Wasn't there a rumour in the summer that we were supposed to be signing a foreign midfielder in this window? Can't remember the name or from which club.
Mihaly Kata I believe from MTK Budapest? Hungarian international.
If we want promotion then we need to start building a squad that’s stronger after each window. Personally I think even with good recruitment and retention that’s probably three windows including this one. We have a nucleus of around five players that we should be building around. Losing two or three of these types of key players every window makes the squad building harder and longer. It’s frankly bollocks to think we can be smarter in recruiting players than other clubs. We really can’t. It’s going to take serious investment to recruit and retain and no small amount of luck also. I can see that someone like Miles is slightly different. We might be in a position to get perhaps north of three million for him and that money can really make a dent in squad building. It’s sensible footballing business for the club and Miles. The others are different because replacing them is going to cost unless we’re very lucky as much as the fee received and even then a gamble. I don’t see very much of the above in our strategy at present and unless there’s a change or phenomenal luck we’re going to be stuck in this poxy league for the foreseeable.
Trouble is you have been saying it will take 3 transfer windows for about 5 years!
In L1 it is bordering the impossible to hold on to any exceptional youth/young talent for any length of time (Beadle, Sarmiento, Ramazzani, probably Leaburn etc), and we don't seem to want to pay top L1 wages to retain our best talent (Dobson, likely L Jones and Small).
Meanwhile, each year that clicks by is as further £9M loss flushed down the toilet by our owners and a year closer to our lease ending.
If we take 3 more windows that writes this season off and next. So let's say we got up in May '27... Our owners would be down £48M by then, still not own The Valley and have just made the Championship. They better hope that they sell Leaburn and Dixon for an absolute shit tonne of money!
I, and i'm sure many others, have never understood the logic of football team owners.
Why would you take over a side losing almost 10m a year and then spend very little to get that side promoted? Of course there are exceptions but you'll often find that the clubs spending the most money at this level generally get promoted within a couple of years.
Surely it is better to spend 6-7m building a good team that would stand a strong chance of promotion inside 2 seasons than stay stuck here losing 9m every year?
Why can owners never see this, and why do they have the confidence despite all the evidence telling them the exact opposite that they can be the ones to do things on the cheap?
Agreed. And it turns out that a pair of Hollywood celebs grasp this far better than most owners. I hate to say it, but they also recognise the value of quality SMT, specifically Shaun Harvey, whom I’ve met while on CAST duty and didn’t much like, but I see how that relationship works. Appoint good quality management and then empower them and trust them to do the job. How many club owners, including ours in recent times, have done just the opposite?
They have lost a humunguous amount of money (as Kieran Maguire details on his pod this week) but so much of it has been well invested for longer term returns. And we see the result.
There is an argument to say that lack of leaks shows professionalism or as it was put to me a lack of leaks would show "cohesion internally."
Which i guess was a polite why of telling me to mind my own business/when it's on the OS.
So are the club playing their cards close to their chest or are there just no cards to show?
We don't know but people will decide which it is based on their level of cynicism and/or impatience.
It is the nature of the 24 hour news cycle and social media that some expect and demand not just transfers but rumours of transfers.
We could all just wait and see but that isn't enough for some.
True, but it is a rumours thread and people are just looking for a bit of excitement and anticipation to brighten this endless third division nightmare
And one of those supposedly riding that train is a minority owner in himself. (Whether that's token shares or actual money is another matter)
The point is there's not much gravy to be had out of being part of the SMT at Charlton, it's a different world from when Southall was milking us dry for Range Rovers and apartments, but I think the recent history of that has clouded the judgement of many on here
We finally have good owners and a structure at the club for the first time in 10/12 years … it’s time to back them and get the club back on stable ground before we can seriously move forward … 12/15 years of poor management and assist stripping is not going to be solved in 12 months … stability is the key both in ownership and manager there a project in place lets give it the time it needs to get this club back in the championship and more important stay there ..
"Get the club back on stable ground before we can seriously move forward". Wow, excuse me I think I just cum. If you are quoting as a mouthpiece for somebody highly connected at the club (and I genuinely don't mean that disrespectfully) I would love to know what in this context is meant by stable ground and seriously moving forward. Speaking as somebody in complete ignorance of the intentions/motivation/financial commitment of the owners, I was hoping for a January window where the priority was the purchase of 2 or 3 players of real quality to sustain a dtermined push for promotion. Obviously that is just my own wishful thinking. What I didn't want was a "statement of intent" that amounted to "we need to reduce the squad size". Okay, we will see what transpires, but I have not the patience for "jam tomorrow" promises.
If we want promotion then we need to start building a squad that’s stronger after each window. Personally I think even with good recruitment and retention that’s probably three windows including this one. We have a nucleus of around five players that we should be building around. Losing two or three of these types of key players every window makes the squad building harder and longer. It’s frankly bollocks to think we can be smarter in recruiting players than other clubs. We really can’t. It’s going to take serious investment to recruit and retain and no small amount of luck also. I can see that someone like Miles is slightly different. We might be in a position to get perhaps north of three million for him and that money can really make a dent in squad building. It’s sensible footballing business for the club and Miles. The others are different because replacing them is going to cost unless we’re very lucky as much as the fee received and even then a gamble. I don’t see very much of the above in our strategy at present and unless there’s a change or phenomenal luck we’re going to be stuck in this poxy league for the foreseeable.
Trouble is you have been saying it will take 3 transfer windows for about 5 years!
In L1 it is bordering the impossible to hold on to any exceptional youth/young talent for any length of time (Beadle, Sarmiento, Ramazzani, probably Leaburn etc), and we don't seem to want to pay top L1 wages to retain our best talent (Dobson, likely L Jones and Small).
Meanwhile, each year that clicks by is as further £9M loss flushed down the toilet by our owners and a year closer to our lease ending.
If we take 3 more windows that writes this season off and next. So let's say we got up in May '27... Our owners would be down £48M by then, still not own The Valley and have just made the Championship. They better hope that they sell Leaburn and Dixon for an absolute shit tonne of money!
Taking three windows to build a promotion squad seems pretty reasonable to me, but it assumes that each window you come out stronger than you go into it. I stand by it. I’ve actually probably been saying it longer than the five years you suggest. The problem in Charltons case is that I don’t think we’ve had very many good windows for perhaps five years and then certainly not three consecutively. IMHO unless you strike lucky with manager and a group of players coming together at one time then the best way to achieve success is to build. I think it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see what you would like and that’s a massive spend up. In my view a two year plan from where we currently are seems the way to go. The fly in the ointment being that those holding the reigns (not owners) don’t seem to be very good at it.
On the investing, don't you lose much more in the Championship than League One so is its very much a double edged Valiant sword. It would seem that a slower approach is cheaper in the long run and its such a big project, getting the youngsters up to speed, selling a few etc This needs to happen first before we start dreaming elsewhere. Frustrating as a fan but its a long game with sadly patience needed. I think 2025 should see a better team performance now with better managers and coaches so lets get moving on up. It will be interesting to compare team performance calender 2024 against 2025 when we get to the end of the year
And one of those supposedly riding that train is a minority owner in himself. (Whether that's token shares or actual money is another matter)
The point is there's not much gravy to be had out of being part of the SMT at Charlton, it's a different world from when Southall was milking us dry for Range Rovers and apartments, but I think the recent history of that has clouded the judgement of many on here
We finally have good owners and a structure at the club for the first time in 10/12 years … it’s time to back them and get the club back on stable ground before we can seriously move forward … 12/15 years of poor management and assist stripping is not going to be solved in 12 months … stability is the key both in ownership and manager there a project in place lets give it the time it needs to get this club back in the championship and more important stay there ..
"Get the club back on stable ground before we can seriously move forward". Wow, excuse me I think I just cum. If you are quoting as a mouthpiece for somebody highly connected at the club (and I genuinely don't mean that disrespectfully) I would love to know what in this context is meant by stable ground and seriously moving forward. Speaking as somebody in complete ignorance of the intentions/motivation/financial commitment of the owners, I was hoping for a January window where the priority was the purchase of 2 or 3 players of real quality to sustain a dtermined push for promotion. Obviously that is just my own wishful thinking. What I didn't want was a "statement of intent" that amounted to "we need to reduce the squad size". Okay, we will see what transpires, but I have not the patience for "jam tomorrow" promises.
In fairness both of those things can still happen.
We need to cut players from the squad (i can see the likes of Taylor and Edun going, loans perhaps for Asiimwe, Kanu, Dixon, and i personally wouldn't renew Potts). So that's 5-6 outgoings, and then we look to sign a couple of players who can impact the first team.
So the first team is upgraded and the squad size is reduced.
On the investing, don't you lose much more in the Championship than League One so is its very much a double edged Valiant sword. It would seem that a slower approach is cheaper in the long run and its such a big project, getting the youngsters up to speed, selling a few etc This needs to happen first before we start dreaming elsewhere. Frustrating as a fan but its a long game with sadly patience needed. I think 2025 should see a better team performance now with better managers and coaches so lets get moving on up. It will be interesting to compare team performance calender 2024 against 2025 when we get to the end of the year
That is true, but if you are looking to sell the club at a profit you need to be in the Championship with the chance of being promoted to the promised land of the Premier League. It would be extremely difficult to fund a third tier club for a few years and then sell it for a profit. Two steps from the Premier League will be too risky for most investors.
Obviously good to see Ramsay back. Interestingly T Watson and Asiimwe both there too so moves not imminent for either and suggests we have both first team RWB options available soon + Small so wouldn't expect to see incoming there
Obviously good to see Ramsay back. Interestingly T Watson and Asiimwe both there too so moves not imminent for either and suggests we have both first team RWB options available soon + Small so wouldn't expect to see incoming there
And one of those supposedly riding that train is a minority owner in himself. (Whether that's token shares or actual money is another matter)
The point is there's not much gravy to be had out of being part of the SMT at Charlton, it's a different world from when Southall was milking us dry for Range Rovers and apartments, but I think the recent history of that has clouded the judgement of many on here
We finally have good owners and a structure at the club for the first time in 10/12 years … it’s time to back them and get the club back on stable ground before we can seriously move forward … 12/15 years of poor management and assist stripping is not going to be solved in 12 months … stability is the key both in ownership and manager there a project in place lets give it the time it needs to get this club back in the championship and more important stay there ..
I think Ronnie is commenting on the owners' plan to rent out an area of the Training Ground and establish a Stud there. Another of his insider knowledge gems.....
Having finally realised that Charlie's "pitch" was somewhat misleading, they are looking to diversify into a field where producing a successful nag would be more lucrative than concentrating solely on producing a successful football team.
And one of those supposedly riding that train is a minority owner in himself. (Whether that's token shares or actual money is another matter)
The point is there's not much gravy to be had out of being part of the SMT at Charlton, it's a different world from when Southall was milking us dry for Range Rovers and apartments, but I think the recent history of that has clouded the judgement of many on here
We finally have good owners and a structure at the club for the first time in 10/12 years … it’s time to back them and get the club back on stable ground before we can seriously move forward … 12/15 years of poor management and assist stripping is not going to be solved in 12 months … stability is the key both in ownership and manager there a project in place lets give it the time it needs to get this club back in the championship and more important stay there ..
"Get the club back on stable ground before we can seriously move forward". Wow, excuse me I think I just cum. If you are quoting as a mouthpiece for somebody highly connected at the club (and I genuinely don't mean that disrespectfully) I would love to know what in this context is meant by stable ground and seriously moving forward. Speaking as somebody in complete ignorance of the intentions/motivation/financial commitment of the owners, I was hoping for a January window where the priority was the purchase of 2 or 3 players of real quality to sustain a dtermined push for promotion. Obviously that is just my own wishful thinking. What I didn't want was a "statement of intent" that amounted to "we need to reduce the squad size". Okay, we will see what transpires, but I have not the patience for "jam tomorrow" promises.
In fairness both of those things can still happen.
We need to cut players from the squad (i can see the likes of Taylor and Edun going, loans perhaps for Asiimwe, Kanu, Dixon, and i personally wouldn't renew Potts). So that's 5-6 outgoings, and then we look to sign a couple of players who can impact the first team.
So the first team is upgraded and the squad size is reduced.
I said the same a couple of days ago. Selling or loaning out a few fringe players, and bringing in a couple of quality additions strengthens the team.
Our squad IS too large, having first team players with little chance of game time isn't good.
Obviously good to see Ramsay back. Interestingly T Watson and Asiimwe both there too so moves not imminent for either and suggests we have both first team RWB options available soon + Small so wouldn't expect to see incoming there
I’m disappointed to see so much negativity to these owners. They have put their hands in their pockets considerably more than most league 1 owners.
The majority of people were pleased with the loan signing of Ladapo until it went pear shaped . Is that the owners fault ? Don’t forget a couple of years ago the club were on the brink with Southall and Co so they have a lot of credit in the bank with me.
I’m disappointed to see so much negativity to these owners. They have put their hands in their pockets considerably more than most league 1 owners.
The majority of people were pleased with the loan signing of Ladapo until it went pear shaped . Is that the owners fault ? Don’t forget a couple of years ago the club were on the brink with Southall and Co so they have a lot of credit in the bank with me.
To be fair I don’t think there is too much criticism of the owners. They’re remote and placed the project in the hands what they expect to be competent football people. At some point they’ll want and expect to see measurable progress. It’s difficult to see where that is at present. I’d think next season will be the tipping point with targets set and expectations met.
If we want promotion then we need to start building a squad that’s stronger after each window. Personally I think even with good recruitment and retention that’s probably three windows including this one. We have a nucleus of around five players that we should be building around. Losing two or three of these types of key players every window makes the squad building harder and longer. It’s frankly bollocks to think we can be smarter in recruiting players than other clubs. We really can’t. It’s going to take serious investment to recruit and retain and no small amount of luck also. I can see that someone like Miles is slightly different. We might be in a position to get perhaps north of three million for him and that money can really make a dent in squad building. It’s sensible footballing business for the club and Miles. The others are different because replacing them is going to cost unless we’re very lucky as much as the fee received and even then a gamble. I don’t see very much of the above in our strategy at present and unless there’s a change or phenomenal luck we’re going to be stuck in this poxy league for the foreseeable.
Trouble is you have been saying it will take 3 transfer windows for about 5 years!
In L1 it is bordering the impossible to hold on to any exceptional youth/young talent for any length of time (Beadle, Sarmiento, Ramazzani, probably Leaburn etc), and we don't seem to want to pay top L1 wages to retain our best talent (Dobson, likely L Jones and Small).
Meanwhile, each year that clicks by is as further £9M loss flushed down the toilet by our owners and a year closer to our lease ending.
If we take 3 more windows that writes this season off and next. So let's say we got up in May '27... Our owners would be down £48M by then, still not own The Valley and have just made the Championship. They better hope that they sell Leaburn and Dixon for an absolute shit tonne of money!
The downside is the 3 good transfer windows have to be consecutive and we struggle enough getting one right. One positive we do have at the moment is that we didn't rely on any loans this time round. Even without the great January recall of 2025 we're at least in a position where the good signings will hopefully still be here and the ones who haven't worked out have a chance to grow into their time here or move on. Mitchell, Ramsay, Edwards, Coventry, Mannion and Docherty should still be here next season and we can build on that as a core. If we can keep Lloyd Jones, Small and Leaburn as well as TC and add players into the gaps - experienced keeper, LCB, an attacking midfielder and a bit more pace overall - then the idea of needing two more windows to get it right is more convincing. Last season we had 8 loans. None of them were great and they weren't all at the same time but it was still squad places that needed filling. The year before that it was 5 players including our star and before that it was 7. Right now our only loan is Allan Campbell and I don't think we'd necessarily notice if he left. Assuming this improvement sticks and we don't lose too many players we're possibly only three first team signings and some more squad depth away from being viable and that is the big upside of not being reliant on loans like we have been in the past few years.
I’m disappointed to see so much negativity to these owners. They have put their hands in their pockets considerably more than most league 1 owners.
The majority of people were pleased with the loan signing of Ladapo until it went pear shaped . Is that the owners fault ? Don’t forget a couple of years ago the club were on the brink with Southall and Co so they have a lot of credit in the bank with me.
To be fair I don’t think there is too much criticism of the owners. They’re remote and placed the project in the hands what they expect to be competent football people. At some point they’ll want and expect to see measurable progress. It’s difficult to see where that is at present. I’d think next season will be the tipping point with targets set and expectations met.
I would humbly suggest that those who cannot see any measurable progress since the new owners took over aren’t really looking, or are judging it solely on short term results.
I’m disappointed to see so much negativity to these owners. They have put their hands in their pockets considerably more than most league 1 owners.
The majority of people were pleased with the loan signing of Ladapo until it went pear shaped . Is that the owners fault ? Don’t forget a couple of years ago the club were on the brink with Southall and Co so they have a lot of credit in the bank with me.
To be fair I don’t think there is too much criticism of the owners. They’re remote and placed the project in the hands what they expect to be competent football people. At some point they’ll want and expect to see measurable progress. It’s difficult to see where that is at present. I’d think next season will be the tipping point with targets set and expectations met.
I would humbly suggest that those who cannot see any measurable progress since the new owners took over aren’t really looking, or are judging it solely on short term results.
What measurable progress to you see then @Redrobo ?
I’m disappointed to see so much negativity to these owners. They have put their hands in their pockets considerably more than most league 1 owners.
The majority of people were pleased with the loan signing of Ladapo until it went pear shaped . Is that the owners fault ? Don’t forget a couple of years ago the club were on the brink with Southall and Co so they have a lot of credit in the bank with me.
To be fair I don’t think there is too much criticism of the owners. They’re remote and placed the project in the hands what they expect to be competent football people. At some point they’ll want and expect to see measurable progress. It’s difficult to see where that is at present. I’d think next season will be the tipping point with targets set and expectations met.
I would humbly suggest that those who cannot see any measurable progress since the new owners took over aren’t really looking, or are judging it solely on short term results.
What measurable progress to you see then @Redrobo ?
I see inputs but not many outcomes.
Its a low bar but given some of our previous owners inputs are an improvement in themselves
On a slightly different note I wonder if the timings of any move in January would have to wait until after we play Preston at least. If we wangled that successfully, and then got an away draw at Tottenham for instance, I think a lot of our players would be perked up for that, and presumably we would get a big bit of bunce from the gate money.
On a slightly different note I wonder if the timings of any move in January would have to wait until after we play Preston at least. If we wangled that successfully, and then got an away draw at Tottenham for instance, I think a lot of our players would be perked up for that, and presumably we would get a big bit of bunce from the gate money.
I’m disappointed to see so much negativity to these owners. They have put their hands in their pockets considerably more than most league 1 owners.
The majority of people were pleased with the loan signing of Ladapo until it went pear shaped . Is that the owners fault ? Don’t forget a couple of years ago the club were on the brink with Southall and Co so they have a lot of credit in the bank with me.
To be fair I don’t think there is too much criticism of the owners. They’re remote and placed the project in the hands what they expect to be competent football people. At some point they’ll want and expect to see measurable progress. It’s difficult to see where that is at present. I’d think next season will be the tipping point with targets set and expectations met.
I would humbly suggest that those who cannot see any measurable progress since the new owners took over aren’t really looking, or are judging it solely on short term results.
What measurable progress to you see then @Redrobo ?
I see inputs but not many outcomes.
This time last year we were heading for a relegation fight. We then appointed what I believe to be a very good manager on a four and a half year contract and moved steadily away from that. A good year for Jones so far. I think he has taken a big step forward in getting rid of some players and we now have a team that is very “together “, which hasn’t always been the case. I would suggest that this has been obvious for a while now and not just over the Christmas period. Have we now got rid of those disrupting influencers that previous managers have alluded to?
Many supporters I know had the feeling that our Club was very broken. Everything seems more professional and progressive now. The outside fans area is not really my thing, but it is getting better and fans seem to be using and enjoying it. Things just seem to be getting done now.
Leaburn, and now Ramsey, returning from injury early!!! Unheard of.
Our recruitment looks better and done earlier. Only one window so far, but even as fans we are discussing on here the areas for improvement instead of who we want to stay.
I also feel more confident that are future looks better than it has for years and we will get out of this league very soon. I think this season maybe a little early, but at least we have a chance!
Comments
Mihaly Kata I believe from MTK Budapest? Hungarian international.
Wow, excuse me I think I just cum.
If you are quoting as a mouthpiece for somebody highly connected at the club (and I genuinely don't mean that disrespectfully) I would love to know what in this context is meant by stable ground and seriously moving forward.
Speaking as somebody in complete ignorance of the intentions/motivation/financial commitment of the owners, I was hoping for a January window where the priority was the purchase of 2 or 3 players of real quality to sustain a dtermined push for promotion.
Obviously that is just my own wishful thinking.
What I didn't want was a "statement of intent" that amounted to "we need to reduce the squad size".
Okay, we will see what transpires, but I have not the patience for "jam tomorrow" promises.
We need to cut players from the squad (i can see the likes of Taylor and Edun going, loans perhaps for Asiimwe, Kanu, Dixon, and i personally wouldn't renew Potts). So that's 5-6 outgoings, and then we look to sign a couple of players who can impact the first team.
So the first team is upgraded and the squad size is reduced.
https://x.com/CAFCofficial/status/1876975466587762730
https://x.com/CAFCofficial/status/1876977031717486610
Having finally realised that Charlie's "pitch" was somewhat misleading, they are looking to diversify into a field where producing a successful nag would be more lucrative than concentrating solely on producing a successful football team.
You heard it here first !
Our squad IS too large, having first team players with little chance of game time isn't good.
Don’t forget a couple of years ago the club were on the brink with Southall and Co so they have a lot of credit in the bank with me.
I see inputs but not many outcomes.
If we wangled that successfully, and then got an away draw at Tottenham for instance, I think a lot of our players would be perked up for that, and presumably we would get a big bit of bunce from the gate money.
I think he has taken a big step forward in getting rid of some players and we now have a team that is very “together “, which hasn’t always been the case. I would suggest that this has been obvious for a while now and not just over the Christmas period. Have we now got rid of those disrupting influencers that previous managers have alluded to?
Many supporters I know had the feeling that our Club was very broken. Everything seems more professional and progressive now. The outside fans area is not really my thing, but it is getting better and fans seem to be using and enjoying it. Things just seem to be getting done now.
Leaburn, and now Ramsey, returning from injury early!!! Unheard of.
Our recruitment looks better and done earlier. Only one window so far, but even as fans we are discussing on here the areas for improvement instead of who we want to stay.
WE HAVE A RUMOUR