Middlesbrough v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 31 October 2015 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire)
Introduction@ForeverAddickted puffs out his checks, sighs and stares blankly at the blinking cursor on his computer screen, witty lines and thoughts fail him as he prepares the latest Match Preview. I guess you could start by saying it’s not been the most of productive weeks at Charlton (or on CharltonLife), last Saturday, the Addicks lost their second home game on the trot (3-0 against Brentford for those who may have managed to forget) and with the dust still settling on the Valley pitch changes were afoot, not two hours after the final whistle, Guy Luzon would be sacked as Charlton Head Coach, leaving Charlton rudderless and relegation threatened.
Unfortunately Football is like any Sport, it has no pity, no remorse, and it won’t allow you any time for reflection, whether you’re the Footballer or the Fan, you have to dust yourself down, forget what has happened in the past and look to the future, that future, the next chapter that is Charlton Athletic begins this Saturday, against
Middlesbrough.
The OppositionName: Middlesbrough |
Manager: Aitor Karanka
Ground: Riverside Stadium |
Nickname: The Boro
Middlesbrough… A club from the North East formed in 1876, long before their rivals; Newcastle and Sunderland came into existence, in the beginning there was of course light, but in addition there were two clubs from this North Yorkshire town (Middlesbrough and Middlesbrough Ironopolis), they tried to merge in 1892 yet the Football League didn’t agree (and I’m sure we can all agree on this) that
Middlesbrough and Ironopolis F.C. didn’t have a great ring to it, the application was rejected with both sides going their separate ways with the Amateur Leagues… In 1899 with the backing of Newcastle and Sunderland (Who both now exist), Middlesbrough joined the Football League, and amongst the ’92 they have remained ever since.
In recent years; Middlesbrough have become a bit of a bogey side for the Addicks, despite at one stage there being a five year period where these two sides were in separate Divisions, it has been nine years since Charlton last beat Middlesbrough (2-1), ironically the Addicks did the double that year, winning 3-0 at the Riverside, although Middlesbrough got their revenge in the FA Cup Quarter-Finals later that same season, a day which is infamous to Charlton fans, otherwise known as
Operation Riverside.
And what happened to Middlesbrough Ironopolis I hear you ask…? – Well
the Washers made it into the Football League (1893) quicker than the surviving Middlesbrough, sadly though they would last only a single season (finishing 11th) before going out of business, they would resign from the league and disband in 1894, their last match was a 1-1 draw with South Bank (another side from the same area), Ironopolis and
Bottle remain the only two sides to have only spent a single season in the Football League.
Last Result @ the Riverside: Middlesbrough 3-1 Charlton Athletic
Top Trumps
Charlton Team NewsWhen writing a Match Preview, one of the hardest sections to write is the Team News (especially when the eagerly awaited Press Conference has yet to happen), with Karel Fraeye taking temporary charge, there could be any number of changes yet with an almost 100% fit squad to choose from, you’d expect few changes from the team that started against Brentford;
Stephen Henderson should remain in goal, whilst
Alou Diarra will return from suspension…
Simon Makienok will hopefully lead the line so will be between Tony Watt and Reza Ghoochanniejad to see who partners him in attack.
Henderson
Solly … Bauer … Diarra … Fox
Gudmundsson … Jackson … Cousins … Moussa
Makienok … Ghoochanniejad
Substitutes Bench: Pope … Holmes-Dennis … Bergdich … Ba … McAleny … Ahearne-Grant … Watt
Prediction
Middlesbrough 1-1 Charlton Athletic
Comments
will be our new formation.
score, 10-0.
9-0 They'll never make double figures!
As for the team, tactics etc then I havn't a clue but I'm confident Karel has and will set us up accordingly as hard to break down but with attacking intent on the break.
I expect to see something like -
Hendo
Solly Bauer Saar Fox
Diarra
JBG Jacko Cousins Moussa
Big Mak
allowing Watt or KAG to come off the bench late on and get the winner.
I am hoping the team but in a better performance than the last 2 games where we didn't have any believe or ideas on what to do. If Fraeye at least sets us up with some of the basics we have been lacking in the past few games it will be a good start.
Boro will have a bit of fatigue from their exploits last night, and our boys will be keen to impress this week's head coach, so I'm betting on a routine 2-0 defeat, although I certainly wouldn't rule out a scoreline on a par with Arbroath 36 -0 Bon Accord.
Couple of bits of advice for anyone who hasn't been to Middlesbrough before - take your own oxygen, don't talk to any of the local people and under no circumstances touch any of the local people. It's a little known fact that the film 28 Days Later was actually released as a promotional video by the North Yorkshire Tourist Board.
Luzon Fraeye de Courte Martane
Kiala Miere van Houdt Dahan
Peeters Riga
That should easily be enough.
Belgians out!
Just hope they are feeling generous and keep it to single figures.
What an absolute tragedy this is. Four managers, God knows how many new players, new pitch, vegetarian focaccia and we are exactly where we were when SCP was booted out but with less games in hand.
Pathetic. Roly, I hereby piss on your Belgian bonfire. Please take your personality disorder elsewhere. This is a failed experiment and a futile ego trip and it needs to stop. Now.
2.0. Routine and subtly humiliating.
CAFC to score 2 late goals to win 2-1 (WTF)
Hendo
Solly Bauer Sarr Fox
Kashi Diarra
Gud JJ Moussa
Mak
This would give us plenty of cover in front of the back four allowing the fullbacks to over lap the wingers as they cut inside, and get some crosses in for Big Mak. It also means that we have the extra man in CM and so are less likely to be overrun there... which is important away from home.. so we don't just allow them to control the game from the middle of the park.
I would say we are slightly short of pace on theach counter attack but we have plenty of that coming from the bench!
I think cousins could do with a rest and think his energy when coming off the bench will cause problems and allow us to go two up top if we need to.
Need to play 5 in midfield and would rather see Berditch at left wing. At least he can tackle.
JBG Solly Cousins Bauer Diarra Sarr JJ Fox
--------------Watt-------------
--------------Mak--------------
I suspect we will see something pretty similar to this...