++Charlie Kelman signs on a 4 year deal++

Krusty said:

Kelman is very much a confidence player. Wellens at Orient essentially said the same thing and after following the kid for several years, I totally agree. Once he gets that first goal, he will be fine.

Any who are calling for him to be benched or he is a bust already, are morons.

So you are calling for Miles to be benched instead? Or TC or Tanto?

Nobody is slagging Kelman off or writing him off, just looking for the best striker combinations out of our rich resources. There does seem to be a double standard here, where people are saying Kelman should keep starting games, to get his confidence up, but not giving the same opportunities to Tanto, who so far has had just cameos off the bench, despite being fully match fit. Or Miles. And what happens when Godden is fit?

Miles does need to be managed carefully, but he's getting to the stage where he surely should be able to start games. Play 60 before being subbed, rather than being the last 30 sub. As a previous poster noted, Miles came on and made more touches than Kelman in half the time. 

killerandflash said:

Krusty said:

Kelman is very much a confidence player. Wellens at Orient essentially said the same thing and after following the kid for several years, I totally agree. Once he gets that first goal, he will be fine.

Any who are calling for him to be benched or he is a bust already, are morons.

So you are calling for Miles to be benched instead? Or TC or Tanto?

Nobody is slagging Kelman off or writing him off, just looking for the best striker combinations out of our rich resources. There does seem to be a double standard here, where people are saying Kelman should keep starting games, to get his confidence up, but not giving the same opportunities to Tanto, who so far has had just cameos off the bench, despite being fully match fit. Or Miles. And what happens when Godden is fit?

Miles does need to be managed carefully, but he's getting to the stage where he surely should be able to start games. Play 60 before being subbed, rather than being the last 30 sub. As a previous poster noted, Miles came on and made more touches than Kelman in half the time. 

Its a tough call either way, I get that. I just think benching him already will just hinder him even more. Jmo.

balham red said:

There's a lot of cope going on in here. Kelman might come good but he's been very poor for the minutes he has been on the pitch so far, pre season or no pre season.

Not really, it’s not much of a stretch to believe Kelman can still be a success. That’s not saying he’s played well so far, it’s remembering some players take longer to settle at new clubs. The lack of a preseason can’t help.

If I have one concern it would his possible similarity to Alfie May. May was great but imo wasn't prepared to do the pressing Jones demands so found himself out of his plans.
Godden on the other hand was the kind of work horse that does so well in a Jones side.

I'm sure Kelman knew the remit when he signed and Jones wouldn't have touched him if he didn't think he could carve him into his sort of player.

balham red said:

Its not just the goals, he doesn't get involved in the build up. He has an average of 5 passes per game and 1.5 aerial duels.

He may be a sniffer dog like Godden, but Godden brings other qualities too.

Leaburn comes on and shows for the ball closer to the half way line, so the move can pivot off him, then he can try and get on the end of the move later.

A lack of pre season can explain a lack of fitness or sharpness, but this is neither since he's just not finding himself involved in the game at all.

Which is all true, but it doesn’t mean his whole season will play out that way, and the team need to find ways to get him more involved, it’s not all about his weaknesses.

He played as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 at Orient, even if they played more of a possession game, the lone striker still needs to offer more than just being a poacher. I’m sure he’s got more to offer outside of scoring goals.

Scoham said:

balham red said:

Its not just the goals, he doesn't get involved in the build up. He has an average of 5 passes per game and 1.5 aerial duels.

He may be a sniffer dog like Godden, but Godden brings other qualities too.

Leaburn comes on and shows for the ball closer to the half way line, so the move can pivot off him, then he can try and get on the end of the move later.

A lack of pre season can explain a lack of fitness or sharpness, but this is neither since he's just not finding himself involved in the game at all.

Which is all true, but it doesn’t mean his whole season will play out that way, and the team need to find ways to get him more involved, it’s not all about his weaknesses.

He played as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 at Orient, even if they played more of a possession game, the lone striker still needs to offer more than just being a poacher. I’m sure he’s got more to offer outside of scoring goals.

Past 365 days comparative performance against other forwards:

Leaburn:


Godden:


Kelman:

You could see him working hard at the "other" bits of his game yesterday. He battled hard on a few occasions trying to protect the ball with his back to goal. He clearly trying to develop those bits of his game. I think he will get better at them as the season progresses and when he does get chances in the box he will score. He presses well which is key for our side. I still think he will end the season as our top scorer.

superdulvertonred said:

It’s two games and he has had no service I am confident that he will come good

I like him- he’s a good footballer.  But he might not get service . 

Charlton fanbase reacts to two strikers having limited impact on games

Braziliance said:

Just saw on twitter he has deleted his instagram, hope he's ok.

By the looks of it he ever had an account and his twitter account not been used since 2023 ??

Rothko said:

Kelman and Leaburn are playing at different times in the game,
Miles has the advantage of coming in against tiring players, we don’t know how he would
have done against two fresh centre halves. Likewise Kelman can’t come on with fresh legs.

suspect the Charlie Kelman we
see post international break will
be a different player 

Or maybe Miles should start, and Kelman come on as a sub in the next game?

Callumcafc said:

Charlton fanbase reacts to two strikers having limited impact on games

Like, I get it. That said, one of those two got the L1 golden boot and one of them didn't - and I don't think that's something you can just fluke.

I said this of Ahadme last season:

th0rryy said:

This might be rather scathing, but on current performances, his performances are more like a centre-back being put up front for the last 10 minutes. Part of me feels like if you replaced him with one of our other defenders up front, you'd get a similar result. I want to back and support the lad - he just needs to bring more.

Kelman has had nowhere near enough time in preseason and is having to do the seemingly thankless job of playing against (normally) a couple of CBs in the central position for 60+ minutes while we keep tight and disciplined off the ball. We pivot into taking more chances and committing players going forward in the latter parts of second halves - this is by design, and VERY similar to when NJ first came in. Keep it tight and nick a goal, but now, we have a number of players that can fulfil that finisher role infinitely better than we once did. I am still very hopeful he will come good and show the player many of us still think he can be.

The really shitty thing about this is that you can guarantee that a small handful of "fans" decide to give him sass for not setting the Championship on fire from game one. I hope that shutting down his Instagram isn't linked to that. Confidence is probably a little low, but you can't make reasoned assessments of players until AT LEAST 10 games. It's not even like he's missing multiple chances or notably looking technically deficient - plenty of strikers start slow at new clubs. It's way too early to write him off.

Just frustrated by the discourse about him already. Cheer for the lad, support the lad.

He needs a song asap

Callumcafc said:

Charlton fanbase reacts to two strikers having limited impact on games

Not sure this is totally true, I would say the reaction is similar. Some expressing concern from the off, others acknowledging it’s been an unspectacular start but calling for patience. It took more than two games for the majority to lose patience with Ahadme last season. Plus generally we were all closer to the end of tether at that start of last season after years of dissatisfaction.