So where do we go from here? The BP out brigade is gathering momentum and with the stat in the title, it's fair the question be asked. But what I'm asking is: do we give him January, and in turn till the end of the season? When he had a fully fit squad he was doing a good job, and there is no denying he hasn't had a fully fit squad for a couple months now. Annoyingly though, he's shuffled the pack more than necessary - like solly in midfield and Gomez playing everywhere but his favored position. A month ago I said I thought he was worthy of a new deal. Since then there have been rumors of discontent from the dressing room and that's alarming to me. If we have another disappointing performance/result next week then I think it's best to part ways. I'm just not overly confident we will get the next man right either. Over to you.
Wouldn't make any difference if you had Jose Mourinho or Joe the Plumber in charge. The problem lies in RD's strategy for the club. I don't blame him for not spending a load of money. I do blame him for poor management of what resources he did have. He is just a nasty old man playing Football Manager and not playing it very well. Riga and Peeters are just his puppets. They have no control over anything that matters, and when it all turns sour, as it will any day now, they are expendable scapegoats., Amusing to see all the posters on this and other boards who were grovelling in homage at the start of the season rapidly changing their tune. It was always obvious to me from Day One that our club had been sold down the river. To be 13th in the league, and above clubs like Bolton, Reading, Fulham, Leeds, Brighton and Wigan, you could say Bob has done well with the squad at his disposal. How far he is responsible for the imbalance in the squad, we don't know. I see no chance of any manager with ability and integrity wanting to work for RD, any more than they would for the Oystons.
Does Roland seriously believe he can successfully run Charlton with a revolving-door policy on managers as well as players? If he does sack Bob he has to take the blame for choosing him in the first place and getting rid of Riga. I don't think Roland has a clue what he's doing.We had an amazing run of luck early in the season which gave a false impression, and now reality is hitting home.
We all know Bob hasn't got much to work with, and his luck with injuries has been abysmal, but he can't escape the blame for making the same mistakes. We have a potentially excellent midfield pairing in Cousins and Gudmundsson, yet they both play out of position, leaving Jacko and Buyens to offer nothing in terms of flair, drive and vision. I have no doubt Bob will be sacked before the end of January and then we'll be lumbered with another no-mark. Depressing.
A lot of clubs have moved pre window to get some of the established options that were available. Not that I thought we would go for someone with experience of this league (Riga the exception).
Totally untrue. I should say very few teams in the top two leagues have had as few injuries as us. We have been very lucky to avoid many injuries. The only reason it may seem a lot is that we only have inadequates to bring in as replacements. True. Every fan normally thinks his team is getting the rough end of the deal from referees, shots hitting the post, etc., but this is the first season I can ever remember when we have often drawn when we deserved to lose, and won when we deserved to draw. But if you don't believe in luck, or you believe that "you make your own luck", then you have to give most of the credit for those extra points (which may well save us from relegation) to Bob. My opinion of Riga is implicit in that assertion. Why did he go to Blackpool? Either he was appallingly unaware of what goes on in the Championship, or he went with the intention of conning the Oystons out of a big payoff. Overrated by some Charlton fans on the strength of half a season. He blundered about like Bob, trying different players in different positions and playing the Eurotrash (either because he believed in them or at RD's bidding), then finally turned to Powell's players and formation for the final matches. My guess is he largely left things to Damian Mathew who should take most of the credit. He certainly left Blackpool in a worst state than he found them, which was quite an achievement. Just a con-man who got lucky and would have been found out over the course of a season. Clearly RD realised that. He was only ever a stopgap. He is no youngster but has never achieved anything anywhere else. He had one good season at SL but they had been champions the previous season.
Left them in a worse state? It was oyston who didn't renegotiate contracts (before Riga arrived) and failed to put his money in his pockets till a week before deadline day. Plus it's hard to buy in to your side of events when you base it on a "guess".
To be fair, I'm not convinced Bob has had a lot more fiscal support that CP did (though saying that, I believe Vetokele cost a packet) but just like CP, he has responded to a por run of injuries by playing players out of position (Cousins is a perpetual victim of this). I've always believed in not changing managers to help stability and stuck by CP because of this (and obviously, to wind up Volly!), but today is an awfull result with no excuse, and it comes in a long line of them. Personally, I don't have a problem with changing the manager at this point, but ffs RD, buy some effing players!
eddie - some of your points seem a little bit skewed and needlessly malicious. The injuries to two of our best performers, Wiggins and Henderson, have cost us dear and that constitutes bad luck. Losing Onyewu five minutes before the Ipswich match was another slice of poor luck, and even having Moussa fit would have added something to our bench of late. But I'll be happy to reassess my opinion if you can supply the stats for other teams. You say that we have won when we should have drawn, yet we fully deserved our wins over Wigan, Derby, Norwich and Bolton. Your assessment of Riga has more holes than my underpants. The first thing he did was restore some unity and belief to the squad, and it is well documented that the players appreciated his coaching methods. His management of the wins at Leeds and Forest was spot-on (I was at both matches) and we ended up comfortably safe, albeit with only a week to go. The vast majority of fans wanted him to stay (at Charlton and Blackpool), but he was treated shabbily by both clubs. It is folly to label Riga as a con-man.
I couldn't have put it better myself. Ponders. Riga was the reason we are still playing in the Championship. I was disappointed that he wasn't given a contract at the beginning of the Season. Some of your posts seem very bitter Eddie, like Charlton are a girlfriend that has jilted you and at every opportunity you twist the knife.
I saw an advert on the television for a new magazine called 'Build A Football Team That Can Compete In The Championship Comfortably ' and if you buy the first issue for nothing you can get a full back with a promising name to start you off. Each magazine after that costs in the region of £500K to £3.4m as apparently you need to spend actual money to build a football team that can compete in the Championship comfortably, but each issue does have columns from both Iain Dowie and Dave Whelan (the latter tentatively titled 'The Black Market' about cheap signings from abroad). Can whoever is in the know (cafc123 perhaps) please pass this on to RD?
Not to harp on - but I've just stuck £20 of yesterday's winnings on BP to be the next manager to leave at 25/1. Thought the price was huge, but I guess it depends if any other chairmen get itchy fingers first. 5/1 Ian Holloway 8/1 Kenny Jackett 8/1 Stuart Pearce 10/1 Russell Slade 14/1 Neil Redfearn 16/1 Neil Adams 16/1 Slavisa Jokanovic 20/1 Gary Bowyer 20/1 Lee Clark 20/1 Neil Lennon 20/1 Stuart Gray 25/1 Aitor Karanka 25/1 Bob Peeters 25/1 Chris Powell 25/1 Gary Rowett 25/1 Kit Symons 25/1 Steve Evans 33/1 Eddie Howe 33/1 Mark Warburton 33/1 Mick McCarthy 33/1 Steve McClaren
Roland has made a couple of mistakes: 1. Letting Kermogrant go to Bournemouth. All the strikers brought in are crap by comparison (I'm reserving judgement on Watt for four games) 2. Importing sub-standard players (exc. Ajdarevic) Riga seemed to be tactically better manager than Peeters. What we have lacked for some time is a VERY strong Assistant Manager. We need an old "English" head assisting Peeters, one whom knows the league and the teams. Roland's non-understanding of the English game is not doing us any favours. We have signed Vetokele, which is a good signing, and JBG, so he's done a couple of things right, so it's not all doom and gloom.
These names fall into two main groups. Those whose jobs are in danger because they are failing (or can be made into scapegoats for failure). And those deemed ready for promotion to a bigger club, such as the last four plus Rowett. Not sure which of these groups Evans, Karanka or Lennon are supposed to be in?
Odd that you exclude the "20-minute wonder" Ajdarevic, but include as sub-standard Ben Haim (arguably our best player this season now the shine has rubbed off Vetokele) and the very useful Bikey.
What worries me, apart from our slump in form & the pathetic performance on Saturday, is the way that just about every Academy product has gone backwards this season under the Belgians. Pope - a calamity before being dropped for his own good Fox - palpably not good enough Gomez - terrible in his last two performances (albeit as sub) Cousins - looks totally shot. Couldn't trap a bag of cement right now. KAG - should be nowhere near the first team Harriott - ajoke, even before his (welcome) red card Piggot - unlikely to mae the grade. So whatever else you think of the Belgians, which in my case is 'less by the day', they really have shafted our promising youngsters.
http://www.southlondon-today.co.uk/...dline=Andre Bikey calls for Charlton signings Bikey confirms dressing room arguments - though I think it's done more so for RD and to get his cash out.
