It's OK talking about players achieving fitness and building team spirit .. BUT .. we had our most 'experienced' goalkeeper making elementary mistakes and even more worryingly, as I can't see that Phillips will be our regular goalkeeper this season, our forwards were almost incapable of scoring or even getting many shots on target against the better teams in the last two games .. IF Robinson insists on playing one up front with two wide men and a 'number 10', I can't see the current personnel coming close to scoring the number of goals required to maintain a promotion effort, even though Marshall and Holmes will create a lot of chances (we hope).. BUT, It is still early days and we will have to wait and see what happens during the much more difficult friendlies we have lined up against the East Anglians when I hope a coherent pattern of play and consistent selection will become clearer
3 games in 3 days was not smart and just opens players up to potential injury. if you just view it a purely an exercise in getting fit then maybe it was worth while.
Did he ever put out his first team? I would say not, so again not worth judging the team at this stage.
Psychologically we looked fragile last year and the results I cant imagine will have helped that, I think the fans optimism with Holmes signing and no-one leaving may well evaporate quickly if performances continue in the same vain.
Are you better qualified then than Robinson, Bowyer and Jackson plus the rest of the backroom staff ?. Lets at least save judgment until after a few league games
Better qualified at science than Lee Bowyer...? Yeah.
In his like "get to know the new coach" segment on VP they asked him what he'd be if he wasn't a footballer and he said "Doctor" I believe, then when asked what subject at school he was good at apart from PE, he could not name one.
Gonna do a "Winners and Losers" style thing. Caveat this all with the fact that these are the first pre-season friendlies of the year, we have another three weeks to go before the season starts, and a lot more games.
These are just the players who stood out drastically one way or another. Most of the players would fall under the category of "overall, did fine, 6/10."
Winners: -Cristian Ceballos: Looked quick, hungry, two-footed, demostrated a wonderful range of passing. He finds pockets of space really well, and because of his technique he can make an extra half yard for himself. He is quite a slim player, but he's got a good low center of gravity which I think could help negate some of the physicality in League One. If the season started tomorrow, he'd be second on the teamsheet after Kashi for me. -Ahmed Kashi: He didn't get injured. Looked very good on the ball. He didn't get injured. -Joe Aribo: Not good yesterday but in the first two games he showed some real quality in his passing and on the ball. Has a lovely lazy skill. -Tarique Fosu: Only played a half, but looked very good in that half. Left us wanting more. -Josh Magennis: Got a couple goals. Scored a nice left footed strike from 20 yards. Got a good workout. -Aaron Barnes: Looked very, very good in the first two games. Big, quick, good 1-v-1. Seems to have good technique. His pace will help get him out of the trouble his lack of experience might get him in. Think it's worth holding off on buying another right back until we see how he does in pre-season. -Ezri Konsa: Another who didn't look great yesterday, but overall looked composed on the ball, has pace to burn, and has clearly filled out some.
Losers: -Dillon Phillips: A couple poor performances do not make you a bad goalkeeper, and should not, on their own, prevent him from being our #1. But it does show we need another keeper. -Tony Watt: Scored two and pressed well in the first game, but after that it all unraveled. He wasn't drastically worse than others who won't make this list, but you can't help but feel that he's playing for his future. -Lee Novak and Nicky Ajose: Both only played one half, both were completely anonymous. A good reminder that we need depth up front. If Bury come in for Novak, bite their hand off. Ditto Ajose and anyone. -Naby Sarr: Didn't actually do anything wrong, but he's Naby Sarr so I have to blame him. Actually looked very tidy on the ball, a good passer, and had some good if unspectacular defensive moments. -Cameron Stewart: Showed real composure to set up Karlan's goal yesterday. But he looked sloppy and wasteful in the first couple games, and nothing quite came off for him. He looks like he's trying too hard after a year out of the game. Think he's still worth keeping around for at least another week. Might not be on here if he wasn't a trialist.
Didn't watch them. They are early friendlies, results really do not matter.
May take the edge off some who thought 4 wins against opponents not good enough for league one at the end of last season, a small handful of average league one player acquisitions and the return of Kashi after 2 years out was going to see us walk the league.
All I would add is that Tex looked good at right back and Barnes looks ready. Impressed with KAG from the half way line to the penalty box but needs to improve his decision making around the box.
Didn't watch them. They are early friendlies, results really do not matter.
May take the edge off some who thought 4 wins against opponents not good enough for league one at the end of last season, a small handful of average league one player acquisitions and the return of Kashi after 2 years out was going to see us walk the league.
I'm not sure if that's hyperbole, but I don't think ANYONE thought we were going to walk the league.
It's OK talking about players achieving fitness and building team spirit .. BUT .. we had our most 'experienced' goalkeeper making elementary mistakes and even more worryingly, as I can't see that Phillips will be our regular goalkeeper this season, our forwards were almost incapable of scoring or even getting many shots on target against the better teams in the last two games .. IF Robinson insists on playing one up front with two wide men and a 'number 10', I can't see the current personnel coming close to scoring the number of goals required to maintain a promotion effort, even though Marshall and Holmes will create a lot of chances (we hope).. BUT, It is still early days and we will have to wait and see what happens during the much more difficult friendlies we have lined up against the East Anglians when I hope a coherent pattern of play and consistent selection will become clearer
3 games in 3 days was not smart and just opens players up to potential injury. if you just view it a purely an exercise in getting fit then maybe it was worth while.
Did he ever put out his first team? I would say not, so again not worth judging the team at this stage.
Psychologically we looked fragile last year and the results I cant imagine will have helped that, I think the fans optimism with Holmes signing and no-one leaving may well evaporate quickly if performances continue in the same vain.
Are you better qualified then than Robinson, Bowyer and Jackson plus the rest of the backroom staff ?. Lets at least save judgment until after a few league games
Better qualified at science than Lee Bowyer...? Yeah.
In his like "get to know the new coach" segment on VP they asked him what he'd be if he wasn't a footballer and he said "Doctor" I believe, then when asked what subject at school he was good at apart from PE, he could not name one.
Like a lot of us on here, I know the school he went to, probably some are from the same school. Not that I know anything about US schools but think of a regular south Chicago school, and I think you've got a snapshot. I don't want to say it didn't produce many doctors, but it's a stretch imagining Lee Bowyer at school saying "I wanna be a doctor".
But then again, look at all the footballers who seem to be brain dead off the pitch but on the pitch they display an intelligence we queue up to watch. Gascoigne for example.
I don't think any of us can tell whether JJ or Bowyer will be good coaches. There is no correlation between what we have seen on the pitch and what happens when they move into coaching and management. Jack and Bobby Charlton, for example. Or closer to home, I'm sure I'm not the only one to have expected that Mark Kinsella, a fine footballer and leader, would have a future in coaching and management.
The frightening thing is that none of the three in charge now are proven to be good coaches.
ucd and limerick both play in the top Irish football division, although losing by the scoreline we did last night is a tad embarrassing, unsure i would say what level they are at but would say lower conference national, when you put it like that then its a slip up, personally i don't give a shit about freindlies would hope we improve in the next few, as if they were for fitness then they have served there purpose, the lee bowyer gimick last night was stupid and embarrassing, might of been for a bit of fun for the fans, but you sell the club and fuck off back to belgium and that would have me grinning from ear to ear.
3 games in 3 days was not smart and just opens players up to potential injury. if you just view it a purely an exercise in getting fit then maybe it was worth while.
Did he ever put out his first team? I would say not, so again not worth judging the team at this stage.
Psychologically we looked fragile last year and the results I cant imagine will have helped that, I think the fans optimism with Holmes signing and no-one leaving may well evaporate quickly if performances continue in the same vain.
ucd and limerick both play in the top Irish football division, although losing by the scoreline we did last night is a tad embarrassing, unsure i would say what level they are at but would say lower conference national, when you put it like that then its a slip up, personally i don't give a shit about freindlies would hope we improve in the next few, as if they were for fitness then they have served there purpose, the lee bowyer gimick last night was stupid and embarrassing, might of been for a bit of fun for the fans, but you sell the club and fuck off back to belgium and that would have me grinning from ear to ear.
ucd and limerick both play in the top Irish football division, although losing by the scoreline we did last night is a tad embarrassing, unsure i would say what level they are at but would say lower conference national, when you put it like that then its a slip up, personally i don't give a shit about freindlies would hope we improve in the next few, as if they were for fitness then they have served there purpose, the lee bowyer gimick last night was stupid and embarrassing, might of been for a bit of fun for the fans, but you sell the club and fuck off back to belgium and that would have me grinning from ear to ear.
ucd and limerick both play in the top Irish football division, although losing by the scoreline we did last night is a tad embarrassing, unsure i would say what level they are at but would say lower conference national, when you put it like that then its a slip up, personally i don't give a shit about freindlies would hope we improve in the next few, as if they were for fitness then they have served there purpose, the lee bowyer gimick last night was stupid and embarrassing, might of been for a bit of fun for the fans, but you sell the club and fuck off back to belgium and that would have me grinning from ear to ear.
Didn't watch them. They are early friendlies, results really do not matter.
May take the edge off some who thought 4 wins against opponents not good enough for league one at the end of last season, a small handful of average league one player acquisitions and the return of Kashi after 2 years out was going to see us walk the league.
I'm not sure if that's hyperbole, but I don't think ANYONE thought we were going to walk the league.
Not walk the league but no excuses this season if promotion is not acquired.
It's OK talking about players achieving fitness and building team spirit .. BUT .. we had our most 'experienced' goalkeeper making elementary mistakes and even more worryingly, as I can't see that Phillips will be our regular goalkeeper this season, our forwards were almost incapable of scoring or even getting many shots on target against the better teams in the last two games .. IF Robinson insists on playing one up front with two wide men and a 'number 10', I can't see the current personnel coming close to scoring the number of goals required to maintain a promotion effort, even though Marshall and Holmes will create a lot of chances (we hope).. BUT, It is still early days and we will have to wait and see what happens during the much more difficult friendlies we have lined up against the East Anglians when I hope a coherent pattern of play and consistent selection will become clearer
3 games in 3 days was not smart and just opens players up to potential injury. if you just view it a purely an exercise in getting fit then maybe it was worth while.
Did he ever put out his first team? I would say not, so again not worth judging the team at this stage.
Psychologically we looked fragile last year and the results I cant imagine will have helped that, I think the fans optimism with Holmes signing and no-one leaving may well evaporate quickly if performances continue in the same vain.
Are you better qualified then than Robinson, Bowyer and Jackson plus the rest of the backroom staff ?. Lets at least save judgment until after a few league games
I am somewhat in agreement with this. Normal pre-seasons haven't worked. I saw this as shake up to the ordinary and also it sent a message to the players.
To me the most interesting thing is that the "loaned out players" Sarr and Ceballos made more of an impression than 2 of Slade's signings, Novak and Ajose. I always thought Ceballos should have been given more of a chance in the first place, as he was completely ignored for most of the relegation season, and can't have been any worse than many of the players chosen instead.
With Barnes and Tex, will KR decide not to get another RB? Pearce is 1st choice CB, but who plays alongside him as we are massively spoilt for choice if Sarr and Tex stay.
A shame JFC has been injured, as I'm sure he will be a first choice centre midfielder (alongside Kashi)
Of the regular players at the end of last season, when form recovered slightly, Charlton has lost: the goalie, both leftbacks, and cover at rightback. None of these have been replaced, nor have any of those places been filled by players returning from loans or injury. Phillips might prove to be good enough in goal but there is absolutely no cover, Ashley Barnes might be adequate cover for Solly's bad knees but he has almost no first team experience at all. Without replacements for those departees the squad can only be less adequate than last term. Some players have arrived but not in areas where clear vacancies exist. The absence of interest in any of Charlton's castoffs is the best reflection of the quality with which KR, and the wage bill, is lumbered. The friendlies so far have loudly reaffirmed the inadequacies and shortages. Not loud enough apparently for the club to have addressed them it seems. Any replacements arriving after now, won't have had KR's much vaunted pre-season and will have to get up to speed physically at the same time as trying to blend into the fat scouse gobshite's system. As for what that system is actually supposed to look like, I've been watching it now for 7 months or more and I still have no idea. In the increasingly unlikely situation that the 4 glaring vacancies are filled Charlton might have a chance of equalling last season's 13th placed finish. Far more likely that KR will pay the price for the squad's inadequacy and some other mercenary chump will get to dance to the septuagenarian shit4brains's discordant tune from about November or December. Ho hum... roly's toxic pantomime gets more macabre as time passes, we're gonna need a whole new lexicon of despair, fury and bewilderment to reflect the kaleidoscopic nightmare.
Of the regular players at the end of last season, when form recovered slightly, Charlton has lost: the goalie, both leftbacks, and cover at rightback. None of these have been replaced, nor have any of those places been filled by players returning from loans or injury. Phillips might prove to be good enough in goal but there is absolutely no cover, Ashley Barnes might be adequate cover for Solly's bad knees but he has almost no first team experience at all. Without replacements for those departees the squad can only be less adequate than last term. Some players have arrived but not in areas where clear vacancies exist. The absence of interest in any of Charlton's castoffs is the best reflection of the quality with which KR, and the wage bill, is lumbered. The friendlies so far have loudly reaffirmed the inadequacies and shortages. Not loud enough apparently for the club to have addressed them it seems. Any replacements arriving after now, won't have had KR's much vaunted pre-season and will have to get up to speed physically at the same time as trying to blend into the fat scouse gobshite's system. As for what that system is actually supposed to look like, I've been watching it now for 7 months or more and I still have no idea. In the increasingly unlikely situation that the 4 glaring vacancies are filled Charlton might have a chance of equalling last season's 13th placed finish. Far more likely that KR will pay the price for the squad's inadequacy and some other mercenary chump will get to dance to the septuagenarian shit4brains's discordant tune from about November or December. Ho hum... roly's toxic pantomime gets more macabre as time passes, we're gonna need a whole new lexicon of despair, fury and bewilderment to reflect the kaleidoscopic nightmare.
But the main thing is you are alright? god i need a pick me up after reading all of that.
Ben Hamer Chris Solly Matt Taylor/Leon Cort Rhoys Wiggins Michael Morrison Danny Hollands Johnnie Jackson Dale Stephens Scott Wagstaff/Danny Green Kermorgant Bradley Wright-Phillips
League winning team.
Whatever we are now it's a long long long way away from this.
The results don't really bother me but what does is the fact that we appear so disorganised as a unit.
We appear rigid in our formation and very predictable without being good defensively and whilst we have a lot of the ball in midfield we don't create that many chances.
I wish Tarbuck would ditch the system as I don't think we have the players or indeed the wherewithal to make it work.
Comments
In his like "get to know the new coach" segment on VP they asked him what he'd be if he wasn't a footballer and he said "Doctor" I believe, then when asked what subject at school he was good at apart from PE, he could not name one.
These are just the players who stood out drastically one way or another. Most of the players would fall under the category of "overall, did fine, 6/10."
Winners:
-Cristian Ceballos: Looked quick, hungry, two-footed, demostrated a wonderful range of passing. He finds pockets of space really well, and because of his technique he can make an extra half yard for himself. He is quite a slim player, but he's got a good low center of gravity which I think could help negate some of the physicality in League One. If the season started tomorrow, he'd be second on the teamsheet after Kashi for me.
-Ahmed Kashi: He didn't get injured. Looked very good on the ball. He didn't get injured.
-Joe Aribo: Not good yesterday but in the first two games he showed some real quality in his passing and on the ball. Has a lovely lazy skill.
-Tarique Fosu: Only played a half, but looked very good in that half. Left us wanting more.
-Josh Magennis: Got a couple goals. Scored a nice left footed strike from 20 yards. Got a good workout.
-Aaron Barnes: Looked very, very good in the first two games. Big, quick, good 1-v-1. Seems to have good technique. His pace will help get him out of the trouble his lack of experience might get him in. Think it's worth holding off on buying another right back until we see how he does in pre-season.
-Ezri Konsa: Another who didn't look great yesterday, but overall looked composed on the ball, has pace to burn, and has clearly filled out some.
Losers:
-Dillon Phillips: A couple poor performances do not make you a bad goalkeeper, and should not, on their own, prevent him from being our #1. But it does show we need another keeper.
-Tony Watt: Scored two and pressed well in the first game, but after that it all unraveled. He wasn't drastically worse than others who won't make this list, but you can't help but feel that he's playing for his future.
-Lee Novak and Nicky Ajose: Both only played one half, both were completely anonymous. A good reminder that we need depth up front. If Bury come in for Novak, bite their hand off. Ditto Ajose and anyone.
-Naby Sarr: Didn't actually do anything wrong, but he's Naby Sarr so I have to blame him. Actually looked very tidy on the ball, a good passer, and had some good if unspectacular defensive moments.
-Cameron Stewart: Showed real composure to set up Karlan's goal yesterday. But he looked sloppy and wasteful in the first couple games, and nothing quite came off for him. He looks like he's trying too hard after a year out of the game. Think he's still worth keeping around for at least another week. Might not be on here if he wasn't a trialist.
May take the edge off some who thought 4 wins against opponents not good enough for league one at the end of last season, a small handful of average league one player acquisitions and the return of Kashi after 2 years out was going to see us walk the league.
But then again, look at all the footballers who seem to be brain dead off the pitch but on the pitch they display an intelligence we queue up to watch. Gascoigne for example.
I don't think any of us can tell whether JJ or Bowyer will be good coaches. There is no correlation between what we have seen on the pitch and what happens when they move into coaching and management. Jack and Bobby Charlton, for example. Or closer to home, I'm sure I'm not the only one to have expected that Mark Kinsella, a fine footballer and leader, would have a future in coaching and management.
The frightening thing is that none of the three in charge now are proven to be good coaches.
We can't really judge until it's a 1st choice starting XI.
Ceballos showed them all up for fitness.
With Barnes and Tex, will KR decide not to get another RB?
Pearce is 1st choice CB, but who plays alongside him as we are massively spoilt for choice if Sarr and Tex stay.
A shame JFC has been injured, as I'm sure he will be a first choice centre midfielder (alongside Kashi)
Without replacements for those departees the squad can only be less adequate than last term. Some players have arrived but not in areas where clear vacancies exist. The absence of interest in any of Charlton's castoffs is the best reflection of the quality with which KR, and the wage bill, is lumbered.
The friendlies so far have loudly reaffirmed the inadequacies and shortages. Not loud enough apparently for the club to have addressed them it seems. Any replacements arriving after now, won't have had KR's much vaunted pre-season and will have to get up to speed physically at the same time as trying to blend into the fat scouse gobshite's system. As for what that system is actually supposed to look like, I've been watching it now for 7 months or more and I still have no idea.
In the increasingly unlikely situation that the 4 glaring vacancies are filled Charlton might have a chance of equalling last season's 13th placed finish. Far more likely that KR will pay the price for the squad's inadequacy and some other mercenary chump will get to dance to the septuagenarian shit4brains's discordant tune from about November or December.
Ho hum... roly's toxic pantomime gets more macabre as time passes, we're gonna need a whole new lexicon of despair, fury and bewilderment to reflect the kaleidoscopic nightmare.
Chris Solly
Matt Taylor/Leon Cort
Rhoys Wiggins
Michael Morrison
Danny Hollands
Johnnie Jackson
Dale Stephens
Scott Wagstaff/Danny Green
Kermorgant
Bradley Wright-Phillips
League winning team.
Whatever we are now it's a long long long way away from this.
We appear rigid in our formation and very predictable without being good defensively and whilst we have a lot of the ball in midfield we don't create that many chances.
I wish Tarbuck would ditch the system as I don't think we have the players or indeed the wherewithal to make it work.