A Shakespearean play includes Daggers and different fortunes for the players but in this case we're talking Charlton not the high academics of Elizabethan playwrights.
I first saw John Fortune at the end of season shirt sponsors evening, which I had attended on the shirt tails of Addicks Championship Diary. He had just finished his loan spell at Mansfield and so began a career that never quite reached the heights any of us had thought or hoped he would achieve.
He had two highlights for Addicks fans, the most obvious being the perpetrator of Dowies drop and Palaces relegation, the equalising goal in the last game of the season putting Palace down.
His other was that elbow from a god of football which resulted in in called for vilification by that legend of English football Bobby Robson. For those not there and those young who were not even born, Alan Shearer was given a torrid time by Fortune until they rose for a ball, Shearer spooning with Foertune behind him and slowly deliberately Shearer swung an elbow. This was at the height of Shearers power, the man who kicked Neil Lennon in the head and blackmailed the FA by saying that any charge would be greeted by retirement from international football. It connected with Fortune and surprisingly enough Fortune was laid out. The next day Robson had convinced the sundays that Fortune was feigning injury and once again Shearer got away with it and his red was rescinded.
John has played for Charlton and was subject to serious achilles injury which has curtailed his effectiveness so he has drifted from Charlton to Exeter and its not long ago that we thought his career was over. Some may say that joining Dagenham and Redbridge is the equivalent, whatever I wish him the best of luck ... maybe never reached his potential, maybe staying at Charlton was partly through lack of ambition, as Martin Simmons once indicated, but whatever he was Charlton through and through and we on the Hill wish him the very best at Daggers.
Thursday, 28 March 2013
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Forwards and Backwards
As the season enters its business period, it appears Charlton are looking to the future. CP has been scouting in Spain , as opposed to Bromley, but at the same time it appears we are keeping tabs on another Gallic forward from Chateaux Roux reserves. 21 year old Jonathon Rivas is apparently being tracked by us and Watford. Watford of course are facing changes in league regulations next season to prevent wholesale loaning of players (Watford can make loan players work). and whilst the future forwards are being looked at our old forward is looking like his time with us is over. For half the season, last year, Bradley Wright Phillips (Who happens to be better than Sean) shot us to promotion. He has now been exiled to West London and does not know what his future holds for him. Sadly Bradley is a poor imitation of his father, his contract runs out in the summer and there are no plans to give him a new one.
Inevitably in football as one striker comes another leaves
Inevitably in football as one striker comes another leaves
Not aloan
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Why do we get loanees,
That We rarely use.
Jorge Costa stands out as the most outstanding loanee, but we have had quite a few successful loanees over the years, but this season we have seen them come in and be expensive reserves who according to Micky Slates (of team spivs also known as the board) have sucked resources. Which would be fine if we had resources to spend, but we don't.
In fact our recruitment policy this season has been pretty awful overall. The Board and the management have to take equal responsibility for this the former for not having the funds and the later for poor choices.
In terms of permanent players, Fuller has been ok, but for five figure salary he has not done enough, Kerkar ... who? Cooke is baking at Yeovil. Wilson has been ok but had a form dip. However, when you are shopping in the bargain basement you take your chances and maybe we can be forgiven for some of these signings as they offered potential, although Parkie was never given any leeway for a penny pinching budget.
On the loanee side, we have had an influx of expensive reserves Razak from Man City, Frimpong from Arsenal (Now at Fulham), Seabourne from Southampton, who CP felt warranted a place over Evina, who eventually displaced him and showed to be a better player overall and now we have Obike from Spurs again a bench warmer and a similar player to Frank Nouble, who Powell brought in despite being advised against by Noubles former coach Alex Dyer.
Its always been my view that loanees should only be brought in if they are to be starters, otherwise whats the point|? The only exception to that would be a player like Matt Fry who was like a trainee with us from Wet Spam. We do seem to have wasted a lot of our budget on players who have contributed nothing ... a pretty criminal offence by TJ, MS and CP, if you ask me.
Gower to play Saturday or allowed to blend into the team over the rest of the season? In CP we, .... err .... trust, mmm!
Violets are blue,
Why do we get loanees,
That We rarely use.
Jorge Costa stands out as the most outstanding loanee, but we have had quite a few successful loanees over the years, but this season we have seen them come in and be expensive reserves who according to Micky Slates (of team spivs also known as the board) have sucked resources. Which would be fine if we had resources to spend, but we don't.
In fact our recruitment policy this season has been pretty awful overall. The Board and the management have to take equal responsibility for this the former for not having the funds and the later for poor choices.
In terms of permanent players, Fuller has been ok, but for five figure salary he has not done enough, Kerkar ... who? Cooke is baking at Yeovil. Wilson has been ok but had a form dip. However, when you are shopping in the bargain basement you take your chances and maybe we can be forgiven for some of these signings as they offered potential, although Parkie was never given any leeway for a penny pinching budget.
On the loanee side, we have had an influx of expensive reserves Razak from Man City, Frimpong from Arsenal (Now at Fulham), Seabourne from Southampton, who CP felt warranted a place over Evina, who eventually displaced him and showed to be a better player overall and now we have Obike from Spurs again a bench warmer and a similar player to Frank Nouble, who Powell brought in despite being advised against by Noubles former coach Alex Dyer.
Its always been my view that loanees should only be brought in if they are to be starters, otherwise whats the point|? The only exception to that would be a player like Matt Fry who was like a trainee with us from Wet Spam. We do seem to have wasted a lot of our budget on players who have contributed nothing ... a pretty criminal offence by TJ, MS and CP, if you ask me.
Gower to play Saturday or allowed to blend into the team over the rest of the season? In CP we, .... err .... trust, mmm!
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