Don’t know do we but the recruitment is inadequate and apart from Stockley and Kirk sub standard. Eight adrift and unless we see a complete reversal of form the season is already slipping away. Seems a crazy thing to say after four games but …..
Yes, so far we know the recruitment has definitely not been good but that could be due to lack of funds. I don't know. We may have had no chance of keeping Aneke or again it may be we lost him due to lack of funds. I don't know who to blame.
If it’s lack of funds then we really are up shizer creek. Unless we claw ourselves out of this crappy league in the next season or two. Not easy at all. Charlton can consider themselves an established third tier club. If I’m honest I’d take stability this season and for TS to get the building blocks in place but next season has to be different.
Don’t know do we but the recruitment is inadequate and apart from Stockley and Kirk sub standard. Eight adrift and unless we see a complete reversal of form the season is already slipping away. Seems a crazy thing to say after four games but …..
Yes, so far we know the recruitment has definitely not been good but that could be due to lack of funds. I don't know. We may have had no chance of keeping Aneke or again it may be we lost him due to lack of funds. I don't know who to blame.
It's like selling houses......its always comes down to price.
With footballers we all know that a player will move because of money. Offer them enough wages & they will move. If we had offered Aneke £10k per week he would have stayed.
The budget is to blame. Not saying we should have offered Aneke £10k but you can't expect Gallen to negotiate with clubs & players with tuppence h'penny in his pocket.
All I know is I hanker for the days when Chris Powell signed about nine players with no loanees, to get us out of this division. I do not know who was helping him; however, I am sure the system was not as elaborate as the one we have now. Do not hanker for the previous owners though!
The whole off the field management team feels a bit disjointed and our strategy either unclear, unknown or unworkable.
Gallen wasn't brought in by Adkins or Sandgaard.
Roddy wasn't brought in by Adkins. Didn't I read that Kirk didn't even meet Adkins before signing? Maybe that's normal in this day and age but didn't Curbs personally meet every player before signing.
Not sure what Roddy has done other than bring his son in who I am sceptical of the fact that he is one of the best available 18 year olds to develop to take the club forward.
New commercial director has given us the most expensive season ticket prices* for 3rd division football ever and the misleading free drink and a touted huge sponsorship deal that has not materialised for whatever reason. (*Don't mind paying more for season tickets but if it is invested in the playing squad which I struggle to see how our £5m+ season ticket money has been).
The Red Red Robin thing too. All of the above in isolation are trivial and perhaps even banal and could be a case of looking for problems where they don't exist because of the last decade of being shafted by wrong un or incompetent owners and execs or they could be symptomatic that there's no real direction or strategy on or off the pitch that will either through naivety or incompetence move us forward at the rate we need to so as to be a sustainable business.
Positives are investment in the women's team and upgrade of Charlton tv but they are surely not as much of a priortiy for the vast majority of addicks as a competitive men's squad and a right back at left back and bench of unproven/ unready kids is not that.
We don't own the valley or the training ground and are hugely loss making in this league so I really cannot understand what the plan is if it isn't to challenge for promotion when every year in this league attracts millions and millions in losses.
Does anyone know what the strategy is at the club and if so how candid are they about it. If it is to live within our means and hope that some talent comes through the youth ranks to sell and fund subsequent seasons then I don't think we have a Gomez or Konsa emerging just at present that will give us that spring board in the immediacy.
Whether it is Sandgaard has underestimated the running costs of a club in league one, the transfer and wage market, or how difficult it may have proved to be to secure further investment 7 figure sponsorship or corporate revenue or selling players that don't exist at present I don't know but how long his appetite to keep putting money in whilst incurring significant losses each season and not having a squad to get us out of the catch 22 problem is a concern.
Whilst Adkins is no Alex Ferguson I fail to believe that he, supported by long term Charlton stalwarts Euell and Jacko can be anything but fully aware of how inadequate the current playing resources are for a competitive squad and a long hard gruelling season on injuries, fatigue and bans let alone one ready for a promotion push.
Selling clubs now know we are desperate for players so we won't be getting any bargains and lending clubs may be reluctant to loan the best loanees to us if they think they'd be better off elsewhere so I am not holding out for the magical 5 or 6 in that will change our fortunes as it just doesn't seem realistic and certainly not a premise or strategy to build a promotion campaign on.
None of it makes sense and whilst this is a very negative and pessimistic spin I was overly optimistic and positive with Jiminez, Duchatelet and ESI at the outset and fell for the PR and promises rather than the actions. Looking at the cold hard actions so far whilst I am of course grateful TS has stepped in and stopped us going under (can't keep caveating this all season) I am still bemused at the perceived lack of action of having a go at putting a framework in place on the pitch to get us there or even get us near there this season and our playing set up 4 games into the season feels very amateurish and not what I would expect from a seasoned and successful manager.
I'm not casting doubt on TS' intentions and will give them the benefit of the doubt until wholly clear that's unwise but he's not got the funds to bankroll us indefinitely or incur season on season losses (and why would you) to tread water and I dont think Guardiola could do much with the paper thin squad he has at his disposal so can't really allay blame on Adkins (despite not being a fan of the lump it to Stockley set up) but I am just really bemused at what is unfolding after the failure to execute the best potential opportunity to build a competitive squad for years this summer.
Perhaps there are financial messes off the field that require addressing before we can move forward. Who knows, wouldn;t be unexpected after the last decade of mismangement.
Concerning and something feels very off whether by design or default.
Don’t know do we but the recruitment is inadequate and apart from Stockley and Kirk sub standard. Eight adrift and unless we see a complete reversal of form the season is already slipping away. Seems a crazy thing to say after four games but …..
Yes, so far we know the recruitment has definitely not been good but that could be due to lack of funds. I don't know. We may have had no chance of keeping Aneke or again it may be we lost him due to lack of funds. I don't know who to blame.
It's like selling houses......its always comes down to price.
With footballers we all know that a player will move because of money. Offer them enough wages & they will move. If we had offered Aneke £10k per week he would have stayed.
The budget is to blame. Not saying we should have offered Aneke £10k but you can't expect Gallen to negotiate with clubs & players with tuppence h'penny in his pocket.
Would he though? Because Birmingham probably offered him something similar wage wise AND a chance at Championship football.
I think that we are competing not only with noveau riche clubs like Ipswich but also Championship teams is PART of the problem but it's not like this has sprung up over the weekend - if it hasn't been working all summer, it's not going to suddenly start working now.
Think you’re right on Curbs Rodders. Chris Powell definitely met all his players and before signing them, wined and dined most of them at the Valley overlooking the pitch.
Think you’re right on Curbs Rodders. Chris Powell definitely met all his players and before signing them, wined and dined most of them at the Valley overlooking the pitch.
Management by committee has its time and place but at some point you need a decision maker, especially if there is an impasse. If a casting vote is needed has that been delegated to Roddy or is it TS himself?
There’s a lot to be said for “too many cooks spoil the broth” and trusting those with the expertise based on track record which has to be Gallen doesn’t it 🤷♂️.
Spot on, RC.
My thoughts entirely.
I believe that I commented weeks ago that TS/WM appear to be huge fans of committees & I feel that too many have been created of late.
Didn't we learn that the Early Bird benefits was a decision made by committee ?
NO-ONE is taking full responsibility for any major decisions at our club which inevitably means a lack of leadership both on & off the pitch.
Maybe this works in the US but not here or indeed in football in general but who is there in SE7 to question this policy ?
I understand that Gladys, the tea lady has been effectively gagged.....
Can't find his words but my understanding from Rich Cawley was that Roddy identifies the players, Gallen and Adkins negotiate the terms and Adkins fits them into the team. If that's the case, we look to have lost Gallen's eye for a player which is a retrograde step. Seems odd that a role involved in the structure and development of the club eg the women's team, the Academy, the authorities etc would also include selection of new players especially when Roddy never played or managed professionally.
It’s obvious we need players and that will be down to what budget we have, as to who makes the decisions on players these days is blurred, not a lover of committees but it does seem there are too many involved. I applaud the notion to use the academy but that takes game time and gradual integration, and if the team isn’t playing well that can’t be good for the youngsters. Young Elerewe coming on was not the reason we lost far from it, we lost because yet again our midfield crumbled with our full backs not supporting.
Adkins, JJ and Euell are no fools they know what’s missing and what’s needed player wise. Personally my thoughts are we have little to offer attacking wise from our full backs hence our midfield looking ponderous, easily shut out and an over reliance on a long punt to JS. I was concerned over Adkins after match words that we were not up to pressing them, MK, in the second half, it that’s his tactics then players ain’t fit enough and tactically not up to it, Adkins decides on the tactics. As a team we have height throughout so should be good at set pieces front and back & at long last now 2 pacey wingers, just need a bit more creativity and players who can create space for others.
Hopefully a few loanees will come in as I doubt anyone on the free transfer list have much to offer and I will be both delighted and shocked if we buy anyone now.
Part of me thinks that this is all too much hysteria after 4 games but I watched last night and we were worse that v Wednesday (also seen on TV) so hmmm. Saturday will be interesting.
I think as the club never hit admin/insolvency/booted out the league, the reality of us being in real trouble just feels like a newspaper headline to many.
TS could have picked up the Club after this period on the cheap, but that was not the plan. Who would that have helped.
The current situation with the playing squad is disappointing but lets not turn into entitled fans. The short and mid term reality shows that we are (pains me to say), a bloody League One team and club.
Although I'm not going to say we have enough strength in depth, most people (including fans and observers outside the club) thought our starting 11 had enough to seriously challenge for a play off place although not for automatic. I personally feel there is something seriously not gelling in the team and it looks as though there is no cohesion and that the players are new to each other. The fact is only 2 outfield players are new and different from the team that went on a strong run at the end of last year. My conclusion is that our pre season was not only ineffective but actually counter productive. This can only be the fault of NA.
The other problem of course was the over promising by both TS and NA. A much more laid back approach and building for long term future rather 'blowing away the league this year' would have been accepted by most fans (bearing in mind a year ago we were seriously doubting whether we would still exist.
Management by committee has its time and place but at some point you need a decision maker, especially if there is an impasse. If a casting vote is needed has that been delegated to Roddy or is it TS himself?
There’s a lot to be said for “too many cooks spoil the broth” and trusting those with the expertise based on track record which has to be Gallen doesn’t it 🤷♂️.
I understand that Gladys, the tea lady has been effectively gagged.....
She retired in the New Year.
The delightful Henners took over the Sparrows Lane Catering team. Got rid of the gingham plastic table cloths quicker than a 34 year old holding midfielder.
I am a great believer in Benjamin Bloom's idea that any club in the bottom three divisions, which does not have parachute payments, needs to get on a cycle of buying/developing good young players, selling them on at a profit, investing the money, and then doing it again.
From that perspective, it is hard to really appreciate just what a dreadful position we were in at the end of last season - was there a single player who we could have sold for anything more than chickenfeed? Really no.
What seems to be going on at the club at the moment is all about trying to establish strong foundations for the future - paying out for new senior management, the women's team, CharltonTV - and also paying out what for this level is an absolute fortune for new players.
But all that player spending is going on getting on that cycle to develop, sell, and reinvest. That means some bad performances as things settle down (see also Ipswich), but it had to be done at some point, and it is frankly impressive to be doing it during a financial crisis caused by the pandemic.
I will say that, in this context, some of the more gung-ho comments after last season were a mistake because they set expectations at a height which will be hard to meet, but I would prefer an owner and manager who are too optimistic and ebullient, rather than what we have seen in recent years.
I think we as fans deserve to know , clearly the recruitment this summer has been completely dire and yet them in his most previous interview said he felt we had the making of a strong squad
I understand the concern and worry. In short, it probably poses the question. How comes we managed to get a stronger team together under an unconcerned Owner and a bunch of crooks than we have now?
I don't actually know how to answer that and have been told to wait another two weeks.
Don't see how anybody can really blame Adkins too much or God forbid compare him to slade!!
Let's not forget last season where we actually had a decent squad and players to bring on, we narrowly missed out on playoffs even winning 6 nil on one occasion.
The team and squad we have currently is a lot worse than last seasons, recruitment has been very poor, we needed about 15 players by this point signed ,not 6, deadwood like Pearce and Watson should have been moved on, instead they were kept.
I've seen a lot about long ball etc, nothing wrong with being direct but the runners are very important, stockley is for sure a valuable asset as a target man, but Washington and Jaiyasemi have little pace in behind, and we don't have a Gallagher or even a lapslie to tirelessly be around for knock downs.
You can make the argument that we have spent over a million, Schwartz is probably the most scandalous waste of money in some time, Jaiyasemi really will never be above league 1 standard and the rest are yet to prove themselves with Stockley beginning to do so.
In a nutshell this season a big rebuild was needed, instead we went into the season woefully unprepared.
I personally think it's way too early to be writing any of the new signings off. Of those that have left, the ones that we had a chance of signing to new deals I guess only Shinnie would be the one that we could have any questions about but he'd be behind a fit Gilbey anyway.
Therefore the question needs to be around why haven't we made more signings? None of us know what the budget is or the exact workings of who is responsible for what so it's near impossible to pinpoint why. External factors are at play as well with still not huge amounts of transfer activity across the leagues and we're still waiting to see about any loans.
I don't use Twitter much and I've never followed TS on there. I get the impression from what's posted here though that he doesn't tweet much about the club anymore, is that correct? There was a time when he was tweeting daily (that's conservative) and responding to anyone who messaged him. If that's happening now, it must be very humdrum because the only things I seen posted lately on here where I've seen any enthusiasm from him have been about that song. I really do hope I'm wrong, but I can't help but wonder if he just wanted a bit of short term adulation and is starting to think that the costs of maintaining it are too high.
Comments
With footballers we all know that a player will move because of money. Offer them enough wages & they will move. If we had offered Aneke £10k per week he would have stayed.
The budget is to blame. Not saying we should have offered Aneke £10k but you can't expect Gallen to negotiate with clubs & players with tuppence h'penny in his pocket.
Gallen wasn't brought in by Adkins or Sandgaard.
Roddy wasn't brought in by Adkins. Didn't I read that Kirk didn't even meet Adkins before signing? Maybe that's normal in this day and age but didn't Curbs personally meet every player before signing.
Not sure what Roddy has done other than bring his son in who I am sceptical of the fact that he is one of the best available 18 year olds to develop to take the club forward.
New commercial director has given us the most expensive season ticket prices* for 3rd division football ever and the misleading free drink and a touted huge sponsorship deal that has not materialised for whatever reason. (*Don't mind paying more for season tickets but if it is invested in the playing squad which I struggle to see how our £5m+ season ticket money has been).
The Red Red Robin thing too. All of the above in isolation are trivial and perhaps even banal and could be a case of looking for problems where they don't exist because of the last decade of being shafted by wrong un or incompetent owners and execs or they could be symptomatic that there's no real direction or strategy on or off the pitch that will either through naivety or incompetence move us forward at the rate we need to so as to be a sustainable business.
Positives are investment in the women's team and upgrade of Charlton tv but they are surely not as much of a priortiy for the vast majority of addicks as a competitive men's squad and a right back at left back and bench of unproven/ unready kids is not that.
We don't own the valley or the training ground and are hugely loss making in this league so I really cannot understand what the plan is if it isn't to challenge for promotion when every year in this league attracts millions and millions in losses.
Does anyone know what the strategy is at the club and if so how candid are they about it. If it is to live within our means and hope that some talent comes through the youth ranks to sell and fund subsequent seasons then I don't think we have a Gomez or Konsa emerging just at present that will give us that spring board in the immediacy.
Whether it is Sandgaard has underestimated the running costs of a club in league one, the transfer and wage market, or how difficult it may have proved to be to secure further investment 7 figure sponsorship or corporate revenue or selling players that don't exist at present I don't know but how long his appetite to keep putting money in whilst incurring significant losses each season and not having a squad to get us out of the catch 22 problem is a concern.
Whilst Adkins is no Alex Ferguson I fail to believe that he, supported by long term Charlton stalwarts Euell and Jacko can be anything but fully aware of how inadequate the current playing resources are for a competitive squad and a long hard gruelling season on injuries, fatigue and bans let alone one ready for a promotion push.
Selling clubs now know we are desperate for players so we won't be getting any bargains and lending clubs may be reluctant to loan the best loanees to us if they think they'd be better off elsewhere so I am not holding out for the magical 5 or 6 in that will change our fortunes as it just doesn't seem realistic and certainly not a premise or strategy to build a promotion campaign on.
None of it makes sense and whilst this is a very negative and pessimistic spin I was overly optimistic and positive with Jiminez, Duchatelet and ESI at the outset and fell for the PR and promises rather than the actions. Looking at the cold hard actions so far whilst I am of course grateful TS has stepped in and stopped us going under (can't keep caveating this all season) I am still bemused at the perceived lack of action of having a go at putting a framework in place on the pitch to get us there or even get us near there this season and our playing set up 4 games into the season feels very amateurish and not what I would expect from a seasoned and successful manager.
I'm not casting doubt on TS' intentions and will give them the benefit of the doubt until wholly clear that's unwise but he's not got the funds to bankroll us indefinitely or incur season on season losses (and why would you) to tread water and I dont think Guardiola could do much with the paper thin squad he has at his disposal so can't really allay blame on Adkins (despite not being a fan of the lump it to Stockley set up) but I am just really bemused at what is unfolding after the failure to execute the best potential opportunity to build a competitive squad for years this summer.
Perhaps there are financial messes off the field that require addressing before we can move forward. Who knows, wouldn;t be unexpected after the last decade of mismangement.
Concerning and something feels very off whether by design or default.
I think that we are competing not only with noveau riche clubs like Ipswich but also Championship teams is PART of the problem but it's not like this has sprung up over the weekend - if it hasn't been working all summer, it's not going to suddenly start working now.
My thoughts entirely.
I believe that I commented weeks ago that TS/WM appear to be huge fans of committees & I feel that too many have been created of late.
Didn't we learn that the Early Bird benefits was a decision made by committee ?
NO-ONE is taking full responsibility for any major decisions at our club which inevitably means a lack of leadership both on & off the pitch.
Maybe this works in the US but not here or indeed in football in general but who is there in SE7 to question this policy ?
I understand that Gladys, the tea lady has been effectively gagged.....
TS could have picked up the Club after this period on the cheap, but that was not the plan. Who would that have helped.
The current situation with the playing squad is disappointing but lets not turn into entitled fans. The short and mid term reality shows that we are (pains me to say), a bloody League One team and club.
One of the two sides is failing. We need to figure out which one.
The other problem of course was the over promising by both TS and NA. A much more laid back approach and building for long term future rather 'blowing away the league this year' would have been accepted by most fans (bearing in mind a year ago we were seriously doubting whether we would still exist.
The delightful Henners took over the Sparrows Lane Catering team. Got rid of the gingham plastic table cloths quicker than a 34 year old holding midfielder.
I think she's related to @addick1956
I don't actually know how to answer that and have been told to wait another two weeks.
I wonder who the ex sporting director of Reading was aiming this at?
Let's not forget last season where we actually had a decent squad and players to bring on, we narrowly missed out on playoffs even winning 6 nil on one occasion.
The team and squad we have currently is a lot worse than last seasons, recruitment has been very poor, we needed about 15 players by this point signed ,not 6, deadwood like Pearce and Watson should have been moved on, instead they were kept.
I've seen a lot about long ball etc, nothing wrong with being direct but the runners are very important, stockley is for sure a valuable asset as a target man, but Washington and Jaiyasemi have little pace in behind, and we don't have a Gallagher or even a lapslie to tirelessly be around for knock downs.
You can make the argument that we have spent over a million, Schwartz is probably the most scandalous waste of money in some time, Jaiyasemi really will never be above league 1 standard and the rest are yet to prove themselves with Stockley beginning to do so.
In a nutshell this season a big rebuild was needed, instead we went into the season woefully unprepared.
Therefore the question needs to be around why haven't we made more signings? None of us know what the budget is or the exact workings of who is responsible for what so it's near impossible to pinpoint why. External factors are at play as well with still not huge amounts of transfer activity across the leagues and we're still waiting to see about any loans.