It says something about our recent transfer record, that two players we paid fees for are being linked with L2 clubs
It’s this people need to remind themselves of when they say, “we’re only X amount of players away from being able to compete”
Stockley - linked with Gillingham Mansfield - failed deadline day move to Mansfield JFC - Stevenage Gilbey - Stevenage Elliott Lee - Wrexham Matthews - Somewhere in Cyprus Gunter - AFC Wimbledon Pratley - Leyton Orient Leko - back to Brum reserves Pearce - retired
I understand all of these players aren’t ones you might think are good enough. But I think if you look where the class of the last few years have ended up, it tells a very obvious story. Individually and collectively it’s been abysmal. However, I’ve read numerous posts on here over the years arguing for all these players in one way, shape or form being good enough, they just need 2 or 3 more.
I would imagine this time in 8 months we can add Morgan to this list, Kirk, Aneke, Payne, and even CBT.
The only player at the moment who has been part of our team in the last few years (from 19/20 onwards) that has gone on to better things is Maatsen and possibly Millar, although I haven’t been following his career. The facts are undeniable imo. If any of the above had been strong enough, we wouldn’t be where we are, even with a couple of ‘better players’
TBF you could do the same thing a year/18 months out with our last two promotion winning teams.
No one would say that Hollands and BWP weren't key players and ended the next season out on loan to lower league teams.
In the summer of 2021 I said all we had to do was replace our 5 worst players with 5 "best" ones and we would go up. We lost our 5 best players.
The squad, bar the left back and center foward issue, is OK. It's the 4, 5 or 6 really good players we haven't got.
Dobson wouldn't be a stand out player in that company, Leaburn wouldn't be relied on, you could get by with Clare as back up right back, it wouldn't matter if CBT missed some chances.
Most of our current players, or the ones you mentioned, aren’t worse than the Docherty, Euell, Benson, Marshall, Lapslie, Reeves, Parker etc etc and some of them are better than Wagstaff, Hayes, Purrington etc.
Yours is probably not an opinion shared by many but I agree. It's the lack of real genuinely quality players that is holding us back much more than strength in depth. Nearly all of them have shown some real quality, that includes Inniss who has absolutely dominated some good strikers, Fraser, Morgan, CBT, Kirk and even Stockley. It's the fact they do it 4/5 times a season, it's simply not enough.
I don't agree we need 13/14 players, we just need the 6/7 that are guaranteed starters every week and we'd comfortably be 10-12 places higher.
But we all know there’s no way we’re going to get ‘em.
Bonne's tally of missed sitters were a big contribution to our last day relegation from the Championship. But he would do a job for us in Div One and push us up the table a bit. It is very telling that Peterborough can plan to off-load Marriott whilst we can only dream of getting someone with his experience and skill. These days clubs seem to focus on strikers who dash around like super athletes. Think of Teddy Sherringham who simply had a nous for being in the right place at the right time and scored goals for fun. Kermorgant was of a similar calibre. If you can't read the game you won't score many goals.
Bonne was a non league striker brought in as one "for the future". Always makes me laugh when people blame a player for not being good enough rather than blame the people who signed him in the first place.
Bonne's tally of missed sitters were a big contribution to our last day relegation from the Championship. But he would do a job for us in Div One and push us up the table a bit. It is very telling that Peterborough can plan to off-load Marriott whilst we can only dream of getting someone with his experience and skill. These days clubs seem to focus on strikers who dash around like super athletes. Think of Teddy Sherringham who simply had a nous for being in the right place at the right time and scored goals for fun. Kermorgant was of a similar calibre. If you can't read the game you won't score many goals.
Bonne was a non league striker brought in as one "for the future". Always makes me laugh when people blame a player for not being good enough rather than blame the people who signed him in the first place.
Tbf, whoever signed Bonne did a great job, as we made an enormous profit off him.
It says something about our recent transfer record, that two players we paid fees for are being linked with L2 clubs
DJ has not been a success at Charlton. He's been hampered by injury (aren't they all?), but when fit he has never really looked like kicking on and cementing a place in the team. His transfer fee has not provided value.
Stockley, before this season, or perhaps before his back injury last season, has done fairly well for us. Something has happened to him this season (be it form or physical), which is why he's now being looked at by League 2 teams, and he's always been divisive with fans because his style is not one for the purists, but he scored enough goals last season for his transfer not to be considered a flop or a failure.
Well said, re Stockley.
As you say somethings not right this season but he doesn’t deserve all the stick he’s getting. We were all very happy with him last season and the one before.
Some fans on here!
Yeah people were happy with him in those 2 seasons because he scored goals and they thought he looked half decent. I've said since the beginning I think he's a donkey and I don't like the way we play when he's in the side, he wasn't Captain material and all he does is moan at his teammates.
This season he has been utter shit, not just for a few games but for the whole season so far, so naturally he's getting stick. And he does deserve it because as Captain until about 2 weeks ago, the way the players conduct themselves on the field is largely his responsibility, and we've had no heart, no desire, no fight and no clue under his stewardship
Club is just Rotten. DH - ''We will bring players in before letting others leave'' DH - '' We will get our business done early'' DH - One week later '' Confident we will come out of the window stronger'' ......................... Only real rumors flying around are basically sales. Look at the business other league one clubs are already doing and it already tells you everything you need to know. Club is extra focused on the MAN-U fixture to revert attention away to how Rotten and depleted our club currently is.
I am not saying our fans should not enjoy the day out. They absolutely should it is the least our supporters deserve after the past 5-10 years.
But I honestly can not see us coming out the otherside of this transfer window with more players and more depth then before.
Can already see the deadline day headlines OTOS ''how everyone tried their best but Pat the secretary from West Ham did not get the paperwork across in time bla bla''
Do not feel like the club will prove me wrong either. The fact that this is now the normal mentality I have when it comes to our football club says it all.
Club is just Rotten. DH - ''We will bring players in before letting others leave'' DH - '' We will get our business done early'' DH - One week later '' Confident we will come out of the window stronger'' ......................... Only real rumors flying around are basically sales. Look at the business other league one clubs are already doing and it already tells you everything you need to know. Club is extra focused on the MAN-U fixture to revert attention away to how Rotten and depleted our club currently is.
I am not saying our fans should not enjoy the day out. They absolutely should it is the least our supporters deserve after the past 5-10 years.
But I honestly can not see us coming out the otherside of this transfer window with more players and more depth then before.
Can already see the deadline day headlines OTOS ''how everyone tried their best but Pat the secretary from West Ham did not get the paperwork across in time bla bla''
Do not feel like the club will prove me wrong either. The fact that this is now the normal mentality I have when it comes to our football club says it all.
Depressing.
You might turn out to be right but it’s still very early in the window and we’re not near the top with first pick of the better players.
I wouldn’t link what we’ll bring in to the number of rumours of incoming players either.
I’ll be more concerned the further we get into the window without bringing anyone in. It’ll get busier, there’s not that many deals being done at this stage.
I don’t know about you guys but I’m buzzing to see Bonne revealed at half time, hoping he gets given a cannon to fire signed castor sportswear into the covered end.
It says something about our recent transfer record, that two players we paid fees for are being linked with L2 clubs
It’s this people need to remind themselves of when they say, “we’re only X amount of players away from being able to compete”
Stockley - linked with Gillingham Mansfield - failed deadline day move to Mansfield JFC - Stevenage Gilbey - Stevenage Elliott Lee - Wrexham Matthews - Somewhere in Cyprus Gunter - AFC Wimbledon Pratley - Leyton Orient Leko - back to Brum reserves Pearce - retired
I understand all of these players aren’t ones you might think are good enough. But I think if you look where the class of the last few years have ended up, it tells a very obvious story. Individually and collectively it’s been abysmal. However, I’ve read numerous posts on here over the years arguing for all these players in one way, shape or form being good enough, they just need 2 or 3 more.
I would imagine this time in 8 months we can add Morgan to this list, Kirk, Aneke, Payne, and even CBT.
The only player at the moment who has been part of our team in the last few years (from 19/20 onwards) that has gone on to better things is Maatsen and possibly Millar, although I haven’t been following his career. The facts are undeniable imo. If any of the above had been strong enough, we wouldn’t be where we are, even with a couple of ‘better players’
TBF you could do the same thing a year/18 months out with our last two promotion winning teams.
No one would say that Hollands and BWP weren't key players and ended the next season out on loan to lower league teams.
In the summer of 2021 I said all we had to do was replace our 5 worst players with 5 "best" ones and we would go up. We lost our 5 best players.
The squad, bar the left back and center foward issue, is OK. It's the 4, 5 or 6 really good players we haven't got.
Dobson wouldn't be a stand out player in that company, Leaburn wouldn't be relied on, you could get by with Clare as back up right back, it wouldn't matter if CBT missed some chances.
Most of our current players, or the ones you mentioned, aren’t worse than the Docherty, Euell, Benson, Marshall, Lapslie, Reeves, Parker etc etc and some of them are better than Wagstaff, Hayes, Purrington etc.
I'm of the opinion now that we don't have enough of the steady Eddies in the squad. The sort of player that'll give you a consistent selection and 6-8 performance. Look at our best 11 and bench, place fitness or consistency next to the name of what they have/ do suffer from. Only one player gives us the above, no fitness issues and s consistent level of performance - Dobson. The player 90% of us will agree is out best and most important, coincidence that he's an ever present and performer?
Wollacott - ? Looked to be consistent, injury Egbo - fitness
Inniss - fitness and consistency
O'Connell - ? Looked good at times shakey Sess - fitness Dobson
AMB - ? Clare - consistency Lavelle - fitness and consistency Payne - consistency DJ - fitness and consistency Stockley - consistency Aneke - fitness and consistency
Our attacking/ match winners are all a coin flip for which one will turn up.
Chuck in a consistent if not spectacular b2b next to Dobson and a more reliable wide player to keep us ticking over and it's less an issue while the others decide whether it's an A game day or not.
I don’t know about you guys but I’m buzzing to see Bonne revealed at half time, hoping he gets given a cannon to fire signed castor sportswear into the covered end.
Problem is we're looking to sign a striker who knows where the back of the net is and is in form. Bonne, whatever he did at 'his best' for us, is not in form. In fact his lack of form is longer than Stockley's.
I agree with those who question why we constantly obsess about signing back former players. I disagree with those who think we shouldn't be signing from League two, as the alternatives tend to be either unwanted (for good reason), loans, untried, or expensive. Assuming we can't do expensive, I don’t want either of the first two categories, unless we can find another yann, of course. As for 'untried', that's as much of a gamble as league two.
Its 7th January and there seems to be a meltdown on SM sites (FB and Twitter) that we haven't signed anyone yet and other League 1 clubs have. Now I have absolutely no idea what's going on behind the scenes, neither does anyone else, except those that work at the club! Having listened to DH's pre Lincoln match interview this morning, I happen to believe him that "they are keeping their cards close to their chest and not letting any other clubs know who we are after or even the positions"! I would like to think that bringing in Andy Scott wasn't just a PR stunt.....I'm mean why bother? Lets just chill, look forward to the game today, hope we get 3 points and see what transpires in the next days/weeks. If come the end of Jan and we haven't made any progress, then I'm happy to put my hands up and say I was wrong, but lets give them a chance! And to those who say why have we let JFC go before we get anyone in.....he wanted to go, wasn't playing for us (sadly), apparently because Sangaard didn't want to pay him extra dosh (tight-fisted git), and him and DH agreed he could go and get some much needed first team football.....so no reason to hang onto him if he couldn't play for us, we had no right to stand in his way....did we? Rant over!
Club is just Rotten. DH - ''We will bring players in before letting others leave'' DH - '' We will get our business done early'' DH - One week later '' Confident we will come out of the window stronger'' ......................... Only real rumors flying around are basically sales. Look at the business other league one clubs are already doing and it already tells you everything you need to know. Club is extra focused on the MAN-U fixture to revert attention away to how Rotten and depleted our club currently is.
I am not saying our fans should not enjoy the day out. They absolutely should it is the least our supporters deserve after the past 5-10 years.
But I honestly can not see us coming out the otherside of this transfer window with more players and more depth then before.
Can already see the deadline day headlines OTOS ''how everyone tried their best but Pat the secretary from West Ham did not get the paperwork across in time bla bla''
Do not feel like the club will prove me wrong either. The fact that this is now the normal mentality I have when it comes to our football club says it all.
Depressing.
God sake some of our fans ….. Only one player has gone and he would have left in the summer if the window shut 24 hours later .. we have had a change of manager and recruitment team so their targets will be different bit like when Garner took over he cancelled Marquis deal and brought his own targets in .. patience, we would like to do business early but it’s not just down to us .. most teams would like to do business early but Jan not an easy window to make major squad changes ..
Sounds promising , maybe offer a package of Lavelle, Inniss and Kirk at a knockdown price.
Maybe it’s Jayden and Mcgillivary (sp), after-all they had AMB but he came back, perhaps they want another keeper?
CMC in league 2 wouldn’t be pretty! Within a few minutes they’ll realise he’s susceptible to high balls and crosses and they’ll be lumping it into the box at every opportunity. Recipe for disaster
Club is just Rotten. DH - ''We will bring players in before letting others leave'' DH - '' We will get our business done early'' DH - One week later '' Confident we will come out of the window stronger'' ......................... Only real rumors flying around are basically sales. Look at the business other league one clubs are already doing and it already tells you everything you need to know. Club is extra focused on the MAN-U fixture to revert attention away to how Rotten and depleted our club currently is.
I am not saying our fans should not enjoy the day out. They absolutely should it is the least our supporters deserve after the past 5-10 years.
But I honestly can not see us coming out the otherside of this transfer window with more players and more depth then before.
Can already see the deadline day headlines OTOS ''how everyone tried their best but Pat the secretary from West Ham did not get the paperwork across in time bla bla''
Do not feel like the club will prove me wrong either. The fact that this is now the normal mentality I have when it comes to our football club says it all.
Depressing.
Early days and all that, but I have a gut feeling you may be right.
I can’t lie - I’m really going to miss Stockley he was so important to us at both ends but just hadn’t been the same since his injury over a year ago.
He should never have been made captain in the first place as he’s not a leader but he was integral to us for a while and is s nice guy too. I would wish him all the very best
It's probably worth people surprised there's interest in Stockley remembering that he's a good player woefully out of form and still adjusting to his return from injury. Stockley is a player who is very capable of scoring goals, but is completely unable to adapt his game to a style that doesn't immediately suit him. He was good for Bowyer where the style was power and effort, OK under Adkins with a better team balance, pretty woeful in an Adkins 433 with the wrong players, and good again under Jackson where it was 352 hit it up and pray. Under Garner he was totally useless because he just couldn't work with the system. Slow possession doesn't suit him because he doesn't move. He wants the ball fired into him so he can lay it off and head for the goal. All the work then has to be done by the players around him so the ball can arrive where he wants it. He is spectacularly unable to work in a system that's not for him, but the simpler the style the more he'll score. That's why he's brilliant in L2 and decent in L1 if he's catered to but hasn't been able to play above that level. If you're a L1 or L2 manager playing a style that wants to lump the ball up and rely on other players to create everything and just need a focal point at the end of it you won't find many better options than Stockley, and he's very available. There will be a lot of teams looking at him
Comments
This season he has been utter shit, not just for a few games but for the whole season so far, so naturally he's getting stick. And he does deserve it because as Captain until about 2 weeks ago, the way the players conduct themselves on the field is largely his responsibility, and we've had no heart, no desire, no fight and no clue under his stewardship
DH - ''We will bring players in before letting others leave''
DH - '' We will get our business done early''
DH - One week later '' Confident we will come out of the window stronger''
.........................
Only real rumors flying around are basically sales.
Look at the business other league one clubs are already doing and it already tells you everything you need to know.
Club is extra focused on the MAN-U fixture to revert attention away to how Rotten and depleted our club currently is.
I am not saying our fans should not enjoy the day out. They absolutely should it is the least our supporters deserve after the past 5-10 years.
But I honestly can not see us coming out the otherside of this transfer window with more players and more depth then before.
Can already see the deadline day headlines OTOS ''how everyone tried their best but Pat the secretary from West Ham did not get the paperwork across in time bla bla''
Do not feel like the club will prove me wrong either. The fact that this is now the normal mentality I have when it comes to our football club says it all.
Depressing.
I wouldn’t link what we’ll bring in to the number of rumours of incoming players either.
I’ll be more concerned the further we get into the window without bringing anyone in. It’ll get busier, there’s not that many deals being done at this stage.
I'm of the opinion now that we don't have enough of the steady Eddies in the squad. The sort of player that'll give you a consistent selection and 6-8 performance. Look at our best 11 and bench, place fitness or consistency next to the name of what they have/ do suffer from. Only one player gives us the above, no fitness issues and s consistent level of performance - Dobson. The player 90% of us will agree is out best and most important, coincidence that he's an ever present and performer?
Wollacott - ? Looked to be consistent, injury
Egbo - fitness
Sess - fitness
Dobson
JRS - consistency
AMB - ?
Clare - consistency
Lavelle - fitness and consistency
Payne - consistency
DJ - fitness and consistency
Stockley - consistency
Aneke - fitness and consistency
Our attacking/ match winners are all a coin flip for which one will turn up.
Chuck in a consistent if not spectacular b2b next to Dobson and a more reliable wide player to keep us ticking over and it's less an issue while the others decide whether it's an A game day or not.
I'll take cover in the West stand
I agree with those who question why we constantly obsess about signing back former players. I disagree with those who think we shouldn't be signing from League two, as the alternatives tend to be either unwanted (for good reason), loans, untried, or expensive. Assuming we can't do expensive, I don’t want either of the first two categories, unless we can find another yann, of course. As for 'untried', that's as much of a gamble as league two.
https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Tony%27s+first+move+cost+just+11+tracksuit+tops!%3B+Since+then...-a061134691
Having listened to DH's pre Lincoln match interview this morning, I happen to believe him that "they are keeping their cards close to their chest and not letting any other clubs know who we are after or even the positions"!
I would like to think that bringing in Andy Scott wasn't just a PR stunt.....I'm mean why bother?
Lets just chill, look forward to the game today, hope we get 3 points and see what transpires in the next days/weeks.
If come the end of Jan and we haven't made any progress, then I'm happy to put my hands up and say I was wrong, but lets give them a chance!
And to those who say why have we let JFC go before we get anyone in.....he wanted to go, wasn't playing for us (sadly), apparently because Sangaard didn't want to pay him extra dosh (tight-fisted git), and him and DH agreed he could go and get some much needed first team football.....so no reason to hang onto him if he couldn't play for us, we had no right to stand in his way....did we?
Rant over!
Only one player has gone and he would have left in the summer if the window shut 24 hours later .. we have had a change of manager and recruitment team so their targets will be different bit like when Garner took over he cancelled Marquis deal and brought his own targets in .. patience, we would like to do business early but it’s not just down to us .. most teams would like to do business early but Jan not an easy window to make major squad changes ..
he was so important to us at both ends but just hadn’t been the same since his injury over a year ago.
Lol
If that's a permanent decline, then no amount of confidence boosting will bring the zip back.