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POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic v Bristol City: Good Friday 3rd April 2026: KO 15:00
Comments
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Gobsmacked at the 6s and 7s being dished out for our midfield. I think I must have been watching a different game. Absolutely woeful.8
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Don’t look like a side that’s up for a relegation scrap. Don’t matter what other teams are doing we need to pick up points. I said it earlier in the season we cannot rely on other teams to be poorer than we are.13
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Wasn't our best display but at the same time we really need to make our chances count. We will stay up but we're going to need to improve over the summer1
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Diabysmal0
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Sick and tired of watching opposition players just run through our midfield to pass to someone ready to shoot, and our players ten yards behind. It’s been constant this season. Just not good enough today, can’t be bothered to analyse any more today, fed up with getting done at home and people saying if had of done this or that we would have got a point, or we didn’t deserve to lose, well we are losing a lot of games we don’t deserve too apparently. The team and manager need to get their fucking fingers out. Two weeks off and we served up with that shit.5
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Bristol City were miles better.
We made chances, but they could have been several goals up before we equalised.
They were simply better than us and had the best player on the pitch, in Twine.
We need 6 points to guarantee safety, in my opinion.
Preston and Sheff Wed are now vital games as I think we will lose the other games.
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Paid for Jones’ 622 formation, with only tactic to jump it up to Dykes . Imagination too little , too late . Ref was abysmal.1
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I feel like it's been that way for a while. Our CMs only have to pick up a few balls, pass them 10 yards sideways, and a they'll get 6s or 7s. Today was particularly egregious, and they're still getting them.mid_life_crisis said:Gobsmacked at the 6s and 7s being dished out for our midfield. I think I must have been watching a different game. Absolutely woeful.5 -
Those City fans slagging off Twine on X before the game look even weirder now. Easily the best player on the pitch10
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I'm fed up with these games where our set up look dire - defensive, slow, lethargic and negative.
Cue sixty or seventy minutes and a few subs get thrown on because we're a goal down, and it all gets a bit mad and chaotic, and yet we create loads of chances - but just can't stick them away.
Solution: Start the game with a mad, chaotic set up - surprise the opposition - get them on the back foot. Do somethind different ffs, because what we're doing isn't working.
And you can boo Tupac all you like, but he's about our only player who makes things happen at the moment. But he does need to get more clinical with his finishing, for sure.12 -
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Do other teams back-pass to the keeper from kick-off? And if they do, do they ever get anywhere with it? It strikes me that it's a completely useless tactic almost guaranteed to concede possession right from the off.3
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Spot on.Oggy Red said:
Yeah, but there's no movement in front of Bell - static, ballwatching from his team mates.carly burn said:This side is not intelligent enough to play forward.
The amount of times Bell gets the ball and instead of pushing or passing forward he cuts backwards and switches the ball across the back four is ridiculous.
It disrupts the whole flow and leaves us vulnerable when the inevitable central pump forward gets launched from the centre back and 99% of the time ends up back down our throats.
What is he supposed to do with no options ??
Football, of course, is like snooker (bear with me). To build a break you need to make each pot easy. It's the positional play that makes all the difference. To play decent football you need to make each pass easy, so it's the movement off the ball that's key. To do that each player need to want the ball, and should bust a gut to get into a position where the player on the ball can play a simple pass to his feet. Too many of our players don't seem to want the ball, and certainly don't bust a gut to find space.
So Bell gets the ball and looks ahead and sees encroaching opposition players, and no red shirts. So what is he supposed to do? He ends up having to play a safety shot.2 -
Slightly worrying NJ’s post match interviews are becoming very similar when at home.0
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Either the keeper or Centre half, I remember when they had to kick the ball over the halfway line from kick off, now they kick it behind them, so actually don't kick off properly imo,...🤷♂️, another rather strange rule change, like taking goal kicks while defenders are in the box as well and the ball doesn't even leave the area, another change...Stig said:Do other teams back-pass to the keeper from kick-off? And if they do, do they ever get anywhere with it? It strikes me that it's a completely useless tactic almost guaranteed to concede possession right from the off.1 -
Every time he got a free kick and had opportunity from range, he was a major threat.killerandflash said:Those City fans slagging off Twine on X before the game look even weirder now. Easily the best player on the pitch
A few times in the game stand out. The first real threat in the 3rd minute when they cut straight through our midfield and defence and ran 1-1 against Mannion, hitting the post. I just thought, wow, these are getting a free lunch today.
Then the first 30 seconds of the second half when we attempt to play out from Mannion and regress, deeper and deeper as their press closed in.
Out defence is our ace card and today it was like frightened rabbits in the headlights.
If we concede we're in trouble, as all the stats suggest. If we keep a clean sheet we're ok. I know that sounds obvious but out whole seasons strategy is based on keeping clean sheets, i.e, not losing.
We are a negative side that plays safe, as opposed to playing to win. It's got us to the position we are in, which most fans would have grabbed with both hands back in August, but it rarely feels much better than meh!
If we stay up, we will have achieved being difficult to score against. That is Jones legacy so far. If that's enough for the owners, and the fans, then that is our level, maybe for the next season or two, whilst we just try to stay at this level, whilst building a squad to compete, not just to nullify.
Our owners have recently highlighted our financial losses, yet we have such ground to make up, on at least 15 clubs, when it comes to squad quality and depth. That can only really be achieved by spending more, much more, and then the FFP rules come into play.
Getting to mid-table security (with 6 games of a season to go), like City will take £m's.
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This is the the team that he put together ? Our signings last summer were so poor that 2 of them are out on loan to third division clubs. I appreciate that he helped get us promotion & we're still trying to avoid relegation with a third Division quality team but I can't see us getting another win this season (& yes that includes chef weds who I believe will beat us in their final home game in this division). I believe our fate depends on those currently below us, if like today they all start picking up points we could be in the shit. Even if we were to avoid relegation would you trust Jonesy with a multi million pound budget after reviewing the shite that he brought in last summer. (Sorry not shite but just not 2nd Division quality players). His constant reliance on Campbell is ridiculous, running at players he looks dangerous without a doubt but his final ball is as good as a goal kick to the opposition, his shooting or heading ability even from a few yards out is just laughable. Leaburn also just isn't up to this level, as sad as it is to see our youth products not make it does anybody really see another team at this level playing them ? What is it, 5 goals between them all season & a couple of assists. It's all very well for Jones to say we need to upgrade our attacking ability but he brought in the players last summer & has hardly played most of them. What's to say that this year will be any different.What a rubbish performance and result. With the way we play football and the fact they had no fit CBs, I thought that was a banker. But we're Charlton and that would be too simple of a story.
Cov & Doch - that was about as bad it gets for two midfield performances. Why do we need to play both at them at home? Let alone the pair of them for 75 mins. I can't watch much more of this midfield, it's painful.
We had chances but most of our home games seem to go the same way. We huff and puff in the last fifteen minutes but can't find the goal. How TC cannot hit the target from there... And Godden has to score. But it seems like same old, same old.
And yet I have to give massive credit to NJ, because anyone can see how poor this team is, and yet we are still looking likely to stay up.3 -
I think we had the look of a side that has worked it's socks off to get us to safety and would rather now wrap the season up. Whatever anyone thinks, two clubs sitting 8 points below us has an affect on players attitude, and that, for me, was evident in the first half, the only two players who came out with credit were the two forwards, the wing backs never got involved and the passing from Coventry, Docherty and Carey was non-existent, add to that the normally dependable Lloyd Jones, was being caught out on numerous occasions. Come the second half and the first ten was just as bad, on come the subs and we look a threat, whatever people think of Tyreece, we are a better side with him in it. Chances were now being created, Campbell should score and I think Godden, to a lesser degree, probably should have scored too. It's probably going to be written as a goal keeping error cost us the game, maybe, but most Charlton supporters see the problems across the pitch, the lack of a finish, a midfield second best, and strangely a defence all at sea. Taking Leicester and Sheff Weds problems out of the equation, if Portsmouth and Oxford go down, it will be because they have a first division squad, so have we, and if players are not moved on and players of quality brought in then we will follow them.2
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This is spot on, we were second best to every ball and they are a very average championship side.Billericaydickie said:Absolutely terrible performance.
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Over the past two months the difference between the abilities our players and the opposition is immense.
Basically we are a League 1 team playing in the Championship. We are second best in every department and way out of our depth.
If we survive we need to make some big decisions in the close season.
Our midfield is the real problem0 -
Feels like we need the season to end to rebuild the squad. Trouble is, we’ve still got six games to go and while relegation seems unlikely, it’s not impossible.Here’s hoping we can at least keep a clean sheet on Monday. Build from the back again and get over the line.6
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A game in which me might have taken a point in the end but which we most certainly did not, on any view, deserve to win. It is hardly a recipe for success.
We were abysmal in the first 20 minutes and, not heeding the open goal their guy somehow missed after a few minutes, let their number 6 run through midfield unencumbered and slip the ball through to Twine, who made no mistake. City almost replicated the move a few minutes later, with a midfielder running into acres of space and hitting a decent shot, which Mannion turned behind.
We eventually woke up and played some better stuff, with Dykes fashioning a fine goal following a Kelman assist (sadly, his only meaningful contribution).
Having gone in happy to be on terms, we came out and played like a collective drain for the first 15 or 20 minutes. We were all over the place defensively and Bristol City carved through our midfield at will. Our structure was a total shambles and, after inept defending gave Twine another free-kick at our goal, his weak shot somehow squirmed out of Mannion’s grasp (once, if not twice) and we found ourselves 2-1 down.
We then woke up to an extent and created a few decent chances. City’s hitherto underemployed goalie made a few good saves, while TC inexcusably blasted high and wide after taking the ball down in the box. Ultimately, however, it followed a similar pattern of recent home games, with the concession of an early goal and late Charlton pressure, with an inability to take our chances.
There’s much to ponder for Nathan, not least how the structure of the team fell apart for significant periods of today’s game.
We are by no means out of the woods and have to hope that we do enough on Monday and at home to Preston next Saturday that we can go to Sheffield Wednesday on the 18th and enjoy it.
The midfield of this side needs serious surgery if we are going to be competitive in this division next season.
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I hope we can grow some balls and fight like crazy men in the last six games as I saw a lot of complacency today so they need to wake up big time.
However, if we hit self destruct it will show like many teams that have come up and down in all Leagues that if you don't buy quality you will struggle especially in the Championship.
Getting the best players from the league below seemed like a marvellous cheap idea but for me it's clearly proved most of them cannot step up.
Of course you could blame Nathan for appearing to squander a few quid but I'm sure he had his hands tied somewhat as 10 million is chicken feed compared to some.
I agree with others that I can't see any more money being available even if we do stay up. That is a real concern, along with getting relegated which would be disastrous.
Coya show some fight and go on the front foot from the off...6 -
With safety not yet mathematically confirmed, today was more of the NJ hateball that we've tolerated to give ourselves the best chance of staying up. It's been more effective than not for blocks of this season, but it has never, ever been pleasant on the eye and only works when we have a top tier defensive performance. Today did not include that by any measure. Our (very, very likely) PotS in LJones didn't look at it today, with the others around him looking laggy within that first 10mins. We had the early warning sign before their goal, then they took that chance before we gave Twine a practice attempt at one free kick before giving another for their second. As both my friends around me and my dad noticed, even the saving grace of the goal we scored sounds like it shouldn't have been our throw in the build up. Credit to Kelman and Dykes for conjuring something between them, because they generally feed on very minimal scraps of anything.
My ire, as ever, is with the base of our midfield. Almost every game, it feels like games just completely pass them by in this system. To their credit, Bristol City's midfield and double 10 system had the majority of both our 3 CBs and 2 CMs confused and bewildered by their movement, runs and quality of pass. Our players had no idea when to press, when to push up and when to drop back. It left massive gaps and it was exploited well. I saw Coventry dropping back into effectively a 4th CB position on multiple occasions, and Docherty couldn't control or pass anything.
It's so disappointing to see the drop off in form from Coventry - I can't really work it out. We need our midfield three to be so much more dynamic than they are. They all seem so embedded within the "hold for 0-0 boys" that when they have the ball, they are all lacking the quality to do something positive with it. Whilst some players have made the step up to the level (though far too few imho), it's glaringly obvious in those that cannot. I'm a big advocate for Coventry, but his control, tackling and passing hasn't been good enough for a while and it's a big question mark for me. When you partner that with the even more limited Docherty, it's a recipe for disaster. As I mentioned before, NJ persists with it because he just wants to get over the points tally. Part of me thinks he's written them both off to an extent - it's just familiarity and knowing what he gets that makes him pick them. I like Docherty the man, but Docherty the footballer is barely L1 standard. I get the "without the ball" schtick but that is nowhere near good enough for a 3 man midfield in this league. Every time the ball comes near him, I feel like he cannot do anything apart from pass backwards when he's not under pressure. He's never going to do anything special and just wants to be defending. When they underperform, it just makes everyone in front of them look infinitely worse.
Sick of the TC hate brigade - there's an swathe of our fans that seem to want to see him fail and blame all our shortcomings on him. That useless chant was a disgrace and we should be better, but we'll undoubtedly hear more. The shirt is weighing extremely heavy on him right now, but yeah, give him more stick every time he comes on or touches the ball. That will absolutely do the trick. The miss was disappointing and he should have got it on target. He just doesn't look like he has any belief in front of his own fans. Can only imagine the amount bile on the bigger platforms. 100% if he scores any time soon, he'll give the finger to the lips or the cupping ears to our fans.
Today was an opportunity to get the points we needed - we just dragged our heels again at home. Either the full system or the midfield needs a complete rebuild. We're going to get over the line somehow, it's just going to probably be with a bit of a whimper.9 -
Early in the season our press was our major stength. What has happened to it? We allowed Bristol City so much room and they seemed to win every second ball. It was similar against Norwich, but at least they were a team in form.
Are we the worst passing team in the Championship? I can't remember seeing any worse team this year. And we don't have a midfielder who can take control, like Scott Twine did today. Our midfield needs to show fight and work hard and neither of these were visible today.
Our defence has been the main reason we've earned the points we have and if they have an off-day, like today, then it's always going to be tough to get one point, let alone three.
We're not going to score loads of goals, we're not going to pass the ball like Arsene Wenger's Arsenal so we have to rely on that defence for the rest of the season and hope that today was an off day or we may yet be in deep doodoo!3 -
I've got a horrible feeling we're gonna lose to Wednesday10
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Feel like at least one more team is going to feel that shame this season and, with how we play right now, we're as likely as anyone.YannTheMann said:I've got a horrible feeling we're gonna lose to Wednesday1 -
Their last home game in this division, the crowd & players will be right up for this one, don't see us getting anything out of the game.th0rryy said:
Feel like at least one more team is going to feel that shame this season and, with how we play right now, we're as likely as anyone.YannTheMann said:I've got a horrible feeling we're gonna lose to Wednesday1 -
YannTheMann said:I've got a horrible feeling we're gonna lose to Wednesday
It's a nailed on certainty - as night follows day.
More likely to beat Preston at home.3 -
Please God noYannTheMann said:I've got a horrible feeling we're gonna lose to Wednesday0 -
Of course we will 2-0YannTheMann said:I've got a horrible feeling we're gonna lose to Wednesday0 -
It was a good save no question, but Godden hit it basically straight at him. If he puts it almost anywhere else it's a goal. And if you ask him there is no chance he is saying he shouldn't be doing better.golfaddick said:
Godden didn't miss from a yard out, the keeper saved a goal bound shot ffs !!!PeaksAndValleys said:Another frustrating and disappointing game. We looked completely asleep for the first fifteen, so open. Got a bit better from there but if Jones has an off day it's a real problem for us.
As so often the case the midfield looked so overrun both in and out of possession. Acres of space for BC to run through and then when our defence have the ball there is no one within fifty yards ahead of them - not surprising they then pass it sideways before hoofing it.
Absolute shocker from Mannion, don't see how anyone can try to defend that. Kam has had his share too but if you give Mannion a pass today you're just biased.
Similarly, others have said it but the hammering TC gets compared to other misses is just the clearest example of the unfair bullsh*t that is directed at him. Matt Godden is a outright striker who specialises in poaching and he's missed from a yard out. He's one of my favourite players but anyone talking about TC and not mentioning that is a moron.
Thought we looked much better in the 4-2-3-1, obviously BC were sitting back and defending then but even so I'd like to see us try that from the off.
Ibby looked class and Fevs and TC were also dangerous on the wings
TC's effort was high, wide & not very handsome.
I'm all for not bashing TC but at least tell it how it was
I'm not saying TC's wasn't a bad miss, just saying to only call out his miss in that game is crazy. If he'd missed Godden's people would not be talking about the keeper making a good save7
