Sunday 27 September 2015

Cardiff City 2 v Charlton Athletic 1

Too busy doing decking yesterday and listening to the egg-chasing, but it was another poor performance from Guy Luzon's team and we find ourselves in 17th position in the table having played nine.

Next Sunday we have the Sky TY Hoodoo and Fulham at home at Midday (crap). There is an international break after that before we go to rapidly improving Reading. I am afraid it looks grim for Luzon. With talk of Bolton taking Igor Vetokele on loan and Morgan Fox being linked, however unlikely, with Manchester United, you have to wonder if the dressing room is ok? 

Vetokele would appear to have lost whatever pace and hunger he showed upon arrival after several injuries and I am sorry to say I wouldn't be disappointed if he left, if it meant we got a replacement. Morgan Fox may be a scapegoat for some but for me he is a quality full-back in the making. I am reminded immediately of Simon Francis who was never given a chance by many after one or two poor showings but was patently a better player as he has proven with Bournemouth. I suspect the Red Devils will end up acquiring a safer bet than Fox but their interest won't go unnoticed by other sides.

Once again we are struggling to perform week in, week out and once again there are very obvious shortcomings in terms of squad size and quality. We started the season a decent striker short and with no proven width on the left which has meant we continue to use Cousins out-of-position. Injuries haven't helped and in spite of some of the new boys earning their stripes (Bauer and Kashi), some don't appear to offer anything more than we had (Berdych and Ba). The jury is out on Sarr and Makienok, although I have my doubts about Mak longer term. Ceballos has been injured but he didn't make an immediate impression when he did start. 

Given the above and our stated need to trim the operating budget, it's hard to see how it gets any better this season beyond hoping we can get a fuller squad fit and avoid continuing injuries. That points to another season of up and down and basic struggle. All a bit deja vu continuing the Championship form since relegation and Guy Luzon must be looking over his shoulder because Roland Duchatelet might be content with average but he has a track record for looking for a bounce when things aren't going right for any prolonged period of time. 




4 comments:

  1. How long will it be before Duchatelet actually considers that his own strategy may be at fault and need adjustment / rethinking instead of blaming those who he has actually tasked to complete the strategy ?

    Roland, the squads you are asking your managers to operate from are too thin. Football players go off form, get injured, suspended. Competition for places is also needed so that the players train hard. The championship is a difficult league. Can you please bleedin' acknowledge that.

    Sort it out !

    Charlton supporter

    ReplyDelete
  2. How long will it be before Duchatelet actually considers that his own strategy may be at fault and need adjustment / rethinking instead of blaming those who he has actually tasked to complete the strategy ?

    Roland, the squads you are asking your managers to operate from are too thin. Football players go off form, get injured, suspended. Competition for places is also needed so that the players train hard. The championship is a difficult league. Can you please bleedin' acknowledge that.

    Sort it out !

    Charlton supporter

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dave, the irony for me is that M. Duchatelet is opening up the coffers big time to finance a major make-over at the training ground, spent significantly on the pitch etc. and yet is seemingly scrimping on the squad itself. From day one, it has been my stance that he saw a bargain basement opportunity in Charlton as a vehicle to achieve the great rewards of Premiership football and still feel that way. However, having said that, promotion to the big time comes from winning football, no matter the state of the infrastructure of the club itself. On that basis, rather than showing Guy Luzon the door, would it not make more sense to offer him some assistance with coming up with some quality guys?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anon - when you are worth £700m you can convince yourself you are never wrong.

    Bob - I'm not advocating managerial change, but then again I would have given Peeters more time and the resources he needed. I don't think Roland is motivated my Premier League millions - he has more money than he can ever spend already. My bet is he gets a kick out of beating the market on players.

    ReplyDelete

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