While we haven't ended up with a big name striker like we all thought, I offer this
I would rather have a chairman who trys to get the fans excited, strengthens the squad, keeps our key assets, and has tried to build a good relationship with the fans, over a distant owner who hates the fans, doesnt try to sign anything, can and WILL sell our major assets and leave us bare bones.
Is that seriously our only option? Honestly, I would rather have a Chairman who does what he SAYS he will do and otherwise keeps his mouth shut if he can't deliver.
But he did deliver. He signed three players in a day. You might have decided they're not what you wanted or not good enough - though I doubt you've ever seen Smith play, or maybe even Davis - but we did a lot of business today. Given that our squad is talented but crippled, getting bodies in, which is exactly what Bowyer insisted was key, was necessary and we've pulled it off. It's been a good day for making sure that Bowyer can field a team that's not made up of youth players who aren't ready, and you know that Davis and McGeady are players he wanted. The walk has been walked, because the promise was that business would be done to strengthen the squad.
If we were just after "bodies" then surely we could have brought in players earlier in the window? Waiting until the 31st January to sign 3 loan signings isn't great when Bowyer was crying out for players weeks ago.
Maybe people didn't want to release them until they were sure they had cover themselves.
I'm really happy with this window. Looking at it objectively, we've:
- Replaced Leko with Green - Replaced Gallagher with Smith - Replaced Kayal with Davies - Added McGeady in a role we've struggled to fill, as someone with an x-factor - Kept Taylor
It's all very well including Morgan, Lapslie, Doherty and Dempsey as midfielders available to us, but Bowyer hasn't felt they're ready at the start of the season and arguably only Doherty has done enough to change that view. They've all got potential but we've had to ask too much of them in the last few months, and it's shown in the results.
Given the injuries we've had across the midfield and they're only just coming back, I think it's a decent window and smart to prioritise midfield. We have Cullen, Pratley, Field, Williams and Otzumer to complement the new guys.
I'd have liked another CB or LB, but our defense was a lot tighter earlier in the season with a decent midfield in front of it. I'd have liked another forward, but Green replaces Leko and with Taylor staying it's more valuable than most new signings available in Jan. I expect Aneke will be used up front more off the bench given the other options in midfield - I've not been impressed by him yet but time will tell. Hemed will hopefully stay fit and with Bonne back soon we have enough options again. Hopefully Davison and some of the other youngsters will get a loan.
Ultimately Bowyer, Gallen and Southall seem to have balanced the squad (bearing in mind we often play 6 midfielders over 90 minutes) replaced those leaving / long term injured and have addressed the major weaknesses in the squad. It won't get us promoted this year and you can find things to remain concerned about, but challenging for promotion wasn't the aim and save for a second worst-in-the-country injury crisis should be more than enough to see us stay up. Davies and McGeady are superb signings that add genuine quality to the squad.
Bowyer needs to get them integrated into the squad asap and taking some of the weight. With the returning players, the extra support and the added bonus of McGeady we should start picking up wins and moving towards safety. Bring on Barnsley.
While we haven't ended up with a big name striker like we all thought, I offer this
I would rather have a chairman who trys to get the fans excited, strengthens the squad, keeps our key assets, and has tried to build a good relationship with the fans, over a distant owner who hates the fans, doesnt try to sign anything, can and WILL sell our major assets and leave us bare bones.
Is that seriously our only option? Honestly, I would rather have a Chairman who does what he SAYS he will do and otherwise keeps his mouth shut if he can't deliver.
But he did deliver. He signed three players in a day. You might have decided they're not what you wanted or not good enough - though I doubt you've ever seen Smith play, or maybe even Davis - but we did a lot of business today. Given that our squad is talented but crippled, getting bodies in, which is exactly what Bowyer insisted was key, was necessary and we've pulled it off. It's been a good day for making sure that Bowyer can field a team that's not made up of youth players who aren't ready, and you know that Davis and McGeady are players he wanted. The walk has been walked, because the promise was that business would be done to strengthen the squad.
If we were just after "bodies" then surely we could have brought in players earlier in the window? Waiting until the 31st January to sign 3 loan signings isn't great when Bowyer was crying out for players weeks ago.
It's not just bodies though. Bowyer wanted Green in the summer, he's always liked McGeady, Davis is a classic Bowyer player and apparently we even looked at Smith in the summer. That's the way this window works, teams are willing to let players go on the final day once they've figured out what their squad will look like. Villa let Green go early, but every other team moved players around on the final day. There's likely a middle ground between what was available and what we could get but they've not just signed players randomly on the last day for lols.
A slow burn this one. Initially disappointed at the lack of big names, but with good management these will help create a stronger team, rather than be Charlie Big-Potatoes, lots of fancy runs but no goals.
The nearest thing to a marquee signing was going to be Bostock, and tbh he is now 28 and never did come good after his promise as a 16 yr old.
Can I just say I'm looking forward to my loan transfer to the "Chill out" team from the " Centre ground" there was no way I would sign until I knew Lyle was here to the Summer. Bizarrely some of the "Chill out" guys have joined the "bed wetters". I don't regret putting questions to Matt Southall and wondering why they didn't react to the emergency quicker, but we move on and we need to unite tomorrow because we have one hell of a battle.
If the incomings were McGeady, Davis, a recognizable striker and we kept Lyle, everybody would be buzzing right now. No insider information but my guess is that the plan/wishlist was to get either Maddison or McGeady, Davis or equivalent and a striker. We were probably close to signing our striker of choice which is why MS went on the tweet storm) but weren’t able to get it across the line which is not unusual in January when only a limited number of strikers are available and a lot of competition. My guess is that Smith may have come available unexpectedly and Gallen and Lee said yes just for depth given our injury woes and it appears they rated him back in the summer.
I am generally pleased - my only concern is we are putting a lot of faith in two strikers coming off injury to score because while the likes of Williams, McGeady and Cullen can certainly create opportunities, I dont see a lot of goals coming from the midfield.
Still cant believe we spent no money either and it was just loans
Loans aren't free.
Not free but not necessarily much more expensive then the three who have left in our breakeven budget, now swollen by a Fosu sell-on. Clearly we have signed who we could get rather than our preferred targets, which doesn’t mean they won’t do a job.
You say clearly, Green was done very early so we clearly wanted him.
Bow has always spoken of how much he rates McGeady, so we clearly wanted him.
Sure Smith and Davis were unexpected but I believe we wanted those first two for sure.
Green, I’ll concede. The rest, I don’t think so. But let’s see how they get on. I don’t buy the “we were fine in August so we’d have been in the top half but for injuries” line because you can find plenty of other examples of promoted teams starting well and fading as opponents work them out. This season was always going to be a struggle because we are trying to operate as Burton Albion, which is hard to do in the Championship. Hopefully the quality of Bowyer and Taylor (and a few others) sees us through.
The January window is traditionally the worse to do business in. With new owners who are "reputedly" wealthy it was always going to be difficult since the prices of players to acquire was always going to be beyond their worth. The players agents would also likely to be asking for wages that would unbalance our wage structure thus leading to our existing players being a little disillusioned - not good for a team ethos.By doing what has been done we are more than capable of staying up with this squad and then renegotiating in the summer when a more realistic market will exist, with players being released or are out of contract and the better players in the league below us sèeking to improve their position with a stable football club. Some of the championship teams around us may end up having overspent in this window and, if not promoted will have an FFP problem when their accounts are released. The massives taking on Connor Wickham's salary and all of Bristol City and Brentford's signings come to mind. I am satisfied that, within reason, Southall, Gallen and Bowyer have done well by the club. They may have had to waive some of their targets goodbye because of over ambitious or greedy agents but we will live to fight another day this summer. It looks like our best signing may well have been prudence from East Street.
Evaluate this window without trying to shoehorn a reference to Roland in and it's as weak a window as you could possibly hope for from a team that's apparently got a super rich backer and a chairman who blew a lot of smoke up his own arse and everyone lapped it up.
I mean, ESI have invested barely any money whatsoever because he's not bought the freehold of The Valley or Sparrows Lane and instead acquired the liabilities... BUT on the positive side HE has posted the club badge onto his instagram account, which is more important I'm sure you'll agree.
Ultimately if we stay up, the season is a success. It will be an absolute slog. So let's hope The Valley is rocking tomorrow.
Matt says it all in the video. This window was about getting in players who could hit the ground running, McGeady and Smith have points to prove and will be hungry. Davis is a proven Champ player and very decent. This window was not about throwing money at players who were overpriced and taking a risk for 12 to 18 months. This window was about the now, summer will be about the future.
Matt also said he was fending off bids for Lyle up to 2 hours ago. I'm sure other chairman were doing the same for their key assets. I'm positive he tried to get a big signing over the line, but he ran into the same problems that other clubs ran in to in regards to Lyle
Given the position we are in, today's business seems reasonable enough. No idea if Davis and Smith will be any good for us but I trust Bows and Gallen.
I appreciate having a chairman who communicates with fans, but I found him a bit embarrassing today. That's just me, I know others feel differently.
Still cant believe we spent no money either and it was just loans
Loans aren't free.
Not free but not necessarily much more expensive then the three who have left in our breakeven budget, now swollen by a Fosu sell-on. Clearly we have signed who we could get rather than our preferred targets, which doesn’t mean they won’t do a job.
You say clearly, Green was done very early so we clearly wanted him.
Bow has always spoken of how much he rates McGeady, so we clearly wanted him.
Sure Smith and Davis were unexpected but I believe we wanted those first two for sure.
Green, I’ll concede. The rest, I don’t think so. But let’s see how they get on. I don’t buy the “we were fine in August so we’d have been in the top half but for injuries” line because you can find plenty of other examples of promoted teams starting well and fading as opponents work them out. This season was always going to be a struggle because we are trying to operate as Burton Albion, which is hard to do in the Championship. Hopefully the quality of Bowyer and Taylor (and a few others) sees us through.
I agree, August was a false dawn. Our September and October form is probably a better indication of where we were as a side before the injuries really devastated us, safe from relegation but not threatening the playoff places.
I would like to add that the January transfer window can be a bit like an auction.
Lots of frustrated comments that we've only got Green in on loan (yes I'm frustrated as well).
But most clubs and players are still mid auction and are waiting for higher bids.
The majority of deals happens when the auction is coming to a close ie in the last few days and specifically on the final day.
Surely we all know this if we're honest ?
I posted this on the 15th January. The auction/poker is coming to a close.
So as I suggested the signings mainly all happened right at the end of the window and all those panicking for the last 3 weeks should have shown more patience.
Bowyer signed. Taylor still here. No one sold or loaned. Leko injured and Gallagher taken back out of our control. 4 loan signings which should ensure we can name a fully fit 18, with options from the bench. I'd give that a 7.5/10. Just could have done with another striker.
Ok Southall got overly enthusiastic, but would I rather him than Duchatelet & Meire ? Yes I would. Please let's not forget ex-director David White commented very recently that he had spoken to Southall and was supportive of him and his colleagues.
We get to see HE tomorrow, hopefully before we can take 3 points or at least 1 from Barnsley.
I'm happy with that and any proper Charlton fan should be as well.
Still cant believe we spent no money either and it was just loans
Loans aren't free.
Not free but not necessarily much more expensive then the three who have left in our breakeven budget, now swollen by a Fosu sell-on. Clearly we have signed who we could get rather than our preferred targets, which doesn’t mean they won’t do a job.
You say clearly, Green was done very early so we clearly wanted him.
Bow has always spoken of how much he rates McGeady, so we clearly wanted him.
Sure Smith and Davis were unexpected but I believe we wanted those first two for sure.
Green, I’ll concede. The rest, I don’t think so. But let’s see how they get on. I don’t buy the “we were fine in August so we’d have been in the top half but for injuries” line because you can find plenty of other examples of promoted teams starting well and fading as opponents work them out. This season was always going to be a struggle because we are trying to operate as Burton Albion, which is hard to do in the Championship. Hopefully the quality of Bowyer and Taylor (and a few others) sees us through.
Some fair points made, but many of those sides didn't have our injury crisis.
I don't fully believe we'd be in the playoffs. But I do believe we'd be top half of the table still without the ridiculous injury count.
Not too worried about not signing Maddison. On talent alone yes, but if the wages weren't good enough fine. I'd be happy as with the last fair few windows if we'd get James Henry. He scores similar amounts in third tier, but proven in the champ to cross and assist in the top ranks.
How Bowyer plays 3 CFs work, but you need lot's of midfielders and some of them need to fill defensive holes. Tomorrow is the test.
The squad has pretty much the same make up as it did at the end of the last window. Plus Matthew, Oztumer and McGeady.
That's obviously by design. I said then I thought we were a striker and and top center half short. Possibly still are.
The midfield injuries we had were unbelievable really.
If MS hadn't banged on about it I would be pleased, but not over joyed, with that window.
As a whole window 7/10 Compared to what MS banged on about 4/10
Perhaps there was ‘one that got away’? That would explain the tweets.
However, I suspect if Matt is still around in ten years he’ll be far more circumspect.
I think if it had happened in silence, or under Roland, a lot more people would be a lot more positive.
I am not disappointed in the deals, per say, more against what we were led to believe was possible.
Now MS needs to get the contracts for the "assets" sorted, remember Bowyer said that 18 months ago. MS has already said its a priority let's see if he can deliver.
Honestly cannot understand the concern about getting loans in - we need players for right away, we will build in the Summer for next year, but we need to stay up first, and quality loans achieve that without tying us to future contracts.
I reckon we have done well and I certainly appreciate MS's enthusiasm - I mean, how long have we had to put up with apathetic owners? It is quite the breathe of fresh air.
That alone means that I am very happy and that we will stay up.
Now we also have a stronger midfield, I have no doubts whatsoever.
Bring on the summer.........I have feeling that that is when it will get very interesting and we will know where our club is going in the next few years.
I’m not even sure the whole Maddison thing was entirely genuine. Bit of back scratching going on between McAnthony and his old mate Southall.
Southall gets some fan brownie points by appearing to be interested in signing him,... when he never really was ( what happened to that £2.5million?)
And McAnthony sees the premium go up and draws a few in. Which seems to have failed spectacularly.
I have said for years that something like this could possibly happen between chairman.
Chairman 1 wants his fans to think his club is going to be active in the transfer market.
Chairman 2 wants his fans to think that although they haven't got any money to spend they can at least keep hold of the players they have.
Chairmen agree to put out a story that Chairman 1 has bid £xxx for a certain player belonging to Chairman 2 but Chairman 2 is adamant that said player is going nowhere. Nothing happens & player stays. Chairman 1 tells his fans......."I did the best I could, but they wouldn't budge". Chairman 2 says to his fans....."I stood up to them & didnt sell".
I’m not even sure the whole Maddison thing was entirely genuine. Bit of back scratching going on between McAnthony and his old mate Southall.
Southall gets some fan brownie points by appearing to be interested in signing him,... when he never really was ( what happened to that £2.5million?)
And McAnthony sees the premium go up and draws a few in. Which seems to have failed spectacularly.
I have said for years that something like this could possibly happen between chairman.
Chairman 1 wants his fans to think his club is going to be active in the transfer market.
Chairman 2 wants his fans to think that although they haven't got any money to spend they can at least keep hold of the players they have.
Chairmen agree to put out a story that Chairman 1 has bid £xxx for a certain player belonging to Chairman 2 but Chairman 2 is adamant that said player is going nowhere. Nothing happens & player stays. Chairman 1 tells his fans......."I did the best I could, but they wouldn't budge". Chairman 2 says to his fans....."I stood up to them & didnt sell".
Win/win.
Can we all give it a rest with the conspiracy theories. This isn't House of Cards.
Comments
- Replaced Leko with Green
- Replaced Gallagher with Smith
- Replaced Kayal with Davies
- Added McGeady in a role we've struggled to fill, as someone with an x-factor
- Kept Taylor
It's all very well including Morgan, Lapslie, Doherty and Dempsey as midfielders available to us, but Bowyer hasn't felt they're ready at the start of the season and arguably only Doherty has done enough to change that view. They've all got potential but we've had to ask too much of them in the last few months, and it's shown in the results.
Given the injuries we've had across the midfield and they're only just coming back, I think it's a decent window and smart to prioritise midfield. We have Cullen, Pratley, Field, Williams and Otzumer to complement the new guys.
I'd have liked another CB or LB, but our defense was a lot tighter earlier in the season with a decent midfield in front of it. I'd have liked another forward, but Green replaces Leko and with Taylor staying it's more valuable than most new signings available in Jan. I expect Aneke will be used up front more off the bench given the other options in midfield - I've not been impressed by him yet but time will tell. Hemed will hopefully stay fit and with Bonne back soon we have enough options again. Hopefully Davison and some of the other youngsters will get a loan.
Ultimately Bowyer, Gallen and Southall seem to have balanced the squad (bearing in mind we often play 6 midfielders over 90 minutes) replaced those leaving / long term injured and have addressed the major weaknesses in the squad. It won't get us promoted this year and you can find things to remain concerned about, but challenging for promotion wasn't the aim and save for a second worst-in-the-country injury crisis should be more than enough to see us stay up. Davies and McGeady are superb signings that add genuine quality to the squad.
Bowyer needs to get them integrated into the squad asap and taking some of the weight. With the returning players, the extra support and the added bonus of McGeady we should start picking up wins and moving towards safety. Bring on Barnsley.
Lyle Taylor is still here
That was huge
The nearest thing to a marquee signing was going to be Bostock, and tbh he is now 28 and never did come good after his promise as a 16 yr old.
Starting to feel quite optimistic.
Whelmed.
Bizarrely some of the "Chill out" guys have joined the "bed wetters".
I don't regret putting questions to Matt Southall and wondering why they didn't react to the emergency quicker, but we move on and we need to unite tomorrow because we have one hell of a battle.
Some of the championship teams around us may end up having overspent in this window and, if not promoted will have an FFP problem when their accounts are released. The massives taking on Connor Wickham's salary and all of Bristol City and Brentford's signings come to mind.
I am satisfied that, within reason, Southall, Gallen and Bowyer have done well by the club. They may have had to waive some of their targets goodbye because of over ambitious or greedy agents but we will live to fight another day this summer. It looks like our best signing may well have been prudence from East Street.
I mean, ESI have invested barely any money whatsoever because he's not bought the freehold of The Valley or Sparrows Lane and instead acquired the liabilities... BUT on the positive side HE has posted the club badge onto his instagram account, which is more important I'm sure you'll agree.
Ultimately if we stay up, the season is a success. It will be an absolute slog. So let's hope The Valley is rocking tomorrow.
Matt says it all in the video. This window was about getting in players who could hit the ground running, McGeady and Smith have points to prove and will be hungry. Davis is a proven Champ player and very decent. This window was not about throwing money at players who were overpriced and taking a risk for 12 to 18 months. This window was about the now, summer will be about the future.
Matt also said he was fending off bids for Lyle up to 2 hours ago. I'm sure other chairman were doing the same for their key assets. I'm positive he tried to get a big signing over the line, but he ran into the same problems that other clubs ran in to in regards to Lyle
I appreciate having a chairman who communicates with fans, but I found him a bit embarrassing today. That's just me, I know others feel differently.
Bowyer signed.
Taylor still here.
No one sold or loaned.
Leko injured and Gallagher taken back out of our control.
4 loan signings which should ensure we can name a fully fit 18, with options from the bench.
I'd give that a 7.5/10. Just could have done with another striker.
Ok Southall got overly enthusiastic, but would I rather him than Duchatelet & Meire ?
Yes I would.
Please let's not forget ex-director David White commented very recently that he had spoken to Southall and was supportive of him and his colleagues.
We get to see HE tomorrow, hopefully before we can take 3 points or at least 1 from Barnsley.
I'm happy with that and any proper Charlton fan should be as well.
Bit of back scratching going on between McAnthony and his old mate Southall.
Southall gets some fan brownie points by appearing to be interested in signing him,... when he never really was ( what happened to that £2.5million?)
And McAnthony sees the premium go up and draws a few in. Which seems to have failed spectacularly.
I don't fully believe we'd be in the playoffs. But I do believe we'd be top half of the table still without the ridiculous injury count.
How Bowyer plays 3 CFs work, but you need lot's of midfielders and some of them need to fill defensive holes. Tomorrow is the test.
I am not disappointed in the deals, per say, more against what we were led to believe was possible.
Now MS needs to get the contracts for the "assets" sorted, remember Bowyer said that 18 months ago. MS has already said its a priority let's see if he can deliver.
I reckon we have done well and I certainly appreciate MS's enthusiasm - I mean, how long have we had to put up with apathetic owners? It is quite the breathe of fresh air.
That alone means that I am very happy and that we will stay up.
Now we also have a stronger midfield, I have no doubts whatsoever.
Bring on the summer.........I have feeling that that is when it will get very interesting and we will know where our club is going in the next few years.
Chairman 1 wants his fans to think his club is going to be active in the transfer market.
Chairman 2 wants his fans to think that although they haven't got any money to spend they can at least keep hold of the players they have.
Chairmen agree to put out a story that Chairman 1 has bid £xxx for a certain player belonging to Chairman 2 but Chairman 2 is adamant that said player is going nowhere. Nothing happens & player stays. Chairman 1 tells his fans......."I did the best I could, but they wouldn't budge". Chairman 2 says to his fans....."I stood up to them & didnt sell".
Win/win.