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POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic v Middlesborough: Tuesday 09th December 2025: KO 19:45
Comments
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We look sooooo much better when the oppo are miles ahead in the game and sit back and have what they hold.
There’s the reason we looked better second half .
We are out of our depth and relegation bound unless we spend big in January , we are bereft of real attacking intent and flair .
Saturday another put your house on the oppo to win game .
Backing us to go down at anything above 10s is a good sentimental hedge.11 -
Anderson fails to see wright pass to often and so has to make a hit and hope one, he does it far to often.Scoham said:If it could work I sometimes feel NJ would play 11 solid pros and no real pace and flair in the team.
After that first half (and the recent form) we can't continue having TC as the only player the opposition really worry about, aside from Carey if we somehow get the ball in and around the penalty area so he can have a shot.
We've got a squad of hard working players, but we need more attacking threats going forward, and more pace in the midfield so we can compete in that area - win loose balls, press and counter attack.
Individually all our players can contribute, but the balance is off. It started when Bree came in and replaced Apter. He got a few goals and assists while we kept it tight at the back and that papered over the cracks for a bit.
It's caught up with us now. First half TC was our only attacking player with pace - he needs a few others who offer that too, much like when we improved last season when we had TC and Small on either wing when we attacked.
Let's see what Anderson can do. He'll lose the ball at times, but others are nowhere near winning the ball to begin with. Fullah needs more game time, and if he gets it, it's only a matter of time before he scores or creates a few goals. If throwing in Apter as well is one too many, then he needs more chances off the bench. I'm not against Olaofe getting a run of starts either, he's another who loses the ball too easily at times, but he's more mobile than Leaburn and stronger than TC.
If any of the above getting more game time is at the expense of solid pros or summer signings then so be it, there are places in this team up for grabs if players want to make a spot their own.
Stick with the recent formula and we'll carry on being overrun all over the pitch.
This squad only competes if we're aggressive and energetic - so it was positive to see we showed more of that in the second half, but we need to show it for the whole game. We're not going to outplay opponents in this league, so when we aren't doing what we need to compete we look well below the standard.
Get the balance right and we won't be under so much pressure at the back, our strikers should get more chances and more space to work in, and we won't be so far off the pace in midfield. We'll probably find it makes most players look better too.
This feels similar to where we were last season, a few tweaks to the starting 11 and style will hopefully make a real difference. NJ has players he really trusts, but the answer isn't playing them all together, it's adding a bit of attacking flair and pace to help the whole team.
But he pace is good for our defending, which is why he should be given more time on the pitch.0 -
brownbear said:
Regardless of the result tonight, there needs to be a lot of reshaping of the squad in January to balance us out again. Certain players like Rankin-Costello, Apter and even Olaofe to a certain extent, don’t seem to have the trust or confidence of Jones, and four ‘Tens’ in the form of Carey, Knibbs, Fullah and Berry feels like one too many when we have our two central midfielders running on fumes.
Not to mention the fact that we have FIVE strikers on the books, two of whom are long term injured and the other three couldn’t hit the proverbial cows arse with the banjo.
Perhaps Scott was not so bad after all!Only joking folks
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I have asked thus on the Norwich tickets thread but thought I'd post it again here as this should get more traction.
Does anyone know if the away coach to Norwich that starts from Bromley is now full ? Stupidly bought tickets earlier but cant seem to book Coach 1. Only coach 2 available it seems - dont really want to have to go to Bexleyheath or Charlton on Boxing Day to pick up the coach.0 -
Saturday will be 6 losses on the trot , brutal drop from our good start0
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We might have no points to show for it but that second half performance I thought did Fullah, Apter, Anderson & Doherty no harm in particular. Thought Kaminski was man of the match & kept us in it. Boro were a cut above us & did the damage to us in the first half, like all teams seem to be doing lately.
TC looks understandably like he’s lacking confidence, in his defence he’s playing in multiple positions throughout the 90 so I’m not surprised he’s struggling to get any consistency going. Leaburn also has been working hard & putting good shifts in without scoring or getting fed any real chances.
Another hard game coming up but Birmingham are only 5 points better off and have conceded as many goals as us so hopefully it will be a bit of a tighter contest if we start a bit more like we did in the second half & hopefully pick up at least a point to put this dire losing run to bed.5 -
We lost to a top team
Chill
Onwards!5 -
I was in a meeting, so missed the 1st half an hour.
Called out the poor team selection before the KO.
We need a Curbs type consolidation and concentrate on defending as our priority.
The trouble is, it seems that LJ is suspended for Brum, so we can simply write off another 3 points.
Apart from Lloyd, I would start with the same players who started the 2nd half, assuming that we have no returners.
As for TC, he is so frustrating as he clearly has talent that can scare and open up defences. For those with long memories, I see similarities with Mark Stuart. He was so frustrating, as he invariably ran into the corner and lost possession. Reed came in and coached him into an effective player.
With TC, I think that he often makes the wrong decisions, too often fails to win 50/50 balls, and time and time again he hesitates momentarily so loses an opportunity. Id like to think these faults could be coached out of him. Perhaps not though if his instinct isn't there?1 -
Should we have had a penalty shortly after they scored their first? I thought so.1
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We could see what NJ was trying with that team selection, happy for them to have it wide and we’d deal with crosses and try and not leave ourselves too open through the middle.
unfortunately the players didn’t execute it well enough and half the time didn’t know who should be where.
Kaminski keeps us in the game then lets a soft one in at the near post. The second goal kills us
TC HAS to do better before that though, total bottle job - however the poor lad is running on empty a needs a break after all the travelling a back to back playing.
gillesphy is a real liability at the moment without either Bell or Edward’s in front of him. Need both back.
I’ve totally lost patience with Leaburn, offers nothing….boy do we miss Kelmans pressing up top.
Oloafe and Apter should’ve replaced TC and Leaburn - thought Apter did well when coming on and deserves a bit of a run now.
the midfield were a bit MEH but they’ve done pretty well so far and we were just outclassed by a better side - we’ve had an unfortunate run of fixtures with such a depleted squad - thank god for the decent start to the season.
i still reckon we’ll be fine and will give anyone a game with some of our key players back.
as for Gilbert - we made him look like prime Zidane when he was absolute dog shit on loan for us.
well played the Boro fans for both their numbers and their tributes.6 -
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DDOUBLEE said:
Is Fullah a youth clown?
What about when he's played 20 consecutive games and tires a bit?
You’ll be turning on him too if he does.
As for your team, it would get stuffed with Apter and Rousillon as wing backs. You are the clown imo.0 -
We're not hard to beat at the moment which has been our ethos for the last 18 months. What was it last season 26 clean sheets? Obviously We're now in the league above with a much higher standard but we need to find that solidarity and resilience we had a few months back. Yes injuries are playing a part but our big players look like they're lacking in confidence now too (Jones, Ramsay, Coventry)
I'd start with this at Birmingham
Kaminski
JRC Jones Mac Ramsay
Coventry Anderson
Carey
Apter Fullah
Olaofe
433 which is a 451 without the ball with strict instructions that Cov and Anderson don't leave their DM roles. Carey to support the front 3. JRC is a massive question mark but if we don't have a fit LB Ramsay has to play there.
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TC is not a solution to anything.The Red Robin said:Players that need a decent run in the team and a proper chance now over Jones’ usual favourites:
Tanto
Fullah
Apter
Anderson
…and please find a better solution to Macca. Maybe that’s TC at LWB.4 -
Exactly. If they were both new signings everyone would criticise them. They are both total dogshit.DDOUBLEE said:0 -
What I don’t get is that against Coventry we defended in a kind of 4-1-4-1 shape and it worked really well. Yes we don’t have a left back at the moment, but that’s still the best shape for the players we have available
Kaminski
Bree Jones Gillesphey Ramsay
Coventry
Apter Docherty Anderson TC
Olaofe
Could add Knibbs or Carey into the midfield for more goals but I think we should just try and be solid defensively on Saturday. Stay in the game and then bring on Fullah, Knibbs/Carey and Leaburn to try and nick one late on
The diamond midfield might have worked with Anderson and/or Docherty starting, but playing 3 number 10s was just silly.
Then playing 3-5-2 with Gillesphey LCB and Campbell LWB like we keep doing is just leaving both of them exposed in areas they aren’t comfortable. Jones needs to get it right because we can’t keep changing shape multiple times a game and usually after about 20 minutes because we’ve got the team selection wrong again0 -
Harvey Knibbs is total shite. Offers nothing.1
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So have a good game, but make a mistake that leads to us conceding and you're immune from criticism?queensland_addick said:
Without Kaminski we'd have been 4 down before that chance even came along. No keeper is going to save everything. Kaminski was already well in credit on the night and was fully committed to the cause.ForeverAddickted said:
I've already said that TC made the mistake that led to the breakaway.Sword65pf said:
So it’s ok for everyone to sing his song when he was doing well, which seems a long time ago now, but not ok to criticise when he’s playing shit.ForeverAddickted said:
Sorry Prague you don't get it... It’s only TC that can be at fault for anything.PragueAddick said:
Not to mention Carey’s lack of care with the ball twice in front of our box, first time he got away with it, does it again a few mins later and bang, goal.ForeverAddickted said:
The break away is on TC, the conceding at his near post is on Kaminski, the letting of the shot away is on GillespheySword65pf said:
He bottled it , they broke away, it didn’t need to happen. It’s on TC.The Red Robin said:
This just isn’t true. Yes, it was a weak effort, he should put more of a foot in and he was one of the players at fault for this goal - but - they are then able to play the length of the pitch unchallenged, Macca gets caught out of position and turned inside out and Kaminski gets beaten at his near post.Sword65pf said:Not much mention of the complete bottle job Campbell in the post match, assume it was discussed lots in the match thread, if he doesn’t bottle it they don’t score. I think Campbell is very lucky there is nobody else NJ trusts in the same position.
Funnily though, no one gives a shit about Kaminski's error or Gillesphey's - If the issue is the fact that TC shouldn't have backed out of the challenge, maybe the fault is with the person who put the cross into him, and so put it into an area where it was too close to the Defender... Hmm?
But you refuse to acknowledge that others made mistakes in the build up to their second goal as well... Its that simple!!
Or do you genuinely think it was acceptable for Kaminski to let a goal in at his near post?
TC was not.
That's the difference
You're right Kaminski did keep us at 0-0, and should be commended for that... But he's also part of the reason why we went 0-2 down, so should be criticised for that, especially as it was a shot at his near post.1 -
First half he got knocked off the ball at least twice by a single player.Southbank said:
TC rarely gets pushed off the ball. He gets tackled by 2 or even 3 players. Fullah's movement when he came on led to TC having only one marker and he looked more effective straight away.Redshift said:Just heard Nathan's post-match reaction and I don't think he is being honest with himself. Our shape in the first half was not 'good', we were all over the place and hunting shadows. We didn't just 'give the ball away' (although we did) we simply didn't compete, had no midfield and were facing a far superior team and individual players. Gilbert - whom we know - ran 50 yards with the ball unchallenged in the first few minutes and this was a warning signal that our set-up was not correct and Nathan didn't deal with it in the first half. Changes don't always have to be made in the second half. Half-time he did change, especially in midfield, and although still outplayed we actually won the half. Gilbert who ran things in the first half didn't get so much ball and we chased and harried effectively - where was this first half when the game was killed? Why pick Tanto on Saturday and leave him out today? Sorry but starting Berry is giving the game away. TC is still massively underperforming and like a few other players is so easily pushed off the ball - it stuck like glue to their players who were always stronger and were always moving into space giving anyone on the ball loads of time. Nathan seems to suggest that if only the second goal hadn't gone in then it was OK. Technically, he's right but anyone watching that tonight knows he is misguided. I think we will improve when the other players are back - we have to - but tonight the manager, who is a good guy, has to look at himself too.
And when he was 'more effective' he still didn't create anything. He beat his man at one point, got to the edge of the box, and the ball scuffed out for a goal kick. It's not good enough.4 -
Loving the anti TC agenda on here
The ball wouldn’t come down to him on the edge of their box he could have done better but the fella ran the length of the pitch pinged a few passes and the keeper made yet another error and it’s 2-0
But keep blaming TC who yet again looked our most dangerous outlet, there’s a reason NJ always picks him
I would have TC over Leaburn every single week, now there’s a bloke that’s gone up a level too far, how many aimless headers last night….TC and Tanto has looked far and away our best partnership lately.1 -
It isn't the player's fault but Boro are a good side and you can't play a midfield of Carey, Berry and Knibbs and leave it all to Coventry to do the bread and butter stuff. I presume Jones hoped that together the three of them would amount to an extra man battling in the middle and give us more offensive threat but it doesn't and didn't work like that. We needed that second half and bringing on Anderson and Doc made a massive difference. That crunching tackle by Anderson at the start of the half served notice that it wasn't going to be so easy for Boro anymore. I thought Leaburn did as well as he could but lacked support. When Tanto came on, Leaburn was scaring them.
We really miss Bell, but that second half showed the way forward for now. We can't have players running at us and making 50 yards plus without challenge. Which was a major issue against Southampton. I think we will turn it round but that has to start somewhere and hopefully that somewhere was the second half.5 -
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Fair enough people have the view he needs to come out of the team, I’d share that view if we had anyone else to come in for himCharltonManor1966 said:On the subject of TC......
There was one occasion in the first half where he did brilliantly - took on two defenders on the left wing - got clean by them - then did his usual not looking up and failed to beat the first defender with his low cross. So frustrating!
Sorry FAand others but I have to now conclude that he is never going to be good enough at this level. A L1 winger at best and never a wingback in a million years.But this last bit is just a mental thing to say, he’s 22 for Christ’s sake he’s got years of development even if you don’t think he’s good enough now at this level, to write him off completely is just silly. Some people have really got it in for TC which isn’t nice to see
When we had our full team and he wasn’t having to fill in at wing back, he was playing in the championship for a team 6th in the league. Not sure that would be possible for a player that was never going to be good enough at this level8 -
Oxford, Norwich, Portsmouth over Christmas will define our season.
Minimum 6 points required3 -
Bit of perspective this morning.
We've lost 5 on the trot including playing the top 3.
We have injuries across the back and it's hurting us.
Get players back, spend money in January on quality and we should have enough to stay above relegation by beating those around us.
The hardest part of this is the next few games because we must avoid defeat against Pompey, Oxford and Norwich before we get to January....not easy as there's few options with this squad.
I still think we could be good enough to survive but we need to learn, buy sensibly and fight light the devil during the second half of the season.6 -
I think the biggest problem is Nathan Jones being too stubborn: core team selection, style, and the anti-loanee thing.1
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Bring back Sandgard Jnr's black box!!ElfsborgAddick said:brownbear said:Regardless of the result tonight, there needs to be a lot of reshaping of the squad in January to balance us out again. Certain players like Rankin-Costello, Apter and even Olaofe to a certain extent, don’t seem to have the trust or confidence of Jones, and four ‘Tens’ in the form of Carey, Knibbs, Fullah and Berry feels like one too many when we have our two central midfielders running on fumes.
Not to mention the fact that we have FIVE strikers on the books, two of whom are long term injured and the other three couldn’t hit the proverbial cows arse with the banjo.
Perhaps Scott was not so bad after all!Only joking folks0 -
I don’t think he’s being too stubborn at the moment, he’s changing formation every 20 minutes. I’d rather he was more stubborn and actually stick with the set up we start the game with for onceThe Red Robin said:I think the biggest problem is Nathan Jones being too stubborn: core team selection, style, and the anti-loanee thing.1 -
Who is talking about Fullah?jimmymelrose said:DDOUBLEE said:
Is Fullah a youth clown?
What about when he's played 20 consecutive games and tires a bit?
You’ll be turning on him too if he does.
As for your team, it would get stuffed with Apter and Rousillon as wing backs. You are the clown imo.0 -
Amazing that we were concerned 2 years ago that we might have to sell Leaburn for 2-3 mill to a "big club" and this time last year we thought we could lose TC to a bigger club?redbuttle said:
Exactly. If they were both new signings everyone would criticise them. They are both total dogshit.DDOUBLEE said:
I reckon Leaburn's injury has permanently knocked him back and TC is never going any higher - quite the opposite.....1 -
Dazzler21 said:I still have no idea why the Guadeloupe guy isn't getting a game isn't he a left back?
If you saw his supposed warm up that may answer your question2
