Just got back from the game.
Once again results elsewhere have saved out sorry asses. Ipswich is a must win - need to help ourselves for once.
Tonight was worrying - Wasteful finishing by a team that looked disjointed. The extra training did not work as the side did not gel at all.
Fair play to the 250 addicks turned up. Powell, Youga and Akin Badbuy sat with us lot.
Charlton need to get out of this divison first time around out of necessity otherwise the clock has been wound back by a considerable amount of time and we are stuck in this division for a good while.
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I'm starting now to see a grim picture, I really don't wanna but it's slipping into my head. Time is now absolutely not on our side and like last year we are in real danger of running out of games.
If a helping hand is needed to bond 30+ people together, a mate of mine would be well up for taking a group of tough, fit individuals on an excersise at Salisbury Plain week after next. Think that may sort the men from the little girls in the squad. Perhaps may even cost a shite site less than a jaunt to Spain?
Not going up is not what concerns me, the evident lack of coherence within most of the starting XI's I've seen this season is beginning to grate a bit. I am a supporter before I will ever be a booer or anything to that effect but a lack ability I can deal with (of which our squad has in bundles) a lack of effort and togetherness however is not on.
The fact is we have been 5th since Christmas but we have never been 3 points off being mid table before, how does being 5th sound now guys?
And lets make no mistake about it, lets for once be realistic, the fact that we still have a chance of making the play-offs, says more about the division we are in than it does about our own qualities as a team.
It is the poorest Championship for years and we have not taken advantage of it, next year will be harder without a doubt which teams are already gearing up for. There will be millions flying about and as this season has proved our £1.5 and £2m buys fall way short of the level required.
I just cannot see the likes of Derby and the other 2 relegated clubs splashing out that kind of paltry figure on players and the same goes for QPR and Ipswich and a few others.
It's up front where we have gone wrong, yes we have a host of strikers but nothing that stands out, it's just like turning the clock back to having Johannsson, Svensson, Pringle, Bartlett and Lisbie all over again, taliking of Lisbie 13 goals now this season 4 short of Iwelumo and Varney put together!!
8 strikers we have used this season and got a 21 goal return !!and that is where our problems lie as our midfield has scored 23 in comparison! and that's between 5 of them.
Im sure there are people out there with an open mind who would rather read a realistic slant than the we are still 5th stuff.
Yes we played well tonight and it was good to hear that is until I saw the highlights, we should have been out of sight the chances we had. Id rather play badly and win than play well and get nothing crazyaddick
Had Varney been fit at the start of the season he may of banged a couple more in. Thats not to say I disagree with you though.
The forwards haven't scored enough goals but the midfield have stepped up to the plate. Lets not forget that there ain't many forwards about who create and take their own chances. It's arguably because of the prem being stacked with more shite sides than us in previous years we didn't go down sooner it just so happens a lot of gutting things happened last year.
I can't see us doing too much now and I'm starting to grow concerned for next year because if I was a director I would be bricking it if next seasonb goes nipples north
I don't think it's down to being miserable so much I think that Im more realistic than most.
Improved performance tonight yes but you get nothing for playing well, we have played worse this season and won games.
Hanging on to the play offs by the skin of your teeth is not and ideal situation to be in when Ipswich and WBA are your next two games neither is all of our opponents on the run in having something to play for either at the top or the bottom.
As for next year I agree entirely, year 1 of the 2 year plan had to see progress so that the outlay on new players for next season would not be as high as this year.
This would mean the likes of Youga, Moo2, Racon, McCleod, Sinclair, etc etc all being bedded in and improved as players ready for next season but what happens they don't get a chance hardly because of loan players coming in to take their places so when next season comes around they would not have matured enough to be classed as week in week out 1st team players?
That means that the liklihood is that we would have to buy all over again but with what??
We have to take an upcomong, improving, gelled side into year two which maybe would still require the finishing touches of two or three new signings during pre-season but at the moment we have none of those traits. For me year two will start no further forward than year one did but that's just me.
Things could be a lot worse though..... We're not in administration yet and we should be able to sculpt a team out of the amount of playing staff we have on our books.
The goal this season is to go up, if we have to do it from sixth position in the play-offs so be it. If we get to the play-offs and don't make it up, we'll have another crack at it next year. I don't get all this glorifying in our failure and making scapegoats. If everyone focussed this energy on supporting the team, we'd be unbeatable and a lot less likely to have a coronary every time we lose. It would be different if I felt there was some conspiracy to stop us going up and AP and the board were deliberately putting obstacles in our way to ensure we did not go up...... but no one would belive something like that.
AP has made some mistakes, in trying to rectify them he's used more players than he was expecting. But I for one was excited about the signings of Varney, Gray, Cook, Sinclair (and even Mcleod). For one reason or another they have just not gelled and we've not been consistent enough. But we're still in with a shout and I would be extremely suprised if we do not make the play offs - how about a twenty quid charity bet for that kids charity?
I live abroad and this message board is great for keeping up to date with what's going on and feeling part of the Charlton community, even though I don't post very often. It's like I'm sitting in the pub at another table listen to a group of fans having that post match / pre match analysis. it's great. But the people who post on here, post on here because they are more passionate about Charlton than most... that's why we've signed up here. But when you post negative posts ALL the time, seeming to revel in our failure. You'll get people like me typing "here we go again".... (even with a smiley). I think there were 4 or 5 posts after the game saying... "wont be long before Reams and Charlie come on" ... etc.
That's fine if you want to be known as the doomsmonger (is that a word?) of the board and revel in that role. But if you're going to be upset about people reacting to you in that way, maybe you need to try and be a bit more glass half full. Try it.. it's fun!
These boards are all about opinions.... and they're just mine.
Roll on Saturday. 3 - 1 away win. You heard it here first....
I certainly do not glorify in us losing of failing just as I do not gloat in being right sometimes.
I don't like losing, I don't like coming second best it gets me on a real downer when we do believe me, and It maybe just me but I take nothing whatsoever out of playing well tonight and losing or still being 5th.
We have been 5th for weeks with the difference being a defeat would mean that maybe we would fall a place like we did on two occasions to 6th, but now a defeat could mean a 4 or 5 place drop which would put things out of our hands and when that happens you have got problems because the games needed to get back up there would start to run out.
Me, I go for a pint with the lads, want Charlton to win.... but try not to let it spoil a good days drinking.
Pardew: the fans that travelled up today will know we put in a proper effort today.
Then switch on here:
ABSOLUTE GASH
Hahaha
In reality you can bang on about 10 years ago, 20 years ago, yadda yadda, but we have to look at what we have and are doing now. We have "maybe" the biggest squad in the league. We have "maybe" the most expensive squad in the league. But it doesn't look like we have the best squad in the league.
Id put money on most Charlton fans, even the most pesimistic going to the Scunthorpe game in August and expecting us to be sitting at leat 3-4 in the league at this stage of the season, with all in place to push for the top two. What we are is hanging onto 5th place, with no chance of automatic, and teams around us ready to ease past us in the final sprint. Is this pessamistic? NO .. we have won one game in the last seven, what says that its going to change. We have Ipswich, WBA and then Wolves. On current form how many points could we get, should we get, would we be happy with.
If we get into the playoffs .. IF ... we need to hit them hard, be up for it, go to Watford/ Stoke/ Ipswich/ Burnley and put on a performance. On current form can you see this happening?
In my opinion the crux of the problem is in central midfield. We dont have a creative, or ball winning player in there. We havent had for 3 years. As good as Matt Holland has been, he isnt the man to lead the team to the promised land. He does a lot of running round, a few last ditch tackles but that's about it. We need two strong mids, who they are I don't know ... but I'm sure if I was employed as a scout I could come up with better than what we have at a fraction of the price.
If we look back at the two promotion teams in 98 we had Kinsella and Jones. Keith Jones had played shed loads of games at different levels and was an experienced campaigner. Kinsella was young but had played 200 odd games for Colchester and knew what he had to do. The two of them gelled over a season. In 2000/1 we had Kinsella and Stuart. Graeme Stuart signed from Sheff United as we fell out of the Prem. But he had been there before and was an experienced campaigner.
What do we currently have. Matt Holland, Zhi who is still trying to learn the language, fathom out how he has ended up in central mid having been signed as a defender (thats where he played in China and for China), Semedo who was signed as a Central DEFENDER, Racon who has played a total of 2 games, Reid who was sold ... see where I'm going with this. You need two settled mids play them, let them gell, easy ...
As for Abs and Vince, when you travel the length of the country midweek and lose, you're more likely to view it negatively. Steve Brown spoke highly of our performance on the commentary, saying it was a big improvement and we were very unlucky. These below are comments pasted from a burnley forum:
'to use a cliche we've played better and lost this season.I would say Charlton were worth a point overall but it's about time we got something we didn't deserve'
' thought they were one of the best sides to visit Turf Moor this season and that's really saying something'
'They didn't deserve to lose, put it that way.We didn't do enough to win, but for about the first time this season, we actually got three points that we didn't deserve.'
When you look at the players we have, we should ask why are we not performing better.
What's the answer?
Am I not allowed to be pissed off?
Yes I know it;s Charlton, been there done that, but should we not be questioning why well paid players look like they have never played the game before ... ?
Midfield is the real problem and seriously needs addressing over the summer. Whether we can get promoted with what we have is anyone's guess but at the moment I'm guessing not.
fair play to all of those that went to the game last night. I understand the frustrations of standing in that weather - it sounded horrific on the radio, you could hear it!
I cant wait to get to ipswich on Saturday, lets hope the team come out of the blocks raring to go, and the fans do the same, as with that many fans going we have the potential to upset ipswich by spoiling their great home form. We're always the ones to have teams get records against us ie> never won away till the valley, never scored till he played charlton, never won 2 on the row till they played charlton. lets do that ourselves at ipswich!!!!
Pards inability to get a settled team, and playing loaners straight off is a mistake in my view when they are replacing guys who have done not much wrong (Iwelumo and Varney) service is the issue her not striking prowess, sticking with Thomas and Sam, when Cook looks a lot better is a mistake, perhaps he's not fit.
It is difficult to stay positive, although I don't agree with these knee jerk moans, and It's all about opinions and most of us have been watching footy for a long time I would imagine. I have voiced concerns about Pards from very early on, e.g. the way he took his foot off the gas when we started to turn it around in the relegation fight, and later on in the earlier part of the season. I like Pards as a guy but I am seeing very little substance managerially underneath his words and boy can he talk. I also think the Reid thing was extremely damaging and I am not convinced we could not have held on to him till the end of the season.
Perhaps this is a lesson to us all reminding us we don't automatically deserve a top spot.
Plymouth, Burnley, Colchester, QPR, Sheff Utd?
We may have been unlucky to lose last night, but I've heard or read very little that suggests we deserved to win - a goalless draw would still have kept us clinging on to 5th until others play their games in hand and not really helped. Fair enough, it can be irritating when people moan and moan just for the sake of moaning, but trying to brush the problems under the carpet will do more harm than good in the long run - both to Charlton and CharltonLife.
At the end of the day, if we get up in the play offs through playing badly and only by default, then who cares?
loadsa people wanted to stay in the prem with curbs playing ugly football, then we were willing to play ugly football just to stay up, now we're down here and we're playing ugly football and grinding out the odd point every now and then, and not that often, but we're still 5th.....!
if you turn your opinon around, and look on the brightside, we're playing crap, and we're still 5th....thats the fact. and i think we should be a bit more grateful about that rather than down on it all the time. yes its disappointing to not push on and cement the play off spot or even automatics, I'm not saying everything is rosy, the team selections and tactics are baffling but I actually think its more exciting this way heading into every game knowing you could win or lose or draw, rather than expecting to be beaten, i think we thought this league we *should* win, we were wrong.
Gray looks as if he would rather be elsewhere, Lita has no chance with high balls down the middle, Big Chris is consistently pulled up for fouls, Ambrose ran around in ever decreasing circles, Thomas has no end product to his skills, Thatcher needs to told that he is meant to pass the ball to player in the same coloured shirt but Holland, Big Mac, Sodje and ZZ, when he came on, all showed commitment and skill.
The playoffs? - your having a larf!
With respect, I don't think people looking on the positive side of things is brushing things under the carpet. everyone would prefer wins week in and week out and looking to push on and be pulling away from the masses at the top of the table, we're not good enough, but surely thats partly down to the team, and also down to our expectations. Our team should be doing better, no one will disagree with you about that, but they're not, but we're also not doing as bad as some others. If last season we stayed up, it wouldn't have been our own merits, it would have been because someone else was worse. That is why we are where we are, as there are worse teams than us, and every team is picking up points left right and centre. Barnsley last night for example, Scunthorpe. The inconsistency is astounding in this league, for all teams, as well as our own.
Unfortunately, Suzi, history tells us that the teams which do well in the play-offs are the ones that go into them on a bit of a roll, with confidence and form behind them. If we scrape into them we will almost certainly not get through them.
So we still just need to win six or seven matches to the end of the season and then we might have a chance...
haha, was that a bit of positive thinking there Weegie.....its not too late....we could win on saturday, big away win could push on for a big good friday crowd (late kick off, rowdy drunk fans spurring the team on early!), get 2 goals, hold on in a nail biting finish, have a great bank holiday weekend talking about the superb game to all and sundry, roll up to the telvised wolves game, knowing what is expected as all other teams will have played earlier that day, another 3 points in front of a packed rowdy valley, then head down to plymouth for a day out by the seaside, a decent away following, then take that party feeling back to the valley for southampton at home, before a london derby at qpr with big away following roaring the addicks on to cross that finish line with some gusto rather than a whimper, then up to barnsley where the fancy dress contingent will be in full attendance! barnsley with a cup final to concentrate on, as they'll be more or less safe, taking a big beating from the boys from SE7 then back to the Valley for coventry and the close of party show and lap of honour!
I can't wait!!!!!