Last night's grinding 1-0 win at Wycombe Wanderers has continued Charlton's surprisingly good form and raised questions again about could we win second place? Given the January transfer window shenanigans that saw us weaken our striking options at the time we needed to strengthen then, it is not short of amazing that we have stayed in the play-off hunt, let alone moved into a position to possible finish top of the play-off grouping and possibly very close to the automatic second position.
It's all the more remarkable that we have achieved this at a time when there is so much future uncertainty amongst the playing and managerial staff. It can't be easy to concentrate fully and give your all in games when you are spending a fair chunk of the week wondering or actively planning your future when you are out-of-contract at the end of the season and there has been little or no contact from the Club's owner about a possible extension. The obvious conclusion would be that you are likely to be allowed to go given the stated aim of reducing the monthly wage bill for next season as Duchatelet continues to try to cut his trading deficit.
The same goes for the management team but at least Lee Bowyer has seen his contract even if he couldn't make any sense of it initially and his comment yesterday to the press after having been through it with Richard Murray is that it seems heavy on 'incentivisation.' The conclusion to be drawn on this is that it's equally light on basic pay which would not be attractive to most of us and in Bowyer and Jackson's case, what chance of achieving incentivised targets when they can see that they would have to do so with an even lighter and less able squad of players? The other big question I would have, is what sort of incentivisation is Duchatelet looking to achieve? On the basis that he has no interest in the club and sees the Championship as a money-pit? Cynicslly you would conclude it's a ruse to reduce their level of pay too. Bowyer continues to play the negotiations brilliantly on the public front saying he's sure the details will be worked through and everything can be sorted but that simply puts pressure on Duchatelet that in the event of not reaching an agreement Bowyer has already given a view that it shouldn't have been difficult to achieve. Timing also favours him as the club have to unveil season ticket pricing next season and they should be reticent to do that knowing that supporters are much more likely to delay committing this to next season until they know who will be leading the side and who will likely be playing.
Chances of automatic promotion are being given another lively airing amongst the Charlton Life faithful. The form of Phillips in goal and the strength of the defence has similarities with the 1998 play-off run-in being re-played. The problem has always been our ability to get enough goals but 1-0's will do it for you if you can grind them out as we did in the 1998 run-in and appear to be capable of now. The improvement finally being shown by Igor Vetokele has also given cause for optimism and last night he shown glimpses of his previous best according to many who watch the game. The excitement gave me cause to study the remaining fixtures and whilst Sunderland have the toughest run-in and could possibly be caught with a stellar Charlton finish, I would be more concerning about Barnsley or Portsmouth maintaining form against lesser opposition and out-pointing us. We have our two hardest remaining fixtures upcoming with Luton at the Valley on Saturday before what's looking increasingly like a tricky fixture at Oxford United who have suddenly hit form in their season-on relegation battle and have now pulled well clear which is a big surprise given Karl Robinson has hung on and is still there. If we can win both games the table may look very interesting with three left to play.....
It's all the more remarkable that we have achieved this at a time when there is so much future uncertainty amongst the playing and managerial staff. It can't be easy to concentrate fully and give your all in games when you are spending a fair chunk of the week wondering or actively planning your future when you are out-of-contract at the end of the season and there has been little or no contact from the Club's owner about a possible extension. The obvious conclusion would be that you are likely to be allowed to go given the stated aim of reducing the monthly wage bill for next season as Duchatelet continues to try to cut his trading deficit.
The same goes for the management team but at least Lee Bowyer has seen his contract even if he couldn't make any sense of it initially and his comment yesterday to the press after having been through it with Richard Murray is that it seems heavy on 'incentivisation.' The conclusion to be drawn on this is that it's equally light on basic pay which would not be attractive to most of us and in Bowyer and Jackson's case, what chance of achieving incentivised targets when they can see that they would have to do so with an even lighter and less able squad of players? The other big question I would have, is what sort of incentivisation is Duchatelet looking to achieve? On the basis that he has no interest in the club and sees the Championship as a money-pit? Cynicslly you would conclude it's a ruse to reduce their level of pay too. Bowyer continues to play the negotiations brilliantly on the public front saying he's sure the details will be worked through and everything can be sorted but that simply puts pressure on Duchatelet that in the event of not reaching an agreement Bowyer has already given a view that it shouldn't have been difficult to achieve. Timing also favours him as the club have to unveil season ticket pricing next season and they should be reticent to do that knowing that supporters are much more likely to delay committing this to next season until they know who will be leading the side and who will likely be playing.
Chances of automatic promotion are being given another lively airing amongst the Charlton Life faithful. The form of Phillips in goal and the strength of the defence has similarities with the 1998 play-off run-in being re-played. The problem has always been our ability to get enough goals but 1-0's will do it for you if you can grind them out as we did in the 1998 run-in and appear to be capable of now. The improvement finally being shown by Igor Vetokele has also given cause for optimism and last night he shown glimpses of his previous best according to many who watch the game. The excitement gave me cause to study the remaining fixtures and whilst Sunderland have the toughest run-in and could possibly be caught with a stellar Charlton finish, I would be more concerning about Barnsley or Portsmouth maintaining form against lesser opposition and out-pointing us. We have our two hardest remaining fixtures upcoming with Luton at the Valley on Saturday before what's looking increasingly like a tricky fixture at Oxford United who have suddenly hit form in their season-on relegation battle and have now pulled well clear which is a big surprise given Karl Robinson has hung on and is still there. If we can win both games the table may look very interesting with three left to play.....
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