I suspect we had a bigger budget under RD! ...There is a lot to like about our new owner but I suspect he and Roddy have too much influence on playing and players...this really isn't going to end well unless we get half a dozen new players pronto ..no more guitar solos for the owner unless it's to celebrate promotion
I wish Minto had asked Adkins about the lack of signings. Charlton TV is great but that was an obvious thing to ask after a performance like that, that showed how desperate we are for new recruits.
Sadly the really difficult questions are never going to be asked on a TV show run by the club.
I wish Minto had asked Adkins about the lack of signings. Charlton TV is great but that was an obvious thing to ask after a performance like that, that showed how desperate we are for new recruits.
Sadly the really difficult questions are never going to be asked on a TV show run by the club.
One thing I'm starting to question is this. If Thomas wants Europe in 5 years (we all know it's bollocks but loved the sentiment) then how and where was the money going to come from to build the squads to drive this plan forwards. Whichever league you are in, if you want guaranteed success in this season and the one ahead, you buy for the league above (if you can afford it) thus each season you are simply topping up on the quality rather than a complete rebuild.
If Thomas hasn't got the money for a top two, League One squad, how the hell is he going to get/have the money for a top two Championship squad. Realistically were talking £50-100m+ for a Championship run (with a starting point of this squad). The late in the window loans as he suggested, aren't an indicator of an owner with wealth and ambition equally matched.
Having been at Lord's on Monday to see England capitulate to India, and then at Stadium MK on Tuesday to see Charlton lose to MK Dons, I'm starting to feel nostalgic for lockdown
I’m extremely grateful to TS for saving us in the way that he did but, as a successful business man, he inevitably carries an air of arrogance that most do who have achieved what he has.
I wonder if this arrogance is spilling out on his CAFC decision making. Maybe he thinks, a bit like RD did, that he can achieve football success by being smarter in the transfer market than his competitors, not paying silly fees/wages, playing it long, get the right characters in, mould them into a team blah blah blah.
Problem is, for most, football is a short term, loss making venture - nothing more sophisticated than a gamble. Some win, a lot don’t but generally, if you want success, you have to be prepared to spunk the bigger bucks.
Hopefully, come Sept 1st these fears will be proved wrong and we’ll see the 4-6 players we need to make a difference and TS can hail his strategy a success. If this doesn’t happen though, disillusionment will not just be confined to the fans then a rot will really set in.
My only game so far this reason was this time last week in the League Cup, I’ve got it all to look forward to on Saturday by the sounds of it.
I can completely get the anger and frustration at what appear to be 3 dire performances. The team was weak last season and the league was just as weak. We needed an absolute refresh and we haven’t had that.
It looks unlikely that based on this current team/squad, even with 5/6 more players of the ilk we’re likely to get, we’ll be challenging for promotion. Never say never, but when we’ve got people scratching for crumbs saying it will be okay when we get Gilbey and JFC back, or, we should’ve kept Shinnie, you know you’re desperate
The one thing I can’t get my head around is the gradual anger directed at TS. He’s made some mistakes, said things that he probably shouldn’t have and there’s lots up to debate re: how he’s running the club etc etc. however, seeing some of the comments on Twitter and here about pulling his finger out, put your money where your mouth is etc. bloody hell, we’re like a bunch of spoilt little brats that just expect this guy to plough millions into the squad and we’ll sign 12/13 players. I would love that. I would love for us to be signing as many players have Ipswich have, but football, like life isn’t that simple. TS is putting his money where his mouth is. It’s costing him personally every single month. We don’t have a divine right to have better players or expect anything more than what we’ve got.
He’s literally been in charge over a year, most of that in Covid. No to very little income. How many other benefactors were lining up to run this loss making league one football club last summer when we were on the brink.
I get his personality and presence might wind people up, his actions and words aren’t always the best way, but have a word with yourselves. We’ve gone from being on the brink of existence to putting out tweets where we tell him how much to spend and on who and it’s that simple????
He may get it catastrophically wrong on the playing side with regards the players purchased, and it might not be that what he thought was a decent budget is enough to get us the quality we need, but I think people just need to show a bit more respect.
I’m not arguing with anyone’s viewpoint on how crap we look, I’ve had many a rant at how shit we are over the years. I just can’t get my head around how quickly some of us seem to be up TS’ backside when the bloke is pretty much keeping us breathing financially
I agree with you that the anger directed at TS is unreasonable, although as fans we really need to stop believing what owners say just because we want it to be true. I think in TS’s case he has bitten off more than he can chew, which if true is a forgivable mistake.
In reality there WAS a queue of people interested in buying the club from 2015 onwards. Some may have been desirable, others not so much. It is Roland who determined that none of them got over the line because of his chronic over-valuation of the ground.
As ESI showed, it was easy to buy the club (losses). What TS did and deserves our respect and appreciation for is seeing off the chancers. We had no business expecting anyone from outside to do that.
He will want to succeed at running the club and we all want him to do so, but it’s not (just) about being cleverer than what went before. It will cost more than he ever imagined and you can’t just wish that away.
A stock response from players joining our club is " it has taken a while to happen, but now I am here I cannot wait to get started", Well, I wish they would bloody hurry up, because I cannot wait to see them getting started either.
I’m extremely grateful to TS for saving us in the way that he did but, as a successful business man, he inevitably carries an air of arrogance that most do who have achieved what he has.
I wonder if this arrogance is spilling out on his CAFC decision making. Maybe he thinks, a bit like RD did, that he can achieve football success by being smarter in the transfer market than his competitors, not paying silly fees/wages, playing it long, get the right characters in, mould them into a team blah blah blah.
Problem is, for most, football is a short term, loss making venture - nothing more sophisticated than a gamble. Some win, a lot don’t but generally, if you want success, you have to be prepared to spunk the bigger bucks.
Hopefully, come Sept 1st these fears will be proved wrong and we’ll see the 4-6 players we need to make a difference and TS can hail his strategy a success. If this doesn’t happen though, disillusionment will not just be confined to the fans then a rot will really set in.
I suspect there is an element of that. Of course things can change like Burnley selling Pope. Football can make a lot of money as well as lose it. I still believe that something must have happened to change the plan.
Not good so far, but some need to calm down a bit..
In defence we have had 3 very tough games to start the season. Fixture list hasn’t been kind but we have had since May 3rd or so to plan for the new season. I think we are just to predictable and any team with a bit more quality and overrun very easily
If Sheff. Weds, Oxford and MK Dons are very tough games, then we might as well accept relegation now. There's a lot worse to come than those three teams.
Not taking away anything from the dreadfulness of our performances so far but those three will be aiming for top 6 this season. I don't think there is "a lot worse" to come.
I hope you're right Chunes, maybe 'a lot' was an exaggeration but, unless the cavalry arrives in the next couple of weeks, we're going to be regularly picked apart like a dodgy nan-knitted scarf.
This could be a historic season. Our worst ever season in the League was 1925/6 when we finished 21st in the old Division 3 South. Could we be set to break that long standing record?
Sorry to say we are in for a long hard season. Even the defence don't seem as good as last season and they have not changed much in personel apart from the left back issue - rather play Gunter right back and Roddy left back - as Matthews is good going forward but cant defend and never seems to be bothered when he loses a ball. The new kid Elerewe looks OK but in 2 games this season I have still not seen him win a header - which is a must for a centre half. I had high hopes for the 2 new midfield players - like most of us, but they are presently coming up short. Stockley is playing well but I think he would be much better with someone playing alongside him and therefore we should try 4-4-2 - keep 2 wingers in the 4 in midfield formation especially as our fullbacks are not getting forward. I think we desperately need a goalscorer alongside Stockley - which I think would really transform the team - but it will need money. Although I doubt this will happen, especially when I read in the press that Charlton are ready to 'swoop' for a player that has just been released from a league 2 side! - That seems to be the strength of our finances.
The more I think about this, the stranger it gets.
In his post-match comments last season, Adkins was always talking about keeping the ball on the floor. I remember our last game, against Peterborough, we kept possession really well and it felt like Nigel's blueprint was finally being acted on.
Now he is not mentioning it all... And we are lumping long ball after long ball.
So does he know we don't have the players to pass it? And if so, why don't we?
Dobson was obviously bought to play, Watson is the only backup. He gave Morgan the no. 10 shirt. That leaves only Clare, who may or may not be a squad player. And that's our midfield. Yet we hoof it over their heads every single time.
I can't believe he has decided to build a long ball team over the Summer. Something else must be going on.
4-3-3 with this midfield isn't working. We could play 4-4-3 and it probably wouldn't help much. Apart from the assist for our goal and the assist for their second, the middle three did pretty much nothing.
Sorry to say we are in for a long hard season. Even the defence don't seem as good as last season and they have not changed much in personel apart from the left back issue - rather play Gunter right back and Roddy left back - as Matthews is good going forward but cant defend and never seems to be bothered when he loses a ball. The new kid Elerewe looks OK but in 2 games this season I have still not seen him win a header - which is a must for a centre half. I had high hopes for the 2 new midfield players - like most of us, but they are presently coming up short. Stockley is playing well but I think he would be much better with someone playing alongside him and therefore we should try 4-4-2 - keep 2 wingers in the 4 in midfield formation especially as our fullbacks are not getting forward. I think we desperately need a goalscorer alongside Stockley - which I think would really transform the team - but it will need money. Although I doubt this will happen, especially when I read in the press that Charlton are ready to 'swoop' for a player that has just been released from a league 2 side! - That seems to be the strength of our finances.
Sadly, we've seen nothing from MacGillivray so far that convinces me he is a decent replacement for Amos.
He's cost us a goal in the last 2 games and if Bannon's shot had gone in the Wednesday game it would have been a goal in each game.
More worrying for me is his complete reluctance to come from crosses. He was absolutely rooted to his line last night. Amos may have let a couple of long shots in last year he should have saved but his catching was absolutely first class but this guy just doesn't seem to measure up in this department.
The more I think about this, the stranger it gets.
In his post-match comments last season, Adkins was always talking about keeping the ball on the floor. I remember our last game, against Peterborough, we kept possession really well and it felt like Nigel's blueprint was finally being acted on.
Now he is not mentioning it all... And we are lumping long ball after long ball.
This must surely mean he knows he doesn't have the players to pass it. And if he doesn't, why not? Dobson was obviously bought to play, Watson is the only backup. He gave Morgan the no. 10 shirt. That leaves only Clare, who may or may not be a squad player.
I don't believe he has decided to build a long ball team over the Summer.
To be fair we kept the ball on the deck really well for the opening 20mins last night... Unfortunately with this group, the moment there is a setback the majority seem to think the ball is some kind of bomb and get it away from them as quickly as they possibly can
This could be a historic season. Our worst ever season in the League was 1925/6 when we finished 21st in the old Division 3 South. Could we be set to break that long standing record?
We finished 13th in the 2010/11 season with a pretty poor squad - I'd hope we have enough to match that.
Awful performance yet again . We started so well as we did at Oxford , but it disintegrated fast as soon as they equalised . The only highlight on a miserable night was the great support .
My only game so far this reason was this time last week in the League Cup, I’ve got it all to look forward to on Saturday by the sounds of it.
I can completely get the anger and frustration at what appear to be 3 dire performances. The team was weak last season and the league was just as weak. We needed an absolute refresh and we haven’t had that.
It looks unlikely that based on this current team/squad, even with 5/6 more players of the ilk we’re likely to get, we’ll be challenging for promotion. Never say never, but when we’ve got people scratching for crumbs saying it will be okay when we get Gilbey and JFC back, or, we should’ve kept Shinnie, you know you’re desperate
The one thing I can’t get my head around is the gradual anger directed at TS. He’s made some mistakes, said things that he probably shouldn’t have and there’s lots up to debate re: how he’s running the club etc etc. however, seeing some of the comments on Twitter and here about pulling his finger out, put your money where your mouth is etc. bloody hell, we’re like a bunch of spoilt little brats that just expect this guy to plough millions into the squad and we’ll sign 12/13 players. I would love that. I would love for us to be signing as many players have Ipswich have, but football, like life isn’t that simple. TS is putting his money where his mouth is. It’s costing him personally every single month. We don’t have a divine right to have better players or expect anything more than what we’ve got.
He’s literally been in charge over a year, most of that in Covid. No to very little income. How many other benefactors were lining up to run this loss making league one football club last summer when we were on the brink.
I get his personality and presence might wind people up, his actions and words aren’t always the best way, but have a word with yourselves. We’ve gone from being on the brink of existence to putting out tweets where we tell him how much to spend and on who and it’s that simple????
He may get it catastrophically wrong on the playing side with regards the players purchased, and it might not be that what he thought was a decent budget is enough to get us the quality we need, but I think people just need to show a bit more respect.
I’m not arguing with anyone’s viewpoint on how crap we look, I’ve had many a rant at how shit we are over the years. I just can’t get my head around how quickly some of us seem to be up TS’ backside when the bloke is pretty much keeping us breathing financially
I agree with you that the anger directed at TS is unreasonable, although as fans we really need to stop believing what owners say just because we want it to be true. I think in TS’s case he has bitten off more than he can chew, which if true is a forgivable mistake.
In reality there WAS a queue of people interested in buying the club from 2015 onwards. Some may have been desirable, others not so much. It is Roland who determined that none of them got over the line because of his chronic over-valuation of the ground.
As ESI showed, it was easy to buy the club (losses). What TS did and deserves our respect and appreciation for is seeing off the chancers. We had no business expecting anyone from outside to do that.
He will want to succeed at running the club and we all want him to do so, but it’s not (just) about being cleverer than what went before. It will cost more than he ever imagined and you can’t just wish that away.
This is the bit that scares me the most, you not the first person to say it and I think we have all thought it. How the hell do you go through all the shit he did, not to mention the costs, to not know how much its going to cost?
If he looked at it and said "I'll just do it better" and we will spend less and earn more over night. He is quite frankly an idiot.
He quite obviously isn't an idiot, neither are Manford and Adkins they have both been around long enough to know what's what. Either Thomas has had some shocking advice or he has ignored the advice he was given.
The more I think about this, the stranger it gets.
In his post-match comments last season, Adkins was always talking about keeping the ball on the floor. I remember our last game, against Peterborough, we kept possession really well and it felt like Nigel's blueprint was finally being acted on.
Now he is not mentioning it all... And we are lumping long ball after long ball.
This must surely mean he knows he doesn't have the players to pass it. And if he doesn't, why not? Dobson was obviously bought to play, Watson is the only backup. He gave Morgan the no. 10 shirt. That leaves only Clare, who may or may not be a squad player.
I don't believe he has decided to build a long ball team over the Summer.
To be fair we kept the ball on the deck really well for the opening 20mins last night... Unfortunately with this group, the moment there is a setback the majority seem to think the ball is some kind of bomb and get it away from them as quickly as they possibly can
Seems to me that it’s a confidence issue and a calming influence needed amongst the younger players. There was enough experience in Gunter, Matthews and Stockley in the starting 11 last night but the togetherness doesn’t look there at the moment and when that’s missing it becomes every man for himself.
It might explain why Watson is being introduced on the hour however he’s not the answer and it needs addressing pdq with more than just young prem loans.
Morgan with the chicken with no head syndrome.....he is not good enough....and we cant afford to wait for JFC to be back in 6 months. Adkins WTF 2-1 down and you bring on Watson !!!!
I've no idea why you wouldn't bring on Davison and go 442.
Unless Dobson had a knock, then it's just mind boggling you'd make a like for like defensive midfield sub when chasing a game.
Liam Manning was an academy coach at West Ham before proving you can manager in Belgium and be decent ! so once they got the upper hand in Midfield ( same as they did at the valley last season) they passed around Charlton and we were so bereft, that after Kirk for Washington, the only change we made was Watson for Dobson !
The first 20 minutes was positive and the last 10 of first half, but the rest was sud standard and it was a stroll in the park for MK Dons.
Before the Sheff Wed match, I said we have no goals in this team without Aneke, and the way Nigel would set us up we would rely on set pieces with headed goals by Stockley or Inniss. Problem is Inniss just looks like a player who isn't fit so once you block him at Corners and expose him in transition he will revert to fouls.
The isolation of Stockley needs to be addressed and changed because he isn't a lone striker. Jayden is a Central Striker who needs a forward playing near by. Not so far away that on Charlton TV, he looked like Robinson Crusoe without a man Friday in sight.
I thought we would draw matches 0-0 or even 1-1 during August but I was too optimistic.
We’ve just had 18 months of v little revenue - it’s widely known that lower leagues rely heavily on match day income. I don’t like the results either but getting rid of gallen - really 😂😂😂😂
I am sure players will come in - we won’t be winning The league but then I didn’t expect to - playoffs is a successful season for me.
That applies to every club. MKD had less than 8000 in last night, Oxford 8400 on Saturday. These are clubs with lower incomes and budgets than us, they're not big spending clubs.
Both will fighting for the top 6 this season, because they are well managed sides, not because they have big budgets. MKD play good football because of how they were coached under Martin.
I didn’t see the game against Sheffield Wednesday and I couldn’t give a toss about the League Cup. I went to Oxford hoping, to the point to the point of expecting, that I might see a side capable of seeing of mounting a serious promotion challenge. The performance there was of a side that looked more like relegation strugglers. The 2-1 scoreline flattered us. Last night’s performance was just as bad and confirmed that unless there are seismic changes to both squad and tactics, we are in a relegation battle.
Comments
Something is very very wrong
Shinnie in the Morgan role or coming on as a sub.
Aneke on as a sub at half time or the second half.
If Thomas wants Europe in 5 years (we all know it's bollocks but loved the sentiment) then how and where was the money going to come from to build the squads to drive this plan forwards. Whichever league you are in, if you want guaranteed success in this season and the one ahead, you buy for the league above (if you can afford it) thus each season you are simply topping up on the quality rather than a complete rebuild.
If Thomas hasn't got the money for a top two, League One squad, how the hell is he going to get/have the money for a top two Championship squad. Realistically were talking £50-100m+ for a Championship run (with a starting point of this squad). The late in the window loans as he suggested, aren't an indicator of an owner with wealth and ambition equally matched.
I wonder if this arrogance is spilling out on his CAFC decision making. Maybe he thinks, a bit like RD did, that he can achieve football success by being smarter in the transfer market than his competitors, not paying silly fees/wages, playing it long, get the right characters in, mould them into a team blah blah blah.
Problem is, for most, football is a short term, loss making venture - nothing more sophisticated than a gamble. Some win, a lot don’t but generally, if you want success, you have to be prepared to spunk the bigger bucks.
Hopefully, come Sept 1st these fears will be proved wrong and we’ll see the 4-6 players we need to make a difference and TS can hail his strategy a success. If this doesn’t happen though, disillusionment will not just be confined to the fans then a rot will really set in.
Lumping it to Stockley IS NOT a plan.
We need to improve, and fast.
As ESI showed, it was easy to buy the club (losses). What TS did and deserves our respect and appreciation for is seeing off the chancers. We had no business expecting anyone from outside to do that.
He will want to succeed at running the club and we all want him to do so, but it’s not (just) about being cleverer than what went before. It will cost more than he ever imagined and you can’t just wish that away.
In his post-match comments last season, Adkins was always talking about keeping the ball on the floor. I remember our last game, against Peterborough, we kept possession really well and it felt like Nigel's blueprint was finally being acted on.
Now he is not mentioning it all... And we are lumping long ball after long ball.
So does he know we don't have the players to pass it? And if so, why don't we?
Dobson was obviously bought to play, Watson is the only backup. He gave Morgan the no. 10 shirt. That leaves only Clare, who may or may not be a squad player. And that's our midfield. Yet we hoof it over their heads every single time.
I can't believe he has decided to build a long ball team over the Summer. Something else must be going on.
He's cost us a goal in the last 2 games and if Bannon's shot had gone in the Wednesday game it would have been a goal in each game.
More worrying for me is his complete reluctance to come from crosses. He was absolutely rooted to his line last night. Amos may have let a couple of long shots in last year he should have saved but his catching was absolutely first class but this guy just doesn't seem to measure up in this department.
Early days yet but he needs to improve fast.
If he looked at it and said "I'll just do it better" and we will spend less and earn more over night. He is quite frankly an idiot.
He quite obviously isn't an idiot, neither are Manford and Adkins they have both been around long enough to know what's what. Either Thomas has had some shocking advice or he has ignored the advice he was given.
Looks like he's trying to cover the Charlton fans rather than the goal.
Liam Manning was an academy coach at West Ham before proving you can manager in Belgium and be decent ! so once they got the upper hand in Midfield ( same as they did at the valley last season) they passed around Charlton and we were so bereft, that after Kirk for Washington, the only change we made was Watson for Dobson !
The first 20 minutes was positive and the last 10 of first half, but the rest was sud standard and it was a stroll in the park for MK Dons.
Before the Sheff Wed match, I said we have no goals in this team without Aneke, and the way Nigel would set us up we would rely on set pieces with headed goals by Stockley or Inniss. Problem is Inniss just looks like a player who isn't fit so once you block him at Corners and expose him in transition he will revert to fouls.
The isolation of Stockley needs to be addressed and changed because he isn't a lone striker. Jayden is a Central Striker who needs a forward playing near by. Not so far away that on Charlton TV, he looked like Robinson Crusoe without a man Friday in sight.
I thought we would draw matches 0-0 or even 1-1 during August but I was too optimistic.
Both will fighting for the top 6 this season, because they are well managed sides, not because they have big budgets. MKD play good football because of how they were coached under Martin.
Last season we lost four away games all season
This year we've already lost two
Perhaps fans being back will be reason for that and we'll have a strong home record ourselves
We'll bloody need to if we cant win on the road thats for sure