Morning all, I like the rest of you am excited by the quality signings weâve made in recent weeks and my expectation levels for this coming season are now sky high. Although, during a quiet moment this morning I have had a think about things and managed to rain myself in a little⦠Whilst Iâm encouraged and enthused by the work thatâs being done behind the scenes Iâm conscious that simply putting together a squad of quality players with League One pedigree and the potential to play at a higher level in no way guarantees success... Of course as manager of a football club it canât hurt to have a plethora of quality players at your disposal, but once the dust settles and our business is concluded itâs down to the gaffer to put all these players (pieces of a jigsaw) together and place them into a setup that is suitable to extract the very best out of them. Doing this is every bit as important as making the player acquisitions in the first placeâ¦After all⦠Whatâs the point buying the best and most expensive piano in the shop if you canât get a tune out of the bloody thingâ¦? I have faith in the gaffer and the board to address the glaringly obvious shortcomings we have in defence prior to the seasonâs opener and Iâm in no doubt that our midfield and forward line must be up there with the very best in League One now ⦠However⦠Are Powell and his management team up to the job of piecing everything togetherâ¦? In my opinion we wonât know until the season is at least five games old, but I jolly well hope they are⦠COYRâ¦
In my opinion they genuinely are not... I'm not a boo boy (I remain silent at games regardless of how we're playing; I'm a moderatley polite clapper in the West...) and as much as I like Chrissy the person and legend, from what we saw last season he just hasn't got it... He's clueless Team selection wise at the time he came in Racon was our form player, yet he dropped him and favoured Mcormack... The Doc was consistently awful yet never got dropped for Llera or Fortune... Ecclestone was signed and played out of position or sub... Tactically he is naive - and I dispute anyone who says we are now playing a passing game; it invariably ends up long to Benno (which doesn't bother me particularly) I hope Powell proves us wrong, but as it said in The Sun last Saturday, thus far he has been 'Abject...'
Clean slate for me- new team, and a relatively new management team. I saw improvements in the style of football last season, and it now looks like we have players who are more technically gifted to translate CP's ideas from the training pitch to the match.
Nobody as the right to label you as a boo boy Kish...!! You have every right to express your opinion. Besides, given the pathetic ending to last season (hence why I posed the question, as I think it's a valid one) I think people ought to be able to see why you have come to the conclusion you have.
I'm with you SuperChrissy.............but then i have always been an old romantic optimist when it comes to CAFC!
I'm still living in the ol' BBC days when if you suggested a slight tinge of disappointment or dissatisfaction you were chastised Franco Not606 is like a liberal utopia!
Off topic but just see the odds for the 1st manager to get sacked.... Les Parry is the favourite at 10/3 2nd Danny Wilson 13/2 whilst 3rd favourite is our very own C. Powell at 7/1
Well I guess that makes a bit of sense as will the Board expect an immediate return on the money they will have spent by the start of the season ?? please log in to view this image
I'm another one of the clean slate brigade. I think what we had las season was a mis match between a management style either real or perceived, and a team that had been cobbled together, by he who shall not be named, for very little cash outlay but using components left by his predecessor. CP and the board have acted quicly to bring in new players so that they can gel as a team pre season. We need to sit back and see how this new design performs in the period up to Christmas. I think CP's odds in the management merrygo round are more the bookies looking at the survival rate of black manager in the league rather than CP himself, and I for one do not believe that the new board are that short sighted to believe that the second half of the season reflected on CP's ability or that success is achieved by chopping and changing managers. The perpetual optimist that proves I am a Charlton supporter tells me that this will work in the immediate short term, the realist recognises that there may be some ups and downs in the first few games but that this season will be a better one than the last.
I am pretty sure most cafc fans know that everything isnt going to be easy, it is just so relieving to actually be obtaining some decent players to give ourselves that 'chance'. If we didnt't sign handy looking players we would have very little hope in fans eyes. It isnt going to be a precession, or a given that we put lengths on the field.. but we at the very least have hope.
I know i was getting a bit carried away last night, but with a month to go until the start of the season, i am really excited about the players we have brought in so far. I wouldn't be surprised to see another 6 or 7 players come in. Also expect some surprises to leave!
Draw a line under last season and start with high expectations. Every fan of every club hopes for the best and there is no point going into the new season with last years concerns hanging over us. Time will tell if CP is any good as a manager, but at least the new players are of a good quality and that is cause for excitement. I just cannot wait for the opening day with The Valley looking beautiful on a lovely warm day - hopefully - and the start of a new dawn. Let's have faith, eh? Even if it is just for a while!
"Also expect some surprises to leave!" It may be because of his virtually invisible second half of the season, 4ever but I'm surprised that none of his suitors last season has returned to enquire about Scott Wagstaff. With the amount of players that are going to be jostling for places in the midfield, if he doesn't raise his game, surely he's going to be the one to lose out. He went walkies in a worrying number of games last season and he's not going to be able to do that this time around. Reckon if we got a half decent offer for him at this present moment, we'd be tempted to sell.
I can't disagree with a single word for this Tewkes... Waggy simply has not kicked on as we'd all have hoped he would... I can see him being predominantly used off the bench as an impact sub, deployed at RM or through the middle up top (where incidentally I think he could do some damage).
Waggy seems more of a natural impact player through the middle, rather than a wide player beating his man and sending in crosses, as his best attributes are his engine and his finishing. Is jackson going to be first choice LB next season, as our midfield is looking very crowded now?
I reckon Waggy would more than do as our 4th striker. His pace and direct running in central areas, especially in between the FB and CB would be a real pain in the a**e for opposition defences. His eye for goal and finishing are there so why not...? As for Jacko... I've only ever really rated him at CM to be honest. However, I'm affraid that with all the new CM's that have come in recently he could well find himself squeezed out by better and more dynamic players in that area of the field. For me his ability as a bit of a jack of all trades (LB, LM, CM) make him a decent squad player but nothing more... Just my take on him lads...!!
Speak of the devil... just seen Waggy come through off a Kos flight (with a cheeky little blonde thing in tow). Must be a tough life being a footballer.
Agree with Franco & Killer about Waggy. I don't think he'll make it as a winger but we can use him for his other attributes.
