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POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic v Preston Nth End: Saturday 11th April 2026: KO 15:00
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We were still 50/1 last night on william hill so i woke up today intended to take that with a bigger stake than before, but this morning it's 20/1. There still ought to be a lot of takers at that kind of level.charltonbob said:
Wasn't it 125-1 just a week agoCovered_End_Lad said:We are 25-1 to go down currently, that feels massive odds
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TC had a good first half, was not at it second half apart from a dispute with Nathan Jones so a 6 today from me. This is not aimed at him but the management/coaching decisions..how many goals have we conceded in that left channel after subbing Chambers?Radostanradical said:
Idiots because they have an opinion taht is different from yours (which was correct). He had a decent match today, if anyone scored him a 5 or lower, I could take a good guess why and If we are all honest we all know why. Its became fashionable to scapegoat TC.last_line said:Some idiots have scored TC above 5 on the marks post. Unbelievable!!0 -
We’ve only had 8/9 (?)relegations in 121 years.Raith_C_Chattonell said:I can't bear to read the thread this week.
I've felt like some wise old sage recently, shaking my head at the numerous posts in proclaiming our safety. I've watched Charlton for over 60 years and what may serve as a norm for the majority of teams doesn't apply to us. I've known (sorry to sound like a know all) but I have known with the certainty of Solomon that we could still f$ck it up. After all is said and done this is Charlton - and if we survive by the skin of our teeth - we must be truly grateful.Agree it can be painful but statistically better at staying up!0 -
Er_Be_Ab_Pl_Wo_Wo_Ch said:We do have a team - manager, coaches, players, all of them collectively - who can step up when the pressure finds them. It possibly needs to find them.
Going into Oxford at home in Dec - that was the first time this season pressure struck. Midtable security had drifted. Lose and Oxford would close the gap to a couple of points. We won and extended it to 8.
Norwich away, followed by the events at Pompey away - that was followed by a home draw vs Coventry and the best performance for months.
The dismantling at Millwall - winning at Leicester was next.
Abysmal at home to Pompey - worked hard for a point at Southampton next.
OK, we haven't been abysmal recently, thankfully for the goal difference. But weak performances at home have given us zero points. The Pompey and Oxford wins today have lit a fire beneath us.
Pressure - real pressure - has found us again. Sheff Wed next.
Very good analysis in my opinion. If not Sheffield, and i don't think we'll get the performance we need there, it could be the next and final away game at Swansea that the whole team finally feels sufficient pressure as a collective. However by then i don't think we will do it. It just won't matter enough to so many of the players who won't even be getting games with us after that game.
White flag, bed wetter here, granted.0 -
TC is told to conserve energy. It’s pointless him running around chasing the ball if he’s knackered when he then gets it.
Jones and we know he is our only player with any real pace or explosiveness. He has to be in a position to be so when we turn the ball over.
His demeanour is such that he looks disinterested but I genuinely don’t agree with that. He was our best attacking player yesterday.14 -
Don't know what we're getting so het up about then..😉🤦♂️kentred2 said:
We’ve only had 8/9 (?)relegations in 121 years.Raith_C_Chattonell said:I can't bear to read the thread this week.
I've felt like some wise old sage recently, shaking my head at the numerous posts in proclaiming our safety. I've watched Charlton for over 60 years and what may serve as a norm for the majority of teams doesn't apply to us. I've known (sorry to sound like a know all) but I have known with the certainty of Solomon that we could still f$ck it up. After all is said and done this is Charlton - and if we survive by the skin of our teeth - we must be truly grateful.Agree it can be painful but statistically better at staying up!3 -
I think there'll be a planned selling on of academy player(s) in the summer.MrBurns said:Even if we do survive (which I'm praying we do) it feels like we need 7/8 championship quality players through the door. The ownership will need spend big again or hope we get a ridiculous offer for Ramsay to fund the window
If I remember rightly, monies from these sales go straight to the revenue side where they're available for transfer fees and wages. A relatively quick and effective way of adding funds and staying on the right side of the financial rules.
I can't imagine a 5 year plan which wouldn't include an element like this once we got to Championship and more expensive player territory........0 -
The TC situation reminds me of when my hero Morts got in the team. Occasionally he did have a slumped shoulder way of walking and ambled around the pitch and he did get alot of pelters too. But he had talent and the ability to do things others couldn't. In this side TC is literally the only one who can. We need him and I do think he is fully aware of the critique he is getting. How about we sing his song from minute one next week and see if the boy responds. Long live flair players with attitude!13
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Agree re Morts...Mortimerwasgod said:The TC situation reminds me of when my hero Morts got in the team. Occasionally he did have a slumped shoulder way of walking and ambled around the pitch and he did get alot of pelters too. But he had talent and the ability to do things others couldn't. In this side TC is literally the only one who can. We need him and I do think he is fully aware of the critique he is getting. How about we sing his song from minute one next week and see if the boy responds. Long live flair players with attitude!
To be fair we were singing TC's song quite a lot yesterday anyway, but it is not him that's always the problem, rather the lack of support from midfield when he is away, he has no-one to pass to = losing the ball too often...🤷♂️2 -
I’ve found the amount of assumption that we will be in the Championship next year since the Middlesbrough game absolutely baffling. We’ve got a squad low on quality and creativity, and as a club we have spent the vast majority of the last 10-15 years in League One. Our budget is very, very modest in the Championship, and even that budget was largely squandered on players well below this level (some of whom aren’t even with us any more). Clubs at the bottom always liven up towards the end of the season, and we have just drifted into a mindset of ‘we’re fine’ and planning our ‘evolution’ next season where we will apparently require more quality as we move up into the middle reaches of the Championship. It makes the chances wasted by JRC at Watford even more annoying and significant.Infuriating, complacent and could seriously backfire on us. 0 points at home versus an on the beach BCity and an on the beach, massively out of form Preston. Do many people think we will go there and win next week, especially now the pressure is back on?5
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I’m definitely guilty of thinking we were safe but that’s now not the case , all season in spite of the results I look and think we are utter dreadful shit , with such limited ability going forward.
I’ve always been a believer that hard work can only get you so far , you need actual ability and every team in the league has more than us .
The ease which they cut through us and pass the ball about make them looks soooo much better than us .
Since the beginning of the season I could see us with a lot of luck going unbeaten for a few games but also going ages without winning a game cos we offer fuck all goal threat .
We have gotten ourselves in to a brilliant position with the crap squad assembled , saved by a decent ish January, it will be criminal to fuck up from where we have but where we are now not so surprising .
Our biggest goal threat now is our long throws cos we offer fuck all footballing wise .
Whether we stay up or not so much has to change cos we are a proper lame team and while our nearest and dearest are above us , I can’t ever accept this shit as good enough for our Charlton.
73% Safety and another crack of the whip earned by NJ
27% relegation and get rid of the manager and 75% of this shit house squad .7 -
Great numbers from Preston , superb turn out for them12
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It was their day they remember fans and players who died strange to have it on an away gameoohaahmortimer said:Great numbers from Preston , superb turn out for them1 -
Absolutely this. The problem with TC isn't TC, it's the players around him. When the whole team is pushing forward, there's usually no-one else offering a creative outlet so he often ends up in a cul-de-sac and then the ball gets pushed back. When he gets the ball and breaks on his own, no-one else has the speed to go with him, so he gets isolated. I feel really sorry for him, and it's with no pleasure that I say the best thing for him would probably be to get away from us*.Radostanradical said:
Poor lad is made a scapegoat for everything, yes he can be frustrating at times but you are bang on with your assessment much wider issues. He will play at a higher level._uptheaddicks said:TC's copping the overall fury of our tactics, poor attacking play and attempts at goal.
There's a much wider picture at play and worth analysing.
*Assuming that there aren't serious plans to fix our creativity and speed issues in the summer.7 -
Well reading everything on this site is like some sort of difficult Counselling session... There's anger, frustration, tears, hope, despair and a hot line to the Samaritans!
However, thinking more positively let's look forward to Saturday....
We should have a good turnout that will hopefully spur the boys on....
Not sure if there be too many changes but Coady and Clarke coming in would be a flipping good start... Godden and Kelman anybody? I'm also convinced that if Knibbs plays he might well score... He's one of the few players that can drift in out of nowhere. .
It's still in our own hands and now we will see just how much the players want this.
COYA... fight like your lives depend on it!
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Think people expectations have gone silly .. 4th from bottom on GD everyone would have taken on the first day of the season .. coming up is so tough for normal clubs suddenly your mixing it with average team like your Preston , Bristol QPR etc who will most likey always be a championship side but have players on 30k plus a week , we are not at that level our highest is 14k so it’s going to take a few reasons for us get that level .. we have done fantastic , and it’s always tough to get over that line ( althrough 49 points may be enough ) but staying up on our budget that was made more difficult by getting promoted 12 months early then the plan .. will be this club biggest achievement .. don’t care if it takes the 96 min goal at Swansea to keep us up the most important thing is we stay up and then we can build and take that next step .. lot of players will benefit from a proper pre season which we never had either last season and will all be better for this season in the championship .. we have a good squad and players like Knibbs and Kelman will prove their worth next season don’t rule out Apter still think he got a lot of offer .. I believe we will change our system next year to be more positive especially at home .. but most important thing is we are a championship side and I have no concerns that we won’t be
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Surely if the penalty area is "vacant" why is he crossing the ball ? Obviously our 1 striker or midfield should be busting a gut to get up & support him but so often even with support his crosses go to no one, he just doesn't appear to look up or his passes are inaccurate.thickandthin63 said:
I dont do the markings but if I did I would certainly have marked him above 5.Unbelievable?,he is the only outlet we have that can hold on to the ball and maybe get a cross or pull back in.Did you not notice how many times in that 1st half he done the full back,and crossed the ball to a vacant penalty area.Some people are saying he cost us the 2nd goal.He was involved in a move in their area,the ball was lost,and before you could blink they scored,almost identical to the Watford goal.So if a forward loses the ball in the opposing penalty area,attempting to create a goal,is he then responsible for the fact that the ball moved unchallenged for 80 yards.resulting in a goal against.If Harry Kane,Lionel Messi and co lose the ball,do we suddenly see them charging back to the left back position to recover it.I suggest you and your like are the idiots.I am just off to Peppa Pig world with the grand daughter,hopefully might have a conversation with someone who knows a bit more about football than you do.last_line said:Some idiots have scored TC above 5 on the marks post. Unbelievable!!1 -
EastTerrace said:I thought JRC was shattered when he went off. Didn’t think he was covering the ground he needed to.Lovely player, maybe not a Jones one.
Doc was Doc as usual. TC was okay I thought.
Carey poor again (a few have been saying this for months now, many are now seeing it too).
I also haven’t seen much from Fuller to suggest that I should agree with the clamber for him to be in the side. Has seemed a bit all over the place to me. I think some just want a bit of excitement in midfield, which he was today, for PNE.Agree with all.I would play jrc in the carey role, give carey a rest, get two engines behind him (doc, cov or coady)0 -
The season has taken its toll - little or no energy in the side and the effectiveness of the early season press has all but disappeared. Many of the players look tired and either through injury or players not being in NJ’s plans the manager hasn’t had the option to rotate. It illustrates how recruitment needed to be better last summer4
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se9addick said:
I just don’t see that with TC. What I see is one of the only (maybe the only) players in our team who is willing to get on the ball and try and make things work. A couple of times in the first half yesterday Chambers played some excellent balls through their lines to TC, that’s entirely because TC is making a move to get into the right position to receive the pass. I don’t understand how that’s possible if he’s just wandering around with his shoulders slumped.usetobunkin said:Agree with a lot that has been posted, but the stand out for me is TC and his lack of motivation.
He should be brimming with skill and work rate. But instead he just wanders about shoulders slumped, looking like he can't wait to get away from us.It’s a very strange situation with Campbell and how divided our fan base are on him. He’s like one of those pictures a therapist holds up and asks “what do you see?”.TC is so polarising. Is see it like you. To me he is a great talent. Works his socks off in an unnatural position for him. Was knackered by mid second half. We need to save hus energy and play him on the wing (vini / salah role). Yesterday he was making things happen.Others, like those at the fromt of the covered end who gave him some abuse, cannot stand him.Its perplexing to me, and they will think the same.3 -
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This season is the most avoidable for getting relegated ever. If we do down I’d rip it up and start again. New manager new players the lot9
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I don’t really want to get drawn into hypotheticals, but I wouldn’t do that. We know how easy it is to get “stuck” in League One, we also know how difficult getting recruitment right can be (especially as a much less attractive proposition back in L1). I’d keep Jones, he knows how to get us out of L1 and is better than any other manager we could realistically get. The players we have would definitely be capable of competing at the top of L1 if we could keep the majority of them together. To me that’s a much better situation than throwing away both manager and squad to roll the dice on getting the replacement of both spot on.AberystwythAddick said:This season is the most avoidable for getting relegated ever. If we do down I’d rip it up and start again. New manager new players the lot1 -
For a change I sat in lower West in G block at the back and the early volley by Docherty showed we were on the front foot and a TC cross was headed against the post by J R-C. Fantastic day out for the Preston Gentry and the Preston players at this point were dozy and not responding to the noise being made by their fans.
A really good opening 20 minutes by CAFC with PNE under pressure and Fevrier had a really good 1st start in place of the Injured Clarke. Had good moments on the right in 1st and on the left in 2nd half.
What happens after 20 minutes was Preston remembered to stop thinking about their summer hols and show CAFC why they have been a fixture in the 2nd tier for the last 11 seasons.
After PNE headed goal from the poor marking and scored by Dobbin, the aptly named workhorse, their confidence soared and playing with no pressure the players passed and moved for fun and Charlton players became as nervous as the CAFC crowd.
Because of the inability to score more than 1 at home in '26';
18th October against Sheffield Wednesday to be precise which is six months come next week!
The return match at Sheff Wed now takes on an importance it really shouldn't have but being hit with the old 1-2 again we are in real danger as the confidence is draining out of the squad as the valley has become easy pickings for championship quality teams.
It's your Gig Nathan.
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Sheffield Wednesday are looking to sell out our game and they smell blood now. We need Coady back for his leadership and game management. I would go with Dykes and Kelman upfront with Knibbs behind4
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Maybe this was the owners’ contingency plan all along, and maybe they’re simply not willing to out spend a certain amount to ’guarantee’ staying up but would rather aim for Top 2 League One instead. In other words become a Burnley but one division lower. 🤫Billericaydickie said:
Agree 100%killerandflash said:
As a club we're obviously way ahead of where we were in 2020. In terms of what we are producing on the pitch though, are we any better?Callumcafc said:
Yes we have. What a silly question.CAFCTrev said:PragueAddick said:However I have something to say about comparisons with 2019/20.
People forget exactly what we were dealing with then. We were "owned" by a bunch of low-lifes who had no interest whatsoever in anything other than extracting cash from the club - and stitching each other up in the process.I think comparing this to 19/20 only makes where we are now look even worse. Back then, you could at least point to instability off the pitch and a constantly shifting squad. This time, we’ve got relatively stable ownership and a more settled group of players.
So the question is: have we actually moved forward at all in terms of league position compared to then?
In the summer of 2019 we spent peanuts under Roland, whereas in the summer of 2025 we spent a load of money. Big money.
But most of it was wasted.
Apter and Tanto, loaned out after 6 months.
Kelman, on the bench and not brought on.
Knibbs, didn't make the bench
That's £8m? of acquisitions that didn't play today. Not because of injuries, but because NJ either didn't rate them or because they were the wrong buys. Bowyer made mistakes in his last year, but imagine Bowyer and Gallen with the budget we had last summer.
Most of this money that Nathan had to spend last summer was totally wasted.
Jones must have realized early on that Apter & Tanto, wasn’t good enough because they barely played. Likewise, Kelman was played, but it soon became apparent that his ceiling is League 1. In fact the only player bought in who was any good was Carey.The American owners will be very weary of handing over another transfer budget to Jones, after he pissed the best part of 8 million pounds down the drain. Unless of course, we are back in League 1 and the League 1 buys he made, can once again play football in a division that they are best suited to.0 -
MrBurns said:Sheffield Wednesday are looking to sell out our game and they smell blood now. We need Coady back for his leadership and game management. I would go with Dykes and Kelman upfront with Knibbs behind
This is now our most important match since the Wembley play off final and the Sheffield Wednesday players and fans are under no pressure just like the Preston players and fans yesterday.
Start with Dykes and Kelman or the other way round with Godden and Leaburn but Nathan must make sure over the 100 odd minutes of this match that either Kelman and Godden are on the field.
Maybe I see the game different to others but I always want one penalty area striker who is good on the ground to latch on to the ball from either a pass, deflection or just from the general chaos of balls pinging around in the box.
With Carey currently out of form or his lucks run out, Knibbs behind either Dykes/Kelman or Leaburn/Godden for at least an hour may be worth a go.
Then depending on the state of the match give Carey a chance from the bench for redemption in the attacking midfielder role to see if he can replicate his goal scoring prowess which has deserted him of late.
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20/1?! Still a great price for something that’s nailed on to happen according to more than a few on here. Someone better tell the bookies they’ve all got it wrong but a few Charlton fans have got it right.swords_alive said:
We were still 50/1 last night on william hill so i woke up today intended to take that with a bigger stake than before, but this morning it's 20/1. There still ought to be a lot of takers at that kind of level.charltonbob said:
Wasn't it 125-1 just a week agoCovered_End_Lad said:We are 25-1 to go down currently, that feels massive odds 0 -
Everyone is saying our owners should buy X amount of players for next season. If it was your money would you trust NJ to buy well?
How many of the players he bought start a game, how many are away on loan.
If not for the loans of Coady and others where would we be.
He does not like loans, but obviously doesn't know how to buy decent players either0 -
From what I can find online Coady wouldn't be able to play for at least 14 days due to the concussion protocol, some suggestions say 21.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
I have got fingers and everything else crossed in the hope Coady can play next week.se9addick said:
Your comments on our midfield are (unfortunately) spot on. Coady makes a big difference so I hope he’s back for Sheffield Wednesday as his experience against a youth team should be a valuable asset.Blucher said:The pattern of home games is becoming tediously repetitive and highly worrying, having now clocked up 5 defeats in the last 6. We are overrun and out-passed in midfield, often concede a soft goal, throw forwards on from the bench towards the end and hurl the kitchen sink at the opposition, to no avail.
Three consecutive home defeats (the last two against very average and out of form opponents) have enabled Oxford and the other teams below us to close the gap and we are now very much at risk. The direction of travel is concerning and Ipswich and Hull will fancy their chances coming to The Valley later this month.
The net result is that there is big pressure on next Saturday’s game against Wednesday. A win at Hillsborough would certainly alleviate that pressure but, for a team now leaking goals and who have only scored more than one in 5 of our 42 league games thus far, that is far from a straightforward assignment.
We started the game well yesterday but couldn’t get the second goal and, once Preston scored with their first effort on goal, we were second best. They were able to run and pass through our midfield with ease, we looked vulnerable at the back and largely ineffective up front after that promising opening 20 minutes. The game finished, as it so often does now, with us pumping high ball after high ball into the opposition’s box, with Preston content to sit deep and look to spring us on the break.
Nathan doesn’t have too many options personnel wise and I don’t know whether Collins and Clarke will be fit to resume (although I thought that Fevrier did well in place of the latter). We might see Coady and Knibbs come back into midfield, as we looked far too porous in that area and Carey is hopelessly out of form.
We should still be ok but one thing’s for sure - we can’t rely solely on the ineptitude of the teams below us, most of whom (Leicester excepted) are showing signs of life. Towards the very end of 2019/20, Luton and Barnsley looked dead and buried with 4 or 5 games to go and look how that ended.
I suspect his professionalism and general know how is going to be absolutely vital to us getting a result at Sheff Wednesday.0 -
If we had Chris Waddle those same people would be complaining about his posture, concluding incorrectly that it’s laziness. About the only thing I like about NJ is his insistence on workrate. He doesn’t stand for laziness.se9addick said:
I just don’t see that with TC. What I see is one of the only (maybe the only) players in our team who is willing to get on the ball and try and make things work. A couple of times in the first half yesterday Chambers played some excellent balls through their lines to TC, that’s entirely because TC is making a move to get into the right position to receive the pass. I don’t understand how that’s possible if he’s just wandering around with his shoulders slumped.usetobunkin said:Agree with a lot that has been posted, but the stand out for me is TC and his lack of motivation.
He should be brimming with skill and work rate. But instead he just wanders about shoulders slumped, looking like he can't wait to get away from us.It’s a very strange situation with Campbell and how divided our fan base are on him. He’s like one of those pictures a therapist holds up and asks “what do you see?”.0
