My assessment is an honest appraisal of the player I saw on numerous occasions (too many actually). If you think what i said is harsh that's your opinion and i respect that. What i do resent is being labeled a 'boo boy' for simply expressing my opinion. I am not one to boo, hiss or scream when players or the team are performing below the standard i expect. I reserve such behaviour for my yearly visit to the panto with my boys. Whatever way you choose to dress it up, Francis simply was not the player for us that he appeared to be for Southend. I agree that he predominantly played in a struggling side. However, in poor teams good players still stand out (BWP, Jackson). For me he simply was not good enough. I hold no ill feeling towards the lad. I sincerely hope he bounces back and continues to earn a good living from the game.
CP gave him 3 games at the end of last season when he dropped Solly. He must have made up his mind then that Francis was not up to scratch. He's got plenty of time to bounce back, just as Solly has done after being poorly treated by Parky and pardew.
... You leave pantos alone. It's a cracking evening out and they love it (nearly as much as i do ). Last year Bobby Davro in 'Jack & the beanstalk' was different class!
Utter nonsense Mart... By saying this you are doing your fellow Charlton supporters a massive disservice Imo. May of whom have been watching/playing football all their lives. These people are more than capable/qualified to pass judgement on what they see before their very eyes. I for one couldn't care less who plays for my beloved Charlton. Just so long as they are proud to wear the shirt, put a decent shift in and have the ability to do the job for which they are paid.
Franco, the two players I dislike most in football at present - Carlton Cole - get me out of Charlton because I'm too good for this club, pity he didn't prove that in his performances for us; Bouazza - I'm an international I shouldn't be playing for Charlton in the Championship, he's now playing a bit role for Millwall in Championship
... There's absolutely no comeback for that mate. I consider myself well and truly done up like a kipper . Anyway, It's off to bed i go, ready for off to work i go tonight (sorry). Enjoy the rest of your Sunday lads and I'll catch up with you boys a bit later.
Franco then we can agree to disagree but I sit in NU Block H and many a fan in the NU almost couldn't wait to jump on Francis' back after one mistake. I'm not saying the fans are why we never saw the best of Francis over a sustained period but because everyone compared him to Richardson and yes just wasn't as good as him. Solly came into the team and had a good game v Bournemouth so in the fans eyes Solly (aided by his youth development bias) was Richardson's replacement not Francis and that wasn't going to change regardless of how Francis would play. At the end of the day Franco I am more than happy with how Solly is playing at RB he seems to continue to improve most games even to the point where he has earnt his own song and is possibly now on a par with Richardson.
I think Chris Solly is always gonna get more time in a Charlton shirt and more support from the Fans because he came through our Youth setup. I agree with AllHell though that we need cover for BWP.... Neil Mellor was one I were thinking about the other day perhaps?
That's one game and how many has he played this season? I wasn't there but read good reports on his peformance against Reading.
Don't understand this point, you could equally say Benson, Francis et al have been poorly treated by CP. Wasn't Solly injured and couldn't play for a period under Parky anyway.
Good luck to him. Always seemed like a confidence player and, sadly, a lot of people made their minds up about him very quickly and got on his back a lot. However, it got to thee point where it clearly wasn't going to work out for hi here, so wish him all the best at Bournemouth.
Since Solly broke into the first team he's always had a few niggly injured (just after his Norwich debut and just after the Leyton Orient game last year). I think its because of this reason most people are concerned about the Right-Back position once Francis departs.
Solly was quite unlucky with the timing of his injuries eg when Richardson was injured so was Solly. But even when he got fit Omozousi(sic) was preferred to him even when his loan spell was about to expire. And Parky did him no favours by playing him out of position on the odd occasion he picked him, which was why a lot of fans didn't fancy him at all.
Martinho, I agree that a lot of fans leapt at the chance to get on Francis's back, but to be fair its the same for practically every player - Francis was a confidence player, something we have seen far too many of over the past few years (and certainly not the type of player needed for promotion pushes). I don't blame Francis at all, he merely lacked confidence and couldn't help that, I feel we were just the wrong club for him. Interestingly enough though, I think Francis was a far better RB than Jenkinson . Out of all the right-backs we've had at the club in League One, I'd probably put them in the following order; Solly Richardson Francis Jenkinson Omosuzi Incidentally, did anyone read about Omosuzi being on trial in court?
