The clear out begins

Looks like a number of hopefuls have finally come to the end of the road at Charlton Athletic. Little Ross has been released and, whilst he didn't fail us horribly, I don't believe he was good enough. Certainly not for promotion.

Alex Stavrinou and Tamer Tuna have been kicking around the fringes of the squad for a couple of years without making the breakthrough and both have been told to look elsewhere. Lewis Perkins has also been finished up and those three were the cream of the most recent crop excepting Elliot, Wagstaff and Solly. Yafo Mambo is still with us and Calum Harriott will surely get a chance next season. Other than that, I am unaware of any big hopes from the Valley Gold pipeline.

In any event, I got the impression our new owners didn't have the time to hang about for youth and were more interested in investing their way out of League One. Personally, I think we need to be steeling ourselves for the season ahead and lowering our expectations. Maybe a season of genuine consolidation is required where we can settle a first team squad and be less reliant on loan players who are unlikely to do more than 6 or 12 months with us. I would also be content with a season where we looked constant at home and could get used to thumping a few sides for once instead of trying to eek out meagre victories. It's really not too much to ask, is it?

I haven't slept a wink on my overnight flight to Bangalore and am about to get ready for a long day in the office. I might be ready for the smelling salts a little later.