against us at Wigan a few seasons back, he had a stinker, eventually collapsed in a big heap and was carried off .. he's made a remarkable recovery
remember his spat with di Canio at Swindon ? .. I suspect that Wilder is the kind of manager, like (e.g.) Warnock who can cajole, mould and mend a player into a formidable force after a few years in the wilderness .. Clarke is about 30 now, a mature, tough and not least skilful striker ... how I wish he was playing for us
If you include loan spells while contracted to us, he's scored 65 in 155 appearances since leaving us, according to Wikipedia at least.
Not bad for a player widely derided as a waste of space by Charlton fans. A lot of amateur football scouts on here being shown up yet again by an ex player.
If you look at his career prior to joining us he was a 1/4ish journeyman who'd played for 10 clubs in 9 years. I agree a lot of fans are quick to judgement (myself included sometimes) and sometimes that means writing players off too early. I fear we've done that with 20 year old (turned 20 last week) KAG and I can already start to see it seeping in with 21 year old Fosu. But at the time there wasn't anything to indicate that Clarke was particularly special.
Also worth noting just how lucky with injuries we were that year. Yann and BWP must have played around 40 games each. apart from Dale Stephens, I can't remember anyone having a sustained period on the sideline.
Some people were writing Doodoo off after one sub appearance.
Having said that, it was funny seeing Clarke chugging after a through ball on his debut. Made Mike Small look very sharp......
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remember his spat with di Canio at Swindon ? .. I suspect that Wilder is the kind of manager, like (e.g.) Warnock who can cajole, mould and mend a player into a formidable force after a few years in the wilderness .. Clarke is about 30 now, a mature, tough and not least skilful striker ... how I wish he was playing for us
Powell didn't want him, BUT if Yann had picked up a serious injury that season, would surely have played him regularly
Having said that, it was funny seeing Clarke chugging after a through ball on his debut. Made Mike Small look very sharp......
http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/comment/1156942#Comment_1156942
More like 'never really got a proper chance and when he did have small chances he failed to shine'.
quite disappointed if I'm honest