Development squad thread
- Thread starter Bitter & Malicious
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Glad to see Fox promoted to the senior Wales squad, no mean achievement considering the strength of the Wales team at the moment. And when you also consider the online abuse he has received from Charlton fans I take my hat off to this young man. At one time there was a hysterical stream of abuse on CL calling for him and Pope to be axed or else the whole club would fall apart. It's a triumph for character, determination and a thick skin.
He probably never reads Charlton Life, or any other board. They are for sadsacks like ourselves who have too much time on our hands.
Not totally convinced about the overall strength of the Welsh squad or the difficulty of getting into it. They lack John Robinson, for starters. There is an enormous difference between their best players like Bale and Williams and some of the rest like Church, Robson-Kanu, Jazz Richards, etc, who would not get a sniff at England's tenth best XI. Anyone who can hold down a regular place in an average Championship side is guaranteed an invitation.
No disrespect to Fox or Wales. I wish them every success in the Euros. It is not their fault they have so few to choose from.
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Similarly, congratulations to Ahearne-Grant for his promotion to the England u19 squad.
At the same time, I feel that if he is considered one of the best u19 players in the country, England can forget about winning any trophies for a few decades. Look at the quality of u19 players produced by Germany, France, Argentina and numerous other countries,
You would think that our big Premiership clubs could come up with better English players than A-G.
At the same time, I feel that if he is considered one of the best u19 players in the country, England can forget about winning any trophies for a few decades. Look at the quality of u19 players produced by Germany, France, Argentina and numerous other countries,
You would think that our big Premiership clubs could come up with better English players than A-G.
Team for today's U21 game. Who is this Moussa geezer?
Charlton Athletic FC @CAFCofficial 3m3 minutes ago
U21s starting XI: Mitov; Staunton, Holmes-Dennis, Lennon, Konsa; Muldoon, Charles-Cook, Aribo, Moussa; Hanlan, Umerah. [HASHTAG]#cafc[/HASHTAG]
Charlton Athletic FC @CAFCofficial 1m1 minute ago
Subs: C Thomas, Edwards, Barnes, Dijksteel, Lookman. [HASHTAG]#cafc[/HASHTAG]
Dijksteel was a trialist last season, he is a defensive midfielder.
Charlton Athletic FC @CAFCofficial 3m3 minutes ago
U21s starting XI: Mitov; Staunton, Holmes-Dennis, Lennon, Konsa; Muldoon, Charles-Cook, Aribo, Moussa; Hanlan, Umerah. [HASHTAG]#cafc[/HASHTAG]
Charlton Athletic FC @CAFCofficial 1m1 minute ago
Subs: C Thomas, Edwards, Barnes, Dijksteel, Lookman. [HASHTAG]#cafc[/HASHTAG]
Dijksteel was a trialist last season, he is a defensive midfielder.
Not sure we should give too much credence to Fox being called into the Wales squad - he could room share with Simon Church. I watched their game v Israel and apart from Bale and Ramsey, they are a bad side.
The best part of the game was pre kick off, when during a spirited rendition of 'Land of Our Fathers'
the TV camera zoomed in on a fat, p1ssed Welshman in the crowd, sweating up like a pig whilst taking a selfie.
What on earth was Reams doing there on his signing on day?
The best part of the game was pre kick off, when during a spirited rendition of 'Land of Our Fathers'
the TV camera zoomed in on a fat, p1ssed Welshman in the crowd, sweating up like a pig whilst taking a selfie.
What on earth was Reams doing there on his signing on day?
Plus Ashley Williams is consistently very good for them and for Swansea. Apart from that trio, the rest are Championship level. FIFA has them ninth in the world rankings. Teamwork and spirit can raise the level a lot, but not that much.
Not sure what "fast-tracked" means. He is playing for the under-21s because he is too good for the u18s. Obviously any youngster who can jump a couple of years promises to be good enough for the seniors at some future point, but they need to force their way into the team by consistently excellent performances the way Cousins, Poyet and Gomez did. Perhaps he will do that, perhaps not.
The danger is that we will have to promote him prematurely to stop him signing for a big club. There must be a dozen of those on his case by now. He is a goal machine. But so were Azeez and Sho-Silva.
He has just scored in 63rd minute at Sheff Utd, putting us 2-0 up after Umerah's opener. Finished 0-3 with a second for Umerah.
Moussa started for u21s. Nor sure if he has a future at Charlton, but nice to see him playing again.
Muldoon is an interesting case. He has been kept on, but does not look to have a prayer of making the first team. Surely he will leave on loan, never to return? He has been playing in the u21s for three years now. Must be hard to sustain motivation when you see younger players overtaking you in the pecking order, year after year.
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Anyone watch the stream of the U21 game against Sheffield Wednesday? We looked really good, Lookman, Edwards and Bone in particular look like they'll be on the periphery of the first team squad soon.
Duchatelet must be delighted as he'll soon have a few more youngsters to make a quick buck on!
Duchatelet must be delighted as he'll soon have a few more youngsters to make a quick buck on!
Stream? What stream?
Lookman and Bone are pretty young16 or 17, I don't think they'll be rushed in. Edwards maybe.
Lookman and Bone are pretty young16 or 17, I don't think they'll be rushed in. Edwards maybe.
Just got back from the valley, an excellent game of football. We controlled the game from beginning to the end. My star man was Lookman, who I have mentioned many times before. This boy if he keeps improving is going to be good. Aribo, Muldoon, All the defenders, Umerah and Moussa had very good games. I don't think Mitov touched the ball. The goals came from Umerah 2, Lookman and Aribo. We totally outclassed the Massives and Mitov didn't have a save to make.
I must admit that I enjoy watching the U21s and U18s much more than the first team.
Mitov
Staunton, Konsa, Lennon, Edwards
Aribo, Muldoon, Holmes- Dennis
Moussa, Umerah, Lookman
Subs C Kennedy, Bone, Lapslie, Assiana.
Moussa played for 80 minutes and looked very fit and lively. He had a number of shots on goal.
I must admit that I enjoy watching the U21s and U18s much more than the first team.
Mitov
Staunton, Konsa, Lennon, Edwards
Aribo, Muldoon, Holmes- Dennis
Moussa, Umerah, Lookman
Subs C Kennedy, Bone, Lapslie, Assiana.
Moussa played for 80 minutes and looked very fit and lively. He had a number of shots on goal.
Early days coming back from injury for Moussa but he looked very good. Hopefully he can get back to full match fitness soon as I would have on the left for the first team, played there a lot at Coventry from what I hear, Scoring Lots of goals from cutting in.
This write up is from Ketts.
Charlton Under-18s were in action on Saturday morning as they played host to Hull City at Sparrows Lane.
The Addicks made one change to the starting line-up at Bolton, with Romarno Simpson replacing the injured Chris Millar. Simpson would play at right-back, with Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu pushing forward to take Millar's place.
The Addicks came out of the blocks quickly but were frustrated in front of goal, with Terrique Anderson and Alex Willis going close. The deadlock was broken midway through the first half when a neat move saw Alex Willis one-on-one with the keeper, and he slotted superbly into the bottom corner to open his account for the season.
Things would take a turn for the worse for Willis just a couple of minutes later, when he went down after a heavy challenge from a Hull City defender and he was not able to continue. The young striker was visibly upset as he was replaced by Taylor Maloney.
Charlton continued to push forward but could not find the decisive second,with Hull rarely posing a serious threat to the Addicks defence.
Charlton started the second half brightly and had a gilt edged opportunity to double their advantage, but were foiled by a superb reflex save by the Hull goalkeeper. Hull started to attack more as they looked for an equaliser and it came when they had two men free down the right. The ball was whipped in and their player ghosted in at the near post to stab the ball home.
Charlton, who would bring on under15 attacker Kareem Isiaka for his debut, were the only side looking to win the match, but barring a few half chances, failed to great much in the final third. Sam Bone, Taylor Maloney and George Lapslie all had long range efforts kept out.
The game fizzled out to a draw which the young Addicks will be disappointed with. Despite the draw the boys do remain top of the league table.
Charlton Under-18s will be looking to get back to winning ways next Saturday when they travel to Sheffield United.
Charlton: Beeney; Simpson (Isiaka), Assianan Yao, Zemura; Bone, Sarpong-Wiredu (Bowry), Lapslie (c), Bah; Anderson Willis (Maloney).
Subs(Not Used): Maynard-Brewer, Bangura-Williams.
Other results:
Bristol City v Crewe (still awaiting confirmation) Cardiff 2-1 Huddersfield
Charlton 1-1 Hull
Colchester 1-0 Leeds
Coventry 5-4 Brentford
Crystal Palace 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Ipswich 4-1 Sheffield United
Millwall 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
QPR 6-4 Barnsley
Watford 2-2 Birmingham
Table:
1 Charlton 8 14 +14
2 Ipswich 8 12 +2
3 Watford 8 12 0
4 Crystal Palace 7 11 +5
5 Colchester 8 11 -3
6 Brentford 8 10 0
7 Cardiff 8 7 -2
8 Millwall 6 7 -5
9 QPR 8 6 -18
10 Bristol City 7 2 -9
Bristol City will remain 10th regardless of the the outcome of their match.
Charlton Under-18s were in action on Saturday morning as they played host to Hull City at Sparrows Lane.
The Addicks made one change to the starting line-up at Bolton, with Romarno Simpson replacing the injured Chris Millar. Simpson would play at right-back, with Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu pushing forward to take Millar's place.
The Addicks came out of the blocks quickly but were frustrated in front of goal, with Terrique Anderson and Alex Willis going close. The deadlock was broken midway through the first half when a neat move saw Alex Willis one-on-one with the keeper, and he slotted superbly into the bottom corner to open his account for the season.
Things would take a turn for the worse for Willis just a couple of minutes later, when he went down after a heavy challenge from a Hull City defender and he was not able to continue. The young striker was visibly upset as he was replaced by Taylor Maloney.
Charlton continued to push forward but could not find the decisive second,with Hull rarely posing a serious threat to the Addicks defence.
Charlton started the second half brightly and had a gilt edged opportunity to double their advantage, but were foiled by a superb reflex save by the Hull goalkeeper. Hull started to attack more as they looked for an equaliser and it came when they had two men free down the right. The ball was whipped in and their player ghosted in at the near post to stab the ball home.
Charlton, who would bring on under15 attacker Kareem Isiaka for his debut, were the only side looking to win the match, but barring a few half chances, failed to great much in the final third. Sam Bone, Taylor Maloney and George Lapslie all had long range efforts kept out.
The game fizzled out to a draw which the young Addicks will be disappointed with. Despite the draw the boys do remain top of the league table.
Charlton Under-18s will be looking to get back to winning ways next Saturday when they travel to Sheffield United.
Charlton: Beeney; Simpson (Isiaka), Assianan Yao, Zemura; Bone, Sarpong-Wiredu (Bowry), Lapslie (c), Bah; Anderson Willis (Maloney).
Subs(Not Used): Maynard-Brewer, Bangura-Williams.
Other results:
Bristol City v Crewe (still awaiting confirmation) Cardiff 2-1 Huddersfield
Charlton 1-1 Hull
Colchester 1-0 Leeds
Coventry 5-4 Brentford
Crystal Palace 1-2 Nottingham Forest
Ipswich 4-1 Sheffield United
Millwall 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday
QPR 6-4 Barnsley
Watford 2-2 Birmingham
Table:
1 Charlton 8 14 +14
2 Ipswich 8 12 +2
3 Watford 8 12 0
4 Crystal Palace 7 11 +5
5 Colchester 8 11 -3
6 Brentford 8 10 0
7 Cardiff 8 7 -2
8 Millwall 6 7 -5
9 QPR 8 6 -18
10 Bristol City 7 2 -9
Bristol City will remain 10th regardless of the the outcome of their match.
Odd competition. We are top of the Southern section despite "only" having 14 points out of a possible 24. Actually I think that is to the tournament's credit. A lot of evenly matched teams. In the old South East Counties League for u18s certain teams used to dominate and eight and nine goal margin wins were not unusual.