To be fair he got slated by most on here. My mates included. I put this this down to them sitting in the Covered End and me in the East Stand. Different perspective etc.
I put it down to us going every week and watching him play :-)
PS He did improve immensely towards the end of his Charlton career ie the last season of 2.5 seasons and he's continued to improve since he left us.
He was only 21 when he joined us. In 11/12 it was clear he had the potential to make the step up while for some of our CMs it wasn't the case. He had ups and downs and the team was largely struggling for the 2 years he played in the championship. But he improved and clearly had ability.
He wasn't anything special in L1 to be fair. When you look at the star performers in the title winning team, he's well down the list
It was only in his 3rd season with us, our second in the Championship that he started to look the part, so we basically saw 5 months of him at the sort of level he's shown since he went to Brighton.
Poyet took his place after he left, and at the time it seemed liked a straight and fairly comparable swap...
To be fair he got slated by most on here. My mates included. I put this this down to them sitting in the Covered End and me in the East Stand. Different perspective etc.
I put it down to us going every week and watching him play :-)
PS He did improve immensely towards the end of his Charlton career ie the last season of 2.5 seasons and he's continued to improve since he left us.
He was only 21 when he joined us. In 11/12 it was clear he had the potential to make the step up while for some of our CMs it wasn't the case. He had ups and downs and the team was largely struggling for the 2 years he played in the championship. But he improved and clearly had ability.
He wasn't anything special in L1 to be fair. When you look at the star performers in the title winning team, he's well down the list
It was only in his 3rd season with us, our second in the Championship that he started to look the part, so we basically saw 5 months of him at the sort of level he's shown since he went to Brighton.
Poyet took his place after he left, and at the time it seemed liked a straight and fairly comparable swap...
Disagree entirely. I thought he impressed a lot that year despite missing a large chunk of the season through injury. I didn't think his partnership with Hollands was a great one. They were both better players with someone more defensive minded alongside as Danny did with Hughes/ Russell whilst Dale was injured. And we saw the best of Dale when cousins came in to play behind him. As I said he was young and inconsistent but you could see he was decent and getting better.
Also disagree Poyet replaced him. They played completely different roles... Poyet sat and we missed a creator ahead of him. We tried combinations of Jacko/Adjarevic and Cousins. We sorely missed Dale straight away.
Along with Yann he was our best 'footballer' in that period under Powell. When Cousins came into the team Stephens really showed some quality. Could pick a pass and score some decent goals. Seems to have added some steel to his game in the past few years that wasn't always evident in his time with us.
To be fair he got slated by most on here. My mates included. I put this this down to them sitting in the Covered End and me in the East Stand. Different perspective etc.
I put it down to us going every week and watching him play :-)
PS He did improve immensely towards the end of his Charlton career ie the last season of 2.5 seasons and he's continued to improve since he left us.
He was only 21 when he joined us. In 11/12 it was clear he had the potential to make the step up while for some of our CMs it wasn't the case. He had ups and downs and the team was largely struggling for the 2 years he played in the championship. But he improved and clearly had ability.
He wasn't anything special in L1 to be fair. When you look at the star performers in the title winning team, he's well down the list
It was only in his 3rd season with us, our second in the Championship that he started to look the part, so we basically saw 5 months of him at the sort of level he's shown since he went to Brighton.
Poyet took his place after he left, and at the time it seemed liked a straight and fairly comparable swap...
Disagree entirely. I thought he impressed a lot that year despite missing a large chunk of the season through injury. I didn't think his partnership with Hollands was a great one. They were both better players with someone more defensive minded alongside as Danny did with Hughes/ Russell whilst Dale was injured. And we saw the best of Dale when cousins came in to play behind him. As I said he was young and inconsistent but you could see he was decent and getting better.
Also disagree Poyet replaced him. They played completely different roles... Poyet sat and we missed a creator ahead of him. We tried combinations of Jacko/Adjarevic and Cousins. We sorely missed Dale straight away.
Well the team if anything did better in the second half of that season (even allowing for the loss of Yann)...
To be fair he got slated by most on here. My mates included. I put this this down to them sitting in the Covered End and me in the East Stand. Different perspective etc.
I put it down to us going every week and watching him play :-)
PS He did improve immensely towards the end of his Charlton career ie the last season of 2.5 seasons and he's continued to improve since he left us.
He was only 21 when he joined us. In 11/12 it was clear he had the potential to make the step up while for some of our CMs it wasn't the case. He had ups and downs and the team was largely struggling for the 2 years he played in the championship. But he improved and clearly had ability.
He wasn't anything special in L1 to be fair. When you look at the star performers in the title winning team, he's well down the list
It was only in his 3rd season with us, our second in the Championship that he started to look the part, so we basically saw 5 months of him at the sort of level he's shown since he went to Brighton.
Poyet took his place after he left, and at the time it seemed liked a straight and fairly comparable swap...
Disagree entirely. I thought he impressed a lot that year despite missing a large chunk of the season through injury. I didn't think his partnership with Hollands was a great one. They were both better players with someone more defensive minded alongside as Danny did with Hughes/ Russell whilst Dale was injured. And we saw the best of Dale when cousins came in to play behind him. As I said he was young and inconsistent but you could see he was decent and getting better.
Also disagree Poyet replaced him. They played completely different roles... Poyet sat and we missed a creator ahead of him. We tried combinations of Jacko/Adjarevic and Cousins. We sorely missed Dale straight away.
Well the team if anything did better in the second half of that season (even allowing for the loss of Yann)...
True. But there were other mitigating factors going on then. I think we can all agree Stephens improved that side.
Haven't seen him play since he left us, but when he was with us I have to admit I didn't reckon him that much. Showed glimpses of talent with a few nice passes and scored a couple of screamers, but also had a tendency to lose the ball cheaply and slow the play down.
That said, if he's grown his strengths and reduced his weaknesses since leaving us I can see why he has developed into a strong Championship player.
Pleased for him either way, any member of that L! Championship side (Clarke and Alonso possibly excluded) deserves the some love from Charlton fans.
Always thought he looked very cultured but never really had any influence, not the strongest and lacking in assists etc. I assume age has matured him to a far better player than he was with us. Hopefully JFC can do the same as I see him as a similarly cultured yet largely ineffectual player at the moment.
Always thought he wasn't valued enough by our support because his positive (rather than sideways crab safety first) attitude meant he took more risks and inevitably would make more mistakes than the safety first players. He could ping a ball better than most and was brave enough to have a shot from distance , unlike most of the mincers who have been floating around since
A great former addick. I knew from day one that this fella was a good un. Shame roly or katrien couldn't. Deserves a good contract and will be a good player for the seagulls. Well done. Forget the north south debate. The club wanted the dough. He could have gone to the villa and it didn't happen. Quality player
Have the exact same opinion as @cantersaddick, I thought that Stephens was very good for us and got better as time went on.
He was still very young when he joined from Oldham, it was a big move for him at the time. He scored some absolute belters and some crucial, crucial goals too.
Wish him all the luck in the Premier League where he has the technical ability and footballing brain to really shine. Just wish it was different and it was with us instead.
Brilliant player, massively under appreciated when with us, and has got better and better at Brighton, looking forward to seeing him in the Premier League, reckon he'll be a star.
Be interesting to see what happens next in his career.
i.e. Will he do well enough in the Premier League to earn a move to a bigger club or will Southgate potentially look past the fact that he only plays for Brighton and so calls him up for one of the insignificant games like Malta.
There is no doubt that he had talent but I thought we always looked like a better team when he wasn't playing. This was never more obvious than when he left and Poyet came into the side.
Clearly Brighton's style of play is much better suited to him that ours was. Having said that, Brighton's style of play is much better than ours, never mind the quality of their players.
Did we feck? Remember who negotiated to sell our only creative CM who was young and had plenty of potential. What did we get? 400k it was reported at the time...
Did we feck? Remember who negotiated to sell our only creative CM who was young and had plenty of potential. What did we get? 400k it was reported at the time...
6 months left on his contract, and he didn't want to sign another. We weren't exactly in a position to haggle...
Did we feck? Remember who negotiated to sell our only creative CM who was young and had plenty of potential. What did we get? 400k it was reported at the time...
6 months left on his contract, and he didn't want to sign another. We weren't exactly in a position to haggle...
Well we could have kept him (and Yann) and ran the risk of losing hem from free at the end of the season. But if we'd shown a little ambition on the playing front and offered him a pay rise I'm sure he would have stayed.
The rumours he wanted to leave were all based on the oop north idea which turned out to be rubbish. If we'd have offered him a decent contract and showed some ambition we could have got him to stay.
There's no chance he'd have stayed under this regime, and unlikely he'd have signed with ys unless we were transformed in January. He made the right choice. He always needed others to provide structure for him so his undoubted talent on the ball could be effective.
Hughton's excellently drilled sides suited him. Though I don't remember him doing much previously under Hyppia: A Brighton season ticket holder was impressed by him at that time. I'd be inclined to drop him for an industrious midfielder as there's no comparison between him and Knockaert. Don't see him in the prem, though he has somehow put some combativeness in his game. Great to watch when it's going well.
His partnership with cousins was flourishing. He'd just been made the main man of our midfield. He was playing the best football he'd ever played in a poor side. If they'd have shown ambition both on the pitch in trying to build and offering him a pay rise we could have kept him.
In this case, it's probably not so much the regime's fault, but rather the financial meltdown caused when Cash withdrew the cash leading to the contracts running down and the quagmire of a pitch (which hardly suited Dale's style).
The previous summer is when contracts should have been sorted
In this case, it's probably not so much the regime's fault, but rather the financial meltdown caused when Cash withdrew the cash leading to the contracts running down and the quagmire of a pitch (which hardly suited Dale's style).
The previous summer is when contracts should have been sorted
I agree. That isn't to say it was too late when they arrived. They had a chance and they didn't take it.
Initially we didn't miss Stephens that much though because Buyens was a decent replacement. The problems really started when Buyens didn't stay beyond one season and we did nothing to replace him.
His partnership with cousins was flourishing. He'd just been made the main man of our midfield. He was playing the best football he'd ever played in a poor side. If they'd have shown ambition both on the pitch in trying to build and offering him a pay rise we could have kept him.
Why would you stay? Brighton offer a long term contract. One of the best run clubs in the champ, who'd made the play offs twice on the trot. Pay bigger wages than most of their rivals. Employ respected football people. Show a stability barely ever seen in the modern day champ.
Against a club that didn't let you go to a life changing move at the Villa, didn't bother to re-negotiate a new contract, had run down the club, staff and messed around your fellow pros. There's only one reason you'd stay and that's serious money and premiership investment. Personally, apart from ridiculous money, even as a Charlton supporter I'd choose Brighton. Who's to say it's not QPR, Portsmouth or worse Leyton Orient? And who's to say the fools don't pull a Morrison for Tal Ben Haim and Bikey?
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It was only in his 3rd season with us, our second in the Championship that he started to look the part, so we basically saw 5 months of him at the sort of level he's shown since he went to Brighton.
Poyet took his place after he left, and at the time it seemed liked a straight and fairly comparable swap...
Also disagree Poyet replaced him. They played completely different roles... Poyet sat and we missed a creator ahead of him. We tried combinations of Jacko/Adjarevic and Cousins. We sorely missed Dale straight away.
Hope he does well next season.
That said, if he's grown his strengths and reduced his weaknesses since leaving us I can see why he has developed into a strong Championship player.
Pleased for him either way, any member of that L! Championship side (Clarke and Alonso possibly excluded) deserves the some love from Charlton fans.
He could ping a ball better than most and was brave enough to have a shot from distance , unlike most of the mincers who have been floating around since
He was still very young when he joined from Oldham, it was a big move for him at the time. He scored some absolute belters and some crucial, crucial goals too.
Wish him all the luck in the Premier League where he has the technical ability and footballing brain to really shine. Just wish it was different and it was with us instead.
i.e. Will he do well enough in the Premier League to earn a move to a bigger club or will Southgate potentially look past the fact that he only plays for Brighton and so calls him up for one of the insignificant games like Malta.
Clearly Brighton's style of play is much better suited to him that ours was. Having said that, Brighton's style of play is much better than ours, never mind the quality of their players.
The rumours he wanted to leave were all based on the oop north idea which turned out to be rubbish. If we'd have offered him a decent contract and showed some ambition we could have got him to stay.
Hughton's excellently drilled sides suited him. Though I don't remember him doing much previously under Hyppia: A Brighton season ticket holder was impressed by him at that time. I'd be inclined to drop him for an industrious midfielder as there's no comparison between him and Knockaert. Don't see him in the prem, though he has somehow put some combativeness in his game. Great to watch when it's going well.
The previous summer is when contracts should have been sorted
Against a club that didn't let you go to a life changing move at the Villa, didn't bother to re-negotiate a new contract, had run down the club, staff and messed around your fellow pros. There's only one reason you'd stay and that's serious money and premiership investment. Personally, apart from ridiculous money, even as a Charlton supporter I'd choose Brighton. Who's to say it's not QPR, Portsmouth or worse Leyton Orient? And who's to say the fools don't pull a Morrison for Tal Ben Haim and Bikey?
Burnley midfielder Dale Stephens has been fined more than £3,000 and banned from driving for 12 months after breaching drink driving limits.
Stephens pleaded guilty to the charge of driving a vehicle with alcohol above the legal limit, at Stockport Magistrates' Court on Monday (4 April).
The 32-year-old has made only three Clarets appearances this season.
Burnley said they would treat the issue with "utmost seriousness" and Stephens will face internal disciplinary action.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61000969
He's been a major disappointment at Burnley anyway, when compared to how he played at Brighton