Probably need to be able beat even the half-decent teams at this level. Not beaten anyone in the top half yet. Appleton hasn’t beaten anyone above 17th and 4 of his 5 wins were against teams in the bottom 7 at home…
It's a shame if we had rak sakyi on the right this season I reckon we'd have been pushing top 6 this season the threat of him may and cbt as the front 3 would have been great to watch.
I might be wrong, but apart from alphabetically, we haven’t been in the the top 6 since before a ball was kicked, at the start of the season.
So realistically how many transfer windows do we need to become a serious team to challenge for the top 2 / top 6, feels like same old, same old at the moment, lack of away wins, can’t keep a clean sheet, injury after injury etc, surely it has to change sometime.
I don’t want to have Wrexham and Millwall in our division next season, otherwise it will be another season wasted and down the Swanny.
We don't MIA. I hit 50 next year and the misery will continue till I'm 60 at least
Probably need to be able beat even the half-decent teams at this level. Not beaten anyone in the top half yet. Appleton hasn’t beaten anyone above 17th and 4 of his 5 wins were against teams in the bottom 7 at home…
Probably need to be able beat even the half-decent teams at this level. Not beaten anyone in the top half yet. Appleton hasn’t beaten anyone above 17th and 4 of his 5 wins were against teams in the bottom 7 at home…
Good visual! Cheers for posting. 7/10 vs that top 9 are at home and 7/10 vs that top 9 are after the Jan transfer window closes.
Of the final 8/10 games of the run in during Mar / Apr, we are against teams currently below us.
The chopping and changing is the big killer. With how briefly managers last in jobs thee days I'm always really wary of a transfer window where the manager is allowed to completely change the shape and style of play because if it doesn't work then you've invested your resources in something the next manager might not like, which is what we've seen this season. We signed players for a 352 where we weren't going to be reliant on goalscoring wingers again, we were hoping our two strikers would provide the firepower and the shape would work around that. It didn't, and now Appleton has spent his entire time with us crowbarring players into spots where they don't quite fit. I don't think we've ever put out an 11 under him where every player is being used to the best of their abilities.
May is always at 10 or out wide or playing on his own up front when none of those are what he's best at. We have to play with wingers or CBT plays at WB which doesn't work. Our midfield was built ideally to have Dobson and Taylor playing behind Fraser but due to injuries, sackings and cursed 10 shirts that wasn't possible and instead we rotate our midfield three every single week. Sometimes it was Dobson and another with May at 10. Then we switched to Dobson, Fraser and McGrandles in a deeper three to little effect, and now McGrandles is out we've got either of the Campbells filling in at 10 with May in one of the front three spots playing with whichever other striker isn't crippled. It's such a mess. We've tried Fraser, Dobson, Watson, T Campbell, McGrandles, C Campbell, Camara once and May in the middle and I bet Appleton couldn't honestly tell you which is the combination he'd play if all were fit and available. He doesn't want the players he's got. Abankwah, Tedic, Chem, Louie Watson, they all seem to enrage him in varying amounts. I reckon Camara is one he actually would have liked as he wants physicality in the team but that dream is dead.
The reality is we're going to have to start over again in the summer, which is really frustrating as you need a few years of building to get anywhere and we'll be throwing it all out again at the next available opportunity. Knowing Charlton we'll chuck all the loanees and bring in a few physical players from teams that put themselves about a bit, it won't work out for whatever reason and then we'll bring in a manager who wants to play a bit and he'll be left with a bunch of hulks that he doesn't want. The cycle will continue.
It's a shame if we had rak sakyi on the right this season I reckon we'd have been pushing top 6 this season the threat of him may and cbt as the front 3 would have been great to watch.
Yep but then if we hadn't had him last season we'd probably be in league two.
Last season, there were a number of well-financed clubs in League 1, it was difficult and expensive division to get out of. This season, it's a cheap division to get out of. Look at the top 6 - Portsmouth and Bolton aren't loaded, just well-run.
Our recruitment in the summer was a touch better than previous seasons, but still half-arsed. Not enough quality, not enough depth. How many of the current squad get into the 2012 and 2019 promotion sides?
Appleton's new manager bounce has already finished, and he will soon follow Jackson and Holden in demonstrating to our owners that there's only so much you can do with a limited squad. This season's gone already. We could chuck money at it in January, but that's a bad time to do business.
Next season looks like 3 clubs coming down from the Championship that will all be expecting to go straight back up. No crisis clubs with points deductions hanging over them. Wigan and probably Derby still knocking around. Strong clubs coming up from League 2. It'll be a much harder division to get out of next season, and much more expensive to get out of. Opportunity wasted this season. Don't see us escaping any time soon.
A defender that commands the backline and can score from set pieces
A midfielder that is similar to Dobson but physically taller and bulkier, one who likes to bully wingers and number 10s
Aneke but made of teflon and whatever they made Nokia 3310s out of, not spit, string, blu-tac and a prayer
The midfielder is Moxon imo. Dobson and Moxon would make a very good two man midfield, if we had better players elsewhere. Both can play a bit, not lightweight, both can put in a tackle. I think we would be so tough to beat in the middle.
A defender that commands the backline and can score from set pieces
A midfielder that is similar to Dobson but physically taller and bulkier, one who likes to bully wingers and number 10s
Aneke but made of teflon and whatever they made Nokia 3310s out of, not spit, string, blu-tac and a prayer
The midfielder is Moxon imo. Dobson and Moxon would make a very good two man midfield, if we had better players elsewhere. Both can play a bit, not lightweight, both can put in a tackle. I think we would be so tough to beat in the middle.
Yeah that would be very good, we might even score a set piece goal! Probably be very tough to get him now Carlisle have new owners and a bit of money behind them though
A defender that commands the backline and can score from set pieces
A midfielder that is similar to Dobson but physically taller and bulkier, one who likes to bully wingers and number 10s
Aneke but made of teflon and whatever they made Nokia 3310s out of, not spit, string, blu-tac and a prayer
The midfielder is Moxon imo. Dobson and Moxon would make a very good two man midfield, if we had better players elsewhere. Both can play a bit, not lightweight, both can put in a tackle. I think we would be so tough to beat in the middle.
Yeah that would be very good, we might even score a set piece goal! Probably be very tough to get him now Carlisle have new owners and a bit of money behind them though
Well his contract expires in the summer and I've seen a few of their fans say they want him gone.
I suppose it's similar to people who don't mind Dobson and CBT going. You expect so much that when they turn in a bad game you overreact.
He's a good player and got into professional football very late on. I'd love to see him in red.
Give me him, a new left back (to compete with Edun) a new centre back and a striker and I'll be happy. Then need to rebuild in the summer.
I do think top6 is a lot easier than people think in terms of what needs to be done.
I am concerned though a bit, as it's going to be more difficult next season. With it looking likely that 3 of either Rotherham, Millwall, Huddersfield, QPR, Stoke and Wednesday coming down and clubs on the up like Stockport, Wrexham, Mansfield, Notts potentially coming up, it is going to be so competitive.
A defender that commands the backline and can score from set pieces
A midfielder that is similar to Dobson but physically taller and bulkier, one who likes to bully wingers and number 10s
Aneke but made of teflon and whatever they made Nokia 3310s out of, not spit, string, blu-tac and a prayer
The midfielder is Moxon imo. Dobson and Moxon would make a very good two man midfield, if we had better players elsewhere. Both can play a bit, not lightweight, both can put in a tackle. I think we would be so tough to beat in the middle.
Yeah that would be very good, we might even score a set piece goal! Probably be very tough to get him now Carlisle have new owners and a bit of money behind them though
Well his contract expires in the summer and I've seen a few of their fans say they want him gone.
I suppose it's similar to people who don't mind Dobson and CBT going. You expect so much that when they turn in a bad game you overreact.
He's a good player and got into professional football very late on. I'd love to see him in red.
Give me him, a new left back (to compete with Edun) a new centre back and a striker and I'll be happy. Then need to rebuild in the summer.
I do think top6 is a lot easier than people think in terms of what needs to be done.
I am concerned though a bit, as it's going to be more difficult next season. With it looking likely that 3 of either Rotherham, Millwall, Huddersfield, QPR, Stoke and Wednesday coming down and clubs on the up like Stockport, Wrexham, Mansfield, Notts potentially coming up, it is going to be so competitive.
I didn’t realise that his contract was up. I’d definitely be pushing hard to get him then. Think a winger will be high on the January shopping list also, I don’t think Appleton trusts any of our current options other than CBT
I agree top 6 isn’t that far away from us now. If we signed 2/3 more good players we’d be a top 6 team this season. But then if we lose CBT and/or Dobson that’s then another 2 on top of that we would need to sign. And then it becomes difficult to sign that many good players in one window unless our recruitment success rate dramatically improves.
It's very difficult - 90% of teams will not get promoted with or without money. 1. Find another Seed or Curbishley (almost impossible) 2.Have a large 'eyes on' scouting team in London and the South East and fans should be encouraged to send in recommendations.
Most simple solution would be to replace Fraser with a top box to box midfielder. That’d certainly help.
Barnsley’s Luke Connell would be an upgrade.
Was told we are interested in Ethan Chislett.
He’s more of an attacking midfielder than box to box. I’d hope we are aiming for better than him tbh, and he was available on a free in the summer so if he is a target I’d question why we didn’t sign him then
I’m pretty sure if Aneke and Leaburn were fit - and we had another player like Lloyd Jones at the back we’d be in the top 6
We don’t need to do too much tweaking
But the facts are facts and we just aren’t consistent enough
We’ve been saying this for the past 4 seasons. It’s forever ifs and buts. The infrastructure just isn’t there, which means we’re always saying it.
We need the ownership of the club to not only reflect stability and solid foundations at the moment, but such is the money pit that is football, we also need an ownership to put some serious financial weight in as well. To be fair to TS, he spent some money, but he had zero understanding of running a football club or the sport in general.
All this new mob have done for me so far is state they’re willing to cover the losses up until which point we just don’t know. Essentially, we haven’t had a foundation of any sort of solidity since Curbs left in 06, benefitting from the fortune of Powell and Bowyer working minor miracles to give us our 2 successful spells in between.
Although in some people’s eyes we’re just a couple of players away or if X was fit we would be in the playoffs, for me, the reality is that we’re very far off and thinking what we have now in terms of infrastructure plus the players that make up the squad is anything other than wishful thinking
I think it's basically just recruitment. All you need is one good summer. We've proved that before and other teams have done the same recently. Wigan signed 22 players and went up.
Next season I think there are only about 8 senior players still contracted. There's an opportunity there to build a proper team.
We also have the added problem of keeping our recruited players fit. Surely by law of averages, we're due a 4-5 season run without having a single player injured.
I think there's a lot to be said for this, but that one good summer won't happen by accident. We need to start planning now (if not earlier) to ensure that we get that one good summer. We need a clear strategy of what type of players we are going to recruit. We need a prioritised list of players that fit the bill and we need to start putting whatever we can into place so that we are first in the queue when the window opens and the players we want become available. I'm sick of us waiting and waiting every summer and only seeming to engage properly in the transfer market once the better players have already been signed up. I also think we need to start taking action to improve the functioning of just about every aspect of the club. Football is a pretty closed community and word gets around which clubs are doing things right and which aren't. For far too long, the best we've done is coasting and the worst has been braking hard whilst dismantling what's in place. If we are to attract the players we need, we need to demonstrate to the football world that we are serious about taking this club forward. I'm a big fan of marginal gains theory. I think club management should be scrutinising every aspect of the club and asking how can we make improvements. We need a lot of energy and a lot of focus. We need to start getting everyone pulling in the right direction. I'd love to be wrong, but unfortunately I don't really sense that this is happening.
I feel as if we're stuck in this division for ever.... The moment when we got promoted to the Championship under Bowyer seems like ages ago..... It's so distant that my memories of it are even starting to get blurry.
Completely eradicate the holiday camp and wrap the players in cotton wool mentality.
That starts with the manager, sod the head coach and football directors. All the new found hangers on type jobs, our back room staff is brimming with far too many people. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Pare it all back down and get rid of the shirkers and bring in the grafters.
I think we can still go up this season but we can't afford a run of poor form and need to put together some runs. The margin for error is wafer thin sadly. If you look at our remaining December fixtures, it is possible we can stay in touch even with what we have now but we need to bring two or three (more likely three or four) of the right players in in January and not on the 31st. We need a bit more steel and fight IMO. With the right players, we can go on the sort of runs we need to. We already have the top scorer and joint best assister in the side. Hector is starting to play well. Dobbo is one of the best midfielders in the League. It can be done. Am I expecting it to be done? Probably not!
I think we can still go up this season but we can't afford a run of poor form and need to put together some runs. The margin for error is wafer thin sadly. If you look at our remaining December fixtures, it is possible we can stay in touch even with what we have now but we need to bring two or three (more likely three or four) of the right players in in January and not on the 31st. We need a bit more steel and fight IMO. With the right players, we can go on the sort of runs we need to. We already have the top scorer and joint best assister in the side. Hector is starting to play well. Dobbo is one of the best midfielders in the League. It can be done. Am I expecting it to be done? Probably not!
Would be nice but looks like it's already such a big ask this year. As Louis pointed out on CLive, we need a points average of 1.8 per game, or to be near enough the one of the best teams in the division for the rest of the season. That looks like it would take a miracle at this point.
As you say, the margin for error is wafer thin, we can't afford any more soft goals, individual errors, etc.. and yet also need to improve massively.
Comments
which tells me we just have some utter guff alongside them if we are only 10th.
We don’t need to do too much tweaking
But the facts are facts and we just aren’t consistent enough
A decent set piece taker
A defender that commands the backline and can score from set pieces
A midfielder that is similar to Dobson but physically taller and bulkier, one who likes to bully wingers and number 10s
Aneke but made of teflon and whatever they made Nokia 3310s out of, not spit, string, blu-tac and a prayer
The most goals conceded since we let in 80 during the relegation season of 2015/2016
We have done nothing seen so far to rectify that
Start from the back and then the rest will look after itself
I hit 50 next year and the misery will continue till I'm 60 at least
2. Spend big on the right players in January.
3. Back the manager.
4. Don't let the best players leave in Jan.
7/10 vs that top 9 are at home and 7/10 vs that top 9 are after the Jan transfer window closes.
What an opportunity. Jan is crucial
May is always at 10 or out wide or playing on his own up front when none of those are what he's best at. We have to play with wingers or CBT plays at WB which doesn't work. Our midfield was built ideally to have Dobson and Taylor playing behind Fraser but due to injuries, sackings and cursed 10 shirts that wasn't possible and instead we rotate our midfield three every single week. Sometimes it was Dobson and another with May at 10. Then we switched to Dobson, Fraser and McGrandles in a deeper three to little effect, and now McGrandles is out we've got either of the Campbells filling in at 10 with May in one of the front three spots playing with whichever other striker isn't crippled. It's such a mess. We've tried Fraser, Dobson, Watson, T Campbell, McGrandles, C Campbell, Camara once and May in the middle and I bet Appleton couldn't honestly tell you which is the combination he'd play if all were fit and available.
He doesn't want the players he's got. Abankwah, Tedic, Chem, Louie Watson, they all seem to enrage him in varying amounts. I reckon Camara is one he actually would have liked as he wants physicality in the team but that dream is dead.
The reality is we're going to have to start over again in the summer, which is really frustrating as you need a few years of building to get anywhere and we'll be throwing it all out again at the next available opportunity. Knowing Charlton we'll chuck all the loanees and bring in a few physical players from teams that put themselves about a bit, it won't work out for whatever reason and then we'll bring in a manager who wants to play a bit and he'll be left with a bunch of hulks that he doesn't want. The cycle will continue.
Our recruitment in the summer was a touch better than previous seasons, but still half-arsed. Not enough quality, not enough depth. How many of the current squad get into the 2012 and 2019 promotion sides?
Appleton's new manager bounce has already finished, and he will soon follow Jackson and Holden in demonstrating to our owners that there's only so much you can do with a limited squad. This season's gone already. We could chuck money at it in January, but that's a bad time to do business.
Next season looks like 3 clubs coming down from the Championship that will all be expecting to go straight back up. No crisis clubs with points deductions hanging over them. Wigan and probably Derby still knocking around. Strong clubs coming up from League 2. It'll be a much harder division to get out of next season, and much more expensive to get out of. Opportunity wasted this season. Don't see us escaping any time soon.
I suppose it's similar to people who don't mind Dobson and CBT going. You expect so much that when they turn in a bad game you overreact.
He's a good player and got into professional football very late on. I'd love to see him in red.
Give me him, a new left back (to compete with Edun) a new centre back and a striker and I'll be happy. Then need to rebuild in the summer.
I do think top6 is a lot easier than people think in terms of what needs to be done.
I am concerned though a bit, as it's going to be more difficult next season. With it looking likely that 3 of either Rotherham, Millwall, Huddersfield, QPR, Stoke and Wednesday coming down and clubs on the up like Stockport, Wrexham, Mansfield, Notts potentially coming up, it is going to be so competitive.
All this new mob have done for me so far is state they’re willing to cover the losses up until which point we just don’t know. Essentially, we haven’t had a foundation of any sort of solidity since Curbs left in 06, benefitting from the fortune of Powell and Bowyer working minor miracles to give us our 2 successful spells in between.
Less talk, more action.
As you say, the margin for error is wafer thin, we can't afford any more soft goals, individual errors, etc.. and yet also need to improve massively.