Golfie has it almost right, but Cole for Gray. Mcleod, Dickson Sodje Kandol & Mooney played for poor sides but all gave defenders problems so can't agree they were poor. Nouble not with us for long enough so sub him for Endean who was dogdoo.
A selection of 5 in chronological order from close on 50 years of following Charlton:
Gordon Riddick
Barry Endean
Richard Wilson
Andy Gray
Chris Dickson
I should emphasise that these players have been selected on the basis of their performances for Charlton. Riddick, Endean and Gray performed tolerably well elsewhere.
Ah yes, how could I have forgotten Gordon Riddick. Did well switched to centre half for a while though.
I loved matt svensson, but didn't think he was all that good. Mind you, that was in the prem so I guess that rules him out. Mooney deserves a shout for sure, though I thought he tried hard
Saw Svensson got Norwich's 'best foreign player' in FourFourTwo not long ago.
As for Svensson, far from technically gifted but always worked hard and gave a fair few defenders a battering. Had a good spell for us in the Premiership towards the ends of 2000/2001. Scored a couple including a good goal against Newcastle.
I've had a go at comparing all of the suggestions in the table below.
Seven of the players mentioned so far (Ralph Milne, Dennis Bailey, John Arnold, John Barnes, Leon Clarke, Mark McCammon, Mike Small) should be in with a shout because they scored precisely zero goals for the club. However, this is a little unfair on most of them who only played a handful of games and so could reasonably argue that they didn't have much of a chance. John Barnes may feel it's tough on him as well because ten of his twelve appearances were as a substitute. Ralph Milne can have no such excuses though, his nil-return came courtesy of 23 starts and 5 substitute appearances.
Of those that did manage to hit the net, five have a ratio that is worse than one goal every ten games. These were Marcus Bent, Leon McKenzie, Barry Endean and Chris Dickson & Richard Wilson who share the honour of needing an average 17 matches for each goal scored. To be fair to Dickson 27 of his 34 appearances were as a sub. Wilson can have no such excuses though, having started 16 of his 17 games.
Then there's the question of how much money each goal cost. I have not been able to calculate this on wages, but have got figures based on transfer fees for many of the players. These have been weighted using RPI as a measure to work out costs per goal in today's terms. Using this methodology five players have cost more than £100k per goal (in transfer fees alone), these are: Luke Varney, £108k; Martin Pringle, £137k; Marcus Bent £302k; Izale McLeod, £420k and Francis Jeffers who cost us a staggering £606,000 in today's money for every goal he scored.
Of course there's loads of problems with the methodology here. Footballing wise it takes no account of what else these players brought to the team/club. There's no record of assists, holding the ball up, tracking back and winning the ball, or of boosting team morale. There's no measure for how much they tried or how entertaining they were. It takes no account of what level they were playing at or what support they received from the players around them. The table takes no account of substitute appearances. On the money front, it doesn't account for wages or development costs. It's also not possible to get accurate figures for every player. The cost per goal ratio just doesn't work when we've sold a player at a profit. Also, as is always the problem with discussions like this, it takes no account of older players who have been forgotten.
Despite all the problems, I think it gives us a good idea of who might be in the worst. There's still no objective measure but on the basis of this work, I'd say that Ralph Milne, Chris Dickson, Richard Wilson, Izale McLeod and Francis Jeffers will take some beating.
I've had a go at comparing all of the suggestions in the table below.
Seven of the players mentioned so far (Ralph Milne, Dennis Bailey, John Arnold, John Barnes, Leon Clarke, Mark McCammon, Mike Small) should be in with a shout because they scored precisely zero goals for the club. However, this is a little unfair on most of them who only played a handful of games and so could reasonably argue that they didn't have much of a chance. John Barnes may feel it's tough on him as well because ten of his twelve appearances were as a substitute. Ralph Milne can have no such excuses though, his nil-return came courtesy of 23 starts and 5 substitute appearances.
Of those that did manage to hit the net, five have a ratio that is worse than one goal every ten games. These were Marcus Bent, Leon McKenzie, Barry Endean and Chris Dickson & Richard Wilson who share the honour of needing an average 17 matches for each goal scored. To be fair to Dickson 27 of his 34 appearances were as a sub. Wilson can have no such excuses though, having started 16 of his 17 games.
Then there's the question of how much money each goal cost. I have not been able to calculate this on wages, but have got figures based on transfer fees for many of the players. These have been weighted using RPI as a measure to work out costs per goal in today's terms. Using this methodology five players have cost more than £100k per goal (in transfer fees alone), these are: Luke Varney, £108k; Martin Pringle, £137k; Marcus Bent £302k; Izale McLeod, £420k and Francis Jeffers who cost us a staggering £606,000 in today's money for every goal he scored.
Of course there's loads of problems with the methodology here. Footballing wise it takes no account of what else these players brought to the team/club. There's no record of assists, holding the ball up, tracking back and winning the ball, or of boosting team morale. There's no measure for how much they tried or how entertaining they were. It takes no account of what level they were playing at or what support they received from the players around them. The table takes no account of substitute appearances. On the money front, it doesn't account for wages or development costs. It's also not possible to get accurate figures for every player. The cost per goal ratio just doesn't work when we've sold a player at a profit. Also, as is always the problem with discussions like this, it takes no account of older players who have been forgotten.
Despite all the problems, I think it gives us a good idea of who might be in the worst. There's still no objective measure but on the basis of this work, I'd say that Ralph Milne, Chris Dickson, Richard Wilson, Izale McLeod and Francis Jeffers will take some beating.
Nor does it include assists, which Leaburn surely had a lot of. Good work though.
The likes of Barry Endean, Gordon Riddick and Johnny Ostergaard were the pits but I don't think you can sink much lower than Izale McLeod and Chris Dickson
Bit harsh to include Ralph Milne - more of a right-winger than a striker. Though on his debut, biggest round of applause he got was for a back-pass and that was arguably the high point of his CAFC career. As for dodgy strikers, Kenny Achampong anyone?
Bit harsh to include Ralph Milne - more of a right-winger than a striker. Though on his debut, biggest round of applause he got was for a back-pass and that was arguably the high point of his CAFC career. As for dodgy strikers, Kenny Achampong anyone?</blockquote
winger or striker Ralph MIlne Is the biggest joke to put on a Charlton shirt remember when he rounded the keeper at Hillsborough and missed an open goal from 8 yards. How he ended up at Old Trafford I'll never know and to make matters worse had the cheek to score against us.
Abbott and McLeod spring to mind but we had some fairly inept strikers alongside Ray Treacy (my boyhood hero!) after the great Matt Tees departed eg Riddick, Plumb, Hunt and Endean.
Comments
As for Svensson, far from technically gifted but always worked hard and gave a fair few defenders a battering. Had a good spell for us in the Premiership towards the ends of 2000/2001. Scored a couple including a good goal against Newcastle.
Seven of the players mentioned so far (Ralph Milne, Dennis Bailey, John Arnold, John Barnes, Leon Clarke, Mark McCammon, Mike Small) should be in with a shout because they scored precisely zero goals for the club. However, this is a little unfair on most of them who only played a handful of games and so could reasonably argue that they didn't have much of a chance. John Barnes may feel it's tough on him as well because ten of his twelve appearances were as a substitute. Ralph Milne can have no such excuses though, his nil-return came courtesy of 23 starts and 5 substitute appearances.
Of those that did manage to hit the net, five have a ratio that is worse than one goal every ten games. These were Marcus Bent, Leon McKenzie, Barry Endean and Chris Dickson & Richard Wilson who share the honour of needing an average 17 matches for each goal scored. To be fair to Dickson 27 of his 34 appearances were as a sub. Wilson can have no such excuses though, having started 16 of his 17 games.
Then there's the question of how much money each goal cost. I have not been able to calculate this on wages, but have got figures based on transfer fees for many of the players. These have been weighted using RPI as a measure to work out costs per goal in today's terms. Using this methodology five players have cost more than £100k per goal (in transfer fees alone), these are: Luke Varney, £108k; Martin Pringle, £137k; Marcus Bent £302k; Izale McLeod, £420k and Francis Jeffers who cost us a staggering £606,000 in today's money for every goal he scored.
Of course there's loads of problems with the methodology here. Footballing wise it takes no account of what else these players brought to the team/club. There's no record of assists, holding the ball up, tracking back and winning the ball, or of boosting team morale. There's no measure for how much they tried or how entertaining they were. It takes no account of what level they were playing at or what support they received from the players around them. The table takes no account of substitute appearances. On the money front, it doesn't account for wages or development costs. It's also not possible to get accurate figures for every player. The cost per goal ratio just doesn't work when we've sold a player at a profit. Also, as is always the problem with discussions like this, it takes no account of older players who have been forgotten.
Despite all the problems, I think it gives us a good idea of who might be in the worst. There's still no objective measure but on the basis of this work, I'd say that Ralph Milne, Chris Dickson, Richard Wilson, Izale McLeod and Francis Jeffers will take some beating.
He came on as sub against Hereford in the Cup
Frank Nouble
Kenny Achampong
Dennis Bailey
Izle Mcleod