With the window open and the rumours brewing this can only mean one thing. Transfers! With the arrival of George Thomas already there are even more rumours circulating to get QPR quick out of the block for the 2020/21 Championship season.
According to sources at Sky Sports QPR and Middlesbrough have placed a bid in the region of £500,000 for Northampton Town captain Charlie Goode. There is no question to QPR fans that we need defenders because our defence has been very poor at times this season and we have conceded a significant amount of goals. Many R’s fans I imagine will wonder as to who this player is because he has come from nowhere as a player and has played in league two this season and this article will give you an insight into what we may be getting next season in a bid to improve our defensive displays.
Charlie Goode is a 24yr old English Centre back who currently plays for Northampton town. The 24-year-old was released by Fulham at the age of 15 and then went on to pursue a career in non-league football playing for teams such as Hadley, Harefield United, AFC Hayes and Hendon. He then joined League one side Scunthorpe in June 2015 making 64 appearances and registering five goals during his time there. He then became out of favour at Scunthorpe after making some costly errors and was always in and out of the team. As a result, he was sent out on loan to Northampton town, where they decided to make it a permanent deal last summer.
Now it might be a surprise to be linked with him and some may question his ability but from what I can see he would fit the bill at QPR and he really looks Goode (couldn’t resist the joke- sorry!). He’s a 6ft 5 defender who possesses Ariel ability which is arguably lacking in QPR’s current crop of players. Alongside that he possesses strength, aggression and leadership. Leadership is the word that draws me towards the player….something we have been lacking since the restart with the loss of both Marc Pugh and Grant Hall, Hall especially has been a player we haven’t been able to replace nor fill the void with the likes of Ozzy Kakay, Geoff Cameron and Conor Masterson all having a go at the rcb spot. Goode has been used to playing in a back three so can be versatile when playing in a 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1 under Warburton That’s not all that Goode adds to his game, he chips in with attacking returns having scored 13 goals in his career, eight of those coming in the last four seasons. Also, he has surprisingly chipped in with two assists in what I can only assume was down to his inner Rory Delap- long throw ins, one of which was notable for teeing up the opener in the League two play off final.
As all players do, he has his disadvantages to his game. His possession-based style is what is questioned at times due to his pass accuracy being quite low although as centre backs go his creativity is relatively high which can be good when playing out from the back. Another question would be whether he can make the step up from being a league two player. Many players have been able to do it before and we have seen that this season with Illias Chair having spent half a season on loan at league two side Stevenage to become a first team regular for the R’s.
My Verdict
I do believe this will be a good deal if we can get this over the line especially with interest from other championship clubs! What draws me towards this player is that he does the raw fundamentals defensively very well and his leadership can only be crucial for the team going forward to balance the array of youth we have on offer. Although his possession based football can be questioned I think that having a physical defender and leader alongside a possession based defender like Barbet can compliment one another and getting the balance right could be crucial to prevent conceding cheap goals and allowing our attack to flourish knowing they have full confidence in our back line to do the job.
Written by Daniel Lambert