I despair at some of the people/depressives on here. So we didn't get a deal for MB over the line through no fault of our own. It happens. Grow up. Notwithstanding I remain quietly confident that this will be a very good season. After all the signs have been there for weeks on the pitch, where it matters. Even the youngsters are showing that if needs be they can step up.
I am less confident than you it will be a “very” good season, assuming you are defining that as at least getting into the play offs.
Great that we are currently 8th having lost only 1 out of 6. However, I think we are going to draw rather than win a significant number of games through a lack of a mobile/quick striker who fits into the system Garner likes to play. The football will likely be more entertaining than last season and we undoubtedly will not be flirting with relegation, as it felt we were after the poor start we had last year. But frankly I don’t currently see us as being able to sustain a top 6 position right now.
Personally I didn’t see Bonne as the answer, but clearly we are short up front, so I understand people venting their frustrations. Time will tell.
What is abundantly clear, and has been for some time, is that TS does not have deep enough pockets to match his ambitions. If Garner continues to do a good job you can anticipate him attracting the attention of club owners with more financial resources than TS.
dontou believe we started our striker search yesterday morning? Do you not think we worked through a list of targets? They either moved elsewhere, cost too high, didn't want to come etc. we had a forward in the building and the parent club moved the goal post at the last minute.
with the defender, it would be interesting to see what happened there. Maybe we pulled out because the manager and coaching staff have had three months to look at ness and think he is a good back up option.
frustrating, yes. Disappointing, yes. Shambolic, definitely not
Washington left over 3 months ago. He should have been replaced and he wasn't. Leaving it until transfer deadline day was idiotic to say the least.
I despair at some of the people/depressives on here. So we didn't get a deal for MB over the line through no fault of our own. It happens. Grow up. Notwithstanding I remain quietly confident that this will be a very good season. After all the signs have been there for weeks on the pitch, where it matters. Even the youngsters are showing that if needs be they can step up.
I would be optimistic if I had 100 pounds on us going up as well
A very disappointing end to the transfer window. I believe Garner is a decent manager and if we gave him the extra couple of players we need to challenge for the top six ( striker and centre half ) then most of us would be happy. As things stand we are going to finish mid table in the 3rd division and another opportunity wasted. Still there's nothing we can do about it as it's not us paying the bills. I just hope that when Guitar boy decides he's had enough that there will be someone out there prepared to pick up the pieces.
Sums my feelings up perfectly mate, another opportunity wasted, particularly as some of our competitors have strengthened their squads.
Bad deadline day. As others have said, missed the opportunity to make this an excellent window. Needed a striker. CB we may get lucky and have only 1 injury at a time, in which case we may be ok, but we don't have that luxury up front which is why this was the priority. But I'm confused at those who are writing off the season. Overall it's been a good window and we're playing good football. We have a team we can get behind again. Think we'll have more good days than bad this year which is a massive step up. And those quoting 17 out 7 in as a negative really need to look at the 17, and the comments about clear outs from last year. Happy with all that have gone, bar none. But proper annoyed at the absence of a few-hundred thousand bid to get us a proper choice up front.
I like to hear the explanation for why something didn't pan out before passing comment. Well I'm happy to take the statement put out at face value, but that takes me to the conclusion that it's gross incompetence and naivety to blame. If there was a contingency plan, even that failed.
I suppose it could be argued that the free agent market is the back stop and we might get lucky there, but it's unlikely to contain players of the calibre for us to sustain a promotion push. And what message does that, combined with yesterday's debacle, send out?
If the owner has genuinely been taken by surprise by what happened, or rather didn't happen, he might be forced into a rethink of how best to move forward. I'm sure the recruitment team were all trying their best, but their best wasn't good enough on this occasion.
Ben and the team are doing well but are going to need a large slice of good fortune with injuries if they're to get promoted this season.
I'm sorry to say this but there were quite a few people on here who were determined to ignore the obvious. The bad news is that TS is cutting costs, that means wages, staff, transfer and agent fees. The very good news is the young players coming through and it could be argued that those very players are going to be better than any signing we could have made. The direction of this club will be determined by TS's response when big clubs make bids for those young players.
dontou believe we started our striker search yesterday morning? Do you not think we worked through a list of targets? They either moved elsewhere, cost too high, didn't want to come etc. we had a forward in the building and the parent club moved the goal post at the last minute.
with the defender, it would be interesting to see what happened there. Maybe we pulled out because the manager and coaching staff have had three months to look at ness and think he is a good back up option.
frustrating, yes. Disappointing, yes. Shambolic, definitely not
Washington left over 3 months ago. He should have been replaced and he wasn't. Leaving it until transfer deadline day was idiotic to say the least.
The 95% comment on Wednesday was idiotic. I think we put all our eggs in the Simpson basket and then he went elsewhere.
I have no problem with waiting for the right player but there should have been a cut off point. We should have had a plan b, c, d etc lined up and in motion.
the striker was never going to be signed to rival stockley in my view. The emergence of leaburn could mean we are looking for a 4th choice, who would sign up to those terms.
on the basis of the guy being 4th choice, I'm happy with a free agent on a short contract.
I understand that the Bonne medical revealed a long-standing neck injury seemingly caused by excessive head turning some years back during his first spell with Charlton.
Apologies if this observation has already been made, can't face the prospect of going through the overnight postings to check.
Washington didn’t necessarily have to be replaced. We play 1 less striker than last season so he was replaced by an additional midfielder.
Numbers wise we are only a centre back short.
What I will say is if we are dipping into the free agent market it should be done quick because we’re only a O’Connell injury away from a defensive catastrophe. The free agent is likely to be unfit so will need a few weeks of training.
dontou believe we started our striker search yesterday morning? Do you not think we worked through a list of targets? They either moved elsewhere, cost too high, didn't want to come etc. we had a forward in the building and the parent club moved the goal post at the last minute.
with the defender, it would be interesting to see what happened there. Maybe we pulled out because the manager and coaching staff have had three months to look at ness and think he is a good back up option.
frustrating, yes. Disappointing, yes. Shambolic, definitely not
Washington left over 3 months ago. He should have been replaced and he wasn't. Leaving it until transfer deadline day was idiotic to say the least.
The 95% comment on Wednesday was idiotic. I think we put all our eggs in the Simpson basket and then he went elsewhere.
I have no problem with waiting for the right player but there should have been a cut off point. We should have had a plan b, c, d etc lined up and in motion.
the striker was never going to be signed to rival stockley in my view. The emergence of leaburn could mean we are looking for a 4th choice, who would sign up to those terms.
on the basis of the guy being 4th choice, I'm happy with a free agent on a short contract.
But it's not 4th choice really. Aneke is always injured and Leaburn is yoof. It's 2nd choice we're trying to find, pushing 1st choice.
Bear in mind the 95% comment was in a 121 conversation, not a public statement.
dontou believe we started our striker search yesterday morning? Do you not think we worked through a list of targets? They either moved elsewhere, cost too high, didn't want to come etc. we had a forward in the building and the parent club moved the goal post at the last minute.
with the defender, it would be interesting to see what happened there. Maybe we pulled out because the manager and coaching staff have had three months to look at ness and think he is a good back up option.
frustrating, yes. Disappointing, yes. Shambolic, definitely not
Washington left over 3 months ago. He should have been replaced and he wasn't. Leaving it until transfer deadline day was idiotic to say the least.
The 95% comment on Wednesday was idiotic. I think we put all our eggs in the Simpson basket and then he went elsewhere.
I have no problem with waiting for the right player but there should have been a cut off point. We should have had a plan b, c, d etc lined up and in motion.
the striker was never going to be signed to rival stockley in my view. The emergence of leaburn could mean we are looking for a 4th choice, who would sign up to those terms.
on the basis of the guy being 4th choice, I'm happy with a free agent on a short contract.
But it's not 4th choice really. Aneke is always injured and Leaburn is yoof. It's 2nd choice we're trying to find, pushing 1st choice.
Bear in mind the 95% comment was in a 121 conversation, not a public statement.
There has been some positives to this summer transfer window. Some very decent players were signed who fit a system, while others who didn’t were moved on.
But why say we’re not going to leave it to the last minute, then do exactly that for the crucial last two pieces of the jigsaw?
It’s especially galling when you consider the extra money we got for former players like Pope moving on.
I know, I know, Thomas is shelling out on running costs. But he’ll be doing that next summer too. He had some extra money this summer, but didn’t use it. All the other signings were free transfers. Spending £500k on a striker or a centre back would have made a big difference to our chances.
That’s the biggest disappointment imo. But it seems cost cutting is the mantra from now on.
So…we need to back Garner and the team and hope they can swerve an injury crisis and stay on course for the play offs. COYRs.
Buy an expensive car but don't bother with a spare tyre or breakdown cover as they cost a lot and you might not need them.
Yet again Sandgaard over promises and under delivers.
And I don't just mean Thomas.
Martin was telling all and sundry, it seems, on Wednesday night about McG turning down a move to Wrexham and that Clare was available for £2m plus we were after this and that. Did he learn nothing from the Washington fiasco?
Meanwhile, Thomas was giving unnecessary updates on the OS before the window had closed.
Yes, deals fall through, yes, every team's fans (bar Forest) always want one more signing than they get but while this is a decent squad and can, bar the injuries already plaguing it, compete it has obvious weaknesses, acknowledged by TS in his latest vanity statement, that haven't been addressed.
The whole break even mantra is nonsense as it's based as much on increasing income as reducing costs but the club just lost its third biggest sponsor (Sandgaard’s words) in Robots DAO, an ill thought out and damaging deal that smacked of desperation and lack of diligence anyway.
Fill the Valley. Admirable but unrealistic especially given the ticket prices so that just leaves cuts in spending.
And the only place where significant savings can be made, because it is by far the biggest area of spending, is player costs.
And if you cut player spending then you end up with a half decent squad but without experienced cover up front or on one side of defence relying on very promising but as yet untested kids to fill the gaps.
Which is where we are, sadly but unnecessarily, now.
Supporting Charlton has rarely been easy and this is not the worst team or the worst situation even in this century but it is still bloody depressing when you realise how close we could be with just a little less conversation and a little more, positive, action, please.
On wednesday night we saw how good some of our youngsters are.As long as we dont get a mass of injuries to senior players,these lads can step in and play alongside and will not look out of place.Would Bonne score more goals than Leaburn this year,would a journeyman CB be better cover than Ness.Henry looks as though he is waiting for that opportunity of a run in the team.Used correctly these lads will do the job ,no panic from me over the non signings.
Waking up to not even seeing Bonne signing is something I did not expect, although as others have said, the writing was on the wall.
Clearly our owner doesn’t want to spend money anymore and everything is being done on the cheap, he spent some fees when he first got here but I think it’s a case of ‘reality bites’ for TS and he’s realised just because you spend 500k on a promising player, you aren’t always gonna see that players stock rise, so going against his own words, football really isn’t that simple.
There were a lot of attainable players at reasonable fees in this league and league 2, the fact he hasn’t even got one shows what the future holds,
balance the books, sell any of our valuable assets if an offer comes along, keep us competitive until a new investor/owner comes along. If he had any ambition with us he would be paying the 300-500k fees required to get the good players in contract at this level, I honestly think it’s unacceptable they’ve waited until the final minute to get a striker when they’ve had all summer. Our scouting system is terrible, all our good signings are from Ben Garners previous side, there’s no way there wasn’t National league & league 2 players ready to make the step up or even prem clubs with young players needing game time. Just seems like utter laziness and lack of knowledge
I wasnt a fan of Bonne coming in but bottom line is, we needed a striker and now we are potentially up shit creek.
Wont say TS and co are to blame though...goalposts being moved by QPR is unprofessional and in fairness to Bonne, bad for his career as he isnt going to play much there.
Hopefully there are free agents that have some potential or QPR let Bonne go so he can join us but after there actions last night, I highly doubt it!
On wednesday night we saw how good some of our youngsters are.As long as we dont get a mass of injuries to senior players,these lads can step in and play alongside and will not look out of place.Would Bonne score more goals than Leaburn this year,would a journeyman CB be better cover than Ness.Henry looks as though he is waiting for that opportunity of a run in the team.Used correctly these lads will do the job ,no panic from me over the non signings.
Probably come across as sarcasm because the majority are nursing deadline day hangovers but I’m with you on this 👍🏻
Too fed up to post last night. My balanced thoughts this morning are of deflation that we haven't finished the job. We are clearly in a better position (onfield at least!) than last season. Whether that’s by luck or judgement is neither here nor there. We have had a pretty substantial clear out and there are promising signs from Garner and his new, relatively young side. However I cannot work out whether I find it more depressing that we have failed to address the most glaring deficiency in our squad, despite our black box wizardry, or that we appear to have spent the majority of our efforts pursuing Macauley effing Bonne as the answer to the biggest issue we have. Bewildered by the latter and thankful that we have dodged that bullet. I don’t believe it could have worked. Too much resentment from most of the fan base and he isn’t good enough to turn it round. He’d have been on a hiding to nothing. There may be a hidden gem in the free agent market (Vydra anyone?). Sometimes the needy and the desperate can come good. But I’m afraid to say I have lost whatever faith I had in our recruitment committee. I’m hoping for the sake of his credibility that Gallen is simply outvoted by the Saandards and is now as we are led to believe simply a negotiator as I cannot believe he could have suggested or sanctioned the Bonne idea. We are clearly operating with tight purse strings. That’s fair enough. We can bitch about it but it’s not our money. However I have a growing suspicion that we are out of our depth when it comes to operating in this ever more dodgy football world and we need more that a monumental ego and a couple of flashy guitars to put that right. There are bargains out there if you know how to get them. It’s by no means all doom and gloom but it’s a job half done and that’s as frustrating as it was predictable.
Overall I think it was a good transfer window with the players brought in and have shown they can play to our new ethos. However, last nights transfer window closure was disappointing for a number of reasons. Firstly, we didn’t get the centre half and centre forward to improve our squad and allow depth in cover, especially for injury prone players in both positions, Innis and Aneke. Secondly, and I’m not one that knows a lot about the internal politics of the club, but the lack of transfer activity might suggest Sandgaard is looking at doing things on the cheap. This is evident in the lack of funds spent on players this window and his baffling decisions on releasing decent long standing Charlton staff either being inadequately replaced or even not at all.
A positive of the lack of deadline day recruitment is that it means there is more opportunity for the likes of Leaburn, Ness and Henry to get game time. I, like other Charlton fans, like to see the academy players brought through the ranks. Maybe they’re not ready but those three have already shown they can fit in. Had we brought in two more players for the two positions we were looking to fill, it would only move Leaburn and Ness further down the pecking order and we might not see them get more opportunities this season.
On wednesday night we saw how good some of our youngsters are.As long as we dont get a mass of injuries to senior players,these lads can step in and play alongside and will not look out of place.Would Bonne score more goals than Leaburn this year,would a journeyman CB be better cover than Ness.Henry looks as though he is waiting for that opportunity of a run in the team.Used correctly these lads will do the job ,no panic from me over the non signings.
But the manager wanted more signings and he wasn't being unrealistic given that we're comfortably under the squad number limit. It's his arse on the line if results drop off and he's been let down, no question.
I admire your optimism and hope the "you'll never win anything with kids" Hansen'ism works for us as it did for Man U back in the day.
The next utterance from TS will be one expressing surprise that we can’t fill The Valley. What does he expect after a transfer window that leaves us facing another season of mediocrity? It would be hard to persuade anyone to join the Charlton faithful at the moment. Appreciate what TS did in saving the club but I feel he is becoming increasingly delusional.
Also….letting Washington go at the start of the summer - who would have been decent in this system - then leaving it three months to the last minute of the window to fumble over Macauley Bonne (!!) on loan and failing to sign him, does not look like a structured, methodical transfer window.
Went to bed last night straight after the statement dropped. It was a disappointing day, we rode the roller coaster of rumour and expected a signing even if it was one we were less than enamoured with. But some of the anger is a bit OTT, we are a third tier club we aren't a glamour club that players are desperate to join. Even Man Utd can no longer sign whoever they want.
The great Curbs often said "It is what it is." He also used to say "Don't get too high with the highs or too low with the lows". I have caught up with this thread walking the dog, I read it out to him and now he is on suicide watch.
I am upset and annoyed but their are worse things in the world than be disappointed in Charlton and dealings in the transfer market, yet again.
Comments
Personally I didn’t see Bonne as the answer, but clearly we are short up front, so I understand people venting their frustrations. Time will tell.
He should have been replaced and he wasn't.
Leaving it until transfer deadline day was idiotic to say the least.
But proper annoyed at the absence of a few-hundred thousand bid to get us a proper choice up front.
I suppose it could be argued that the free agent market is the back stop and we might get lucky there, but it's unlikely to contain players of the calibre for us to sustain a promotion push. And what message does that, combined with yesterday's debacle, send out?
If the owner has genuinely been taken by surprise by what happened, or rather didn't happen, he might be forced into a rethink of how best to move forward. I'm sure the recruitment team were all trying their best, but their best wasn't good enough on this occasion.
Ben and the team are doing well but are going to need a large slice of good fortune with injuries if they're to get promoted this season.
the striker was never going to be signed to rival stockley in my view. The emergence of leaburn could mean we are looking for a 4th choice, who would sign up to those terms.
on the basis of the guy being 4th choice, I'm happy with a free agent on a short contract.
Apologies if this observation has already been made, can't face the prospect of going through the overnight postings to check.
Bear in mind the 95% comment was in a 121 conversation, not a public statement.
I totally agree on the cut off though.
Bear in mind the 95% comment was in a 121 conversation, not a public statement.
I totally agree on the cut off though.
But why say we’re not going to leave it to the last minute, then do exactly that for the crucial last two pieces of the jigsaw?
But it seems cost cutting is the mantra from now on.
Yet again Sandgaard over promises and under delivers.
And I don't just mean Thomas.
Martin was telling all and sundry, it seems, on Wednesday night about McG turning down a move to Wrexham and that Clare was available for £2m plus we were after this and that. Did he learn nothing from the Washington fiasco?
Meanwhile, Thomas was giving unnecessary updates on the OS before the window had closed.
Yes, deals fall through, yes, every team's fans (bar Forest) always want one more signing than they get but while this is a decent squad and can, bar the injuries already plaguing it, compete it has obvious weaknesses, acknowledged by TS in his latest vanity statement, that haven't been addressed.
The whole break even mantra is nonsense as it's based as much on increasing income as reducing costs but the club just lost its third biggest sponsor (Sandgaard’s words) in Robots DAO, an ill thought out and damaging deal that smacked of desperation and lack of diligence anyway.
Fill the Valley. Admirable but unrealistic especially given the ticket prices so that just leaves cuts in spending.
And the only place where significant savings can be made, because it is by far the biggest area of spending, is player costs.
And if you cut player spending then you end up with a half decent squad but without experienced cover up front or on one side of defence relying on very promising but as yet untested kids to fill the gaps.
Which is where we are, sadly but unnecessarily, now.
Supporting Charlton has rarely been easy and this is not the worst team or the worst situation even in this century but it is still bloody depressing when you realise how close we could be with just a little less conversation and a little more, positive, action, please.
balance the books, sell any of our valuable assets if an offer comes along, keep us competitive until a new investor/owner comes along. If he had any ambition with us he would be paying the 300-500k fees required to get the good players in contract at this level, I honestly think it’s unacceptable they’ve waited until the final minute to get a striker when they’ve had all summer. Our scouting system is terrible, all our good signings are from Ben Garners previous side, there’s no way there wasn’t National league & league 2 players ready to make the step up or even prem clubs with young players needing game time. Just seems like utter laziness and lack of knowledge
Wont say TS and co are to blame though...goalposts being moved by QPR is unprofessional and in fairness to Bonne, bad for his career as he isnt going to play much there.
Hopefully there are free agents that have some potential or QPR let Bonne go so he can join us but after there actions last night, I highly doubt it!
I admire your optimism and hope the "you'll never win anything with kids" Hansen'ism works for us as it did for Man U back in the day.
It would be hard to persuade anyone to join the Charlton faithful at the moment.
Appreciate what TS did in saving the club but I feel he is becoming increasingly delusional.
The great Curbs often said "It is what it is." He also used to say "Don't get too high with the highs or too low with the lows". I have caught up with this thread walking the dog, I read it out to him and now he is on suicide watch.
I am upset and annoyed but their are worse things in the world than be disappointed in Charlton and dealings in the transfer market, yet again.