POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic v Sheffield United: Saturday 17th January 2026: KO 15:00

crookester

TomCAFC said:

When down to 9 men they were obviously there for the taking. Campbell had acres of space down the left but time after time he slowed everything down by checking back inside onto his right foot. Let their back 3 reset and await another rubbish cross. Whatever happened to wingers going down the outside and getting quick crosses in? Absolute madness putting the fella on the left if he can’t use his left foot at all.

The bigger issue imho was that he was our only outlet and hence they doubled up on him. This has been the case far too often this season and only really improved last season when Small came in on the right. Like others, I'm surprised and disappointed that he didn't bring on Apter as well, to give us two threats from out wide.

Alwaysneil

Surprised? Not really, disappointed, yes.

AndyG

2121 said:

Campbell is a monster when he comes on as a sub, mostly as we will be attacking looking for a goal compared to our starting tactics. Shows how good he would be if we started with a more attacking formation that suited wingers 

Mate I like TC but a monster he isn’t. When he came on yesterday there was acres of space and tbh what he did was the absolute bare minimum you would expect under the circumstances. He would have been far more dangerous if he didn’t keep stopping and checking back.

this isn’t being negative about the fella but an awful lot of fans build him up into something he really isn’t 

AFKABartram

I think one thing yesterday showed us is that TC is literally the only player likely to get game time in our squad that other teams give any form of defensive concern about. 

We have absolutely no one else likely to play who can beat a man. 

As soon as Edwards is back, TC will move to being the 20-30 min ‘game changer’ off the bench. 

Sword65pf

AndyG said:

2121 said:

Campbell is a monster when he comes on as a sub, mostly as we will be attacking looking for a goal compared to our starting tactics. Shows how good he would be if we started with a more attacking formation that suited wingers 

Mate I like TC but a monster he isn’t. When he came on yesterday there was acres of space and tbh what he did was the absolute bare minimum you would expect under the circumstances. He would have been far more dangerous if he didn’t keep stopping and checking back.

this isn’t being negative about the fella but an awful lot of fans build him up into something he really isn’t 

Agree.

AFKABartram

Weegie Addick said:

I’m a bit puzzled by the plan for Tuesday without Bree unless we pull something out the bag against the odds there. Does Clarke have two 90s in a row in his tank, given that was his first in a year?

Yesterday was the opportunity to keep Bree on the right alongside the returning Ramsay with Clarke coming on for the last 30 or so to ease him in. OK, that would have meant TC playing LWB all match or otherwise Fullah as he did (modestly successfully) at Birmingham. Bree really wasn’t up to playing on the left which was bad for him and his possible last impression here.

As it is, it feels like we’ve given ourselves a proper / risky selection headache for Derby at both RWB and LWB. Really hoping we don’t end up breaking Clarke by overplaying him too soon. 

Unless he reports an injury, Clarke will play 3 games in a week. I’m convinced by that

Sword65pf

AFKABartram said:

Weegie Addick said:

I’m a bit puzzled by the plan for Tuesday without Bree unless we pull something out the bag against the odds there. Does Clarke have two 90s in a row in his tank, given that was his first in a year?

Yesterday was the opportunity to keep Bree on the right alongside the returning Ramsay with Clarke coming on for the last 30 or so to ease him in. OK, that would have meant TC playing LWB all match or otherwise Fullah as he did (modestly successfully) at Birmingham. Bree really wasn’t up to playing on the left which was bad for him and his possible last impression here.

As it is, it feels like we’ve given ourselves a proper / risky selection headache for Derby at both RWB and LWB. Really hoping we don’t end up breaking Clarke by overplaying him too soon. 

Unless he reports an injury, Clarke will play 3 games in a week. I’m convinced by that

Clarke didn’t look to be struggling  fitness wise in the slightest, I’d be surprised if we didn’t see him start.

Covered End

Southbank said:

kentred2 said:

How did the reserve midfield three play?

Awful

The worst midfield performance since the days of Croft and Foley.

Anderson was out of position most of the time and played the ball to them, backwards, or if he found a Charlton player it was usually behind the man.

I struggle to comprehend how his passing can still be so bad, with no sign of any improvement since he reached the first team. Terrible performance - L2 level.

JRC was simply very poor.

Knibbs was as usual simply missing in action.
I barely noticed him until a few minutes before he was badly injured.
I hope his injury isn't as bad as it looked. 

Covered End

Nicholas said:

3 points is 3 points brilliant but what a fucking disgrace of a performance. Jones needs to sort this shit out some absolute shocking decisions by him today. If they would have had 10 men not 9 they would have beat us.  Why the hell
did he not being apter on. Why the hell
did we still need to play 5 at the back. Weird little bloke he is. 

I agree he makes plenty of strange decisions that I disagree with (subs Leaburn at the end just before an expected long throw into the box), BUT somehow he comes up with the results (more often that not).
So I have to back him.

2121

AndyG said:

2121 said:

Campbell is a monster when he comes on as a sub, mostly as we will be attacking looking for a goal compared to our starting tactics. Shows how good he would be if we started with a more attacking formation that suited wingers 

Mate I like TC but a monster he isn’t. When he came on yesterday there was acres of space and tbh what he did was the absolute bare minimum you would expect under the circumstances. He would have been far more dangerous if he didn’t keep stopping and checking back.

this isn’t being negative about the fella but an awful lot of fans build him up into something he really isn’t 

Maybe monster was a stong word 😂
agreed about the checking back, i wish he would try it on more in the box 

killerandflash

Apart from Apter giving Sheffield United something to think about on BOTH flanks, it was dubious that we had both Clarke (no 1st team football all season) and Ramsay (first game after an injury) playing the full 90.

Surely either could have benefited from a rest, with Apter playing in front of either Ramsay or Clarke. 

ValleyGary

I just don’t understand the constant juggling of our midfield. Anderson hasn’t really had many minutes but then finds himself starting against a good Sheff Utd side, with 2 other midfielders that haven’t featured massively. Why? How can the spine of the team get any coherency when it’s changing. Particularly out of possession, why you need the relationship with your partner(s) on where you should be, when to press, and where the people around you should be. I saw the lineup and knew it would be a mess. 

Makes even less sense when you’re starting a debutant and playing someone on their wrong foot. 

You’ve basically got half a team that’s never played with each other, 27 games into a season!

golfaddick

Hartleypete said:

Think at times NJ gets so caught up in the emotion of the game that he can’t see the wood for the trees and makes some quite frankly mad decisions.

I'd say his mad decisions started at 1.30pm when he put the team sheet in.