23. Conor Gallagher

[Jase 43,479]

5 hours ago, Vesper said:

Bad karma bollocksing Charlton like that. I do not like it at all.

It's not great but Charlton should have been prepared for that possibility when they agreed to the recall clause. 

5 hours ago, Vesper said:

Finally, suggesting Mount go out on loan is madness. He is not the main reason at all for most of the issues we have.

Think you've been here long enough to know it's not a surprise anymore, especially when that's coming from the same people every time. There are always weirdos on here. 

[Tomo 21,681]

13 minutes ago, Jason said:

Think you've been here long enough to know it's not a surprise anymore, especially when that's coming from the same people every time. There are always weirdos on here. 

Even if we forget his youth for a second, you would have thought the Jorginho and Kova backtracking would have taught some valuable lessons.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, Tomo said:

Even if we forget his youth for a second, you would have thought the Jorginho and Kova backtracking would have taught some valuable lessons.

Yeah, but weirdos are weirdos. I mean, one of the anti-Mount fellas on here has been a member long enough that we know what the fella's like and shouldn't be surprised at all. 

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

7 hours ago, Vesper said:

Bad karma bollocksing Charlton like that. I do not like it at all. I also hate Swansea, lolol. Hate to see us strengthen those cunts tremendously with Guehi and Gallagher.

Finally, suggesting Mount go out on loan is madness. He is not the main reason at all for most of the issues we have.

A lot of Charlton fans blame us for their demise after we bought Scott Parker and then to rub salt in the wounds hardly played him. It might not have helped them but it's completely irrational to put the blame squarely on us. Bottom line was they got over ambitious for a club of their stature and let Curbishley leave when he was going a great job.

[Vesper 27,280]

47 minutes ago, Iggy Doonican said:

A lot of Charlton fans blame us for their demise after we bought Scott Parker and then to rub salt in the wounds hardly played him. It might not have helped them but it's completely irrational to put the blame squarely on us. Bottom line was they got over ambitious for a club of their stature and let Curbishley leave when he was going a great job.

that Charlton team had the 'Young Fish Cost a Fortune' back 4, lolol

https://www.11v11.com/matches/charlton-athletic-v-tottenham-hotspur-08-december-2001-10306/

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

17 hours ago, Vesper said:

that Charlton team had the 'Young Fish Cost a Fortune' back 4, lolol

https://www.11v11.com/matches/charlton-athletic-v-tottenham-hotspur-08-december-2001-10306/

A mate of mine was Mark Fish's postman for a while in Kent. He rang me up said that Fish gave him two tickets when we played them can't remember the year about 2004 I said you can keep them there bound to be for the Charlton end (east lower) which they were . He sold them outside couldn't even get face value ha ha I met him in the MH at half time.

[Vesper 27,280]

Why Chelsea are putting faith in Steve Cooper and Swansea: from U17 World Cup glory to promise of stylish football

https://theathletic.com/1537911/2020/01/16/conor-gallagher-chelsea-swansea-transfer-loan/

After six very productive months at Charlton Athletic, Conor Gallagher has a new temporary home in Swansea. Chelsea’s decision to recall him from south London and send him to South Wales this month has raised a few eyebrows — and annoyed Charlton manager Lee Bowyer — but the logic behind it is comprehensive and the potential benefits go beyond one promising footballer’s development.

Sources have told The Athletic that Chelsea’s academy staff are hoping to build a lasting relationship that could see Swansea City become the preferred loan destination for some of their brightest prospects in the years to come. It is likely that others will follow Gallagher, and defender Marc Guehi, in being farmed out from Cobham to the Liberty Stadium.

Gallagher’s first three months in senior football went better than he or anyone else expected. Five goals from midfield in his first 12 appearances established him as the most exciting talent in Chelsea’s cohort of loanees, as well as helping to propel Charlton to the fringes of the Championship play-off race. But gravity came for Bowyer’s newly-promoted side long before his recall did.

Charlton now lie 19th, five points above the relegation places, having won just one of their last 15 Championship matches. Gallagher remained a key starter for them but Chelsea did not feel his long-term development would be best served by a relegation battle in the second tier — particularly when his early performances had turned so many heads at clubs with loftier ambitions.

Swansea, seventh in the Championship, tick that particular box.

And unlike leaders West Bromwich Albion, who also pushed hard to get Gallagher, they could also offer credible assurances he would walk straight into their starting midfield. Maintaining regular playing time for the remainder of the season was unsurprisingly the top priority for Chelsea, as well as for the 19-year-old and his representatives.

Gallagher spent Tuesday at Cobham and trained with the first team, giving Frank Lampard — loaned to Swansea for a season himself as a West Ham United teenager in the mid-1990s — the opportunity to get another look at him up close. But the plan was always to send him straight back out, with former academy coaches Jody Morris and Joe Edwards continuing to offer the regular advice and encouragement from afar that they provided throughout his time at The Valley.

Discussions about his next destination factored in statistical analysis of each interested team’s style.

Swansea’s emphasis on short passing, possession play and creation with the ball were all regarded as positives in their case for helping Gallagher to continue honing his tactical and technical attributes. All moves are made with the ultimate goal of a first-team breakthrough at Stamford Bridge in mind.

But undoubtedly Swansea’s most significant asset in their pursuit of Gallagher, as it was for Guehi last week, was manager Steve Cooper. The former Liverpool academy manager led a talented England squad featuring both players to win the Under-17 World Cup in 2017 and personally spoke to them to explain his development plan and how they would fit into his team.

Five Chelsea players appeared in that final against Spain in India: Guehi, Gallagher, Callum Hudson-Odoi, George McEachran and Jonathan Panzo (now at Monaco). They are pictured below with Rhian Brewster, the Chelsea academy old boy and now Liverpool striker who is currently on loan at… Swansea.

Back row, left to right: Guehi, Hudson-Odoi, Panzo and Gallagher. Front row: McEachran and Brewster

Cooper is highly regarded at Cobham. As coach of the England under-16s and later the under-17s, he often found himself at Chelsea’s training ground to watch training and matches, talking to staff about the many talented teenagers making their way through the most dominant youth academy in the country. Time and familiarity helped build close professional relationships.

Edwards, now part of Lampard’s backroom staff, often saw Cooper at St George’s Park when he spent a year as an assistant to then-England under-18s coach Neil Dewsnip. Before and after every international camp, Cooper made Edwards and Jim Fraser, Chelsea’s assistant head of youth development, his first ports of call at Cobham when liaising about player performance and progress.

The connections between Swansea and Chelsea don’t end there. The Welsh club’s chairman, Trevor Birch, was chief executive at Stamford Bridge in 2002 when head of youth development Neil Bath was first handed senior academy responsibilities.

But it is Cooper’s presence that provides the foundation for what both clubs hope will prove a sustained and successful working relationship. Chelsea academy staff trust him to take the lead in developing Guehi, Gallagher and others who may follow as people as well as players, their confidence reinforced by his impressive track record in the England set-up.

Equally, there is an understanding Chelsea will continue to help coach Guehi and Gallagher from afar, with the club’s loan technical staff supplying both youngsters with regular detailed feedback on their performances and visiting them frequently in Wales to check in.

There is a clear comparison to be made with the time Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori spent playing for Lampard and Morris at Derby County last season, getting regular Championship football under the guidance of a trusted coaching team somewhere there is an expectation to win and compete for promotion. Derby ended up reaching the play-off final before losing to Aston Villa. That experience prepared them as well as any loan could for life as Chelsea players.

 

Sources have told The Athletic that Guehi’s loan is expected to extend to next season providing all parties are happy while Gallagher’s situation will be re-assessed in the summer. If all goes well, more Chelsea prospects are likely to be entrusted to Cooper.

Every player’s development curve is different and loans are far from an exact science.

Chelsea have been burned in their attempts to find a safe pair of hands before, even when it comes to their own former employees. Ex-academy coach Brendan Rodgers infuriated many at Cobham by ignoring Josh McEachran at Swansea, Victor Moses when Liverpool boss and Charly Musonda with Celtic.

Other relationships have been more productive.

Chelsea’s long-standing link with Vitesse Arnhem, borne out of owner Roman Abramovich’s close ties to fellow Russian billionaire Alexander Chigirinsky, who owns the Dutch club, has been well documented. Bristol City built on the goodwill fostered by Tammy Abraham’s prolific first Championship loan in 2016-17 to sign Jay Dasilva, Tomas Kalas and Kasey Palmer permanently.

But over the years, Chelsea have learned that the most reliable loan relationships are forged with specific managers. It is why Derby’s spectacular success in bringing along Mount and Tomori last season counted for little once Lampard and Morris returned to Stamford Bridge, and why Cooper has brought Swansea so emphatically into favour despite the recent memory of Josh McEachran’s one league start in five months.

Gallagher and Guehi both attracted interest from the Premier League and Chelsea turned down more lucrative options to send them to the Championship club.

It is a big statement of faith from Cobham academy staff in the developmental qualities of Cooper and, if it pays off, the benefits for all parties will stretch well beyond this season.

[NikkiCFC 7,560]

 

[NikkiCFC 7,560]

https://streamja.com/w9v7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

First assist already 

[Styl1994 188]

30 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

https://streamja.com/w9v7?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

First assist already 

what a talent this lad is want to see him here next season while Gilmour goes and gets some loan experience. 

[NikkiCFC 7,560]

https://streamja.com/eLQp

Played big part again for Swansea goal. 

[Vesper 27,280]

20 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

https://streamja.com/eLQp

Played big part again for Swansea goal. 

he gives me hope

[NikkiCFC 7,560]

We are born on the same day! 😊🎂😌

[Vesper 27,280]

42 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

We are born on the same day! 😊🎂😌

happy birthday!

congrats on leaving your teenage years behind!

[NikkiCFC 7,560]

1 hour ago, Vesper said:

happy birthday!

congrats on leaving your teenage years behind!

Haha same day but not same year. I'm 8 years older 

[Vesper 27,280]

9 minutes ago, NikkiCFC said:

Haha same day but not same year. I'm 8 years older 

ahh, we are both 1992 babies 

best year!!! lololol

you at beginning, me at the end

bookends

it is the first year of the Zennial micro generation 

born 1992 to 1998

neither full millennial nor Gen Z

 

[Hannah 200]

The video has been now uploaded to Youtube. It's worth a watch: