Pre Season Friendlies

South London Press has apparently been told (by the Club?) that Marshall will be sidelined for 10-12 weeks.

It could be worse - assuming it is an accurate figure - knee injuries can keep players out for a lot longer than that.
We will have to hope now that Marshall's recovery goes smoothly ... something which is not to be taken for granted.

 

But with our history of treating players it could well be he's out for the rest of the season.

 

Another brief report; no more detail but a nice football cliché...

https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/...jury-blow-former-bradford-city-crowd-pleaser/

Karl Robinson has confirmed that winger Mark Marshall will be out of action for three months.
The summer arrival from Bradford City sustained a knee injury during the 2-1 friendly win at Stevenage Borough on Saturday and, as revealed by the South London Press on Tuesday, is set to be out for an extended period.

“Marshall is out for three months,” confirmed the Charlton boss.
It’s going to be a big blow for us."

“It is what it is, I’m disappointed for him and the rest of the team, the fans. I can’t effect that. This year I’m trying to worry about the things I can effect and not get too down by the things that effect us in a negative way. It’s the nature of the industry, unfortunately you get hit by things like that but he’ll be a new signing in November when he comes back.

“I always thought before that we needed somebody else in that position to make us a bit brighter in certain games. We’ll still try and find somebody that allows us to be better but it’s a big loss to us.”

Is being a new signing even better than being like a new signing?
Either way, there are still five and a half weeks of the transfer window available right now. Since so many positions in the squad have still not been reinforced or even filled, is it beyond the Club's ability to go out and get another quality winger rather than rely on a journeyman to fill in for Marshall?

Bear in mind that there is no guarantee at all that Marshall will recover from this injury without any set backs. November could easily become January, by which time half the season has gone.

Is Charlton Athletic serious about automatic promotion this season or not?
From the gloomy, resigned tone of Robinson's comments here the answer is obvious.
He is going to try to worry only about the things he can affect. For the manager of a Club that has been recently relegated and is now playing in a lower league than the history of the Club and the size of its stadium shows it should be in, "things he can affect" is surely supposed to include prospects for promotion! Otherwise what is the point of him?

The man is so obviously preparing himself for disappointment - getting ready to weather another season of looking back ruefully on games not won and telling fans how close we were to getting results we did not get.

More than 101 points?
By spring next year the entrenched supporters of this incompetent regime will be telling us that finishing higher than we did last season will be a stunning success and anybody who disagrees is a miserable trouble maker who hates the Club.

 

It was a friendly, so the result was largely academic. The bright notes include some good performances from the likes of Djiksteel and Sarr. But the squad can now be said to be worryingly thin. There is some quality in there, but really this close to season kick off, we should be much better prepared. The noises in january were that we weren't going to spend the Lookman money in a dodgy window, but would prepare well in advance of the summer one. So why the delay. Were we so fixated on Ben Reeves we forgot to check other targets? There is still time to fill the squad out, but we need quality. I can understand the club want to keep our transfer business under wraps while we negotiate, but given previous summers, the confidence in our club getting the right players in is fading. If we don't it'll be interesting to see how KR reacts if the four signings he is asking for fail to materialise.

 

I do not know whether he is enthusiastic or a bulls*****.

Either way, I would have had more sympathy for him if he had not come out with the alleged quote when managing Milton Keynes, that we were a "basket case of a club". Admittedly he is correct but he knew the score when he took over.

 

I had not heard about KR's alleged "basket case" comment before, I'd love to track that down if possible.

If true, he was not wrong. And even if it was a throwaway remark it only says what many in the game are probably thinking.
Yet still he took the job.

 

Roland went to great lengths to get KR, even agreeing to meet him in France where KR was on some sort of course or other. No doubt he was given verbal assurances about the backing he'd get. Chris Wilder was more canny, demanding them in writing because he knew the value of verbal assurances from our board- zero.

 

having watched our preseason friendlies i am now rather worried about the season ahead. preseason started off pretty good, but the signings have dried up, old habits returned.

kicking myself for falling for the "we've learned" line and buying a season ticket. although at £135, it's kind of throwaway money.

i'm expecting mid table to lower end of the table. roland has pocketed the entire lookman fee and KR is a mediocre manager at this level with no backing.

 

There was actually quite a good letter about the season ticket thing on Dr Kish this week. I was determined to give KR time and credit to get in the riht signings as it is pointless to attack our manager for no reason, and he still has time, but as it stands, this looks a lot like another mid table nothing season. However, I may be back occasionally this season, and if so I am not going to deprive myself of the pleasure (such as it is) of going to the Valley to watch the club I love. Life is to short to waste in anger, and it would be better to protest tan to not go. 135 quid is peanuts, although the football on display may well turn out to be worth little more,

 

I'm in broad agreement with the bookies at the moment regarding this coming season.

8th to 10th place finish, after a couple of forays into the lower end of the top 6 and probably a slump into the bottom half for a while.

 

F*** them, I'm only 51 and can afford to work on a principle if it takes them five years to go.

A plenty of non-league grounds can be ticked off in that time.

 

5-0 up on Ipswich. Football- bloody hell!

 

6.1 full time. Not sure if we were that good, or Ipswich that bad. Holmes & Kashi were outstanding, the rest were average. Cannot get too carried away on this performance, probably suffer a big defeat when it really matters next week

 

They'll hopefully take confidence from it - the signing of Reeves helps. He'll probably need a few weeks to get up to scratch.

Heard a striker mentioned today too. An actual one rather than someone who plays behind.

 

I always try to ignore pre season results, good or bad, but that has the pulse racing a little. No absurd predictions or bizarre celebrations but that is a good result and sounded like a great performance. It could be Ipswich are awfull, but at the moment I am quietly happy with that
Please can we do it again next week, as I'll probably be there.

 

Have we signed a solid tea lady this time around ?

 

Where does it say we have got Reeves?

 

https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/27776/charlton-set-complete-transfer-ben-reeves-start-next-week/

The South London Press says it's happening.
Reeves is indeed in the picture...

 

He was walking around the millennium lounge. Now reported everywhere!

 

I went to the Valley today and was amazed at the football we played. Fluid movement with and without the ball. Clinical finishing, pace and trickery. I know Ipswich are not very good but we completely outplayed them.

Amos, did everything that was asked of him, Solly looks back to his best. Baeur solid and scored a good goal, Konsa classy. Da Silva, he is going to be a good player. Fosu good on the ball, Holmes back to his best scored two excellent goals.Kashi is a class act. Clarke played the number 10 role very well, covered a lot of ground, JFC pinged lots of balls around short and long. Magennis scored two goals and led the line brilliantly.

With Reeves potentially coming in and Dave Martin was there today. Things are looking up.