Dowie Keeps It Simple with Simon

The club has finally confirmed the signing of Simon Walton from Leeds in a deal worth up to £1million.

There were probably more Charlton fans owning away season tickets last season (32 apparently) than there are fans who know much about Walton, but it's a welcome transfer nonetheless if only in terms of the message it sends about the direction the club is going in.

It's interesting that just a decade ago, Leeds were paying a then record for a teenager by buying Lee Bowyer from Charlton, and now we're snapping up one of their most promising talents. What goes around comes around, eh?

It's probably fair to assume most fans would have preferred our first signing since the World Cup began to be a higher-profile name, but I think the club would be right to try to build a core squad of young English players, whether home-grown or not. In this regard, it was encouraging to learn of Lloyd Sam's new contract too. Indeed, it wouldn't be surprising if the club had been scared off of any 'big-time Charlies' for the timebeing after the Murphy and Jeffers experiences (though at least the club had the last laugh with the former).

Time will tell if Walton's signing is a one-off or signals a genuine attempt to build a young team that can serve us well for years (a strategy that Spurs deployed with success last year, albeit with a larger budget). Unfortunately it would be a higher-risk strategy than perhaps it should be given the paucity of talent that Dowie was left to begin with.