I’ve seen quite a few unintentionally funny comments about Nathan Jones overnight, but the funniest was the fan who suggested that he should have no say in January recruitment. Which means …..handing it back to errr Andy Scott.
I tried to listen to his post match interview but I only managed a minute. In that time he said front footed three times. I had to switch it off.
It’s obvious we have a minimum of 18 months more in this league, unless a miracle happens & the investors spend heavily on quality in January. Crowds are really going to drop off, and Methen will soon be laying off staff in his match day Chicken Hut.
I think we are entrenched in this League. The only way I can see us leaving this League is by getting relegated.
We are definitely not going up this season. I’d stake my house on it. A combination of a very limited manager, whom investors probably can’t afford to sack yet, and a bang average squad of slow journeymen. The fans have been lied to by Charlie Methven & Jim Rodwell, who among many lies told us that a promotion challenge was the bare minimum required this season. We will be lucky to finish 10th.
So if promotion is the bare minimum what are they going to do about it when we don’t get promoted? This Club is a financial time bomb in this division. We can’t survive indefinitely in this League, something has to give. No amount of chicken huts playgrounds or other gimmicks can disguise the fact that we still have not got it right on the pitch. Still we got a good crowd for the Wrexham game. All my Charlton supporting friends don’t go anymore and are not likely to come back anytime soon. They have had enough of false promises. I am now reaching the stage where I can’t be bothered to go to games. I will have a long think at the end of the season whether I want to renew my Season ticket. There is only so much you can take.
Surely the US investors are going to reach a tipping point with this SMT. They delivered the worst league finish in our history last season , that was no accident, they are collectively useless in their roles. Mundell & Charles Hawtrey may be duped by Methvrn’s bullshitting podcasts - nobody else is. This season is now shaping up to be very similar. I’d love to be privy to the weekly updates between slippery CM and the billionaire investors. I see it ending one of three ways - 1. The investors get real, make sweeping management changes, and finally spend the money that is required to get out of this league, 2. Methen pulls the wool over their eyes, and they stump up another £8m for more guaranteed failure next season, 3. The investors lose interest, and sell up. I don’t see a 4th option ?
I can’t see the investors putting their hands in their pockets indefinitely. I can see the same situation as the Kevin Cash, Slater Jimenez ownership. When Kevin Cash pulled the plug by not putting anymore money into the Club.
I don't trust them to spend wisely. Jones's recruitment has been poor, and if not him then Andy Scott who is equally poor. The fact that Jones has been recruiting his old mates tells me he hasn't kept in touch with this division. I don't know much about how good our scouting network is, if we have such a thing, but Lennie and Curbs managed to build well-balanced teams on a shoestring because they went the extra mile and put out teams who were dedicated to the cause. NJ puts out ill-balanced teams with a captain who he doesn't think is good enough half the time, and who don't seem motivated for the first half. I think 2 first-half league goals this season tells its own story.
Collectively the billionaires have far more money, but they are not Charlton fans, they are arms length investors. They have no affinity for the club. As soon as they start to see a burning hole in their pockets they are bound to lose interest IMO. This was always about a quick win for them and slippery CM.
For them to sell up they need a buyer, and so far each buyer leaves the club in a worse state, with a higher selling price, which can't continue. Therefore the 4th option is administration or liquidation, which was not an option before ESI separated the club from the ground.
We all predicted this pre season. No width, no pace, no guile. Posters incl me who posted it on ITTV were drowned out, and banned. Football is about scoring goals, we said in the Sumner can this team score the 75 plus goals that historical stats showed are how many you require to get promoted in League One. It is patently clear we are going to score nothing like 75 goals this season.
Gavin Carter is “supposed” to be a lifelong Charlton fan, but from what I have been told he has well & truly downed the Methven kool-aid. If he really cares about the club you’d hope that he, or someone with a pair of bollocks, is telling the investors straight what is really going on. Chicken huts, You Tubers, Diversity Directors …it’s all smoke & mirrors, straight out of Methven’s Sunderland play book. The main product on the pitch still stinks. Someone needs to convince the investors that they are doomed to lose their money, just like every investor in the last 20 years has at Charlton , unless they quickly change course & sack the SMT.
I think Jones has got things horribly wrong. No flair in midfield, Selling your top scorer and the Leagues top scorer. Replacing him with a donkey on a long contract. Tying really average players like Berry, Docherty to long contracts. Ignoring Taylor for long periods. I can see no light at the end of the tunnel just more of the same.
The thing about playing Route One hoofball is that you must win games quickly. It offers zero entertainment or enjoyment, meaning fans will quickly sour even if you are drawing games. The stats speak for themselves - Nathan Jones has managed only 9 league wins from 30 league games in the Third Tier of football. It’s dire.
I’ve heard today that Nathan Jones doesn’t think the Jamaican winger Dixon is ready to play first team football. He clearly wasn’t a Jones pick, and tbf Bullshitter Scott said at the time that Dixon was one for the future. But it begs the question why are we signing an inexperienced overseas winger …it kind of suggests to me that the SMT and Jones acknowledge that we need a winger, but we can’t afford an experienced one.
2 wins from the last 11. Players don't enjoy playing kick and rush, fans don't enjoy watching it and it doesn't work any more. L1 and probably L2 teams have weaned off this approach, and are coping easily with our long-ball game. I didn't mind it so much at first because our defense was so dire it was a relief to see the ball hoofed out of the danger area, but moving on from this phase seems to be beyond us.
He looked pretty lively in his 10 minute cameo. He would have had an assist if Leaburn had put away the chance he laid on.
