If Haynes hadn't been so injury prone he was ideal for us. He could interact with both Fuller & Kermo, he could shoot and head. His pace was such that his presence would force defences to sit deeper to avoid the ball over the top or a defence splitting ground pass from midfield behind the defence for him to run on to or pick up. Forcing defences deeper & sitting on the last man's shoulder creates space & makes offside more difficult for the opposition. I watched Danny coming through the ranks at Ipswich - so fast. He is also unpredictable - can play wide or in the centre and defenders don't know how to cope with him when he's in the mood. If he could sort his hamstrings out & his head, he really could do some damage. I was really disappointed when he left for the reasons set out above.
same points per game for whole season[as got by riga] we would have been on brink of play offs.
Statistically that may be so but you have to be realistic in that the squad was good enough to win games against and up to a certain standard. All credit to Riga and the players for that improvement. Watford, for example, were technically better than us but we had more to play for and they were a weakened side. As I see it, we must strengthen in certain areas, improve the movement and creativity and then we can be a force. As soon as we reach the level of being comfortable with playing a move & support, quicker passing game, moving the ball quicker and with pace on each flank as well as up the middle, we can be a threat to anyone. Defensively, we need to deal with set pieces better and, maybe quick counter attacks - we all too often look vulnerable at the back and showing that weakness only encourages the opposition. If we want to be better than a mid table side we need to buy.
You also have the game schedule to take into account and the fact that we were missing arguably, two of our best players in Stephens and Kermorgant. In my opinion there was so little time to train and coach our squad that it fogs the likely outcome of a full season with Riga at the helm anyway.
The first and foremost priority though is to balance this squad and that takes money, something we are told we will not get because we need to balance the books. There will be a huge amount of players out of contract this summer because of FFP, ironically this coming season seems to be the one where the advantage will go to English managers who are aware of what those players are capable of and can gain their trust and co-operation.
If Haynes hadn't been so injury prone he was ideal for us. He could interact with both Fuller & Kermo, he could shoot and head. His pace was such that his presence would force defences to sit deeper to avoid the ball over the top or a defence splitting ground pass from midfield behind the defence for him to run on to or pick up. Forcing defences deeper & sitting on the last man's shoulder creates space & makes offside more difficult for the opposition. I watched Danny coming through the ranks at Ipswich - so fast. He is also unpredictable - can play wide or in the centre and defenders don't know how to cope with him when he's in the mood. If he could sort his hamstrings out & his head, he really could do some damage. I was really disappointed when he left for the reasons set out above.
Great post about Haynes, he could really turn it on when he was fit and in the mood. Sadly his body is just too fragile.
There's nothing like a bit of real electric pace up front to scare defenders and push them back, something we have not had this season at all.
The root of this past season's problems is without question the protracted change of ownership. You either move forward or immediately you start sliding back, and the recruitment and contract issues, compounded by a pitch that goats wouldn't graze, were never going to be solved or even addressed while those two doughnuts were in charge, or indeed "in charge". The best that can be said is that they used their shrinking resources to keep us hanging on until a grown-up arrived to take over. But grievous damage had already been done.
RD wasn't about to compete for YK's signature with spendthrift Bournemouth and their extravagant terms, Smiffy went because no-one had ever got to know him, and DS went because we could salvage a fee and also because he wanted to. Replacements and new recruits RD could only drum up from his own catalogue. Time, money and the weather were all conspiring against him and that's a mean set of enemies at the best of times, which these certainly weren't. Barnsley (h) - Jan 11: morale in little bits.
The effect on the personnel was understandably devastating. Playing for the shirt, playing for a new contract, playing for pride, playing for the boss - it was never quite enough, and even from early in the season the matches and the months went by without the slightest sign of good fortune. The one who felt the greatest weight of all this was of course SCP - after all that he has gone through perhaps he should now be known as St Christopher.
The team, this crew of strangers that had revitalised our drifting club, it was his creation, the product of his extensive contacts and respect throughout the game, his judgment, his man-management and all his many fine qualities, and he was having to watch it suffer. However, it's easy to forget that in managerial terms he was still pretty much a new boy with plenty of harsh lessons yet to come, and although he was flanked and supported by a capable and dedicated staff, inevitably the pressure began to tell. I have seldom felt so down after a match as I did that bright and sunny Sunday in Sheffield. The day itself, the great occasion which lay there before us, the special prize surely within our grasp, effortlessly the club drawing 5000 to pitch up painfully early, well, all too soon our high hopes lay trampled and lifeless at our feet. Maybe all it could have taken was that this past week's merciless marksman might have found a steadier aim when facing a gaping, empty goal but alas, such is this cruel game and so slender the margins of success and failure.
Saddest of all was to see SCP on the pitch at the end looking utterly lost, bereft, his habitual jauntiness and confidence now but a butterfly in diver's boots. We'd lost the chance of a magic day out up the other end of the Jubilee Line, but he had lost infinitely more. And that was our season, in shreds. A couple of days later JR appeared complete with Red Beret, and we went from a wonderful, familiar figure who we had watched lose everything, to a pleasant-seeming guy with actually nothing whatsoever to lose. He had only someone else's deck to shuffle, but as it happens he's turned out to be quite a poker player. Well, Patience is not the game for football moguls and it remains to be seen what other aces, if any, RD has got tucked up his sleeve, no doubt as well as the odd Joker or two. Nonetheless, JR must surely be holding a pretty fair hand right now - let's hope he comes up trumps.
I think you'll find that following the signings of Church and Sordell, Powell stated that he was happy with the strength of his squad. Then after about ten games or so, he stated that we should be doing much better and should not be near the bottom. That was with Yann and Stephens still in the squad. At that stage I agreed with him, I though we had a squad easily good enough to finish mid table. The fact that Riga managed to get us performing like a top half of the table team without Yann and Stephens proves that we should never have been flirting with relegation.
What else could SCP say at the start of the season? "I'm not happy with the squad" would not exactly fill the players with inspiration.
If we agree we should have been higher up the table under SCP, who's fault was it, the players, the manager, or both?
Well he could have said something like Riga has recently said "we need to strengthen in certain areas" or "we may not have the best players, but we have the best squad" or "I still feel that we need to strengthen". We can argue until the cows come home, but the indisputable fact is that Powell's squad was good enough to stay up, because that's exactly what it did, stay up, with seven points to spare and a superior goal difference. Riga inherited Powell's squad minus two of the best players Kermo and Stephens, and yet still produced top half form. I will concede that Powell's squad was deficient in some area's and were unlikely to do as well as last season, but IMO we were not bad enough to be relegation candidates, we even beat Leicester before the rot set in. Powells biggest error was not getting a loan right back in when Solly got injured. We missed Wilson badly in right midfield. The goals stopped because there was no pace in the forward line. It's no coincidence that they have started to flow again following the reintroduction of Harriot and Sordell and a more positive approach to how we play.
If Haynes hadn't been so injury prone he was ideal for us. He could interact with both Fuller & Kermo, he could shoot and head. His pace was such that his presence would force defences to sit deeper to avoid the ball over the top or a defence splitting ground pass from midfield behind the defence for him to run on to or pick up. Forcing defences deeper & sitting on the last man's shoulder creates space & makes offside more difficult for the opposition. I watched Danny coming through the ranks at Ipswich - so fast. He is also unpredictable - can play wide or in the centre and defenders don't know how to cope with him when he's in the mood. If he could sort his hamstrings out & his head, he really could do some damage. I was really disappointed when he left for the reasons set out above.
Ok, he had a few decent moments for us, but I think you forgot to mention the complete bottle job he was when he came up against Danny Shittu when we played Millwall, embarassing!
The root of this past season's problems is without question the protracted change of ownership. You either move forward or immediately you start sliding back, and the recruitment and contract issues, compounded by a pitch that goats wouldn't graze, were never going to be solved or even addressed while those two doughnuts were in charge, or indeed "in charge". The best that can be said is that they used their shrinking resources to keep us hanging on until a grown-up arrived to take over. But grievous damage had already been done.
RD wasn't about to compete for YK's signature with spendthrift Bournemouth and their extravagant terms, Smiffy went because no-one had ever got to know him, and DS went because we could salvage a fee and also because he wanted to. Replacements and new recruits RD could only drum up from his own catalogue. Time, money and the weather were all conspiring against him and that's a mean set of enemies at the best of times, which these certainly weren't. Barnsley (h) - Jan 11: morale in little bits.
The effect on the personnel was understandably devastating. Playing for the shirt, playing for a new contract, playing for pride, playing for the boss - it was never quite enough, and even from early in the season the matches and the months went by without the slightest sign of good fortune. The one who felt the greatest weight of all this was of course SCP - after all that he has gone through perhaps he should now be known as St Christopher.
The team, this crew of strangers that had revitalised our drifting club, it was his creation, the product of his extensive contacts and respect throughout the game, his judgment, his man-management and all his many fine qualities, and he was having to watch it suffer. However, it's easy to forget that in managerial terms he was still pretty much a new boy with plenty of harsh lessons yet to come, and although he was flanked and supported by a capable and dedicated staff, inevitably the pressure began to tell. I have seldom felt so down after a match as I did that bright and sunny Sunday in Sheffield. The day itself, the great occasion which lay there before us, the special prize surely within our grasp, effortlessly the club drawing 5000 to pitch up painfully early, well, all too soon our high hopes lay trampled and lifeless at our feet. Maybe all it could have taken was that this past week's merciless marksman might have found a steadier aim when facing a gaping, empty goal but alas, such is this cruel game and so slender the margins of success and failure.
Saddest of all was to see SCP on the pitch at the end looking utterly lost, bereft, his habitual jauntiness and confidence now but a butterfly in diver's boots. We'd lost the chance of a magic day out up the other end of the Jubilee Line, but he had lost infinitely more. And that was our season, in shreds. A couple of days later JR appeared complete with Red Beret, and we went from a wonderful, familiar figure who we had watched lose everything, to a pleasant-seeming guy with actually nothing whatsoever to lose. He had only someone else's deck to shuffle, but as it happens he's turned out to be quite a poker player. Well, Patience is not the game for football moguls and it remains to be seen what other aces, if any, RD has got tucked up his sleeve, no doubt as well as the odd Joker or two. Nonetheless, JR must surely be holding a pretty fair hand right now - let's hope he comes up trumps.
What a fantastic post, GHF !!!
Just about everything I've felt about the last 12 months has been encapsulated into that piece.
Fingers- well, EVERYTHING - crossed that Team Belgium in the guise of RD/KM/JR continue to supply you with an ongoing positive scenario for your next report.
A VERY encouraging start to the next episode in the drama that is Charlton Athletic FC.....one, which I have a feeling may well sow the seeds of a successful, albeit gradual climb onwards & upwards.
I think people view these things a little too simplistically. For instance - the manager for the final quarter of the season before last was better for us than the manager for the first three quarters....wait a minute...it was the same bloke! Let's instead remove Powell from the equation - if people want to praise Riga by knocking Powell, they can get stuffed as far as I am concerned.
Now, let's praise Riga for coming in at a difficult time and doing a great job. maybe that job was a bit easier given that he wasn't fighting the owner, but it was a massive challenge all the same and he came through. Most of us want him to continue as manager because he did such a good job. Let's hope he signs and soon as I think it is better to be hearing some positives sooner rather than later. See easy enough to praise the bloke without having to be nasty or disrespectful to a legend!
I think people view these things a little too simplistically. For instance - the manager for the final quarter of the season before last was better for us than the manager for the first three quarters....wait a minute...it was the same bloke! Let's instead remove Powell from the equation - if people want to praise Riga by knocking Powell, they can get stuffed as far as I am concerned.
Now, let's praise Riga for coming in at a difficult time and doing a great job. maybe that job was a bit easier given that he wasn't fighting the owner, but it was a massive challenge all the same and he came through. Most of us want him to continue as manager because he did such a good job. Let's hope he signs and soon as I think it is better to be hearing some positives sooner rather than later. See easy enough to praise the bloke without having to be nasty or disrespectful to a legend!
I think people view these things a little too simplistically. For instance - the manager for the final quarter of the season before last was better for us than the manager for the first three quarters....wait a minute...it was the same bloke! Let's instead remove Powell from the equation - if people want to praise Riga by knocking Powell, they can get stuffed as far as I am concerned.
Now, let's praise Riga for coming in at a difficult time and doing a great job. maybe that job was a bit easier given that he wasn't fighting the owner, but it was a massive challenge all the same and he came through. Most of us want him to continue as manager because he did such a good job. Let's hope he signs and soon as I think it is better to be hearing some positives sooner rather than later. See easy enough to praise the bloke without having to be nasty or disrespectful to a legend!
I hope it is Riga for next season because he has shown what he can do and is known to the players (who remain) and the fans. He is also well placed to specify what is needed to build up the squad to push us into the top half. If it is not Riga then so be it. I have every confidence in Duchatelet to appoint a head coach who is fit for the journey ahead.
I think people view these things a little too simplistically. For instance - the manager for the final quarter of the season before last was better for us than the manager for the first three quarters....wait a minute...it was the same bloke! Let's instead remove Powell from the equation - if people want to praise Riga by knocking Powell, they can get stuffed as far as I am concerned.
Now, let's praise Riga for coming in at a difficult time and doing a great job. maybe that job was a bit easier given that he wasn't fighting the owner, but it was a massive challenge all the same and he came through. Most of us want him to continue as manager because he did such a good job. Let's hope he signs and soon as I think it is better to be hearing some positives sooner rather than later. See easy enough to praise the bloke without having to be nasty or disrespectful to a legend!
Out of all people , you seem to watch the game and read the game well from what Iv read so I'm Surprised that you rate Powell so highly , surly you didn't like he's football ?
I think people view these things a little too simplistically. For instance - the manager for the final quarter of the season before last was better for us than the manager for the first three quarters....wait a minute...it was the same bloke! Let's instead remove Powell from the equation - if people want to praise Riga by knocking Powell, they can get stuffed as far as I am concerned.
Now, let's praise Riga for coming in at a difficult time and doing a great job. maybe that job was a bit easier given that he wasn't fighting the owner, but it was a massive challenge all the same and he came through. Most of us want him to continue as manager because he did such a good job. Let's hope he signs and soon as I think it is better to be hearing some positives sooner rather than later. See easy enough to praise the bloke without having to be nasty or disrespectful to a legend!
I hear what you're saying Muttley, but it's actually quite difficult praising what Riga did well without it automatically reflecting back on Powell, eg Riga's football was more positive = Powell played too negatively, or Riga got the best out of Sordell & Harriot = Powell didn't, or Riga used his subs effectively= Powell was often too slow to use subs. Even if one is not intending to criticise CP, in can be easily be construed as such. It is likewise difficult to discuss the strength of the squad without it reflecting back on the managers and what they each managed to get out of the same players. So long as these things are discussed sensibly (and I don't see any nastiness or disrespect towards CP in this thread) then I don't see a problem. CP is a very honest bloke and I would suspect that he is already reflecting back on what he would have done differently. As GlassHalfFull said so excellently in his post above, there were certainly a multitude of problems that CP had to deal with which may well have had a big effect on his mindset and his performance.
I hope Riga stays, but either way we need a decision quickly. The right manager may persuade Diego to sign a contract here, if left in limbo, we stand no chance of him staying. Apart from wanting to see him in a Charlton shirt next season, several million quid of transfer fee could be at stake...
Its easy to say that JR did a good job because, after the Sheff U match most supporters would have said we would get relegated. BUT if you had been able to ask them "can we get to 44 points with a better than -31 goal difference" you may have got a far different response.
I think the Charlton board had better hurry up and appoint a manager whoever it is, there's a lot of closed season work to done here and the sooner we get started the better and maybe even cost effective next season will be.
If Haynes hadn't been so injury prone he was ideal for us. He could interact with both Fuller & Kermo, he could shoot and head. His pace was such that his presence would force defences to sit deeper to avoid the ball over the top or a defence splitting ground pass from midfield behind the defence for him to run on to or pick up. Forcing defences deeper & sitting on the last man's shoulder creates space & makes offside more difficult for the opposition. I watched Danny coming through the ranks at Ipswich - so fast. He is also unpredictable - can play wide or in the centre and defenders don't know how to cope with him when he's in the mood. If he could sort his hamstrings out & his head, he really could do some damage. I was really disappointed when he left for the reasons set out above.
Ok, he had a few decent moments for us, but I think you forgot to mention the complete bottle job he was when he came up against Danny Shittu when we played Millwall, embarassing!
Don't hang the bloke for one misdemeanour! I can assure you that there are many, many strikers who have bottled it against Shittu. Point taken, though I was focusing more on his positive points but you are right, of course, he also has faults aplenty. Would still like to have him at the club, though, absolutely no doubt
I hope Riga stays, but either way we need a decision quickly. The right manager may persuade Diego to sign a contract here, if left in limbo, we stand no chance of him staying. Apart from wanting to see him in a Charlton shirt next season, several million quid of transfer fee could be at stake...
I have little doubt that wheels are well in motion in all areas
Comments
He could interact with both Fuller & Kermo, he could shoot and head.
His pace was such that his presence would force defences to sit deeper to avoid the ball over the top or a defence splitting ground pass from midfield behind the defence for him to run on to or pick up.
Forcing defences deeper & sitting on the last man's shoulder creates space & makes offside more difficult for the opposition.
I watched Danny coming through the ranks at Ipswich - so fast.
He is also unpredictable - can play wide or in the centre and defenders don't know how to cope with him when he's in the mood.
If he could sort his hamstrings out & his head, he really could do some damage.
I was really disappointed when he left for the reasons set out above.
The first and foremost priority though is to balance this squad and that takes money, something we are told we will not get because we need to balance the books. There will be a huge amount of players out of contract this summer because of FFP, ironically this coming season seems to be the one where the advantage will go to English managers who are aware of what those players are capable of and can gain their trust and co-operation.
There's nothing like a bit of real electric pace up front to scare defenders and push them back, something we have not had this season at all.
RD wasn't about to compete for YK's signature with spendthrift Bournemouth and their extravagant terms, Smiffy went because no-one had ever got to know him, and DS went because we could salvage a fee and also because he wanted to. Replacements and new recruits RD could only drum up from his own catalogue. Time, money and the weather were all conspiring against him and that's a mean set of enemies at the best of times, which these certainly weren't. Barnsley (h) - Jan 11: morale in little bits.
The effect on the personnel was understandably devastating. Playing for the shirt, playing for a new contract, playing for pride, playing for the boss - it was never quite enough, and even from early in the season the matches and the months went by without the slightest sign of good fortune. The one who felt the greatest weight of all this was of course SCP - after all that he has gone through perhaps he should now be known as St Christopher.
The team, this crew of strangers that had revitalised our drifting club, it was his creation, the product of his extensive contacts and respect throughout the game, his judgment, his man-management and all his many fine qualities, and he was having to watch it suffer. However, it's easy to forget that in managerial terms he was still pretty much a new boy with plenty of harsh lessons yet to come, and although he was flanked and supported by a capable and dedicated staff, inevitably the pressure began to tell. I have seldom felt so down after a match as I did that bright and sunny Sunday in Sheffield. The day itself, the great occasion which lay there before us, the special prize surely within our grasp, effortlessly the club drawing 5000 to pitch up painfully early, well, all too soon our high hopes lay trampled and lifeless at our feet. Maybe all it could have taken was that this past week's merciless marksman might have found a steadier aim when facing a gaping, empty goal but alas, such is this cruel game and so slender the margins of success and failure.
Saddest of all was to see SCP on the pitch at the end looking utterly lost, bereft, his habitual jauntiness and confidence now but a butterfly in diver's boots. We'd lost the chance of a magic day out up the other end of the Jubilee Line, but he had lost infinitely more. And that was our season, in shreds. A couple of days later JR appeared complete with Red Beret, and we went from a wonderful, familiar figure who we had watched lose everything, to a pleasant-seeming guy with actually nothing whatsoever to lose. He had only someone else's deck to shuffle, but as it happens he's turned out to be quite a poker player. Well, Patience is not the game for football moguls and it remains to be seen what other aces, if any, RD has got tucked up his sleeve, no doubt as well as the odd Joker or two. Nonetheless, JR must surely be holding a pretty fair hand right now - let's hope he comes up trumps.
Just about everything I've felt about the last 12 months has been encapsulated into that piece.
Fingers- well, EVERYTHING - crossed that Team Belgium in the guise of RD/KM/JR continue to supply you with an ongoing positive scenario for your next report.
A VERY encouraging start to the next episode in the drama that is Charlton Athletic FC.....one, which I have a feeling may well sow the seeds of a successful, albeit gradual climb onwards & upwards.
Keep the faith !
Now, let's praise Riga for coming in at a difficult time and doing a great job. maybe that job was a bit easier given that he wasn't fighting the owner, but it was a massive challenge all the same and he came through. Most of us want him to continue as manager because he did such a good job. Let's hope he signs and soon as I think it is better to be hearing some positives sooner rather than later. See easy enough to praise the bloke without having to be nasty or disrespectful to a legend!
Now, let's praise Riga for coming in at a difficult time and doing a great job. maybe that job was a bit easier given that he wasn't fighting the owner, but it was a massive challenge all the same and he came through. Most of us want him to continue as manager because he did such a good job. Let's hope he signs and soon as I think it is better to be hearing some positives sooner rather than later. See easy enough to praise the bloke without having to be nasty or disrespectful to a legend!
Could not agree more Muttley!
Surprised that you rate Powell so highly , surly you didn't like he's football ?
Even if one is not intending to criticise CP, in can be easily be construed as such. It is likewise difficult to discuss the strength of the squad without it reflecting back on the managers and what they each managed to get out of the same players. So long as these things are discussed sensibly (and I don't see any nastiness or disrespect towards CP in this thread) then I don't see a problem. CP is a very honest bloke and I would suspect that he is already reflecting back on what he would have done differently. As GlassHalfFull said so excellently in his post above, there were certainly a multitude of problems that CP had to deal with which may well have had a big effect on his mindset and his performance.
I can assure you that there are many, many strikers who have bottled it against Shittu.
Point taken, though
I was focusing more on his positive points but you are right, of course, he also has faults aplenty.
Would still like to have him at the club, though, absolutely no doubt