Curbs leaving was the right decision... The board's inept recruitment was the big problem.
Appointing backroom staff and a general manager before a head coach had been appointed was madness.
I disagree that Curbs leaving was the right decision. For me, it was very very wrong. Of course, we were never going to keep him forever, but I thought that a little bit more cash for players and we would have pushed on. Unfortunately Murray couldn't find the money for Curbs but managed to find it for Dowie, who then blew it all on some terrible players.
I do agree with your comment about appointing backroom staff. You have to let managers bring in their own people. Although the manager always gets the most credit (rightly so), they are part of a team, they need to be able to pick their own team.
I'm still here and I wanted Curbs gone. The man, became to egotistic, look at the way he deliberately threw away the Middlesboro cup, game to show the board that he was the man in charge ! His time was up. The fact he,s unemployed as a manager shows you that.
I seem to remember us being all over Middlesbrough in the initial Cup game at the Valley
It was Steve McClaren who was too scared to attack because he knew they'd win the replay at the Riverside!!
I'm still here and I wanted Curbs gone. The man, became to egotistic, look at the way he deliberately threw away the Middlesboro cup, game to show the board that he was the man in charge ! His time was up. The fact he,s unemployed as a manager shows you that.
I seem to remember us being all over Middlesbrough in the initial Cup game at the Valley
It was Steve McClaren who was too scared to attack because he knew they'd win the replay at the Riverside!!
Its a very strange comment to make (throwing the boro game) unless there is some evidence to back it up. We are all still waiting.....
I'm still here and I wanted Curbs gone. The man, became to egotistic, look at the way he deliberately threw away the Middlesboro cup, game to show the board that he was the man in charge ! His time was up. The fact he,s unemployed as a manager shows you that.
Isn't he working at Fulham? I read he took training back in November...
Not for long. Not sure what his role is there anymore. They seem to be in a weird situation regarding the manager recruitment process (not much better than us) They are not going to give him the job anyway.
When the manager has been there for over a decade, it's always going to be difficult to find the right successor (cue Ferguson-Moyes) Had Curbs stayed for one more year, it might have given Murray much more time to get that extremely vital decision of who to take over from Curbs right. Unfortunately Murray didn't see it that way, let Curbs go early and then made arguably the biggest mistake in the club's recent history to appoint Iain Dowie, which led to a series of disasters subsequently.
I was a regular member on the forum CAFC-fans in 2004, 2005 and I remember quite many on there moaning about our annual March slump. I had been supporting Charlton for only two years by then which means I was only starting to learn about the club football-wise. So I didn't say anything despite Curbs being a big hero of mine and at one point I too thought 'perhaps he's taken us as far as he can'. Looking back, I think most of us have realised we sort of took it for granted. We were never a big club and to finish in mid-table in the Premier League every year was definitely not as easy as it seemed. If there're two ways how a season unfolds, one is to get enough points for survival as quickly as possible and sit comfortably for the rest three months, the other is to start really slowly, dabble with relegation and start to climb up the table in the winter/spring and narrowly escape relegation come May. Which one would you prefer? Some may say neither is perfect but in reality a club of our size don't have the luxury of being consistent throughout the season. So to me, no matter how frustrating the second half of the season seemed to be each year, I still don't think there was anything wrong with that. Players get tired both mentally and physically towards the end of the season and maybe the question should have been 'do we really have the money to strengthen the squad and avoid the collective drop in form each year' instead of 'has Curbs taken us as far as possible'?
I think he had taken us as far as he could - based on the budget that he had - and that was still further than virtually any other manager would have taken us. I know there were many who were not satisfied with Curbs' safety first strategy, but I was more than happy to take that approach if it meant staying in the Prem. We were never likely to push on from where we were without more cash. You only have to look at our squads back then to see they were littered with triers, players who were not outstanding footballers but gave everything for the cause. Yes we had one or two good quality players over the years, but most of what was achieved was down to being well organised and all the players putting in a good shift every week.
I think he had taken us as far as he could - based on the budget that he had - and that was still further than virtually any other manager would have taken us. I know there were many who were not satisfied with Curbs' safety first strategy, but I was more than happy to take that approach if it meant staying in the Prem. We were never likely to push on from where we were without more cash. You only have to look at our squads back then to see they were littered with triers, players who were not outstanding footballers but gave everything for the cause. Yes we had one or two good quality players over the years, but most of what was achieved was down to being well organised and all the players putting in a good shift every week.
This. We'd sign the occasional creative gem like Jensen and di canio and even had a gem born from our academy in Scott Parker, but for the most part we had the John robinsons, Matt Hollands and kishishevs. Not the greatest players in the world but they'd run through brick walls for curbs.
I think he had taken us as far as he could - based on the budget that he had - and that was still further than virtually any other manager would have taken us. I know there were many who were not satisfied with Curbs' safety first strategy, but I was more than happy to take that approach if it meant staying in the Prem. We were never likely to push on from where we were without more cash. You only have to look at our squads back then to see they were littered with triers, players who were not outstanding footballers but gave everything for the cause. Yes we had one or two good quality players over the years, but most of what was achieved was down to being well organised and all the players putting in a good shift every week.
This. We'd sign the occasional creative gem like Jensen and di canio and even had a gem born from our academy in Scott Parker, but for the most part we had the John robinsons, Matt Hollands and kishishevs. Not the greatest players in the world but they'd run through brick walls for curbs.
As opposed to running round concrete flyovers with Dowie!
Personally I can't recall moaning about being in the Premier League whatever our position, we were playing the best clubs in the land and sometimes upsetting the form books. We had a great set up with stable management and a good coaching team. A lot of the people phoning into the radio shows were either deliberate spoilers or hadn't experienced standing on the East terrace in the winter time watching us play in the lower leagues.
I think he had taken us as far as he could - based on the budget that he had - and that was still further than virtually any other manager would have taken us. I know there were many who were not satisfied with Curbs' safety first strategy, but I was more than happy to take that approach if it meant staying in the Prem. We were never likely to push on from where we were without more cash. You only have to look at our squads back then to see they were littered with triers, players who were not outstanding footballers but gave everything for the cause. Yes we had one or two good quality players over the years, but most of what was achieved was down to being well organised and all the players putting in a good shift every week.
This. We'd sign the occasional creative gem like Jensen and di canio and even had a gem born from our academy in Scott Parker, but for the most part we had the John robinsons, Matt Hollands and kishishevs. Not the greatest players in the world but they'd run through brick walls for curbs.
Now we have Fox who'd let the brick wall beat him and get a cross in, big Mak who can see over the wall but still get beat for a header by it and Cousins who'd attempt to run through the brick wall to the delight of some fans but make no mark on it whatsoever for the various unheard of Managers.
Comments
I do agree with your comment about appointing backroom staff. You have to let managers bring in their own people. Although the manager always gets the most credit (rightly so), they are part of a team, they need to be able to pick their own team.
It was Steve McClaren who was too scared to attack because he knew they'd win the replay at the Riverside!!
I was a regular member on the forum CAFC-fans in 2004, 2005 and I remember quite many on there moaning about our annual March slump. I had been supporting Charlton for only two years by then which means I was only starting to learn about the club football-wise. So I didn't say anything despite Curbs being a big hero of mine and at one point I too thought 'perhaps he's taken us as far as he can'. Looking back, I think most of us have realised we sort of took it for granted. We were never a big club and to finish in mid-table in the Premier League every year was definitely not as easy as it seemed. If there're two ways how a season unfolds, one is to get enough points for survival as quickly as possible and sit comfortably for the rest three months, the other is to start really slowly, dabble with relegation and start to climb up the table in the winter/spring and narrowly escape relegation come May. Which one would you prefer? Some may say neither is perfect but in reality a club of our size don't have the luxury of being consistent throughout the season. So to me, no matter how frustrating the second half of the season seemed to be each year, I still don't think there was anything wrong with that. Players get tired both mentally and physically towards the end of the season and maybe the question should have been 'do we really have the money to strengthen the squad and avoid the collective drop in form each year' instead of 'has Curbs taken us as far as possible'?