what youngsters we have released and proved us wrong or come back to haunt us............ Michael Turner Danny Green Scott McGleish Jamal Campbell-Ryce any more?
To be honest we're only saying these names because we're now playing in League One. If we were still in the Premier League I doubt any of us would care about the likes of Scott Mcgleish or Campbell-Ryce.
I disagree about McGleish he's what 37 years old now and we've been in League 1 for 2 years there's no way Curbs would have kept him on in the Premier League same with the other names listed Apart from Michael Turner there's no reason why he couldn't have been loaned out for longer like Chelsea did with Mancienne
Good shout on Weston considering we had no left-footers at the time. I was surprised we let Harry Pell go last year, and the Conor Morris the RB this year.
Rob, I normally contribute enthusiastically to threads like this, but to be honest with you, I now find this subject too frustrating and painful to post on. Here's the latest word from the O/S about our Academy which appeared today. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/charlton_athletic/9509370.stm Even though I don't question Steve Avory's motivation or skill, I find the thrust of the whole article profoundly depressing. "It is the objective of the academy to produce players for the first team" Great. Just what we want. "You would like those players to play at least a season (in the first team), if not a little bit more". What? If this, inadvertently, is not an admission that the Academy is turning out players to sell, I don't know what is.
I think the reference to "at least a season" was more out of his own frustration that Jenkinson had only just broken into the first team and was already being courted by Arsenal.
Saying that, I wasn't pleased with the admission that parents would look at CAFC and chose us for their kids, as we have a record of producing youngsters who reach top teams. If that is the case then we would quite simply be being used.
Here's a fairly interested thing to note, anybody remember a youngster called Stacey Long who we released 5 or 6 years ago? Well he now plays for Stevenage so there's a very good chance he could come up against us at The Valley next season.
This thread is far too retrospective as I dont miss the impact of pretty much all of them at the level they were released. I.e right now, don't think we missed wright or arter in the slightest. Wasn't adding anything we didn't have. Michael Turner is the only one who's reached the heights we hoped and at the time I was dissapounted, even then he's had to fight his way up. Long is an interesting argument as he fell through the leagues quickly, however he always felt like someone with the time may have made it. Jani Tanska is now playing for a top side in Finland now I believe. Neil mcCafferty is now sought after from rep ireland prem, but that's still no reputable level. I'm just glad to see some of those names making a living as I think beyond turner we've basically got it right throughout recent times
One other one that springs to mind is Linvoy Primus, as he had looked good when in the first team, and was passed over in favour of the likes of McLeary and Chapple. I thought Kevin Nicholls was unlucky not to become a regular too. With a lot of the released players, the problem is that we released many of them as not up to Premier league standard, then sunk down the divisions to a level where they would be appreciated...Lloyd Sam was lucky to come through at a time when we were sliding, as he's probably no better than JCR or Weston
Agree with you about Nicholls, Killer. Him and Turner are the two who I think should have been given a real chance before they were released. Nicholls was a very good player for Luton when they were good.
Pretty much agree with Hell-Bent Although had we not had so many centre-mid's 2/3 years ago (Zheng Zhi, Semedo, Racon, Bailey, Shelvey, Soares etc) then Josh Wright would have easily performed for us. He was released/sold not because he wasn't good enough, but because we had a load of other players of similar ability. Am I right in saying that Scunthorpe have released him?
Just checked and to answer my own question - Yes, he's been released by Scunny, so looks like he won't be playing against us next year
I still don't know he would add any ability at this point. I know he doesn't really count, but I think letting Worner go may become a mistake. On Jamal Campbell-Ryce, he is someone I felt we should have kept at the time, saw him a lot in the reserves at that point with Lloyd Sam, and felt he was always the better of the two. He has fought hard to keep at a good level, but I do think had he been kept in the Premiership he would have been playing at that level still today.