Powell must take the lions share of the blame for our mentality of always hanging on to what we've got rather than trying to finish teams off. Remind you of anyone...? The man who pissed England's golden generation up the wall maybe...? Who our very own manager learnt his trade under at Leicester...? Sadly this was the most infuriating trait of Mr Sven Goran Ericsson. We got what I expected us to get today and the stats for the game speak for themselves. The cold hard fact is that we are not good enough for this league at this present moment. I've never called for Powell's head before but I am now. Why...? Because his position has been made untenable IMHO. It is clear to me that Powell is simply not our new board's cup of tea. I come to this conclusion because of what I perceive (I could be wrong of course) as him having minimal imput into our recent transfer dealings. I refuse to believe that he sanctioned the Kermorgant sale, and I struggle to understand his position where all the Standard Liege rejects are concerned. It just looks to me as if we're going down the route of many continental clubs of having a coach rather than a manager. In as much as the coach will simply coach and pick the team from players our board sign. Like it or not that sort of decision is the perogative of our new owners. Assuming for the sake of argument that this theory has legs and that this could potentially be our MO going forward. What do we have to lose by offing Powell and putting someone like Paul Hart who has a more extensive coaching background in the hot seat, at least until the end of the season...? As always lads... this is just the way I see it, nothing more nothing less.
If Powell it to go, I don't want Hart to take over. Never set the managerial world alight, but has a brilliant reputation in youth set ups with Leeds and now us. As for Powell, it was the substitutions which lost us a point I think. I too agree that he doesn't seem to be the choice for the new board, and if thats the case then they need to pull the trigger. I said that last week and still think the same. I do think that had he received backing during the past 3 windows - not including short term loans - then we would be higher up the table. But recently the performances just haven't been there and he has to take the blame.
Chris Powell said himself he learnt more from Nigel Pearson then anyone else in football. It does seem now that someone else is pulling the strings and I'm sure Powell will be gone in a few weeks. It looks like you and now Leeds and going to be following Watfords model of foreign clubs loaning you a load of players
I hear what you're saying re Hart Super, and I have no overwhelming desire to see him in particular put in charge. I'm merely banging the drum for someone of his ilk with a more extensive coaching background to be put in. I just feel that someone of Hart's ilk would be best placed to coach this ramshackle bunch of players into some sort of cohesive unite capable if surviving in the Championship. I certainly think that a task of this magnitude is far too big an ask for messees Powell and Dyer to get to grips with...!!
We've had this many many times, but always I fall back on, who will we get this late in the season, to coach a team which he had no input into & if Franco is right will have limited input in the future. I have backed Powell, & I feel he should see out the season. I am disappointed in Powell, in just one aspect, that he did not walk when, by all accounts Kermit was sold without Powell's knowledge of support. Although he may have not wanted to leave us in the brown stuff when he feels he can pull us out.
I'd take a punt on manager who's doing well at a club in the lower leagues. Someone who's done well on a budget, who's cultivated a good team spirit and put together a side that needs beating rather than one that rolls over all too often. Paul Tisdale (Exeter) Gary Rowett (Burton) Steve Davis (Crewe) Are three names for you Ted.
Franco, you are mixing two different issues here. His team management today, and RD's presumed wish to have a different type of set-up with his own appointees. The latter will have been determined before he arrived and will not be influenced by our current results. My view is that unless we make a couple of significant loan signings we are doomed to relegation, . The loss of Solly, Stephens and Kermorgant, together with our failure to sign a single player who is of at least average Championship standard has made that likely, although Millwall, Barnsley and Yeovil are doing their best to beat us to it (not to mention Bolton and Birmingham). I don't know if the transfer of Kermorgant was a deliberate ploy to provoke Powell to resign, but if he walked stating that as a reason I think everyone in football would sympathise and understand. He is already much liked and respected throughout the game. If, on the other hand, he concurred in the transfer of Kermit then he deserves to go, but I think that unlikely. No-one likes to lose money, but I cannot believe he really needs any salary he would lose to the end of the season, although I have no idea how his contract is set out. He is not the type you would think recklessly spends every penny he gets, and he can never have been confident of staying in the job with our finances. He would have no trouble getting another job at Div One level after winning the league with the highest points total in any European league that season, plus coming within three points of the play-offs next season, still with a cheap squad. I really cannot understand how getting relegated can be good business for RD, but perhaps he is rich enough to take a long view, accept relegation and start building a new team with youngsters. The long contracts for Wiggins and Lennon support that view, but it still seems a funny way to go about it. The problems with building in a lower division is that your best players may be impatient to move to a higher level and start agitating.
The picture editor did a great job there. Depressing. Pixie Lott is on Jonathan Ross later. Every cloud...
Someone at Sparrows Lane told me he was expected to be out for the rest of the season. That was when I was on my usual fruitless attempt to watch the U-18's because no-one at Floyd Rd. knew it was off.
I'm still 100% behind Chris Powell scoring and sitting back at Wigan not a bad tactic for me and we almost pulled it off if we had we wouldn't have all this crap spouted on here
I just wish he wouldn't persist with the tactic of bringing on Dervite for a midfielder, I wasn't there but FHB jnr was, and when Dervite came on he texted to say we'd lose now. It would have been a fantastic 3 points, considering the new faces, and Wiggins getting injured. I don't know why he doesn't have Fox on the bench, Lennon has done well but he's always played centre defense. For sure the fans will rise to the occasion next Saturday, I'm gutted I can't be there.
Church runs around more than anyone and would have been a better bet than Pritchard or Sordell. He got it wrong.
IF... We'd only accumulated more points than three other teams come the end of the season we wouldn't' have got relegated. IF... Our new owner hadn't sold all our best players we'd have been alright. IF... Your aunt had a pair of bollocks she'd be your uncle. Iffs are pointless Mike...!!
I was listening to the Wigan commentators. They more than once noted that, unlike most visiting teams, Charlton were not sitting back and were trying to take the game to Wigan. Their view was that this actually helped Wigan as we were most vulnerable when we lost the ball upfield whereas when we packed our area Wigan could not get shots on target. This is supported by the fact that, despite Wigan dominating possession and putting in an unusual number of shots, only a few were on target and Thuram had comparatively little to do. So they were criticising Powell as well, but for the totally opposite reason. Who'd be a manager? Obviously this all changed in the last five minutes when we completely ran out of legs. We had far too many players who could not be expected to last 90 minutes. Strikers are routinely subbed by most teams, and we had two who had played little lately. Jackson never lasts more than 60 minutes at which point he goes into "gentle jog" mode. Lennon and Poyet are very young and have never played at this level before. Adjarevic I suspect is not suited to English football, and again has not played much. I think the only thing CP could have differently is to have started with Church instead of Sordell but if we had not had the rotten luck to lose Wiggins right at the start and use up a sub, I think Church would have been on around the 65 minute mark. And Church might not have scored the goal which Sordell did. I don't think any manager in the world could have done any better with the raggamuffin bunch CP was obliged to field. By the end of last season CP had built a team which only lacked a couple of one million pound players to be strong challengers for the play-offs. Had the board backed him then we could be in witrh a realistic shot at the Premiership now and able attract a better choice of potential owners prepared to pay a lot more for the club. From that team he had lost yesterday Hamer (and his very adequate replacement Alnwick), Solly, Wiggins after three minutes, Kermorgant, Stephens and Wilson. Six players, including our four best. Not one of them has been replaced by anyone remotely as good. In fact none of the new players are up to Championship standard. Plus Fuller and Haynes who we were right to let go but should have replaced with another goal-scorer. There does not exist a manager who could do better in those circumstances. At least, not one who would be interested in coming to Charlton. It is obvious the players still support Powell. They gave 100% yesterday away to one of the two form teams in the division. It is not his fault his horse has been shot from under him by our previous slimeball owners and by our new owner, whom we still desperately hope has a sensible plan for Charlton even if it apparently does not include either Powell or Championship survival this season. I am not too concerned about Powell. He is a solid citizen, not a psychopath like Di Canio. He will take his betrayal by management in his stride and soon find another job, where I hope he will either be supported better or, at worst, left alone to build a team patiently. And being a League football manager, even an unlucky one, sure beats working for a living like most of us have had to do.
You should post that on ITTV, eddie. I await Vol's carefully thought-out, reasoned counterargument with interest.
