Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.
Gassan Ahadme - Aug 2025 gone on a season long loan to Stevenage
Comments
-
I like him, he is working centre halves and will get better as the team learns more about one another and where they need to be. I dont think I'm being hard on Tyreece when I say he doesn't have a centre forwards brain. He is a good runner and drags people all over the place but isn't helping Gassam Ahadme with his positioning. He'd do well to watch Raheem Sterling and how he plays off a centre forward whilst also being a menace pulling people wide. There is someone who has sussed how to play that role5
-
He doesn't seem at all quick to me, looked like he was running in treacle when head to head with Leyton's CBs.
The lad thought he played well and suffered from having zero other aerial threats coming from midfield or in his strike pairing,
In addition to the newly punped up TC being miles away from him, he was the only man the Orient defence had to mark on an aerial ball until we got a corner/free kick.
We currently have limited height in our midfield, even our midfielders who are too inexperienced to make the bench.0 -
He and TC were a menace and looked like a partnership in the making in the Pompey friendly. Hasn't clicked in the league in the same fashion yet, but I think they can both improve with some hard work on the training pitch. Not writing him off yet, but he has struggled to have much impact in the first couple of matches.1
-
I think it’s too early to call if he’s the perfect striker for Jones’ preferred style or if he’s a bit rubbish. Let’s give him more time.6
-
Excluding pens I can’t see him getting 10 league goals
ridiculous for this early a prediction but on the limited I’ve seen I can’t see him getting much game time once Leaburn and Godden are fit .3 -
The Orient manager namechecked TC as a threat in his post match.6
-
Didn't Aneke win the header that led to our goal?NabySarr said:
I don’t recall many Aneke - Godden knockdowns, other than maybe the one they combined on before Aneke’s huge touch.fenaddick said:
Aneke was also playing up front with Godden who knows instinctively where to position himself which TC doesn’t (yet).NabySarr said:
Does winning a duel mean he’s headed it and we’ve retained possession though? That was the difference between him and Aneke yesterday. Ahadme made first contact plenty of times but he didn’t find a teammate on quite a few of them even with Berry in particular making some good off the ball runs around him that Aneke might have found. When Aneke was on it felt like we retained the ball off our long balls to the big man more oftenCallumcafc said:
Third most aerial duels contested and third most aerials duels won among strikers in League One this weekend (1st: Clarke-Harris, 2nd: Ollie Palmer).Chunes said:
To be worth 1m in a Nathan Jones team, he'll have to be excellent at winning the ball when it's played up early.Callumcafc said:Instead of asking if he’s a £1m player, the question needs to be “is he worth £1m to a Nathan Jones team?” and I think the answer to that question is much more likely to be yes.
He works his nuts off in training, he doesn’t shirk any battles on the pitch. He’ll look like a non-league player in the wrong team and system. But for a Nathan Jones team that wants to get the ball forward as early and as often as possible, he fits in really nicely and will be a key part of the squad.I do think comparing him to Aneke is unfair though, Aneke coming on as a sub is better at holding the ball up than pretty much anyone at this level. Can’t really expect Ahadme to be that goodI actually think the judgement on whether he’s worth the fee is if he can stay fit, as not having to start Leaburn (regularly) or Aneke (at all) will be hugeBerry and Docherty know where to be but Ahadme couldn’t find them well enough. I think it’s simply a strength thing, Aneke holds off the defender more easily so they don’t mess with his header as much. But as I said comparing him to Aneke is not fair, not many are nearly as strong1 -
I'm seeing the selection of Campbell as a centre forward as Jones making some sort of protest to the ownership.Carter said:I like him, he is working centre halves and will get better as the team learns more about one another and where they need to be. I dont think I'm being hard on Tyreece when I say he doesn't have a centre forwards brain. He is a good runner and drags people all over the place but isn't helping Gassam Ahadme with his positioning. He'd do well to watch Raheem Sterling and how he plays off a centre forward whilst also being a menace pulling people wide. There is someone who has sussed how to play that role
He wants a certain type in that role and Tyreece is currently the only one we have in the building that kind of fits what he wants.
He's clearly not a forward. So hopefully the ownership will dip their hands in their pockets again.1 -
Besides Dixon, there's no way we sign another forward. We've arguably got too many as it is.carly burn said:
I'm seeing the selection of Campbell as a centre forward as Jones making some sort of protest to the ownership.Carter said:I like him, he is working centre halves and will get better as the team learns more about one another and where they need to be. I dont think I'm being hard on Tyreece when I say he doesn't have a centre forwards brain. He is a good runner and drags people all over the place but isn't helping Gassam Ahadme with his positioning. He'd do well to watch Raheem Sterling and how he plays off a centre forward whilst also being a menace pulling people wide. There is someone who has sussed how to play that role
He wants a certain type in that role and Tyreece is currently the only one we have in the building that kind of fits what he wants.
He's clearly not a forward. So hopefully the ownership will dip their hands in their pockets again.5 - Sponsored links:
-
Yes that was my point. Berry was making those runs all game, Docherty a few times as well. But we couldn’t find the midfield runners with knockdowns until Aneke came on and it led to the goalMuttleyCAFC said:
Didn't Aneke win the header that led to our goal?NabySarr said:
I don’t recall many Aneke - Godden knockdowns, other than maybe the one they combined on before Aneke’s huge touch.fenaddick said:
Aneke was also playing up front with Godden who knows instinctively where to position himself which TC doesn’t (yet).NabySarr said:
Does winning a duel mean he’s headed it and we’ve retained possession though? That was the difference between him and Aneke yesterday. Ahadme made first contact plenty of times but he didn’t find a teammate on quite a few of them even with Berry in particular making some good off the ball runs around him that Aneke might have found. When Aneke was on it felt like we retained the ball off our long balls to the big man more oftenCallumcafc said:
Third most aerial duels contested and third most aerials duels won among strikers in League One this weekend (1st: Clarke-Harris, 2nd: Ollie Palmer).Chunes said:
To be worth 1m in a Nathan Jones team, he'll have to be excellent at winning the ball when it's played up early.Callumcafc said:Instead of asking if he’s a £1m player, the question needs to be “is he worth £1m to a Nathan Jones team?” and I think the answer to that question is much more likely to be yes.
He works his nuts off in training, he doesn’t shirk any battles on the pitch. He’ll look like a non-league player in the wrong team and system. But for a Nathan Jones team that wants to get the ball forward as early and as often as possible, he fits in really nicely and will be a key part of the squad.I do think comparing him to Aneke is unfair though, Aneke coming on as a sub is better at holding the ball up than pretty much anyone at this level. Can’t really expect Ahadme to be that goodI actually think the judgement on whether he’s worth the fee is if he can stay fit, as not having to start Leaburn (regularly) or Aneke (at all) will be hugeBerry and Docherty know where to be but Ahadme couldn’t find them well enough. I think it’s simply a strength thing, Aneke holds off the defender more easily so they don’t mess with his header as much. But as I said comparing him to Aneke is not fair, not many are nearly as strong
The Orient centre backs did quite well so I’m sure Ahadme will have easier games where he can win those knockdowns/flick ons and we retain the ball like we did when Aneke was on0 -
Maybe but with Alfie it was only ever a question of time. I’ll reserve judgement on this guy, based on the last two games.Dazzler21 said:A reminder on Alfie's start last season:
4 -
Like to see him with Godden. A lot smarter striker than TC, I think he’ll be picking up those positions that Ahadme will expect. I don’t expect the TC up front experiment will
last too long.1 -
I'm not saying he won't come good, just that he hasn't yet. Or at least, being fair, he isn't yet in terms of complimenting the way we set up. Where I believe we need balls to stick and more headers and battles to be won. As Airman rightly points out, May took a few games.0
-
Are Charlton still covered by any sort of cooling off period with GA's transfer?
Looks like a helluva lot of money for very little player3 -
I think it is important to stress that we shouldn't compare him with May. They are totally different players and the fact May works hard and scores lots of goals doesn't mean there are not a lot of weaknesses to his game. Hence he has never played higher than this level.
There are still details Jones will need to work on and doing so from a position of being hard to break down will make that process much easier IMO. One of the details is to get more of an offensive threat going through the game. I do feel there is more to come from us. I have been a bit critical of Ahadme's performances so far but am certainly not writing the lad off.1 -
Only if you believe we paid £1m up front. Probably closer to a third of that with the majority based on clauses that aren't certain to be paid.Billy_Mix said:Are Charlton still covered by any sort of cooling off period with GA's transfer?
Looks like a helluva lot of money for very little player2 -
You don't really need time to be able to
Run
Head the ball to a team mate
Control the ball
Shield it
Sadly he's not as good as I hoped
Godden, Leaburn, Aneke, Kanu, Ahadme, TC in that order
For me
Dixon .. can't wait find our!2 -
Oversimplification that is. They're all different types of players with different roles. There will be selections based on opposition strengths/weaknesses and our own game plan. There is a role for all of them.supaclive said:You don't really need time to be able to
Run
Head the ball to a team mate
Control the ball
Shield it
Sadly he's not as good as I hoped
Godden, Leaburn, Aneke, Kanu, Ahadme, TC in that order
For me
Dixon .. can't wait find our!4 -
Agree. Worrying that we spent so much money on a squad player though.oohaahmortimer said:Excluding pens I can’t see him getting 10 league goals
ridiculous for this early a prediction but on the limited I’ve seen I can’t see him getting much game time once Leaburn and Godden are fit .…to the extent where we have now maxed out our budget & can’t bring in Potts + another midfielder.2 - Sponsored links:
-
This is an absolutely insane thread. I think it just shows that everyone has a perception of what they think a ‘striker’ should be and any judgment of a player is based on that narrow idea. Ahadme has been brought in to do a set group of things: occupy defenders with his high energy pressing to try and force them to play rushed passes that the second line of pressing can pick up on, tire out those defenders so that we can bring on fresher players later in the game to take advantage, win high balls that are sent up the pitch, hold the ball up so that more Charlton players can join the attack, and get on the end of crosses. Seeing Ahadme be compared to Alfie May is pretty incredible given that May’s whole purpose is just goals and Ahadme is in no way expected to be a direct replacement for him.Ahadme’s biggest problem so far has been that while we’ve defended well we haven’t gelled on the ball yet, so he hardly ever gets it in to feet or any dangerous crosses in and he’s been playing up front with a striker who is actually a winger, so he never has anyone near him to feed off his headers. He’s been entirely asked to compete for high balls and press and has had next to nothing to work with other than that. It’s also been two games. Now he’s been called a squad player and the already tiresome million pound fee that we clearly haven’t paid is coming up repeatedly as if that’s anything to do with him. I imagine it’s because we have 2 wins out of 2 and if there’s not results to complain about there has to be a scapegoat player. Coventry is doing well, Jones and Gillesphey are doing well, Campbell is very different to the player we had under Appleton so it sort of just leaves Ahadme left over. So it goes28
-
Why not? There are plenty of examples of players improving after a few months in the team, and some who need even longer. You’ve decided he’s backup after just two league games.supaclive said:You don't really need time to be able to
Run
Head the ball to a team mate
Control the ball
Shield it
Sadly he's not as good as I hoped
Godden, Leaburn, Aneke, Kanu, Ahadme, TC in that order
For me
Dixon .. can't wait find out!
That might prove to be his level, but it’s far too early to tell, especially as he’s relatively young and he’s one of seven signings still settling in. We’re also prioritising solid defending over creativity and attacking play. If the service improves and he grabs a few goals his performances will no doubt be viewed differently.11 -
Garrymanilow said:This is an absolutely insane thread. I think it just shows that everyone has a perception of what they think a ‘striker’ should be and any judgment of a player is based on that narrow idea. Ahadme has been brought in to do a set group of things: occupy defenders with his high energy pressing to try and force them to play rushed passes that the second line of pressing can pick up on, tire out those defenders so that we can bring on fresher players later in the game to take advantage, win high balls that are sent up the pitch, hold the ball up so that more Charlton players can join the attack, and get on the end of crosses. Seeing Ahadme be compared to Alfie May is pretty incredible given that May’s whole purpose is just goals and Ahadme is in no way expected to be a direct replacement for him.Ahadme’s biggest problem so far has been that while we’ve defended well we haven’t gelled on the ball yet, so he hardly ever gets it in to feet or any dangerous crosses in and he’s been playing up front with a striker who is actually a winger, so he never has anyone near him to feed off his headers. He’s been entirely asked to compete for high balls and press and has had next to nothing to work with other than that. It’s also been two games. Now he’s been called a squad player and the already tiresome million pound fee that we clearly haven’t paid is coming up repeatedly as if that’s anything to do with him. I imagine it’s because we have 2 wins out of 2 and if there’s not results to complain about there has to be a scapegoat player. Coventry is doing well, Jones and Gillesphey are doing well, Campbell is very different to the player we had under Appleton so it sort of just leaves Ahadme left over. So it goes
Is it insane? No one is writing him off but merely expressing a bit of concern that you would expect a little bit more from a player bought for quite a lot of money.3 -
Ahadme hasn't really got the service yet to show what he can do, it'll come and when it does so will his goals. Ridiculous to make comments on how good he is after two games next to a recently converted striker who plays too far away from him.15
-
Maybe not insane but some of the criticism seems a bit much given we're two games into the season. If we get half way through September and he's still not scored then questions probably would be asked but he needs a bit more of a grace period IMO.cafcsinger said:Garrymanilow said:This is an absolutely insane thread. I think it just shows that everyone has a perception of what they think a ‘striker’ should be and any judgment of a player is based on that narrow idea. Ahadme has been brought in to do a set group of things: occupy defenders with his high energy pressing to try and force them to play rushed passes that the second line of pressing can pick up on, tire out those defenders so that we can bring on fresher players later in the game to take advantage, win high balls that are sent up the pitch, hold the ball up so that more Charlton players can join the attack, and get on the end of crosses. Seeing Ahadme be compared to Alfie May is pretty incredible given that May’s whole purpose is just goals and Ahadme is in no way expected to be a direct replacement for him.Ahadme’s biggest problem so far has been that while we’ve defended well we haven’t gelled on the ball yet, so he hardly ever gets it in to feet or any dangerous crosses in and he’s been playing up front with a striker who is actually a winger, so he never has anyone near him to feed off his headers. He’s been entirely asked to compete for high balls and press and has had next to nothing to work with other than that. It’s also been two games. Now he’s been called a squad player and the already tiresome million pound fee that we clearly haven’t paid is coming up repeatedly as if that’s anything to do with him. I imagine it’s because we have 2 wins out of 2 and if there’s not results to complain about there has to be a scapegoat player. Coventry is doing well, Jones and Gillesphey are doing well, Campbell is very different to the player we had under Appleton so it sort of just leaves Ahadme left over. So it goes
Is it insane? No one is writing him off but merely expressing a bit of concern that you would expect a little bit more from a player bought for quite a lot of money.
Let's not forget that May didn't exactly hit the ground running last time round and we know that changed. I doubt Ahadme will be hitting those numbers but its too soon to make any real judgement .
2 -
No, not insane. The criticism hasn't even been strong. He got the lowest score Statbank on Saturday and didn't pull up any trees the week before, and as our 'marquee' signing there is going to be an eye on him. Don't know why everything has to be so either/or on here sometimes. You can say a player isn't performing yet without it meaning he's useless.cafcsinger said:Garrymanilow said:This is an absolutely insane thread. I think it just shows that everyone has a perception of what they think a ‘striker’ should be and any judgment of a player is based on that narrow idea. Ahadme has been brought in to do a set group of things: occupy defenders with his high energy pressing to try and force them to play rushed passes that the second line of pressing can pick up on, tire out those defenders so that we can bring on fresher players later in the game to take advantage, win high balls that are sent up the pitch, hold the ball up so that more Charlton players can join the attack, and get on the end of crosses. Seeing Ahadme be compared to Alfie May is pretty incredible given that May’s whole purpose is just goals and Ahadme is in no way expected to be a direct replacement for him.Ahadme’s biggest problem so far has been that while we’ve defended well we haven’t gelled on the ball yet, so he hardly ever gets it in to feet or any dangerous crosses in and he’s been playing up front with a striker who is actually a winger, so he never has anyone near him to feed off his headers. He’s been entirely asked to compete for high balls and press and has had next to nothing to work with other than that. It’s also been two games. Now he’s been called a squad player and the already tiresome million pound fee that we clearly haven’t paid is coming up repeatedly as if that’s anything to do with him. I imagine it’s because we have 2 wins out of 2 and if there’s not results to complain about there has to be a scapegoat player. Coventry is doing well, Jones and Gillesphey are doing well, Campbell is very different to the player we had under Appleton so it sort of just leaves Ahadme left over. So it goes
Is it insane? No one is writing him off but merely expressing a bit of concern that you would expect a little bit more from a player bought for quite a lot of money.
I'm also not quite sure why Garry is so 100% confident we haven't paid 1 million for him. Although it was announced as undisclosed in the London press, the East Anglian press were reporting 1 million, as we're Sky (as I remember). It was a similar situation when we sold Bonne which QPR fans believe was undisclosed but was reported by Cawley etc to be 2 million, and now many QPR fans don't believe they spent that much on him.4 -
Guess we can put him in goal if it doesn’t work out upfront.
He’s got the height & athleticism
Probably why we’ve delayed on signing a keeper 😉0 -
I remember another striker that split the fan base as to his effectiveness and relative lack of goals but was chosen week in week out by arguably the best manager this football club has ever had. I think some people are very myopic when it comes to assessing players and what they’re asked to do for the team by the manager. I’ll trust NJ on this one.5
-
ButtleJR said:Ahadme hasn't really got the service yet to show what he can do, it'll come and when it does so will his goals. Ridiculous to make comments on how good he is after two games next to a recently converted striker who plays too far away from him.Agreed - don't know why there's such an obsession with writing people off so quickly just because there's a decent fee attached to them.Nathan is well known for developing players so looking forward to seeing the Gas Man's progress, I'd be a bit more sceptical if Apples was still in charge...3
-
He not a replacement for May .. he completely diff playerDazzler21 said:A reminder on Alfie's start last season:1
