Appleton knows a lot of these are not good enough. Â I just hope he can get them out and replace with players he wants.Â
Appleton needs replacing as well
He inherited this bunch of bottle jobs. How do you think he feels? . I actually think we know now after hearing his post match interviewÂ
He has no idea of a compact competitive formation. He keeps playing May out wide on the right. He continues to play Tedic. He's another Adkins type, had some success in the past, but we'll past his sell by date. In his defence Scott's acquisitions have been appalling
So what should the club do ? Sack another manager and start again. Let's see what happens in January.Â
Irrespective of where we finish Appleton should start next season and he'd have had two windows with hopefully getting players in that HE wants.
Not sure about a manager getting two windows. It's league 1, how can we trust him and be sure he will be given the funds and then be able to get promoted, he's never done it before and I don't see him as a long term manager as he isn't championship quality which is where we want to be.Â
It's the same old, get an average manager in, say he doesn't have his players (whatever that means) and then when they inevitably get sacked, the cycle starts again. He's a football coach, he's paid to coach the players and improve them tactically. I don't see any of these players getting better.Â
I'm not saying he should get sacked as it would genuinely be pointless. We need owners who are actually willing to spend the price it will take to get the higher tier players and a proper manager. It has nothing to do with where we are as a club but simply down to ambition, aka money. We need to spend to get out of this league and we just don't have the juice for it.
Our best hope is, we luckily get promoted, get another set of owners who come in and buy the club and hope that roll of the dice works. I know I'll probably get someone say to me, 'they've just got here', but we should all know by now the type of takeover this is. None of these people involved have our best interests at heart or care, they just want to boost their own egos or try and make some cash from our situation somehow.
Or maybe I'm wrong and in January they'll actually show signs of life and spend money on the players good enough to get us promoted and all will be well..
Edit: wasn't entirely aiming this at you Elf, just generally, that's the view on managers in CAFC
So on the basis of a manager only being allowed one window to show what he can do, we'd have two managers or more a season. I'm not sure that is a recipe for success.
I am not saying managers in general, I mean this particular manager. I don't trust he has the capabilities to build a promotion worthy squad and get the results. Admittedly though, I put that down to the owners, if we had bank rolled owners with ambition, Appleton wouldn't be our manager and we would have players like Ricardo Santos and Cameron Brannagan instead of Michael Hector and Scott Fraser (all of which will be on similar wages). Instead we have men with no money, who go for the cheap option and won't invest in the club.
I actually feel sorry for him, just like I did Adkins, Garner, Jackson, Holden all before him. They are out of their depth and not backed financially to top it off.Â
Our best bet and combination so far was probably Garner with Sandgaard as that was a coach who had proven he could implement a system and an owner that had shown he was willing to spend money. Unfortunately, Garner probably didn't get the funds required and didn't have the time, along with Sangaard being ill advised, arrogant and having a poor recruitment team. It's a very vicious cycle and we are just looking to get lucky, like most EFL sides.Â
I have resigned myself to hoping an ambitious person takes an interest and we get another takeover. Will be very happy to be wrong in the future.Â
Are they out of their depth or are the players just not good enough? Who would do better with this squad?
I think the managers that could do better, wouldn't come here. Not because of Charlton itself as a club, but the infrastructure, managers will know the kind of tools they'll have to work with.Â
As for the players, stats aren't everything, I don't believe in who has more shots should win a game or who has the better form, but individual players rankings tell a story to me.Â
I think statistically, only May, CBT and Dobson are in the ranking statistically for their roles. AMB is the 16th highest rated keeper or something, Hector isn't even in the top 15/20 and so on so forth. Key players wouldn't get in other sides.Â
It's another season where after every game, you can look at the other team and pick a player or two who would either start for us or make the bench, we don't have the skill and unfortunately I don't think a lot of these players have the fight either.
As much as CBT was called out for being lazy and disinterested by some fans yesterday, he was the only one making things happen, it's just either his final ball was terrible or no one was ready to receive it, which again, falls back to our lack of skill and desire.
We need investment and we need to keep key players, the problem is, it is looking more likely as the season goes on, that two of our best 5 players (Dobbo and CBT) will be moving on. We are always going to be stuck in isolation if we can't keep our key players.Â
I personally don't think you have 2-3 years to build a promotion winning squad in this league, the players move on too quick nowadays. You need a good manager and a good window with a good pre-season. The only team above us that has built something slowly is Bolton imo.Â
So a "better/good manager" wouldn't come here because our squads not good enough? So a "good manager" needs good players? Therefore we are screwed without investment.
Without being too negative mate, yes. I'll start with the positive first, I think Appleton is a good match for us right now. He's clearly stopped the rot and he's a limited manager but he has experience.Â
When you watch our style though, it's hardly mouth watering, we look fairly sound defensively, we set up to not concede many and we haven't been really. The issue is the lack of clean sheets, we have one or two blunders in us a game and that's down to individuals.
As far as our attacking chances go, a lot of it is 1-2s on the wings on the overlap, the ball goes in and it's either a bad ball, it goes out for a corner (where they may as well have a goal kick) or it goes in the area, but it's either blocked or we don't have the physicality to win a header.
That's been pretty much every game, of course a few penalties here and there when we bring the ball in the box and the other team get reckless.Â
So all in all, the positive is, we have become harder to beat and I don't see us losing many more this season. The bad news is, I think we have a very limited manager, with no track record of league 1 promotion or proving himself beyond this level and a largely limited squad.Â
I think we could sneak play-offs if two of Derby, Blackpool, Stevenage or even Barnsley drop off. I do not see Bolton, Pompey, Oxford or Peterborough finishing outside top4, maybe one of them. So we are fighting for 2 (likely 1) play off slot(s) between 4 other teams.Â
I also don't believe this league will get any easier next year. Hence why imo, if we have another dry January, the best we can hope for is another takeoverÂ
Braziliance, I don't think you could say we look fairly sound defensively and but for blunders by individuals, we don't look sound defensively in my opinion, that comes from an inexperienced goalkeeper who is learning his trade but needs to be more assertive to those in front of him. A midfield that up until two games ago had two offensive players and only one defensive minded player and a forward line that without the physical presence that a player like Chuks provides, does not retain possession..Â
It is more so how the team is set up now, not the players. It's the only thing I've mainly noticed since Appleton has came in that we seem to defend better and don't give away too many chances.Â
I agree with what you've said though, it's spot on, the players are a problem. I probably should have said, compared to when we had Holden, we look sounder defensively. In the grand scheme, not so much..
Appleton knows a lot of these are not good enough. Â I just hope he can get them out and replace with players he wants.Â
Appleton needs replacing as well
He inherited this bunch of bottle jobs. How do you think he feels? . I actually think we know now after hearing his post match interviewÂ
He has no idea of a compact competitive formation. He keeps playing May out wide on the right. He continues to play Tedic. He's another Adkins type, had some success in the past, but we'll past his sell by date. In his defence Scott's acquisitions have been appalling
So what should the club do ? Sack another manager and start again. Let's see what happens in January.Â
Irrespective of where we finish Appleton should start next season and he'd have had two windows with hopefully getting players in that HE wants.
Not sure about a manager getting two windows. It's league 1, how can we trust him and be sure he will be given the funds and then be able to get promoted, he's never done it before and I don't see him as a long term manager as he isn't championship quality which is where we want to be.Â
It's the same old, get an average manager in, say he doesn't have his players (whatever that means) and then when they inevitably get sacked, the cycle starts again. He's a football coach, he's paid to coach the players and improve them tactically. I don't see any of these players getting better.Â
I'm not saying he should get sacked as it would genuinely be pointless. We need owners who are actually willing to spend the price it will take to get the higher tier players and a proper manager. It has nothing to do with where we are as a club but simply down to ambition, aka money. We need to spend to get out of this league and we just don't have the juice for it.
Our best hope is, we luckily get promoted, get another set of owners who come in and buy the club and hope that roll of the dice works. I know I'll probably get someone say to me, 'they've just got here', but we should all know by now the type of takeover this is. None of these people involved have our best interests at heart or care, they just want to boost their own egos or try and make some cash from our situation somehow.
Or maybe I'm wrong and in January they'll actually show signs of life and spend money on the players good enough to get us promoted and all will be well..
Edit: wasn't entirely aiming this at you Elf, just generally, that's the view on managers in CAFC
So on the basis of a manager only being allowed one window to show what he can do, we'd have two managers or more a season. I'm not sure that is a recipe for success.
I am not saying managers in general, I mean this particular manager. I don't trust he has the capabilities to build a promotion worthy squad and get the results. Admittedly though, I put that down to the owners, if we had bank rolled owners with ambition, Appleton wouldn't be our manager and we would have players like Ricardo Santos and Cameron Brannagan instead of Michael Hector and Scott Fraser (all of which will be on similar wages). Instead we have men with no money, who go for the cheap option and won't invest in the club.
I actually feel sorry for him, just like I did Adkins, Garner, Jackson, Holden all before him. They are out of their depth and not backed financially to top it off.Â
Our best bet and combination so far was probably Garner with Sandgaard as that was a coach who had proven he could implement a system and an owner that had shown he was willing to spend money. Unfortunately, Garner probably didn't get the funds required and didn't have the time, along with Sangaard being ill advised, arrogant and having a poor recruitment team. It's a very vicious cycle and we are just looking to get lucky, like most EFL sides.Â
I have resigned myself to hoping an ambitious person takes an interest and we get another takeover. Will be very happy to be wrong in the future.Â
Santos cost 120k from Barnet, and Brannagan 200k from Liverpool. Our problem isn’t money, we are consistently among the largest budgets in the league and even this summer spent more than those fees on players and probably more than our competitors in league 1 did. You mention Fraser, he cost more than both of those players combined. Our problem is recruitment and identifying good players that fit a style/system, not budget.Â
Our recruitment has been really poor for years, even when we sign good players there doesn’t seem to be much thought on how they actually fit together in a functioning team. And if there is then we change manager and system 6 months later so that they no longer fit.Â
Fraser is a good example, big money signing for Jackson’s 3-5-2 system, a formation Fraser excelled playing in at MK Dons. 6 months later Jackson is gone and we have barely played that formation sinceÂ
This x100000. It's not the amount of money, it's how it's spent. Remember we also spent money on Kirk and Lavelle, and look at how that's going.
With Fraser, he looked good in a midfield three last year where there was a holder and a shuttler alongside him, and he had a freer role to build from the back and get into the box and get some goals. The problem is, our best forward, Alfie May, can't play up front on his own and our west winger, CBT, doesn't fit in a 3-5-2. So we're playing someone like Fraser in the 10 role, where he did play and play well for MK Dons, but he hasn't looked as effective there as in a pure midfield three.
I also think people draw too many conclusions from cup games. After Cray at home, we drew with Portsmouth away. After battering Cray away, we drew with Carlisle. The league is what counts, and I wish Appleton would stop playing the likes of CBT, May, and Dobbo in the cups.Â
Lastly, a big part of the reason as to why this squad looks small is because we have a lot of players out injured. Leaburn and Aneke transform our forward line. Camara is a dynamic midfielder, and Isted was our #1 before he got hurt. I think Taylor would also bring something to our midfield that we don't currently have, a holding player who consistently dictates play. So yes, bringing on Kanu and Mbick isn't great, but it was only about a month ago that we had May, Aneke, and Leaburn fighting for two spots.Â
Lastly, our owners changed in what, July? People seem to act like they've been here for years and have been underfunding the club for years. They've had about half of one window. I do not have high hopes that we will spend huge money in January, but I feel like there is a lot of conflation with TS and the current owners.
Manny Egbo just seems like a lovely guy to have around the place. 10/10 vibes every week. Should never have sold him, every team needs one guy to bring everyone togetherÂ
Hope we bring Mitchell back from Colchester in January and play him, we are shockin at the back.
I doubt he'd make a massive difference. We always seem to want a player who's had a decent game or two, but then hasn't progressed as much as hoped. Charlie Baker springs to mind.
Hope we bring Mitchell back from Colchester in January and play him, we are shockin at the back.
I doubt he'd make a massive difference. We always seem to want a player who's had a decent game or two, but then hasn't progressed as much as hoped. Charlie Baker springs to mind.
I would argue that Baker always looked very raw, and him not coming back into the first team after that initial flourish wasn't that surprising. Mitchell seems to be of an entirely different class, really good on the ball and mobile, very much a modern CB.
That being said, unless he's made huge strides at Colchester (and he does seem to have done well), I don't think he's the answer this season. If anything, I would rather we get in more FB and CB cover so we can let Asiimwe go out on loan and have a proper LB in reserve to cover for Edun. Watching Saturday's game, it feel like Ness might need a loan as well. He really hasn't played much senior football, and between injury and not being first choice, he's barely played in the last nine months or so. I think there's a decent CB in there, but he's still pretty inexperienced for his age, and some of the mistakes he's made this year have looked like lack or experience and/or rust.Â
I would rather we get in some short(er) term solutions in January who can provide adequate cover and let some of our younger players get some experience. Asiimwe in particular needs to play some senior football. He has bags of talent but you can tell he's made the step up from the U-18s and he makes so many mistakes. I'd put Karoy Anderson in that category as well, though obviously he isn't playing at the moment.Â
The focus for January should be RW and now another center forward with Miles out. Past that, with maybe the exception of a FB, you're looking for depth pieces, guys that don't necessarily need to be first choice but who can step in and do a job. Basically you're looking for Ben Purrington.
Hope we bring Mitchell back from Colchester in January and play him, we are shockin at the back.
I doubt he'd make a massive difference. We always seem to want a player who's had a decent game or two, but then hasn't progressed as much as hoped. Charlie Baker springs to mind.
I would argue that Baker always looked very raw, and him not coming back into the first team after that initial flourish wasn't that surprising. Mitchell seems to be of an entirely different class, really good on the ball and mobile, very much a modern CB.
That being said, unless he's made huge strides at Colchester (and he does seem to have done well), I don't think he's the answer this season. If anything, I would rather we get in more FB and CB cover so we can let Asiimwe go out on loan and have a proper LB in reserve to cover for Edun. Watching Saturday's game, it feel like Ness might need a loan as well. He really hasn't played much senior football, and between injury and not being first choice, he's barely played in the last nine months or so. I think there's a decent CB in there, but he's still pretty inexperienced for his age, and some of the mistakes he's made this year have looked like lack or experience and/or rust.Â
I would rather we get in some short(er) term solutions in January who can provide adequate cover and let some of our younger players get some experience. Asiimwe in particular needs to play some senior football. He has bags of talent but you can tell he's made the step up from the U-18s and he makes so many mistakes. I'd put Karoy Anderson in that category as well, though obviously he isn't playing at the moment.Â
The focus for January should be RW and now another center forward with Miles out. Past that, with maybe the exception of a FB, you're looking for depth pieces, guys that don't necessarily need to be first choice but who can step in and do a job. Basically you're looking for Ben Purrington.
I might be able to help there. I think he's at Ross County.
Catching up with Saturday's Match of the Day last night, there are surprising similarities between us and Man U
A lack of leaders in the side, a lack of bottle in tough away games, wingers that don't provide any defensive cover.
Watched it live - a really great game.Â
Rashford reminded me of Charlie Kirk as he received dogs abuse from Jermaine Jenas and Ally McCoist for not tracking back to halt Tino Livramento's runs - or contribute to the game in any way. Ten Hag forced to substitute him early in the second half.
Catching up with Saturday's Match of the Day last night, there are surprising similarities between us and Man U
A lack of leaders in the side, a lack of bottle in tough away games, wingers that don't provide any defensive cover.
Watched it live - a really great game.Â
Rashford reminded me of Charlie Kirk as he received dogs abuse from Jermaine Jenas and Ally McCoist for not tracking back to halt Tino Livramento's runs - or contribute to the game in any way. Ten Hag forced to substitute him early in the second half.
There is a slight problem with the modern 433 formation, in that you want your wide attackers to score lots of goals, but you also want them to work hard defensively as well.Â
If Rashford was playing in the traditional 442 as one of the 2 strikers, he wouldn't be expected to be running back and tracking attacking full backs.Â
Comments
I agree with what you've said though, it's spot on, the players are a problem. I probably should have said, compared to when we had Holden, we look sounder defensively. In the grand scheme, not so much..
A lack of leaders in the side, a lack of bottle in tough away games, wingers that don't provide any defensive cover.
With Fraser, he looked good in a midfield three last year where there was a holder and a shuttler alongside him, and he had a freer role to build from the back and get into the box and get some goals. The problem is, our best forward, Alfie May, can't play up front on his own and our west winger, CBT, doesn't fit in a 3-5-2. So we're playing someone like Fraser in the 10 role, where he did play and play well for MK Dons, but he hasn't looked as effective there as in a pure midfield three.
I also think people draw too many conclusions from cup games. After Cray at home, we drew with Portsmouth away. After battering Cray away, we drew with Carlisle. The league is what counts, and I wish Appleton would stop playing the likes of CBT, May, and Dobbo in the cups.Â
Lastly, a big part of the reason as to why this squad looks small is because we have a lot of players out injured. Leaburn and Aneke transform our forward line. Camara is a dynamic midfielder, and Isted was our #1 before he got hurt. I think Taylor would also bring something to our midfield that we don't currently have, a holding player who consistently dictates play. So yes, bringing on Kanu and Mbick isn't great, but it was only about a month ago that we had May, Aneke, and Leaburn fighting for two spots.Â
Lastly, our owners changed in what, July? People seem to act like they've been here for years and have been underfunding the club for years. They've had about half of one window. I do not have high hopes that we will spend huge money in January, but I feel like there is a lot of conflation with TS and the current owners.
That being said, unless he's made huge strides at Colchester (and he does seem to have done well), I don't think he's the answer this season. If anything, I would rather we get in more FB and CB cover so we can let Asiimwe go out on loan and have a proper LB in reserve to cover for Edun. Watching Saturday's game, it feel like Ness might need a loan as well. He really hasn't played much senior football, and between injury and not being first choice, he's barely played in the last nine months or so. I think there's a decent CB in there, but he's still pretty inexperienced for his age, and some of the mistakes he's made this year have looked like lack or experience and/or rust.Â
I would rather we get in some short(er) term solutions in January who can provide adequate cover and let some of our younger players get some experience. Asiimwe in particular needs to play some senior football. He has bags of talent but you can tell he's made the step up from the U-18s and he makes so many mistakes. I'd put Karoy Anderson in that category as well, though obviously he isn't playing at the moment.Â
The focus for January should be RW and now another center forward with Miles out. Past that, with maybe the exception of a FB, you're looking for depth pieces, guys that don't necessarily need to be first choice but who can step in and do a job. Basically you're looking for Ben Purrington.
Rashford reminded me of Charlie Kirk as he received dogs abuse from Jermaine Jenas and Ally McCoist for not tracking back to halt Tino Livramento's runs - or contribute to the game in any way. Ten Hag forced to substitute him early in the second half.
If Rashford was playing in the traditional 442 as one of the 2 strikers, he wouldn't be expected to be running back and tracking attacking full backs.Â
SLAGS!!!
I ain't over it...