Match Day Thread Charlton's prospects of staying up

[The Penguin]

So we finish 19th, six points clear of the drop zone, having not been in the bottom three all season.

48 points was enough to secure Championship football, which we achieved on 14th March.

Less negativity needed next season.

This isn’t ITWV.

I enjoyed the Hull game and stayed behind to applaud the achievements of the manager and players. However a lot of our games have been a tough watch, especially when Dykes is up front (not his fault), and I hope we don't keep him on. When we're poor you can't pretend otherwise.

 

[Ubedizzytoo]

Our style of play has indeed often been poor. But I think it’s the necessity of our situation. Today was a good example - until we made the subs at 60 minutes we were very uninspiring but dogged and everyone behind the ball and it remained 0-0. When the subs came on we became more attacking and the football was more enjoyable, but we then conceded three goals.

It’s as I’ve said all season - with the relative value and technical ability of our players, especially the entire midfield, we can either play dogged, defensive hoofball and survive from relegation or we can play more attractive, attacking football on the deck and lose virtually every week and be relegated.

You can’t have both with our current squad and staying in the Championship was absolutely vital for this season.

NJ has worked wonders to achieve what he has on our very limited budget. Be careful what you wish for if you want us to play more attractive football at this stage of the project.

And I do want a gradual improvement in our style of play, starting next season, but we won’t transform into a dynamic, free passing team who can progress through the thirds and outplay teams with much bigger budgets than us in a short space of time. That’ll take 2 or 3 more seasons to achieve.

 

[lardiman]

In my view there is an equal possibility that Charlton's quality of play will gradually decline rather than gradually improve next season.

This will completely depend on the players signed during the Summer, and the skills of Nathan Jones regarding getting those players to integrate into the squad, to shape it into a competitive force.

We will not really know whether progress is being made until the Addicks are (say) 10 games in to the 2026-27 campaign. Elfs would likely say 15 games. So we should guard against making premature judgments.
I think however that legitimate worries and concerns some fans may have should not be dismissed as negativity for it's own sake.
Or the knee-jerk venting of frustrations seen sometimes on other forums.

 

[The Penguin]

Our style of play has indeed often been poor. But I think it’s the necessity of our situation. Today was a good example - until we made the subs at 60 minutes we were very uninspiring but dogged and everyone behind the ball and it remained 0-0. When the subs came on we became more attacking and the football was more enjoyable, but we then conceded three goals.

It’s as I’ve said all season - with the relative value and technical ability of our players, especially the entire midfield, we can either play dogged, defensive hoofball and survive from relegation or we can play more attractive, attacking football on the deck and lose virtually every week and be relegated.

You can’t have both with our current squad and staying in the Championship was absolutely vital for this season.

NJ has worked wonders to achieve what he has on our very limited budget. Be careful what you wish for if you want us to play more attractive football at this stage of the project.

And I do want a gradual improvement in our style of play, starting next season, but we won’t transform into a dynamic, free passing team who can progress through the thirds and outplay teams with much bigger budgets than us in a short space of time. That’ll take 2 or 3 more seasons to achieve.

Hoofball isn't a project of NJ's. It comes about because we can't cope with being pressed and there's no-one to pass the ball to. It's usually been because it's the only option available, and it pre-dates NJ's arrival.

 

[Ubedizzytoo]

Hoofball isn't a project of NJ's. It comes about because we can't cope with being pressed and there's no-one to pass the ball to. It's usually been because it's the only option available, and it pre-dates NJ's arrival.

Agreed. And I think we all recognise the problem is the midfield. Our defenders are mostly competent knocking the ball sideways to each other but passing to and progressing through the midfield is virtually impossible due to the lack of movement. Add to that the poor technical ability of our midfield, and by that I mean the inability to close-control the ball with one touch, it’s easy to see why we then go long.

Championship standard, technically gifted and mobile midfielders should be our priority but they don’t come cheap and our budget will again be amongst the smallest next season, although hopefully not in the bottom three.

NJ has again proven that he does bring a considerable premium to the squad, effectively lifting us 5 places above where our lowest in the league wage bill should see us finish.

 

[Ponders Revisited]

I enjoyed the Hull game and stayed behind to applaud the achievements of the manager and players. However a lot of our games have been a tough watch, especially when Dykes is up front (not his fault), and I hope we don't keep him on. When we're poor you can't pretend otherwise.

Spot on.

For the most part, we are hard to watch, especially when Dykes is leading the line. But against Hull we played some good stuff, so there is a team in there. We just need to have more belief.

One or two quality additions in midfield will see us rise up the table.

 

[The Penguin]

Like it or not, Millwall have set an example of how to build gradually without breaking the bank. The crunch would come if they actually went up, maybe 3 teams going up is 1 too many.

 

[lardiman]

Looking at it optimistically, maybe we are at the beginning of a gradual rise as seen during the 1990's.

As SR might say, let's see where we are in six or seven years

 

[Smudger603]

Looking at it optimistically, maybe we are at the beginning of a gradual rise as seen during the 1990's.

As SR might say, let's see where we are in six or seven years

SR is a seriously ridiculous cvnt