It's an appointment that sums up where we are as a football club. I genuinely wish him nothing but success, but his appointment just brings another shrug like Adkins, Garner and Holden did before. We're in no position to get any kind of special one manager, and at some point, it really does boil down to doing the basics correctly, building a team with spirit and not trying to reinvent the wheel.
If (and it's a HUGE if) Appleton can start to instil some focused coaching into our defence, then maybe not all hope is lost for this season. With all being equal, he has a squad that neutrals looked at before a ball was kicked and assumed could be playoff contenders - and that was before the loans were added. It's a huge, tough job, but he does at least have a significant amount of experience to draw from.
I suspect he'll have us play very similar football to what we did under Holden and I would predict that, if I had to judge a Charlton side blind under either of them, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If coaching is his focus, then I can only hope and pray that he learns from our frailties quickly by watching every minute of every game so far and builds a coaching regime that works to fix that. Proof is in the pudding. Maybe he gets a tune out of this squad that should, in all honestly, be capable of pushing for playoffs if they play to the top end of their capabilities.
I dunno. Not particularly whelmed either way. Just another one in.
I am a bit lost for any explanation for this decision .. so just to say, it lacks any semblance of imagination as well as ambition .. just LOOK at his record, the geezer is a serial failure .. a big W T F "!!
I am a bit lost for any explanation for this decision .. so just to say, it lacks any semblance of imagination as well as ambition .. just LOOK at his record, the geezer is a serial failure .. a big W T F "!!
Bit unfair, he has a 100% win ratio at Leicester City 😉
WhenI first saw the headline I thought it was a joke, my oh my, how far are we falling, if he's the best we can come up with god help us.
Portsmouth short stint and relegated Blackpool lasted about 10 games/2 months Blackburn see Blackpool Oxford couple of years, did get them from League two to League one and wembley Coach at Leicester & west Brom Couple of years at Lincoln, did little 6 months back at Blackpool, one win in eleven games, sacked
We've gone for a bang average (at best) League one manager, but then right now we are a bang average league one club. I literally give up, I honestly think me and a few of my apprentices at work would have more idea of how to run a football club than the Charlie's we've had the last 8 years.
I am starting to wonder if we've become so toxic as an employer we are literally fishing in the bottom of the pond as surely this isn't the best available, but must be the best of who would work here.
Well said Fenn3098 ffs give Appleton a chance he’s only just come through the door.and typically fifty percent are slating him already before a balls been kicked.Even if we had pep as manager we would still be in this position with that depleted squad.Get all the injured players back, give the bloke six matches, then give your opinion i am confident a lot of you will be changing your tune and actually getting behind our club.
That is the model since Roland and it continues development of young players and to sell them. Don’t give a fuck about the team the fans the club
No, this has been the model (bar the Premiership years) since we returned the The Valley - in truth long before that as well. We developed and sold Academy products to cover the recurring deficits in the years prior to promotion to the Prem in 1998 (Minto and Bowyer most notably). Selling young players is not the issue. It's when you sell them. If the timing is dictated simply by when you desperately need a cash injection, you'll go nowhere. If, as CM described, the plan is to hang on to them until their value's optimised for CAFC and make at least some of the cash available to strengthen the squad, that's how most EFL clubs can achieved progress and promotion. They could have sold Leaburn after the takeover was completed on 19 July if they were the penny-pinchers they're accused of being. They probably won't have a choice at the end of the season if he continues his progress as he'll probably have Premier League suitors but that's fine. It should have added to his value. Time will tell if CM is good to his word and if Appleton can deliver as head coach but as for the owners' motives, as I've said until blue in the face, investing £10m+ in CAFC makes ZERO sense for the large shareholders. Unlike all owners for the past 10+ years (who are patently not interested in the club for money laundering purposes, expansion of a European network, asset-stripping or a vanity project) to aim for anything other than at least 1 promotion. That's not to say they'll throw stupid money at the squad (they evidently won't and I'm thankful for that because it often fails and you're left in deeper shit) but it should mean they'll likely provide the working capital to enable a manager to build a promotion-capable squad over time albeit, yes, selling homegrown players along the way.
WhenI first saw the headline I thought it was a joke, my oh my, how far are we falling, if he's the best we can come up with god help us.
Portsmouth short stint and relegated Blackpool lasted about 10 games/2 months Blackburn see Blackpool Oxford couple of years, did get them from League two to League one and wembley Coach at Leicester & west Brom Couple of years at Lincoln, did little 6 months back at Blackpool, one win in eleven games, sacked
We've gone for a bang average (at best) League one manager, but then right now we are a bang average league one club. I literally give up, I honestly think me and a few of my apprentices at work would have more idea of how to run a football club than the Charlie's we've had the last 8 years.
I am starting to wonder if we've become so toxic as an employer we are literally fishing in the bottom of the pond as surely this isn't the best available, but must be the best of who would work here.
Interesting list, would probably help if you added some context to it like he resigned from Portsmouth (who were in administration) to take the Blackpool job which he left to take the Blackburn job.
You also missed the play off final with Lincoln.
It's not brilliant but it's not "announce relegation now" bad as some are making out. We will finish about 10th because that's about how good our squad is.
As a supporter, I will continue to support CAFC, however I retain the right to complain bitterly when Owners and SMT make mistakes. buying unfit or second rate league 2 players for league 1 (or are they planning for the future) and appointing a manager that most of the supporters seem to have major doubts about. However, I will give them a reasonable chance to turn a sows ear into a silk purse and review the situation after six league matches (more time than they gave Holden) and then again at Christmas. Until then I will continue to support the team but would ask that the Covered Endrefrain from chanting "Mike Appleton's Red Army". that is something he will have to earn, the hard way. If he gets us into the play off positions by Christmas, then it might have been earned.
Unexciting appointment, but not a terrible one either.
Worth noting that the Appleton meme on here was about him constantly jumping ship to get a better job and being linked with every vacancy, rather than because he was a bad manager.
God this feels like a dark day. We’ve just appointed Michael Appleton as our manager…in league 1…having lost 4 out of 6 games, including 2 to league 2 sides. Wow.
Make that lost 6 out of 8 including the 2 to League 2 sides. What a time to be alive!
Not my first choice but who did we really think was going to get? Regardless I’ll be at Stevenage away cheering the boys on. Good luck Michael, you’ll need it with this moany lot 🤣
For all his experience has he ever got a team promoted out of League 1?
He took Lincoln to the play-off and over achieved with the players he had in League 1. Promoted with a young Oxford side from league 2 and did well the following season.
Nigel Adkins had two League 1* promotions on his CV with a super talented Southampton side and Scunthorpe which was more of an achievement as they did not have the future internationals that the saints had.
Talk is the cheap option and even in a week, can Appleton set up a defence to go to Stevenage and get at least a draw if not a win.
Play 4-4-2 in the first away game with May and Leaburn the 2 up front and the 4 being as flexible as possible but if we need both Dobson and Terry Taylor sitting as 6's and being holding midfielders to protect our shaky CB'S. So be it.
Work the players morning(pitch) and afternoon (classroom with a board )until they understand how to play as a team. And how to link up, this should be the basics of football whether kids or elite Football. Jesus, part time coaches would love to have the potential time that professional club's have with their players. Two evening training sessions a week and only one if midweek league match or cup game. Different world.
Results business and that will determine if Appleton is still here by the January window.
* may have been league 2 but can't be arsed to check 🤦🏻♂️
Just woken up to this news. What a dull, uninspiring, unambitious appointment - best case scenario he 'll have us battling for that 13th/14th spot if the injury situation eases completely
WhenI first saw the headline I thought it was a joke, my oh my, how far are we falling, if he's the best we can come up with god help us.
Portsmouth short stint and relegated Blackpool lasted about 10 games/2 months Blackburn see Blackpool Oxford couple of years, did get them from League two to League one and wembley Coach at Leicester & west Brom Couple of years at Lincoln, did little 6 months back at Blackpool, one win in eleven games, sacked
We've gone for a bang average (at best) League one manager, but then right now we are a bang average league one club. I literally give up, I honestly think me and a few of my apprentices at work would have more idea of how to run a football club than the Charlie's we've had the last 8 years.
I am starting to wonder if we've become so toxic as an employer we are literally fishing in the bottom of the pond as surely this isn't the best available, but must be the best of who would work here.
Interesting list, would probably help if you added some context to it like he resigned from Portsmouth (who were in administration) to take the Blackpool job which he left to take the Blackburn job.
You also missed the play off final with Lincoln.
It's not brilliant but it's not "announce relegation now" bad as some are making out. We will finish about 10th because that's about how good our squad is.
Is he an improvement on Holden, Garner, Jackson, Adkins, Bowyer or Robinson? I don't think so (not saying he's worse than all of them, but he's certainly not any better), and herein lies the problem, Managers are continually fired based on results, if I continually kept firing the managers below me since 2016 due to results my bosses would long ago have worked out that it wasn't necessarily them that was the problem!
You have to start to believe (or I do) that we are now attracting a certain type/level of manager for a reason, that reason is the clowns at the helm for the past x number of years.
We struck lucky with Bowyer who if I remember originally joined a day a week to help coach/pass on knowledge to our midfield. Jackson in reality was always a shoe in due to his love and desire to manage CAFC, he'd have done so under almost any terms. But was Holden a poor manager, was Garner, was Jackson? I don't believe so.
I give Appleton less than a year, not because he's necessarily an awful manager, but simply because he'll be fired on results and in the current CAFC climate we aren't ever going to be good enough to mount a serious promotion challenge so when we limp to about 13th place this season it'll be 'all change' once again. Appleton is a Russell Spade type appointment.
Comments
If (and it's a HUGE if) Appleton can start to instil some focused coaching into our defence, then maybe not all hope is lost for this season. With all being equal, he has a squad that neutrals looked at before a ball was kicked and assumed could be playoff contenders - and that was before the loans were added. It's a huge, tough job, but he does at least have a significant amount of experience to draw from.
I suspect he'll have us play very similar football to what we did under Holden and I would predict that, if I had to judge a Charlton side blind under either of them, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If coaching is his focus, then I can only hope and pray that he learns from our frailties quickly by watching every minute of every game so far and builds a coaching regime that works to fix that. Proof is in the pudding. Maybe he gets a tune out of this squad that should, in all honestly, be capable of pushing for playoffs if they play to the top end of their capabilities.
I dunno. Not particularly whelmed either way. Just another one in.
Portsmouth short stint and relegated
Blackpool lasted about 10 games/2 months
Blackburn see Blackpool
Oxford couple of years, did get them from League two to League one and wembley
Coach at Leicester & west Brom
Couple of years at Lincoln, did little
6 months back at Blackpool, one win in eleven games, sacked
We've gone for a bang average (at best) League one manager, but then right now we are a bang average league one club. I literally give up, I honestly think me and a few of my apprentices at work would have more idea of how to run a football club than the Charlie's we've had the last 8 years.
I am starting to wonder if we've become so toxic as an employer we are literally fishing in the bottom of the pond as surely this isn't the best available, but must be the best of who would work here.
We developed and sold Academy products to cover the recurring deficits in the years prior to promotion to the Prem in 1998 (Minto and Bowyer most notably).
Selling young players is not the issue. It's when you sell them.
If the timing is dictated simply by when you desperately need a cash injection, you'll go nowhere.
If, as CM described, the plan is to hang on to them until their value's optimised for CAFC and make at least some of the cash available to strengthen the squad, that's how most EFL clubs can achieved progress and promotion.
They could have sold Leaburn after the takeover was completed on 19 July if they were the penny-pinchers they're accused of being. They probably won't have a choice at the end of the season if he continues his progress as he'll probably have Premier League suitors but that's fine. It should have added to his value.
Time will tell if CM is good to his word and if Appleton can deliver as head coach but as for the owners' motives, as I've said until blue in the face, investing £10m+ in CAFC makes ZERO sense for the large shareholders. Unlike all owners for the past 10+ years (who are patently not interested in the club for money laundering purposes, expansion of a European network, asset-stripping or a vanity project) to aim for anything other than at least 1 promotion.
That's not to say they'll throw stupid money at the squad (they evidently won't and I'm thankful for that because it often fails and you're left in deeper shit) but it should mean they'll likely provide the working capital to enable a manager to build a promotion-capable squad over time albeit, yes, selling homegrown players along the way.
You also missed the play off final with Lincoln.
It's not brilliant but it's not "announce relegation now" bad as some are making out. We will finish about 10th because that's about how good our squad is.
Until then I will continue to support the team but would ask that the Covered End refrain from chanting "Mike Appleton's Red Army". that is something he will have to earn, the hard way. If he gets us into the play off positions by Christmas, then it might have been earned.
Worth noting that the Appleton meme on here was about him constantly jumping ship to get a better job and being linked with every vacancy, rather than because he was a bad manager.
Yeah, but, what do you think of his beard?
You have to start to believe (or I do) that we are now attracting a certain type/level of manager for a reason, that reason is the clowns at the helm for the past x number of years.
We struck lucky with Bowyer who if I remember originally joined a day a week to help coach/pass on knowledge to our midfield. Jackson in reality was always a shoe in due to his love and desire to manage CAFC, he'd have done so under almost any terms. But was Holden a poor manager, was Garner, was Jackson? I don't believe so.
I give Appleton less than a year, not because he's necessarily an awful manager, but simply because he'll be fired on results and in the current CAFC climate we aren't ever going to be good enough to mount a serious promotion challenge so when we limp to about 13th place this season it'll be 'all change' once again. Appleton is a Russell Spade type appointment.
Michael Appletons Red n White Army....... nah doesn't work tbh.