Is Solly the key?

I took the granddaughters to Romney Sands over the weekend. I thought that I might encounter some signs of Charlton support, perhaps even the legendary 'Derek from Dymchurch', but didn't. On the plus side, I didn't see any Millwall or Palace. Not much seems to have happened in the meantime, although there are the usual posts complaining about the lack of convincing victories in practice matches.

However, there was one interesting post from one of the more sensible Addicks. He argued: 'I think how they gel as a team is as important as the ability. Sean Dyche turned Burnley into a very good team from a team near the bottom not by big signings but by good organisation and teamwork. In my opinion the Championship is nothing special and you can have a reasonable season with a very average team.'

'I think we are a bit stronger than last season, yes we have lost Poyet from the centre (I don't know whether Buyens is as good) but Cousins will go back to that role and with Jackson, Moussa or Buyens alongside could be as effective. Hopefully Harriott will start the season as he finished it and this new Icelandic signing will be good. (Surely an improvement on Danny Green). Can't comment on our new forwards as I know nothing about them and have not been to any friendlies. They can't be worse than our forward line of last season.'

'Also how many games Solly will be able to play will make a difference. When he is there, it makes such a difference. The lack of pace unless very slow is not too much of a concern for me. Good centre halves who are well organised and have a good football brain get well positioned so that pace is not such an issue. From what I understand Gomez is very quick and if he gets in the team could well cover that option.'

'I think Bob Peeters is key here as to how he sets up the team and gets them playing.'