‘Bring it on’ – Charlton Athletic boss Holden “comes alive” when the chips are down
Dean Holden says that he “comes alive” when adversity hits – and says there is “no blame” for Charlton Athletic not recruiting more players by this point of the transfer window.
The Addicks are 18th in the League One table after their 3-2 defeat to Port Vale today.
Charlton have made six signings including paying fees for Alfie May and Terry Taylor.
“We’ve got our targets” said Holden. “Andy Scott (technical director) and the recruitment team will be dealing with them type of things.
“My focus is on the group of players we’ve got.
“I thrive in these situations. It’s not difficult at all. The fans won’t be happy – they’ve seen a team that has lost four on the spin, albeit the Newport one we made 10 changes.
“Nobody is going to be happy at the moment. My job is to keep everyone together and keep pushing the standards – to go and get a result at Oxford.
“I have to say throughout my career and my life, personal situations, moments like this is where I like to think I come alive. So, bring it on.
“It’s not easy to get deals done. There is a certain profile of player we’re chasing at the moment and there aren’t many of them out there. Most of the same clubs in the Championship and League One are chasing these same players. There is no blame going anywhere.
“We’re working as hard as we can. Of course we’d like to have more players in but, at the same time, it’s important we keep going. We’ve got a period of time in the transfer window. What’s most important is what we look like at the end of the transfer window, making sure we have got a squad that can really attack the rest of this League One season.”
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Charlton Athletic 2 Port Vale 3
New team. New era.
Or how about same old defensive mistakes, same shocking set pieces, final ball forward hopeful and useless as per and a squad a thin as 1-ply bog roll as always.
More worrying is that we have a different manager making the same excuses and looking worrying inept tactically.
That squad is woefully lacking depth and game changing quality, but set plays are something that can at least be honed on a training pitch never-mind your ability.
Plus, what kind of style are we trying to adopt. I see a real mismatch of patterns, and not in a threatening way. The players don’t look well-drilled or super organized and I am seeing nothing of this high-press mystique.
We are now five games in and fitness and injures are also a real problem. One assumes whoever we pick up in the rest of the transfer window will also join not match-fit or with niggles.
After beating Leyton Orient unconvincingly, we have now lost to Newport County, Peterborough, Bristol Rovers and Port Vale. This goes down Dean as a poor start. No excuses.
The season has many months, games and points to run and we can be patient, but we absolutely needed a good start to build momentum and belief.
Belief and confidence has to be low, and we are carrying many young players that we will crash and burn.
Kanu, Anderson and Asiimwe were all bright spots today, and I think we all felt devastated for Asiimwe after his mistake, because he was out on his feet. These players need to be bloodied slowly, ideally into a winning culture.
Kanu was a live wire again and he celebrated a start by scoring his 3rd goal of the season.
Also positively it was good to see Alfie May get off the mark, and he had a number of other efforts on target. Dobbo was also unlucky not to score with a rifling shot and he should have grabbed us an injury time point.
I like Holden and I want to feel assured about the owners and decision makers, but we have a week’s break now, and I want to see positive action on and off the field.
MoM: Daniel Kanu
Dean Holden: “It’s a wonderful opportunity for us with a free week now to get ready for the Oxford game, to pull together and go there and show the spirit that we’ve got in the squad. Throughout my career and throughout my personal life, moments like this is where I like to think I come alive, so bring it on.”
Elsewhere: Wigan are now a point behind us after a 9-point deduction! They an eyebrow-raising 4-0 win away at previously perfect Bolton. Cambridge are top after beating Bristol Rovers 2-0, Northampton won the local derby at home to Posh and Reading put pay to Stevenage’s 100% record.
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