I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
NJ is a bit of an oddball but he's our oddball. He doesn't have a reputation for wanting to play pretty football but his success at Luton happened when his players slowly bought in to his ways.He seems to have engendered a damn good team spirit now and provided he is supported by the club and fans I ll reckon we ll go up next year ,not this.This club is crying out for consistency of ownership, management and direction so let's get behind our oddball
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Nicking wins away at Bolton is part of the reason he’s doing a good job. In previous years, we’ve not nicked any wins. This team now know how to be hard to beat and that is one of the great turnarounds of this season, particularly since Crawley.
I wouldn’t have sacked him but I think it was after the Crawley game I said I certainly would have been sounding out potential replacements.
Really glad he seems to have turned it around. I do think he kind of stumbled across playing Small out wide right and it’s worked far better than he (or anyone) would have expected. However it was very obvious that we lacked width long before he did anything about it.
There’s no doubt we’re far more solid than last year though and perhaps he and the players did just need a bit more time to start looking more dangerous going forward.
In terms of league position, we’re now where I thought we’d probably be at this stage of the season. Over to the recruitment team to find a gem or 2 to have a real impact.
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Nicking a win away at a play off chasing team is a great result though.
We can't say it now but at the end of the season we may be looking at the Rotherham match as a positive. A defeat is bad but it can also improve you and provide important learnings. Jones may see it that way. It was a test to team spirit that we have come through with flying colours.
After Crawley, and we shouldn't forget what was before Crawley, I was for Jones being sacked. I changed my mind a few hours later before another match but it was more about being convinced we wouldn't bring in anybody better and that we can't keep sacking managers. Obviously, I am still of the mindset of him staying but I can see what he is trying to do whereas I couldn't a few games ago.
This year was always going to be a case of building from the back. We had to address the dire clean sheet record from last year and at this stage of the season we've certainly done that. When we lost Jones and Ramsay it was no surprise to me that it went wrong which is what worries me depth wise for the rest of this season.
We've got a solid back line that doesn't concede many chances, let alone goals. Now is the time we have to brave and invest in some quality in that midfield. Think we're in need of a creative number 10 to give Berry competition for his place and a defensive sided midfielder (like Moxon when that was rumoured) as a back up. Will be very interesting to see how we approach the last week of the window with so much to play for in the second half of the season
I was highly critical of Jones and although I didn’t want him sacked, I thought his poor tactics and hoofball along with massively disappointing performances and results might mean it was going to end badly. I still think the change of tactics was forced on him, either externally or that he feared for his job. Credit though because he did change. I also hear from various sources that the team spirit is second to none so credit for that too.
They was a lot hate for NJ personally when it was going badly and plenty saying he has lost the plot, the dressing room and more.
A lot of that was well, well over the top.
There was also a lot of criticism of his tactics and team selection some of which was also OTT but much of which was valid.
Essentially, while there was some very good performances there where a lot of bad ones too and he wasn't "doing the basics" of a manager which is "just win games".
Crawley was a turning point. A real low but NJ started a re-set by going back to certain extent to how we had started the season IE being hard to score against.
Lloyd Jones coming back and finding a way to use Small on the right so that he and Edwards could both be on the pitch was part of that re-set as was dropping A Campbell and replacing Ahadme with a fit again Leaburn.
We also have a nearly fully fit squad and those missing (Watson and Ahadme) aren't essential.
Ramsay is going to be, IMHO, key for the rest of the season. Campbell is ripping teams apart and when Small improves his finishing we will give some team a thrashing.
Docherty coming back into the side in a slightly deeper role, while less spectacular, has also been a big part of the re-set post Crawley. We're now seeing the player I and many others thought we had signed.
Is that just luck and nothing to do with NJ. Not really.
He signed nearly all the players mentioned or in the case of TC gave him a new contract and position.
He messed about too much with selection early on, IMHO, when we had a solid side but now has a pretty settled side and a strong bench but he's the manager and just as the "vilification" as he called it after Crawley was perhaps OTT, the criticism was largely justified.
Have wanted him since 2012 as our manager and now we've got him. It's not been an easy ride but we might just be getting there.
My biggest cause of optimism is that after the poor performance at Rotherham rather than going on another bad run we came back with three straight wins.
We probably need another 11 or 12 wins this season to make the play-offs. That is a big ask but it's not impossible.
A positive for me is the team spirit in the squad. That seems to have come on stronger in the past month or so. A big part of that must be Nathan Jones surely. I’ve had my doubts about him which was understandable but things appear to be starting to gel and the players are on board with it. That’s a positive.
A positive for me is the team spirit in the squad. That seems to have come on stronger in the past month or so. A big part of that must be Nathan Jones surely. I’ve had my doubts about him which was understandable but things appear to be starting to gel and the players are on board with it. That’s a positive.
For all the criticism of his tactics and approach (whether justified or not) he never did seem to actually "lose the dressing room" in the same way as Holden or Appleton did when you could see that the players on the pitch literally could not give less of a damn and were near enough going through the motions.
There has also been questions about whether his giving contracts/squad space to "mates" like Hylton, Berry and Potts would have been better spent on "actual coaches" but the fact that players never completely buckled and have actually come through stronger suggests he was probably right on this one too.
I was definitely a critic and even now I still think he made mistakes (and probably will make more) but you can't really argue with the form/results we're seeing at the moment.
I don't think Holden lost the dressing room. We often don't know and can only judge on performances where players may not look to be giving their all. I know Bowyer lost the dressing room at the end of his time as manager because I was aware of what happened after a certain game. Anyway there would have been reason to speculate earlier in the season, it is what us fans do, but there is no reason now.
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Do they though? We were hardly dominant in 18/19, we just ground out results to get to where we needed to. We were the form team in L1 by season's end but of the 13 games we won in the new year, 7 of them were by the odd goal and we only scored 3 goals or more 3 times. We also drew 6 games but only lost 2, which was the most important part. We were often comfortable because we were incredibly hard to beat and did enough every game to get goals but I wouldn't call a lot of those results dominant. It was fine though, it was exactly what we needed to be. Even Powell won 15 of the 30 games he won by the odd goal and there were plenty of games were we clung on or rode our luck - Bournemouth away, both Sheffield games in the new year, we clinched promotion with 3 consecutive 1-0s against some seriously weak teams. We only beat Exeter 1-0 away because Danny Green accidentally scored.
The fact is, fluid or not, if we can keep scoring goals in games and keeping clean sheets then we don't need to worry about being dominant. The real question is whether we can make that Rotherham game a one-off blip or if it's something that's going to happen every 4 or 5 games, in which case we're not there yet.
Credit where it's due, but you have to take your hat off to NJ, a light bulb moment where parts of the jigsaw are slowly being put together, I really hope the little bit of momentum can keep the team going! Big game this weekend hopefully we can get something from the game! At least we have come away from the "square pegs round holes" scenario, early days but well done to NJ and the team 👋👋👋!
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Do they though? We were hardly dominant in 18/19, we just ground out results to get to where we needed to. We were the form team in L1 by season's end but of the 13 games we won in the new year, 7 of them were by the odd goal and we only scored 3 goals or more 3 times. We also drew 6 games but only lost 2, which was the most important part. We were often comfortable because we were incredibly hard to beat and did enough every game to get goals but I wouldn't call a lot of those results dominant. It was fine though, it was exactly what we needed to be. Even Powell won 15 of the 30 games he won by the odd goal and there were plenty of games were we clung on or rode our luck - Bournemouth away, both Sheffield games in the new year, we clinched promotion with 3 consecutive 1-0s against some seriously weak teams. We only beat Exeter 1-0 away because Danny Green accidentally scored.
The fact is, fluid or not, if we can keep scoring goals in games and keeping clean sheets then we don't need to worry about being dominant. The real question is whether we can make that Rotherham game a one-off blip or if it's something that's going to happen every 4 or 5 games, in which case we're not there yet.
In 18/19 we had some strong players but a very thin squad. The squad is better now but we don't have a Cullen, Bielik or Taylor as he was then. But we do have good players and Small, Jones, Coventry, Leaburn, Ramsey and Campbell would be in or close to our best team then IMO.
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Bolton where we hardly win? Bristol Rovers who are our bogey side of recent times! Beat Birmingham and Wycombe? 3 wins in a row?
We are winning football matches and you can see the team are together and playing for NJ now! What more do you need?
We didn’t play well under Chris Powell in fact I thought we were boring to watch and scraped through a lot of games! Were we complaining at the end of that season?
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Bolton where we hardly win? Bristol Rovers who are our bogey side of recent times! Beat Birmingham and Wycombe? 3 wins in a row?
We are winning football matches and you can see the team are together and playing for NJ now! What more do you need?
We didn’t play well under Chris Powell in fact I thought we were boring to watch and scraped through a lot of games! Were we complaining at the end of that season?
Under Powell we had quality up front and were well organised as a team. If you are solid and have Kermogant and BWP up front, you are going up from league one. Of course there were some other excellent players for the level that ensured we reached the 100 point mark.
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Do they though? We were hardly dominant in 18/19, we just ground out results to get to where we needed to. We were the form team in L1 by season's end but of the 13 games we won in the new year, 7 of them were by the odd goal and we only scored 3 goals or more 3 times. We also drew 6 games but only lost 2, which was the most important part. We were often comfortable because we were incredibly hard to beat and did enough every game to get goals but I wouldn't call a lot of those results dominant. It was fine though, it was exactly what we needed to be. Even Powell won 15 of the 30 games he won by the odd goal and there were plenty of games were we clung on or rode our luck - Bournemouth away, both Sheffield games in the new year, we clinched promotion with 3 consecutive 1-0s against some seriously weak teams. We only beat Exeter 1-0 away because Danny Green accidentally scored.
The fact is, fluid or not, if we can keep scoring goals in games and keeping clean sheets then we don't need to worry about being dominant. The real question is whether we can make that Rotherham game a one-off blip or if it's something that's going to happen every 4 or 5 games, in which case we're not there yet.
In 18/19 we had some strong players but a very thin squad. The squad is better now but we don't have a Cullen, Bielik or Taylor as he was then. But we do have good players and Small, Jones, Coventry, Leaburn, Ramsay and Campbell would be in or close to our best team then IMO.
Not all that thin, or at least better than people give it credit for. Bielik actually missed a lot of football in that good run. In our last 14 league games he only played half of them, and came off at half time in one of those. We rotated in Pratley, Reeves, Lapslie, Morgan and Fosu a lot more than people remember I reckon. The magic diamond of Bielik, Cullen, Aribo and Williams only played together 5 times I think. Reeves made 29 league appearances, 22(!) of them starts. Cullen only played 29 times, Lapslie 27, Pratley 28, Fosu 27. Bauer even only played 35 games, Pearce 26. Solly of all people played more games than any of them that season with 37, though a troubling amount of that was at left back.
Granted with a few of those cases you'll see the minutes are further apart even if the appearance numbers aren't, but ultimately we relied less on specific individuals and more on having a very clear method of grinding out results more or less regardless of who we had on the pitch. As long as we had someone to put the chances away, a strong defence even if it wasn't always settled, and a midfield that knew what the job was in each position we were ok. The midfielders rotated all round the diamond, Aribo sometimes at the tip sometimes deeper, Cullen on the side or the base, Reeves played every spot except the base. The roles were so clear that you could put more or less anyone there and we could function. That's slightly worrying for us as if you took one of Small or TC out of the side I think we'd struggle to have anyone else fulfil that role with our current setup, but hopefully we can bring in one or two players to cover them and diversify our play centrally a bit. Regardless though, as long as we remain incredibly hard to breach and can create chances like we are now we'll be in the conversation
As recently as the 17th Dec on this thread, I thought NJ should have been sacked and I had a fear that he had lost the dressing room. After the two bore draws following the Crawley loss, I thought the season was all but mathematically dead and we did not have the squad/capacity/anything-about-us to go on the run we needed to go on. There was a lot of historical apathy there that's built up over time - it wasn't hate for NJ from me, but just despair that we were set for what felt like another guaranteed end of season with nothing to play for. I don't justify the bile of hate some people feel the need to spew on unpleasant social media platforms, but I do understand the performances at the time that led many people to ask the question about NJ, as expectation for playoffs minimum are what we should be aiming for (but perhaps don't deserve).
I don't mind saying I was wrong, given where we are now. The Northampton game was a big surprise and kicked on the form that followed - barring the unsavoury blip at Rotherham, we've done really well. The squad have galvanised through a more settled team, an adjustment of tactics and performances more worthy of the squad value/experience comparative to the rest of the league. Results have improved (which, at the end of the day, is all that really matters) and this is in no small part down to the decisions and player management of NJ and his team. Certain players have been individual revelations, signings have started to bed in and younger players continued to develop.
We've had a lot of turgid football served up since we were relegated. Plenty of times we've felt the need to pull the trigger. NJ has been up and down this season, and I think that many Charlton fans thought that when the form dipped, it was history repeating once again. We didn't know what version of NJ we were going to get, but we're on another upturn now.
All I wanted this season was to be contesting for the playoff places, and in December, I thought that wasn't going to happen and that did fall at NJ to fix. He has fixed it and gone on a run that is almost as good as the one Orient have gone on (who were even lower than we were). I'm absolutely here for this - not bitter he is still here and glad I was wrong.
I need a bit more convincing, whilst we have been winning games we are not fluid and exciting on the eye, nicking wins like Bolton away need to be replaced with dominant, tactical performances I will know more come the end of February
Do they though? We were hardly dominant in 18/19, we just ground out results to get to where we needed to. We were the form team in L1 by season's end but of the 13 games we won in the new year, 7 of them were by the odd goal and we only scored 3 goals or more 3 times. We also drew 6 games but only lost 2, which was the most important part. We were often comfortable because we were incredibly hard to beat and did enough every game to get goals but I wouldn't call a lot of those results dominant. It was fine though, it was exactly what we needed to be. Even Powell won 15 of the 30 games he won by the odd goal and there were plenty of games were we clung on or rode our luck - Bournemouth away, both Sheffield games in the new year, we clinched promotion with 3 consecutive 1-0s against some seriously weak teams. We only beat Exeter 1-0 away because Danny Green accidentally scored.
The fact is, fluid or not, if we can keep scoring goals in games and keeping clean sheets then we don't need to worry about being dominant. The real question is whether we can make that Rotherham game a one-off blip or if it's something that's going to happen every 4 or 5 games, in which case we're not there yet.
In 18/19 we had some strong players but a very thin squad. The squad is better now but we don't have a Cullen, Bielik or Taylor as he was then. But we do have good players and Small, Jones, Coventry, Leaburn, Ramsay and Campbell would be in or close to our best team then IMO.
Not all that thin, or at least better than people give it credit for. Bielik actually missed a lot of football in that good run. In our last 14 league games he only played half of them, and came off at half time in one of those. We rotated in Pratley, Reeves, Lapslie, Morgan and Fosu a lot more than people remember I reckon. The magic diamond of Bielik, Cullen, Aribo and Williams only played together 5 times I think. Reeves made 29 league appearances, 22(!) of them starts. Cullen only played 29 times, Lapslie 27, Pratley 28, Fosu 27. Bauer even only played 35 games, Pearce 26. Solly of all people played more games than any of them that season with 37, though a troubling amount of that was at left back.
Granted with a few of those cases you'll see the minutes are further apart even if the appearance numbers aren't, but ultimately we relied less on specific individuals and more on having a very clear method of grinding out results more or less regardless of who we had on the pitch. As long as we had someone to put the chances away, a strong defence even if it wasn't always settled, and a midfield that knew what the job was in each position we were ok. The midfielders rotated all round the diamond, Aribo sometimes at the tip sometimes deeper, Cullen on the side or the base, Reeves played every spot except the base. The roles were so clear that you could put more or less anyone there and we could function. That's slightly worrying for us as if you took one of Small or TC out of the side I think we'd struggle to have anyone else fulfil that role with our current setup, but hopefully we can bring in one or two players to cover them and diversify our play centrally a bit. Regardless though, as long as we remain incredibly hard to breach and can create chances like we are now we'll be in the conversation
I recall a game at Oxford when we were missing a couple af key players and I expected us to lose it which we did. This was towards the end of the season when we were winning regularly.
I think there issue in how we now play with pace up front/wide in terms of replacements. Dixon may be a solution but he is not and hasn't been assimilated into the side as of yet. I think a player with similar attributes to TC and Small would be very valuable. It looks like A Campbell is off so with TT gone, I think we may need cover there although you need the right players not any players.
As a club (and now as a fanbase) we needed to move on from being a club that sacks the manager at the first sign of poor form. Especially when you have got a good manager, which we do, you have to be patient and give them time to get out the other side of a poor run. Poor runs are going to happen, but if we sack the manager every time it does we won’t progress as you just end up back at square one each time (just look at our last few years). Thankfully the owners saw sense and didn’t pull the trigger which would have ruined this season and probably next season too
As a club (and now as a fanbase) we needed to move on from being a club that sacks the manager at the first sign of poor form. Especially when you have got a good manager, which we do, you have to be patient and give them time to get out the other side of a poor run. Poor runs are going to happen, but if we sack the manager every time it does we won’t progress as you just end up back at square one each time (just look at our last few years). Thankfully the owners saw sense and didn’t pull the trigger which would have ruined this season and probably next season too
The problem is we have been sacking them for a while and it hasn't gone well.
What a turnaround it’s been, hopefully the owners have seen enough to want to invest in the squad for the remainder of the transfer window and get us into the top 6.
I doubt it, the view will almost certainly be that we are almost there and hope for the best.
More reason to not spend any dough now we are within touching distance.
Except that top six only earns the right to get onto the next stepping stone. Only one in four make it through the play-offs. It would be foolish to get to that stage but not maximise your chances of getting through as there are never any guarantees that you'll reach that level in subsequent years. I hope our owners understand that.
all the spending in the world probably wouldn't get us top two, reckon they'll see how this season pans out and then if we didn't go up - hopefully back him properly in the Summer.
I don't think Holden lost the dressing room. We often don't know and can only judge on performances where players may not look to be giving their all. I know Bowyer lost the dressing room at the end of his time as manager because I was aware of what happened after a certain game. Anyway there would have been reason to speculate earlier in the season, it is what us fans do, but there is no reason now.
We are 16 games into the season, have yet to score more than two goals in a match and have failed to win a game once the opposition have scored. Yes, we've won five matches without the opposition scoring but unless you're a Burnley (conceded just six goals in 17 matches), you won't be in the promotion shake up at the end of the season playing that way. It seems that Jones is trying to make us resilient by sacrificing flair which has resulted in dire football. The fact that Louie Barry, on loan from Villa, has scored just four goals less for Stockport than we have as a team says it all but, equally, he would not have found the net 13 times (22 in 38 appearances in the last two seasons) given the way we play.
The one seemingly surprising aspect of all of this is this is that Jones' early promotion sides were not that way inclined (Danny Hylton scored 21 goals in Jones' first season at the club albeit in League 2). Luton weren't promoted in his first season but the following year they were, finishing runners-up in scoring 94 goals. The very next season Luton made it back to back promotions although Jones left in the January to go to Stoke.
It is at Stoke that Jones' footballing philosophy appears to have changed. He lasted 10 months there with his side managing to win a very poor 6/38 matches and that included an unbeaten run of nine matches during which time they scored just five goals!!! He then went back to Luton where, in his first season, they finished 12th but scored less than a goal a game with just 41. In his second and only other full season second time round, Luton finished 6th but did so scoring 62 goals in 48 matches, losing in the two leg play-off to Huddersfield 2-1.
Jones left in November 2022 at which point Luton had managed 29 points in 20 games (1.45 points per game). It was under Rob Edwards that they were promoted, via the Play-Offs, having secured 51 points in 26 games (1.96 points per game) following Jones' departure. At Southampton Jones lasted just three months as they picked up 3/24 points during his tenure and scored just six goals in those eight matches and were relegated at the end of that season.
It appears that Jones in his second spell at Luton, then at Stoke and Southampton and now with us has tried to make his teams ones that don't concede, first and foremost. He wasn't given time to add a more attacking layer to that, if that was his intention in his last two jobs because those sides failed to keep clean sheets in the way that Parker has got Burnley to do. The debate is as to how long one allows things to carry on as they are but, with that constant revolving door of managers, perhaps we should take stock at the end of the season?
So, we're 10 matches on since I posted this during which time we've picked up 21 points and the landscape looks a whole lot heathier. Yes NJ's tweaked things and he's been helped by players returning but that desire to not concede (take out the Rotherham game and it's 3 in 9 games) is still paramount, so much so that, on occasions, it can become over-powering and counter productive - such as keeping back all 11 when we concede a corner. What is clear is that the players have bought into his style and they all put in a shift although there are times when one or two are still not imposing themselves at certain times of the game. In the case of one of those I'm sure that it's just a learning curve and we witnessed the difference in the first half on Tuesday when he was rested.
However, most of all, I hope we can all now agree that the final question I posed in that post has been answered and that the time for reflection on his future comes after we've played 46 games although, hopefully, that will be 49 and culminating in a last match win!
He is coming up to his first year next week around the transfer deadline so be interesting to review this period, who is buying the cake?
I will. It's nearly the January deadline, we're talking about 2, maybe 3 additions that we genuinely think will help us kick on in a Play-Off push, we've convinced a key player to sign a new contract, we've won 6 of our last 8 games and we're one point outside the Play-Offs. It's not all roses but this time last year we were genuinely terrified we were going to be relegated because we'd won 2 of our last 17 games, so I am enjoying thinking about what we might need to do to maintain a promotion push instead of how to avoid becoming a L2 team. We can be better, but we also are better overall.
Comments
I will know more come the end of February
There’s no doubt we’re far more solid than last year though and perhaps he and the players did just need a bit more time to start looking more dangerous going forward.
In terms of league position, we’re now where I thought we’d probably be at this stage of the season. Over to the recruitment team to find a gem or 2 to have a real impact.
After Crawley, and we shouldn't forget what was before Crawley, I was for Jones being sacked. I changed my mind a few hours later before another match but it was more about being convinced we wouldn't bring in anybody better and that we can't keep sacking managers. Obviously, I am still of the mindset of him staying but I can see what he is trying to do whereas I couldn't a few games ago.
We've got a solid back line that doesn't concede many chances, let alone goals. Now is the time we have to brave and invest in some quality in that midfield. Think we're in need of a creative number 10 to give Berry competition for his place and a defensive sided midfielder (like Moxon when that was rumoured) as a back up. Will be very interesting to see how we approach the last week of the window with so much to play for in the second half of the season
A lot of that was well, well over the top.
There was also a lot of criticism of his tactics and team selection some of which was also OTT but much of which was valid.
Essentially, while there was some very good performances there where a lot of bad ones too and he wasn't "doing the basics" of a manager which is "just win games".
Crawley was a turning point. A real low but NJ started a re-set by going back to certain extent to how we had started the season IE being hard to score against.
Lloyd Jones coming back and finding a way to use Small on the right so that he and Edwards could both be on the pitch was part of that re-set as was dropping A Campbell and replacing Ahadme with a fit again Leaburn.
We also have a nearly fully fit squad and those missing (Watson and Ahadme) aren't essential.
Ramsay is going to be, IMHO, key for the rest of the season. Campbell is ripping teams apart and when Small improves his finishing we will give some team a thrashing.
Docherty coming back into the side in a slightly deeper role, while less spectacular, has also been a big part of the re-set post Crawley. We're now seeing the player I and many others thought we had signed.
Is that just luck and nothing to do with NJ. Not really.
He signed nearly all the players mentioned or in the case of TC gave him a new contract and position.
He messed about too much with selection early on, IMHO, when we had a solid side but now has a pretty settled side and a strong bench but he's the manager and just as the "vilification" as he called it after Crawley was perhaps OTT, the criticism was largely justified.
Have wanted him since 2012 as our manager and now we've got him. It's not been an easy ride but we might just be getting there.
My biggest cause of optimism is that after the poor performance at Rotherham rather than going on another bad run we came back with three straight wins.
We probably need another 11 or 12 wins this season to make the play-offs. That is a big ask but it's not impossible.
There has also been questions about whether his giving contracts/squad space to "mates" like Hylton, Berry and Potts would have been better spent on "actual coaches" but the fact that players never completely buckled and have actually come through stronger suggests he was probably right on this one too.
I was definitely a critic and even now I still think he made mistakes (and probably will make more) but you can't really argue with the form/results we're seeing at the moment.
At least we have come away from the "square pegs round holes" scenario, early days but well done to NJ and the team 👋👋👋!
We are winning football matches and you can see the team are together and playing for NJ now! What more do you need?
Granted with a few of those cases you'll see the minutes are further apart even if the appearance numbers aren't, but ultimately we relied less on specific individuals and more on having a very clear method of grinding out results more or less regardless of who we had on the pitch. As long as we had someone to put the chances away, a strong defence even if it wasn't always settled, and a midfield that knew what the job was in each position we were ok. The midfielders rotated all round the diamond, Aribo sometimes at the tip sometimes deeper, Cullen on the side or the base, Reeves played every spot except the base. The roles were so clear that you could put more or less anyone there and we could function. That's slightly worrying for us as if you took one of Small or TC out of the side I think we'd struggle to have anyone else fulfil that role with our current setup, but hopefully we can bring in one or two players to cover them and diversify our play centrally a bit. Regardless though, as long as we remain incredibly hard to breach and can create chances like we are now we'll be in the conversation
I don't mind saying I was wrong, given where we are now. The Northampton game was a big surprise and kicked on the form that followed - barring the unsavoury blip at Rotherham, we've done really well. The squad have galvanised through a more settled team, an adjustment of tactics and performances more worthy of the squad value/experience comparative to the rest of the league. Results have improved (which, at the end of the day, is all that really matters) and this is in no small part down to the decisions and player management of NJ and his team. Certain players have been individual revelations, signings have started to bed in and younger players continued to develop.
We've had a lot of turgid football served up since we were relegated. Plenty of times we've felt the need to pull the trigger. NJ has been up and down this season, and I think that many Charlton fans thought that when the form dipped, it was history repeating once again. We didn't know what version of NJ we were going to get, but we're on another upturn now.
All I wanted this season was to be contesting for the playoff places, and in December, I thought that wasn't going to happen and that did fall at NJ to fix. He has fixed it and gone on a run that is almost as good as the one Orient have gone on (who were even lower than we were). I'm absolutely here for this - not bitter he is still here and glad I was wrong.
I think there issue in how we now play with pace up front/wide in terms of replacements. Dixon may be a solution but he is not and hasn't been assimilated into the side as of yet. I think a player with similar attributes to TC and Small would be very valuable. It looks like A Campbell is off so with TT gone, I think we may need cover there although you need the right players not any players.
also pigs might fly
However, most of all, I hope we can all now agree that the final question I posed in that post has been answered and that the time for reflection on his future comes after we've played 46 games although, hopefully, that will be 49 and culminating in a last match win!
I was willing for us to be relegated just so that I could be right on Charlton Life.