The OP didn't ask though "who is responsible for us being relegated?" though - they asked "who is to blame for our current position?".
To put that position in perspective, it is one that has changed from being 14/1 to go down to being odds on shots to do so. It's one where we were beating the likes of Leeds, Brentford and Derby to losing to fellow relegation candidates Sheffield Wednesday (their one and only win in last 10 matches), Huddersfield and Middlesbrough. It's one where we've picked up 9 points from our last 14 matches and that is relegation form.
I was convinced that following the window and with players such as Taylor coming back we would be safe. I'm not so certain now.
On the basis of the above, I don't think that the question is an unfair one.
We need to keep Bowyer and give him a proper transfer window, even if we go down. Whether ESI have the power to deliver that, I'm not sure.
Absolutely spot on - and we need to keep the faith with Bowyer himself. He hasn’t always got tactics & squads right but he is still relatively inexperienced and has all that is required to be a great manager if he is given support and backing.
I think we are down already and am looking forward to LB building a squad that can keep us in the Championship next time - one that doesn’t vanish, or get sold at the end of the season like last summer.
He was THEIR player. If you build your team around loans then you run that risk. We've been doing it for the past few seasons & one reason why we are in this mess Every July we have to re-build a squad as 5 or 6 key players have to be replaced without us able to do anything about it. We were lucky to get Cullen back this season and even luckier to get him AND Bielik the previous one.
As for the original question. Injuries & LB - 50/50.
Roland. We had an undersized squad which lacked quality to compete with pound land medical team. Esi on paper could have done better but we don’t know what happened. I would like to think they tried to get players in but clubs wanted silly money rather than no effort or money. August will give an indication of that. But I blame Roland and solely Roland.
He was THEIR player. If you build your team around loans then you run that risk. We've been doing it for the past few seasons & one reason why we are in this mess Every July we have to re-build a squad as 5 or 6 key players have to be replaced without us able to do anything about it. We were lucky to get Cullen back this season and even luckier to get him AND Bielik the previous one.
As for the original question. Injuries & LB - 50/50.
I agree with the points you've made, but not your conclusion. Having explained the problem of having to rebuild the squad each season because our dependency on loanees, it seems quite inadequate to suddenly switch to 'Injuries & LB - 50/50'. What about those who put us at risk of those injuries, exacerbating them and possibly even causing some of them? Those same people who have placed Bowyer in a position where he doesn't have adequate tools to do the job?
I've half a mind to say that it's mainly Roly's as fault he's the one who chronically underfunded the squad each year. He's the one under whose stewardship we played for months with a depleted squad. Next up comes Easy Street who could have done something more substantial to mitigate the risk that a parent club could at anytime recall their player. But that would be unfair on any of them. As much as I hate what Roly did to our club, I don't feel it's fair to expect one man, even a multi-millionaire, to be in a position where they should keep overpaying just to keep a club up. The truth of the matter is that football finances are ridiculously out of kilter. Clubs have to spend on players far in excess of their intrinsic value just in the hope of 'achieving' 21st place.
I'm no fan of serfdom, but things have been on the slide since Jimmy Hill's PFA broke the wages structure in 1961. This situation was greatly worsened with the splitting off of the Prem and has been made worse still with every subsequent tv deal. The football authorities, enthralled by the potential profitability at the top of the game and by seven figure enumerations for the frankly ordinary blazered bureaucrats, have done precious little to protect the game at its historically fundamental level of operation - the league. Instead they have allowed a system of massive overpayments to players and agents to the point where there is not one player in the league who is not overpaid.
You could argue that it's Roly or Matt's fault for not playing the game and shelling out on a suitable squad, but ultimately it's a systemic failure and it's not going to go away.
I blame RD and the way he neglected the Club, to be dealt with by someone else (Yes questions still need to also be asked of ESI blah blah). Loads of ifs, buts and maybes, but to actually blame Bowyer for the position of the Club is well fuckin short sighted imo
I blame RD and the way he neglected the Club, to be dealt with by someone else (Yes questions still need to also be asked of ESI blah blah). Loads of ifs, buts and maybes, but to actually blame Bowyer for the position of the Club is well fuckin short sighted imo
You’re right but that doesn’t mean Bowyer is necessarily the right man to manage the club.
My dad , should never have taken me as a wide eyed innocent , to Charlton as my first ever football match , in 1968 , didn't even bloody win then either!
We were always going to be in a relegation scrap. We had a great start to the season which got our hopes up and got lucky with Gallagher.
If we hadnt had a good start we wouldn't be having the conversation now. Also if esi hadn't bought us with our hopes of saudi money we wouldn't be having this conversation now as wouldn't have expected any signings from Roland.
Allowed to be disappointed at the January transfer window though.
It's an ongoing list of blame and everyone has to take their share of it. Owners, management and players. I'm a fan of Bowyer and even if we go down he should stay, but he still has to take some of the blame because of decisions he has made in what I believe have been his mistakes in team selection.
Yes ESI have done far to much loud shouting without backing it up. But it's been a very short time and as many CAFC fans were happy to "lets wait until the summer/transfer window " ad nauseum under Roland, it's a bit difficult to then condemn ESI at this early stage.
Ultimately this situation all stems from RD's mismanagement and it's going to take time to rectify. If things don't improve after a bit, then it's time to move all the blame over to ESI and/or the manager.
My dad , should never have taken me as a wide eyed innocent , to Charlton as my first ever football match , in 1968 , didn't even bloody win then either
My first game was 1968! What could have been had he taken me somewhere else. Could be worse could have been Selhurst Park
Comments
'Aspirations in the clouds, but your hopes go down the drain'
The life of a Charlton supporter!
To put that position in perspective, it is one that has changed from being 14/1 to go down to being odds on shots to do so. It's one where we were beating the likes of Leeds, Brentford and Derby to losing to fellow relegation candidates Sheffield Wednesday (their one and only win in last 10 matches), Huddersfield and Middlesbrough. It's one where we've picked up 9 points from our last 14 matches and that is relegation form.
I was convinced that following the window and with players such as Taylor coming back we would be safe. I'm not so certain now.
On the basis of the above, I don't think that the question is an unfair one.
I think we are down already and am looking forward to LB building a squad that can keep us in the Championship next time - one that doesn’t vanish, or get sold at the end of the season like last summer.
As for the original question. Injuries & LB - 50/50.
I've half a mind to say that it's mainly Roly's as fault he's the one who chronically underfunded the squad each year. He's the one under whose stewardship we played for months with a depleted squad. Next up comes Easy Street who could have done something more substantial to mitigate the risk that a parent club could at anytime recall their player. But that would be unfair on any of them. As much as I hate what Roly did to our club, I don't feel it's fair to expect one man, even a multi-millionaire, to be in a position where they should keep overpaying just to keep a club up. The truth of the matter is that football finances are ridiculously out of kilter. Clubs have to spend on players far in excess of their intrinsic value just in the hope of 'achieving' 21st place.
I'm no fan of serfdom, but things have been on the slide since Jimmy Hill's PFA broke the wages structure in 1961. This situation was greatly worsened with the splitting off of the Prem and has been made worse still with every subsequent tv deal. The football authorities, enthralled by the potential profitability at the top of the game and by seven figure enumerations for the frankly ordinary blazered bureaucrats, have done precious little to protect the game at its historically fundamental level of operation - the league. Instead they have allowed a system of massive overpayments to players and agents to the point where there is not one player in the league who is not overpaid.
You could argue that it's Roly or Matt's fault for not playing the game and shelling out on a suitable squad, but ultimately it's a systemic failure and it's not going to go away.
A vast bulk that are constantly negative and seem not to know what their role is.
It's an ongoing list of blame and everyone has to take their share of it. Owners, management and players. I'm a fan of Bowyer and even if we go down he should stay, but he still has to take some of the blame because of decisions he has made in what I believe have been his mistakes in team selection.
Yes ESI have done far to much loud shouting without backing it up. But it's been a very short time and as many CAFC fans were happy to "lets wait until the summer/transfer window " ad nauseum under Roland, it's a bit difficult to then condemn ESI at this early stage.
Ultimately this situation all stems from RD's mismanagement and it's going to take time to rectify. If things don't improve after a bit, then it's time to move all the blame over to ESI and/or the manager.