I rarely post on match threads but I must applaud all those who went tonight, no doubt in expectation of something better, at least you saw a couple of moments of individual quality. If you have paid for the rest of the season then I understand that you may wish to continue your journey of hope for a few more weeks yet.
I did not go myself but had a first hand report from a good friend although when I spoke to him he mentioned it had taken him an hour to get his power of speech back after watching the most abhorrent 45 minutes he had ever seen.
The tragedy was for him was there were 5 or 6 very decent players who looked completely lost. Whatever has gone on in the background at the club has completely destroyed the group individually and collectively as a working unit to the point they bore only a slight (I almost wrote passing! - silly me) resemblance to a professionally coached football team.
He was of the opinion Buyens, Bulot and Bikey should never wear the shirt again. The group is simply not able to carry such passengers. He was most disappointed in the latter who it appears has mentally quite simply had enough.
For him it looked for all the world as not a case of a coach losing the dressing room but an entire club losing the dressing room. The coach appeared to be a complete irrelevance though he did wonder with his exaggerated movements whether he might be planning to audition for the mascots outfit.
He tells me he is now going to lay down in a darkened room and maybe be gone some considerable time. I did suggest he took Bikey with him as he seems in need of therapy. He declined suggesting I give him a call back in May. He did not say which year!
If I may I will offer a slight distraction. If you wanted further evidence of the insane world we now inhabit I suggest you check the Liege sites the club are challenging for a top 6 play off spot.
On the final day of the recent transfer window the owner agreed to sell the Liege top scorer De Camargo* to an Arab club (for cashflow purposes of course). The player duly travelled to the middle east to agree terms and was happily on the plane back when the clubs' Sporting and Finance Directors begged and pleaded he not be sold. Only at the 11th hour did Duchatelet relent.
The mans' wiring is beyond dangerous. Whatever dimension of professional team sport he is involved in it has precious little to do with anybody else's reality. Is it really any wonder the players do not want play for such a guy?
*Postscript.
In fact the press are now reporting the player De Camargo did not get on the plane coming back and is at the moment refusing to return to Liege. Indeed it now looks to be turning into a Kermorgant Mark II. RD is offered money for an ageing striker with 18 months on his contract, snatches the buyers hand off, the player discusses terms on a 3yr deal and wants to go. Trouble is club executives cannot find a replacement and talk Duchatelet into pulling out of the deal. The player politely tells them where to go.
The man really cannot help himself he clearly gave the club and its team not a moments thought.
The first half performance was embarrassing. We looked a disorganised team. Incapable of passing, incapable of taking making set plays count. What do they practice during the week? Sollys mistake led to their first goal and the second somehow from our free kick!! (I’d have to see that again) was greeted predictably by boo’s and “You’re getting sacked in the morning” to our arm waving manager. What is all that arm waving about? It looks more like semaphore signals. Igor chasing lost causes was about the only bright spot of a first half that can only be described as desperate and the chorus of boos that greeted the half time whistle reflected just how bad we had played. Bulots half time substitution was no surprise although not one of the eleven could have complained if they had been withdrawn. Watts inclusion breathed life into our second half performance. His run at the Norwich defenders beating two of them gave us some encouragement early in the second half. Watts subsequent goal followed by Igors gave us hope that an unlikely win was possible. But we all know that Charlton always concede late goals and the rest is history. Plus points – Igor and Watt as a combination look capable of scoring the goals that might just save us from relegation. Negative – What has happened to Bikey? His all round game looks poor compared to the giant defender of the early season also Buyens needs to up his game.
That wasn't the worst game as a CAFC supporter there were games as bad as that served up by the likes of Dowie, Pardew, Parkinson and to be honest Powell in his first half season. But it was unacceptable and we may need a fith manager...
First 8 mins OK next 37 mins terrible then a mixed period when we scored twice until they brought on Jerome who was always going to score the winner.
What does Joe Gomez have to do to get game time ? Solly shouldn't be playing two games in three days, Bikey shouldn't be playing full stop yet Gomez sits on the bench.
Not sure I'd want to risk whatever confidence Gomez has by chucking him into this situation.
This team seems to be a carbon copy of Blackpool last season. They just about survived, not sure that Charlton will. Last night sounds horrendous.
Luzon doesn't have the squad to change it and he doesn't appear to have the players and definitely the fans onside either.
A couple of months back I really didn't expect to be keeping an eye on the results at the bottom, anticipating mid-table mediocrity. Oh for those days to return!
I can't actually believe how badly we have got, it feels like a nightmare.
We are 3 points off relegation... our team is a shambles. I think back to the Derby home game and I was in the pub afterwards saying how this side could make the play offs... Looking at the table is so sobering it's unreal. We may actually be going back to League 1 and I'm not a negative person when it comes to charlton usually but my god... 16 games left and we are in what looks like a relegation scrap.
A home game and an away game v one of the leagues worst sides, not the hardest set of fixtures by any means. I know Brentford are flying but we could perhaps get a point or a huge slice of luck and get a win. 6 points and things will look a lot better. But right now it feels like the club is going down the shitter. The only reason I don't think it will is because of us fans. One thing I am not looking forward to is losing the likes of Gomez and Cousins at the end of this season but unless there is enormous change I can see it happening.
It has all been said. We are a mess and, it's so difficult for me to say this but, I think we're going down. This regime are sucking the blood out of the club. The glory season of CP's promotion and all the expectations of Cash's money seem a long way away now. Sad.
Not much to add to what others have posted except to say that one positive to take from tonight is the promising partnership of Watt & Igor. How long since we had 2 strikers scoring in the same match ? Surely they must both start on Saturday !
Other than that, I echo the view that Buyens is NOT what we need in midfield. So many times I thought he was going to put in a challenge but he didn't. So many times I wondered who he was marking. And so many times he resembled that old favourite- the headless chicken. If only Coquelin could have stayed. With him in the side, our midfield had begun to look decent. So many "if onlys" this season.....
At one point, with what remained of the faithful following Norwich's 2nd goal starting to ramp up the noise, I REALLY felt this could be another Cardiff but alas, it was not meant to be.
So, we move on to Saturday, and Brentford. Another very difficult game of course but one we must get something from if we are to stay above the bottom 3.
3 days remain for GL to work on the positives, the negatives and the morale of this squad of players - we can only hope they are all pulling in the same direction and are up for the fight for survival.
But I also hope that our fans turn out in numbers to support the lads - this is not the time or place to show our displeasure with the way our Club is being managed ( or should that be mismanaged ? ) For 90+ minutes we need to do our bit to lift the players - the time to confront RD & co will come. Right now, our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to support our team in its fight to avoid the drop. On matchdays, that should be not only the aim of those who wear the shirt but of those who sit in the home areas.
PLEASE try to keep the faith a bit longer.
Great post Fanny my sentiments exactly. Need to get behind the boys and as you say RD and co time will come.
Let's be honest, apart from 20mins in the 2nd half we looked absolutely dreadful. Any team from any league could have beaten us. We have no organisation, no movement, no spirit, no confidence, no nothing. I was always going to give Luzon the benefit of the doubt. I somehow thought that the way he liked to play the game might have suited us. But having seen the two home games he's been in charge, nah. I make the covered end choir right, he don't know what he's doing. I fear for the future and we're only heading in one direction. I now know what it must feel like to be a Portsmouth supporter. Things have to change before it's too late.
Good points; Tony watt, Jordan cousins, vetokele getting a goal, that time in the game when we thought we could get a point from this. Bad points; no tactics, no strategy, no battle plan whatever it is called they did not play as a team; they (most) are good players but none of them knew what they were supposed to be doing. Enough said. I don't want to envisage the last day of the season at present. The ways to improve things is to re-group the defence , use other players (why not) and start watt every game. The midfield needs more quality as we are giving the ball away far far too easily by panicking. Luzon needs to get a grip.
Altogether now "you can shove your f'n network up your arse, you can shove f'n network up your arse, you can shove your f'n network, shove your f'n network, shove your f'n network up your arse"
Yet another lab test gone wrong in Roland's bizarre scientific experiment tonight. Mary Shelley, The Curies, even John Hughes' weird science have got nothing on what is playing out in SE7 at the moment.
My starting point to sum how messed up this club is at the moment is that even our goals don't look like goals anymore. I don't know what views people had of Vetokele's goal, but I was sitting in the west lower, in the centre, I thought he'd hit the post. Haven't seen the replay yet, but it doesn't surprise me that under RD, goals don't actually look like goals.
Silly point, so onto only adding to what others have said. Shit. Mess. Pathetic.
I still do not know, why countless managers have come and played Cousins out wide, and tried this Vetokele with Harriott/Bulot in the hole tactic???? Cousins gets made to look average by constantly ploughing a pointless furrow in a position he will never be comfortable in. Vetokele (who has been poor of late) continues to be isolated and easily dealt with. And whichever dynamo of dogshit we are treated to in Harriott or Bulot, deliver naff all.
Buyens and Jackson as a central pairing is like watching two slow dogs chase one another's tails. I have got nothing but respect for JJ for everything he has done for us, but there's no amount of captaincy that can justify the huge chasm that exists in the centre when he plays. However, at least he plays for the shirt, which is more than I can say about Buyens. He basically reminds me of that photo of Michael J Fox in Back to the Future where a bit of Michael disappears as he races against time to set his family's path on the right track again. In the end Buyens' ghost will just haunt the Valley and us when we look back at his loan as I see very little from him on the pitch.
The back 5 were woeful today. I'll forgive Solly a bad game, he's a great player. Wiggins was given a torrid time and Bikey and TBH just don't speak. Bikey in particular had one of the worst games I've seen a player have down here. The keeper was at fault for the second rushing out, but the biggest joke is we conceded it by having a free kick we should've launched into their box, yet we chose to play it backward. Sums it all up.
Ironically, Dmitrovic's kicking is very good, yet he's a year too late as Yann doesn't play here anymore.
The only bright spot, (ironically from that network I said should be shoved somewhere), is Tony Watt. But I'm not letting RD off with justifying the experiment is working.
My final thought is that you could give someone like Tony Pulis who has all the experience in the world with getting teams out of relegation battles, this job, and he would struggle. So God only knows how Guy 'crouching' Luzon is gonna do it.
It just gets worse week after week. The goals we are shipping are shameful and it is just so easy for the opposition to score against us. Sadly it looks as though we will beat that losing run under Parkinson comfortably. Relegation is a certainty unless something drastic changes which I can't see happening. The biggest concern then is that any decent players we do actually have will be got rid of and replaced with more imports who are of an even worse standard than we have now. That could well mean another relegation from League 1. The downward spiral is back and it is in full flow!
How the hell can we reverse it? Don't see any answers to that question at all.
Having seen our last two games it's hard to find something to say
There was some effort from the players, to be fair.... But almost everything went wrong... It's clear that this is not a TEAM of integrated cooperating players who read each other's games and will bust a gut for the club
Igor and watt? Maybe.... But Igor looks frustrated and disinterested in general. Solly and wiggins not what they were Bikey? Wtf.
Having said all that, I'll be there on Saturday, hopeful of a win.
at 3-2 down with over 10 mins of playing time left.... Why would you leave? People should be staying to push the team on, not shaking their heads and leaving. Yes, morale is low... But we need to stick together. It's not about Roland, it's about cafc.
It feels like all the good work of the last 25 years is being unpicked. All those lessons we learned after exile. All that goodwill when we returned to The Valley. We're heading back to the shite crowds and bad feeling of the Selhurst Park days. We'll be running Target 10,000 drives again soon. Please get this poison out of our club before it's too late.
Things must be bad when I'm looking at Roger Johnson for hope.
We normally look to you for hope Gary
After watching that I'm struggling.
Probs leaves @cafcnick1992 on his own then in his shiny new seat
I said last week I've given up trying to defend RD and the non-footballing people upstairs.
I will always try and give the manager a fair crack. I''ll always try and defend the players if they are giving their all and I can accept some players just aren't that good, but last night in the first half our players hid. That's something nobody can defend.
Not much to add to what others have posted except to say that one positive to take from tonight is the promising partnership of Watt & Igor. How long since we had 2 strikers scoring in the same match ? Surely they must both start on Saturday !
Other than that, I echo the view that Buyens is NOT what we need in midfield. So many times I thought he was going to put in a challenge but he didn't. So many times I wondered who he was marking. And so many times he resembled that old favourite- the headless chicken. If only Coquelin could have stayed. With him in the side, our midfield had begun to look decent. So many "if onlys" this season.....
At one point, with what remained of the faithful following Norwich's 2nd goal starting to ramp up the noise, I REALLY felt this could be another Cardiff but alas, it was not meant to be.
So, we move on to Saturday, and Brentford. Another very difficult game of course but one we must get something from if we are to stay above the bottom 3.
3 days remain for GL to work on the positives, the negatives and the morale of this squad of players - we can only hope they are all pulling in the same direction and are up for the fight for survival.
But I also hope that our fans turn out in numbers to support the lads - this is not the time or place to show our displeasure with the way our Club is being managed ( or should that be mismanaged ? ) For 90+ minutes we need to do our bit to lift the players - the time to confront RD & co will come. Right now, our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to support our team in its fight to avoid the drop. On matchdays, that should be not only the aim of those who wear the shirt but of those who sit in the home areas.
PLEASE try to keep the faith a bit longer.
Great post Fanny my sentiments exactly. Need to get behind the boys and as you say RD and co time will come.
Personally I'm still there and will be again FF. You are right that we need to continue to do our bit and get behind the players on match days, but if performances continue to be like that then it will be damn tough. Unfortunately, I think there is so much anger toward the current set up, the slightest misplaced pass is ripe for a 'boo' or a moan at the moment.
Then it snowballs and we end up with a poor performance. I hope come Saturday the few positives like Watt will help us put the game behind us and produce a result that we all deserve, but I feel we are rudderless and lack a leader, and can't see anything changing in 3 days
I hope to be proved wrong and your faith and hope is rewarded.
First half performance was worst of the season and f*cking terrible decision to start with a lone striker at home. I can't even praise Luzon for changing it at half time as it shouldn't have even reached that point. Brace yourself for the relegation battle
Sums it up for me, igor and watt have to start Saturday
The new centre half needs to get himself ready for action because surely he's got to be rested (and sent to Weight Watchers). Solly's bad game was hopefully a one off but Wiggin's form is very concerning although I'd still have him over Fox. If Henderson's fit he should also be reintroduced.
KEEP COUSINS IN THE MIDDLE !!! His winning of the ball and energy was effective and his distribution will improve the more he plays there. Put a quality attacking midfielder alongside him and Watt and Vetokele can be fed early and in space - they will do damage. Having a strong centre mid also means the opposition cannot load up on Gudmundsson allowing him to create more. Harriott on the left feels right to me. Buyens has been a passenger for too long now.
So, in the loan window concentrate on 1) quality attacking midfielder, 2) hold up man to give us an option, particularly if we need to play one up front, 3) possibly a left back although I've not completely lost faith in Wiggins. I wish Gomez was left footed.
The next 3 or 4 games are really key now. If we don't turn it around then I fear we're down but there were enough pointers in that 20 min spell as to what the solutions are. Will Luzon correctly act on them............?
It was like a training drill in the first half for Norwich where they try to emulate proper match situations against whoever else is at the training ground.
I don't where to start and probably won't add anything that anyone else hasn't said already.
Poisonous atmosphere at an empty Valley and rightly so.
Bikey and Buyens need to be dropped and never play again for Charlton. They've both been awful / not interested for weeks now and last night was even worse than usual. Total waste of space, the two of them. Bulot? Well...bloody hell. How is he a footballer?
Henderson can't come back soon enough. Dmitrovic is a shocking goalkeeper and nowhere near good enough. Flapped at everything, pointless long punts when other options are available, one of which led to their second goal. He also has to take some of the blame for the third. Jerome didn't get a proper touch on that cross but didn't need to as Dmitrovic was static and didn't move.
Igor and Watt have to start with Harriott behind them. The three of them alone got us back into that game. Nothing else. Why play long balls up to Igor? Clueless. Even if he wins them there's no support.
Final shout for Jordan Cousins. That lad really cares about this club and didn't stop working last night but he can't do it all in his own. He had zero support in the first half.
Just can't see us getting enough points to stay up unless Luzon goes and we replace with him a manager who knows this division and how to organise and coach eleven footballers. We're going down with Blackpool and Wigan and it'll be even worse than last time. We won't come back from another relegation.
The referee did his bit to turn that into a training game by blowing up for the slightest thing and then dishing out daft bookings. The one bloke who deserved cards was their beardie fella on the right (Johnson?) but he escaped a second yellow when he had a bit of a dive near our penalty area in the second half.
Ps...I've said all along that Bikey can't head. His timing is awful. Time for Roger Johnson irrespective of fitness and maybe a 3-5-2 to allow us to play both strikers and at least get some bodies higher up the pitch.
The worst thing for me last night was that thinking about the game I could not visualise any wayu that we could win it. Next was that even if we did replace this weeks Coach, all we would get would be another yes man while our football genius owner was busy writing all he knows about football on the back of a postage stamp.
I have never seen anything so abysmal down Charlton in all my life. There were tough times last season, but this evening was atrocious.
As far as defending goes, that first half......Well there are no words for it are there?
How we managed to get ourselves back in the game I'll never understand. Even when we were scoring goals we didn't look very good - how is that possible.
Don't know about you but even when we equalised I still didn't care. It's not our Charlton anymore and I'm going along each week because I don't know any better. But we're being taken for a ride here - by management, players and the owner.
I've never hated my own club so much.
Sums it up for me. I don't know what Im watching any more. It isn't Charlton Athletic that's for sure. Last night was by far the worst I have seen in my time watching our once great club and I've seen some dross. Has any manager ever, anywhere in the world, been so unpopular so soon? Booed off at half time in his second home game. And the sad thing is he thoroughly deserved it. This club has been poisoned. It is sad to see. What I can't fathom is my own reaction. It should be anger. It's not, it's apathy. I watched that last night and as others I've said I couldn't even get excited when we got it back to Desmond. The devil on my shoulder was even a little scared that getting back into it was in some way a justification for Luzon and the whole regime. As a result, and I hate myself for saying it, but I wasn't that bothered when Nirwich scored the winner. I just can't bring myself to have any loyalty to this shambles. How the hell to give player marks for that? Wouldn't know where to start (I'll have a go though but they won't be pretty - honourable exceptions to Cousins and watt who at least tried). My mate left after norwich's third. He's not coming back. I'll go Saturday as I want to see how good Brentford are and I'll do Udders to pay my respects to Powell (I was his biggest critic as a tactician by by God he bled for out club and when you compare him to that tosspot last night you just realise what's going on is poisonous). I'll take a decision after that as to whether I can stomach any more.
Thought it was a shambles. Didn't really press for our two goals and more down to Norwich being poor defensively - then when 2 all, we are probably the only side that doesn't look for a winner. What was telling, just before their goal we had a corner, Bikey was calling Ben Haim forward but he stayed back! Was a shambles- 11 individuals not playing as a team. Duchatelet has surpassed himself in the inept way he runs the club - someby trying to destroy us couldn't have done better!
Looking back, I didn't bother celebrating Watts goal last night and even stayed in my seat when Igor struck the equaliser. I just turned to my son and said 'we'll still lose this'. I've never been such a passive and negative supporter. What has happened?
The first half was the worst I've witnessed in 42 years and though Watt, Vetokele, Cousins and even Harriott did give us renewed hope, there was a certain inevitability to the outcome. Bikey, Buyens & Bulot have hopefully played their last game for us and Henderson can't come back quick enough. I can't see any way back for this team and I genuinely think we will go down. I really don't want to think about where that will leave our great club.
Comments
I did not go myself but had a first hand report from a good friend although when I spoke to him he mentioned it had taken him an hour to get his power of speech back after watching the most abhorrent 45 minutes he had ever seen.
The tragedy was for him was there were 5 or 6 very decent players who looked completely lost. Whatever has gone on in the background at the club has completely destroyed the group individually and collectively as a working unit to the point they bore only a slight (I almost wrote passing! - silly me) resemblance to a professionally coached football team.
He was of the opinion Buyens, Bulot and Bikey should never wear the shirt again. The group is simply not able to carry such passengers. He was most disappointed in the latter who it appears has mentally quite simply had enough.
For him it looked for all the world as not a case of a coach losing the dressing room but an entire club losing the dressing room. The coach appeared to be a complete irrelevance though he did wonder with his exaggerated movements whether he might be planning to audition for the mascots outfit.
He tells me he is now going to lay down in a darkened room and maybe be gone some considerable time. I did suggest he took Bikey with him as he seems in need of therapy. He declined suggesting I give him a call back in May. He did not say which year!
If I may I will offer a slight distraction. If you wanted further evidence of the insane world we now inhabit I suggest you check the Liege sites the club are challenging for a top 6 play off spot.
On the final day of the recent transfer window the owner agreed to sell the Liege top scorer De Camargo* to an Arab club (for cashflow purposes of course). The player duly travelled to the middle east to agree terms and was happily on the plane back when the clubs' Sporting and Finance Directors begged and pleaded he not be sold. Only at the 11th hour did Duchatelet relent.
The mans' wiring is beyond dangerous. Whatever dimension of professional team sport he is involved in it has precious little to do with anybody else's reality. Is it really any wonder the players do not want play for such a guy?
*Postscript.
In fact the press are now reporting the player De Camargo did not get on the plane coming back and is at the moment refusing to return to Liege. Indeed it now looks to be turning into a Kermorgant Mark II. RD is offered money for an ageing striker with 18 months on his contract, snatches the buyers hand off, the player discusses terms on a 3yr deal and wants to go. Trouble is club executives cannot find a replacement and talk Duchatelet into pulling out of the deal. The player politely tells them where to go.
The man really cannot help himself he clearly gave the club and its team not a moments thought.
Sollys mistake led to their first goal and the second somehow from our free kick!! (I’d have to see that again) was greeted predictably by boo’s and “You’re getting sacked in the morning” to our arm waving manager.
What is all that arm waving about? It looks more like semaphore signals.
Igor chasing lost causes was about the only bright spot of a first half that can only be described as desperate and the chorus of boos that greeted the half time whistle reflected just how bad we had played.
Bulots half time substitution was no surprise although not one of the eleven could have complained if they had been withdrawn.
Watts inclusion breathed life into our second half performance. His run at the Norwich defenders beating two of them gave us some encouragement early in the second half.
Watts subsequent goal followed by Igors gave us hope that an unlikely win was possible.
But we all know that Charlton always concede late goals and the rest is history.
Plus points – Igor and Watt as a combination look capable of scoring the goals that might just save us from relegation.
Negative – What has happened to Bikey? His all round game looks poor compared to the giant defender of the early season also Buyens needs to up his game.
First 8 mins OK next 37 mins terrible then a mixed period when we scored twice until they brought on Jerome who was always going to score the winner.
Luzon doesn't have the squad to change it and he doesn't appear to have the players and definitely the fans onside either.
A couple of months back I really didn't expect to be keeping an eye on the results at the bottom, anticipating mid-table mediocrity. Oh for those days to return!
We are 3 points off relegation... our team is a shambles. I think back to the Derby home game and I was in the pub afterwards saying how this side could make the play offs... Looking at the table is so sobering it's unreal. We may actually be going back to League 1 and I'm not a negative person when it comes to charlton usually but my god... 16 games left and we are in what looks like a relegation scrap.
A home game and an away game v one of the leagues worst sides, not the hardest set of fixtures by any means. I know Brentford are flying but we could perhaps get a point or a huge slice of luck and get a win. 6 points and things will look a lot better. But right now it feels like the club is going down the shitter. The only reason I don't think it will is because of us fans. One thing I am not looking forward to is losing the likes of Gomez and Cousins at the end of this season but unless there is enormous change I can see it happening.
Need to get behind the boys and as you say RD and co time will come.
But it doesn't sound like me turning up will turn that around
Painful to see and say but it's tempting to put as much spare cash as you have on us getting relegated because we all know it's gonna happen.
Yet another lab test gone wrong in Roland's bizarre scientific experiment tonight. Mary Shelley, The Curies, even John Hughes' weird science have got nothing on what is playing out in SE7 at the moment.
My starting point to sum how messed up this club is at the moment is that even our goals don't look like goals anymore. I don't know what views people had of Vetokele's goal, but I was sitting in the west lower, in the centre, I thought he'd hit the post. Haven't seen the replay yet, but it doesn't surprise me that under RD, goals don't actually look like goals.
Silly point, so onto only adding to what others have said. Shit. Mess. Pathetic.
I still do not know, why countless managers have come and played Cousins out wide, and tried this Vetokele with Harriott/Bulot in the hole tactic???? Cousins gets made to look average by constantly ploughing a pointless furrow in a position he will never be comfortable in. Vetokele (who has been poor of late) continues to be isolated and easily dealt with. And whichever dynamo of dogshit we are treated to in Harriott or Bulot, deliver naff all.
Buyens and Jackson as a central pairing is like watching two slow dogs chase one another's tails. I have got nothing but respect for JJ for everything he has done for us, but there's no amount of captaincy that can justify the huge chasm that exists in the centre when he plays. However, at least he plays for the shirt, which is more than I can say about Buyens. He basically reminds me of that photo of Michael J Fox in Back to the Future where a bit of Michael disappears as he races against time to set his family's path on the right track again. In the end Buyens' ghost will just haunt the Valley and us when we look back at his loan as I see very little from him on the pitch.
The back 5 were woeful today. I'll forgive Solly a bad game, he's a great player. Wiggins was given a torrid time and Bikey and TBH just don't speak. Bikey in particular had one of the worst games I've seen a player have down here. The keeper was at fault for the second rushing out, but the biggest joke is we conceded it by having a free kick we should've launched into their box, yet we chose to play it backward. Sums it all up.
Ironically, Dmitrovic's kicking is very good, yet he's a year too late as Yann doesn't play here anymore.
The only bright spot, (ironically from that network I said should be shoved somewhere), is Tony Watt. But I'm not letting RD off with justifying the experiment is working.
My final thought is that you could give someone like Tony Pulis who has all the experience in the world with getting teams out of relegation battles, this job, and he would struggle. So God only knows how Guy 'crouching' Luzon is gonna do it.
Bikey taking a free kick 40 yards out because no one else looked interested summed it up for me. God knows what goes on in training.
How the hell can we reverse it? Don't see any answers to that question at all.
Having seen our last two games it's hard to find something to say
There was some effort from the players, to be fair.... But almost everything went wrong...
It's clear that this is not a TEAM of integrated cooperating players who read each other's games and will bust a gut for the club
Igor and watt? Maybe.... But Igor looks frustrated and disinterested in general.
Solly and wiggins not what they were
Bikey? Wtf.
Having said all that, I'll be there on Saturday, hopeful of a win.
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Note on the fans:
at 3-2 down with over 10 mins of playing time left.... Why would you leave?
People should be staying to push the team on, not shaking their heads and leaving. Yes, morale is low... But we need to stick together. It's not about Roland, it's about cafc.
Please get this poison out of our club before it's too late.
I will always try and give the manager a fair crack. I''ll always try and defend the players if they are giving their all and I can accept some players just aren't that good, but last night in the first half our players hid. That's something nobody can defend.
Then it snowballs and we end up with a poor performance. I hope come Saturday the few positives like Watt will help us put the game behind us and produce a result that we all deserve, but I feel we are rudderless and lack a leader, and can't see anything changing in 3 days
I hope to be proved wrong and your faith and hope is rewarded.
The new centre half needs to get himself ready for action because surely he's got to be rested (and sent to Weight Watchers). Solly's bad game was hopefully a one off but Wiggin's form is very concerning although I'd still have him over Fox. If Henderson's fit he should also be reintroduced.
KEEP COUSINS IN THE MIDDLE !!! His winning of the ball and energy was effective and his distribution will improve the more he plays there. Put a quality attacking midfielder alongside him and Watt and Vetokele can be fed early and in space - they will do damage. Having a strong centre mid also means the opposition cannot load up on Gudmundsson allowing him to create more. Harriott on the left feels right to me. Buyens has been a passenger for too long now.
So, in the loan window concentrate on 1) quality attacking midfielder, 2) hold up man to give us an option, particularly if we need to play one up front, 3) possibly a left back although I've not completely lost faith in Wiggins. I wish Gomez was left footed.
The next 3 or 4 games are really key now. If we don't turn it around then I fear we're down but there were enough pointers in that 20 min spell as to what the solutions are. Will Luzon correctly act on them............?
Poisonous atmosphere at an empty Valley and rightly so.
Bikey and Buyens need to be dropped and never play again for Charlton. They've both been awful / not interested for weeks now and last night was even worse than usual. Total waste of space, the two of them. Bulot? Well...bloody hell. How is he a footballer?
Henderson can't come back soon enough. Dmitrovic is a shocking goalkeeper and nowhere near good enough. Flapped at everything, pointless long punts when other options are available, one of which led to their second goal. He also has to take some of the blame for the third. Jerome didn't get a proper touch on that cross but didn't need to as Dmitrovic was static and didn't move.
Igor and Watt have to start with Harriott behind them. The three of them alone got us back into that game. Nothing else. Why play long balls up to Igor? Clueless. Even if he wins them there's no support.
Final shout for Jordan Cousins. That lad really cares about this club and didn't stop working last night but he can't do it all in his own. He had zero support in the first half.
Just can't see us getting enough points to stay up unless Luzon goes and we replace with him a manager who knows this division and how to organise and coach eleven footballers. We're going down with Blackpool and Wigan and it'll be even worse than last time. We won't come back from another relegation.
Ps...I've said all along that Bikey can't head. His timing is awful. Time for Roger Johnson irrespective of fitness and maybe a 3-5-2 to allow us to play both strikers and at least get some bodies higher up the pitch.
I can't see any way back for this team and I genuinely think we will go down.
I really don't want to think about where that will leave our great club.