Decision time
Plenty of rumours circulating today that Michael Appleton had been relieved of his head coach duties in SE7, yet Louis Mendez hunted out a denial from the club this evening, and he is expected to carry out a pre-game press conference tomorrow.
More than anyone Andy Scott, Jim Rodwell and Charlie Methven (he is much more involved than the club would like us think) are praying for their handpicked head coach to pick up a win and stem a horrendous run of form and results that is propelling us into a relegation dog-fight.
If Reading hadn’t been deducted points Charlton would sit 3 points off the relegation places as we stand. Never at this stage of the season has the club stared at relegation to the fourth division this closely.
Jim Rodwell told us that the investment group have delegated full managerial responsibility of the running of club to the board. Yet, is this hybrid of football club owners willing to keep funding a transfer window with a man with the most important job a fundamental failure?
If Rodwell is to be believed then it will come down to the board, primarily Scott and Rodwell to make the decision to either keep or fire Appleton. Have they the balls and are they willing to accept another error of judgement?
The fans have made up their minds, now it’s down to the decision makers.
3rd permanent manager of the season in Jan and you know you’re in trouble but he’s just so uninspiring he’s got to go…just so need another Lennie Lawrence
Are they waiting to find his replacement before relieving him of his duties? Appleton is clearly a dead man walking!
That has to be one possibility AHLL
There’s a Geezer sitting in the East Stand for every home and away game who could turn the rudderless ship around …. if he wants to get involved, of course….
Desperate times call for desperate measures and Curbs knows the club inside out – certainly more than Scott, Rodwell and Methven.
If Curbs did come back and it’s a big IF then I can’t see that as Manager but more of a Director of Football role like he did at Fulham (?)
If they sack him now without a quick replacement no-one else will sign in the transfer window.
What a circus of events….our win rate is off the scale and we have a manager who has alienated himself from the majority of fans and some players….look at Alfies anger at the end of the game at Burton.
If Appleton is dismissed we have big problems….who can we get in to save the season ?
Curbs is a life-line and would be my choice and has the respect of fans and players.
Only issue would be Blackwall tunnel for Curbs on a matchday 😉
We have made some good signings and both Curbs and Brownie think they have been made as a foundation for next season…..this one will be a relegation battle now.
Sadly I was at the Burton game last Saturday and once again there was too much playing around the back five football even when we were one and two nil down. Occasionally it would be good to see our goalkeepers looking for the long ball out of defence turning central defenders and giving Alfie May and whoever else is upfront a chance at this level to push worst way for a corner or a run on goal!
Alfie May is vertically challenged like me and he would have no hope against giant defenders so a long ball needs to targeted to a tall striker (we don’t have ) to knock down to Alfie.
Oh for a tall mobile striker at this time.
Ladapo is an upgrade of Uche from a goals perspective, but a very different player. Of course a fit Aneke or Leaburn would be better than Uche.
Graham – I always said that the 79/80 team was the worst team since I’ve been going (50 years this year) but probably because it was a different time without the chase of instant gratification, I don’t remember the football being this bad.
If you look back to the results from that 79/80 season they were bloody awfully but we were a division higher than now, and there obviously was a crux of a good team as we had a glorious 80/81 season in Division 3 including a memorable FA Cup run.
I am 81 have been a supporter since I was 17 years this team is the worst ever. Will we win any games this season or have to wait until div two next season
Still the same people laying the blame at the manager’s door. For the record, Appleton hasn’t alienated me! The game isn’t like it used to be and the influence of managers on results is greatly diminished. What counts most are the structures behind the scenes. Appleton is struggling for the same reasons that Holden did earlier in the season, i.e a poorly balanced squad with not much depth in it. Once you get stuck in a rut, its hard to get out of it and ultimately he might pay for the situation the club finds itself in. But he’s not to blame and I still think he’s a good coach. We’ve flirted with both top and bottom of the table for the last few seasons and this is no different. Let him work with the new players I say (many of whom have come to us because of their connection with him!)
I think you are in the small minority but I value your opinion. I absolutely agree we have to stop sacking managers especially during the transfer window, but I can’t pick one player he has improved or an area of our play that he’s got us doing better or more cohesively. The team is still terrible to watch and every aspect of tactical play from set-pieces to time management is rubbish.
If the club structure that is being put in and has already been put into place begins to pay dividends then we have to see that value on the pitch because that is where the buck stops. It’s a results business and I am not prepared to support the best organized club in Div 4.
By the way when was the last time we were in the top 6?
I’ve seen us play good football under Appleton. The early days were very promising. When a team isn’t functioning properly it usually affects all players, from back to front. So of course its hard to pick out players that are thriving right now.
I think its worth remembering he hasn’t had a preseason to work with the players. He was parachuted in right in the middle! Very hard to get your ideas across, whoever you are. There are fans who have been against him from day one which I don’t understand. Those fans are no more right now, than they were in the beginning.
As for the club structure you absolutely won’t reap the rewards until further down the line. These things are not immediate or automatic. As I said he may end up being the scapegoat this time round but he won’t have been the problem. I very much doubt we’ll end up in a relegation fight but if we have to go back to go forward, so be it.
As for the top 6, I think you know what I was getting at. We tried to make a late push under both Adkins and Holden (even if we weren’t successful)
Since our last relegation we’ve had Lee Bowyer, Nigel Adkins, JJ, Ben Garner, Dean Holden and now Michael Appleton as full time managers. Of that lot I think Bow lasted the longest, but not by much.
In that time we’ve had three owners (four if you include ESI MkII) and had quite a few people involved in recruitment from Steve Gallen, Martin Sandgaard, Thomas Sandgaard too as well as the above managers and their coaching staff.
Where is the strategy? Where is the carefully building a squad of players from one window to the next? Every year we’ve had an end of season clear-out with a couple of decent signings bulked out by loanees and free transfers. Then we’ve had the “bedding in” of the new squad with a few good results here and there balanced out by poor performances and then things have tailed off and we get the inevitable press release announcing the departure of the manager and his coaching staff.
This is not how you’d run a business and certainly not how you’d run a football club – any success is going to be accidental rather than deliberate.
Appleton has struggled with a thin squad with no depth to it – as soon as the injuries kicked in results went south, you can correlate the injuries of Chuks and Miles Leaburn to the run of defeats and draws almost exactly. That said we signed two defenders last week and he parked both on the bench and his substitutions are getting later and later in the second half as though he doesn’t trust the bench.
We have to give him more time – but this can be a shot to nothing, we won’t get promoted this season and relegation is only for the pessimists. But football being a results business means he needs a few wins and quickly or else.
I cant see how some people want to give Appleton more time and make excuses for him. The buck stops at his desk. He knew what he was taking on when he was appointed. Yes, he inherited a squad (as every new manager does) which was not of his choosing, but he must have convinced the hierarchy that he could get something out of them. Yes, he has had to cope with injuries (again which every manager has to do) but how can you excuse, lack of ability to change tactics and organisation mid game, randomly playing players out of their favoured and effective positions (notably Alfie May), repeatedly picking players that seem unfit and uninterested ( notably Fraser) not using the bench until it’s too late, excruciatingly repetitive after match summaries, an unanimated and un-passioned attitude on the sideline for every 90 minutes and absolutely no personality to ingratiate him to the fanbase.
Appleton has lost the backing of the majority of the fans, that is clear for all to see. My feeling is that a couple of results isn’t going to change that, which just increases the toxicity that exists within the club. Scott, Rodwell and Methen are just digging their heals in, hoping that it turns around, so they can say they were right in their appointment, when the damage has already been done, with regards to this season anyway.
That’s my opinion too Jon. I don’t do the personal attacks stuff. I couldn’t care less if he sits and watches TV with his dinner on the sideline I want a coach / manager I can believe in by bringing a winning and enjoyable culture / match day experience.
Unfortunately he has rarely done that in his management career and I see no way back for him personally.
As for Scott, Rodwell and Methven I just wish they would talk less and make smarter and more intelligent decisions.
100000% right CA…again your pin-point comment hits the target.!!!
I totally agree about the personal stuff CA, there is no room for the abuse he had on social media…..I just want to see some passion or at least some signs of commitment to the cause during the games. It would help for the supporters who pay their hard earned money to connect with him and see he is hurting too when things don’t go our way.
Lots of excellent points made in this post – both for and against MA.
Spot on Greg, couldn’t agree more. I don’t ever go on social media for that very reason – forever Charlton is the only site I ever dabble in.
A manager should be able to change tactics mid-game if plan A isn’t working – if Appleton has a worthwhile plan B, let alone C, then it certainly hasn’t been evident.
We also need a few ‘voices’ from the touchline and on the pitch. Dobbo is a great player, but not such a great Captain – he doesn’t visibly encourage his team-mates or berate them/ urge them on when they make a cock-up… and we’ve seen plenty of those in games this season.
As for Appleton standing on the touchline with his hands in his pockets like a statue….. it’s abysmal. No passion, no urging his players on, no direction given from the side-lines.
In his defence he came in mid-season and has had to make do with a hotch-potch of journeymen, a few youngsters trying to break into the first team and a couple of golden nuggets in CBT and Alfie. But he’s clearly not up to the demands of the job.
He has played people out of position, he has not changed things during a match (he has a lot to learn from the likes of Jurgen Klopp!), he has kept some in the team when they clearly deserve, and probably need, to be dropped if nothing else to look into themselves and re-set their game.
He has obviously lost some of his players, he has clearly lost most of the hardcore away fans and a bad result tomorrow will turn the Valley toxic.
We need a new manager like a hole in the head – but I’m not alone in being fed up with the line of below-average standard of the last three or four managers.
I want to see some passion from the touchline, some tactical nous – and please, will the next man in bring a years’ supply of razor blades with him? Having a scruffy un-shaved individual representing the club does not look good – what sort of example does that set for his staff? The answer is clear to see on the pitch I’m afraid – too many of them can’t be bothered, just like the bloke on the touchline….