Quality not quantity says Jones

Nathan Jones says that there will only be five to seven signings  at Charlton this summer with the emphasis on quality not quantity.   In other words, we haven't got the readies.

Jones admits that there is a real need for quality in the final third, but that is hard to find and expensive in both fees and wages.

I wouldn't mind the DRC keeper who is No.2 at Le Havre!

BTW, Konsa's dad was Congolese and the DRC was keen to get him to play for them.   There are about 10,000 DRC expats in London.

Time to make a few predictions:

• In the week before the first game, the New York Times has a special article on Wrexham, predicting that they will the Championship
• On the Saturday, the NYT says this will be Wrexham's last first game in the Championship before next season they claim the Premier League title that is rightfully theirs

Danny Murphy's greatest games

The latest edition of Four Four Two carries a feature on Danny Murphy's greatest games.  It is necessarily a compressed item featuring just four games, none of then at Charlton (56 appearances, seven goals).

Listening to Murphy drone away commentating on Spain versus Austria, I uncharitably thought that his former recreational habits might explain his nasal tone.   But then it occurred to me that this may be what Scousers trying to doing RP sound like.

But then the King of the North doesn't sound like that.   But then he read English at Cambridge and married a Dutch aristo.

Compering the programme was Kelly Cates who has a curious strangulated voice which may be an attempt to mask a Glaswegian accent as well as a Liverpool one.

Both Danny and Kelly have seen their relationships break up, so perhaps the World Cup could bring them together?   Danny would then join football aristocracy as Kelly is the late Sir Kenny Dalglish's daughter. But then I remembered that Kelly is in a mocked up studio in Salford and Danny appears to be perched at the top of an American football stadium.

But is it really Danny or an avatar created by AI?   It would be quite difficult to replicate his dismal tone, though.

Billy Koumetio stories may be credible

A number of sources both south and north of the border report that Billy Koumetio is about to sign for Charlton.   Earlier six figure bids were rejected by Dundee.

The 23-year old French centre half is reported to have had enough of haggis and chips and is ready to return his kilt. and live in England.   Dundee have been insisting that he is a key part of their plans.

It is now been confirmed that he has signed for Charlton.  The fee is £500,000 plus add ons.  This represents a substantial profit for the Dark Blues after his arrival from Liverpool.

Gassan Ahadme has been loaned to Cambridge United  on a season long loan to help him get game time and more fluency (i.e., find his level). The streets of SE7 remained calm after the news.

Macaulay Gillesphey is reported to have joined Bradford for an undisclosed fee.   No rending of shirts has been reported.

New signing says his main strength is aggression

Moaners were starting to come out from beneath their stones to complain about the lack of summer signings, but little did they know that the club had been talking to Ivan Mesik since the end of the season.

The left back and Slovakian international has signed for the Addicks from the Netherlands for an undisclosed fee.   He is the first Slovakian to play for Charlton, showing that the club is looking beyond the usual English journeymen.

Heracles Almelo technical director Ernest Faber commented on Ivan Mesik: "He has meant a lot to our club. This transfer is a great step in his career and a chance that he would like to use. We thank Ivan for everything he has done for Heracles Almelo and we wish him and his family all the success at Charlton Athletic."

Richard Cawley has stated: 'It is no secret that Jones has made having left wing-back cover or competition for Josh Edwards a priority after the Scot missed nearly all of last season with an ankle injury.'

Mesik told Cawley “My main strength is aggression. I like duels and to go sometimes fully to the ball. I like to tackle - but in a good way. I’m trying to play aggressively but also bring the ball up when there is open space. I like to dribble the ball to open the gate, to play between the lines. I’m a modern type of player.”

“There was a kind of happiness when I saw the stadium (The Valley) but of course I would like to see a sold-out stadium, to see the people in it. It feels great. I can’t wait to get started."

Reports from the Netherlands state that he has good pace, is physically strong and has a long throw.

Remembering Bradley Wright-Phillips

It was good to see former Addick Bradley Wright-Phillips acting as a pundit for ITV in last night's game between Canada and South Africa.   He had a successful career in the MSL, retiring at age 37 and is now a pundit in the States.

He grew up in Brockley and went to Haberdasher's Aske school in New Cross.

On 24 January 2011, it was announced that Wright-Phillips was moving to Charlton for an undisclosed fee. He scored the only goal on his debut against Colchester on 1 February 2011.^[ On 28 February 2012, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win at Chesterfield.  Wright-Phillips contributed 22 goals in 42 matches as Charlton won the 2011-12 League One title. He was released by the Addicks at the end of the 2012-13 season.

It's being so miserable that makes me happy

I see that some of the leading Charlton moaners are turning their attention to England and the World Cup.  It is, of course, a great opportunity for armchair managers to criticise the coach's selection and tactics.

It reminds me of the old Australian joke, 'How do you know when a British Airways plane has landed at Sydney?'  Because you can still hear the whining noise when the engines are switched off.

I have watched every late afternoon and early evening game in the World Cup and one lesson I have learnt is that a well organised 4-5-1 is very difficult to break down.  Think Cape Verde and Spain.  However, those tactics won't work in a knockout stage, although I hope we can avoid penalties.

Not that I think that England have any chance of winning the World Cup.  We simply don't have the world class players in depth that a country like France possesses.  Bellingham is one of the few, but a lot depends on which version of him turns up.  His dad was a great striker for my non-league club and we all cherish a picture of Jude and his brother in Leamington kit.

I almost didn't make one game, but our local NHS trust is excellent.   I called out the community emergency response service, they took one look at me and and an ambulance arrived in three minutes and whisked me off to the local A and E.   I was given a scan immediately and then the A and E doctor carried out a procedure which was a bit uncomfortable but worked.   My only disappointment was that they asked the fire service to take me home, which is a standard local procedure, but they were needed elsewhere in the hot weather so an ambulance took me back.

From the Academy to the World Cup

A Charlton academy product will almost certainly be playing for England in the World Cup against Croatia on Wednesday, but I doubt that we will get a mention.

Here are a few excerpts from Richard Crawley's story about Ezri Konsa.  The full interview with Jason Euell is available to subscribers to his Substack page.

“It was about managing Ezri’s frustration in training and games - because he always wanted himself and everyone else to do well. You can see now he does that extremely well. It is about habits that players pick up. It can become a positive habit - knowing how to control frustration.”

Jason Euell is explaining his reasoning behind when he made Ezri Konsa the captain of Charlton Athletic’s U16 team.

It is 12 years since Euell handed Konsa the armband. Now he is an England international, capped 19 times, and in Thomas Tuchel’s squad for their World Cup campaign, which starts against Croatia on Wednesday.

Konsa signed for Charlton at the age of 11 following a six-week trial in 2008. In February 2018, already a first-team regular by the time he had turned 20, he explained to the South London Press why he had the word ‘blessed’ tattooed on the side of his left hand.

“I feel very fortunate to be in this position right now - playing football for Charlton Athletic. There are a lot of kids my age, and younger, who want to get into my position.   The area where I was growing up there was a lot of crimes and gangs. But I wouldn’t like to say I would have got caught up in anything if it wasn’t for football. I’ve got an older brother who looks after me a lot.”

Konsa’s Charlton story ended in June 2018 when he signed for Championship side Brentford. Thirteen months later he was on the move again, this time to Aston Villa, newly-promoted to the Premier League.

BTW, the obsession of Spectator editor (Lord) Michael Gove with Charlton has taken a new turn.  He has hired Charlie Methven as his World Cup correspondent, billing him as 'former Charlton Athletic director.'