Got a feeling he will play 4231 in his first game for us
Watson Jones Hector Edun Taylor Dobson T.Campbell Leaburn CBT May
An argument for C.Campbell in there cause he's had a good start for us (despite my Wolves mate saying he's shocking) and seems very composed on the ball.
Could also make a case for a few others, especially Camara in the double pivot if he's back fit by then.
Either way on the face of it, that team looks good enough to get a result, let's see if he can earn his paycheque
Leaburn isn’t a number 10. If he wants to set us up in his favoured formation then Leaburn will have to play on the right or he will have to leave out one of May or Leaburn.
I would have the same personnel (other than Asiimwe in for Watson, who won’t be fit) but actually play people in their best positions and play 4-4-2 with Campbell on the right and Leaburn up top. I think Appleton has played it on occasion so I’m hoping he looks at the squad and picks the best formation for it, rather than trying to make us fit his 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 and end up not getting the best out of Leaburn and/or May
Pleased to hear in his interview that he’s already identified weaknesses in set pieces and how we handle transitions / counter attacks.
Attacking he says he wants “possession based” football but not “7-800 passes a game”. “Dominate the ball in the right way, always looking to play forward”.
I mean that’s not that impressive that he’s identified that. Would have only had to watch any one of our first 5 league games
Pleased to hear in his interview that he’s already identified weaknesses in set pieces and how we handle transitions / counter attacks.
Attacking he says he wants “possession based” football but not “7-800 passes a game”. “Dominate the ball in the right way, always looking to play forward”.
That's good because this team desperately needs coaching in possession. We were better in the second half on Saturday, but in the first half we were so static, we had three players just standing at the defensive line, and our only idea seemed to be isolating the wingers to beat their fullbacks. Problem being even if they did, the defense just had five defenders in the box and we had no height.
Just want to bump this. This is a solid squad. I would add CBT in there. Our first 11 should be one of the best on paper in the division. We haven't had our first 11 yet, I'm not entirely sure what it is or who plays where, but this is a good squad in a down year for League One.
In short: Appleton better be the man.
Heard it all before...
We'll see them lose 2-0 to Port Vale and look shocked as to why.
And before the season started, Port Vale fans would’ve swapped their squad for ours.
We have the better players. We have to have a manager/coach that makes them the better team.
We've had the 'best first 11 on paper' for like 3 years now.
Half of the players are in middling League One and Two sides now.
I can't speak for others, but I've never said something like that, but I feel the same about people moaning about "squad is poor, too many frees and loans."
We're in League One, that's how every squad is composed.
Would love to know if there has been a single positive decision this 'new ownership' has made since buying our club.
Been one uninspiring move after the next. Proper tinpot stuff.
the only one I can think of is binning “addicts to victory “ everything else has the cheap option .
Including sacking Holden 6 months into a 3 month contract? The cheap option would have been to mot sack him.
No-one knows what holdens contract said . Didn’t Jacko have one where he could get shoved with a low payment if fell below a certain place in the league ? For all we know Holden may have been on a three month notice.
If he can get the players keeping the ball when in possession, making and receiving passes without taking three touches he's got my support. Because that is what we can't do. Basic football.
I say let’s get behind this new man. We’ve had too many; it’s all beyond our control anyway. I thought it was going to be a good season…..oh well. I think the idea that one stays away and not attend any games is absolute bollocks by the way.
Would love to know if there has been a single positive decision this 'new ownership' has made since buying our club.
Been one uninspiring move after the next. Proper tinpot stuff.
the only one I can think of is binning “addicts to victory “ everything else has the cheap option .
Including sacking Holden 6 months into a 3 month contract? The cheap option would have been to mot sack him.
No-one knows what holdens contract said . Didn’t Jacko have one where he could get shoved with a low payment if fell below a certain place in the league ? For all we know Holden may have been on a three month notice.
The rumour was £150k compensation in total between Holden (I’m assuming the majority of it) senda and Shimell
Pleased to hear in his interview that he’s already identified weaknesses in set pieces and how we handle transitions / counter attacks.
Attacking he says he wants “possession based” football but not “7-800 passes a game”. “Dominate the ball in the right way, always looking to play forward”.
I mean that’s not that impressive that he’s identified that. Would have only had to watch any one of our first 5 league games
I’m not saying I’m impressed. You’re right that it’s a glaring issue.
I’m just glad that SOMEONE is going to try and do something about it. Because it certainly didn’t feel that way over the last month or so.
He is known as Popeye apparently... Takes no fucking about from the players I'm told so could turn out to be what we need to galvanise the squad (especially our defence.) Trying to see the positives...
What are the chances of the fanbase being patient if there isn’t an immediate manager bounce? Whether we like the appointment or not, I think we should try to give him a chance. I’m putting the pitchfork back in the shed.
My initial reaction was "uninspiring. Mid league 1 manager for mid league 1 club.
It's true that Appleton has had success and he is meant to be a good coach, especially with young players but it doesn't scream "we've got billionaires owners with ambition and passion" rather "it's the best we can do on our self-imposed small budget as no one on the up would come so we got a journeyman in".
But on reflection none of that is Appleton's fault.
He is the manager (sod this head coach nonsense) and so I wish him nothing but the best of luck.
And some good luck, with injuries and with emerging talent, is what he will need.
I also hope he can bring in his own backroom team.
There is a half decent squad here to work with when they are all fit, motivated and clear on their roles.
If Appleton can weld them into a team that is greater than the sum of its parts he might bring us some success.
But I fear success for the fans (challenging for promotion and at least a top six finish) may be be different from success for the SMT (cost savings and player sales) and Appleton will be hard pressed to achieve both.
Not you too Henry. How are cost savings and player sales, without challenging for promotion, "success" for SMT? You were there when we regularly sold players to plug the financial holes. It has to be done but it's about timing. SMT says they'll sell when it optimises the value to CAFC. They could have sold Leaburn already if they were penny pinchers uninterested in promotion. They didn't. Will they throw stupid money at a promotion challenge? I trust not because it usually backfires, the owners close the wallet permanently and the club ends up worse off. It takes time.
Of course the SMT would like and hope for on the field success as that will increase income
However, I believe that their priority will be staying within the budgetary limitations under which they sold the deal to the beneficial owners.
And those two may not always be mutually inclusive
Understood and thanks for clarifying. But is staying within budgetary limitations agreed with owners a bad thing? There seems to be a presumption here that the Texas Prospectus business plan is Joshua Friedman et al's business plan. The Texas prospectus was targeted at small-ticket investors who most certainly would not want to or could be relied upon to invest more. Hence the nutso business plan. Friedman et al are not small-ticket investors. As experienced private equity investors, I guarantee you they will be expecting to be asked to make measured follow on investments and will anticipate doing so providing the business is heading in the right direction and the specific case is sound. Of course you run a business as cost-efficiently as possible but not so as to strangle it. CM's description of the plan of selling young players is to do so not the moment cash is desperately needed but when their value is optimised. That's only possible if the owners are prepared to make further working capital available, as we found a way of doing 1994-98. We'll see if he and they are true to this promise.
Ideally, we'd want to be financially responsible AND flexible enough to invest in the playing side whenever possible.
The key difference is, as I see it, is that the owners in 94-98 and beyond, were fans so their priority was, I believe, to progress the club rather than make a profit.
Anyway, good to debate with you as always. We must have drink and put the world/club to rights sometime.
Agreed. But given the repeated absence of fans worth £100m+ willing to step in, I’ll settle for wealthy legitimate businessmen who aren’t money launderers, madmen, asset-strippers or narcissists on an ego-trip. To state the obvious, we need to start to make progress ASAP or, unlike with fans as owners, the wallets will remain shut.
Works well with young players and we have a young squad
Gets good loans from PL teams as they trust him to develop their youngsters (not really a positive for now but for future transfer windows)
Do you know that for a fact or did you just swallow the blurb the club put out ?
Of course he has to work with young players......that's all we have. And until January he'll have no influence on bringing in any loans. And after that no real scope unless a couple go back. He w9nt really have a say about player incomings until June next year. And then he'll have plenty of options as we have the usual 10-12 player churn.
His Blackpool contract ran until 2026, I bet they are delighted to be let off 3 years of those payments (unless they made a settlement).
I was ready to be underwhelmed, and I am.. One day it will be public how close we came to getting LB back - even though “he didn’t apply” and “we never had any contact with him”.
I might go a bit Glory Boy and sit out a few games, to see how things are shaping up. If it looks like a mid-table bore fest then I might give it a miss till the new manager comes in May 2024 ish.
Comments from supporters of some of his former teams are not encouraging but, in mitigation, at least Appleton has a fair amount of experience and he may be able to organise our shambolic defence. He does, however, appear to be an uninspiring participant on the managerial merry go round.
I expect his three years of success with Charlie Methven’s team, Oxford United, were not a disadvantage in the process, however much Scott was leading the process.
The reality is that we’ve fallen a long way and are no longer a particularly attractive proposition, not least because we’ve got through something like 21 managers in the 17 post-Curbs years.
Works well with young players and we have a young squad
Gets good loans from PL teams as they trust him to develop their youngsters (not really a positive for now but for future transfer windows)
Do you know that for a fact or did you just swallow the blurb the club put out ?
Of course he has to work with young players......that's all we have. And until January he'll have no influence on bringing in any loans. And after that no real scope unless a couple go back. He w9nt really have a say about player incomings until June next year. And then he'll have plenty of options as we have the usual 10-12 player churn.
Look at his record with previous clubs. Man City kept sending him players at Lincoln and they aren’t exactly stupid are they? Some of us do know about the game outside of Charlton, I could probably find myself saying the exact same about Appleton in the next manager thread before the club put anything out so it’s definitely not that. It is well known to be one of his strengths by people who know anything about him
Works well with young players and we have a young squad
Gets good loans from PL teams as they trust him to develop their youngsters (not really a positive for now but for future transfer windows)
Do you know that for a fact or did you just swallow the blurb the club put out ?
Of course he has to work with young players......that's all we have. And until January he'll have no influence on bringing in any loans. And after that no real scope unless a couple go back. He w9nt really have a say about player incomings until June next year. And then he'll have plenty of options as we have the usual 10-12 player churn.
In fact here is something I read earlier this week from NTT20 substack on which clubs get the best loan players. So from a neutral before the club even appointed him. I’m definitely not one to swallow club bullshit, I just know a bit about football outside of just the Charlton bubble
Some, you already know about. Michael Appleton’s reputation for developing loanees is well-founded. His peak in that regard was 2020/21, when loanees Brennan Johnson (19 upon arrival), Morgan Rogers (18) and TJ Eyoma (20) helped his Lincoln side to reach the League One play-off final, which they’d ultimately lose to Blackpool. In their first-ever loan spells, Johnson started 41 league games and Eyoma 37, with Rogers making 26 line-ups despite joining only in January. Callum Morton(20) and Robbie Gotts (20) also pitched in as upstart temps, while on-loan Alex Palmer played 48 matches in nets, but he was 24 so he’s effectively dead to us.
Rogers and Johnson, in particular, catapulted themselves into the limelight as well as the Imps into a play-off final: the former earned an upper-Championship loan and the latter went straight into Nottingham Forest’s first team, then to the Premier League, then to Tottenham. How do you like them, Apples?
After that, it wasn’t surprising that football’s self-anointed royalty trusted Appleton to handle their crown jewels. Manchester City, the mutual beneficiaries of Rogers’ impressive Imps spell, gave him Lewis Fiorini (19) at Lincoln and again at Blackpool, following Appleton’s appointment there in 2022, and also sent Rogers to Bloomfield Road shortly before the loan whisperer was sacked. Arsenal endowed Appleton with 18-year-olds Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Lincoln) and Charlie Patino (Blackpool), and Liverpool handed 21-year-old Rhys Williams to his Tangerines for a time. Wherever Appleton turns up next, we can expect some elite prospects to follow.
Works well with young players and we have a young squad
Gets good loans from PL teams as they trust him to develop their youngsters (not really a positive for now but for future transfer windows)
Do you know that for a fact or did you just swallow the blurb the club put out ?
Of course he has to work with young players......that's all we have. And until January he'll have no influence on bringing in any loans. And after that no real scope unless a couple go back. He w9nt really have a say about player incomings until June next year. And then he'll have plenty of options as we have the usual 10-12 player churn.
Look at his record with previous clubs. Man City kept sending him players at Lincoln and they aren’t exactly stupid are they? Some of us do know about the game outside of Charlton, I could probably find myself saying the exact same about Appleton in the next manager thread before the club put anything out so it’s definitely not that. It is well known to be one of his strengths by people who know anything about him
His Blackpool contract ran until 2026, I bet they are delighted to be let off 3 years of those payments (unless they made a settlement).
I was ready to be underwhelmed, and I am.. One day it will be public how close we came to getting LB back - even though “he didn’t apply” and “we never had any contact with him”.
I might go a bit Glory Boy and sit out a few games, to see how things are shaping up. If it looks like a mid-table bore fest then I might give it a miss till the new manager comes in May 2024 ish.
Man City sent us a striker a couple of weeks ago and we didn’t have a manager !
I think this is the most apathetic I’ve ever felt about a Charlton managerial appointment. Even with Fraeye and Luzon I was enraged or laughing my arse off at how ridiculous it was. This is just nothing
Works well with young players and we have a young squad
Gets good loans from PL teams as they trust him to develop their youngsters (not really a positive for now but for future transfer windows)
Do you know that for a fact or did you just swallow the blurb the club put out ?
Of course he has to work with young players......that's all we have. And until January he'll have no influence on bringing in any loans. And after that no real scope unless a couple go back. He w9nt really have a say about player incomings until June next year. And then he'll have plenty of options as we have the usual 10-12 player churn.
Look at his record with previous clubs. Man City kept sending him players at Lincoln and they aren’t exactly stupid are they? Some of us do know about the game outside of Charlton, I could probably find myself saying the exact same about Appleton in the next manager thread before the club put anything out so it’s definitely not that. It is well known to be one of his strengths by people who know anything about him
His Blackpool contract ran until 2026, I bet they are delighted to be let off 3 years of those payments (unless they made a settlement).
I was ready to be underwhelmed, and I am.. One day it will be public how close we came to getting LB back - even though “he didn’t apply” and “we never had any contact with him”.
I might go a bit Glory Boy and sit out a few games, to see how things are shaping up. If it looks like a mid-table bore fest then I might give it a miss till the new manager comes in May 2024 ish.
Man City sent us a striker a couple of weeks ago and we didn’t have a manager !
They probably care a lot less about a 23 year old that is obviously not going to make it
Ah so that explains a lot of Blackpool vitriol… he used to play for Preston.
In between all the comments about him being ex-Preston and not building connection with the fans (we’ve had plenty of that and failed recently), there’s a couple of comments in there about good football and games where your team, being underdogs, should have got more results from their performances.
Sadly looks like Appleton might have less time here to win fans over than he did at your place.
I loved the Charlton fans aren't cry babies and will give him time comments. Im crying and expect instant results from this mediocre appointment
Comments
I would have the same personnel (other than Asiimwe in for Watson, who won’t be fit) but actually play people in their best positions and play 4-4-2 with Campbell on the right and Leaburn up top. I think Appleton has played it on occasion so I’m hoping he looks at the squad and picks the best formation for it, rather than trying to make us fit his 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 and end up not getting the best out of Leaburn and/or May
But I’m not going to slate MA or write him off.
Goodluck to him and I hope he can get us firing up the league.
We're in League One, that's how every squad is composed.
I’m just glad that SOMEONE is going to try and do something about it. Because it certainly didn’t feel that way over the last month or so.
To state the obvious, we need to start to make progress ASAP or, unlike with fans as owners, the wallets will remain shut.
Of course he has to work with young players......that's all we have. And until January he'll have no influence on bringing in any loans. And after that no real scope unless a couple go back. He w9nt really have a say about player incomings until June next year. And then he'll have plenty of options as we have the usual 10-12 player churn.
One day it will be public how close we came to getting LB back - even though “he didn’t apply” and “we never had any contact with him”.
Some, you already know about. Michael Appleton’s reputation for developing loanees is well-founded. His peak in that regard was 2020/21, when loanees Brennan Johnson (19 upon arrival), Morgan Rogers (18) and TJ Eyoma (20) helped his Lincoln side to reach the League One play-off final, which they’d ultimately lose to Blackpool. In their first-ever loan spells, Johnson started 41 league games and Eyoma 37, with Rogers making 26 line-ups despite joining only in January. Callum Morton(20) and Robbie Gotts (20) also pitched in as upstart temps, while on-loan Alex Palmer played 48 matches in nets, but he was 24 so he’s effectively dead to us.
Rogers and Johnson, in particular, catapulted themselves into the limelight as well as the Imps into a play-off final: the former earned an upper-Championship loan and the latter went straight into Nottingham Forest’s first team, then to the Premier League, then to Tottenham. How do you like them, Apples?
After that, it wasn’t surprising that football’s self-anointed royalty trusted Appleton to handle their crown jewels. Manchester City, the mutual beneficiaries of Rogers’ impressive Imps spell, gave him Lewis Fiorini (19) at Lincoln and again at Blackpool, following Appleton’s appointment there in 2022, and also sent Rogers to Bloomfield Road shortly before the loan whisperer was sacked. Arsenal endowed Appleton with 18-year-olds Brooke Norton-Cuffy (Lincoln) and Charlie Patino (Blackpool), and Liverpool handed 21-year-old Rhys Williams to his Tangerines for a time. Wherever Appleton turns up next, we can expect some elite prospects to follow.
mediocre appointment