I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that Jones N is a crank. His touchline antics, erratic interviews, odd team selections .. he's had a couple of good seasons elsewhere along with several bad ones. Like many many managers who build a career and reputation on the 'good' he is living on past results that went his way. Mark Robins has been replaced by a Welshman at Coventry, I'd love him to take over at the Valley replacing another Welshman. However, I wonder if after seven turbulent years managing Coventry, he is looking for some r&r for a while and doesn't need another semi basket case managerial role. To sum up, Jones is yet another bad appointment by whoever is holding the Charlton power and purse strings at the time
Give me one reason why an experienced and intelligent man like Robins would drop a division and come anywhere near Charlton?.
you should read what I have typed before commenting .. QUOTE ' I wonder if after seven turbulent years managing Coventry, he is looking for some r&r for a while and doesn't need another semi basket case managerial role'. UNQUOTE .. taken from the post you (supposedly) have read
It's commonplace in the U.S. for majority owners who are not involved in a business on a daily basis to keep an eye on things a couple of ways:- One is quarter by quarter - what is the plan for the next quarter?, how did we do against the plan for the last quarter? Quickly summarizing NJs' first three quarters......... Q1 he plugged the potential relegation hole and picked up enough results to finish without us looking over our shoulders all the way to the end of the season......... Q2 was the off season, he got his coaching team in place, had a decent pre-season and recruited towards a pretty good looking squad on paper. Q3 (Aug to Oct) would have been to move along the curve towards achieving the play-offs at the end of the season.......... the Q started well enough but we are now below the curve. NJ and the SMT will have had to explain why Q3 has been below expectations and what they'll be doing to get back on the play-off curve during Q4. Among other things they'll be using something like @Dazzler21 Results Table above and progress will be monitored on a match-by-match basis. There will be a lot of pressure on the SMT and NJ to get the right results, a lot of pressure. I'd imagine each of them will very regularly have to answer the question 'what have you done for me lately?'....... they'd each have to provide decent answers to that question. A typical second way of keeping an eye out would be for the majority owners to have people they are close to - in their immediate management circle and (in this case) others with football expertise (not CM or the SMT) - do their own analysis and give their take on how things are going. There'll be lots of looking at what needs to be done in the coming weeks and what to do in January. The playoff curve is still (just about) achievable............. listen to the analysis by @LouisMend on the latest Charlton Live pod to see how tight it is. It would be really interesting to have the inside scoop on how close the summer recruitment was to what NJ actually wanted and to know whether, for example, NJ has more or less power in recruitment than he had in the summer. That would tell a story. At the moment I have hope......... and I don't think that's unreasonable.......... pulling the plug on the Posh game has given us time to regroup and for the injured guys to get closer to coming back in. Judging by some of the performances lately there's a general lack of confidence in the squad........ too many ineffective clearances, losing 50/50s, being 2nd in 2nd ball situations and safe passes. I'm hoping for a bit more luck and a couple of good games to help turn things around and at the same time I'm desperately disappointed we're not a half a dozen points better off than we are but I think NJ and the current squad have what it take to get things back on track but there have to be improvements......... in the squad come January and in NJs' tactics.......... neither are producing what we all want........ but the squad isn't many players off where it needs to be...... and NJ has enough experience to know who and what tactically isn't working......... so let's just get on with it and hope it's not too late for our season to be a good one.
I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that Jones N is a crank. His touchline antics, erratic interviews, odd team selections .. he's had a couple of good seasons elsewhere along with several bad ones. Like many many managers who build a career and reputation on the 'good' he is living on past results that went his way. Mark Robins has been replaced by a Welshman at Coventry, I'd love him to take over at the Valley replacing another Welshman. However, I wonder if after seven turbulent years managing Coventry, he is looking for some r&r for a while and doesn't need another semi basket case managerial role. To sum up, Jones is yet another bad appointment by whoever is holding the Charlton power and purse strings at the time
Give me one reason why an experienced and intelligent man like Robins would drop a division and come anywhere near Charlton?.
To pick up the cash prize all our managers get when they are moved on just six months into their contracts (I'm only half-joking with this).
I wasn't all that excited to see NJ come in (but people who seemed to have more footy nous than me were) and tbh I would have been OK with giving MA the chance to turn it around (acknowledge that may not have happened) but we need to give him more time - we just can't keep sacking managers.
I think he's a bit of a bellend but that never stopped anyone being a successful manager.
I don’t agree with the MA comment mate. I would have made you right if you said the same with Dean Holden.
However with MA, we would have been relegated last season, that I am almost certain of!
The general consensus is that MA would not have turned it round and would have taken us down. Can we draw a line under this now please. Nothing else to gained revisiting it time and time again.
We have to stick with him surely. Maybe he needs a better assistant. Seems to have all gone pear shaped since Paul Hart retired. Who was he working with when he did his thing at Luton? I also remember he did well with our U21s.
We have to stick with him surely. Maybe he needs a better assistant. Seems to have all gone pear shaped since Paul Hart retired. Who was he working with when he did his thing at Luton? I also remember he did well with our U21s.
All of his key backroom staff previously already have jobs I think, I agree we could probably do with a bit of a shake up there but technically we have 2 first team coaches/assistants along with Hylton doing some coaching and GK coach. Not convinced the budget is there for someone else
This time last season we were 11th, 21 points from 15 games.
This season we are 13th, 19 points from 14 games.
We’ve shown absolutely no progress whatsoever
Last season in the months of November, December, January and most of February, we were only able to muster one league win. We beat Cheltenham with two dodgy penalties. We finally broke the record on Feb 27th by winning at Derby.
If we go through these four calendar months with only one league win, I concede we have made absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Low bar yes, but it’s not me who’s setting it.
You ARE exactly the person setting it!!
Jones and the owners have made it clear that play offs as a minimum are the objective!
Jones was not manager those months you are talking about, he was manager for the final 15 games of last season.
You have made it clear elsewhere on this thread you think we'll make the play offs. As a supporter that is the minimum expectation for me.
So you making these pointless comparisons to an appalling run under an appalling manager who nobody is suggesting we should have kept (there were very few who felt we should ever have appointed him) is completely and utterly stupid.
A reminder, for the umpteenth time - last season was the WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY. You need to go to visit the club museum, then order the back catalogue of end of season club videos going back to their advent, study the league tables across the history of football and even simply across the last miserable, appalling 10 years, and if you still think a sturdy 13th place finish in league one is a reasonable target because it represents "progress" on last season's 16th place (remember WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY) - then at that stage, refer to a medical professional.
My friend, I was responding to a post saying we have shown “absolutely no progress whatsoever”. I didn’t set the bar.
We have to stick with him surely. Maybe he needs a better assistant. Seems to have all gone pear shaped since Paul Hart retired. Who was he working with when he did his thing at Luton? I also remember he did well with our U21s.
Does have the feel to it again where we've hired the Manager, and not been able to bring in his backroom staff.
Garner > Couldnt have Scott Lindsay Adkins > Couldnt have Andy Crosby
Chris Cohen is the main man that has been in the background for Jones, and he's current No.2 @ Lincoln - Its a shame as he left Lincoln for Stoke in the Summer actually, and only re-joined Lincoln again last week, so we maybe could have got him ourselves had we thought about it... Had Jones wanted him
Trouble is we've got Curtis Fleming in that role already, which complicates things. Maybe looking at Jones' backroom team is something that needs looking at; Bolton after all got themselves sorted out a bit, when they got rid of a couple of Coaches, instead of Evatt himself this season.
I think that pointing at the backroom staff and/or assistants as a reason for the poor run doesn't really ring true for me. One of the principles of NJ joining Charlton and viewing it as a project suggests he would naturally have more weighted control towards him and his philosophies. If anything, those people around him should have less impact.
Managerially, we've been a circus and pulling the trigger for anything less than falling into the danger zone is something we could do with avoiding. The bar for progress this season was playoffs minimum, but it feels like 8-12 is probably likely if we carry on like this. Even as just a fan, you can see our midfield setup isn't right at all and he's had to tear up the pre-season plan.
Belief is running thinner and thinner in NJ - that said, I'd rather keep going with him than not, as we stand today. I don't think we could find someone better right now.
Its also possible in cases, that Assistant Managers can often be the better individual on the training pitch, but because they're out of the limelight they dont get the recognition that the front facing Manager will often receive.
Steve Holland > Gareth Southgate is an example I believe to be the case... Taylor > Clough was possibly another case, where they worked better as a double act, rather than the sum of two parts... Given how Scott Lindsay's Managerial career is going, compared to that of Ben Garner, is that another example?
This time last season, Gary Caldwell at Exeter City was part way through a dreadful run with calls for his job. Any other club would have sacked him - Exeter stuck with him and they are now having one of their best ever seasons and playing a totally different style of attractive football. He just needed time - maybe Jones needs the same.
I'm coming more and more to the conclusion that Jones N is a crank. His touchline antics, erratic interviews, odd team selections .. he's had a couple of good seasons elsewhere along with several bad ones. Like many many managers who build a career and reputation on the 'good' he is living on past results that went his way. Mark Robins has been replaced by a Welshman at Coventry, I'd love him to take over at the Valley replacing another Welshman. However, I wonder if after seven turbulent years managing Coventry, he is looking for some r&r for a while and doesn't need another semi basket case managerial role. To sum up, Jones is yet another bad appointment by whoever is holding the Charlton power and purse strings at the time
Give me one reason why an experienced and intelligent man like Robins would drop a division and come anywhere near Charlton?.
you should read what I have typed before commenting .. QUOTE ' I wonder if after seven turbulent years managing Coventry, he is looking for some r&r for a while and doesn't need another semi basket case managerial role'. UNQUOTE .. taken from the post you (supposedly) have read
I didn’t change a word you said . I just highlighted your words to put forward my opinion that he’s not stupid enough to come to us , as you did . Don’t be so sensitive. It’s doesn’t suit you .
This time last season we were 11th, 21 points from 15 games.
This season we are 13th, 19 points from 14 games.
We’ve shown absolutely no progress whatsoever
Last season in the months of November, December, January and most of February, we were only able to muster one league win. We beat Cheltenham with two dodgy penalties. We finally broke the record on Feb 27th by winning at Derby.
If we go through these four calendar months with only one league win, I concede we have made absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Low bar yes, but it’s not me who’s setting it.
You ARE exactly the person setting it!!
Jones and the owners have made it clear that play offs as a minimum are the objective!
Jones was not manager those months you are talking about, he was manager for the final 15 games of last season.
You have made it clear elsewhere on this thread you think we'll make the play offs. As a supporter that is the minimum expectation for me.
So you making these pointless comparisons to an appalling run under an appalling manager who nobody is suggesting we should have kept (there were very few who felt we should ever have appointed him) is completely and utterly stupid.
A reminder, for the umpteenth time - last season was the WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY. You need to go to visit the club museum, then order the back catalogue of end of season club videos going back to their advent, study the league tables across the history of football and even simply across the last miserable, appalling 10 years, and if you still think a sturdy 13th place finish in league one is a reasonable target because it represents "progress" on last season's 16th place (remember WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY) - then at that stage, refer to a medical professional.
My friend, I was responding to a post saying we have shown “absolutely no progress whatsoever”. I didn’t set the bar.
The other poster was correct.
-We are the same or worse off Vs this stage last season.
-we are worse off than we were during Jones 15 match tenure of last season.
-We will finish no better than 12th place with a very mediocre season of football which is not building to or developing towards anything other than exactly that, mid table football. Identical in material terms to last seasons 16th place finish.
Whichever metric you are using, we are not better off! And people need to stop trying to pretend otherwise! People need to stop cheering southall, sandgaard, the Americans for fuck all reason.
We are literally dying! Realise this everyone! This club is suffering an incredibly slow and painful death and people need to realise that and the gravity of this! The situation we are in now is every bit as bad as the one in the 80s if not worse IMO.
Blind, false, unwarranted positivity is only giving credence and more time and more sustenance to those that collectively continue to oversee this.
There is no (easy) solution but pretending everything is hunky dory certainly is the equivalent to being smacked about every night by your alcoholic violent husband and then telling everyone you slipped on the stairs again last night.
This time last season we were 11th, 21 points from 15 games.
This season we are 13th, 19 points from 14 games.
We’ve shown absolutely no progress whatsoever
Last season in the months of November, December, January and most of February, we were only able to muster one league win. We beat Cheltenham with two dodgy penalties. We finally broke the record on Feb 27th by winning at Derby.
If we go through these four calendar months with only one league win, I concede we have made absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Low bar yes, but it’s not me who’s setting it.
You ARE exactly the person setting it!!
Jones and the owners have made it clear that play offs as a minimum are the objective!
Jones was not manager those months you are talking about, he was manager for the final 15 games of last season.
You have made it clear elsewhere on this thread you think we'll make the play offs. As a supporter that is the minimum expectation for me.
So you making these pointless comparisons to an appalling run under an appalling manager who nobody is suggesting we should have kept (there were very few who felt we should ever have appointed him) is completely and utterly stupid.
A reminder, for the umpteenth time - last season was the WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY. You need to go to visit the club museum, then order the back catalogue of end of season club videos going back to their advent, study the league tables across the history of football and even simply across the last miserable, appalling 10 years, and if you still think a sturdy 13th place finish in league one is a reasonable target because it represents "progress" on last season's 16th place (remember WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY) - then at that stage, refer to a medical professional.
My friend, I was responding to a post saying we have shown “absolutely no progress whatsoever”. I didn’t set the bar.
We will be (at the absolute best) one point better off after the same number of games this season compared to last and the football is indisputably poor quality - by accident or design but it is objectively poor.
One point better is technically progress I suppose but if that counts then our "4 year plan" will need to turn into roughly a 10 year plan to see actual results.
the good news is that this time last season we went on a really shit run under Appleton culminating in his sacking , so even if we carry on being slightly better than dross we'll be able to say we've improved on this time last season within a few weeks , yes last season our worst one in 98 years .... so there will be some progress of sorts
This time last season we were 11th, 21 points from 15 games.
This season we are 13th, 19 points from 14 games.
We’ve shown absolutely no progress whatsoever
Last season in the months of November, December, January and most of February, we were only able to muster one league win. We beat Cheltenham with two dodgy penalties. We finally broke the record on Feb 27th by winning at Derby.
If we go through these four calendar months with only one league win, I concede we have made absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Low bar yes, but it’s not me who’s setting it.
You ARE exactly the person setting it!!
Jones and the owners have made it clear that play offs as a minimum are the objective!
Jones was not manager those months you are talking about, he was manager for the final 15 games of last season.
You have made it clear elsewhere on this thread you think we'll make the play offs. As a supporter that is the minimum expectation for me.
So you making these pointless comparisons to an appalling run under an appalling manager who nobody is suggesting we should have kept (there were very few who felt we should ever have appointed him) is completely and utterly stupid.
A reminder, for the umpteenth time - last season was the WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY. You need to go to visit the club museum, then order the back catalogue of end of season club videos going back to their advent, study the league tables across the history of football and even simply across the last miserable, appalling 10 years, and if you still think a sturdy 13th place finish in league one is a reasonable target because it represents "progress" on last season's 16th place (remember WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY) - then at that stage, refer to a medical professional.
My friend, I was responding to a post saying we have shown “absolutely no progress whatsoever”. I didn’t set the bar.
We will be (at the absolute best) one point better off after the same number of games this season compared to last and the football is indisputably poor quality - by accident or design but it is objectively poor.
One point better is technically progress I suppose but if that counts then our "4 year plan" will need to turn into roughly a 10 year plan to see actual results.
Let's do the comparison at the end of the year before the window opens and see if there's progress then. I'm confident there will be.
the good news is that this time last season we went on a really shit run under Appleton culminating in his sacking , so even if we carry on being slightly better than dross we'll be able to say we've improved on this time last season within a few weeks , yes last season our worst one in 98 years .... so there will be some progress of sorts
This time last year we beat Cheltenham but the performance was absolutely awful - my mates were taking the piss afterwards because I was raging so much about a win. Appleton's assessment was:
That was the last game he won and the last game we won until Derby away in Feb.
I do take solace from the fact that at least no one is under any illusions about the performance levels at the moment - NJ calls things pretty accurately after each game, and Doc did after Saturday as well.
This time last season we were 11th, 21 points from 15 games.
This season we are 13th, 19 points from 14 games.
We’ve shown absolutely no progress whatsoever
Last season in the months of November, December, January and most of February, we were only able to muster one league win. We beat Cheltenham with two dodgy penalties. We finally broke the record on Feb 27th by winning at Derby.
If we go through these four calendar months with only one league win, I concede we have made absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Low bar yes, but it’s not me who’s setting it.
You ARE exactly the person setting it!!
Jones and the owners have made it clear that play offs as a minimum are the objective!
Jones was not manager those months you are talking about, he was manager for the final 15 games of last season.
You have made it clear elsewhere on this thread you think we'll make the play offs. As a supporter that is the minimum expectation for me.
So you making these pointless comparisons to an appalling run under an appalling manager who nobody is suggesting we should have kept (there were very few who felt we should ever have appointed him) is completely and utterly stupid.
A reminder, for the umpteenth time - last season was the WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY. You need to go to visit the club museum, then order the back catalogue of end of season club videos going back to their advent, study the league tables across the history of football and even simply across the last miserable, appalling 10 years, and if you still think a sturdy 13th place finish in league one is a reasonable target because it represents "progress" on last season's 16th place (remember WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY) - then at that stage, refer to a medical professional.
My friend, I was responding to a post saying we have shown “absolutely no progress whatsoever”. I didn’t set the bar.
We will be (at the absolute best) one point better off after the same number of games this season compared to last and the football is indisputably poor quality - by accident or design but it is objectively poor.
One point better is technically progress I suppose but if that counts then our "4 year plan" will need to turn into roughly a 10 year plan to see actual results.
Break last season into three sections: first was 21 points from 15 games, second was 10 points from 15 games and third was 22 points from 16 games. So our best period of the season was the first third, closely followed by the last third and the middle third was absolutely dire. Basically our good was bad and our bad was absolutely dire.
On those measures, I agree that we are no better than we were when at our best last season. Which isn’t good enough.
Let’s see how the next 15 unfold. I am disappointed that so far, our ceiling hasn’t moved. But I’d be bitterly disappointed if it proves that the floor hasn’t risen either.
If we’re looking at 30 points from 30 again, I’ll hold my hands up.
This time last season we were 11th, 21 points from 15 games.
This season we are 13th, 19 points from 14 games.
We’ve shown absolutely no progress whatsoever
Last season in the months of November, December, January and most of February, we were only able to muster one league win. We beat Cheltenham with two dodgy penalties. We finally broke the record on Feb 27th by winning at Derby.
If we go through these four calendar months with only one league win, I concede we have made absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Low bar yes, but it’s not me who’s setting it.
You ARE exactly the person setting it!!
Jones and the owners have made it clear that play offs as a minimum are the objective!
Jones was not manager those months you are talking about, he was manager for the final 15 games of last season.
You have made it clear elsewhere on this thread you think we'll make the play offs. As a supporter that is the minimum expectation for me.
So you making these pointless comparisons to an appalling run under an appalling manager who nobody is suggesting we should have kept (there were very few who felt we should ever have appointed him) is completely and utterly stupid.
A reminder, for the umpteenth time - last season was the WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY. You need to go to visit the club museum, then order the back catalogue of end of season club videos going back to their advent, study the league tables across the history of football and even simply across the last miserable, appalling 10 years, and if you still think a sturdy 13th place finish in league one is a reasonable target because it represents "progress" on last season's 16th place (remember WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY) - then at that stage, refer to a medical professional.
My friend, I was responding to a post saying we have shown “absolutely no progress whatsoever”. I didn’t set the bar.
We will be (at the absolute best) one point better off after the same number of games this season compared to last and the football is indisputably poor quality - by accident or design but it is objectively poor.
One point better is technically progress I suppose but if that counts then our "4 year plan" will need to turn into roughly a 10 year plan to see actual results.
Break last season into three sections: first was 21 points from 15 games, second was 10 points from 15 games and third was 22 points from 16 games. So our best period of the season was the first third, closely followed by the last third and the middle third was absolutely dire. Basically our good was bad and our bad was absolutely dire.
On those measures, I agree that we are no better than we were when at our best last season. Which isn’t good enough.
Let’s see how the next 15 unfold. I am disappointed that so far, our ceiling hasn’t moved. But I’d be bitterly disappointed if it proves that the floor hasn’t risen either.
If we’re looking at 30 points from 30 again, I’ll hold my hands up.
I mean there's a difference between we haven't made progress and we won't make progress. I do think that things are more likely to get better than worse (or even stay the same) but that doesn't mean that the lack of progress SO FAR is not very disappointing.
Jones main defence/argument is that he expects better but he can't keep peddling cake tomorrow and hoping that we keep eating the shit sandwich of today. He tells us constantly that he wants more and he wants better but its literally his job to MAKE it better... which so far, objectively and statistically, he has not.
If we do somehow go on a better run of form I'll be as pleased as anyone and I'm absolutely not calling for his departure. But I am saying that this season up to this point has been massively disappointing.
This time last season we were 11th, 21 points from 15 games.
This season we are 13th, 19 points from 14 games.
We’ve shown absolutely no progress whatsoever
Last season in the months of November, December, January and most of February, we were only able to muster one league win. We beat Cheltenham with two dodgy penalties. We finally broke the record on Feb 27th by winning at Derby.
If we go through these four calendar months with only one league win, I concede we have made absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Low bar yes, but it’s not me who’s setting it.
You ARE exactly the person setting it!!
Jones and the owners have made it clear that play offs as a minimum are the objective!
Jones was not manager those months you are talking about, he was manager for the final 15 games of last season.
You have made it clear elsewhere on this thread you think we'll make the play offs. As a supporter that is the minimum expectation for me.
So you making these pointless comparisons to an appalling run under an appalling manager who nobody is suggesting we should have kept (there were very few who felt we should ever have appointed him) is completely and utterly stupid.
A reminder, for the umpteenth time - last season was the WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY. You need to go to visit the club museum, then order the back catalogue of end of season club videos going back to their advent, study the league tables across the history of football and even simply across the last miserable, appalling 10 years, and if you still think a sturdy 13th place finish in league one is a reasonable target because it represents "progress" on last season's 16th place (remember WORST IN THE CLUB'S HISTORY) - then at that stage, refer to a medical professional.
My friend, I was responding to a post saying we have shown “absolutely no progress whatsoever”. I didn’t set the bar.
We will be (at the absolute best) one point better off after the same number of games this season compared to last and the football is indisputably poor quality - by accident or design but it is objectively poor.
One point better is technically progress I suppose but if that counts then our "4 year plan" will need to turn into roughly a 10 year plan to see actual results.
Break last season into three sections: first was 21 points from 15 games, second was 10 points from 15 games and third was 22 points from 16 games. So our best period of the season was the first third, closely followed by the last third and the middle third was absolutely dire. Basically our good was bad and our bad was absolutely dire.
On those measures, I agree that we are no better than we were when at our best last season. Which isn’t good enough.
Let’s see how the next 15 unfold. I am disappointed that so far, our ceiling hasn’t moved. But I’d be bitterly disappointed if it proves that the floor hasn’t risen either.
If we’re looking at 30 points from 30 again, I’ll hold my hands up.
I mean there's a difference between we haven't made progress and we won't make progress. I do think that things are more likely to get better than worse (or even stay the same) but that doesn't mean that the lack of progress SO FAR is not very disappointing.
Jones main defence/argument is that he expects better but he can't keep peddling cake tomorrow and hoping that we keep eating the shit sandwich of today. He tells us constantly that he wants more and he wants better but its literally his job to MAKE it better... which so far, objectively and statistically, he has not.
If we do somehow go on a better run of form I'll be as pleased as anyone and I'm absolutely not calling for his departure. But I am saying that this season up to this point has been massively disappointing.
Don’t think you’ll find anyone who disagrees with that
10 points from the last 11 games. 2 wins from those games. Not good enough
Whilst I have no time for Scott (Should have been sacked when Appleton went) Jones has brought in 11 players, 4 of those from his days at Luton Town. His responsibility, his calls.
They won’t dare sack him, but something needs to change results wise or it’s another mid table finish
Comments
One is quarter by quarter - what is the plan for the next quarter?, how did we do against the plan for the last quarter? Quickly summarizing NJs' first three quarters......... Q1 he plugged the potential relegation hole and picked up enough results to finish without us looking over our shoulders all the way to the end of the season......... Q2 was the off season, he got his coaching team in place, had a decent pre-season and recruited towards a pretty good looking squad on paper. Q3 (Aug to Oct) would have been to move along the curve towards achieving the play-offs at the end of the season.......... the Q started well enough but we are now below the curve.
NJ and the SMT will have had to explain why Q3 has been below expectations and what they'll be doing to get back on the play-off curve during Q4. Among other things they'll be using something like @Dazzler21 Results Table above and progress will be monitored on a match-by-match basis. There will be a lot of pressure on the SMT and NJ to get the right results, a lot of pressure. I'd imagine each of them will very regularly have to answer the question 'what have you done for me lately?'....... they'd each have to provide decent answers to that question.
A typical second way of keeping an eye out would be for the majority owners to have people they are close to - in their immediate management circle and (in this case) others with football expertise (not CM or the SMT) - do their own analysis and give their take on how things are going.
There'll be lots of looking at what needs to be done in the coming weeks and what to do in January. The playoff curve is still (just about) achievable............. listen to the analysis by @LouisMend on the latest Charlton Live pod to see how tight it is.
It would be really interesting to have the inside scoop on how close the summer recruitment was to what NJ actually wanted and to know whether, for example, NJ has more or less power in recruitment than he had in the summer. That would tell a story.
At the moment I have hope......... and I don't think that's unreasonable.......... pulling the plug on the Posh game has given us time to regroup and for the injured guys to get closer to coming back in. Judging by some of the performances lately there's a general lack of confidence in the squad........ too many ineffective clearances, losing 50/50s, being 2nd in 2nd ball situations and safe passes.
I'm hoping for a bit more luck and a couple of good games to help turn things around and at the same time I'm desperately disappointed we're not a half a dozen points better off than we are but I think NJ and the current squad have what it take to get things back on track but there have to be improvements......... in the squad come January and in NJs' tactics.......... neither are producing what we all want........ but the squad isn't many players off where it needs to be...... and NJ has enough experience to know who and what tactically isn't working......... so let's just get on with it and hope it's not too late for our season to be a good one.
Garner > Couldnt have Scott Lindsay
Adkins > Couldnt have Andy Crosby
Chris Cohen is the main man that has been in the background for Jones, and he's current No.2 @ Lincoln - Its a shame as he left Lincoln for Stoke in the Summer actually, and only re-joined Lincoln again last week, so we maybe could have got him ourselves had we thought about it... Had Jones wanted him
Trouble is we've got Curtis Fleming in that role already, which complicates things. Maybe looking at Jones' backroom team is something that needs looking at; Bolton after all got themselves sorted out a bit, when they got rid of a couple of Coaches, instead of Evatt himself this season.
Managerially, we've been a circus and pulling the trigger for anything less than falling into the danger zone is something we could do with avoiding. The bar for progress this season was playoffs minimum, but it feels like 8-12 is probably likely if we carry on like this. Even as just a fan, you can see our midfield setup isn't right at all and he's had to tear up the pre-season plan.
Belief is running thinner and thinner in NJ - that said, I'd rather keep going with him than not, as we stand today. I don't think we could find someone better right now.
Steve Holland > Gareth Southgate is an example I believe to be the case... Taylor > Clough was possibly another case, where they worked better as a double act, rather than the sum of two parts... Given how Scott Lindsay's Managerial career is going, compared to that of Ben Garner, is that another example?
Multiple people have pointed out that we are only five points off the Play Offs, but we're also only seven points away from the bottom four.
If our current form doesn't pick up then we're going to get pulled in. This is a fact.
-we are worse off than we were during Jones 15 match tenure of last season.
One point better is technically progress I suppose but if that counts then our "4 year plan" will need to turn into roughly a 10 year plan to see actual results.
That was the last game he won and the last game we won until Derby away in Feb.
I do take solace from the fact that at least no one is under any illusions about the performance levels at the moment - NJ calls things pretty accurately after each game, and Doc did after Saturday as well.
On those measures, I agree that we are no better than we were when at our best last season. Which isn’t good enough.
Jones main defence/argument is that he expects better but he can't keep peddling cake tomorrow and hoping that we keep eating the shit sandwich of today. He tells us constantly that he wants more and he wants better but its literally his job to MAKE it better... which so far, objectively and statistically, he has not.
If we do somehow go on a better run of form I'll be as pleased as anyone and I'm absolutely not calling for his departure. But I am saying that this season up to this point has been massively disappointing.
I doubt he’s here next season and i bet he is touting his next club now;
Problem is the dross he leaves behind.
Outlook is grim