What's going on?! The Championship has gone loan crazy and Charlton are at the heart of it. In addition to the recent arrival of Keith Gillespie from Sheffield United and Martyn Waghorn from Sunderland, Deon Burton has today signed temporarily from Sheffield Wednesday and Jay McEveley from Derby County, with Luke Varney going in the opposite direction to Pride Park. Blimey. So come Saturday, by my calculation we could end up with a team made up of 64% loanees. It would look something like this:
Weaver, Cranie, Hudson, Primus, McEveley, Gillespie, Racon, Semedo, Bouazza, Waghorn, Burton
I have to say I am very uneasy about all of this. Firstly, we don't have a permanent manager authorising all of these loans. If Parkinson is apparently getting so much say in the loan market, is this an indication he is in line for the job on a permanent basis? Secondly, the instability that loan signings brought last season appeared to contribute to a steady slide down the table and we can't afford it to have the same affect this time round. Thirdly, are the players we are bringing in actually of a decent calibre? I've heard Gillespie had a decent enough game against QPR, but Deon Burton? Seriously? A journeyman striker who seems to me like a poor man's Marcus Bent. Please somebody tell me something different!
Lastly, a word on Luke Varney. With his loan move being 'with a view to a permanent move', it looks like we may have seen him play his last game in a Charlton shirt. As with too many players who have played for Charlton recently, it's a case of what might have been. For all his enthusiasm and pace you never got the impression he was comfortable at this level (the misses against Burnley and QPR spring to mind). That said, a change of scenery (nearer to his native East Midlands) may do him some good and he'll probably do a Chris Iwelumo on us and start knocking them in for fun.
I won't lie, I'm really worried about what's going to happen on Saturday. We need a win very badly, but will all the new faces be able to gel in time?
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You can't play more than five loan players at any one time. I would have also thought that it had been clear for some time that the board's Plan B was to try Parkinson out as manager.
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