Bring It On

Just what are we to make of the Dobson affair? The negative interpretation would be it marks the culmination of a mismanaged transfer window, with complacency over the relegation risk behind the decisions taken. Alternatively – and not necessarily contradicting this – the U-turn on actually selling Dobson is the acknowledgement of a mistake and an attempt to correct it. Everyone makes mistakes but the far greater sin is not accepting them as such and not trying to do something about it.

Whether the decision not to take some cash for Dobson now – and presumably see him depart as a free agent in July – proves to be a good one really depends on him. It’s reasonable to infer that he felt alienated and disappointed by the new contract being offered to him by us, that he ended up embracing a move to Hungary both mentally and it seems physically (by preparing the relocation of his family), and that there has to be a question mark as a result over his full commitment to our cause for the rest of the season. This is despite what we know of the guy and have seem from him since he joined us. He wouldn’t be human if all that has gone on hasn’t affected his attitude, the question being whether he can quickly ‘get his mind right’.

That said, I hope he places some value on his legacy as a Charlton player. He has the appreciation and admiration of I’m sure all Addicks, which will only increase if he comes back into the team and helps guide us to safety. In a short playing career perhaps these things don’t matter, but he must know that his performances now will be scrutinised in terms of commitment and if he were to come up short, perhaps not feature regularly, it would impact on how he is remembered and treated on any return. He must know that Chris Solly did more than just blot his copybook by refusing to play post-Covid, whatever the circumstances and reasons, as well as Lyle Taylor. It is absurd that Scottie Parker gets booed when back at The Valley as a manager (he was and should be regarded as a Charlton legend), but it underlines that how a player leaves a club does have a lasting effect. I hope Dobson recognises that and wants to leave us with our unqualified gratitude and affection.

As for our club’s management, while there are extenuating circumstances, what has been done since the start of the year reflects poorly on them. By the time the January window opened, after a very disappointing December, the focus had shifted, away from strengthening in areas to try to get into the top six to looking to next season. The task was for sure complicated by both our captain and main attacking threat possibly leaving if we wanted to avoid them walking away for nothing in the summer. What we have ended up with is a recipe for disaster.

The players brought in all looked good on paper, they may go on to have great careers for us. But the influx was balanced by a similar number exiting left, including Blackett-Taylor (I have no idea if he was refusing to play but, as with Dobson, accepting £300k in return for him is bad business if we end up going down), Fraser (here too seems he wanted to move to Scotland for personal reasons), Campbell(C), whose departure along with that of CBT and Kirk stripped us of options out wide, just Campbell(T) now. Dobson’s absence and the injury to Hector meant that newcomers were unavoidably thrown in together, the formation changed, and to add to the chaos the manager – cited by so many players coming in as a factor in their thinking but one who had lost the crowd at least – sacked before the window closed. And what was a very disappointing December has of course been extended through January and into February.

It's not a tough task facing Nathan Jones, it’s now a massive one. The bookies at least have clearly written off Carlise and Fleetwood, both heavily odds-on for relegation; and Cheltenham are also still odds-on to join them. But just who ends up taking the fourth spot seems a very open question. Seems the bookies still fancy Reading to take it, which looks rather out of date. We’re still around 3/1, pretty much on a par with Shrewsbury, Burton and Port Vale. It really has come to this.

I’ll admit I just don’t really know enough about Jones to draw any conclusions, although bringing in Paul Hart to support him surely has to be seen as positive and astute. It’s really going to be a case of ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’ (and if I hear another person distort that saying and make it utterly meaningless with ‘the proof is in the pudding’ another thing is going to go through the window). It’s safe I think to say that all Addicks were somewhere between satisfied and delighted with the appointment. Some will have had others as a preferred choice, but out of all the names bandied about I’d guess that Jones would have been in just about everyone’s top three.

If there’s a sense of hesitation it is more down to the number of times we’ve been promised the new messiah over recent years than anything to do with Jones himself. Duchatelet may have picked new managers from among his cohorts until he finally lost interest (and in came Slade and after him Robinson); Sandgaard, having chosen Adkins and later disposed of JJ, went all-in for Garner - and when he failed may have come to the realisation that it was time to move on, that he might not have the Midas Touch after all. Now the new owners, having been instrumental it seemed in the selection of Holden, excitedly unveiled Appleton just months ago. So it’s hard to get worked up about the next one on the conveyor belt. When the joke started circulating about Klopp having decided to leave Liverpool because the Charlton job was available again my first thought was ‘no, would be a terrible choice; just how desperate would we feel if he came to The Valley and even he got sacked after six months having failed to turn us around?’

Well that may be the bad news, but frankly none of it matters. Nobody’s interested (yet) in a blame game for a still avoidable disaster. Jones begins the job with the backing of all of us, which is as it should be. Camara’s return was perhaps the one bright spark from Saturday and tonight we wait to see if Dobson is back in the fold and whether Aneke is ready to play some part. Hopefully Hector will be available again soon, since so far at least the incoming defenders haven’t looked like leaders/coordinators of a defence. We’re up against a side in decent form but we know what needs to happen. Whoever gets out on the pitch, the time for excuses is over. In the words of the great Peachy Camehan, “it’s time to polish up your buttons and brasses, shove ramrods up your jacksie, and act bold”. Bring it on.