It's unfair on Garner. He's shown that he deserves to be backed since day 1 pre season.
Anybody who is now referencing the free agent list is just either deluded or fibbing to themselves. Getting a player in without any pre season was not part of any frikkin plan.
Promise 2 signings in areas we are short. It's the same old story with the reality leading to overworked players and injuries.
Airman has some good material for the typewriter this week and quite rightly!
Have to say I’m not really on board with the Garner will have to ‘perform a miracle’ discourse to get us out of this league.
Think it does a disservice to the talent we have in our squad, in our youth, and his ability as a manager. From what I’ve seen this season I think we are still going to be very competitive this year, and it will be that talent, hard work and good coaching that get us promoted - if it does happen.
The miracle will be keeping Aneke fit, and not having any other big injuries/suspensions in the squad. We are Inniss being injured, and a CB then getting suspended away from potentially having to overuse a youth player in a tough run of fixtures.
We have a decent first XI but the lack of depth in the squad for a 50+ game season will kill us. Injuries are already mounting and we didn’t strengthen either of the priority areas yesterday. The owner has now said that the plan is to go and see if we can sign players that have been on the sofa for three months and haven’t been able to get a deal anywhere else.
If Garner gets us up this season - given that there are five or six very decent teams and another five or six fairly decent teams also with that aim - and he will indeed have worked a miracle.
I doubt Airman enjoys any of this. He is a supporter like the rest of us. He just calls things for what they are and that makes him unpopular with some.
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.
Agree totally. A frustrating end to the window but it is what it is.
The good thing with needing pace up front is we shouldn’t end up with another Leon Best/Ricardo Vaz Te type who we thought didn’t need to be quick to do a job as a target man. We’ve cleared out the older players who’s legs and/or hunger has gone, need to avoid bringing one or two in and wasting budget that could be better spent in January.
Interesting Gallen says he’s already spoken to some free agents.
Recent events have lowered supporter expectations and confidence in Thomas Sandgaard and the lamentable end to this window is likely to prove a tipping point for many.
It’s a tremendous shame, with so many talented young players coming through, but I believe his plan to halve the losses and break even over the next 12 and 24 months is based upon selling them off as and when offers are received. He certainly won’t be “filling the Valley” with premium ticket pricing, whilst the deal with Generous Robots DAO has sullied the reputation of the club. It’s all very sad.
I would rather see us wait until January and get someone we actually want in than take a punt on a free agent out of desperation to just get anybody in/to save face.
All that talk about data, about lists of players and targets they've been working on for months, about being well-prepared for transfer windows now and it gets to deadline day and all they've got is former player Macauley Bonne. It really is farcical.
think he massively underestimated the costs and expectations of the club
I cant see the current squad getting a top 6 finish - so another league 1 mid table finish i think is on the cards, crowd numbers will dwindle as apart from st holders people wont pay £30 for boring football with nothing to gain
I would rather see us wait until January and get someone we actually want in than take a punt on a free agent out of desperation to just get anybody in/to save face.
Nothing to stop us signing a free agent on a contract until January though.
Whilst busy navel gazing at matter's Charlton yesterday, I paid little attention to what was happening at other Club's. If there are a number of players under contract for the remainder of this season who are unwanted by their Club and don't want to be there, eg Bonne, is it not possible some could become free agents if a mutual agreement can be reached to cancel their contracts. Don't know how many might be in this boat, but if we move too quickly 🤣 we might miss out on those who become available.
They have to be released, so, unattached during the window in order to sign outside of it as a free.
So the small pond we're fishing in now won't get restocked 🎣
Frustrating end as I was confident, we would get a CB and
forward and no hiding it does leave us short. I hope we don’t panic and just
sign frees unless a short-term deal to January, so we does not prevent us looking
in January.
I hope we get lucky with injuries and Garner and the players
can keep us in the mix until January when hopefully we have things in place to get
in straight away.
Overall a positive window and the start of what looks like a
plan/strategy just let down at the end.
I doubt Airman enjoys any of this. He is a supporter like the rest of us. He just calls things for what they are and that makes him unpopular with some.
I think he would attack any owner regardless to aid his agenda.
All that talk about data, about lists of players and targets they've been working on for months, about being well-prepared for transfer windows now and it gets to deadline day and all they've got is former player Macauley Bonne. It really is farcical.
This is really the story - we talk about data and sign two very promising loanees from the PL, three players from the manager’s former club and two others who will have been well known on the scouting circuit, neither of whom have yet pulled up any trees or are likely to do so at this stage of their career. What does Martin do again?
I’m not defending Gallen, but at least he has a football background. He can’t perform miracles if the owner can’t or won’t pay.
Wollacott and the two loanees look good. The others we’ll have to see about over the course of the season.
So the free transfer market of unattached, and therefore nowhere near match sharp, players is now our option to bring in new faces until January.
Complete balls up to the end of our window and Garner being hamstrung by Sangaard. A season that (still) holds some promise likely to be undone by the owner not willing to speculate to accumulate.
I have a horrible feeling TS watched our PJT game the other night and watched the entire back four - O'connor, Barker, Ness, Chin - put in strong performances and thought with Elerewe as well we didn't need to sign another defender.
All that talk about data, about lists of players and targets they've been working on for months, about being well-prepared for transfer windows now and it gets to deadline day and all they've got is former player Macauley Bonne. It really is farcical.
This is really the story - we talk about data and sign two very promising loanees from the PL, three players from the manager’s former club and two others who will have been well known on the scouting circuit, neither of whom have yet pulled up any trees or are likely to do so at this stage of their career. What does Martin do again?
I’m not defending Gallen, but at least he has a football background. He can’t perform miracles if the owner can’t or won’t pay.
Wollacott and the two loanees look good. The others we’ll have to see about over the course of the season.
Churlish to withhold praise from EOC and Payne imo. They've been, on the whole, good
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.
The recent history of our club is of missed opportunities. The goal is open for a split second and we baloon it over the bar. Powell, Bowyer and now Garner just needed a bit of backing. Nothing silly, but sensible targeted backing.
There’s still two weeks one week 5 days 4days 3days 2days 1 day 12 hours 6 hours 3hours 1 hour half hour 15 mins 5 mins 1 min left of the transfer window so stop moaning and wait and see the free agent market is available so stay positive
The problem with leaving the rest of your business to deadline day is when it doesn't come off it can put a dampener on the whole transfer window. Overall we've done very well but we're still very short at the back and up front in terms of cover. I've always been more fixated on our need for a CB and now with the window closed we have three CBs, one of whom has a very bad injury record. We'll be cringing even more every time Inniss goes down now and that isn't great. Hopefully we'll get a free transfer in to cover there but otherwise we'll have to hope O'Connell is injury-free. That's not a ridiculous proposition, plenty of clubs can keep two centre backs fit all season but we're not normally one of them. Hopefully that changes. We're also a bit short at LB. Clayden has done well so far but any longer term injury to Sessegnon would worry me.
Up front we're light. I do think Stockley can do more in this team than he's given credit for and than he's shown, but right now he's struggling. He's been the only player so far including youth team players who hasn't been able to instantly adapt and it's showing. Not being able to take him out of the firing line for a bit is a problem, and even when Chuks is fit we don't want to be starting him. For now Stockley is just going to have to figure it out until support comes but it's not ideal in terms of competition. Leaburn can make some starts but Stockley needs to put the work into adapting.
Other than that what we've signed has been good so far, and most importantly we've brought in a good manager and we're playing brilliant, watchable football. No confused 4231 where every line looks like it's playing a different game to the one next to it and no forced 352 with wingers jammed in to wingback slots and midfielders in defence. Clare is reborn, Morgan is being used in a way that gets more out of him, Kirk is delivering for us finally and Fraser is starting to look like the player we signed. I don't hate this team which makes a nice change to last season. We're playing well, we need to start consistently scoring 2+ goals a game and it's a shame we haven't brought in another striker to help with that. Hopefully it clicks with what we have or we can bring in a good free transfer.
I have a horrible feeling TS watched our PJT game the other night and watched the entire back four - O'connor, Barker, Ness, Chin - put in strong performances and thought with Elerewe as well we didn't need to sign another defender.
I think he may be proved wrong.
I was thinking the same. That's the problem with his ownership he's making it up as he goes along and hoping it will one day click.
I have a horrible feeling TS watched our PJT game the other night and watched the entire back four - O'connor, Barker, Ness, Chin - put in strong performances and thought with Elerewe as well we didn't need to sign another defender.
I think he may be proved wrong.
Ness looks very good in his actual position (CB) and of course Clare and even Dobson can play there. We're probably one short but it probably isn't terminal to promotion chances.
We have enough centre-forwards too - the question is whether they're the right centre-forwards. Stockley and Aneke on giant contracts is limiting for what else we can do there. Leaburn is close to ready - he won't always have Wednesday's defenders to suffer from/terrorise (depending on whether I mean Sheffield or our midweek cup game - let's see how he does against something in between) and Kanu seems to have the instinct.
As has been said, we've changed primary formation to something that prioritises wingers, and we have 5 or 6 first-team wing options.
Yes, an extra signing of a lethal striker would have been nice, but it didn't happen, so we kept DJ in the building - while not a lethal striker, a forward who makes things happen. Let's see what this squad can do.
I reckon TS is short of money for us. Events like getting rid of people indicate this. Ben Garner has to play the hand he’s got. If Garner isn’t positive about that then he should leave. The remaining question is if there is anybody with the resources to take over the club. I doubt there is anybody, so maybe the choice is the situation we have now or no club at all.
Personally I have felt uplifted by the U21 game on Tuesday, and the silly buggers cup game on Wednesday, and the transfer window shenanigans will not diminish that feeling. Provided we still continue to play well and get actual results it is easy to enjoy this season, starting with trying to follow the progress of our U21’s at Barnsley at 2pm this afternoon. Tomorrow at Bolton is a must win and not a day for miserable excuses. The spectre at the feast is not whether we signed anybody yesterday, but potential and actual injuries.
Comments
Anybody who is now referencing the free agent list is just either deluded or fibbing to themselves. Getting a player in without any pre season was not part of any frikkin plan.
Promise 2 signings in areas we are short. It's the same old story with the reality leading to overworked players and injuries.
Airman has some good material for the typewriter this week and quite rightly!
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/statistik/vertragslosespieler
Interesting Gallen says he’s already spoken to some free agents.
It’s a tremendous shame, with so many talented young players coming through, but I believe his plan to halve the losses and break even over the next 12 and 24 months is based upon selling them off as and when offers are received. He certainly won’t be “filling the Valley” with premium ticket pricing, whilst the deal with Generous Robots DAO has sullied the reputation of the club. It’s all very sad.
Eyes and smile 😁
think he massively underestimated the costs and expectations of the club
I cant see the current squad getting a top 6 finish - so another league 1 mid table finish i think is on the cards, crowd numbers will dwindle as apart from st holders people wont pay £30 for boring football with nothing to gain
Frustrating end as I was confident, we would get a CB and forward and no hiding it does leave us short. I hope we don’t panic and just sign frees unless a short-term deal to January, so we does not prevent us looking in January.
I hope we get lucky with injuries and Garner and the players can keep us in the mix until January when hopefully we have things in place to get in straight away.
Overall a positive window and the start of what looks like a plan/strategy just let down at the end.
You can make some pretty decent teams out of that list!
Karius
Wisdom Mangala Reid Rose
Costa
I’m not defending Gallen, but at least he has a football background. He can’t perform miracles if the owner can’t or won’t pay.
Complete balls up to the end of our window and Garner being hamstrung by Sangaard. A season that (still) holds some promise likely to be undone by the owner not willing to speculate to accumulate.
I think he may be proved wrong.
We have enough centre-forwards too - the question is whether they're the right centre-forwards. Stockley and Aneke on giant contracts is limiting for what else we can do there. Leaburn is close to ready - he won't always have Wednesday's defenders to suffer from/terrorise (depending on whether I mean Sheffield or our midweek cup game - let's see how he does against something in between) and Kanu seems to have the instinct.
As has been said, we've changed primary formation to something that prioritises wingers, and we have 5 or 6 first-team wing options.
Yes, an extra signing of a lethal striker would have been nice, but it didn't happen, so we kept DJ in the building - while not a lethal striker, a forward who makes things happen. Let's see what this squad can do.
Ben Garner has to play the hand he’s got.
If Garner isn’t positive about that then he should leave.
The remaining question is if there is anybody with the resources to take over the club.
I doubt there is anybody, so maybe the choice is the situation we have now or no club at all.
Personally I have felt uplifted by the U21 game on Tuesday, and the silly buggers cup game on Wednesday, and the transfer window shenanigans will not diminish that feeling.
Provided we still continue to play well and get actual results it is easy to enjoy this season, starting with trying to follow the progress of our U21’s at Barnsley at 2pm this afternoon.
Tomorrow at Bolton is a must win and not a day for miserable excuses.
The spectre at the feast is not whether we signed anybody yesterday, but potential and actual injuries.