Charlton Athletic v Rotherham United
3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire)IntroductionInternational Breaks… Can be a bit of a pest cant they, cant they?
The Football season starts with a bang, you win your first game, then the next, then the next and you find your team on a bit of run when suddenly, the International break jumps up in your path and bang, the form is gone and your team returns to league action a different side, you cant even buy a win!! – Of course you could turn the scenario on its head… You’ve started the season so badly you cant even purchase a draw, the International break jumps forwards and gives you CPR, all of a sudden you return from the break and it seems as though you’re supporting a different team from a few weeks ago… Relegation? Ha! We’re going up my friend.
After the first International break of the season, the Addicks return to league action having lost just the one match this season and have a 100% record at the Valley, their opponents:
Rotherham United on the other hand have yet to win a match and their manager could be walking a fine line… A few weeks ago this match would have seemed pretty simple yet with injuries mounting, the break seemed to arrive at the right time and may have allowed the Addicks to regroup and get players back from the physios room, of course we may get the players back… But will we get the form?
The OppositionPromoted from League One via the Play-Off two years ago… Rotherham made a good fight of survival and after being in a relegation scrap with our rivals Millwall and ex-Premier League side: Wigan Athletic; the Millers came out on top and earned themselves another bite at the Championship, here’s my low down on their summer and season thus far:
The Manager:
Steve Evans has been in charged at the New York Stadium since 2012… As yet another Scottish Manager from Glasgow, he’s been around a bit, although mostly in the Non-League scene… Probably most famous for ‘contract irregularities’ whilst in charge at Boston United, eventually he had two spells at the Lincolnshire side before moving on to Crawley Town in 2007… Five years he would spend there before deserting them for fellow League Two side: Rotherham in 2012 gaining back to back promotions to the Championship in the process, as already mentioned though, he’s a man under pressure and could he be another man to lose his job after a visit to the Valley?
Pre-Season: One of Rotherham’s problems is they’ve failed to replace Ben Pringle who was noted for his crisp finishing whilst at Rotherham (See what I did there), their pre-season saw them stay in Britain with three matches in Scotland against Morton (3-0), Dundee (1-0) and Partick Thistle (1-1), of course like all other teams they had their matches against non-league opposition, with their most impressive result coming against German side: TSV Mainz (2-1).
This Season: Hasn’t been a brilliant start and hopefully the break hasn’t energised them… Just the one win so far this season, coming in the League Cup against Cambridge United (1-0) before losing in the second round to Norwich City, they have managed a draw in the league, albeit against promoted side: Preston North End (0-0), proping up the league, the Millers will need points and soon, if they’re not to succumb to second season syndrome.
Key PlayerThankfully for Rotherham they’ve got rather an impressive record against the Addicks and it was 1980 when they last tasted defeat at the Valley… Unfortunately it’s a bit difficult to pick a key player from the Rotherham ranks as I don’t know too much about their squad this season, there could have been plenty of reunions though, firstly had Lawrie Wilson remained at the Valley he would have been up against a side where he spent the end of last season on loan, whilst the Rotherham ranks include former Addicks in Greg Halford and Fraser Richardson.
Charlton Line-UpI’m guessing there will be further concentre news tomorrow during Guy Luzon’s press day yet with Stephen Henderson nearing full training we could see a change in goal this weekend, as already mentioned there were a number of injuries before the break so it’ll remain questionable as to who has returned to fitness or whether it’s a game to far for some… One player who wont be involved will be Midfielder:
Franck Moussa who finally made an appearance for our U21s in midweek after a 10-month lay off.
Pope
Solly – Bauer – Diarra – Fox
Gudmundsson – Kashi – Cousins – Bergdich
Makienok – Watt
Prediction
Charlton Athletic 3-0 Rotherham United
Comments
Everyone expects to win
Kids for a quid game
Can only mean one thing - 1 nil defeat.
Green 30 points
Newell 29
Frecklington 25
our top three are
Gudmundsson 152
Bauer 117
Pope 110
as for team marks The Millers are at
Defense -100
Attack +361
Possession -528
and The Addicks
Defense +623
Attack +457
Possession -170
I think Ken Craggs got sacked before the next game.
If they get the first goal then it will be a very long afternoon.
Bauer and Mak score from set pieces. Rotherham have a player sent off early on which makes for an even more defensive display. Guy and Evans clash on the touch line. Neither can understand what the other is saying anyway.
14,194 attendance. 603 Rotherham
4-1 to the Addicks.
Back to getting another 3 points
Easy 3-1 win
Staying up last year was a great achievement and it means they do have some bottle. They may have been complacent at the start of the season, but if our attitude is not right on the day they could turn us over.
Could be a leader comes to the for in this game.
the way they teased and offered false hope to the scums survival attempts before sealing the filths fate to League One is something I will always be grateful for and won't forget , I eased my dislike of Birmingham thanks to "Stern John in the last minute" many years back
Anyway so I wont mind if they interrupt our incessant march towards mediocrity and a life of mid tabling Belgian boredom
Realistically we shouldn't lose this and I fancy 1-1 and the "we've lost only one game" gang will be all defensive against the "if we have ambitions of going up" crew and thankfully the "we're going down" posse have been banished to room 101 for this season thus far
Oh the excitement .......
1-2 hope I'm proven wrong.