I couldn't get hold of a steam yesterday so relied on Pete and the match thread. Just watched the highlights on Player and, from what I could see, we were unlucky. We seemed to have put in an almost classic away game performance to deservedly grab the 3 points. It was always going to be difficult and Bob knew that. What I could sense is that we cautiously grew into the game and opened it up a bit in the second half. And Igor's goal came just at the right time after a bit of pressure. Callum should have scored which would have put the game away but then it all fell apart which, incidentally, coincided with the Charlton Player stream suddenly going dead. The demons were at play.
Brentford were incredibly lucky with their goal which spoiled the script, which I thought was pretty much perfect up to that time. That deflection was a killer and it could have gone anywhere. To credit that to Smith is a joke.
So, we should have had 3 points, got 1 which we should be happy with, but I can't help feel that the script was all set up for us to grab that. The miss by Callum followed by a wicked deflection stole the game from us. And that's football. :-)
I couldn't get hold of a steam yesterday so relied on Pete and the match thread. Just watched the highlights on Player and, from what I could see, we were unlucky. We seemed to have put in an almost classic away game performance to deservedly grab the 3 points. It was always going to be difficult and Bob knew that. What I could sense is that we cautiously grew into the game and opened it up a bit in the second half. And Igor's goal came just at the right time after a bit of pressure. Callum should have scored which would have put the game away but then it all fell apart which, incidentally, coincided with the Charlton Player stream suddenly going dead. The demons were at play.
Brentford were incredibly lucky with their goal which spoiled the script, which I thought was pretty much perfect up to that time. That deflection was a killer and it could have gone anywhere. To credit that to Smith is a joke.
So, we should have had 3 points, got 1 which we should be happy with, but I can't help feel that the script was all set up for us to grab that. The miss by Callum followed by a wicked deflection stole the game from us. And that's football. :-)
Encouraging signs though.
Brentford were always going to pile on pressure at the end I think, regardless of the score they'd want something for the fans to cheer - Harriot's miss would have rendered it moot but to be fair to Brentford they'd not stopped trying all game, but we were on the whole the better side in my eyes. Can't help but wonder what would have happened if it had been Igor passing to Tucudean (whose chance wasn't that much harder than Harriot's in fairness), or even Harriot passing to Igor.
Still, I think Bob will have taken that as proof another proven striker is a must - Harriot could fill in, Pigott has potential but a lot to learn, Ansah is an unknown quantity. Even if it isn't Delort, we need someone else up front I would say.
First Half - seemed to be lots or arguing between Henderson and the centre backs. Bikey seems like a very Fiery character, but that's something we have probably been missing. He really grew into the game, and he didn't get beaten too often. There will not be too many people that can beat him for strength this season.
The midfield seemed to be missing for the first half, perhaps towards the end of the half they got more into the game. Not too much to write home about first half really. Henderson took far took long to get rid of the ball. Vetokele seemed to be causing them some problems. It was hard to see from the other end if George should have done better with his chance.
Thought Brentford looked much more likely in the first half, and Charlton needed to step up to prevent an opening day loss.
Second Half - looked much improved. The midfield came into the game. Solly and JBG linked up play very well down the right. Cousins and Wiggins also had some good link-up play down the other wing. Still didn't think we had much about us in the centre of the park. Can JBG cross with both feet, or was that just my imagination? Great save by Button to deny Vetokele the first time - he's got a great leap and head on him for a man so short in stature. Well taken goal. The one negative about the goal being that I got somewhat crushed against the bar in the celebrations, but i've just about gotten over that now... Vetokele did fantastically well to create the chance for Harriott, he is going to cause some serious problems for defences this season. Can't remember the last time I was so excited about a Charlton player.
Henderson pulled off a couple of great saves in the second half, although it seems one of them was offside anyway. Once again difficult to tell what happened for their goal from the other end.
When I saw Brentford had signed Tommy Smith I thought that he would get some important goals this season, he gets them where ever he goes, so I was worried when he came on, and they looked more dangerous with him on the pitch.
Shame we didn't hold on for the three points,
I think I would prefer to see Morrison in with Bikey in the next game, TBH didn't play awfully, but he didn't instil me with too much confidence. It was his first game for us though, and it will take the team some time to get to know each other.
Solly was my MOTM. For a man that is not supposed to be able to train properly, he looked fantastic. Very rarely beaten, and got some great balls in to the box as well. As mentioned earlier Solly and JBG has some great moments down the right and I hope this partnership can build as the season progresses, if he can play all the games that is. Hopefully Wilson and JBG could manage to strike up a good partnership too if they end up playing together.
Cousins did fairly well on the left, although as others have mentioned, I think he would be better employed in the centre. Can Moussa play left mid?
All in all an enjoyable day out, great to be able to get to see Charlton play again. Hoping to be able to get down to the Valley soon, but I should be able to get to a fair few away games this season. Excited to see what is in store for us, especially if we can get another couple of recruits in.
Went to the game. Full credit to our supporters who have not stopped singing all game.
I thought we was a little flat in the first half and never really got going. We struggled to keep the ball at times but we defended very well and gave Brentford only 1 real oppotunity. We should have been 1-0 up at half time.
2nd half - much better. We caused a threat every time we attacked and probably should have finished the game in the end. Harriot was unfortunate as he had to take it first hit under pressure but he really should have scored. Igor looks an outstanding player and caused a few problems with the Brentford defence, think he will end up being our top goalscorer this year.
Overall, a lot of positives to take from yesterday and much better than Bouremouth last year.
1-1 was a fair result though of course harriets miss would have made it game over...did anyone else notice that Brentford seemed to be a lot more fitter in my view than us.
Solly was exposed to 2 players for nearly all the first half and that was where the threat came from. Goalie flapped at a few and i thought he was Hamer in disguise but grew as the game went on.
Cousins looked lost on the left and is a central midfield player. We need to up our game if we are going to make any impact this season, there are many other squads that are far superior to ours.
Posted on Charlton life thread...... was Saturdays line-up one of our most international ever... 9 different nationalities... Irish x 1 (Henderson) Wales x 1 (Wiggins) England x 3 (solly and jacko,cousins) Iceland (Berg) Angola (Vetokele) Rumania (Tucu) Cameroon (Bikey) Israel (tbh) Belgium - Buyens
Posting after watching snippets from the live stream & the football league show.To me it look a pretty even match & I think the stats back that up. First games of the season are usually quite tight and it looked like this didn't open up until well into the 2nd half.
Henderson looked solid and made a couple ofdecent saves. Looks like he could be the reliable keeper we need.
I fear Solly & Wiggins will never hit the top top heights we've come to expect from them defensively and offensively again. That's not to say Solly didn't have a good game but he's lost a yard. TBH was unlucky with the goal. Done all he could and I think he will surprise a few this year. He's a very competent defender. Bikey looks a man mounting, something we've needed at CB for a while. Sad to see Morro dropped but he will get his chance
As I said I've only seen snippets of the game and the midfield has completly passed by me.New guy beginning with G made a superb pass to split their defence but that's all I've seen really. We shouldn't dwell on the Harriot miss. For allthe stepovers and skill he has nocomposure. If I was BP I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I'd tell him he's the first name on the team sheet for Tuesday and it's his chance to put things right.
Igor looked very sharp and well up for it. Took his goal brilliantly for a small guy and looks like a hard working player. The other guy no29 didnt look too heavily involved so i wouldnt be surprised to see him involved Tuesday.
Happy with a point and looking forward to seeing some more new faces midweek.
First impression, we went to a League One Ground and played a team that deserves its place in this Division. As would be expected we did not look like a settled team, and I believe that we are still a little way away from knowing our best squad. The full backs looked sharp, but although Ben Haim is a good player he wandered about a bit too much for me.I prefer my centre backs to work closely as a pair, I would have preferred to see Bikie and Morrison. Jason Cousins should not be played on the flanks, in midfield we badly needed a Scott Parker 'like' attacking behind the front two. Perhaps Moussa will be that when he is fully fit. Up front Vetekelle was my man of the match, and given the service will score a lot of goals for us. Henderson made one superb save to stop a point blank range header, but his early distribution was poor, long stuff up to their centre backs and the ball quickly returned. He also seemed to think early on that his job was to shout at the defence at every opportunity, causing a row with Bikie and another spat between players. He needs to be told how to inspire his defence, not just annoy them. Tucadean seemed off the pace, missed a one on one which he should have converted, and I think Piggott would have been better. Overall a good point from a difficult game, with signs that we can challenge this season. Now for Wigan.
I really don't understand TBH starting ahead of Morrison. To me Morrison looks on the same level if not the better player, he is also 6 years younger than TBH, who will surely not be here for much longer than a season or two.
If Big Bob is playing poor young Jordan Cousins on the left to accommodate JBG then Bob's a berk. JC ain't really a wide midfielder at all and he's clearly so much more uncomfortable on the left. We know JBG prefers playing on the right so he can cut in and show off these skills he supposedly has but in the absence of any other naturally left-sided players we end up half a player light with no penetration down the left at all. If Calamity's still not fit enough next week against Wigan and Bob sticks with this lineup, we'll know he's a chump.
Presumably Morrison ain't fully well/fit, cos against Portsmouth and Brentford TBH was awful, slow, disinterested, argumentative, poor all around. If Bob still reckons TBH a better bet than Morrison then he's gonna start smelling like the 'Yes man' patsy many have suspected Roly Douchebag wanted all along.
Tucudean looks pony as well.
Given that Brentford had loads of possession and effectively played against no more than 9* outfield players before Calamity came on and no more than 8 after, they only managed 1 decent shot on goal before their equaliser deflected in off the hapless TBH. Brentford fans should be quite concerned at their lack of potency, we charlton fans ought to be concerned if Bob's selections remain unaltered.
* - cousins plays with one arm tied behind his back out of position on the left and TBH either can't be bothered or really is pony - Calamity looks competent maybe 3 or 4 games a season and this wasn't one
@Granpa I think Peeters knows his best 18 but not his best starting XI at this stage but let's hope he uses every game in August to fine tune - suddenly Huddersfield and Brighton away look like they might yield points. As ever the average scores awarded gives a reasonable appraisal of the players although Cousins loses something for being out of position and Harriott hammered by some for hitting the bar. I don't think Morrison and Wilson did much wrong last season and it's up to them to force themselves into contention for a start. All in all it's a point more than we secured this time last year vs a newly promoted team so all good.
If Big Bob is playing poor young Jordan Cousins on the left to accommodate JBG then Bob's a berk. JC ain't really a wide midfielder at all and he's clearly so much more uncomfortable on the left. We know JBG prefers playing on the right so he can cut in and show off these skills he supposedly has but in the absence of any other naturally left-sided players we end up half a player light with no penetration down the left at all. If Calamity's still not fit enough next week against Wigan and Bob sticks with this lineup, we'll know he's a chump.
Presumably Morrison ain't fully well/fit, cos against Portsmouth and Brentford TBH was awful, slow, disinterested, argumentative, poor all around. If Bob still reckons TBH a better bet than Morrison then he's gonna start smelling like the 'Yes man' patsy many have suspected Roly Douchebag wanted all along.
Tucudean looks pony as well.
Given that Brentford had loads of possession and effectively played against no more than 9* outfield players before Calamity came on and no more than 8 after, they only managed 1 decent shot on goal before their equaliser deflected in off the hapless TBH. Brentford fans should be quite concerned at their lack of potency, we charlton fans ought to be concerned if Bob's selections remain unaltered.
* - cousins plays with one arm tied behind his back out of position on the left and TBH either can't be bothered or really is pony - Calamity looks competent maybe 3 or 4 games a season and this wasn't one
I think you're on a wind up but, truly what is the point of going to watch Charlton if you're going to be so negative after one game? Which we didn't even lose! And then to spend all that time writing about how bad you feel about it all? And writing off TBH AND Tucudean after one game (friendlies don't count for anything) for us as well as talking about JBGs "supposed" ability-you'll be slagging him off next week if he doesn't meet your standards in the next game.....
Sheesh-cheer up man!!
For what it's worth, I thought we played well particularly in the second half and was happy enough with all the new signings. My only concern was how deep we sat after scoring but that's nothing new and hopefully we'll be a bit more expansive at home. Onwards and upwards!
If Big Bob is playing poor young Jordan Cousins on the left to accommodate JBG then Bob's a berk. JC ain't really a wide midfielder at all and he's clearly so much more uncomfortable on the left. We know JBG prefers playing on the right so he can cut in and show off these skills he supposedly has but in the absence of any other naturally left-sided players we end up half a player light with no penetration down the left at all. If Calamity's still not fit enough next week against Wigan and Bob sticks with this lineup, we'll know he's a chump.
Presumably Morrison ain't fully well/fit, cos against Portsmouth and Brentford TBH was awful, slow, disinterested, argumentative, poor all around. If Bob still reckons TBH a better bet than Morrison then he's gonna start smelling like the 'Yes man' patsy many have suspected Roly Douchebag wanted all along.
Tucudean looks pony as well.
Given that Brentford had loads of possession and effectively played against no more than 9* outfield players before Calamity came on and no more than 8 after, they only managed 1 decent shot on goal before their equaliser deflected in off the hapless TBH. Brentford fans should be quite concerned at their lack of potency, we charlton fans ought to be concerned if Bob's selections remain unaltered.
* - cousins plays with one arm tied behind his back out of position on the left and TBH either can't be bothered or really is pony - Calamity looks competent maybe 3 or 4 games a season and this wasn't one
I didn't go so have only been able to go on what people have posted on the thread so far. All sounds relatively positive. Seems like JJ and Buyens struggled in the middle. One thing I did find strange however. If Gudmunssen is left footed, and Cousins is in no way shape or form a wide player (we saw that from Powell experimenting with him on the right last season, he was awful out there), do we know why BP went with this approach?
I get the whole winger cutting in on opposite side, but in as much as it could've been attractive to BP, I can't imagine the lack of threat down the left was worth it. However, I didn't go, so would welcome some feedback.
Sounds like Vetokele had a good game, the Football League Paper gave him 'star man', hopefully we've got a real gem there. Some people have said Bikey also did well.
Not wanting to sound like a broken record, especially as I didn't go and can only read other people's posts, but I fear what we lose as a team with JJ in a 3 man central midfield, let alone 2. But, assisted with the corner, so you could argue he did his job (set pieces).
I believe Cousins was played on the left to nullify their £1 million pound summer sighing from Orient. Odubajo did not get a sniff and was actually taken off. I think that was very clever of BP...
I also thought JC had a cracking second half, its great to have such a young versatile player that can help out in most positions.
Tbf , i wasnt all that impressed by Gudmunsson, it feels like he is going to make something happen but more often than not it just looks that way and not a lot followed. But flair players need to grow in their game, sure he'll score some beaties with that left foot. Curious to see if Moussa will be up for the Championship as he too is a flair player
I like that team, although i think Tucudean will get better, as he impressed me at Portsmouth.
It's nice to have 3 CBs(4 if you count Gomez) who i would not be worried what pairing played, i think we are solid in that postion.
Very solid. To be honest (cant use TBH any more !) - after releasing 20 odd players during the summer and bringing in not half as many, we are well placed with quality in most positions, and definitely are a stronger team than this time last season.
Goes to show, quality over quantity goes a long way. Obviously you don't want a squad as small as Blackpool's, but when you're calling on the likes of Church as your striker off the bench, you can't honestly claim to have strength in depth! On which subject, another striker in is a priority if the Delort Saga goes wrong, preferably one with a bit of height/muscle. The two looked decent yesterday but a big lump CB would clobber the pair of them without missing a step.
I wouldnt be so sure on that last part, Igor is very strong for a relative lightweight and knows how to take and deal out hits. He's very smart in his timing and big limp CB's are going to struggle too. If they let him touch the ball and turn (something he does lighting fast) they are lost.
I really don't understand TBH starting ahead of Morrison. To me Morrison looks on the same level if not the better player, he is also 6 years younger than TBH, who will surely not be here for much longer than a season or two.
Here is a clue - our owner brought him over from Standard Liege.
I really don't understand TBH starting ahead of Morrison. To me Morrison looks on the same level if not the better player, he is also 6 years younger than TBH, who will surely not be here for much longer than a season or two.
Maybe TBH has been better in training, or is better on the ball in the new passing from the back system? Morrison has to start again from scratch with a new manager, he won't get picked based on how he played last season.
Thought TBH and Bikey worked well considering its their first game together. Few communication errors, but i'm sure Morrison and Bikey would be the same with the inexperience of being together.
Comments
Brentford were incredibly lucky with their goal which spoiled the script, which I thought was pretty much perfect up to that time. That deflection was a killer and it could have gone anywhere. To credit that to Smith is a joke.
So, we should have had 3 points, got 1 which we should be happy with, but I can't help feel that the script was all set up for us to grab that. The miss by Callum followed by a wicked deflection stole the game from us. And that's football. :-)
Encouraging signs though.
Still, I think Bob will have taken that as proof another proven striker is a must - Harriot could fill in, Pigott has potential but a lot to learn, Ansah is an unknown quantity. Even if it isn't Delort, we need someone else up front I would say.
The midfield seemed to be missing for the first half, perhaps towards the end of the half they got more into the game. Not too much to write home about first half really. Henderson took far took long to get rid of the ball. Vetokele seemed to be causing them some problems. It was hard to see from the other end if George should have done better with his chance.
Thought Brentford looked much more likely in the first half, and Charlton needed to step up to prevent an opening day loss.
Second Half - looked much improved. The midfield came into the game. Solly and JBG linked up play very well down the right. Cousins and Wiggins also had some good link-up play down the other wing. Still didn't think we had much about us in the centre of the park. Can JBG cross with both feet, or was that just my imagination? Great save by Button to deny Vetokele the first time - he's got a great leap and head on him for a man so short in stature. Well taken goal. The one negative about the goal being that I got somewhat crushed against the bar in the celebrations, but i've just about gotten over that now... Vetokele did fantastically well to create the chance for Harriott, he is going to cause some serious problems for defences this season. Can't remember the last time I was so excited about a Charlton player.
Henderson pulled off a couple of great saves in the second half, although it seems one of them was offside anyway. Once again difficult to tell what happened for their goal from the other end.
When I saw Brentford had signed Tommy Smith I thought that he would get some important goals this season, he gets them where ever he goes, so I was worried when he came on, and they looked more dangerous with him on the pitch.
Shame we didn't hold on for the three points,
I think I would prefer to see Morrison in with Bikey in the next game, TBH didn't play awfully, but he didn't instil me with too much confidence. It was his first game for us though, and it will take the team some time to get to know each other.
Solly was my MOTM. For a man that is not supposed to be able to train properly, he looked fantastic. Very rarely beaten, and got some great balls in to the box as well. As mentioned earlier Solly and JBG has some great moments down the right and I hope this partnership can build as the season progresses, if he can play all the games that is. Hopefully Wilson and JBG could manage to strike up a good partnership too if they end up playing together.
Cousins did fairly well on the left, although as others have mentioned, I think he would be better employed in the centre. Can Moussa play left mid?
All in all an enjoyable day out, great to be able to get to see Charlton play again. Hoping to be able to get down to the Valley soon, but I should be able to get to a fair few away games this season. Excited to see what is in store for us, especially if we can get another couple of recruits in.
Bahebeck looked good the other night...
I thought we was a little flat in the first half and never really got going. We struggled to keep the ball at times but we defended very well and gave Brentford only 1 real oppotunity. We should have been 1-0 up at half time.
2nd half - much better. We caused a threat every time we attacked and probably should have finished the game in the end. Harriot was unfortunate as he had to take it first hit under pressure but he really should have scored. Igor looks an outstanding player and caused a few problems with the Brentford defence, think he will end up being our top goalscorer this year.
Overall, a lot of positives to take from yesterday and much better than Bouremouth last year.
Solly was exposed to 2 players for nearly all the first half and that was where the threat came from. Goalie flapped at a few and i thought he was Hamer in disguise but grew as the game went on.
Cousins looked lost on the left and is a central midfield player. We need to up our game if we are going to make any impact this season, there are many other squads that are far superior to ours.
was Saturdays line-up one of our most international ever...
9 different nationalities...
Irish x 1 (Henderson)
Wales x 1 (Wiggins)
England x 3 (solly and jacko,cousins)
Iceland (Berg)
Angola (Vetokele)
Rumania (Tucu)
Cameroon (Bikey)
Israel (tbh)
Belgium - Buyens
And no Sweaty's.
For me, he definitely controlled the ball with his arm, although I have to say the TV replay wasn't conclusive.
The ball was going past his body, so how did he stop/control the ball, if it wasn't his arm ?
TBH also appealled, raising his arm.
#cheatingnorthernbastards.
In front on an open goal.............square on, if that was Church there would have been a riot.
If that was Church the ball would still be rolling gently towards the goal........
Henderson looked solid and made a couple ofdecent saves. Looks like he could be the reliable keeper we need.
I fear Solly & Wiggins will never hit the top top heights we've come to expect from them defensively and offensively again. That's not to say Solly didn't have a good game but he's lost a yard. TBH was unlucky with the goal. Done all he could and I think he will surprise a few this year. He's a very competent defender. Bikey looks a man mounting, something we've needed at CB for a while. Sad to see Morro dropped but he will get his chance
As I said I've only seen snippets of the game and the midfield has completly passed by me.New guy beginning with G made a superb pass to split their defence but that's all I've seen really.
We shouldn't dwell on the Harriot miss. For allthe stepovers and skill he has nocomposure. If I was BP I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I'd tell him he's the first name on the team sheet for Tuesday and it's his chance to put things right.
Igor looked very sharp and well up for it. Took his goal brilliantly for a small guy and looks like a hard working player. The other guy no29 didnt look too heavily involved so i wouldnt be surprised to see him involved Tuesday.
Happy with a point and looking forward to seeing some more new faces midweek.
Presumably Morrison ain't fully well/fit, cos against Portsmouth and Brentford TBH was awful, slow, disinterested, argumentative, poor all around. If Bob still reckons TBH a better bet than Morrison then he's gonna start smelling like the 'Yes man' patsy many have suspected Roly Douchebag wanted all along.
Tucudean looks pony as well.
Given that Brentford had loads of possession and effectively played against no more than 9* outfield players before Calamity came on and no more than 8 after, they only managed 1 decent shot on goal before their equaliser deflected in off the hapless TBH. Brentford fans should be quite concerned at their lack of potency, we charlton fans ought to be concerned if Bob's selections remain unaltered.
* - cousins plays with one arm tied behind his back out of position on the left and TBH either can't be bothered or really is pony - Calamity looks competent maybe 3 or 4 games a season and this wasn't one
I don't think Morrison and Wilson did much wrong last season and it's up to them to force themselves into contention for a start.
All in all it's a point more than we secured this time last year vs a newly promoted team so all good.
Sheesh-cheer up man!!
For what it's worth, I thought we played well particularly in the second half and was happy enough with all the new signings. My only concern was how deep we sat after scoring but that's nothing new and hopefully we'll be a bit more expansive at home. Onwards and upwards!
I get the whole winger cutting in on opposite side, but in as much as it could've been attractive to BP, I can't imagine the lack of threat down the left was worth it. However, I didn't go, so would welcome some feedback.
Sounds like Vetokele had a good game, the Football League Paper gave him 'star man', hopefully we've got a real gem there. Some people have said Bikey also did well.
Not wanting to sound like a broken record, especially as I didn't go and can only read other people's posts, but I fear what we lose as a team with JJ in a 3 man central midfield, let alone 2. But, assisted with the corner, so you could argue he did his job (set pieces).
I also thought JC had a cracking second half, its great to have such a young versatile player that can help out in most positions.
Thought TBH and Bikey worked well considering its their first game together. Few communication errors, but i'm sure Morrison and Bikey would be the same with the inexperience of being together.