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Six years ago today i wrote this.....

AFKABartramAFKABartram
in General Charlton
Blimey, this period seems a lifetime ago now !

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Now please do not get me wrong, I have nothing against Les Reed. I was pleased he was brought back into the set up as he is a well-known, respected coach.

I’ll say it again, A COACH.

Stewart Houston was a respected coach, so was Brian Kidd. Both of them proved to be awful managers however.

We are in a terrible position, a position that if it continues could cost the club something like £50m over the next two years. Now is not the time to take ’a punt’ on an individual, no matter how nice a bloke or how good a coach he is. We may still be paying for two ex-managers, but this hints at a cost-saving initiative that you would expect a League 2 club to adopt.

How can you select an individual, in what is currently one of the most pressurised jobs in football, when we have absolutely no idea whether he can handle any pressure at all ? He has no realistic idea of the extent of the media scrutiny and demands, he has no experience of unsupportive fans screaming all names under the sun at him after a defeat. He has no experience of making the vital decisions and defending them if they fail.

What the hell happens in six weeks time if Les cannot handle any of these factors ? What happens if he decides management is not for him ? What happens if come Christmas results have failed to pick up ?

I want Les to succeed more than anything, but we are putting too much reliance on an individual with no knowledge of if he carries the necessary skills to be a number one. If the structure was not right, then the club should of swallowed its pride and scraped the structure. Who really knows what components were working and what wasn’t. How does Andrew Mills fit into all this ? We don’t know, we have not heard one word since his appointment, from him or those around him. How does Harbin survive if he is the fitness coach that is possibly responsible for the extent of the injuries we have suffered ?

The club have either panicked, taken a monumental gamble, or is flat broke. I repeat, no one wants it to succeed more than me, but I can’t help but think that this is a short-term decision that may potentially have huge long-term consequences.

Comments

  • JTJT
    lol
  • johnny73johnny73
    Can you pm me your lottery numbers!
  • AFKABartramAFKABartram
    Don't know what i was worrying about really !
  • cafctomcafctom
    I will never forget his first game in charge away at Reading. We lost 2-0 and was possibly one of the most dire and tedious Charlton performances I have ever seen.

    We couldn't get on the ball and I'm not sure if we even had a single shot.
  • lancashire ladlancashire lad
    where is Les now?
  • adamtheaddickadamtheaddick
    we all knew somthing was wrong just non of us knew how far and how quickly we would fall, man utd, chelsea liverpool to yeovil, dagenham and carlisle, heart breaking but we wernt the first and wont be the last to do so its thr rebuilding that counts and of coUrse in powell we trust... if only we coild feel the same about the owners whoever they may be.
  • PlaaayerPlaaayer
    I knew it was Andrew Mills fault!
  • ISawLeaburnScoreISawLeaburnScore
    lancashire lad said:

    where is Les now?

    Southampton. Done well there, a great coach but never a manager.
  • Friend Or DefoeFriend Or Defoe
    AFKABartram said:

    this hints at a cost-saving initiative that you would expect a League 2 club to adopt.

    And it still does, such a bizarre turn of events.

    I remember losing at White Hart Lane and in the press conference he announced that although we lost we did well in the opta stats. The poisonous atmosphere at the Wycombe game is something I will never forget.
  • Big WilliamBig William
    I remember the open night with Reed and Robson straight after Dowie got the poke. Underwhelming is the polite way of putting it.

    Whatever you think of Dowie, we outed him with no plan in place what to do next.
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  • bloodnutbloodnut
    that was a horrible time, i felt for uncle les then.
  • lolwraylolwray
    good luck to les reed ,a good football man who proved hos worth before this period and has proved himself after

  • carly burncarly burn
    edited November 2012
    Don't panic.Pardew on his way. ;-)

    Forgot about that Andrew Mills character. See.It's not just the new regime that like to keep themselves to themself.
  • cafc999cafc999
    Friend Or Defoe said:

    AFKABartram said:

    this hints at a cost-saving initiative that you would expect a League 2 club to adopt.

    And it still does, such a bizarre turn of events.

    I remember losing at White Hart Lane and in the press conference he announced that although we lost we did well in the opta stats. The poisonous atmosphere at the Wycombe game is something I will never forget.
    Did he also say that it was the goals against us that cost us the match?
    Nice bloke but not a manager I'm afraid
  • The Red RobinThe Red Robin
    Reading that back I think it sums up how we all felt at that time. Very well put. Onward and upwards now though!
  • SheffieldRedSheffieldRed

    WBA currently sit 5th in the EPL with their manager, who was previously a coach.

    (Albeit he had the advantage of being manager from the start of the season and not November).
  • GoonerhaterGoonerhater
    That Wycombe game is right up there as one of the worst games ever. I have seen us loose 7 nil--7.1 but the non display that night was at another level.
    I wanted to truely twat some of those players.

    To see peeps like Uncle Les and Kins walking off to "your not fit to wear the shirt" etc was a sad sad night
  • TheBrand09TheBrand09
    Was unwell so didn't go to that game but my dad still puts it on the same par with the showing at the den last time out so it must of been that bad

    Didn't Murray come out and slate Diawara after that showing ?
  • Oggy RedOggy Red
    "The best centre half that nobody has heard of", or something like that?
  • charltonbobcharltonbob
    Oggy Red said:

    "The best centre half that nobody has heard of", or something like that?

    Who signed the cheque ?

    No matter how much faith you have in your manager you surely do some background.
    In any case he's gone on to play in the Champions league so wasn't that bad was he ?

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