That's the other talking point I suppose. Not to slag off players too much, as some are young and development players.
A game of that magnitude should not have players like Tennai Watson, Kanu, Mbick and even Anderson to an extent (as he did well when he came on vs Wycombe)
Outside our first XI it's so poor.
The other talking point is Alex Mitchell. A player that did so well, can't even play instead of an injured centre back, and lost his place to a right back.
I don't understand why Jones didn't adjust our back 5 based on injuries.
Surely from right to left, Ramsay, Mitchell, Gillesphey, McIntyre and Edwards made more sense? More of a physical back line and Ramsay would have had more freedom.
I just hope with Burton we genuinely just play all the u21s and don't take it seriously. Can't risk another injury with such important games coming up.
I woke up today and saw the potential league1 table next season and almost hurled. Another year of this toot, no thanks. Really hope the lads step up these next few weeks, we need this promotion.
The way Wrexham pressed us yesterday I think Mitchell would have really struggled. Tenai isn’t great but he was probably our biggest threat going forward with his runs in behind McLean, he got in behind a couple of times
I'll just have to disagree on this one mate. I love Lloyd Jones, but Sam Smith properly had his number. Was even getting the better of him in the air at times, feel Mitchell would have handled that threat a lot better being fresh and Jones clearly carrying an injury. I also would have had Gillesphey in the middle and not Mitchell, Macca dealt with most of it pretty well.
I think Tennai made two decent runs in the second-half I can recall? We still looked completely off balance with him as he just couldn't offer what Small does.
I think Ramsay and Edwards as wingbacks would have made a lot more sense.
Tennai just isn't this standard, I'll be surprised if he gets another league 1 contract, league 2 or bottom of the pack league 1 is his level.
It's bonkers to me that a player that was a huge part of one of the best defensive records last season has been completely iced out.
Listened to Connor Coventry's interview after the game. He sounded genuinely gutted about what happened as we're the squad. I think the game against Burton they will want to prove themselves and get a result that'll worry whoever our opposition is in the play-offs. He was very complimentary about our support, and wants to repay them. If the rest of the squad, as he says, has the same attitude, I expect to see the team rock up at Wembley.
You’d like to think so but as I walked back to my car last night my shoulders were slumped and my head lowered looking at the pavement. Whereas when I arrived I was full of optimism and hope.🥺
Listened to Connor Coventry's interview after the game. He sounded genuinely gutted about what happened as we're the squad. I think the game against Burton they will want to prove themselves and get a result that'll worry whoever our opposition is in the play-offs. He was very complimentary about our support, and wants to repay them. If the rest of the squad, as he says, has the same attitude, I expect to see the team rock up at Wembley.
Yeah I thought the same, nice to hear the voice of someone who clearly cares about this
The big question is what will be the reaction of the players to this result? We have a week for the squad to rest and recuperate. The Burton game is now not a 'must win' scenario; however, we need that winning mentality as we go into the playoffs. Yes, Wycombe appear to have hit the wall but over two legs all the teams involved are capable of reaching Wembley.
Cardiff relegated, unless we go up they will come calling for NJ, and I think he would go given the opportunity of Managing us or them in the same league.
Said this to my cousin on the journey home, even if we do go up, if Cardiff come calling, what happens.
It feels if we stay down and Cardiff come calling we will be looking for a new manager to me.
Would he really want to work for Vincent Tan? Our ownership seems very sensible , Tan seems like a nightmare.
That's the other talking point I suppose. Not to slag off players too much, as some are young and development players.
A game of that magnitude should not have players like Tennai Watson, Kanu, Mbick and even Anderson to an extent (as he did well when he came on vs Wycombe)
Outside our first XI it's so poor.
The other talking point is Alex Mitchell. A player that did so well, can't even play instead of an injured centre back, and lost his place to a right back.
I don't understand why Jones didn't adjust our back 5 based on injuries.
Surely from right to left, Ramsay, Mitchell, Gillesphey, McIntyre and Edwards made more sense? More of a physical back line and Ramsay would have had more freedom.
I just hope with Burton we genuinely just play all the u21s and don't take it seriously. Can't risk another injury with such important games coming up.
I woke up today and saw the potential league1 table next season and almost hurled. Another year of this toot, no thanks. Really hope the lads step up these next few weeks, we need this promotion.
The way Wrexham pressed us yesterday I think Mitchell would have really struggled. Tenai isn’t great but he was probably our biggest threat going forward with his runs in behind McLean, he got in behind a couple of times
I'll just have to disagree on this one mate. I love Lloyd Jones, but Sam Smith properly had his number. Was even getting the better of him in the air at times, feel Mitchell would have handled that threat a lot better being fresh and Jones clearly carrying an injury. I also would have had Gillesphey in the middle and not Mitchell, Macca dealt with most of it pretty well.
I think Tennai made two decent runs in the second-half I can recall? We still looked completely off balance with him as he just couldn't offer what Small does.
I think Ramsay and Edwards as wingbacks would have made a lot more sense.
Tennai just isn't this standard, I'll be surprised if he gets another league 1 contract, league 2 or bottom of the pack league 1 is his level.
It's bonkers to me that a player that was a huge part of one of the best defensive records last season has been completely iced out.
Yeah I don’t disagree with you about Tenai, he’s average at best. And we had no attacking threat so him being our biggest threat wasn’t much of a compliment either. The ball over the top of McLean worked a few times, he had a shot from one in the first half that was probably our best chance of the game.
I think Gillesphey being in the middle would have been the right move, but whatever the line up I think the result would have been the same.
With Mitchell he’s a good defender but he just isn’t good enough on the ball and is quite slow. The start of the season we were playing much deeper and playing less football, especially away from home, so Mitchell was fine. But now we are playing higher up so his lack of pace is an issue and we are also playing more football which he struggles with
I'm in the "deflated" camp. I keep telling myself that the situation we found ourselves in, going into that game, was ludicrous to even consider at the beginning of December. But it doesn't help the feeling, and when i woke up this morning I found myself thinking of Dobbo. Now, I should acknowledge that it was clear that NJ would have wished to keep Dobbo (unlike Alfie), and that it was Scott who came to the ridiculous conclusion that Dobbo -our captain - wasn't good enough. And that is what I think about re yesterday. Our captain, Greg Docherty, went missing yesterday. Dobbo did not. Dobbo didn't go missing in any game as captain in our shirt. Meanwhile at Wrexham he isn't even captain. They've got potential captains all over the pitch. In this team Dobbo doesn't need to go crashing around the pitch stopping the whole thing from collapse, because up there he has players around him who are competent, but also every bit as resolute as him. Docherty has improved a lot, but the fact remains that even since our upturn in form, Jones sometimes subs him. The captain. I'm not saying he's not good enough for us, and maybe I'm too old skool about this, but I think the captain of a winning team is the last man standing. You never sub him unless he's running on one leg. The problem then is that I don't see another captain. Possibly Lloyd Jones, but NJ isn't himself quite sure, otherwise he would be. Meanwhile Dobbo will go about his business in the Championship next season, I am absolutely sure of that. We should never have let him go, but that is down to Scott, primarily. And the fact that Appleton rather than NJ was in the building.
As for the striker situation. @Bailey you need to leave off @Golfie. You said there are no other teams with five strikers, and yet we had just played one with 7, all of whom have a better current career return than Daniel Kanu (no offence to DK, although I am not yet sure he will make it). Wrexham understood the thing I keep banging on about; any idiot can sack (read "sell") talented people they take against. Getting in someone better is the hard bit. When Wrexham came to the Valley both Mullin and Palmer, signed in the NL, featured, and have done since. They added Smith in the window on top of them. They did not undo the foundations on which their success has been built. Yes, it's expensive, and not everyone can do it. But we could have done it on the striker front, if NJ had found a way to manage Alfie May effectively. Then again we probably would not have signed Godden if we'd kept May. Ahadme would still have been just as useless with May rather than Godden in the squad. My overall point is, identify the key people that have brought success, or at least delivered in a crap squad, and then keep them, build around them. That's what Wrexham have done. No 8-8-8 bollocks. No instinct to sell academy players after half a season of having big club scouts along to watch them. I hope that that's the real lesson of Wrexham. That squad has been assembled and developed by seasoned football pros, and The Lads have been happy to delegate to them. I hope that's how we'll proceed from now on.
I think as you brought me into your post Prague, I have a right of reply. Firstly Alfie May and Dobbo, I wouldn't have sold or let go either of those players but it was clear to everyone that Nathan Jones wanted to play a different way and you go with that. I along with many others doubted that decision in the first part of the campaign, my reasoning being that if you make that decision, then you need to be right and we certainly weren't up until December. But I had it wrong and Nathan Jones has been proved right, only one club in the second half of the season has better form and that is Birmingham. The point about seven forwards at a club, I asked in a previous post for you or Golfie to find when we have ever had that amount on the books and whatever you think it's rare for any club to carry that amount of forwards because of cost implications and team bonding, Mullen at Wrexham has basically been moved away from first team selection and behind him is Ollie Palmer, who I believe was on the bench yesterday, both not first team starters but contracted to 2027, so another two years wages potentially being paid, and if you think that's healthy for a football club, take a look at a four year deal handed to Chuks Aneke at £6400 a week. We had 29 players on our books at the start of January 25, our player wage bill at the seasons start was seven and a quarter million, we announced a loss for 23/24 of 14 million, if you think that those figures are sustainable then you really should consider whether Charlton has a future at all. I don't want Charlton to sign a Jay Rodrigues or Sam Smith because they didn't move to Wrexham for peanuts and I think coming through from our youth we have as good if not better and at a fraction of the cost, and, the second half of the season form proved we didn't need Rodrigues or Smith, I also get more pleasure in watching players like Tyreece Campbell developing into a player rather than someone who has no affinity to the club and wanting a move as soon a higher bid comes in. Lastly I have agreed with a lot of what Golfie and you have stated over the last few seasons but you and Golfie continue to ignore facts to reinforce your angst about the sale of Alfie May and in Golfie's case as soon as we lose he drags out the same nonsense. Quite simply if you're or Golfie's opinion were backed by the facts, I would agree with you. Facts are, we are in the play offs, we have the best form outside Birmingham. One last thing, why didn't you post this when we smashed Wycombe 4-0 ?
A reminder that it is the league table which gives the true reflection of how good teams are, not individual results .
On Monday we were way better than Wycombe, yesterday Wrexham were way better than us, but in reality the gap between the teams is far smaller than that. Teams have good days and bad days, teams can have injury problems one game and can be stronger the next .
During April Wrexham drew against Cambridge, Wigan and Bristol Rovers. Their expenditure on lots of expensive strikers didn't look so wonderful then.
That's the other talking point I suppose. Not to slag off players too much, as some are young and development players.
A game of that magnitude should not have players like Tennai Watson, Kanu, Mbick and even Anderson to an extent (as he did well when he came on vs Wycombe)
Outside our first XI it's so poor.
The other talking point is Alex Mitchell. A player that did so well, can't even play instead of an injured centre back, and lost his place to a right back.
I don't understand why Jones didn't adjust our back 5 based on injuries.
Surely from right to left, Ramsay, Mitchell, Gillesphey, McIntyre and Edwards made more sense? More of a physical back line and Ramsay would have had more freedom.
I just hope with Burton we genuinely just play all the u21s and don't take it seriously. Can't risk another injury with such important games coming up.
I woke up today and saw the potential league1 table next season and almost hurled. Another year of this toot, no thanks. Really hope the lads step up these next few weeks, we need this promotion.
The way Wrexham pressed us yesterday I think Mitchell would have really struggled. Tenai isn’t great but he was probably our biggest threat going forward with his runs in behind McLean, he got in behind a couple of times
I'll just have to disagree on this one mate. I love Lloyd Jones, but Sam Smith properly had his number. Was even getting the better of him in the air at times, feel Mitchell would have handled that threat a lot better being fresh and Jones clearly carrying an injury. I also would have had Gillesphey in the middle and not Mitchell, Macca dealt with most of it pretty well.
I think Tennai made two decent runs in the second-half I can recall? We still looked completely off balance with him as he just couldn't offer what Small does.
I think Ramsay and Edwards as wingbacks would have made a lot more sense.
Tennai just isn't this standard, I'll be surprised if he gets another league 1 contract, league 2 or bottom of the pack league 1 is his level.
It's bonkers to me that a player that was a huge part of one of the best defensive records last season has been completely iced out.
Yeah I don’t disagree with you about Tenai, he’s average at best. And we had no attacking threat so him being our biggest threat wasn’t much of a compliment either. The ball over the top of McLean worked a few times, he had a shot from one in the first half that was probably our best chance of the game.
I think Gillesphey being in the middle would have been the right move, but whatever the line up I think the result would have been the same.
With Mitchell he’s a good defender but he just isn’t good enough on the ball and is quite slow. The start of the season we were playing much deeper and playing less football, especially away from home, so Mitchell was fine. But now we are playing higher up so his lack of pace is an issue and we are also playing more football which he struggles with
Fair enough.
Agree that the result probably stays the same.
Still think he's been massively overlooked but I imagine he won't be a Charlton player next season, has to be more than what's going on cause to go from a main starter to being left out even when injuries hit is bizarre.
Can we start a “Positive Play-off’s thread”, too many threads on here talking about how crap we were yesterday, how Stockport are far superior to us, Wycombe owe us etc etc
Winning the playoffs will be tough for any team, you need luck, and you need players to turn up when it really matters (think Pratley against Donny).
At this stage it doesn’t matter who we did or didnt sign in January, and it doesn’t matter what Scott or Methen did - they’re gone.
So from this point on, let’s be positive, whoever we play, whether the first or second leg is at the Valley, and whoever is picked in the shirt, let’s just get behind them and be positive!
Hylton to score a winning pen - you read it here first!
Fecked up my plan to watch the match yesterday, by arranging a family meal at 6:30pm. Missed the whole thing (thankfully) so I'll let off those that played, and NJ for his execution of the match plan.
As for the result, it's sobering, but just what this team needs ahead of the most important set of games this club has faced for 5 years or so. We were poorer than usual against a well oiled machine, that has three promotions on the bounce. The league table shows us, there isn't much in between the sides, but there are also two other useful outfits, also sitting above us in the league.
They will rightly think that they too have a great opportunity to grab that final promotion spot.
We have to hope that NJ saw the writing on the wall and rightly rested those that needed to be rested ahead of the crunch games to come over the next few weeks.
This squad has done wonders to make it 45 games before auto's became out of reach.
I hope the best players can be back in 10 days time, and also play at their very best, to give us a chance of Wembley.
We might be feeling down today, but we aren't out. If this opportunity going into game 46, had been put on the table in November, I'm pretty sure (almost) every fan on here would have grabbed it with both hands.
Keep the faith everyone, and all have hope we come out on top 4 weeks today!!
As I pointed out, Mullin and Palmer joined Wrexham in the National League. The more surprising thing is not that they didnt' make the starting XI yesterday, but that they still both played significant roles in getting the team to the brink of the Championship. Two more that have played significant roles are Elliott Lee and Eoghan O'Connell, both deemed by most fans to be not good enough for us when we were crap (I was one re Lee, but I thought O'Connell was unlucky with that injury and the chaos around him). And of course the current manager started with them in the NL too. Wrexham therefore are not Birmingham. There is a fabric to that club which has been built up over the last four seasons in a quiet, professional way. The Hollywood stuff has been kept quite separate. It brings in the money which is handed over to the football pros. I agree with you that with so many very senior players on their books their summer window will be challenging.
I don't know how best to answer your last sentence. What you will find is that, happy as I was, I was not one of those saying "no reason why we can't go and do something similar at Wrexham". Aneke's (unjust) red card was a major reason why I was cautious, because I knew we had no replacement who can bring what he brings. I like how Mbick is shaping up, but that was way too big an ask for an 18 year old yesterday. In the Jan window we all hoped Miles would come good and kick on. But hope alone doesn't get you promotion, you always need a plan B, and up front we don't have one now.
No - we don’t get to blame maybe falling short in a 46 League season on any one or two players especially when the collective progress over the season is anything but a failure. I share the disappointment but too many of the players scores yesterday are an overreaction.
No disrespect, with this squad, days like yesterday were always on the menu.
Maintaining the momentum for such a protracted period is a tribute to the medical & fitness staff & Jones. However come January & February if you didn’t get the right bodies in the building you WILL invariably stumble through injuries, suspension, fatigue and loss of form. I applaud the manager, coaches and every player who has pulled on the shirt since December in delivering the 2nd best set of results in the League.
Squad issues were set in the 888 fiscal theory proposed Jan 2024, enacted July 2024 and melted down in Jan 2025. Capping your senior squad at 16 seniors with an elite keeper* means 15 senior outfielders for a match day 16. It includes Aneke who can’t start (nobody’s paying up his contract), and a veteran part time coach. Margins matter.
*we never got one
Placing a top 6 campaign on the shoulders of a “development 8” was tantamount to abuse notably so with zero balance across the squad. WB - Asiimwe CB - Z. Mitchell, CM -Anderson - 5 forwards in Campbell, Leaburn, Kanu, Dixon and Smalls conversion.
Campbell delivered remarkable growth from 2023/24. Small reinvented himself as a viable RW/RWB - Anderson offered support but Leaburn was sadly not up to the full physical challenge while Kanu, Asiimwe, Z Mitchell & Dixon were unable to contribute. With Mbick, Laqeretabua & Enslin in the wings we literally extend the group to 11.
In terms of fully functioning outfielders the March working group had 45% circa 21 or under.
In the face of the physicality & mental demands of an often aggressive 46 league game season and a high energy modus operandi I refuse to malign a single talent. I do however position 70% had not the CV, physicality, stamina, experience or game management to fully meet the demands placed upon them.
“Making a decent fist of it” does not ultimately move us forward. Add in June executive realignments, July structural dictats, the subsequent departures of Scott & Methven it can be no surprise the 2nd half season results reflect a greater clarity of direction.
Regrettably the “we are in it for the long term ” executive decisions in Feb did not reflect good management. December & January results presented a real business opportunity. You either empower your workforce with the tools to do the job or you don’t. Two loan additions funded by reducing the wage bill by 7 did not reflect the opportunity.
Of course Jones as per any “grown up” Manager will own it but if the executive were unable to fund just 2 elite extra seniors for 3 months to spread the responsibility and the workload then it is on them and nobody else. Opportunity A has gone.
Messrs Carter, Warwick, Rodwell & Jones «brutal weeks » come with the territory and demand insurance. We didn’t pay the premium.
Right now focus on the failings if you must but no NJ didn’t get his elite keeper, Yes A. Campbell & Ahadme really struggled but over 25 games we have seen Mannion, Ramsay, Jones, Gillesphey, Edwards, Coventry, Small and T Campbell deliver arguably the best senior football of their careers with Berry and notably Godden reminding us they have indeed played at a higher level.
Can the group rebound? Will there be enough left in the tank to seize Opportunity B? I really don’t know but for sure I fully respect the work the clubhouse has delivered in 2024/25 and if the group doesn’t deliver promotion I most certainly won’t be looking in their direction.
A really good post Grapevine but like a lot of comments about our club it has to be taken in context. There always seems to be two schools of thought with any group of supporters, 'chuck money at it' or 'steady progression' I think with Charlton supporters we suffer envy at what was achieved by first Ipswich, then Birmingham and now Wrexham, but there is devil in the detail. By January 1st 2025, Charlton were 17 points from the top two of Wycombe and Birmingham, Wrexham were 15 points clear of Charlton but had played two games more. By the February 1st, the gap to second placed Wycombe had reduced to 15 points and Birmingham had reached top spot 19 points ahead of Charlton. Our form in the second half of the season, is only bettered by Birmingham, I take your point about size of the squad but yesterday was the first time we have had five players missing, Lloyd Jones shouldn't have played but obviously the coaching team thought he'd be alright. My point is, and I know a lot of posters disagree with this stance, what players would have improved the form in the second half and at what cost? I mention cost, because two weeks back there was shock and indignation on this site about a 14 million loss incurred by Charlton in 23/24. I fail to see how we could have improved on our second half of the season showing and yes lets not dismiss the first part of the season but once again lets look at Wrexham, because that's realistically what we were aiming at. They had a settled side, a side that had been playing together for a good while, they added Dobson at the start of the season, amongst others to compliment that settled side, we built a side from scratch, it took time to for us to find a goal scoring partnership and a midfield that worked, it now works from back to front and with a fully fit squad we are a team that no one wants to face. I am amazed that merely a week after one of the best results that we have seen in many a season, a weakened Charlton side got turned over at Wrexham and the usual culprits are declaring that it's because we didn't spend in January, the form shows it was not necessary to spend in January and the players who left, were not players who would improve this side or been able to step in yesterday and perform to the same level as those missing.
Not sure anyone is saying our second-half of the season could have been better. But maybe from the start for once.
Crazy times are alive on here, but as Sam Smith is mentioned all the time by the Captain Hindsights, he’s probably costing Wrexham £3.5m over that deal if being conservative, and they were in a much better position in the league to spend that mo he in January.
Bottled that unfortunately. Feel better than I thought I would of this morning. Feel wrexham deserved 2nd place, and fair play to Parkinson his team outplayed us.
Don't feel confident at all going into the play offs. The same feeling I have back in 2018. But for the first time in a long time I do feel excited for next season. Have to build on this squad, wether we do? Will have to wait and see.
We're way to reliant on our starting x11 being fit. I can't imagine many teams that get promoted struggle without just 2 of the starting squad. If we play the same starting 11 we did yesterday against any team in this division we would struggle, let alone top 6.
Onwards and upwards. Still have a crack at the whip however and would love my gut feeling to be proven wrong.
Whatever happens players and staff deserve credit.
UTA
Don’t think we bottled it Wrexham first two goals were down to us .. that might be through tiredness Campbell Ramsey and Anderson switched off badly .. we had a couple of decent chances there was not much in the game , Mannion did not make a save till 88 mins so Wrexham did not create much themselves , say it again Wycombe losing got rid the Wrexham jitters that they had last few weeks and made it a much more difficult game fir us ……
I’m not sure there is a will to pay £5m on transfers by our owners, but FFP will certainly block it.
The joy for Wrexham is that the Hollywood association brings with it commercial deals with Meta, Disney, TikTok, American Airlines to name the ones I know of, who all want a slice of the American audience that come with the fame. I suspect that it works whilst they’re gaining promotions, but next season they’ll struggle against parachute payments and bigger budgets, whilst having the likes of Mullins and Palmer (mentioned above) who won’t leave because they’ve been paid far more than anyone else would be willing.
Charlton related, I agree with everything Nathan Jones said yesterday. It was a game too far with the recent injuries and intensity of the last 4 months. Likewise, we didn’t miss out on 2nd because of yesterday. We missed out because we were absolutely dreadful for 6 weeks across November and December.
Tomorrow it’s time to draw a line under it and focus on the play-offs. If everyone’s fit, I fancy our chances.
Crazy times are alive on here, but as Sam Smith is mentioned all the time by the Captain Hindsights, he’s probably costing Wrexham £3.5m over that deal if being conservative, and they were in a much better position in the league to spend that mo he in January.
Crazy times are alive on here, but as Sam Smith is mentioned all the time by the Captain Hindsights, he’s probably costing Wrexham £3.5m over that deal if being conservative, and they were in a much better position in the league to spend that mo he in January.
We had Alfie May.
Who was happy to go and triple his money at Birmingham
Crazy times are alive on here, but as Sam Smith is mentioned all the time by the Captain Hindsights, he’s probably costing Wrexham £3.5m over that deal if being conservative, and they were in a much better position in the league to spend that mo he in January.
We had Alfie May.
Who was happy to go and triple his money at Birmingham
Thanks to the Hollywood owners and TV series, Wrexham have had some ridiculous shirt sponsors in recent seasons, the sort of massive household names that you'd expect to see on a Premier League shirt .
The likes of United Airlines, Expedia, and TikTok, who must be paying way more than every other lower league team is receiving, which really helps their budget.
Crazy times are alive on here, but as Sam Smith is mentioned all the time by the Captain Hindsights, he’s probably costing Wrexham £3.5m over that deal if being conservative, and they were in a much better position in the league to spend that mo he in January.
We had Alfie May.
Who would have had 0 effect yesterday, he isn't as physical as Smith
Comments
I think Tennai made two decent runs in the second-half I can recall? We still looked completely off balance with him as he just couldn't offer what Small does.
I think Ramsay and Edwards as wingbacks would have made a lot more sense.
Tennai just isn't this standard, I'll be surprised if he gets another league 1 contract, league 2 or bottom of the pack league 1 is his level.
It's bonkers to me that a player that was a huge part of one of the best defensive records last season has been completely iced out.
Whereas when I arrived I was full of optimism and hope.🥺
The point about seven forwards at a club, I asked in a previous post for you or Golfie to find when we have ever had that amount on the books and whatever you think it's rare for any club to carry that amount of forwards because of cost implications and team bonding, Mullen at Wrexham has basically been moved away from first team selection and behind him is Ollie Palmer, who I believe was on the bench yesterday, both not first team starters but contracted to 2027, so another two years wages potentially being paid, and if you think that's healthy for a football club, take a look at a four year deal handed to Chuks Aneke at £6400 a week.
We had 29 players on our books at the start of January 25, our player wage bill at the seasons start was seven and a quarter million, we announced a loss for 23/24 of 14 million, if you think that those figures are sustainable then you really should consider whether Charlton has a future at all.
I don't want Charlton to sign a Jay Rodrigues or Sam Smith because they didn't move to Wrexham for peanuts and I think coming through from our youth we have as good if not better and at a fraction of the cost, and, the second half of the season form proved we didn't need Rodrigues or Smith, I also get more pleasure in watching players like Tyreece Campbell developing into a player rather than someone who has no affinity to the club and wanting a move as soon a higher bid comes in.
Lastly I have agreed with a lot of what Golfie and you have stated over the last few seasons but you and Golfie continue to ignore facts to reinforce your angst about the sale of Alfie May and in Golfie's case as soon as we lose he drags out the same nonsense. Quite simply if you're or Golfie's opinion were backed by the facts, I would agree with you. Facts are, we are in the play offs, we have the best form outside Birmingham.
One last thing, why didn't you post this when we smashed Wycombe 4-0 ?
On Monday we were way better than Wycombe, yesterday Wrexham were way better than us, but in reality the gap between the teams is far smaller than that. Teams have good days and bad days, teams can have injury problems one game and can be stronger the next .
During April Wrexham drew against Cambridge, Wigan and Bristol Rovers. Their expenditure on lots of expensive strikers didn't look so wonderful then.
Agree that the result probably stays the same.
Still think he's been massively overlooked but I imagine he won't be a Charlton player next season, has to be more than what's going on cause to go from a main starter to being left out even when injuries hit is bizarre.
Winning the playoffs will be tough for any team, you need luck, and you need players to turn up when it really matters (think Pratley against Donny).
Fecked up my plan to watch the match yesterday, by arranging a family meal at 6:30pm. Missed the whole thing (thankfully) so I'll let off those that played, and NJ for his execution of the match plan.
As for the result, it's sobering, but just what this team needs ahead of the most important set of games this club has faced for 5 years or so. We were poorer than usual against a well oiled machine, that has three promotions on the bounce. The league table shows us, there isn't much in between the sides, but there are also two other useful outfits, also sitting above us in the league.
They will rightly think that they too have a great opportunity to grab that final promotion spot.
We have to hope that NJ saw the writing on the wall and rightly rested those that needed to be rested ahead of the crunch games to come over the next few weeks.
This squad has done wonders to make it 45 games before auto's became out of reach.
I hope the best players can be back in 10 days time, and also play at their very best, to give us a chance of Wembley.
We might be feeling down today, but we aren't out. If this opportunity going into game 46, had been put on the table in November, I'm pretty sure (almost) every fan on here would have grabbed it with both hands.
Keep the faith everyone, and all have hope we come out on top 4 weeks today!!
Brum spent £15m on one player (rich US owners)
As I pointed out, Mullin and Palmer joined Wrexham in the National League. The more surprising thing is not that they didnt' make the starting XI yesterday, but that they still both played significant roles in getting the team to the brink of the Championship. Two more that have played significant roles are Elliott Lee and Eoghan O'Connell, both deemed by most fans to be not good enough for us when we were crap (I was one re Lee, but I thought O'Connell was unlucky with that injury and the chaos around him). And of course the current manager started with them in the NL too. Wrexham therefore are not Birmingham. There is a fabric to that club which has been built up over the last four seasons in a quiet, professional way. The Hollywood stuff has been kept quite separate. It brings in the money which is handed over to the football pros. I agree with you that with so many very senior players on their books their summer window will be challenging.
I don't know how best to answer your last sentence. What you will find is that, happy as I was, I was not one of those saying "no reason why we can't go and do something similar at Wrexham". Aneke's (unjust) red card was a major reason why I was cautious, because I knew we had no replacement who can bring what he brings. I like how Mbick is shaping up, but that was way too big an ask for an 18 year old yesterday. In the Jan window we all hoped Miles would come good and kick on. But hope alone doesn't get you promotion, you always need a plan B, and up front we don't have one now.
I suspect that it works whilst they’re gaining promotions, but next season they’ll struggle against parachute payments and bigger budgets, whilst having the likes of Mullins and Palmer (mentioned above) who won’t leave because they’ve been paid far more than anyone else would be willing.
Charlton related, I agree with everything Nathan Jones said yesterday. It was a game too far with the recent injuries and intensity of the last 4 months. Likewise, we didn’t miss out on 2nd because of yesterday. We missed out because we were absolutely dreadful for 6 weeks across November and December.
Tomorrow it’s time to draw a line under it and focus on the play-offs. If everyone’s fit, I fancy our chances.
The likes of United Airlines, Expedia, and TikTok, who must be paying way more than every other lower league team is receiving, which really helps their budget.