My initial reaction was "uninspiring. Mid league 1 manager for mid league 1 club.
It's true that Appleton has had success and he is meant to be a good coach, especially with young players but it doesn't scream "we've got billionaires owners with ambition and passion" rather "it's the best we can do on our self-imposed small budget as no one on the up would come so we got a journeyman in".
But on reflection none of that is Appleton's fault.
He is the manager (sod this head coach nonsense) and so I wish him nothing but the best of luck.
And some good luck, with injuries and with emerging talent, is what he will need.
I also hope he can bring in his own backroom team.
There is a half decent squad here to work with when they are all fit, motivated and clear on their roles.
If Appleton can weld them into a team that is greater than the sum of its parts he might bring us some success.
But I fear success for the fans (challenging for promotion and at least a top six finish) may be be different from success for the SMT (cost savings and player sales) and Appleton will be hard pressed to achieve both.
Not you too Henry. How are cost savings and player sales, without challenging for promotion, "success" for SMT? You were there when we regularly sold players to plug the financial holes. It has to be done but it's about timing. SMT says they'll sell when it optimises the value to CAFC. They could have sold Leaburn already if they were penny pinchers uninterested in promotion. They didn't. Will they throw stupid money at a promotion challenge? I trust not because it usually backfires, the owners close the wallet permanently and the club ends up worse off. It takes time.
Of course the SMT would like and hope for on the field success as that will increase income
However, I believe that their priority will be staying within the budgetary limitations under which they sold the deal to the beneficial owners.
And those two may not always be mutually inclusive
Understood and thanks for clarifying. But is staying within budgetary limitations agreed with owners a bad thing? There seems to be a presumption here that the Texas Prospectus business plan is Joshua Friedman et al's business plan. The Texas prospectus was targeted at small-ticket investors who most certainly would not want to or could be relied upon to invest more. Hence the nutso business plan. Friedman et al are not small-ticket investors. As experienced private equity investors, I guarantee you they will be expecting to be asked to make measured follow on investments and will anticipate doing so providing the business is heading in the right direction and the specific case is sound. Of course you run a business as cost-efficiently as possible but not so as to strangle it. CM's description of the plan of selling young players is to do so not the moment cash is desperately needed but when their value is optimised. That's only possible if the owners are prepared to make further working capital available, as we found a way of doing 1994-98. We'll see if he and they are true to this promise.
Just want to bump this. This is a solid squad. I would add CBT in there. Our first 11 should be one of the best on paper in the division. We haven't had our first 11 yet, I'm not entirely sure what it is or who plays where, but this is a good squad in a down year for League One.
Being a football manager is subjective, are there really managers out there who can guarantee you success ? I don’t think so . Please give the guy a chance , keep your fingers crossed, say your prayers and you never know .We need Lady Luck rather than a barrage of abuse to a new manager and new owners who have been here just a couple of months .
Just want to bump this. This is a solid squad. I would add CBT in there. Our first 11 should be one of the best on paper in the division. We haven't had our first 11 yet, I'm not entirely sure what it is or who plays where, but this is a good squad in a down year for League One.
In short: Appleton better be the man.
Heard it all before...
We'll see them lose 2-0 to Port Vale and look shocked as to why.
Wouldn't have been my choice but, tbh, I'm not really sure who I would've picked from the unappealing list of potential candidates being bandied about.
Whatever it says about the current state of the club, and however demoralizing that may be, none of it is Appleton's fault, so I hope the crowd give him time and this is one of those situations where the mood on here isn't necessarily in tune with the mood in the wider crowd attending matches at the Valley. If promotion is too much to ask, if he can at least organize a team to defend set pieces and not part like the Red Sea in front of Moses every time we lose possession in the opposition's half, then he'll be an upgrade on recent managers and better for my blood pressure.
Welcome to Charlton Michael. I hope you exceed, admittedly low, expectations.
TBF to Charlton fans I think they will give Michael Appleton time; added time in the 1st half is my guess against Stevenage but I may be a tad optimistic as it could be before KO when the chants of "you don't know what you're doing" ring out.
I guess after all these years joking about Appleton being manager we finally have the man in place. Good luck to him. Can't be any worse than most of the previous 17 incumbents.
My initial reaction was "uninspiring. Mid league 1 manager for mid league 1 club.
It's true that Appleton has had success and he is meant to be a good coach, especially with young players but it doesn't scream "we've got billionaires owners with ambition and passion" rather "it's the best we can do on our self-imposed small budget as no one on the up would come so we got a journeyman in".
But on reflection none of that is Appleton's fault.
He is the manager (sod this head coach nonsense) and so I wish him nothing but the best of luck.
And some good luck, with injuries and with emerging talent, is what he will need.
I also hope he can bring in his own backroom team.
There is a half decent squad here to work with when they are all fit, motivated and clear on their roles.
If Appleton can weld them into a team that is greater than the sum of its parts he might bring us some success.
But I fear success for the fans (challenging for promotion and at least a top six finish) may be be different from success for the SMT (cost savings and player sales) and Appleton will be hard pressed to achieve both.
Not you too Henry. How are cost savings and player sales, without challenging for promotion, "success" for SMT? You were there when we regularly sold players to plug the financial holes. It has to be done but it's about timing. SMT says they'll sell when it optimises the value to CAFC. They could have sold Leaburn already if they were penny pinchers uninterested in promotion. They didn't. Will they throw stupid money at a promotion challenge? I trust not because it usually backfires, the owners close the wallet permanently and the club ends up worse off. It takes time.
Of course the SMT would like and hope for on the field success as that will increase income
However, I believe that their priority will be staying within the budgetary limitations under which they sold the deal to the beneficial owners.
And those two may not always be mutually inclusive
Understood and thanks for clarifying. But is staying within budgetary limitations agreed with owners a bad thing? There seems to be a presumption here that the Texas Prospectus business plan is Joshua Friedman et al's business plan. The Texas prospectus was targeted at small-ticket investors who most certainly would not want to or could be relied upon to invest more. Hence the nutso business plan. Friedman et al are not small-ticket investors. As experienced private equity investors, I guarantee you they will be expecting to be asked to make measured follow on investments and will anticipate doing so providing the business is heading in the right direction and the specific case is sound. Of course you run a business as cost-efficiently as possible but not so as to strangle it. CM's description of the plan of selling young players is to do so not the moment cash is desperately needed but when their value is optimised. That's only possible if the owners are prepared to make further working capital available, as we found a way of doing 1994-98. We'll see if he and they are true to this promise.
Ideally, we'd want to be financially responsible AND flexible enough to invest in the playing side whenever possible.
The key difference is, as I see it, is that the owners in 94-98 and beyond, were fans so their priority was, I believe, to progress the club rather than make a profit.
Anyway, good to debate with you as always. We must have drink and put the world/club to rights sometime.
Got a feeling he will play 4231 in his first game for us
Watson Jones Hector Edun Taylor Dobson T.Campbell Leaburn CBT May
An argument for C.Campbell in there cause he's had a good start for us (despite my Wolves mate saying he's shocking) and seems very composed on the ball.
Could also make a case for a few others, especially Camara in the double pivot if he's back fit by then.
Either way on the face of it, that team looks good enough to get a result, let's see if he can earn his paycheque
Just want to bump this. This is a solid squad. I would add CBT in there. Our first 11 should be one of the best on paper in the division. We haven't had our first 11 yet, I'm not entirely sure what it is or who plays where, but this is a good squad in a down year for League One.
In short: Appleton better be the man.
Heard it all before...
We'll see them lose 2-0 to Port Vale and look shocked as to why.
And before the season started, Port Vale fans would’ve swapped their squad for ours.
We have the better players. We have to have a manager/coach that makes them the better team.
I'll get behind him - not exciting - a bit meat and 2 veg but maybe that's not a bad thing - probably the most positive thing i can say really - not sure what his particular style of play is if he has one but nothing can be worse than that garnerball crap.
'but nothing can be worse than that garnerball crap'
"Oxford fan here. MApp is held in high esteem at our club. After a shaky first season, he delivered two great seasons. We had Lundstram and Roofe in a League 2 side!
"What he does need is time. For a quick fix, he’s not your man and I suspect things will stay mediocre until the next transfer window. Give him long enough and he can thrive.
"See his spell at Lincoln too. Slow start, but improved".
"On 18 January 2023, Appleton was sacked as head coach at Blackpool, seven months after his appointment, after achieving one win in eleven games, leaving them 23rd in the Championship relegation zone."
And we're relegated later that season after MM managed 2 wins and nine loses in 14 games and was sacked. Is he considered a shit failure of a manager too? Appleton's L1 record is of more relevance.
Just want to bump this. This is a solid squad. I would add CBT in there. Our first 11 should be one of the best on paper in the division. We haven't had our first 11 yet, I'm not entirely sure what it is or who plays where, but this is a good squad in a down year for League One.
In short: Appleton better be the man.
Heard it all before...
We'll see them lose 2-0 to Port Vale and look shocked as to why.
And before the season started, Port Vale fans would’ve swapped their squad for ours.
We have the better players. We have to have a manager/coach that makes them the better team.
We've had the 'best first 11 on paper' for like 3 years now.
Half of the players are in middling League One and Two sides now.
Pleased to hear in his interview that he’s already identified weaknesses in set pieces and how we handle transitions / counter attacks.
Attacking he says he wants “possession based” football but not “7-800 passes a game”. “Dominate the ball in the right way, always looking to play forward”.
Will be impressed if MA is still around at the end of the season. Will need to be backed in the Jan window for any kind of success this season. For any chance of that happening, MA will need to do well in the next few months - with a not a great hand dealt to him squad wise.
Likely if top 6 looks a long shot, then Scott & Methven may claim that a end of season window is better. Then MA will have to show enough not to get fired (to offload blame for the US investors). That may be tough with the shallow depth of squad that may struggle further as a long season progresses.
First job for Appleton is to sort the defence out. If he can do that, that would be a start.
Very Meh appointment, kinda feel sorry for him as barely anyone is happy with this and itl all go to shit in record time I think. Probably not very expensive wages, which means a not very expensive pay off at Easter. Its all very bland and does not make me want to start taking up every other weekend with football.
Got a feeling he will play 4231 in his first game for us
Watson Jones Hector Edun Taylor Dobson T.Campbell Leaburn CBT May
An argument for C.Campbell in there cause he's had a good start for us (despite my Wolves mate saying he's shocking) and seems very composed on the ball.
Could also make a case for a few others, especially Camara in the double pivot if he's back fit by then.
Either way on the face of it, that team looks good enough to get a result, let's see if he can earn his paycheque
Leaburn isn’t a number 10. If he wants to set us up in his favoured formation then Leaburn will have to play on the right or he will have to leave out one of May or Leaburn.
I would have the same personnel (other than Asiimwe in for Watson, who won’t be fit) but actually play people in their best positions and play 4-4-2 with Campbell on the right and Leaburn up top. I think Appleton has played it on occasion so I’m hoping he looks at the squad and picks the best formation for it, rather than trying to make us fit his 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 and end up not getting the best out of Leaburn and/or May
Pleased to hear in his interview that he’s already identified weaknesses in set pieces and how we handle transitions / counter attacks.
Attacking he says he wants “possession based” football but not “7-800 passes a game”. “Dominate the ball in the right way, always looking to play forward”.
I mean that’s not that impressive that he’s identified that. Would have only had to watch any one of our first 5 league games
Pleased to hear in his interview that he’s already identified weaknesses in set pieces and how we handle transitions / counter attacks.
Attacking he says he wants “possession based” football but not “7-800 passes a game”. “Dominate the ball in the right way, always looking to play forward”.
That's good because this team desperately needs coaching in possession. We were better in the second half on Saturday, but in the first half we were so static, we had three players just standing at the defensive line, and our only idea seemed to be isolating the wingers to beat their fullbacks. Problem being even if they did, the defense just had five defenders in the box and we had no height.
Just want to bump this. This is a solid squad. I would add CBT in there. Our first 11 should be one of the best on paper in the division. We haven't had our first 11 yet, I'm not entirely sure what it is or who plays where, but this is a good squad in a down year for League One.
In short: Appleton better be the man.
Heard it all before...
We'll see them lose 2-0 to Port Vale and look shocked as to why.
And before the season started, Port Vale fans would’ve swapped their squad for ours.
We have the better players. We have to have a manager/coach that makes them the better team.
We've had the 'best first 11 on paper' for like 3 years now.
Half of the players are in middling League One and Two sides now.
I can't speak for others, but I've never said something like that, but I feel the same about people moaning about "squad is poor, too many frees and loans."
We're in League One, that's how every squad is composed.
Comments
But is staying within budgetary limitations agreed with owners a bad thing?
There seems to be a presumption here that the Texas Prospectus business plan is Joshua Friedman et al's business plan.
The Texas prospectus was targeted at small-ticket investors who most certainly would not want to or could be relied upon to invest more. Hence the nutso business plan.
Friedman et al are not small-ticket investors.
As experienced private equity investors, I guarantee you they will be expecting to be asked to make measured follow on investments and will anticipate doing so providing the business is heading in the right direction and the specific case is sound.
Of course you run a business as cost-efficiently as possible but not so as to strangle it.
CM's description of the plan of selling young players is to do so not the moment cash is desperately needed but when their value is optimised. That's only possible if the owners are prepared to make further working capital available, as we found a way of doing 1994-98.
We'll see if he and they are true to this promise.
In short: Appleton better be the man.
We'll see them lose 2-0 to Port Vale and look shocked as to why.
Whatever it says about the current state of the club, and however demoralizing that may be, none of it is Appleton's fault, so I hope the crowd give him time and this is one of those situations where the mood on here isn't necessarily in tune with the mood in the wider crowd attending matches at the Valley. If promotion is too much to ask, if he can at least organize a team to defend set pieces and not part like the Red Sea in front of Moses every time we lose possession in the opposition's half, then he'll be an upgrade on recent managers and better for my blood pressure.
Welcome to Charlton Michael. I hope you exceed, admittedly low, expectations.
The key difference is, as I see it, is that the owners in 94-98 and beyond, were fans so their priority was, I believe, to progress the club rather than make a profit.
Anyway, good to debate with you as always. We must have drink and put the world/club to rights sometime.
If not then definitely suggests a yes man
Watson Jones Hector Edun
Taylor Dobson
T.Campbell Leaburn CBT
May
An argument for C.Campbell in there cause he's had a good start for us (despite my Wolves mate saying he's shocking) and seems very composed on the ball.
Could also make a case for a few others, especially Camara in the double pivot if he's back fit by then.
Either way on the face of it, that team looks good enough to get a result, let's see if he can earn his paycheque
We have the better players. We have to have a manager/coach that makes them the better team.
I just pray your right!
Some of ours will be pleased with that. Won't be seeing him in The Oak.
"Oxford fan here. MApp is held in high esteem at our club. After a shaky first season, he delivered two great seasons. We had Lundstram and Roofe in a League 2 side!
"What he does need is time. For a quick fix, he’s not your man and I suspect things will stay mediocre until the next transfer window. Give him long enough and he can thrive.
"See his spell at Lincoln too. Slow start, but improved".
Half of the players are in middling League One and Two sides now.
Attacking he says he wants “possession based” football but not “7-800 passes a game”. “Dominate the ball in the right way, always looking to play forward”.
I would have the same personnel (other than Asiimwe in for Watson, who won’t be fit) but actually play people in their best positions and play 4-4-2 with Campbell on the right and Leaburn up top. I think Appleton has played it on occasion so I’m hoping he looks at the squad and picks the best formation for it, rather than trying to make us fit his 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 and end up not getting the best out of Leaburn and/or May
But I’m not going to slate MA or write him off.
Goodluck to him and I hope he can get us firing up the league.
We're in League One, that's how every squad is composed.