially players like Watson, Gunter, Souare, Inniss, Henderson and CBT. They are not brought in because of diligent scouting, but because it might be worth a punt or because of the careers they have had. You can make a case for Inniss but what do the rest of them really offer to this team? They only take up space in the dressing room where we can have young and hungry players looking for their breakthrough.
That is however what Johnnie has to work with now and he is a good young manager, but he is no miracle worker either. There is no coach in the world who can turn this collection of individuals into a promotion-chasing side.
We now actually look worse than when Roland was in charge. How is that possible?!
Because we still had players on big wages, who we had paid transfers for in the championship. Promotion season, we had Bauer, Sarr and Vetokele on championship wages. Top up with some excellent youngsters, good loan signings and two great signings in Taylor and Pratley.
There’s plenty of Charlton fans who don’t public post on forums or social media who believe Gallen is nothing special.
We now actually look worse than when Roland was in charge. How is that possible?!
Because he left the football club to a load of conmen and gutted the club before he went and now we are seeing Thomas have to balance a rebuild of the club's infrastructure with trying to get some success on the pitch.
Personally I think whilst he is trying, he needs to make and learn from mistakes to get it right. It was never going to he the instant success we all wanted it to be, I did however hope we'd have been in a better place by now.
We now actually look worse than when Roland was in charge. How is that possible?!
Because he left the football club to a load of conmen and gutted the club before he went and now we are seeing Thomas have to balance a rebuild of the club's infrastructure with trying to get some success on the pitch.
Personally I think whilst he is trying, he needs to make and learn from mistakes to get it right. It was never going to he the instant success we all wanted it to be, I did however hope we'd have been in a better place by now.
Cabbles and I had this conversation back in August. This season was always going to be rubbish, because we were not ruthless enough in the summer. I am not blaming TS, as it would have been a lot to ask but we should have got rid of another 10 players. Let Gunter, Matthews, Pearce, Morgan, Davison, Watson, Purrington all go and rebuild immediately. Even if they had a year left on their contract, would have cost a lot but it was needed in getting rid of our average players.
Its definitely a weird one. I still think Jackson is a hungry, enthusiastic young manager and deserves a proper shot at the job. When he was caretaker, he managed to install belief and a reason for the players to put in good performances.
Then he got it and now you're looking for the next motivation, the next seasonal target. Easier said than done when you got far too many players on the downward curve in their career and players getting injured too often.
I agree he needs to learn to adapt and change tactics/formations better, but he's still learning and perhaps he thinks he's stuck with too many players that don't have the ability or footballing brain to adapt quickly.
This season is write off and i'm not gonna judge JJ using these shirkers wearing the shirt this season.
TS really needs to back his man this summer and then we see if Jackson was the correct decision.
Still think Jacko is the man, but needs to be backed to build in the summer - and hopefully early in the window
Seconded/thirded. Jackson has shown that he's got the potential (as proven by the initial run of results) but he's dealing with a squad that fundamentally just isn't good enough.
I think he deserves a chance to show what he can do with a squad that he puts together himself rather than one he inherited.
Its definitely a weird one. I still think Jackson is a hungry, enthusiastic young manager and deserves a proper shot at the job. When he was caretaker, he managed to install belief and a reason for the players to put in good performances.
Then he got it and now you're looking for the next motivation, the next seasonal target. Easier said than done when you got far too many players on the downward curve in their career and players getting injured too often.
I agree he needs to learn to adapt and change tactics/formations better, but he's still learning and perhaps he thinks he's stuck with too many players that don't have the ability or footballing brain to adapt quickly.
This season is write off and i'm not gonna judge JJ using these shirkers wearing the shirt this season.
TS really needs to back his man this summer and then we see if Jackson was the correct decision.
It all kind of went wrong after 'that' speech.
We've won here and we'll go to X and win and y and win and z and win....
Still think Jacko is the man, but needs to be backed to build in the summer - and hopefully early in the window
Seconded/thirded. Jackson has shown that he's got the potential (as proven by the initial run of results) but he's dealing with a squad that fundamentally just isn't good enough.
I think he deserves a chance to show what he can do with a squad that he puts together himself rather than one he inherited.
That is a big leap of faith for any owner to an inexperienced manager.
We are lacking in midfield creativity and up front. We only narrowly went up 3 years ago, with two high end strikers (at least until January) and 4/5 very good midfielders, plus Diksteel and Bauer that are regularly playing in the championship. I don't think any of the current team would make the 2018/19 side, so is it any wonder we are miles away from the top of the league.
Incidentally, we haven't had Stockley for weeks. On the occasions when Taylor wasn't playing and Grant had gone, we looked pretty mediocre even with that quality midfield. Jackson needs his best side playing, which he hasn't been afforded.
Its definitely a weird one. I still think Jackson is a hungry, enthusiastic young manager and deserves a proper shot at the job. When he was caretaker, he managed to install belief and a reason for the players to put in good performances.
Then he got it and now you're looking for the next motivation, the next seasonal target. Easier said than done when you got far too many players on the downward curve in their career and players getting injured too often.
I agree he needs to learn to adapt and change tactics/formations better, but he's still learning and perhaps he thinks he's stuck with too many players that don't have the ability or footballing brain to adapt quickly.
This season is write off and i'm not gonna judge JJ using these shirkers wearing the shirt this season.
TS really needs to back his man this summer and then we see if Jackson was the correct decision.
It all kind of went wrong after 'that' speech.
We've won here and we'll go to X and win and y and win and z and win....
I guess its nice for fans to see into the dressing room discussions, but I'm a firm believer that what happens in there, stays in there. The evidence for us is what happens on the pitch. I think Jackson definitely said the right thing, I just don't think our opposition should have seen it!
Look what Bowyer "proved" during those desperate times. Still didn't stop a large proportion getting his back and calling him clueless.
My main question re' JJ, and this has been since he was appointed as caretaker, is if the players have the right amount of respect for him, given their history? Maybe that's why Skivo was brought in, to add a bit of independent bite to proceedings
Its definitely a weird one. I still think Jackson is a hungry, enthusiastic young manager and deserves a proper shot at the job. When he was caretaker, he managed to install belief and a reason for the players to put in good performances.
Then he got it and now you're looking for the next motivation, the next seasonal target. Easier said than done when you got far too many players on the downward curve in their career and players getting injured too often.
I agree he needs to learn to adapt and change tactics/formations better, but he's still learning and perhaps he thinks he's stuck with too many players that don't have the ability or footballing brain to adapt quickly.
This season is write off and i'm not gonna judge JJ using these shirkers wearing the shirt this season.
TS really needs to back his man this summer and then we see if Jackson was the correct decision.
Great post VG and it covers where I stand. I think the key stand out for me is when you say "TS really needs to back his man this summer"
I believe there is something seriously wrong with our recruitment process so this needs to be addressed followed by the "Black box" going in the bin.
I was angry last night, i thought of the fans who had made the effort and bothered to go up there , put their hard earned cash and time into it, for that alone i expect the players to put in a shift and beat Pompey on Monday 1-0 , but effort is only sustainable for this lot for so long, before they are blowing out of their backside.
A couple of ins and outs before the weekend to cheer everybody up please , but its only a sticking plaster , we are not consistent enough!
Still think Jacko is the man, but needs to be backed to build in the summer - and hopefully early in the window
Seconded/thirded. Jackson has shown that he's got the potential (as proven by the initial run of results) but he's dealing with a squad that fundamentally just isn't good enough.
I think he deserves a chance to show what he can do with a squad that he puts together himself rather than one he inherited.
That is a big leap of faith for any owner to an inexperienced manager.
Yes it is. But if Sandgaard wasn't going to fully back Jackson and give him that kind of support, he should not have given him the job and found a manager he WOULD trust.
Easy for me to say I know, as its not my money, but TS can't keep churning through managers and hoping that he finds a messiah.
The weaknesses of the squad are obvious. Take any single element of the spine of MacGillivray, Inniss, Dobson and Stockley out and no manager is going to get consistently good results with what's left.
We now actually look worse than when Roland was in charge. How is that possible?!
Because after him we had ESI 1 and 2. The damage on the squad is still showing and may take another summer window to address.
I like most am not enjoying where we are but I do see light at the end of the tunnel.
I think recruitment in the summer was not great either but hopeful TS has learnt from this and made changes.
But why does it need to take so many windows to sort out the ESI damage? Last season we just missed the playoffs, which is a an excellent base for a promotion campaign, but we screwed up last summer, which has nothing to do with ESI.
Wigan's squad were decimated by Administration as they lost player after player, they finished 5th bottom last season, having scraped survival. In ONE WINDOW they bought a team and are now top of the table under a rookie manager who used to be assistant at the club...
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The players had that inner desire and effort and now it’s just wanky crab , heartless , shit , clueless football .
Only at Charlton could the free bet of Jacko go so right , then tits up , this early .
Gallen could be the problem … Bielik , Cullen and Taylor’s don’t grow on trees and that’s what we had to get promoted last time .
Something is seriously rotten in the state of Denmark at our club
We won’t beat Pompey and we won’t go up next year , there just feels too much to do … we’re light years away from progressing as a club .
Sounds over dramatic but this is our worst footballing period in our history and it doesn’t look like ending anytime soon, sugarcoat it however you want but we are a disgrace of a side at this point in time .
The issue is that he chose a formation that has so many square pegs in round holes. I'd suggest that we could have played the 4-2-3-1 with reasonable success with the effort and application JJ got from his new manager bounce.
It's clear that the players just aren't running as much or showing for the ball any more, and JJ is determined to play this formation come hell or highwater. Just signing a wing back on loan and Marcus Browne isn't going to fix this situation sadly, and we are destined to limp our way to the end of the season.
So many of our players don't fit this formation. We can only hope that Stockley and JFC are the missing links.
I admit that I truly believed Jacko was the Messiah and we would just keep winning and make the play offs after his confirmation in the post.
Like most others, I did not foresee the wheels coming off the Jackson bus quite so abruptly. As someone else commented, it's not just losing a few matches - it's the sudden reversion back to the worst of the Adkins era with no movement, no pressing and a deep static defence aimlessly hoofing it upfield.
More recently, I thought we were outstanding in the Norwich fixture and made a PL side look very poor for most of the match, so I can't totally buy into the 'players are rubbish', as the sole reason for the poor performances. They looked pretty good only 17 days ago, so what happened? Do they not care so much when playing a low profile team up north on a freezing Tuesday night?
The performances against Crewe and Cheltenham were dire and I actually thought we were even worse against Fleetwood but scored twice. Didn't watch the Hartlepool game but the match thread said it all.
My worry is that Jackson is a better motivator than a tactician. Bowyer was widely criticised for changing the system/formation three times in one match. Jacko hasn't changed it once since he was appointed. We don't even make minor tweaks to be more defensive away from home and grind out some results. The opposition are obviously wise to the 5-3-2 approach and its not unusual to see DJ or the LWB with three defenders in front of him as he receives a pass.
But that theory does not explain the poor style of play or apparent confusion by the players.
The only other credible theory is that Jackson has 11 decent players and when they are all fit, motivated and fresh we are OK but we have next to nothing as back up to play this system.
JFC was our best player last season and he is out. Chuks was not replaced (until by himself this month) and Big Ronnie disappeared. So with the loss of Stockley and Washington, then the loss of form/fatigue of Lee and Gilbey, then the loss of form of Clare, we are stuffed. I don't think Morgan, Watson, Gunter, Kirk, CBT or the other left back whose name escapes me are up to it. Burstow is a great talent but he's still very young to be starting every match. Not convinced Leko offers us anything either despite his technical ability and, though good recently, Pearce was far too slow two seasons ago. The squad looks big but in reality there are very few options for a manager to change personnel or tactics. Far too much deadweight.
In short, Jacko's first 11 isn't a title winning outfit by any means but with some hard work and luck, they could sneak into the playoffs but any holes in that 11 and we are sunk. And we are now sinking.
I say stick with Jacko and beef up the squad with some young hungry talent in the summer - not ex-Charlton OAPS looking to retire to the south-east.
Can’t say we didn’t have a big enough budget when we’ve paid £500k for Kirk and are likely paying Watson, Gunter etc big L1 wages.
Not saying Gallen is entirely to blame but this season we haven’t been restricted by the salary cap. A lot of players are moving on after a year, some after about 6 months. Have to question our recruitment, other clubs are having similar rebuilds but doing a much better job than us.
Full Members Cup is the only time we've done it since we won the FA Cup.
Since then we've gone out at the Quarters on eight occasions.
Especially players like Watson, Gunter, Souare, Inniss, Henderson and CBT. They are not brought in because of diligent scouting, but because it might be worth a punt or because of the careers they have had. You can make a case for Inniss but what do the rest of them really offer to this team? They only take up space in the dressing room where we can have young and hungry players looking for their breakthrough.
That is however what Johnnie has to work with now and he is a good young manager, but he is no miracle worker either. There is no coach in the world who can turn this collection of individuals into a promotion-chasing side.
I think recruitment in the summer was not great either but hopeful TS has learnt from this and made changes.
There’s plenty of Charlton fans who don’t public post on forums or social media who believe Gallen is nothing special.
Personally I think whilst he is trying, he needs to make and learn from mistakes to get it right. It was never going to he the instant success we all wanted it to be, I did however hope we'd have been in a better place by now.
Then he got it and now you're looking for the next motivation, the next seasonal target. Easier said than done when you got far too many players on the downward curve in their career and players getting injured too often.
I agree he needs to learn to adapt and change tactics/formations better, but he's still learning and perhaps he thinks he's stuck with too many players that don't have the ability or footballing brain to adapt quickly.
This season is write off and i'm not gonna judge JJ using these shirkers wearing the shirt this season.
TS really needs to back his man this summer and then we see if Jackson was the correct decision.
Still think Jacko is the man, but needs to be backed to build in the summer - and hopefully early in the window
I think he deserves a chance to show what he can do with a squad that he puts together himself rather than one he inherited.
We've won here and we'll go to X and win and y and win and z and win....
Incidentally, we haven't had Stockley for weeks. On the occasions when Taylor wasn't playing and Grant had gone, we looked pretty mediocre even with that quality midfield. Jackson needs his best side playing, which he hasn't been afforded.
My main question re' JJ, and this has been since he was appointed as caretaker, is if the players have the right amount of respect for him, given their history? Maybe that's why Skivo was brought in, to add a bit of independent bite to proceedings
I believe there is something seriously wrong with our recruitment process so this needs to be addressed followed by the "Black box" going in the bin.
A couple of ins and outs before the weekend to cheer everybody up please , but its only a sticking plaster , we are not consistent enough!
Midfield and defence was dreadful.
Easy for me to say I know, as its not my money, but TS can't keep churning through managers and hoping that he finds a messiah.
The weaknesses of the squad are obvious. Take any single element of the spine of MacGillivray, Inniss, Dobson and Stockley out and no manager is going to get consistently good results with what's left.
Wigan's squad were decimated by Administration as they lost player after player, they finished 5th bottom last season, having scraped survival. In ONE WINDOW they bought a team and are now top of the table under a rookie manager who used to be assistant at the club...