I think anyone at this level with an ounce of central creativity is gonna be on decent wedge, so I’d like us to have a look at maybe bringing in a young Premier League loan.
I think we will look better against Pompey than we did at Wimbledon. In a similar way I think we will look better at Wigan than we do against Orient the week after. I think we will be good against teams that try and play with the Jones press winning the ball back high up the pitch against teams that will play out from the back
Wrexham will definitely be there or there abouts and anyone who says different doesn't understand how deep their pockets are and the momentum they have.
I can’t see it if o’Connell, Dobson and Lee are starting for them.
Do you really think that Dobson deserves the same tarring at those two jokers ? Dobbo really has become Semedo already.
If he is Semedo hopefully history repeats itself as no one wanted him to leave but we went on to win the league the next season but yes he’s better than the other two but I just don’t think he’s that great , great tackler but that’s about it and I think we’ll see that this season with a more mobile midfield.
I think you’re going to be disappointed
We’re Charlton fans what’s new but I’m happy with Jones and the new signings yeah we need a couple more but if you can’t be optimistic before the seasons started then what’s the point.
I’ve said it all along. I don’t expect one transfer window to solve our problems. It should solve some enough to improve on last seasons dismal performances but enough to achieve what we want in promotion ? I’m not convinced. I’m hoping to be challenging for top six but not expecting it. All things being equal with manager and ownership then season 25/26 is the acid test for me. I still think the club from top to bottom and not just the first eleven is still in transition.
Wrexham will definitely be there or there abouts and anyone who says different doesn't understand how deep their pockets are and the momentum they have.
I can’t see it if o’Connell, Dobson and Lee are starting for them.
Do you really think that Dobson deserves the same tarring at those two jokers ? Dobbo really has become Semedo already.
If he is Semedo hopefully history repeats itself as no one wanted him to leave but we went on to win the league the next season but yes he’s better than the other two but I just don’t think he’s that great , great tackler but that’s about it and I think we’ll see that this season with a more mobile midfield.
I think you’re going to be disappointed
We’re Charlton fans what’s new but I’m happy with Jones and the new signings yeah we need a couple more but if you can’t be optimistic before the seasons started then what’s the point.
I’ve said it all along. I don’t expect one transfer window to solve our problems. It should solve some enough to improve on last seasons dismal performances but enough to achieve what we want in promotion ? I’m not convinced. I’m hoping to be challenging for top six but not expecting it. All things being equal with manager and ownership then season 25/26 is the acid test for me. I still think the club from top to bottom and not just the first eleven is still in transition.
I’m expecting to be challenging for top 6 and hoping to get in it, so slightly more optimistic but agree with the overall point that this was never going to be a quick fix
Wrexham will definitely be there or there abouts and anyone who says different doesn't understand how deep their pockets are and the momentum they have.
I can’t see it if o’Connell, Dobson and Lee are starting for them.
Do you really think that Dobson deserves the same tarring at those two jokers ? Dobbo really has become Semedo already.
If he is Semedo hopefully history repeats itself as no one wanted him to leave but we went on to win the league the next season but yes he’s better than the other two but I just don’t think he’s that great , great tackler but that’s about it and I think we’ll see that this season with a more mobile midfield.
I think you’re going to be disappointed
We’re Charlton fans what’s new but I’m happy with Jones and the new signings yeah we need a couple more but if you can’t be optimistic before the seasons started then what’s the point.
I’ve said it all along. I don’t expect one transfer window to solve our problems. It should solve some enough to improve on last seasons dismal performances but enough to achieve what we want in promotion ? I’m not convinced. I’m hoping to be challenging for top six but not expecting it. All things being equal with manager and ownership then season 25/26 is the acid test for me. I still think the club from top to bottom and not just the first eleven is still in transition.
I’m expecting to be challenging for top 6 and hoping to get in it, so slightly more optimistic but agree with the overall point that this was never going to be a quick fix
Didn't we beat Ipswich 6-1 who were in the league above in pre season then have an underwhelming season until Bowyer came in??
I forgot about that game. That team lacked physicality and a proper striker or two. We lost in the playoffs which we likely would have missed out had Robinson stayed on. It’s a good example, going off both the result and performance we probably looked capable of challenging for the top 2.
Can't sign anyone else until players are sold, still well short imo so not good news.
Well short is a stretch if we get Begovic we can put a good team out with a solid bench. Yeah another two would be nice but we’re not well short.
If we want to get out of this league with Birmingham and Wrexham in it we are still well short of the quality needed imo, and Begovic hasn't signed yet that might depend on players going as well.
What quality have Wrexham got in this league?
I would take Okonkwo in goal, Dobbo in midfield and Mullin up top against anyone we have at the moment. Very good spine to a team
Mullin in l1?
Dobson has spent three years playing for a lower mid table team 🫢
Give me Berry and Docherty any day over Dobson, People will soon see.
Dobson or Coventry is the question. Dobson is best in that holding midfield role, which is where Wrexham will play him, not where Jones was playing him. Berry and Docherty are different players so that’s not really the comparison.
If things had gone differently then Dobson Docherty and Berry could have been our 3. I’d probably be more comfortable with that than what we have now, but Coventry definitely has it in him to be better, we just haven’t really seen it yet
When he learns to tackle
Fucking yawn mate as I posted last time he's in the top 10% of tacklers per 90 mins last season, in the ENTIRETY OF LEAGUE 1, not even just midfielders. If you're going to peddle the same old tripe every post at least make it vaguely accurate
As I am a fair person, I went to the football stats page for Coventry https://fbref.com/en/players/a5ca9127/Conor-Coventry According to this he made 25 tackles in 17 games, just over one a game. Obviously there are lies, damn lies and statistics. From actually watching the matches he has played in he looks lightweight in the tackle, which for a defensive mid is not good. But let's hope he comes good, or we will be overrun in midfield.
Think all this nonsense backs up is that all friendlies should be played behind closed and not televised and let the managers do what they want to do without being questioned ..
I know as fans we all miss football, but maybe pre season games should be behind closed doors with no access for fans to overly interpret things. Their whole purpose is to get players ready for the first game.
They barely ever have any resemblance on how the season goes. You can’t pass judgement on someone who hasn’t actually played a real game for us yet.
Why not have the whole season played beyond doors , might save us stressing!
An interesting read, Journalist predicting 4th for us.
Decent preview but the paragraph....
'A high-pedigree group remains in commanding centre-back Lloyd Jones, intelligent left-sided defender Macauley Gillesphey, tenacious wing-back Tennai Watson, and Carrick-caricature Conor Coventry'. Feels like he's just picked a random few names out the bag, none of those had a particularly good season last year at all.
An interesting read, Journalist predicting 4th for us.
Decent preview but the paragraph....
'A high-pedigree group remains in commanding centre-back Lloyd Jones, intelligent left-sided defender Macauley Gillesphey, tenacious wing-back Tennai Watson, and Carrick-caricature Conor Coventry'. Feels like he's just picked a random few names out the bag, none of the those had a particularly good season last year at all.
An interesting read, Journalist predicting 4th for us.
Decent preview but the paragraph....
'A high-pedigree group remains in commanding centre-back Lloyd Jones, intelligent left-sided defender Macauley Gillesphey, tenacious wing-back Tennai Watson, and Carrick-caricature Conor Coventry'. Feels like he's just picked a random few names out the bag, none of the those had a particularly good season last year at all.
He’s just never seen any of them play
He’s a league 1/2 journalist so I’m sure he has, yeah we had a bad season last season but we’ve seen glimpses of good players and they were decent at previous clubs it must be the Charlton curse but I’m not sure I get the fascination of slagging off our players at every opportunity we need to get behind them this season.
Wrexham will definitely be there or there abouts and anyone who says different doesn't understand how deep their pockets are and the momentum they have.
I can’t see it if o’Connell, Dobson and Lee are starting for them.
Do you really think that Dobson deserves the same tarring at those two jokers ? Dobbo really has become Semedo already.
If he is Semedo hopefully history repeats itself as no one wanted him to leave but we went on to win the league the next season but yes he’s better than the other two but I just don’t think he’s that great , great tackler but that’s about it and I think we’ll see that this season with a more mobile midfield.
I think you’re going to be disappointed
We’re Charlton fans what’s new but I’m happy with Jones and the new signings yeah we need a couple more but if you can’t be optimistic before the seasons started then what’s the point.
I’ve said it all along. I don’t expect one transfer window to solve our problems. It should solve some enough to improve on last seasons dismal performances but enough to achieve what we want in promotion ? I’m not convinced. I’m hoping to be challenging for top six but not expecting it. All things being equal with manager and ownership then season 25/26 is the acid test for me. I still think the club from top to bottom and not just the first eleven is still in transition.
The issue is, this isn't their first transfer window! Some may argue it's only their 2nd. The January 2024 one was a farce - we tried to get rid of Dobson early, who the manager refused to sanction and even tried to keep after he'd left.
They also were in charge for Summer 2023 (they approved all of TS' transfer activity)
They even ran the January 2023 window for TS, who either employed them or brought them in as consultants.
Simply put - I think NJ is better than the rest of our SMT, but I don't believe our problems will be fully solved until Andy Scott isn't head of recruitment and CM isn't our CEO/Chairman/whatever you want to call him
Pre season is just that. A chance to try stuff out and see what works and what doesn't.
I don't think I've yet seen our strongest starting 11 for an extended period of time with all the changes we've made. Realistically the fitness is the most important part of it all and it seems we are all fit and ready to go barring Miles I think.
Bear in mind bookies favourites everywhere Birmingham spent over £15m on a squad that just came out of the championship and at the weekend they managed a 1-0 win over Walsall and on the same day lost 3-1 to Aldershot. Pre season doesn't really mean a thing when it come to results
Didn't we have a great pre season last year and then go on to have a shocker of a start to the season
Defeat to the Wombles was not the ideal result but you could see from Nathan he was pissed off and he will have made that known to the players so I would expect a reaction this weekend.- even though it doesn't really matter.
It matters from next week. It's going to be a long slog of a season and that fitness is going to be absolutely essential because it's going to be a long and tough season ahead. buckle up and get behind the boys as we all definitely have a part to play
I don't see Wrexham as a threat yet at all. Signings are fine for this level but nothing wow. Still got a lot of work to do to be competitive. Just because they've been able to outspend and pay big wages in L2 and Non League doesn't mean that's going to be replicable in this league.
Stockport I see as a bigger threat of the newly promoted sides - recruited very well and have an excellent manager in Challinor. They could easily be around the playoffs. Likes of Bolton,Rotherham and Huddersfield are a given to be big threats for automatics.
If we can get 3-4 more quality signings (I'd count begovic and Potts in that ) then I'd be confident we could be around that conversation.
I don't see Wrexham as a threat yet at all. Signings are fine for this level but nothing wow. Still got a lot of work to do to be competitive. Just because they've been able to outspend and pay big wages in L2 and Non League doesn't mean that's going to be replicable in this league.
Stockport I see as a bigger threat of the newly promoted sides - recruited very well and have an excellent manager in Challinor. They could easily be around the playoffs. Likes of Bolton,Rotherham and Huddersfield are a given to be big threats for automatics.
If we can get 3-4 more quality signings (I'd count begovic and Potts in that ) then I'd be confident we could be around that conversation.
Wrexham will be splashing the cash...
Oh I expect they'll make a crazy striker signing to play with Mullin. But as it stands they've got quite a lot of work to do throughout the squad.
Im in Spain for the week so haven't logged in here much. Thought I'd see what's happening.....
Just an awful lot of bed wetting it appears!!
Anyway...there's always the beach, Sangria and señoritas to compensate, don't waste your holiday with Charlton mate, plenty of time for that when you get back......😎
Cannot believe how badly people have reacted to losing a friendly match. I mean, I can, but I'm disappointed. It's a very fickle mindset; there was real positivity on here when we signed Docherty and it was all about getting those final pieces in. One poor performance in preseason and people are crying about our terrible squad, yelling about bad ownerships and trying to see how much of Wrexham they can fit in their mouths. Must be exhausting being this easily broken
I guess its because we have seen the same shit gutless performences year on year for a very long time now. Maybe for once it's best not to wait till the transfer window shut, not to wait till Christmas, not to wait till the Jan window opens. If we can see and point out the cracks now maybe just maybe something can be done about it before the season starts. Like others have said no one cares what the result was against Wimbledon, its all to do with that horrible performance we have got used to watching for far too long.
Not going to lie I am not overly convinced with Jones, Selling May has got my back up, has a feel of some of these so called top managers coming in and getting rid of the teams best player as they want to be top dog. His replacements so far have been a crock and Godden who looks a lesser version of May. I also think we are yet again throwing all our eggs in one basket with this poxy wing 3-5-2/5-3-2 formation, I dont think its a formation where we create a lot and dont think it will suit should Small get injured. Also not a fan of signing loads from Luton because they once did well for him in the past. We did that with Swindons team not long ago.
I know I sound boring as I hope none of what I just said comes true and they all shove it back in my face. Just feels like we have been watching Charlton on repeat for god knows how long now. I hope Jone's super fit players who play on the front foot come out all guns blazing and we can actually have a season where we dont actually want it to end in November.
I really don't disagree with a lot of that. I'm nervous too, I always am since Roland. I don't think we've done enough at centre back yet and given that Jones complained it was a personnel issue I'm seeing a lot of the same personnel there. I'm also not a huge fan of 352 and I've rarely seen a Charlton team play well in it. I think calling Ahadme a crock is a bit much but overall I remain neutral on the whole thing until I'm shown otherwise. What I'm talking about though isn't people being unhappy in general, it's the totally bipolar switch on here from the tone being positive about the signings so far, talking up the work the ownership has done with the pitches, the training ground, preseason for the men's and u21s teams and the potentially useful link in Jamaica that should get us Dixon to the sudden total 180 after a poor performance against Wimbledon in preseason. If people were just upset with the performance then sure, but it's the switch to suddenly fearing the entire season is lost to us because the players had a bad one, despite us doing well against Palace and beating a top flight Turkish team who beat Luton straight after. We're clearly inconsistent but there's too much desire to collapse into the bad and forget the good. In 2018/19 Nathan Jones' Luton didn't win until their 4th match and only won 3 of their first 10. They took a bit of time to get going and then Jones only lost 1 game after that, including a run of 10 wins in 11, 7 of those in a row. Are we going to give that kind of time or are we going to turn this quickly every time there's a setback? I get that we're all traumatised but we can't always give up so quickly or it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy
Didn't we beat Ipswich 6-1 who were in the league above in pre season then have an underwhelming season until Bowyer came in??
I forgot about that game. That team lacked physicality and a proper striker or two. We lost in the playoffs which we likely would have missed out had Robinson stayed on. It’s a good example, going off both the result and performance we probably looked capable of challenging for the top 2.
Didn't we beat Ipswich 6-1 who were in the league above in pre season then have an underwhelming season until Bowyer came in??
I forgot about that game. That team lacked physicality and a proper striker or two. We lost in the playoffs which we likely would have missed out had Robinson stayed on. It’s a good example, going off both the result and performance we probably looked capable of challenging for the top 2.
Didn't we beat Ipswich 6-1 who were in the league above in pre season then have an underwhelming season until Bowyer came in??
I forgot about that game. That team lacked physicality and a proper striker or two. We lost in the playoffs which we likely would have missed out had Robinson stayed on. It’s a good example, going off both the result and performance we probably looked capable of challenging for the top 2.
An interesting read, Journalist predicting 4th for us.
Decent preview but the paragraph....
'A high-pedigree group remains in commanding centre-back Lloyd Jones, intelligent left-sided defender Macauley Gillesphey, tenacious wing-back Tennai Watson, and Carrick-caricature Conor Coventry'. Feels like he's just picked a random few names out the bag, none of the those had a particularly good season last year at all.
He’s just never seen any of them play
He has - multiple times. He goes to an EFL game most weekends and midweeks. I know for a fact that he was at the Cheltenham (A) win last season and came away from it full of praise for Conor Coventry, for example.
I'm not sure that pre season friendlies give us any guide to the season ahead, the Millwall friendly last year at the Den gave a good indication of that. There was a euphoric feeling after that game, the kids were alright was certainly a phrased used, but it glossed over a paper thin squad, I will give Golfie a mention here because he was one of the first to point out that we were relying on kids to complete a squad, he and others were spot on. This pre season we have seen good and bad but if you were to base picking a team on the friendlies thus far, Zac Mitchell would probably start, Gassan Ahadme, would be benched. We need more creation, Thierry Small has been our most creative player but, as seems likely, he refuses a contract he could be gone, if not in this window then certainly the next, it is the reason that Josh Edwards was signed but he looks more like a full back rather than a wing back. We need that creator and an experienced keeper, then it's down to Nathan Jones to make it work, but he needs to get results quickly as the outlay, the board would argue, justifies results.
Comments
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/view/597cb2962c0d4/pre-season-report-charlton-6-ipswich-town-1
According to this he made 25 tackles in 17 games, just over one a game.
Obviously there are lies, damn lies and statistics. From actually watching the matches he has played in he looks lightweight in the tackle, which for a defensive mid is not good. But let's hope he comes good, or we will be overrun in midfield.
'A high-pedigree group remains in commanding centre-back Lloyd Jones, intelligent left-sided defender Macauley Gillesphey, tenacious wing-back Tennai Watson, and Carrick-caricature Conor Coventry'. Feels like he's just picked a random few names out the bag, none of those had a particularly good season last year at all.
They also were in charge for Summer 2023 (they approved all of TS' transfer activity)
They even ran the January 2023 window for TS, who either employed them or brought them in as consultants.
Simply put - I think NJ is better than the rest of our SMT, but I don't believe our problems will be fully solved until Andy Scott isn't head of recruitment and CM isn't our CEO/Chairman/whatever you want to call him
I don't think I've yet seen our strongest starting 11 for an extended period of time with all the changes we've made. Realistically the fitness is the most important part of it all and it seems we are all fit and ready to go barring Miles I think.
Bear in mind bookies favourites everywhere Birmingham spent over £15m on a squad that just came out of the championship and at the weekend they managed a 1-0 win over Walsall and on the same day lost 3-1 to Aldershot. Pre season doesn't really mean a thing when it come to results
Didn't we have a great pre season last year and then go on to have a shocker of a start to the season
Defeat to the Wombles was not the ideal result but you could see from Nathan he was pissed off and he will have made that known to the players so I would expect a reaction this weekend.- even though it doesn't really matter.
It matters from next week. It's going to be a long slog of a season and that fitness is going to be absolutely essential because it's going to be a long and tough season ahead. buckle up and get behind the boys as we all definitely have a part to play
Oh I expect they'll make a crazy striker signing to play with Mullin. But as it stands they've got quite a lot of work to do throughout the squad.
Just an awful lot of bed wetting it appears!!
Any minor injury is a sign a player is injury prone and never fit. Ahadme is already being see that way.