I can't work out what Roly has in mind for us. We don't seem to be his new shiny toy anymore, if reports are to be believed his Belgium shop is up for sale and if that goes, that leaves what? one Spanish, one German and us. Now, even we are bigger than the foreigners and are (or should be) the cherry on the cake, so one would have thought its xmas bonus time and plenty of new strikers, midfielders and possibly a new goalie. Yet nada, nothing, zilch. Accepted its too early to do our shopping but supposing Roly does a Jehovah's Witness and buys us nothing? Is that an acceptance that this season is just a watching brief? If so, then next season? I can't see Roly digging deep in his pockets and really going for it, that's don't seem his style- which kinda begs the question, why did he buy us? He is not looking for a passport - like Al Fayed or money laundering like most of the ....ians , he even is not living off the profits from arms dealing like Abramavich - so what is in it for him? If he wants to make Frankenstein's Monster and create one super team then he needs the parts. I can't see his plan working - have 5 or so clubs- cherry pick the quality and put them all in one side. That is exceptionally fraught with difficulties and subject to incredible patience and cast iron players contract. It is also unworkable. There is nothing worse than apathy when running a football club. A metaphoric eyebrow raised when your team wins or loses is not what I want from my Chairman, I want tears and tantrums, dramas and joy, I cant stand none of this master plan nonsense. What is the point of buying us if your gonna leave us on the shelf? As I see it Roly currently owns and runs 5 Mark 2 Cortina when he can afford to run a Porsche. What would you do?
... and one Hungarian? We are awash with goalies. That would be about twelfth on my prioritised shopping list. ............................................................................................................................................... I think any unbiased observer would realise we have picked up a lot of points we barely deserved this season. We have maybe been gifted (say) eight points by the footballing gods. On top of that, we have been relatively injury free. Some of the teams we have played have been without five or six first choices. That fortunate combination might not come round again for another thirty seasons. If we were ever going to be promoted, or even just make a money-making charge into the play-offs, without spending a fortune, we may never get a better chance. Three one million pound players would have seen us into the top six, even if one of the three disappointed (and you have to allow for that).
And one Hungarian! I forgot that. Who the fack wants to own a Hungarian football club? That's like owning an abattoir. If someone gave me a Hungarian football club, I would put it out for the dustman. These are money drains - he got his bit of fluff a Job at CAFC, most blokes would buy her a sports car and a rented flat. I cannot for the life of me think why he bought us.
What Roly is trying to avoid is what Mark Hulyer described as "Standing over an open drain with your wallet upside down". The trouble is he's trying a bit too hard. His original blueprint of bringing in cheapos recommended by his computer scouts and foisting them on a hapless manager has ground to a halt. Bob says rightly that we have to make sure it's the right one when we sign a striker or two, so I would guess that he's less of a yes-man than some on 'ere have thought, and is having a major say in who comes in. If Coquelin is anything to go by then in Bob we trust. On Saturday our best players were all either Academy products or came from this league, so Maybe Roland has accepted that 3 managers can't all be wrong about his computer scouts.
Isn't the reality this. A rich but faceless man has made a fortune and got no recognition in his chosen field. He is wealthy but not stupid. He wants to get fame, he buys a number of clubs and sets out a formula. This formula is hardly novel or ground-breaking. Spend as little as you can (or get a decent striker and build a team around him) and get in loanees and academy players and hope to get maximum success. Suddenly, he realises that every other club is trying that. He has a back up plan. A network. The trouble is that network of teams are really pretty crap and wont cut the mustard in any of their respective leagues. So he is in fact spending more on achieving no success than he would on going for it with just one. He also has Bob by the balls. Bod is on a short term contract and is fitting the model for Roly, if he is not good (or lucky) enough, then lose him, and get another sucka in on a short term contract. Our season is not based on a subtle careful selection of players brought in to achieve promotion but a thrown together lets hope it works fry up. Anything else I am hearing is simply bullshat. Our boy is just spreading his net and hoping he gets lucky.
Bob can only go cap in hand to RD. If RD says More! Al la Mr Bumble, there is not a lot he can do. In today's News Shopper he comments that with a decent striker we would have got more out of the Ipswich and Forest games. Everybody at the Club, including Gladys the tea lady, knows where the weaknesses are. Will RD do something about it? A quality striker is going to cost a lot of money. It is over to you RD. I think January will tell us an awful lot about the owner and what his plans are. If we don't buy a striker in January, I will spit out my dummy and stamp my feet. The problem with having network scouts is that the players they look at might do well in the weak Belgian league, or Hungarian leagues but can they cut it in the Championship? The player who has been a success is Vetokele who is Peeters choice.
Just like with our strikers. If you took the cost of playing Tucudean, Bulot, Moussa and Polish Pete and buy one good striker you've at least got something to show for it and probably spent less.
I stumbled across Standard Liege's game on satellite TV last week. The camera frequently cut to Roland in the directors box. He was kicking every ball and appeared agitated at times. It seems pretty clear that SL remained his 'true love' in terms of football clubs. Do you imagine he reacts in a similar way when Cally Messi executes another 'air shot' from 6 yards out? I read Bob's recent comments on our striker search as 'managing expectations'. Reading between the Belgian lines, RD's spending on CAFC is done for this season. If we don't buy in January, I will start picking n'choosing my games for the remainder of the season, as I feel very unenthused about 300 mile away trips to watch crap like Tucadean.
This is my point. We look like we are becoming the part time shag. If Roly don't buy (and my guess is he won't) it looks very much like we are not his favourite party dress and his attentions lie elsewhere. Speaking only for myself I do not want CAFC to be the mistress while Standard Liege get all the attention.
Polish Pete has 6 in 17 this year I think... worth a chance over Tucudean or Moussa I think, and we do need 2 up top
No, no Polish Pete again. The fact is this guy (RD) is'nt short of a bob or two. He's done okay so far. Both the managers he bought in have done well, he dragged us out of last year's tail spin, though that had more to do with Jose Riga than RD's poverty signings. Now however, we could push on. As has been pointed out over and over again, the deficiencies are glaringly obvious, but will cost a bit to fix (pay peanuts and get monkeys is becoming out motto. You could make a fairly simplistic case that he does'nt want anyone in the empire bigger than Standard, (although Standard play in Europe, which would involve real investment for us, after a successfull promotion push !!!). In all though, we're in a good enough state. What we all want to see is investment in January. The time has definately come for RD to show his intentions, and if he does'nt spend a bit, his intentions in running the club in Albert Steptoe fashion, with freebies, loans, cheap nothings and the odd suprise like Igor, will be confirmed in the worst way. It makes no sense to run the club this way, when it would'nt take a large investment now to move on up. RD still has'nt convinced me he understands the English leagues, the Championship, or Charlton. Time to listen to his managers!!
As Ken, Ted and just about every one else has correctly said, the CAFC problem is glaringly obvious, but will take money to fix. January will reveal whether "super rich" Roland wants to stick, or twist. It is all very nice having a photogenic CEO who donates an old office in the North Stand so the anoraks get to play museums, but the rest of the fans want to see a competitive team on the pitch. We are 3/4 players short of this. If we get injuries or suspensions to our handful of key players we are guaranteed to tail off big time. Lurking in the wings are real RD Network quality like Bulot, Moussa (yes, I know, Coventry ...), Tucadean. I am sick to death of seeing transient, loan signing crap from overseas coming our way. Players playing in sh1t leagues for sh1t clubs and with sh1t career records. Sole plus point- cheap as pomme frites. 4 good signings in 20 is pathetic. The vibes are not good for January, but a further crop of cack from RDs seemingly endless supply of misfits is not wanted.
If this were to happen it would show that Roland is still playing Football Manager, and is impossible to work under. Bob will not play them, and will go the way of the last 2 managers. However I think it's more likely that he will refuse to accept them, and we'll carry on with more or less the same squad, probably one signing in January. Roland should also be aware that the policy of hiring a manager for the short term, and letting his contract expire, has its own dangers. If Bob gets a reputation for being able to manage successfully on meagre resources it will attract attention from other clubs. He might find himself in a similar position to K*******t.
It's certainly being built up as an interesting January - and will give us more scope on how RD see's us. I personally think we will get 1 or 2 bodies in, but not expecting the 3-4 quality players we need. In my head, I think the play offs are going to be beyond us this season, but it would still be nice if we started to build for next season in January - but as Billy points out, there isn't even a guarentee BP will be with us. Hence why I'm expecting 2 ''able'' players.
From the BBC site: Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has insisted he is a head coach and not a manager in an apparent criticism of the club's transfer dealings. The Uruguayan has vented his frustration about a lack of quality at the club, who lie 15th in the Premier League table. "I am a head coach," Poyet told reporters. "I am not going to be a head coach when it suits and a manager when it doesn't. That side is down to recruitment." The "head coach" system doesn't work in British Football, as we are finding out. Mind you, there is some hypocrisy at work with Poyet. When he gets praised for good results I didn't notice him protesting "I'm not really the manager, just the head coach".
I think Reza could do a job with that added quality behind him. Sadly I don't think his head is anywhere near SE7. He will get a bumper contract near where he's playing now and live out his career as a king. I remember Titi Camara, the former Liverpool player, discussing his accommodation out there which included solid gold taps in the kitchen and bathroom.
We tried Reza for 20 games in the Championship last season. He has the physical strength of an empty crisp packet, and spent most of each game on his arse, appealing for fouls.
He played in an awful side who created less chances than this one. I doubt Vetokele would have gotten to 10-12 last season.
