Heard on the grapevine that there were plenty of scouts at Swindon v Luton on Tuesday night watching Powell cast off Michael Smith. Swindon are now owned by ex Charlton striker Lee Power, rumour has it that seven figure bids (that's a million pounds, Reams...) for the boy are expected before the end of August. Question for all but particularly FHB and AHLL....has Powell dropped one almighty bollock where Smith is concerned ?
I think we all thought we dropped the ball with Smith, even I thought that and I only ever saw him play twice, god only knows how our u21 experts in AHLL and FHB feel.
What I found particularly galling was that Smith was not allowed anywhere near the first team, even when we were desperately short of goals. I never at any time expected to see him in a Charlton shirt, just a feeling I had.
We don't know how good Smith would have been in the Championship. He's clearly a pretty good League 1 striker, but that's no guarantee he could score goals at our level. My guess would be that Powell didn't feel he was up to it based on what he saw in training. If that's not the reason he wasn't picked, then I have no idea what it would have been.
I think before he was sold, the general consensus was he wasn't up to scratch. He's gone to Swindon and made the step up from league 2 - fair play to him. One thing you could never question was his attitude. But a seven figure sum seems crazy to me.
I reckon had we not been in such Relegation trouble around January then there would have been the possibility of Michael Smith making his mark with the club... Instead I reckon Powell was a bit wary incase Smith ended up losing confidence like Pigott (i.e. after his Millwall performance)... What didn't help as well was the fact that Smith was fed up going out on Loan and that had we played him in even one match he'd have been stuck with us for the season (Couldn't have gone to any other club as he'd played for two clubs that season), especially if that League performance had ended as a disaster
Yes, Smith being sold for a pittance was a clear mistake at the time, and still is. Not saying he's proven, but he should've been given a shot given the pathetic options we had available last year, especially with Kermit going.
In answer to the question Vol asks, it certainly seems that CP dropped the ball on this one. That doesnt make CP a bad manager since every single succesful manager has made mistakes like this, nor does it make Smith a championship striker as yet. Either of these statement could be wrong but only if you write history in the wrong tense.
