Feb 11
More farce down at Charlton today played out for all to see.
George Dobson was about to jump on a plane in the morning to have a medical, sign his contract and have his photo taken as Hungarian side Fehervar’s new transfer deadline signing.
Please click for moreIt’s always sad to see an academy player move on, but I am truly excited for Deji Elerewe, who today signed a permanent deal with Bromley. The club and player know each other well and Deji moved for an undisclosed fee with a sell-on clause.
As part of the deal, Charlton have a first refusal clause, meaning the club will be made aware, and can match, any offers that come in for him in the future.
Please click for moreHang on. The window has been wedged back open and in walked today Thierry Small.
Small, a free agent after mutually agreeing to leave Southampton yesterday, signs until the end of the season with a club option of an additional year. Clearly a trial run and a coincidence perhaps that both he and Kayne Ramsey were previously at Southampton.
Please click for moreThe window hardly slammed shut for Charlton tonight in a hail of glass and uPVC, although mind you it was the quietest overall window for the longest time leaving Sky Sports to get all dewy-eyed over a loan of Armando Broja.
Harrogate prospect Kayne Ramsay was the 4th permanent Addicks’ January signing putting pen to paper this evening and whilst I cannot remember us making that many permanent signings in January previously, I am not convinced the squad begins February in a better place than we ended it in December.
Please click for moreRight back or wing back is an area we have really struggled with in recent season’s, so now we have another one.
23-year old Kayne Ramsay was the solitary addition to the Addicks’ squad on transfer deadline day. He signed on a permanent deal from Harrogate for what their manager Simon Weaver described as “a significant fee, a very good sum of money.”
Please click for moreNot in my house as I have a woman arriving in a minute who is going to power wash my roof. Just hope she doesn’t want me to help.
A quiet day at Sparrows Lane though, which is what can happen when you have no manager. Players understand that manager’s come and go, and whether it be a Technical Director or a Head of Recruitment that is often the main driver in deals, footballers, and people like you and me, like to know who they are working for.
Please click for moreNear the top of an extraordinary long list of frustrating waste of times in recent years is Scott Fraser.
Another that came with great promise, and although he could when he wanted to play a decisive pass and find the net, those ‘Pirlo’ moments were too few and far between and I never warmed to him.
Please click for moreDo we think the Addicks will make more signings this week?
The deadline is Thursday at 11pm and we sit as of now with no manager / head coach so although it is Andy Scott that is pulling the strings will players sign for a managerless, some may say rudderless, team?
Please click for moreI thought this one had died. Certainly the current head coach didn’t seem aware any signings were close during his gruelling presser this morning.
However Lewis Ward, who had his Swindon contract cancelled last week, has now signed for Charlton on loan, with the club option of a further year in the summer.
Please click for moreThe old broken toe nail injury the day before a game heralded CBT’s departure last week. He had done his Derby media work so it was just a matter of time before his departure was announced once Derby and Charlton had ironed out the intricacies of the deal.
Please click for moreI didn’t want to leave this story untouched.
After the JCH chase, offer and rebuke the new striker name of Uche Ikpeazu was a little bit of a let down at first but upon some journalistic research I began to quite like the thought of him signing.
Please click for moreFreddie Ladapo was flavour of the month in the summer as Addicks’ fans clamoured over his signature. Well, we have finally got our man as he has signed on loan from Ipswich Town.
Ladapo is mobile and strong and although he has found it hard to be a starter in Ipswich’s incredible beginning to the season, he has 22 games under his belt and scored 4 goals.
Please click for moreThere’s meant to be a bit of activity down at Sparrows Lane today and the first use of the pen was by 25-year old Huddersfield defender Rarmani Edmonds-Green. He has signed a two and a half year deal.
Edmonds-Green can play at RCB or RWB, and won promotion out of L1 two seasons ago whilst on loan at Rotherham.
Please click for moreStories doing the rounds that we have ‘won the race’ for Port Vale’s 6ft 3 striker Uche Ikpeazu.
If true I think on this signing you have to look beyond his goalscoring record and remind ourselves of how Ikpeazu battered us up at Port Vale.
Please click for moreHe brought with him a lot of promise but today Chem Campbell has had his season-loan cut short and has returned to Wolves.
Wolves appear to have great hopes for him, especially after a successful loan at Wycombe in the second half of last season, but although we have had many worse, Campbell (C) just didn’t cut it.
Please click for moreOn Saturday evening both Michael Appleton and Darren Ferguson threw a fire blanket over the Addicks signing Jonson Clarke-Harris.
The 29-year old has plundered a career 150 goals, 111 in his last 220 games, the man knows his price and if he’s smart he’ll wait until the summer become a free agent and probably have a promotion medal in his locker as well.
Please click for moreAnother name I am always going to type wrong!
Welcome to Macaulay Gillesphey, a left footed centre-back signed from Plymouth Argyle for what is believed to be a six-figure sum. The Geordie has signed a contract until 2026.
Please click for moreCredit where credit is due. Andy Scott sweet talked Conor Coventry into signing for Charlton on Wednesday night after his talks with Sheffield Wednesday stalled predominantly over a sell-on fee.
This looks a considerable upgrade on other signings under this management group, so welcome to the other side of the Blackwell Tunnel, Conor.
Please click for moreCharlton appear to have won the race to sign West Ham’s Conor Coventry pipping Sheffield Wednesday to his permanent signature. The midfielder had a medical at the training ground today.
Jim Rodwell excused Andy Scott at last night’s fan meeting saying he was away convincing a player to sign, and it looks as if may have pulled it off.
Please click for moreThe goalkeeper. Sam Walker worried me every time he came for a ball, but worry no longer CA as he has left the building and signed for Bradford City on a free.
Please click for moreThe Addicks have had an offer accepted by Peterborough United for Jonson Clarke-Harris who Darragh MacAnthony describes as the L1 GOAT.
Jonson Clarke-Harris has scored 130 league goals in 382 appearances at Championship, L1 and L2 level including 26 last season and despite not featuring very often this season he’s still scored 6.
Please click for moreMy first thoughts on the signing of Man City U21 Lewis Fiorini is why would the World Champions give us anther loan player after the abject failure of Slobodan Tedic’s loan. Perhaps City realize how useless he is.
Please click for moreFirst transfer in the door, and whilst the order of those arriving cannot be mapped, it is a little underwhelming.
Sheffield Wednesday’s 25-year old defensive midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson has joined until the end of the season, when he is out of contract.
Please click for moreAndy Scott will tell you that he is blameless in the current mess the club finds itself in. He is all about long term strategy and can’t be held accountable for the gutless squad that was put together before he appeared on the payroll.
And you know what? I am going to humour him and play along with it, so come on Andy the floor is now yours.
Please click for moreLots more chatter around the January transfer window yesterday from Andy Scott. I do agree with him that January is a very tough window to trade in, but it will be interesting to see who the club can entice and how much real financial support they get from the new owners.
January will be a tell-tale month in many ways.
Please click for more“Charlton can confirm that Charlie Kirk has left the club by mutual consent.” (more)
This means that Kirk can get himself onto the free agent market and it gives Andy Scott more money to play with in January.
Please click for moreAlthough it wasn’t surprising to see us lose last night and exit the final cup competition of our season, it was a surprise that Michael Appleton refused to include Chem Campbell and James Abankwah in the matchday squad. There was also no place for Charlie Kirk, who clearly has played his last game in a Charlton shirt.
Please click for moreWell, or at best he’ll be back for the play-off’s. Okay, I’ll put the wine 🍷 down.
The news that the club cancelled Daniel Kanu’s loan at Southend this morning was only the prelude to the news that Miles Leaburn had surgery on his hamstring this morning and will be out for five months.
Please click for moreWe often see talk of pathways to first team football, which is a lot more of a windier path for goalkeepers.
Sam Walker is a great example of a player spotted at a young age, taken under the wing of a good academy system and then picked off by one of the big boys only then to see his career become one of a journeyman.
Please click for moreThe 23-year old Man City striker has signed on a season-long loan. He did get his L1 legs at Barnsley last season but mostly from the bench. He scored 4 goals.
Prior to that he scored 2 in 21 starts plus copious sub appearances for PEC Zwolle in the Eredivisie. That is not a particularly stunning goal record. He has never played for Man City, although their scouts saw something in the Serbian to give him a four-year contract
Please click for moreAs suggested earlier, the Irish born James Abankwah has signed on a season loan from Italian Serie A side Udinese.
The Italian side bought him for what was thought to have been a large transfer fee from League of Ireland team St. Patrick’s Athletic in January 2022. He has played twice for Udinese.
Please click for moreLuton Town’s Louie Watson has joined on loan .
Watson is another untried youngster joining a squad already brimming with untried youngsters.
Watson sounds as if he is more than deep lying playmaker, but he has had very little game time in recent seasons.
Please click for moreI am surprised by that, although it will be good for the young central defender’s development. I assume the loan has a call back for January.
Colchester are managed by Ben Garner of course, and should get plenty of game time.
Please click for moreUtility full back and free agent Tennai Watson has signed a permanent 2-year deal,
After Fankaty Dabo failed to pass another medical the Addicks turned their attention to Watson who left MK Dons in the summer.
Please click for moreSo, what did we find out yesterday.
Andy Scott will be the key decision maker in choosing a new manager, as well as bringing in and selling players this week. Andy is a busy man. Charlie Methven is keeping his counsel and the merry band of other investors and board members are silent.
Please click for moreGood luck to Jack, who never shirked a tackle or stopped running but from I saw was never good enough for L1, and MK Dons looks a good move for him.
Payne, 28, will spend the 2023/24 season at Stadium MK, where they have started really well under Graham Alexander.
Please click for moreNo, I’ve not heard of him either but let’s be frank he has to be better than Kirk and DJ.
I have seen more movement and heart in a statue than DJ when he can as sub on Saturday.
Please click for moreFankaty Dabo was due to sign on the same day as Alfie May in the first week of July, but failed his medical. In recent weeks Dean Holden has had the free agent training with the club and it appears the right-wing-back will accept a differently structured deal to sign this week.
By all accounts Dabo carries a long term injury that has been managed pretty successfully during his career. The Addicks’ medical picked it up, but he is fit, although probably not match fit, and has had part of a pre-season.
Please click for moreI quite liked what I saw and heard of Manny Egbo but he has been moved on by Dean Holden and will join his old mentor Ben Garner at Colchester.
I assume Egbo wasn’t happy playing second fiddle and Holden thinks Nathan Asiimwe is the new Trent Alexander Arnold after a couple of hours of men’s football.
Please clck for moreLeft wing back, centre-half, creative midfielder, winger, striker, striker.
Oh, sorry, I was dreaming of one of those cheesy memes announcing a new signing on the Charlton social media outlets. Then I woke up.
Instead on Charlton’s X page today they had Alan Curbishley rallying fans to attend The Valley on Tuesday. On CATV on Saturday afternoon Curbs was sending out a rallying cry for a strike partner for Alfie May.
Please click for more19-year old Aaron Henry has signed on a season’s loan to Crawley Town in L2. There is a break clause in January if we want to recall him.
Please click for moreMy optimism-ometer is a little bit more perkier this August than it has been in recent season eves.
Absolutely a lot more work needs to be done in the transfer market and we are missing players in key positions, but there is a month to go, and most clubs, not all, but most have been quite suppressed in the market so far.
Please click for moreI have never put much stock on results during pre-season, and it has never as far as I can remember been a harbinger for a good or poor season, yet today’s first half mauling by Aberdeen shows how much work there is left to do in the transfer window.
Holden looks glued to a 3-5-2 but he does not have the squad to play it, at least as of today, but he is the latest in what is getting to be a long line of Charlton manager’s that had a vision for a style of play but then never had to players to deliver it.
Please click for moreNow, that is a proper footballers name. I did read it as Terry Naylor first of all mind (one for the oldies that)
Terry Taylor, a young highly rated central midfielder with plenty of games under his belt and talked about positively in many circles.
Please click for moreThe arrival of a left footed left wing back in the hours before the Millwall friendly yesterday.
25-year old Tayo Edun signed from Blackburn for a small fee on a two-year contract, with the option of a third year. The fee is understood to be very much tied to sell-on clauses and performance-based add-ons, such as Charlton winning promotion.
Please click for moreAs the takeover edges to completion with Rich Cawley saying the EFL approval has been given, the club have announced the signing of midfielder Panutche Camará on a season-long loan from Ipswich Town.
Please click for moreAnd there he is. The ‘will he won’t he’ saga of Alfie May has concluded, and he will and has.
The 30-year old has signed a two-year deal with the option of a third year and will wear the no. 9 shirt.
Please click for moreL1 newcomers Carlisle Untied are set to sign Lancastrian born Sam Lavelle on a permanent deal. Lavelle made 41 appearances for the Addicks in two seasons.
Lavelle was signed on transfer deadline night in August 2021. I was never certain he was first or even a second choice buy that deadline day, and he had a mixed time at The Valley, often looking a little bit rabbit in the headlines, but also having some commanding games, especially in a back three.
Please click for moreIt looks as if all is not lost in the chase for Alfie May. Ever reliable Rich Cawley wrote today that the Addicks are moving closer to a deal for the Cheltenham man.
A fee in the range of £250-300,000 has been agreed but it sounds as if the structure of how that will be paid is still to be ironed out. That presumably due to the takeover.
Please click for moreIpswich’s Tunisian international looks to be high up on Dean Holden’s loan list. Whilst loan players normally come late in a transfer window it sounds as if Charlton have already lodged a season-long offer but are up against competition from Derby and Wycombe.
Plese click for moreAnother signing in the door tonight. 27 year old 6ft 3 central defender Lloyd Jones has signed a 2-year deal after his current contract with Cambridge United expired today.
That really should be it from a central defence point of view with Hector, Ness, Thomas, Jones, Mitchell and Elerewe all competing for a first team place. It is expected that Sam Lavelle will move on.
please click for moreI look forward to the drama that will surround a signing that we might actually part cash for. Social Media came alive this evening as the club announced the 12-month contract for Michael Hector.
The 30-year old Londoner has resigned for a year after making 17 appearances last season when he was a free agent.
Please click for moreThe summer ‘are we aren’t we saga’ of Alfie May looks like coming to a conclusion with the Cheltenham striker choosing Gillingham.
The Gills, under new ownership, are throwing money around and have already made three signings including Jonny Williams.
Please click for moreThe 26-year-old goalkeeper has signed with the Addicks on a two-year deal, with the option of a third year, from Luton Town after the expiration of his contract.
Isted had been at Luton since 2017 but only played 3 games. He has spent a lot of his career being on loan in non-league but was given a chance at Barnsley on loan for the second-half of last season and played 22 times including in the play-off final where he was excellent.
Please click for moreJoe Wollacott has signed on a permanent deal with Scottish Premier League’s Hibernian. The fee is undisclosed.
Once Dean Holden made it clear that Ashley Maynard-Brewer was his no. 1 choice, Joe’s future was always going to be away from The Valley, and at Hibs, who will also taste European football next year, he get’s an opportunity to play games and make a stake for a Ghana place.
Please click for moreAnother update about having no update today by current CEO Peter Storrie.
It does sound like this takeover is a long way from being finalized, and who’s hand is at the wheel and in who’s pocket it is in when it comes to transfer activity is very mystifying.
Please click for moreThat must be the first time I have ever heard a manager say they actually want a smaller squad.
“….In my opinion, a squad that was too big. We were leaving five or six players, sometimes more, at home during away games. At times we were looking to do an 11-v-11 in training – say on a Tuesday with a Saturday game on the horizon – and we were having to tell three or four players that they wouldn’t be involved in that and that they would be training with the U21s.” – Dean Holden
Please click for moreI was considering what my final thoughts were on the January transfer window following on from the speedy but worthy comments from Albury and Drinking.
It is noticeable that every player we released went to clubs below us, O’Connell to Wrexham being the oddity. They were replaced by players that have played at a higher level, ignoring whether they are anywhere near fit to play.
Please click for moreThe first signing of transfer deadline day, was the loan signing of Irish midfielder Gavin Kilkenny from Bournemouth.
The 22-year old was on loan at Stoke City the first part of this season, and is where Dean Holden knows him. Kilkenny only played in three games and the last time was in August.
Please click for moreThomas Sandgaard completed his cost cutting on the chime of 11pm tonight as both Diallang Jaiyesimi and Sam Lavelle were sent on loan to AFC Wimbledon and Burton respectively.
Incredibly DJ was still allowed to move out even though Wigan winger Gwion Edwards’ move to SE7 collapsed, supposedly due to a medical issue.
Please click for moreWhat is that about. Signed in the summer on a long term contract that was championed as laying down a mark for the future, 22 apperances later we flog him to Wrexham because they wave a wad of money in our faces
O’Connell was decent enough for this level, we were relying on him prior to his injury, and now he is gone.
Please click for moreI write this before going to bed in Colorado, and 7 hours behind the UK. Transfer windows, particularly January ones have not been kind to us, and I still have nightmares about ‘super duper’ phones and fake wealthy sheiks bearing big budgets.
At the beginning of this transfer window we were given a whole new management team promising a busy window and one that will have us much stronger by the end of it, possibly enabling us to make a run for the play-off’s.
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