Wednesday 20 August 2008

A week away

After a week away on a very relaxing cruise down the coast of Croatia, I find that quite a lot has happened at Charlton in the last week, but on the whole the negative developments outweigh the bad.

By far the worst news is that Racon will be out for three months after being injured at Watford. He looked one of the most promising players against Swansea and he plays in an area where we are particularly weak.

Not only has Youga got himself red carded and hence will miss the clash against the Royals, but Grant Basey is doubtful with a hamstring injury.

The good news is that Faye has finally departed to the Potteries for an 'undisclosed fee' and we have signed Nicky Bailey.

Two other pieces of news may be viewed as mixed. Jerome Thomas has gone out on loan to Portsmouth for a year with the promise of a permanent signing, having made his debut as a substitute in their 4-0 drubbing by Chelsea. Thomas has his fans, although they are tending to decline in numbers. I have felt for some time that he took the view that he deserved better than Charlton and this has affected how he has played for us.

The departure of Dean Sinclair to Cheltenham (again) is almost a piece of non-news. A baffling signing, can't we offload him to them?

More encouraging news was that Leamington have started their season with two 2-1 wins, the last at home against Nuneaton Town in front of a crowd of 1,056 which is excellent for a mid-week game in Level 4 of the non-league.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Wyn.
I've got a quid that says Basey's hamstring injury is one of those 'can't risk him for a meaningless international, think of an injury quick' type of injuries. Expect to see him at Left-back V Reading.

Ken Jennings said...

Yes, welcome back Wyn. I'll second that, Daggs. I call it a 'Risk Management' injury. (At least I have my fingers crossed that's what it is)

Anonymous said...

Sinclair rejected a 6 month loan because he wants to break into our team. Don't think he ever will, Wright appears to be ahead of him and once Arter is back from injury he won't be far behind.

Anonymous said...

JT has now gone for good on what will prove to be a free transfer. Another malign influence gone from the team's environment. Chances of him proving me wrong at pompei? Slim to bob...
Beauzo

Anonymous said...

Directors must come clean with this "fire sale" at the Titanic Valley.It is the least that they should do as they were ecconmical with the truth at season ticket renewal time.How many will renew next year?there is a very likelyhood that we will be relegated this season

Wyn Grant said...

I think that the gloom is being overdone. There are a number of teams in the division worse than we are. The first two results don't suggest relegation form to me.

Anonymous said...

Do not understimate the lack of depth we have in the squad.I hope the deal for Primus and Crainie goes through

Anonymous said...

Anonymous has a point. Think about it this way. In the Championship just about every time finds itself in with a chance of the Play-Offs/Promotion or at risk of relegation. In February/March the odds are that Charlton will be in one of those two camps. Fact is that the League is unpredictable so who knows which one, but my take is that Charlton are more likely to be eyeing the trapdoor than dreaming of Wembley. Suppose that's right then imagine the young team, the lack of depth and the pressure. Right now, I'd settle for survival this season and hope for a promotion challenge next as Pardew's green squad matures, but another season in the Championship is not a given at this point.

Anonymous said...

Yet again finance and injury meant we've gone through pre-season with a team different from that that's lilely to emerge over the next few weeks, they will take time to bed down. Hopefully the return of Tod will lift our strikers, I still think Varney is a good prospect, but the partnership with Gray just doesn't seem to work. I thought after the coventry game they had finally clicked. Perhaps not.
As for the defence, a partner to Hudson is desparately needed. If he gets a decent partner I'm still hopeful we'll do OK. Not sure whats going on in Fortunes head, too many lapses of concentration.