Charlton v Aston Villa (Chris Solly testimonial) - Match Thread

oohaahmortimer said:

cabbles said:

patience in that Bristol City, a team who are outside favourites for promotion this season got thumped 5-0 today. 

By one of our poxy local rivals who are light years above where we are ffs 

I know mate.  It’s shit to see and I can’t stand to see us where we are under the owner we have, I just think in the context of our poor pre-season to date, I’m not worried that we won’t have enough under Bowyer to stay up 

RedJohn said:

Has anyone noticed that the amount of players needed by Bowyer as he has stated in his interviews over the past couple of weeks has moved from needing 7 to 8, down to possibly 4.

Bowyer said we need 5 after today's match.

We need two midfielders as good or better than Cullen and Bielik as a priority. Then we need to bolster the squad with three or four decent others as a minimum.

I imagine Bowyer will be saying to Arsenal, if you loan us Bielik, we can't pay you as much as Stoke or West Brom, but we will guarantee to play him, and we are the safest environment for him to be an even better player. A player that is going to be an asset to you. He likes it here, he is comfortable here and he is a better player now than when he arrived last season. 

I imagine he is saying to Cullen, another a season with us and you will not be on the fringes of the West Ham team but walking into it.

I think these are reasonable assumptions. What is an ace in his hand is that it is also likely to be very true.

That was a slap round the face, and a kick up the arris, with 16 league home wins last season, we’ve got used to doing that too other teams.

Cafc43v3r said:

Sage said:

ForeverAddickted said:

I presume thats three at the back?

Phillips
Oshilaja | Lockyer | Sarr
Solly |  Williams | Pratley | Forster-Caskey | Purrington
Aneke | Taylor

Yes, Aneke dropping into midfield at times to allow Williams to float out wide so we can double up when attacking.

Decent team, just need to pad it out with quality on the bench and one or two to come in as starters.

That team gets thrashed in this league.  Need 5 or 6 better players to start, not more padding. 

Not sure why anyone would lol this, we need 5 of 6 1st team players pdq

He is a significantly better than average League One player with the potential to be higher, but who has also just come back from a serious injury. We shouldn't write him off, but we shouldn't rely on him being the answer either.

AFKABartram said:

Actually enjoyed being back at The Valley, but so much of our club screamed tinpot today. 

Especially the bit after the match , with people queuing up to have their picture taken with Solly and the trophy, and by the tine they got there he’d gone, Bartrams also shut before the game?

Scoham said:

cafctom said:

I have to admit that I’ve never fully been on board the Forster-Caskey fan club. I’m just not really sure what he offers - is he an attacking or defensive player? Always felt he just made up numbers, even when we were in League 1.

Dazzler21 said:

cafctom said:

I have to admit that I’ve never fully been on board the Forster-Caskey fan club. I’m just not really sure what he offers - is he an attacking or defensive player? Always felt he just made up numbers, even when we were in League 1.

Imagine Semedo, but not as effective defensively and not as good at passing sideways. He's the man we have to replace in that squad for me.

If we bring in three first team midfielders then JFC might only be a squad player. He's good enough for that considering our budget.

He's nothing like Semedo. Here's a reminder of what he can offer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-zugsjoD0

Apologies you're quite right, he's nothing like Semedo and today he was much shitter as cm's go.

I rated him above Cullen before his injury, sure Cullen is the better, more rounded player, but I had JFC up there and at the time couldn't understand signing Cullen. 

I see I was wrong now. I just had higher hopes of him considering he's been back fit enough to be in the squad since the end of April.

However all of this ignores we were playing a team that just spent over £120m. 

Silverdreammachine said:

Solely on today's performance only Williams, Taylor and Aneke
looked anything like Championship class.

Agreed mate we need layers in fast 

My take on our current squad, having been to Welling & Colchester is.......

Harriet is decent & beggars not being choosers we should sign him up. 

Lockyer has not really impressed. I think he was brought in because he can play out from the back. I'm not convinced.

Not seen enough of Aneke. Same goes for Bonne, who reminds me of the Jones boys (Andy & Steve) who both ran around, put in lots of effort but ultimately werent good enough for the division we were in at the time. 

Taylor has looked uninterested - I've got a feeling he wont sign an extension & will be off (either before Aug 8tb or in the new year)

Morgan is better than Lapslie. Fuck cares if he cant defend, he's not in the team to do that. Can Pratley play a through ball or Sarr score 20 goals a season. No. 

Solly is 3rd choice RB. Wiredo is 2nd choice. 

Williams is mustard.

None of the other youngsters are good enough....borne out by LB today. 

golfaddick said:

My take on our current squad, having been to Welling & Colchester is.......

Harriet is decent & beggars not being choosers we should sign him up. 

Lockyer has not really impressed. I think he was brought in because he can play out from the back. I'm not convinced.

Not seen enough of Aneke. Same goes for Bonne, who reminds me of the Jones boys (Andy & Steve) who both ran around, put in lots of effort but ultimately werent good enough for the division we were in at the time. 

Taylor has looked uninterested - I've got a feeling he wont sign an extension & will be off (either before Aug 8tb or in the new year)

Morgan is better than Lapslie. Fuck cares if he cant defend, he's not in the team to do that. Can Pratley play a through ball or Sarr score 20 goals a season. No. 

Solly is 3rd choice RB. Wiredo is 2nd choice. 

Williams is mustard.

None of the other youngsters are good enough....borne out by LB today. 

I'm with you on most of that other than Morgan, I think there's real quality there, for the future, but he'll be eaten alive in the championship right now. He can't defend and as much as he can ping a beautiful 50 yard pass we'll have let in 3 by the time he does. He also needs to work on his off ball positioning. A loan where he plays regularly in League 1 or 2 and he could come back mustard next year.

I'd keep Lapslie, he's not going to start, but if we have a slender lead at home, or hanging on with a draw away from he's someone who can come on for the last 10 minutes and help sure up the game, he'll run like only Steve Brown could, be brave and will put his body on the line.

Disagree on Solly, not sure he's now automatic first choice but his experience could well be vital this season.

The player we miss most is Aribo. Even if we got Bielik and Cullen back it would not make up for his loss, they are both more defensive midfielders than attacking and usually did not work that well in the same 11.
I really struggle to imagine who we could loan in this week who would make a difference to that rubbish midfield today. Are there really 2-3 loanable players out there of Championship quality who we could afford to bring in? Bowyer says agents are laughing at him.