Hope this is simply not a rumour; would be a very good signing if true http://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/958332923?-11197:833
This would be a great coup for Lee Bowyer, but I can't really see what's in it for Josh Cullen. Is Cullen not a good enough player to nail down a starting place in a most Championship Clubs? I'm not convinced Cullen rates Bowyer so highly as a manager that would want to drop down to League One with no certainty of promotion just to continue to play first team football for him. And would Duchatelet be willing to meet the terms of such a deal? Almost certainly not. I would hope that a new owner coming in would see the value of signing a player like Josh Cullen, and be willing to fund whatever deal is required to get him to sign for Charlton. I just don't believe Duchatelet will do that.
Cullen would be worth a lot of money & wages in today’s inflated player market. A very good player at League One level - who will go on to have a decent career. But not with us.
Punctuality is a virtue Royston, but it's only the second week of September. At the risk of sounding like an apologist I dare to say we are quite fortunate to have Cullen back at all (thanks LB & SG ) even if it is only until January.
Am I right in saying that Rangers could get him for £300,000 in January?... then offer him a £20,000pw 4 year deal?
Cullen without Gallagher in our midfield is like Morecambe without Wise. Put simply, Josh hasn’t looked as good a player since he came back from injury sans Conor. The figures relating to Gallagher and his departure are an indictment of both Matt Southall’s competence, and ESI’s forward thinking. Chelsea wanted a relatively modest six figure loan fee, and for a club (Swansea as it turned out) to pay £10,000 a week towards his wages. I heard we had been contributing £3,000 a week. Conor was living at home in Surrey, had a nice journey to Sparrows Lane every day, and was very happy at Charlton. The silence from our garrulous CE regarding his departure is deafening. So for the sake of approx £500,000 in wages for the remainder of this season & a loan fee, we lost a top class player who made our team tick & brought the best out of Cullen. If you assembled a midfielder out of the best bits of Davis, McGeady and Smith, you would still come up with a player half as good as Conor Gallagher.
The numbers are infuriating as it really isn't that much. Despite understanding chelseas view of earning a bit more and wanting Gallagher playing higher up the league and with better players, I do question if they simply asked him. Surely if he wanted to stay they should've forgotten the rest.
It came out of the blue as far as Bowyer was concerned. The decision should have been his. Same with Madison; Southall and Gallen appear to have made the decision between them. Seems Bowyer is more Head Coach than Manager.
Looks like the Spam are coming down to the Champ next season so Josh will be playing for them in August!
There's also the little question of which division we'll be in; and will ESI complete the purchase of The Valley and Sparrows Lane; and another massive rebuilding job on our squad, depending on what ESI's finances really are. Scary times.
Many supporters do not understand how serious the situation is if ESI do not purchase The Valley and Sparrows Lane.
I think quite a few are giving ESI the benefit of the doubt until summer. Not much else you can do. Southall seems to have quietened down a lot since his initial charm offensive, and the "We're f*cking rich" song died a death pretty quickly. There can be very few fans who expected us to come out of the January window weaker than we went into it, so there must be concerns, more so by some than by others.
It's not that serious to be honest. Worst case scenario - ESI have done a fake Sheikh and haven't got a pot to Charlton in. They call in the administrators, who Quickly realise there is no money OR assets. Fans buy the club and have to go to Roland with a begging bowl. I hope he is a forgiving chap
My reading of the deal with ESI was that if they welched on their obligations Roland could recoup the money through sale of The Valley. Just my reading though, and no-one else seemed interested in ploughing through it.
