On the coach on the way back. Anyone putting any positive spin on that needs their head testing.
Utter wank. My first taste of action this season and as far as I can see we've started where we left off.
The midfield is for me like some sort of vacuum. Nature, or in this case Cheltenham abhors a vacuum and attempts to fill it by completely walking through it.
Captain Jackson's movement is akin to an arthritic pensioner who has been given a dangerously high dose of ketamine. Dangerous enough to render him almost unable to move, yet not lethal enough to convince him, or Slade it's time he did the decent thing and adopt an Andy Hughes type role and offer his experience and encouragement from the side line.
His midfield partner in crime is almost as slow but not quite. Croft's pace and level of movement is more that of the oil tanker turning in the ocean, but still woefully inadequate given the pace and style of the modern game.
If Slade wants these two as the first choice central pairing this season, then get your league 2 road map out now.
Lookman on tonight's showing has the potential to be the next RaHeem Sterling no problem. The all fart no shit pacey winger syndrome permeates young English footballers like Roger Johnson's ability to be universally disdained by football fans from his respective clubs throughout his career.
Whoever invented this sick rumour that West Ham were looking at Fox needs to offer themselves to the Donald Trump campaign team. I've heard nothing but horseshit from that man's mouth from months, I could quite conceivably believe him delivering the line that a successful football club going place would want Mr Fox as cover to help continue their success. I can just picture Morgan now, back tracking against Aguero..........
I'll say that the only players to deserve any credit were Rudd, Komsa and Hanlom (my n isn't working properly on my iPhone)
Unprecedented. Haven't kicked off a competitive game at home, and Slade already seems to have totally alienated himself from many fans. Great interview, Slade........ a twat at the end. Great manager, Slade.... at the end, what a twat?
Brusselslaid, Brusselslaid, Sits in the sun and drinks lemonade, Disinterested, disinclined, Whilst others get the best ones signed, Bruxelleslaid, Bruxelleslaid, Underworked and overpaid.
On the coach on the way back. Anyone putting any positive spin on that needs their head testing.
Utter wank. My first taste of action this season and as far as I can see we've started where we left off.
The midfield is for me like some sort of vacuum. Nature, or in this case Cheltenham abhors a vacuum and attempts to fill it by completely walking through it.
Captain Jackson's movement is akin to an arthritic pensioner who has been given a dangerously high dose of ketamine. Dangerous enough to render him almost unable to move, yet not lethal enough to convince him, or Slade it's time he did the decent thing and adopt an Andy Hughes type role and offer his experience and encouragement from the side line.
His midfield partner in crime is almost as slow but not quite. Croft's pace and level of movement is more that of the oil tanker turning in the ocean, but still woefully inadequate given the pace and style of the modern game.
If Slade wants these two as the first choice central pairing this season, then get your league 2 road map out now.
Lookman on tonight's showing has the potential to be the next RaHeem Sterling no problem. The all fart no shit pacey winger syndrome permeates young English footballers like Roger Johnson's ability to be universally disdained by football fans from his respective clubs throughout his career.
Whoever invented this sick rumour that West Ham were looking at Fox needs to offer themselves to the Donald Trump campaign team. I've heard nothing but horseshit from that man's mouth from months, I could quite conceivably believe him delivering the line that a successful football club going place would want Mr Fox as cover to help continue their success. I can just picture Morgan now, back tracking against Aguero..........
I'll say that the only players to deserve any credit were Rudd, Komsa and Hanlom (my n isn't working properly on my iPhone)
The rest were piss poor.
Apparently it is!
In isolation - not when I try and type Hanlom and Komsa
If you include the two games in Austria we have scored 2 goals in 630 minutes of football. Those games include the footballing super powers that are Leyton Orient, Bury and Cheltenham. They also include an unknown Israeli team and a Dutch side who have conceded 200+ goals in 3 seasons.
I moaned all through pre-season that the midfield was poor. Unfortunately the chickens are coming home to roost here. Any central midfield partnership that we put out at the moment is static, pedestrian and utterly devoid of creative nous. Until Slade is allowed to do something about the chronic lack of quality in central midfield we are going to struggle.
I didn't want Crofts or Foley and on what I've seen so far, frankly I am amazed that Slade went to war to get Crofts.
Can't comment too much on tonight, but it sounds similar to Saturday in that we have had a fair bit of the ball and looked completely blunt.
Two mobile midfielders have to be the priority now, along with another striking option.
Whilst we flounder and continue to play the likes of Hanlan and Konsa we are again risking their development. Very easy to set a youngster back by exposing them to crap we are seeing at the moment.
Fully expecting more cliched soundbites from Slade afterwards and no additions to the squad before Saturday.
If it goes wrong on Saturday, it won't be infront of many, but it has the potential to turn very nasty.
It is a total shambles on and off the pitch at the moment and I have a feeling it is going to get worse.
This. This is an excellent point. It sounds like he went to war for Foley as well. As I've said time and again, ideally both would be second choice at best. Crofts would do well as our fourth or fifth best central midfielders and Foley as our second choice RB and emergency cover in CM. But they're coming in on frees from the Championship, both the wrong side of 30, and I suspect they're commanding decent wages. And thus, instead of getting players in on the up who can improve, we have players in the twilight of their career. Throwing Johnson and JJ into this. And by the sounds of things, we play like an aging, knackered side.
It's worth noting that the average age of our first team on Saturday was 28. These are senior players in our first team, though to be fair the average age of the bench was 20 I believe. I just worry that we have the mixture all wrong.
My thoughts are that if, as Paddy7 posted, tonight's performance was an improvement on Saturday's, then something is clearly amiss with a) the manager b) the balance of his squad or c) both.
No prizes for the correct answer which, in my book is c.
We KNOW that trying to talk to our CEO is pointless- she will only hear want she wants to hear, and that enigmatic Mona Lisa smirk she tries to replicate merely serves to induce projectile vomiting from the other party .....
So on one hand we have to feel a degree of sympathy with the gaffer when he enters the courtroom to state his case for specific players.
BUT have his targets been chosen wisely - are they the players we need for a battle royal against L1 teams that will inevitably bust a gut to beat a outfit recently residing in the heady heights of the Championship ?
At this early stage, the jury is out but most of us (un)fortunate enough to have witnessed one or both of the performances thus far, would tend to question his method of selecting those for a balanced but forward looking squad. Too many defenders & defence minded midfielders as opposed to too few attack minded mids and out & out strikers appears to be the result.
Add to the mix too many aging legs & a back up of too many home grown & relatively untested youngsters and we seem to have a recipe for disaster.
All this without questioning the pedigree of a manager that has gained only a modicum of success in previous incarnations & who will/should have realised he would be fighting his corner against a modern day Medusa......Was this ever a battle you thought you'd win, Russell ?
So, once again, we return to the REAL reason for the current , increasingly worrying situation we find ourselves in....and I'm sure most Lifers will agree that the "we" includes ourselves, the long suffering but faithful fans of this football club. And the necessity for the addition of reason "e"....
And if there are STILL those in the home stands not joining in the " ROLAND OUT " chants at the 2 upcoming matches, then, dear friends, I fear for their sanity.
Can't say I'm looking forward to catching thunder clap, sounds nasty. Still at the current going rate it'll be a few years before ins at risk.
Still think it's to early to really dig out Slade although tactically I think he may be poor. I'm waiting until September and the transfer and loan window is shut until January before I totally apeshit mental.
“Our sole aim is to be fighting for promotion next season and our top priority is to put together a squad that can help Charlton Athletic get back into the Championship.”
Now where did I hear this?
This should be printed on a big banner & passed along the crowd at every home match like the old "killer" one was a few years back.
Why people are still intent on asking KM and co. questions I will never know, she's a compulsive liar. Make her feel unwanted and unsettled, not ask her questions or have a cosy chat with her.
Our aim is to drive them from our Club, talk is pointless.
Listened to the Slade interview and it was poor from him.
There I am praising the pre Bury press conference now here I am less than a week later and huge doubts creep back in.
God knows what would have happened had Louis asked about Johnson, but in its own way Slade came across as from the same place as Katrien saying fans have to accept the owner does it his way, and Johnson telling fans what to do if they don't like it, and now Slade wagging the finger at Louis for being 'pessimistic', and not recognising the clubs brilliant use of patience.
They all seem to hate us, tetchy ticket office staff, football and non football staff criticising us, cameras, banning orders, blue jacket stewards taking out kids at the match, simply chite after chite piled up on more chite.
Right now I see the 'team' and the 'regime' as welded together. The only redeeming feature the football staff could show is winning matches and that has been well out of reach so far.
Anyway piss poor interview from Slade but not from Louis who was respectful and restrained.
Personally I think Slade is just grabbing anyone he can. It appears he has to fight for players, yet I'm not sure he is being given any kind of reasonable budget and is therefore only able to bring in cheap/free additions. Ajose, Novak and Holmes should have been the start of an influx of similar quality players. Instead they were purchased to encourage people to renew. Once they managed to get some more customers signed up for the season, in come the cast offs that nobody else wants to offer a contract to, and because they are desperate for a club, KM can offer them peanuts and doesn't have to worry about paying transfer fees.
If big Russ does many more stroppy interviews like that then he will soon lose support from the fans . Despite who pays his wages he needs to be with us not Pinocchio or her boss.
Clearly the scale of the malaise as well as the unrest is only now dawning on Slade. And he hasn't had a home game yet! Horrible suspicion we will sign anything that moves and is available and willing as opposed to having set targets we are after. I wonder if he is calling the shots on transfers?
I hope I am wrong but am wondering if his earlier bullishness and optimism was actually bullshit and he is prepared to back the regime in exchange for them giving him a job. The next few weeks will tell as the pressure is not going to ease.
One of the saddest things for me tonight was the total lack of interest from the Charlton fans who were there - hardly any songs - I'm worried now that these Belgians are beginning to destroy our spirit too. I, like some others, now associate the team with the regime and find it hard to get behind them Oh well, ground no. 81 done tonight and as most of the remainder are in League Two I should pretty much wrap it all up next season
Comments
Yes, we also noticed how "Patient" you was getting Pearce and others etc.
But unfortunately for you, Charlton fans soon won't be "Patient" with you if this carries on!
Sort.it.out.
Sits in the sun and drinks lemonade,
Disinterested, disinclined,
Whilst others get the best ones signed,
Bruxelleslaid, Bruxelleslaid,
Underworked and overpaid.
It's worth noting that the average age of our first team on Saturday was 28. These are senior players in our first team, though to be fair the average age of the bench was 20 I believe. I just worry that we have the mixture all wrong.
Though-oh-oh-oh my-my days are filled with sorrow
I see years of pride tomorrow"
The late great Bob Marley sums it up.
I'm still an optimist though...... I just have to be
At this time of night on a Tuesday in August, why, why add the extra miles
No prizes for the correct answer which, in my book is c.
We KNOW that trying to talk to our CEO is pointless- she will only hear want she wants to hear, and that enigmatic Mona Lisa smirk she tries to replicate merely serves to induce projectile vomiting from the other party .....
So on one hand we have to feel a degree of sympathy with the gaffer when he enters the courtroom to state his case for specific players.
BUT have his targets been chosen wisely - are they the players we need for a battle royal against L1 teams that will inevitably bust a gut to beat a outfit recently residing in the heady heights of the Championship ?
At this early stage, the jury is out but most of us (un)fortunate enough to have witnessed one or both of the performances thus far, would tend to question his method of selecting those for a balanced but forward looking squad. Too many defenders & defence minded midfielders as opposed to too few attack minded mids and out & out strikers appears to be the result.
Add to the mix too many aging legs & a back up of too many home grown & relatively untested youngsters and we seem to have a recipe for disaster.
All this without questioning the pedigree of a manager that has gained only a modicum of success in previous incarnations & who will/should have realised he would be fighting his corner against a modern day Medusa......Was this ever a battle you thought you'd win, Russell ?
So, once again, we return to the REAL reason for the current , increasingly worrying situation we find ourselves in....and I'm sure most Lifers will agree that the "we" includes ourselves, the long suffering but faithful fans of this football club. And the necessity for the addition of reason "e"....
And if there are STILL those in the home stands not joining in the " ROLAND OUT " chants at the 2 upcoming matches, then, dear friends, I fear for their sanity.
And their real loyalty to our football club.
Can't say I'm looking forward to catching thunder clap, sounds nasty. Still at the current going rate it'll be a few years before ins at risk.
Still think it's to early to really dig out Slade although tactically I think he may be poor. I'm waiting until September and the transfer and loan window is shut until January before I totally apeshit mental.
No thanks, I'll continue to totally blank her.
There I am praising the pre Bury press conference now here I am less than a week later and huge doubts creep back in.
God knows what would have happened had Louis asked about Johnson, but in its own way Slade came across as from the same place as Katrien saying fans have to accept the owner does it his way, and Johnson telling fans what to do if they don't like it, and now Slade wagging the finger at Louis for being 'pessimistic', and not recognising the clubs brilliant use of patience.
They all seem to hate us, tetchy ticket office staff, football and non football staff criticising us, cameras, banning orders, blue jacket stewards taking out kids at the match, simply chite after chite piled up on more chite.
Right now I see the 'team' and the 'regime' as welded together. The only redeeming feature the football staff could show is winning matches and that has been well out of reach so far.
Anyway piss poor interview from Slade but not from Louis who was respectful and restrained.
I hope I am wrong but am wondering if his earlier bullishness and optimism was actually bullshit and he is prepared to back the regime in exchange for them giving him a job. The next few weeks will tell as the pressure is not going to ease.
Question: Russell, a disappointing defeat here this evening?
Russell Slade: "Yes, we want to win football matches, I thought we set our stool out quite well early on, it was a decent cup tie."
STOOL? The phrase is 'set your stall out'. Stool is shit. Poo. Poop.
Well said, Russell.