I don’t think I’ve ever before been in a more relaxed, positive mood going into the final day of a transfer window (please note anyone looking here for some nugget of ITK info will be disappointed). If we get one or two more in, including the obvious name, great; if we have to juggle the books and two or three depart, sad but also perfectly understandable. If we do nothing, as long as the squad numbers add up so be it, now that we have covered for the defensive injury calamity with the addition of Bindon. We have strengthened materially and tied down three of our most valuable assets to long-term contracts (and I also liked that Jones the Boss added that even so if they have the opportunity to move to the Premiership the club will not stand in their way). Oh, and did I forget to mention? We are top of the league.
Having watched the West Ham game from a hospital bed in Chalon, I managed to take in the Preston match in a Paris hotel room (having even found an HDMI lead in a nearby shop to rig up the lap-top with the room’s large TV, lovely jubbly), with my partner Suzanne having booked the weekend away before my recent problem and not quibbling about taking time out to watch the game.
Too late for any kind of match report, just a few observations. Clearly, as at home to Derby, we didn’t click in the first half, the only difference being we didn’t go behind. Our play was, as Jones acknowledged, just too sluggish and unadventurous, making it easy for a Preston back five to contain the threat. Against Derby we were rejuvenated by a Jones the Player header, this time around Jones the Boss didn’t wait and made the change at the break, withdrawing Carey for Alli and switching Grant into the more central role.
Carey. Let’s make some things clear, he has been a fantastic signing and is a key member of the team/squad. We are going to need him through this season and beyond, his driving with the ball and his goals. The only question right now for Jones and his team is whether or not he is our best option to start the game in the central position of the three (clearly he is not suited to either of the wider roles) or used as an impact substitute later on, when the opposition is more tired and gaps start to appear. There will be times we are chasing a game and need a goal. A fresh Carey coming off the bench would be one excellent option (IMO).
As stressed before, the change in our formation requires the central player in the three behind the front man to pick a pass and knit the three together. It’s a different skillset than Carey displayed last season. So either with practise he gets better at doing that, or he is kept in reserve for when during a game we need a different option and fresh legs.
It is not as if there are no alternatives. Grant switched inside on Saturday, Rankin-Costello has been used in the role, while Knibbs, the most obvious choice, seems out of favour. His performance against Spurs (and those of others) should count for nothing, while on the positive side in pre-season he linked up well with Grant in particular, signs of an immediate understanding.
For the three we currently have TC, Grant, Alli, Apter, Carey, Knibbs and Rankin-Costello. That is sufficient to mix and match. But if Rak-Sakyi were to join after all, surely Apter would have to find pastures new as Alli has only just come in. Equally, if Jones feels that Knibbs is fourth-choice for the central spot, behind Carey, Grant and Rankin-Costello, and does not intend to play him, so be it, he must have his reasons, but as things stand it’s a wasted squad position.
Of course we’re not getting over-excited about topping the league with a 100% record after three games. With away games at WBA and Stoke approaching, after five we will have a better idea – and after 10 games you can at least tell who has had a good start and who has not. Still nice though – and a better feeling than last season’s start, when we were cheered by the sight of us being competitive (before injuries took their toll). This time around we are giving the early impression of being capable of more than that.
It is very rare, for us for sure but probably for most clubs, for all to be in alignment: fans content with the ownership, the manager, and the team/squad, creating a virtuous circle. For me the last time was the brief period under the spivs (before they ran out of money and showed their real intentions, sacrificing us to the whims of Duchatelet) with Sir Chris in charge before and after promotion. Before that you have to go back to the Premiership years with Curbs and Murray. Then you have the set-up with the Return to The Valley. Just before that we had Lennie Lawrence and a terrific fighting team, but the ownership counted against perfect union. Long may this continue – although of course it cannot last indefinitely – and enjoy it.
Finally, a belated RIP Mike Bailey and condolences to his family and friends. Like many others I was just a little too young to remember his performances on the pitch, although I must have seen him play. I do remember being huddled around a radio with my father in February 1965 (bloody hell, that’s over 60 years ago) to hear news of our FA Cup fourth round replay at Middlesbrough. I still have the newspaper clipping in my scrapbook: ‘Mike Bailey breaks leg and out go Charlton’. He broke his leg in the 10th minute. He did return and went on to play 169 times for us, scoring 22 goals, before he moved on to Wolves in 1966 for £35k.
Bailey’s time as Charlton manager (1980-81), succeeding Andy Nelson, was marked by promotion back to the Second Division only for his prompt – and for me at least still very curious – replacement by Alan Mullery, who had ironically many years before replace Bailey in the England squad. It was a curious time, at the end of the Glickstein era, and I leave it to others to explain what really happened. Suffice to say, Bailey was a Charlton hero/legend.
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