Summer Window 2026 - Rumours and Discussion

fenaddick said:

Sword65pf said:

Chunes said:

Sword65pf said:

fenaddick said:

Sword65pf said:

fenaddick said:

Sword65pf said:

CAFCsayer said:

I still reckon Mbick is going to end up playing a bigger part than we think once fit... I know it was a couple of leagues below, but he was taking liberties from the highlights and is an absolute unit now

Wasn’t overly impressive in league 1 when played him, think people are getting overexcited about him.

Had a good half season of men's football since then though. I'd be surprised if he played regular minutes but he might play a similar amount to Fullah last season

Should go without saying, I hope he does live up to the hype , IMO I didn’t see anything other than him being big to get overexcited about. Sorry if I’m going against the grain but it’s what I think, if I’m wrong great. I would have thought watching a season of championship football would make people realise what it takes to be a good championship player, compared to half a good season in league two, especially when a lot of our fans were calling the top scorer in league 1, whom we signed not good enough.

But it sounds like you're judging him from his sporadic L1 games not his regular L2 ones. Granted, you are right about the step up but he is a better player than the one we saw in a handful of L1 games

Unfortunately I wasn’t a regular at Colchester to have a real look, so of course I’m judging him on what I saw most of, not just some highlights of his good bits on sky sports, I don’t think we know 100% that he is better in all honesty, I think it’s another scenario of one of our own overhype, if that means Brighton over pay for him, that will be great.

Let him start a few games at least before saying that. He only had a few cameos. 

Absolutely I will, and will be very happy to be wrong, however it’s what I think and that’s what we are discussing, I didn’t realise I can only put my thoughts on here if they fell inline with everyone else. For as long as he is Charlton, I will cheer him on.

Come on, people disagreeing doesn't mean you "can only put my thoughts on here if they fell inline with everyone else". It's ok to disagree, if we all had the same opinion this place would be so boring! No one is saying you can't have your opinion, just that they disagree

Which is what I said the other way around !!😂 Have you been on the fizzy pop and want argument Fen?😜

I-SAW-POUSO-PLAY said:

Jamie Donley available still? Also how about bringing back Karlan?

Ahearne-Grant is surely on a wedge way beyond what we can afford.

5 pages on Dykes ffs?
Fu*k me! We're fuk**d

Got a very bad feeling about next season

carly burn said:

5 pages on Dykes ffs?
Fu*k me! We're fuk**d

Got a very bad feeling about next season

Because there were pages and pages of rumours about Koumetio and Mesík. There are basically no leaks anymore, we have to entertain ourselves somehow

carly burn said:

5 pages on Dykes ffs?
Fu*k me! We're fuk**d

Got a very bad feeling about next season

Where’s @Talal when you need him;)

Crispywood said:

I’m not sure how’d I feel about going to a 4231. Got no problems with it in the sense of we now have a core group of players to do it and I reckon Jones/Bell/Sichenje/Godden/Carey are the only few who’d probably suit a 352 better but shouldn’t be too impacted. 

I absolutely love Jones but he has built his career on a 352 and a diamond/box 442. Im a little concerned he’s trying to do something he’s not had much experience or success with it could work but could horribly backfire. Trying to sign 3 wingers is also going to be much much more expensive than trying to bring in 3 wingbacks as well. 

I'm not entirely convinced we are changing shape completely to be honest, Jones has his success based on a specific system and I dont see him just binning it off entirely like that.
Now it IS possible that we are going to try and have a different formation as an option for different games or situations, Jones has been criticized (and fairly so I think) for only having one real way to play and we saw some teams figure that out and counter it very effectively. So trying out something we can switch to if needed does make some sense.

fenaddick said:

Sword65pf said:

Chunes said:

Sword65pf said:

fenaddick said:

Sword65pf said:

fenaddick said:

Sword65pf said:

CAFCsayer said:

I still reckon Mbick is going to end up playing a bigger part than we think once fit... I know it was a couple of leagues below, but he was taking liberties from the highlights and is an absolute unit now

Wasn’t overly impressive in league 1 when played him, think people are getting overexcited about him.

Had a good half season of men's football since then though. I'd be surprised if he played regular minutes but he might play a similar amount to Fullah last season

Should go without saying, I hope he does live up to the hype , IMO I didn’t see anything other than him being big to get overexcited about. Sorry if I’m going against the grain but it’s what I think, if I’m wrong great. I would have thought watching a season of championship football would make people realise what it takes to be a good championship player, compared to half a good season in league two, especially when a lot of our fans were calling the top scorer in league 1, whom we signed not good enough.

But it sounds like you're judging him from his sporadic L1 games not his regular L2 ones. Granted, you are right about the step up but he is a better player than the one we saw in a handful of L1 games

Unfortunately I wasn’t a regular at Colchester to have a real look, so of course I’m judging him on what I saw most of, not just some highlights of his good bits on sky sports, I don’t think we know 100% that he is better in all honesty, I think it’s another scenario of one of our own overhype, if that means Brighton over pay for him, that will be great.

Let him start a few games at least before saying that. He only had a few cameos. 

Absolutely I will, and will be very happy to be wrong, however it’s what I think and that’s what we are discussing, I didn’t realise I can only put my thoughts on here if they fell inline with everyone else. For as long as he is Charlton, I will cheer him on.

Come on, people disagreeing doesn't mean you "can only put my thoughts on here if they fell inline with everyone else". It's ok to disagree, if we all had the same opinion this place would be so boring! No one is saying you can't have your opinion, just that they disagree

Unless it's about TC of course?

Sword65pf said:

CAFCsayer said:

I still reckon Mbick is going to end up playing a bigger part than we think once fit... I know it was a couple of leagues below, but he was taking liberties from the highlights and is an absolute unit now

Wasn’t overly impressive in league 1 when we played him, think people are getting overexcited about him.

The 8 people that gave the lol of derision like they know how things will turn out with Mbick, I look forward  to the messages saying I was right, for Charlton’s and Mbicks side I genuinely hope I’m wrong. We will find out.

Based on my subjective observations, some online some live, I have tried to identify players with the close control skill and the ability to diddle and consistently beat an opponent one on one.
I think the only ones I have seen with such ability recently (forgive obvious omissions) are Micah, Miles Leaburn, TC, Fullah and young Richman (who looks very special at the moment). What has made me wonder is that those players are all home grown. I can’t think of signings like them, although I suppose Apter was meant to be somebody who can take a player on and beat them, possibly Dixon.
We need to be able to sometimes unlock doors with skill, not only with pace and power.

Sword65pf said:

Sword65pf said:

CAFCsayer said:

I still reckon Mbick is going to end up playing a bigger part than we think once fit... I know it was a couple of leagues below, but he was taking liberties from the highlights and is an absolute unit now

Wasn’t overly impressive in league 1 when we played him, think people are getting overexcited about him.

The 8 people that gave the lol of derision like they know how things will turn out with Mbick, I look forward  to the messages saying I was right, for Charlton’s and Mbicks side I genuinely hope I’m wrong. We will find out.

I didn’t lol but a young player can’t be fairly judged when he didn’t even play a half a game in his 5 appearances in 24/25, and some of those were only a few minutes.

Anyone can pick out a good young player who stands out, but not every young player will impress in a few cameos. They’re potentially nervous and in a team under pressure -  in 3 of those games there was only a 1 goal margin.

At Colchester it’s not only about the goals, he was bullying centre backs, that’s not normal for a teenage striker even at that level. That led to an England u20 call up and a multi million bid from Brighton.

He’s come along way since those cameos for us. Big strikers usually peak later when they’ve toughened up and become a lot more experienced. That’s why he’s believed to have potential to play Championship or PL football.

Henry Irving said:

Sword65pf said:

Sword65pf said:

CAFCsayer said:

I still reckon Mbick is going to end up playing a bigger part than we think once fit... I know it was a couple of leagues below, but he was taking liberties from the highlights and is an absolute unit now

Wasn’t overly impressive in league 1 when we played him, think people are getting overexcited about him.

The 8 people that gave the lol of derision like they know how things will turn out with Mbick, I look forward  to the messages saying I was right, for Charlton’s and Mbicks side I genuinely hope I’m wrong. We will find out.

Either you look forward to people saying you were right or you genuinely hope you're wrong.

It can't be both.

SOME fans are too quick to heap praise on new signings or academy signing and SOME are too quick to negatively judge the same.

Players progress at different speeds, some have set backs or injuries, others have leaps forwards. Some cut it elsewhere, others thrive here.

All players are human.

I was hoping ours might be less human and more AI going forward, even if it is only so Curb's can earn his wages.

ShootersHillGuru said:

Jones has said recently that some of the youngsters are closer than many of us give them credit for. I’m guessing he means Mbick, Fullah and Mwamba. Difficult balancing act for Jones and perhaps he’s as yet undecided as to whether to keep them close or put them out on loan. All three are still not experienced enough to solve our problems but keeping them in and around the squad might make sense.

Depending on just how ready he thinks they are, the trick will be getting the balance right between being able to use them and bring them through but without having to rely on them if we get some unlucky injuries.
If we can slowly develop them over the season with cameos and eventual roles as time goes on, that's a good thing. But if we end up with a midfield of Fullah and Mwamba because we have no one else, that's not good for them or us.

Valley11 said:

I think Dykes is being underestimated on here. He created as well as scored (WBA) vital goals. I would’ve liked to see us sign him, as well as a younger pacey striker. 

A question...

As Dykes played in the current World Cup, what better striker do you think we could afford?

Mbape? Harland? Kane?

Perhaps some supporters should temper their expectations...

Sword65pf said:

Scoham said:

Sword65pf said:

Sword65pf said:

CAFCsayer said:

I still reckon Mbick is going to end up playing a bigger part than we think once fit... I know it was a couple of leagues below, but he was taking liberties from the highlights and is an absolute unit now

Wasn’t overly impressive in league 1 when we played him, think people are getting overexcited about him.

The 8 people that gave the lol of derision like they know how things will turn out with Mbick, I look forward  to the messages saying I was right, for Charlton’s and Mbicks side I genuinely hope I’m wrong. We will find out.

I didn’t lol but a young player can’t be fairly judged when he didn’t even play a half a game in his 5 appearances in 24/25, and some of those were only a few minutes.

Anyone can pick out a good young player who stands out, but not every young player will impress in a few cameos. They’re potentially nervous and in a team under pressure -  in 3 of those games there was only a 1 goal margin.

At Colchester it’s not only about the goals, he was bullying centre backs, that’s not normal for a teenage striker even at that level. That led to an England u20 call up and a multi million bid from Brighton.

He’s come along way since those cameos for us. Big strikers usually peak later when they’ve toughened up and become a lot more experienced. That’s why he’s believed to have potential to play Championship or PL football.

Time will tell, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I saw all of his Colchester performances for all his minutes, so would be hypocritical for me to have an opinion based on what I haven’t seen, if I were to judge him based on sky tv highlights, then he obviously has potential. But so far IMO it feels like another one of our own being overestimated. Lots of players have looked good at a certain age and not kicked on and vice versa, so wouldn’t pin the outcome of his future based upon an under 20 call up, and giving league 2 defenders a bit of trouble. As I say hopefully he does great for us, I always get behind anyone that plays for us,whether I think they are good or not.

I don't think anyone is calling for him to be thrown straight into our first team, he's one of a group on the fringes all who could potentially break through if they get an opportunity and take it.

He's not another Lookman, Gomez or Shelvey, but that shouldn't be the standard we compare every academy player to. Those players don't hang around long, others can still be good enough for us without being at that level, they just need longer to develop.

How many predicted Pope and Konsa would be capped for England? Many didn't rate them when they were with us.

There's plenty of room for players to make it with us in between Burstow and Lookman. Burstow himself is starting to make progress, he got double figures for a club promoted from L1 aged 22. Mbick at 19 having played 1 season of first team football has time on his side. At the very least I expect he's closed the gap between himself and Leaburn, which probably puts him on the fringes of our first team or available for a good L1 loan.