Hector still looking for his house, Kirk is lost in space and Fraser is doomed

Fortune 82nd Minute

As far as I know - and I am sure someone will put me right if I have got this wrong, Hector, Fraser and Kirk still haven't signed for a new club.

Hector is understandable - he's presumably made enough from his career not to need to take a one year deal at some far-flung northern outpost and Fraser is presumably busy decorating his property portfolio at the moment before signing for some random Scottish club.

But with Charlie Kirk, how the mighty have fallen. Thought to be an outstanding young player only 3 years ago and transferred to us in a big money deal, he's gone from that to nothing in literally no time at all. Much as he was hopeless for us, that is some fall and I can only hope there isn't some undisclosed reason why no-one will take a chance on him.

Mendonca In Asdas

Surprised Wrexham or Birmingham haven’t been in for them.

Radostanradical

Maybe players like Kirk or Penney have decided that there is a life away from football they would rather focus on ? It may seem alien to us but we will never know the demand and pressures of football as a professional player, In reality Kirk would more than likely have to drop down to conference level to get a contract, like Ryan Inniss did, maybe he just doesnt fancy it. I know he lost his father shortly before joining us and maybe thats had a deeper effect in his life than what is truly known, its happened to better players (Adriano ?).

All that said as frustrating as he (and many others) was as a footballer, I hope they go on to have happy healthy lives. I doubt any of them playing as kids would hope their careers turned out this way but equally they aren't going to sit and wallow about it.

_MrDick

This has got to be the best thread title .. Ever 

StrikerFirmani

Radostanradical said:

Maybe players like Kirk or Penney have decided that there is a life away from football they would rather focus on ? It may seem alien to us but we will never know the demand and pressures of football as a professional player, In reality Kirk would more than likely have to drop down to conference level to get a contract, like Ryan Inniss did, maybe he just doesnt fancy it. I know he lost his father shortly before joining us and maybe thats had a deeper effect in his life than what is truly known, its happened to better players (Adriano ?).

All that said as frustrating as he (and many others) was as a footballer, I hope they go on to have happy healthy lives. I doubt any of them playing as kids would hope their careers turned out this way but equally they aren't going to sit and wallow about it.

Ryan Innis didn't drop down to the Conference level for a contract he was relegated from Div2 with them.

th0rryy

It doesn't really surprise me about any of them.

Hector and Fraser both fall into the camp of "I cba any more, I need to rinse this for as much money as I can before I jack it in". Hector was always a serious mistake away from you losing any game and Fraser just didn't have the legs for things any more. They were journeyman footballers just extracting money from us for the bare minimum of doing their job. Fraser had one OK-ish season for us, but he was never going to be someone to be relied upon when you were under pressure. Both of them probably overvalue what they offer to any club in terms of wages, and will drift into retirement.

Kirk is a sadder one for me, but I think the way he played at Crewe (before we signed him) made him look A LOT better than he was, by the virtue of LB behind him (Pickering I think it was, the lad that went to the Champ). Had personal issues with his dad passing away and never lived up to his transfer fee. Ability was over-exaggerated and confidence was absolutely gone. Belief is probably all gone now and self doubt creeps in. Football is savage and that's just the way it is. Unless he wants to drop out of the league and reinvent himself, he's going to really struggle.

We've signed a lot of players that were not the right fit for us, at all, but it's pretty glaring that these players can't get even L2 contracts. It feels that, with NJ taking some control back, we've turned a bit of a corner. Hopefully we've seen the last of players like this for a while.

balham red

It is incredible really, how many of our players have had to drop down a level, or to no level at all, after us.

I remember when Hector joined, many were thinking it was a stop gap for him getting a championship move.

With Kirk, I just don't think he was ever that good. And Fraser, we should have seen how Ipswich had no place for him in their league one team.

What do they all have in common now? Absolutely no hunger to play football at a lower wage that matches their ability. And that says a lot about their character. Make no mistake, there are clubs that would take them on for handsome wages compared to the average man, but they don't need it or want it enough.

I don't doubt this lack of hunger showed not only on the pitch, but the dressing room and the training ground.

Also no interest in hearing mitigation regarding mental health when it's been 3 years or so.

Richard J

Love the thread title.

Radostanradical

StrikerFirmani said:

Radostanradical said:

Maybe players like Kirk or Penney have decided that there is a life away from football they would rather focus on ? It may seem alien to us but we will never know the demand and pressures of football as a professional player, In reality Kirk would more than likely have to drop down to conference level to get a contract, like Ryan Inniss did, maybe he just doesnt fancy it. I know he lost his father shortly before joining us and maybe thats had a deeper effect in his life than what is truly known, its happened to better players (Adriano ?).

All that said as frustrating as he (and many others) was as a footballer, I hope they go on to have happy healthy lives. I doubt any of them playing as kids would hope their careers turned out this way but equally they aren't going to sit and wallow about it.

Ryan Innis didn't drop down to the Conference level for a contract he was relegated from Div2 with them.

Agreed but I doubt there were many league 2 teams queuing up to buy him hence he has dropped down to the level

Bedsaddick

Fraser and Hector can do a job elsewhere. Kirk is just awful 

YTS1978

Didn't Hector take a "gap year" before joining us as he kinda lost interest in football? Sure that was posted somewhere. 

Alwaysneil

sadly there were one or two moments in most games with Hector where he appeared to have lost interest in football.

soapy_jones

Charlton Athletic have been a magnet for such players in recent years.  This is obviously out of desperaton, as we have consistantly been run by idiots, spivs or deluded idiot spivs.  The hollowing out of our football club of good footballing people who were not replaced exagerated our woes. I mean Charlie Kirk? What a fucking waste of time that was.

I have my doubts still, but the most encouraging thing about Charlton today is the odd snippet of an appointment here or there of backroom staff with pedigree and what seems to be part of a cunning plan Baldrick. 

LargeAddick

YTS1978 said:

Didn't Hector take a "gap year" before joining us as he kinda lost interest in football? Sure that was posted somewhere. 

Think he took some time out to look after a poorly parent.

Covered End

YTS1978 said:

Didn't Hector take a "gap year" before joining us as he kinda lost interest in football? Sure that was posted somewhere. 

He took a further 2 years when he signed for us.

charltonbob

YTS1978 said:

Didn't Hector take a "gap year" before joining us as he kinda lost interest in football? Sure that was posted somewhere. 

No he didn't lose interest in football, he decided that caring for his seriously ill Dad was more important & fair play to him.

RonnieMoore

Kirk was training with Tranmere 

LargeAddick

RonnieMoore said:

Kirk was training with Tranmere 

Was being the operative word.

killerandflash

Kirk seems to be training at a local to him academy

https://x.com/CTAfootball/status/1835696490234134573

Kap10

I know we have a downer on Kirk and with some justification, but I hope that things work out for him within or outside of the game.  Coming to us at a relatively young age at a time of personal trauma and then his dramatic fall from grace strikes me as a candidate for clinical depression, which I would not wish on anyone.  

Smithy

Kap10 said:

I know we have a downer on Kirk and with some justification, but I hope that things work out for him within or outside of the game.  Coming to us at a relatively young age at a time of personal trauma and then his dramatic fall from grace strikes me as a candidate for clinical depression, which I would not wish on anyone.  

Penney was mentioned above and I think that could be the same case for him. It wasn’t just about being a bad player, he looked a shell of a man when it came to his last performance and then he just disappeared off the face of the earth for a year and a half. Definitely more to that story than we know about. 

KingKinsella

The other side of the coin to this thread is the match last night Birmingham vs Wrexham packed with ex-players.
Bielik
Dobbo
May
The Irish centre back O'Connell
Eliot Lee

JoshrewCAFC

I would imagine Hector and Fraser could find new clubs fairly easily. Although maybe not the clubs or wages they'd want.

Kirk I think will struggle. I'm sure we all remember that clip of him stopping mid sprint for Crewe at the end of the season, not due to an injury, but just lost the motivation when he should easily have kept the ball in an attacking position for them. No manager will look at a player like that with any confidence.

Sillybilly

Great thread title. 

Radostanradical

Smithy said:

Kap10 said:

I know we have a downer on Kirk and with some justification, but I hope that things work out for him within or outside of the game.  Coming to us at a relatively young age at a time of personal trauma and then his dramatic fall from grace strikes me as a candidate for clinical depression, which I would not wish on anyone.  

Penney was mentioned above and I think that could be the same case for him. It wasn’t just about being a bad player, he looked a shell of a man when it came to his last performance and then he just disappeared off the face of the earth for a year and a half. Definitely more to that story than we know about. 

I've said this before about Penney, as bad as he was (and he was as bad as I've seen down here) what we saw can not be a true reflection of his abilities as a player otherwise i can't see how he was ever a professional footballer at the age he was. There must of been something else going on behind the scenes, where as when you saw the likes of Innis, Hector, Fraser we saw them long enough to understand what level they were at. 

Chunes

Hector has the raw ability to be a good player. But I'm not sure I can remember a CB with less desire to keep the ball out of the net.

He was here for an easy time and wow, did he get it.

soapboxsam

Radostanradical said:

Smithy said:

Kap10 said:

I know we have a downer on Kirk and with some justification, but I hope that things work out for him within or outside of the game.  Coming to us at a relatively young age at a time of personal trauma and then his dramatic fall from grace strikes me as a candidate for clinical depression, which I would not wish on anyone.  

Penney was mentioned above and I think that could be the same case for him. It wasn’t just about being a bad player, he looked a shell of a man when it came to his last performance and then he just disappeared off the face of the earth for a year and a half. Definitely more to that story than we know about. 

I've said this before about Penney, as bad as he was (and he was as bad as I've seen down here) what we saw can not be a true reflection of his abilities as a player otherwise i can't see how he was ever a professional footballer at the age he was. There must of been something else going on behind the scenes, where as when you saw the likes of Innis, Hector, Fraser we saw them long enough to understand what level they were at. 

The Penney dropped:

Matt Penney only played 5 matches for CAFC and many felt that was 5 matches too many !
The MP video showed a confident attacking left back making Mazy runs but when he played he looked nervous and constantly gave the ball away.
At 26 he has lost his way and like snakes and ladders needs to restart his career lower down the pyramid because what turned up at CAFC was a shadow of the showreel.
Maybe personal problems but was an imposter compared to the guy in the video.

Stig

Kap10 said:

I know we have a downer on Kirk and with some justification, but I hope that things work out for him within or outside of the game.  Coming to us at a relatively young age at a time of personal trauma and then his dramatic fall from grace strikes me as a candidate for clinical depression, which I would not wish on anyone.  

I'd have rather more sympathy if I hadn't been told by a Crewe fan that his 'fall from grace' started before he came to us. He put it down to him being listed in the League 2 Team of the Season. He said that after that he never seemed to put as much effort in, presumably thinking that raw talent would be enough. The exact phrase that was used was, "Billy Big Bollocks". I don't know if the stats bear this out, but I can say without fear of contradiction that he always played for us like effort was something he just didn't need.

Radostanradical

soapboxsam said:

Radostanradical said:

Smithy said:

Kap10 said:

I know we have a downer on Kirk and with some justification, but I hope that things work out for him within or outside of the game.  Coming to us at a relatively young age at a time of personal trauma and then his dramatic fall from grace strikes me as a candidate for clinical depression, which I would not wish on anyone.  

Penney was mentioned above and I think that could be the same case for him. It wasn’t just about being a bad player, he looked a shell of a man when it came to his last performance and then he just disappeared off the face of the earth for a year and a half. Definitely more to that story than we know about. 

I've said this before about Penney, as bad as he was (and he was as bad as I've seen down here) what we saw can not be a true reflection of his abilities as a player otherwise i can't see how he was ever a professional footballer at the age he was. There must of been something else going on behind the scenes, where as when you saw the likes of Innis, Hector, Fraser we saw them long enough to understand what level they were at. 

The Penney dropped:

Matt Penney only played 5 matches for CAFC and many felt that was 5 matches too many !
The MP video showed a confident attacking left back making Mazy runs but when he played he looked nervous and constantly gave the ball away.
At 26 he has lost his way and like snakes and ladders needs to restart his career lower down the pyramid because what turned up at CAFC was a shadow of the showreel.
Maybe personal problems but was an imposter compared to the guy in the video.

Yeah I'm not making a plea to take him back, im just saying for him to be that bad it cant be a true reflection of him as a player, like you said compared to what we had seen against us and at higher in the pyramid

MintoHumbugs

It’s frightening looking back at the start of the 2022/2023 season the squad was filled with the likes of Kirk, Lavelle, DJ  to name just a few of the dross. Then come the January window and  up pops Penney,  a very bad Penney at that.

Radostanradical

MintoHumbugs said:

It’s frightening looking back at the start of the 2022/2023 season the squad was filled with the likes of Kirk, Lavelle, DJ  to name just a few of the dross. Then come the January window and  up pops Penney,  a very bad Penney at that.

Mad to think he wasnt our worst defender as well that season