Home
Unless there is a major change of heart in the Wanderers camp come the new year, Marvin Sordell is set to remain in exile for the rest of this season.
The former England Under-21 international is not permitted to play for Charlton Athletic at the Reebok this weekend under the terms of his season-long loan agreement with Chris Powell’s side.
But the Whites do have an option to bring him back into the fold in January should they so wish.
The chance of Freedman invoking that clause currently looks remote in the extreme – with the striker effectively out of sight and out of mind at The Valley.
Sordell’s move to South London paid the way for Andre Moritz to sign a one-year deal back in August and was, at the time, a decision that split opinion among Wanderers fans.
The youngster had recovered from a nightmarish spell under Owen Coyle’s charge to feature 13 times for Freedman in the second half of last season, finishing on the losing side just three times.
He weighed in with a healthy-enough eight goals and looked to have rid himself of the personal issues that had affected his ability to settle in the North West after his move from Watford.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though, and it was difficult to see where Sordell fit into Freedman’s grand plan, particularly after the capture of Jermaine Beckford from Leicester City.
Tellingly, his last appearance for the club had come in the fateful home game against Blackpool in May as a replacement for Rob Hall just before half time.
Wanderers’ failure to break through and score a decisive goal in that second half cost them a shot at the play-offs, and could have played on Freedman’s mind as he pondered changes over the summer.
Through no fault of his own, Sordell sums up the excesses of Owen Coyle’s reign.
A massive £3.2million was invested minutes before the chimes sounded for midnight on January deadline day 2012 in the hope that his raw talent would translate to the top flight.
In Sordell’s defence, he hardly got an opportunity to prove his worth as Wanderers dropped out of the Premier League – which came at a considerable cost to his confidence.
By the time Coyle did turn to him in the new Championship season, even a goal in the last of his three consecutive appearances against Nottingham Forest did not prevent him from being dropped – his next start coming for Freedman some four months later.
Sordell’s performances improved under Freedman but his well-publicised homesickness and a propensity to use social networking site Twitter more than the club would like did not improve his standing under the Whites boss.
And yet his move back to the capital has not proved as successful as he would have hoped.
Of Sordell’s 17 appearances for the Addicks only seven have come from the start, the last of which was October 19.
Charlton have scored only 16 goals all season – the lowest total in the division – with Sordell chipping in with just two.
The 22-year-old has another 12 months to run on his Wanderers contract beyond this summer but with little hope of reconciliation he may fall into the category of players Freedman could look to sell on in order to further his own rebuilding job on the squad.
Source
The former England Under-21 international is not permitted to play for Charlton Athletic at the Reebok this weekend under the terms of his season-long loan agreement with Chris Powell’s side.
But the Whites do have an option to bring him back into the fold in January should they so wish.
The chance of Freedman invoking that clause currently looks remote in the extreme – with the striker effectively out of sight and out of mind at The Valley.
Sordell’s move to South London paid the way for Andre Moritz to sign a one-year deal back in August and was, at the time, a decision that split opinion among Wanderers fans.
The youngster had recovered from a nightmarish spell under Owen Coyle’s charge to feature 13 times for Freedman in the second half of last season, finishing on the losing side just three times.
He weighed in with a healthy-enough eight goals and looked to have rid himself of the personal issues that had affected his ability to settle in the North West after his move from Watford.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though, and it was difficult to see where Sordell fit into Freedman’s grand plan, particularly after the capture of Jermaine Beckford from Leicester City.
Tellingly, his last appearance for the club had come in the fateful home game against Blackpool in May as a replacement for Rob Hall just before half time.
Wanderers’ failure to break through and score a decisive goal in that second half cost them a shot at the play-offs, and could have played on Freedman’s mind as he pondered changes over the summer.
Through no fault of his own, Sordell sums up the excesses of Owen Coyle’s reign.
A massive £3.2million was invested minutes before the chimes sounded for midnight on January deadline day 2012 in the hope that his raw talent would translate to the top flight.
In Sordell’s defence, he hardly got an opportunity to prove his worth as Wanderers dropped out of the Premier League – which came at a considerable cost to his confidence.
By the time Coyle did turn to him in the new Championship season, even a goal in the last of his three consecutive appearances against Nottingham Forest did not prevent him from being dropped – his next start coming for Freedman some four months later.
Sordell’s performances improved under Freedman but his well-publicised homesickness and a propensity to use social networking site Twitter more than the club would like did not improve his standing under the Whites boss.
And yet his move back to the capital has not proved as successful as he would have hoped.
Of Sordell’s 17 appearances for the Addicks only seven have come from the start, the last of which was October 19.
Charlton have scored only 16 goals all season – the lowest total in the division – with Sordell chipping in with just two.
The 22-year-old has another 12 months to run on his Wanderers contract beyond this summer but with little hope of reconciliation he may fall into the category of players Freedman could look to sell on in order to further his own rebuilding job on the squad.
Source