"Quite harsh" - Divisive Charlton Athletic player defended after fan criticism | OneFootball

Football League World's Charlton Athletic fan pundit believes supporters were too quick to criticise former Ipswich Town forward Gassan Ahadme

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Charlton Athletic have endured an inconsistent start to the League One season, with five wins, four draws, and five losses from their first 14 fixtures of the campaign.

Addicks supporters will be hoping that boss Nathan Jones, who won promotion from League Two to the third tier with former club Luton Town back in 2018, before guiding the Hatters to the Championship play-offs in 2022, can take their club to a top-six spot this term.

A play-off place is still in Charlton's reach, with over two thirds of the season left to go, while their first game back after the November international break sees them travel to fellow promotion chasers Huddersfield Town.

Amid the club's hunt for a top-six spot, Football League World asked our Addicks fan pundit, Ben Fleming, to name a player at the Valley who always seems to divide opinion, and which side of the fence he sat on.

Ben said: "(Ashley) Maynard-Brewer got a bit of stick in goal, but he's our number two now, so that doesn't really matter.

"Chuks (Aneke) up top, Gassan Ahadme got a bit of stick early season.

"I think he (Ahadme) came into the side, and clearly wanted to be, Jones wanted to use him as the focal point up top.

"A big guy, physical presence.

"Didn't really quite click for him at the start of the season, and then he scored a very scrappy goal from a corner, to get his first goal of the season.

"I can't remember where it was, but away from home somewhere, and then he got injured, came back and scored a goal in the FA Cup, and I wonder whether he might have just fallen down the ranks, due to (Miles) Leaburn coming back to full fitness.

"But I personally think it was quite harsh, some of the criticism he came in for, after like six games of the season.

"He's a physical striker.

"If you're a big physical striker like that, there's a reason you're in League One, and that's maybe because technically, and other aspects of your game, you're not amazing.

"Clearly it's like that with him, his link-up play is sort of so-so.

"Other aspects let him down, but I think it's far too early still to judge him, and (he was) really good for Cambridge last year, and I would like to think that he could be a good and reliable rotation option.

"Someone we could throw on late in games, someone we could start, and give defenders a bit of problems for 60 minutes.

"A lot of the time, he wasn't scoring, but he was working the defenders hard for 60 minutes, and then someone like (Matty) Godden would come on and get a goal late, or someone like Chuks will come on and get a goal late, or whoever.

"So, just because he's not getting that goal straight away doesn't mean he's not having an impact, and tiring out defenders for us, so I think he deserves a bit more leeway for now."

Ahadme has a point to prove

Ben is right to point out that Ahadme's Addicks career is still in its early days, after he joined Jones' side from Premier League newboys Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee last summer.

The striker also suffered a chest injury in October, which kept him out of action for a month, until he scored a late winner during a recent 4-3 victory over National League Southend United in the FA Cup.

But after the 23-year-old produced a respectable return of 11 goals in 29 League One appearances while on loan with Cambridge United, who avoided relegation to League Two by just four points last season, Addicks supporters will expect to see him scoring on a regular basis.

So far, Ahadme has scored just two goals in 11 appearances across all competitions for his new club, so there is clearly room for improvement amid the Addicks' bid for a play-off spot.