Conor Gallagher - Going to Athletico (p81)

Athletico Charlton

Left us to be relegated at the very first opportunity and when we needed him most in January, then joined Palace and now helping them to beat the likes of Man City. Don't see any conflict. 

LargeAddick

He’ll be sold by Chelsea for upwards of 20m. Just hope it isn’t to Palarse.

Chris_from_Sidcup

He's contracted to 2025 so i think Chelsea will keep him next season to see how he does.

Let's be honest if there was a 21 year old English box to box midfielder playing well in the premier league, Chelsea would be right in there wanting to sign him. 

I know their transfer business is largely based around selling academy kids, but he is one they should keep. They'd be better off shipping out someone like Ross Barkley who's on a much higher wage, and integrating Gallagher into their squad.

Dazzler21

Such a good player, he'll be breaking I to a big side next season imo.

He's had the benefit of playing for shit sides and doing his own thing, so a big side could be very interesting.

Chris_from_Sidcup

Sometimes these big clubs just need to take a step back and realise they have kids who are good enough.

Chelsea were trying to spend 50m+ on Kounde in the summer and it fell through, then they've given game time this season to Chalobah and he hasn't looked out of place at all. Saved themselves 50m and they're certainly no worse off, and if they wanted to they could now probably sell Chalobah for 20m+ next summer.

They should give Gallagher a chance. Even in the summer of 2023 he'll still have 2 years left on his contract and lesser sides will still pay a good amount for him even if it doesn't work out.

Raith_C_Chattonell

I think Conor will end up playing for his beloved Chelsea. 

Not sure if the rules and regs allow, but I'd love it if he was recalled in January.

Scoham

eaststandmike said:

I would be shocked to see him play for England.

I'd be shocked if he doesn't, even if it's just a single cap. Has a good all round game, goals in him and continues to get better.

Notts_Addick

Great to see him getting recognition on the big stage. Never heard of him when he signed for us but from the moment he kicked a ball you could tell he looked a class above. You could tell he had proper work ethic as well, many young players are talented but don't have the right application whereas he had both. Seen a bit of him at Palace this season and he looks like he's really kicked on. Reckon almost every team in the Prem outside of the top 4 will be watching him with interest.

I'm sure at the time someone on here posted a video Chelsea did of his time at Swansea, where he basically said it was Chelsea's decision to move him and that he'd had to move away from family and set himself up in a little flat in Wales. I'm sure if the decision was his he'd have finished the season with us, he was starting every week and imagine outside of football he was still able to live with his family in London so it would have made sense.

Lots of if's and but's about that championship season but I always felt him leaving was a pivotal moment in our relegation.

shine166

Athletico Charlton said:

Left us to be relegated at the very first opportunity and when we needed him most in January, then joined Palace and now helping them to beat the likes of Man City. Don't see any conflict. 

He was recalled

MarcusH26

Can't see him staying at Palace. Either recalled to be in Chelsea's first team or sold for £40m to somewhere like Leeds

killerandflash

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

He's contracted to 2025 so i think Chelsea will keep him next season to see how he does.

Let's be honest if there was a 21 year old English box to box midfielder playing well in the premier league, Chelsea would be right in there wanting to sign him. 

I know their transfer business is largely based around selling academy kids, but he is one they should keep. They'd be better off shipping out someone like Ross Barkley who's on a much higher wage, and integrating Gallagher into their squad.

Loftus-cheek is another fringe player they might decide to move on

PragueAddick

JiMMy 85 said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

I'm delighted Conor is doing so well, he is a great lad and deserves it.
But it breaks my heart that he is with them

I speak to his brother Dan sometimes, and he said something along the lines of 'he doesn't want to upset the CAFC fans but he wants to play in London' soon after signing. I think being near home is important to him, his family are very close knit, and that almost certainly has something to do with why he has looked so much better for us and them compared to WBA. 

Do you think his brother might shed some light on the real reason why he was yanked out of Charlton at the time? The story I heard (and put on here to much scepticism) was that his agent initiated it and Conor was pretty upset to leave. The fact that they did not do that with Ian Maadsen, despite the club being still in the doldrums in terms of team cohesion and fitness support, is interesting in the context of that suggestion. 

sm

Athletico Charlton said:

Left us to be relegated at the very first opportunity and when we needed him most in January, then joined Palace and now helping them to beat the likes of Man City. Don't see any conflict. 

Not sure whether it was him or Chelsea that was responsible for the move.  Whoever it was needs to rot in hell with Lyle Taylor.

Chris_from_Sidcup

PragueAddick said:

JiMMy 85 said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

I'm delighted Conor is doing so well, he is a great lad and deserves it.
But it breaks my heart that he is with them

I speak to his brother Dan sometimes, and he said something along the lines of 'he doesn't want to upset the CAFC fans but he wants to play in London' soon after signing. I think being near home is important to him, his family are very close knit, and that almost certainly has something to do with why he has looked so much better for us and them compared to WBA. 

Do you think his brother might shed some light on the real reason why he was yanked out of Charlton at the time? The story I heard (and put on here to much scepticism) was that his agent initiated it and Conor was pretty upset to leave. The fact that they did not do that with Ian Maadsen, despite the club being still in the doldrums in terms of team cohesion and fitness support, is interesting in the context of that suggestion. 

I thought it was pretty obvious why they cancelled the loan?

They wanted Gallagher to be playing in a competitive team, but we got hit with about a dozen injuries and had half of our U23 team playing and were getting beat most weeks. That didn't really benefit Gallagher or Chelsea, so they sent him to a better team where his ex-England youth manager was in charge.

I've no doubt if we were in and around the top half with a relatively fully fit team then he'd have stayed.

JohnnyH2

PragueAddick said:

JiMMy 85 said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

I'm delighted Conor is doing so well, he is a great lad and deserves it.
But it breaks my heart that he is with them

I speak to his brother Dan sometimes, and he said something along the lines of 'he doesn't want to upset the CAFC fans but he wants to play in London' soon after signing. I think being near home is important to him, his family are very close knit, and that almost certainly has something to do with why he has looked so much better for us and them compared to WBA. 

Do you think his brother might shed some light on the real reason why he was yanked out of Charlton at the time? The story I heard (and put on here to much scepticism) was that his agent initiated it and Conor was pretty upset to leave. The fact that they did not do that with Ian Maadsen, despite the club being still in the doldrums in terms of team cohesion and fitness support, is interesting in the context of that suggestion. 

Steve Gallen at a Bromley Addicks meeting indicated that he could could have stayed with us during that window and laid the blame at ESI door, no more specifics were given 

PragueAddick

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

PragueAddick said:

JiMMy 85 said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

I'm delighted Conor is doing so well, he is a great lad and deserves it.
But it breaks my heart that he is with them

I speak to his brother Dan sometimes, and he said something along the lines of 'he doesn't want to upset the CAFC fans but he wants to play in London' soon after signing. I think being near home is important to him, his family are very close knit, and that almost certainly has something to do with why he has looked so much better for us and them compared to WBA. 

Do you think his brother might shed some light on the real reason why he was yanked out of Charlton at the time? The story I heard (and put on here to much scepticism) was that his agent initiated it and Conor was pretty upset to leave. The fact that they did not do that with Ian Maadsen, despite the club being still in the doldrums in terms of team cohesion and fitness support, is interesting in the context of that suggestion. 

I thought it was pretty obvious why they cancelled the loan?

They wanted Gallagher to be playing in a competitive team, but we got hit with about a dozen injuries and had half of our U23 team playing and were getting beat most weeks. That didn't really benefit Gallagher or Chelsea, so they sent him to a better team where his ex-England youth manager was in charge.

I've no doubt if we were in and around the top half with a relatively fully fit team then he'd have stayed.

(we went through all this at the time, but...)

The problems with that "obvious" scenario are:

1. Bowyer and Gallen obviously knew that it did not look good, as they approached the window, but the story is that in December therefore they asked Torre Andre Flo on one of his regular visits to check on CG at SL, whether they could assume that he would not be recalled early, and received a very positive answer, because, said TAF, he was getting the experience they wanted and expected for him. (Never played first team at that level before, don't forget). If the answer is as obvious as you suggest, why would TAF discount even considering it, only for Chelsea to suddenly turn round and yank him out, leaving us no time to replace him? That seems like a spiteful way to behave which does not fit with Chelsea's behaviour towards us when we had da Silva, or Maadsen. Nor have I heard a similar story from other clubs, and Chelsea loan a phenomenal amount of young players.

2. It was fairly clear that the worst of the injury crisis would abate over December/Jan - e.g. Taylor was on his way back to full fitness.

3. Swansea were only on the fringe of the promotion race. And that is where they stayed. When Chelsea lent CG to us, we were odds on to go down, too, but that did not seem to bother Chelsea at the time. Maybe they thought Bow's specific playing experience was ideal for Conor, and that was certainly how it looked as he flourished before the injuries hit. Injuries always hit clubs, and I don't recall Chelsea or other big clubs taking fright and saying "oh, you guys have terrible injuries,so, hey, we'll make it even worse for you."

Maybe there is an ESI dimension too, but I am not buying the Steve Cooper bollocks, sorry.

Then again, if it is murky probably Conor and his brother don't want to talk about it.

JiMMy 85

PragueAddick said:

JiMMy 85 said:

Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:

I'm delighted Conor is doing so well, he is a great lad and deserves it.
But it breaks my heart that he is with them

I speak to his brother Dan sometimes, and he said something along the lines of 'he doesn't want to upset the CAFC fans but he wants to play in London' soon after signing. I think being near home is important to him, his family are very close knit, and that almost certainly has something to do with why he has looked so much better for us and them compared to WBA. 

Do you think his brother might shed some light on the real reason why he was yanked out of Charlton at the time? The story I heard (and put on here to much scepticism) was that his agent initiated it and Conor was pretty upset to leave. The fact that they did not do that with Ian Maadsen, despite the club being still in the doldrums in terms of team cohesion and fitness support, is interesting in the context of that suggestion. 

I don't know the reason why but Dan did say Conor was distraught to be leaving and it wasn't his choice. 

Lincsaddick

Tireless, clever and tough .. every game he plays his value increases by a few million, the Chelsea money men are rubbing their hands with glee .. right now, he is THE form midfielder in the Prem

paulfox

Being a bit old school in my thoughts of players, I always rate midfielders as an overall player, to me a midfielder should be able to defend/ attack/ pass/ tackle. Not either/or. I do get frustrated with the pigeonholed position because a MF can’t do something or is better at a particular aspect. For example, defensive MF or no.10. Sort of made up positions. That’s why I like Conor as a player so much, he can do the lot, for me a real box to box player. 

Chris_from_Sidcup

paulfox said:

Being a bit old school in my thoughts of players, I always rate midfielders as an overall player, to me a midfielder should be able to defend/ attack/ pass/ tackle. Not either/or. I do get frustrated with the pigeonholed position because a MF can’t do something or is better at a particular aspect. For example, defensive MF or no.10. Sort of made up positions. That’s why I like Conor as a player so much, he can do the lot, for me a real box to box player. 

But surely you wouldn't expect Mount or De Bruyne to do what Kante and Rodri do or vice versa?

Weegie Addick

I did hear some speculation that Chelsea rumbled that ESI had no money. Maybe the fact (we didn’t know it but) we were under a transfer embargo was something to do with it. 

I find it v difficult seeing him in a Palarse shirt.

If England don’t get a move on, Scotland will be after him. Qualifies apparently.

Todds_right_hook

shine166 said:

Athletico Charlton said:

Left us to be relegated at the very first opportunity and when we needed him most in January, then joined Palace and now helping them to beat the likes of Man City. Don't see any conflict. 

He was recalled

Because southall didn’t pay the next instalment. It’s easy to blame the player or hate him because he is now at palace but he didn’t have a say in being recalled

paulfox

Chris_from_Sidcup said:

paulfox said:

Being a bit old school in my thoughts of players, I always rate midfielders as an overall player, to me a midfielder should be able to defend/ attack/ pass/ tackle. Not either/or. I do get frustrated with the pigeonholed position because a MF can’t do something or is better at a particular aspect. For example, defensive MF or no.10. Sort of made up positions. That’s why I like Conor as a player so much, he can do the lot, for me a real box to box player. 

But surely you wouldn't expect Mount or De Bruyne to do what Kante and Rodri do or vice versa?

Why not?, they are midfielders aren’t they, might even make some of them better. I think to be fair De Bruyne has more to his all round game than the others. As I emphasised when I was growing up watching football a midfielder could do it all. The best ones anyway. 

supaclive

Conor's Dad is a driver and he drives my friend around for his work trips etc.    
Conor didn't want to leave, but I believe Swansea paid a fee for taking him and also it was thought that Swansea and their set up was a much better destination for his football development than basket case Charlton.
But it wasn't Conor's doing, however his agent and Chelsea benefitted financially from the move also.

Lincsaddick

He's doing for Palace what he did in his short stay for us .. an example of tireless running, great covering, fierce tacking, in  fact a bit of an ideal benchmark for the modern midfielder .. he's carrying on with the sort of performances that a now aging Kanté gave for the Foxes and Chelsea, proving that one player CAN make a team 100% better

PragueAddick

supaclive said:

Conor's Dad is a driver and he drives my friend around for his work trips etc.    
Conor didn't want to leave, but I believe Swansea paid a fee for taking him and also it was thought that Swansea and their set up was a much better destination for his football development than basket case Charlton.
But it wasn't Conor's doing, however his agent and Chelsea benefitted financially from the move also.

In the Athletic (which unfortunately operates a strict paywall) there is a very good article on how well Ian Maadsen is doing at Coventry. This snippet is relevant to the thread:

"There was a new contract on his 18th birthday, running through to 2024 with an option to extend for a further year. Last season was spent at Charlton Athletic in League One, steeling himself in the third tier and performing impressively, after taking advice from his club-mate, Conor Gallagher, over the suitability of the move, and receiving assurances from new owner, dental accountant Craig Freeman, that Charlton were no longer a basket case. Charlton would gladly have retained him for a further year in the third tier but, this time around, Maatsen is testing himself at the next level up."

(OK I added a bit there  )

shine166

Todds_right_hook said:

shine166 said:

Athletico Charlton said:

Left us to be relegated at the very first opportunity and when we needed him most in January, then joined Palace and now helping them to beat the likes of Man City. Don't see any conflict. 

He was recalled

Because southall didn’t pay the next instalment. It’s easy to blame the player or hate him because he is now at palace but he didn’t have a say in being recalled

I know, the video Chelsea did on him on YouTube just after he left, showed he was gutted to leave... he certainly projected that anyway. 

killerandflash

However painful it might be to see him at Palace, he's an excellent player, and seems a decent person as well

I can see Chelsea integrating him into their first team squad next season. How long can Gareth not call him up also, now he's shining in the PL?

cantersaddick

My view is the embargo was known and changed thongs for Chelsea. We no longer became a good environment for him. I'm sure they realised it would all become toxic very quickly. As soon as another option came up they were always gonna take it. The fact that there was more money involved would always help.

Sillybilly

cantersaddick said:

My view is the embargo was known and changed thongs for Chelsea. We no longer became a good environment for him. I'm sure they realised it would all become toxic very quickly. As soon as another option came up they were always gonna take it. The fact that there was more money involved would always help.