Contract talks

As clubs start to issue their ‘not retained list’ the Addicks have very few players actually out of contract this summer.

Only young Serbian keeper Marko Dmitrovic, World Cup ‘star’ Reza Ghoochnannejhad, Joe Pigott and Zak Ansah are recognizable names that have their contracts ending. From the U21 squad stopper 20-year old Dillon Phillips, who played 37 games for National League champions Cheltenham before injury curtailed his season and Ayo Obileye, who had a spell on loan at Dagenham & Redbridge are two noticeable exits.

Both Callum Harriott and Alou Diarra have their contracts ending but have a one-year extension offer built into their deals. I would suspect that Harriott will feel it’s time to move on after being at The Valley since the age of 9, and Diarra’s salary is now out of range.

After previous summer’s when short term contracts and loans meant a complete turnover of the playing squad, this post season doesn’t present the same problems. But under scrutiny the problems look to be greater as the club are loaded up with players not good enough but still on long term contracts.

Naby Sarr has a contract until 2020, Roger Johnson 2017, El-Hadji Ba 2018, Zakarya Bergdich 2019, George Tucudean 2017 (yes, he is still being paid by Charlton) and Cristian Ceballos 2018. When Ms Meire spouts off about RD putting in £30m, not only open up the salt grinder and take a big dose, but also remember how they have spent some of this money.

Better news is that Patrick Bauer has a contract that runs to 2019, Jorge Texieria a year after that. Ahmed Kashi 2018 and Player of the Year Jordan Cousins to 2019. Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Ade Lookman are also under long contracts. But in all honesty how many of these players will stay? And what is their value, or will we ever find out when they are flogged undisclosed?

Tony Watt (2018), Stephen Henderson (2017) and Igor Vetokele (2019) are almost certainly going to be gone. Igor, like others I feel, has a clause in his contract allowing him to go for a free upon relegation. Who agreed these deals? Oh yes….

Tareiq Holmes-Dennis (2018) has expressed his frustrations at the way his career has been handled since coming into the first team squad and Morgan Fox (2018) has often been linked with a move away.

Loan players that ended the season in SE7 – Marco Motta, Rod Fanni, Diego Poyet, Yun Suk-Young, Yaya Sanogo and Simon Makienok have all left the club and are either too costly despite making a good impression (Fanni, Suk-Young) or never worked (Makienok, Poyet). Suk-Young has already been released by QPR.

Only skipper and that beacon of hope, Johnnie Jackson and Nick Pope have shown publicly any desire to stay.

Since the Diego Poyet fiasco, positively the club have signed many of the club’s young prospects to longer professional contracts, such as Lookman. Today U18 skipper George Lapslie signed until 2019, and right back Aaron Barnes, who attended my son’s school Oakwood Park, signed another year.

Whereas in fighting for our Championship lives, with absolutely no solidity or steadfastness, then throwing young players into the fire, such as Karlan Ahearne-Grant and Mikhail Kennedy, has proved a completely naive strategy, if, a big if, we can add some good League One players and a little wherewithal to the large group of potential youngsters, then that might just work as a pathway back to The Championship.

Might.

A different direction by Duchatelet and Meire has surfaced this past week though, although in 7 days we have been turned down by a British manager and today a bid for Colchester United’s George Moncur (photo) was also rejected. A fine player by all accounts, and I followed him at West Ham’s ‘academy’ before he moved into deeper Essex, the midfielder would be a good start. But offering just a bit more than a quarter of the asking price is a familiar tale of ‘we tried’ that we have seen many times before.

The question needs to be asked however, with no manager/head coach, no director of football, and no chief scout, who an earth is picking these players?

Karel, Karel, come out….