‘Hungry?….I’m starving’ – Freddie Ladapo on Charlton Athletic loan and how ‘whirlwind’ Palace move changed his football career

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Freddie Ladapo has spelled out his desire to make his Charlton Athletic loan move a success – even if there is no chance of him collecting a fourth promotion from League One.

The 30-year-old striker has had success at this level three times, going up twice with Rotherham United and also last season at Ipswich Town, but the Addicks need results to dispel relegation fears.

Ladapo is a proven performer in England’s third tier with 66 goals and 12 assists in 204 matches.

And the forward, who made one Premier League appearance for Crystal Palace, has the appetite for the challenge facing Charlton.

“I’m starving,” he told the South London Press, when asked how much hunger he still has for the game. “I don’t think I’d be here if I wasn’t feeling such a way, I’d just be letting the time pass by.

“I’m the sort of person that it annoys me when I don’t play and it annoys me when I don’t score – I am itching for more great moments, I’ve had a lot of them because I have been hungry.

“With a lot of people it is quite easy to sit and be comfortable in a situation but I like to put myself out there – front row – and have everyone see me and judge me, pick the bones out of what I can and can’t do.

“I never really tell anyone what my scoring targets are, I keep that to myself, but I have a lot of targets and they are not just goalscoring ones. There are things I want to achieve while I’m at the club – including performance wise.”

Ladapo had made 17 Championship appearances for Ipswich in the current campaign but only two of those were starts.

“This loan move is for me to get back playing football,” he said. “The first half of last season I was playing a lot and starting a lot – the second half I wasn’t featuring as much, I was probably coming on most of the matches.

“The start of this one it has been probably the same and some of the games I’ve not played at all. I definitely did need to get my career back on track.

“The move to Ipswich was good for both parties. I went there and achieved something and the club brought in a striker who scored 21 goals (in all competitions).”

The Addicks were keen on Ladapo in previous windows.

“I heard about it but for different reasons I picked Ipswich,” he said. “Luckily it was a successful season.

“I want to help get this club to a good standpoint for the future. Charlton is a big club, a sleeping giant. If we can get the rest of this season right then there is something there – a gem there. I wanted to go and experience that for myself.”

There is no gunning for glory in the next few months. The prize, if it can be called that, is for Charlton to pull away from trouble and ensure there is no nervy finale.

“I’m still relishing that,” said Ladapo. “The year I’ve had has been pretty stagnant.

“Even though Ipswich have been winning matches and getting promotions, I haven’t really played the part I would have liked.

“I’m seeing this as a real chance for me to take the game by the scruff of the neck – try and pull wins out of nothing, see the other side of it. My body and my mind needed that.

“I’m not at my peak yet, that one is pretty obvious because I have done a lot of things in this league, I’ve scored a lot of goals and I’ve enjoyed a lot of games.

“When you don’t find your peak for some time it takes a little bit to get it going again. That is where I am at. This is probably the first time I’ve played three games back to back in lord knows how long.

“I’m hoping that things start falling in place. Saturday was good – to get the draw at a tough opponent (1-1 against Blackpool).”

Ladapo was playing National League South football at Margate when Palace signed him in 2015.

“I went on trial not really expecting much and it turned out to be a whirlwind change for my career,” said the Romford-born player. “To go from non-league to Premier League is something you don’t usually do, especially when it is via the trial route.

“I had to play my way into getting in the team. A few of the first-team coache, like Alan Pardew and Mark Bright, took a liking to me. They decided I was ready to make the step up.”

Ladapo’s solitary outing for the Eagles was in a 4-0 defeat at Manchester United in September 2017 – vindication for staying on their playing squad when they were ready to move him on.

“I just wanted to live the dream fully,” he said. “I definitely worked very hard to get my Premier League debut and it was a nice moment.

“It is something I can look back on and say I’m happy I made that decision.

“It (Old Trafford) was one of the first games I went to after I signed for Palace. It was a dream come true, to see it a year before I played there.

“Old Trafford was definitely on my bucketlist.”

Ladapo nearly had another South London club on his CV. He was at AFC Wimbledon in 2018 doing his medical when he performed a late U-turn to sign for Southend United.

“I was at Palace at the time and had to make a decision quite quickly on the day,” said Ladapo. “I just thought Southend was a better fit for me – which it turned out it wasn’t!

“I barely played and barely scored any goals. But I went on to score 19 goals at Plymouth the season after that.”

Ladapo has recovered from adversity in his career. Now he has to use that experience and grit when the going gets tough to ensure that Charlton also prevail in securing their League One status.

MAIN PICTURE: PAUL EDWARDS