They took the game to us in the early stages which will quite often happen away from home but we saw it out really well and once we had settled down we were excellent and very well deciplined. Hopefully with back to back wins and out of the drop zone hopefully we now we can build up that gap between ourselves and the bottom 3.
Morgan Fox busy but strong today, not much got past him, he is really growing into the LB role.
Lookman looked exciting, exhuberant and didn't seem to tire, only went off due to slight knock. His movement was good and he did as good a job of looking for Makienoks knockdowns as anyone I've seen this season.
THD also had a good game, and went forward with confidence knowing that Diarra was dropping in behind him when required.
We passed the ball around very well, almost in slow motion at times, and even though Birmingham closed down quite well our keep ball was good.
There were three traps I thought we would fall in to before the game, which we didn't. Firstly constantly looking for the long ball, The ball over the top was used sparingly. Secondly dropping too deep and inviting pressure, we didn't play like an unconfident side, the back four kept quite a high line and Birmingham's wingers weren't as much of a threat as they have seemingly posed to other teams this season. Finally getting frustrated and releasing the ball too early, there was nothing panicky about our game. Our composure really stood out.
Birmingham came into the game late on and despite them going close a few times, we really deserved the three points. The ref had quite a good game letting it flow (but he didn't have much to officiate), but one of the linos was a bit of a homer (although who knows why, I think the home fans volume must sound a lot better on the pitch that we could hear in the away end).
Finally Ill say a word for Karel Fraeye, whatever you might think of the owners I think he deserves a great deal of credit for the way he is conducting himself at the moment, as he turned his players round and sent them back again to applaud the fans, he didn't join them but just stood back by the tunnel and clapped his players. The guy has quiet unassuming class.
I'm not saying they should give him the job, but I'm very pleased with the way he is going about it, playing to the players strengths, looks like he has the players onside, which is something that seemingly hasn't been the case for quite some time. Tactically we were strong, we seemed pretty well drilled on corners and other set pieces (including the goal), nice to see we are not always looking for Maks head on a stick in the box. Plus the team kept their shape and weren't over-run. Nice composure from the two centre halves for the majority of the game.
Morgan Fox busy but strong today, not much got past him, he is really growing into the LB role.
Lookman looked exciting, exhuberant and didn't seem to tire, only went off due to slight knock. His movement was good and he did as good a job of looking for Makienoks knockdowns as anyone I've seen this season.
THD also had a good game, and went forward with confidence knowing that Diarra was dropping in behind him when required.
We passed the ball around very well, almost in slow motion at times, and even though Birmingham closed down quite well our keep ball was good.
There were three traps I thought we would fall in to before the game, which we didn't. Firstly constantly looking for the long ball, The ball over the top was used sparingly. Secondly dropping too deep and inviting pressure, we didn't play like an unconfident side, the back four kept quite a high line and Birmingham's wingers weren't as much of a threat as they have seemingly posed to other teams this season. Finally getting frustrated and releasing the ball too early, there was nothing panicky about our game. Our composure really stood out.
Birmingham came into the game late on and despite them going close a few times, we really deserved the three points. The ref had quite a good game letting it flow (but he didn't have much to officiate), but one of the linos was a bit of a homer (although who knows why, I think the home fans volume must sound a lot better on the pitch that we could hear in the away end).
Finally Ill say a word for Karel Fraeye, whatever you might think of the owners I think he deserves a great deal of credit for the way he is conducting himself at the moment, as he turned his players round and sent them back again to applaud the fans, he didn't join them but just stood back by the tunnel and clapped his players. The guy has quiet unassuming class.
I'm not saying they should give him the job, but I'm very pleased with the way he is going about it, playing to the players strengths, looks like he has the players onside, which is something that seemingly hasn't been the case for quite some time. Tactically we were strong, we seemed pretty well drilled on corners and other set pieces (including the goal), nice to see we are not always looking for Maks head on a stick in the box. Plus the team kept their shape and weren't over-run. Nice composure from the two centre halves for the majority of the game.
Morgan Fox was really strong today, not much got past him, he is really growing into the LB role.
Eh? Fox was wearing number 21 right? If not I need to go to Specsavers or perhaps I should make an appointment anyway. He was getting roasted early on and his distribution which is not his strong point was poor. He got forward a bit more second half no doubt because the Management had a word, defensively made a few good clearances and shielded players out but how he has scored 8's in the players marks I'll never know so please enlighten me on his tackling and passing stats someone before I do my money on an eye check up.
As for KF credit where credit is due but don't forget Jason Euell is also part of that team.
Agree with all that Thommo, especially the long ball analysis. From the GoPro of our goal, you would assume 99% of the time that FK is taken, with Sarr, Mak, Jacko, Bauer etc we would have just launched it into the box.
Top marks to Lookman running the channel, then THD following his pass for the overlap. Simple football at its best.
Morgan Fox was really strong today, not much got past him, he is really growing into the LB role.
Eh? Fox was wearing number 21 right? If not I need to go to Specsavers or perhaps I should make an appointment anyway. He was getting roasted early on and his distribution which is not his strong point was poor. He got forward a bit more second half no doubt because the Management had a word and he did improve second half but how he has scored 8's in the players marks I'll never know so please enlighten me on his tackling and passing stats someone please before I do my money on an eye check up.
As for KF credit where credit is duff but don't forget Jason Euell is also part of that team.
Fox was bound to get a roasting today up against one of the best wingers in the league, but I though he was strong, in terms of stopping the ball getting in the box and putting blocks in, he stuck he body in the way as much as any player at St Andrews and will have the bruises to show for it today. I'll agree distribution isn't his greatest strength, and THD had a better game getting forward, but time and time again Fox made sure the player and ball didn't get past him and he tracked back when he got forward.
As for giving credit to KF, each to his own mate, I'm willing to give him a chance at least, he's just getting on with the job he's been given, quietly and without getting involved in the politics, got nothing against the guy. And of course I don't forget Jason Euell is part of that team, we're all quick to praise Jason and rightly so, but I thought Id stick my head above the parapet and give KF a quick nod. Didn't think I'd be shot down for it.
Morgan Fox was really strong today, not much got past him, he is really growing into the LB role.
Eh? Fox was wearing number 21 right? If not I need to go to Specsavers or perhaps I should make an appointment anyway. He was getting roasted early on and his distribution which is not his strong point was poor. He got forward a bit more second half no doubt because the Management had a word and he did improve second half but how he has scored 8's in the players marks I'll never know so please enlighten me on his tackling and passing stats someone please before I do my money on an eye check up.
As for KF credit where credit is duff but don't forget Jason Euell is also part of that team.
Fox was bound to get a roasting today up against one of the best wingers in the league, but I though he was strong, in terms of stopping the ball getting in the box and putting blocks in, he stuck he body in the way as much as any player at St Andrews and will have the bruises to show for it today. I'll agree distribution isn't his greatest strength, and THD had a better game getting forward, but time and time again Fox made sure the player and ball didn't get past him and he tracked back when he got forward.
As for giving credit to KF, each to his own mate, I'm willing to give him a chance at least, he's just getting on with the job he's been given, quietly and without getting involved in the politics, got nothing against the guy. And of course I don't forget Jason Euell is part of that team, we're all quick to praise Jason and rightly so, but I thought Id stick my head above the parapet and give KF a quick nod. Didn't think I'd be shot down for it.
Fair enough we all see things differently still interested to see those stats though and as I said KF deserves credit but if he gets a mention so should JE shouldn't he?
Just watched the extended highlights on CAFCPlayer. You can see we played well, lots of good build up play and got in behind them in one game probably more than we did in the entire 11 match losing run.
Amazing what a difference a win makes, we look confident (and fit) again.
Need to start making the good build up really pay though. For all the great work we did, there was one massive let off in particular right at the end when the Blues player puts wide from about a yard. That goes in and the tone on here is a bit different today. I guess those are the small margins by which most games are won and lost though. For now I think it's fair to focus on the positives - confident players playing to a cohesive and effective game plan. Someone, Fraeye or otherwise, finally appears to be doing decent homework on the opposition and producing a plan to beat them. Well done to whoever that is, even if it's Fraeye.
Great result beyond anything I'd have thought we'd get . Captain fantastic with a proper blokes header to seal the win , beautiful . As mentioned above KF has an air of class about him as a person at least , hopefully his management ability does too , we shall see or not as the case maybe !
7th-12th 10% ............ 13th-21st 55% ........... Bottom three 35%
Thought fox did a decent solid job against one of the best and exciting talents in the league. Gray didn't swap wings in the second half for no reason!
Morgan Fox busy but strong today, not much got past him, he is really growing into the LB role.
Lookman looked exciting, exhuberant and didn't seem to tire, only went off due to slight knock. His movement was good and he did as good a job of looking for Makienoks knockdowns as anyone I've seen this season.
THD also had a good game, and went forward with confidence knowing that Diarra was dropping in behind him when required.
We passed the ball around very well, almost in slow motion at times, and even though Birmingham closed down quite well our keep ball was good.
There were three traps I thought we would fall in to before the game, which we didn't. Firstly constantly looking for the long ball, The ball over the top was used sparingly. Secondly dropping too deep and inviting pressure, we didn't play like an unconfident side, the back four kept quite a high line and Birmingham's wingers weren't as much of a threat as they have seemingly posed to other teams this season. Finally getting frustrated and releasing the ball too early, there was nothing panicky about our game. Our composure really stood out.
Birmingham came into the game late on and despite them going close a few times, we really deserved the three points. The ref had quite a good game letting it flow (but he didn't have much to officiate), but one of the linos was a bit of a homer (although who knows why, I think the home fans volume must sound a lot better on the pitch that we could hear in the away end).
Finally Ill say a word for Karel Fraeye, whatever you might think of the owners I think he deserves a great deal of credit for the way he is conducting himself at the moment, as he turned his players round and sent them back again to applaud the fans, he didn't join them but just stood back by the tunnel and clapped his players. The guy has quiet unassuming class.
I'm not saying they should give him the job, but I'm very pleased with the way he is going about it, playing to the players strengths, looks like he has the players onside, which is something that seemingly hasn't been the case for quite some time. Tactically we were strong, we seemed pretty well drilled on corners and other set pieces (including the goal), nice to see we are not always looking for Maks head on a stick in the box. Plus the team kept their shape and weren't over-run. Nice composure from the two centre halves for the majority of the game.
Nice report thanks Thommo
Thommo saved me a job of writing much here as that's pretty much exactly my take on it. Interestingly I thought that our best players on the day were academy graduates - I think Fox did a great job of restricting Gray, THD was my MOM and Lookman was lively and made Mak look less isolated than his other strike partners often can. Can't mistake that Diarra was the absolute catalyst for the performance though.
Whilst we played well and looked really comfortable in possession at times for an away game, we could easily have conceded a few, Henderson was well beaten on at least 3/4 occasions (through no fault of his own) for the ball to go inches wide. Honestly, I think we got away with one to win 1-0, but we did play well enough to deserve a bit of luck
Difficult game to be sat in the Birmingham end for!
I expected to see a few more also. Birmingham is an easy one for me to get to, it's pretty much an hour for me, so I was looking forward to this one. I appreciate that it's tough to follow Charlton right now, and Birmingham is a few hours from The Valley so it's not the easiest to get to, but it's often a decent fixture and worth the trip.
I was pleased when Bristol City got promoted, I can be parked and in the ground in about 40 minutes, less time than it took me to get through the traffic to The Valley when I lived in the Bromley area.
Very easy and cheap to get to. Ticket office closed last Saturday so couldn'the buy a ticket in advance. Always do cash at the away end to the ground. Suddenly announced no sales on the day.
There was a cash turnstile. As I said there would be.
Source: I paid in, with cash
Me too. Steward opened the turnstile for me! Said there had been seven Charlton fans who had paid cash (at 2.15pm) and it was only £20. Compare that with Wolves fans having to pay £36 at Ipswich on Saturday....
I expected to see a few more also. Birmingham is an easy one for me to get to, it's pretty much an hour for me, so I was looking forward to this one. I appreciate that it's tough to follow Charlton right now, and Birmingham is a few hours from The Valley so it's not the easiest to get to, but it's often a decent fixture and worth the trip.
I was pleased when Bristol City got promoted, I can be parked and in the ground in about 40 minutes, less time than it took me to get through the traffic to The Valley when I lived in the Bromley area.
Very easy and cheap to get to. Ticket office closed last Saturday so couldn'the buy a ticket in advance. Always do cash at the away end to the ground. Suddenly announced no sales on the day.
There was a cash turnstile. As I said there would be.
Source: I paid in, with cash
Me too. Steward opened the turnstile for me! Said there had been seven Charlton fans who had paid cash (at 2.15pm) and it was only £20. Compare that with Wolves fans having to pay £36 at Ipswich on Saturday....
Same here, we paid cash on the day at the turnstyle.
I expected to see a few more also. Birmingham is an easy one for me to get to, it's pretty much an hour for me, so I was looking forward to this one. I appreciate that it's tough to follow Charlton right now, and Birmingham is a few hours from The Valley so it's not the easiest to get to, but it's often a decent fixture and worth the trip.
I was pleased when Bristol City got promoted, I can be parked and in the ground in about 40 minutes, less time than it took me to get through the traffic to The Valley when I lived in the Bromley area.
Very easy and cheap to get to. Ticket office closed last Saturday so couldn'the buy a ticket in advance. Always do cash at the away end to the ground. Suddenly announced no sales on the day.
There was a cash turnstile. As I said there would be.
Source: I paid in, with cash
Me too. Steward opened the turnstile for me! Said there had been seven Charlton fans who had paid cash (at 2.15pm) and it was only £20. Compare that with Wolves fans having to pay £36 at Ipswich on Saturday....
I'm surprised they didn't charge a little more, maybe £22 or something for cash on the day, given that they had to open a turnstile each time. Pleasantly surprised. Birmingham away is one of my favourites.
Great result beyond anything I'd have thought we'd get . Captain fantastic with a proper blokes header to seal the win , beautiful . As mentioned above KF has an air of class about him as a person at least , hopefully his management ability does too , we shall see or not as the case maybe !
7th-12th 10% ............ 13th-21st 55% ........... Bottom three 35%
Great result beyond anything I'd have thought we'd get . Captain fantastic with a proper blokes header to seal the win , beautiful . As mentioned above KF has an air of class about him as a person at least , hopefully his management ability does too , we shall see or not as the case maybe !
7th-12th 10% ............ 13th-21st 55% ........... Bottom three 35%
so 1st to 6th is 0%, madness !
12 points from playoffs, 29 games left, top of table on current form (last two games) ... I'd give it 5%
Great result beyond anything I'd have thought we'd get . Captain fantastic with a proper blokes header to seal the win , beautiful . As mentioned above KF has an air of class about him as a person at least , hopefully his management ability does too , we shall see or not as the case maybe !
7th-12th 10% ............ 13th-21st 55% ........... Bottom three 35%
so 1st to 6th is 0%, madness !
12 points from playoffs, 29 games left, top of table on current form (last two games) ... I'd give it 5%
I expected to see a few more also. Birmingham is an easy one for me to get to, it's pretty much an hour for me, so I was looking forward to this one. I appreciate that it's tough to follow Charlton right now, and Birmingham is a few hours from The Valley so it's not the easiest to get to, but it's often a decent fixture and worth the trip.
I was pleased when Bristol City got promoted, I can be parked and in the ground in about 40 minutes, less time than it took me to get through the traffic to The Valley when I lived in the Bromley area.
Very easy and cheap to get to. Ticket office closed last Saturday so couldn'the buy a ticket in advance. Always do cash at the away end to the ground. Suddenly announced no sales on the day.
There was a cash turnstile. As I said there would be.
Source: I paid in, with cash
Me too. Steward opened the turnstile for me! Said there had been seven Charlton fans who had paid cash (at 2.15pm) and it was only £20. Compare that with Wolves fans having to pay £36 at Ipswich on Saturday....
I'm surprised they didn't charge a little more, maybe £22 or something for cash on the day, given that they had to open a turnstile each time. Pleasantly surprised. Birmingham away is one of my favourites.
Me too. I know people have had bad experiences at Birmingham but I must say I've found their stewards to be really helpful and their fans have been ok too. I may have been lucky but I like it there.
Great result beyond anything I'd have thought we'd get . Captain fantastic with a proper blokes header to seal the win , beautiful . As mentioned above KF has an air of class about him as a person at least , hopefully his management ability does too , we shall see or not as the case maybe !
7th-12th 10% ............ 13th-21st 55% ........... Bottom three 35%
so 1st to 6th is 0%, madness !
12 points from playoffs, 29 games left, top of table on current form (last two games) ... I'd give it 5%
The Top 5 look hard to catch, but I'd say 6th place was a very very small possibility!
Really enjoyed the performance on Saturday--each player with the same mindset,determined,skillful and creative. Brum could have been there all night and not scored,their heads dropped when Jacko scored which is always great to see from the opposition.What a lovely move too and a pinpoint cross from THD. Lookman reminds me of Shaun Wright-Phillips when he was a top player,hard to track or predict.Fast and with an open mind to the game.A little more composure would have given him a goal but he seems to be a quick learner and I feel he will be a great asset to us.Plenty of experience around him to absorb and the team want him to do well,you can see that.I thought that JBG looked excellent second-half too.And what a change with Diarra in his true role in midfield,showing what a classy player he is,great to have him playing so well. Gary Rowett was quite confused by it all---how did they lose to his old club seemed to be the theme.Too big a reliance on Donaldson may be the answer.Who cares though? One downside is the form of Jordan Cousins,not quite sure where his head is at the moment.Maybe he needs a reality check and he can learn so much from Diarra.Runs a lot and that's about it.He's a much better player than the last few displays and I hope this is just a bad patch for him. Can we get past Ipswich and Brighton without defeats--I think so,the situation after those games will tell us a lot more. Great credit to KF too for his whole attitude since his appointment,getting on with the job in hand,arresting the slide and setting everyone up to play in their best roles with the right information,tactically very sound against the Wendies and Brum.And confidence starting to run through the team. Let's get behind them---the enjoyment is watching the team win and we need to set aside the off-field matters for other times than 3 to 4.50 and support these guys.Great that KF pointed for them to come back to the fans and applaud them.Classy and well received.Loved hearing the re-run of old Charlton songs at the game,shows the fans are enjoying their football again.
Don't get to go to many games as live in Coventry, so duly went along to this one, albeit sat with the home fans as my father in law is a massive brum fan!
He sat with me in the home end at the valley last season so fair is fair and he was well impressed with THD.
One thing was noticeable was how quickly the home fans turned on the team, despite them doing really well of late, and how this visably affected some of their players.
The idiot kid sat next to me was constantly berating their LB (Grounds) for everything that went wrong, even though he weren't involved.
On the whole i thought that the team played with a lot of energy yet had the composure to create chances and keep the ball.
Amazing how players playing in their correct positions (THD aside), in a formation that suits them can go a long way to creating a competitive footballing side!
Really enjoyed the performance on Saturday--each player with the same mindset,determined,skillful and creative. Brum could have been there all night and not scored,their heads dropped when Jacko scored which is always great to see from the opposition.What a lovely move too and a pinpoint cross from THD. Lookman reminds me of Shaun Wright-Phillips when he was a top player,hard to track or predict.Fast and with an open mind to the game.A little more composure would have given him a goal but he seems to be a quick learner and I feel he will be a great asset to us.Plenty of experience around him to absorb and the team want him to do well,you can see that.I thought that JBG looked excellent second-half too.And what a change with Diarra in his true role in midfield,showing what a classy player he is,great to have him playing so well. Gary Rowett was quite confused by it all---how did they lose to his old club seemed to be the theme.Too big a reliance on Donaldson may be the answer.Who cares though? One downside is the form of Jordan Cousins,not quite sure where his head is at the moment.Maybe he needs a reality check and he can learn so much from Diarra.Runs a lot and that's about it.He's a much better player than the last few displays and I hope this is just a bad patch for him. Can we get past Ipswich and Brighton without defeats--I think so,the situation after those games will tell us a lot more. Great credit to KF too for his whole attitude since his appointment,getting on with the job in hand,arresting the slide and setting everyone up to play in their best roles with the right information,tactically very sound against the Wendies and Brum.And confidence starting to run through the team. Let's get behind them---the enjoyment is watching the team win and we need to set aside the off-field matters for other times than 3 to 4.50 and support these guys.Great that KF pointed for them to come back to the fans and applaud them.Classy and well received.Loved hearing the re-run of old Charlton songs at the game,shows the fans are enjoying their football again.
I too enjoyed he renditions of past players songs. I'll take some credit for them along with a couple of pals. Decent away day thoroughly enjoyable. Leaving the ground singing songs with fellow away supporters is always special. Long may it continue
Really enjoyed the performance on Saturday--each player with the same mindset,determined,skillful and creative. Brum could have been there all night and not scored,their heads dropped when Jacko scored which is always great to see from the opposition.What a lovely move too and a pinpoint cross from THD. Lookman reminds me of Shaun Wright-Phillips when he was a top player,hard to track or predict.Fast and with an open mind to the game.A little more composure would have given him a goal but he seems to be a quick learner and I feel he will be a great asset to us.Plenty of experience around him to absorb and the team want him to do well,you can see that.I thought that JBG looked excellent second-half too.And what a change with Diarra in his true role in midfield,showing what a classy player he is,great to have him playing so well. Gary Rowett was quite confused by it all---how did they lose to his old club seemed to be the theme.Too big a reliance on Donaldson may be the answer.Who cares though? One downside is the form of Jordan Cousins,not quite sure where his head is at the moment.Maybe he needs a reality check and he can learn so much from Diarra.Runs a lot and that's about it.He's a much better player than the last few displays and I hope this is just a bad patch for him. Can we get past Ipswich and Brighton without defeats--I think so,the situation after those games will tell us a lot more. Great credit to KF too for his whole attitude since his appointment,getting on with the job in hand,arresting the slide and setting everyone up to play in their best roles with the right information,tactically very sound against the Wendies and Brum.And confidence starting to run through the team. Let's get behind them---the enjoyment is watching the team win and we need to set aside the off-field matters for other times than 3 to 4.50 and support these guys.Great that KF pointed for them to come back to the fans and applaud them.Classy and well received.Loved hearing the re-run of old Charlton songs at the game,shows the fans are enjoying their football again.
I too enjoyed he renditions of past players songs. I'll take some credit for them along with a couple of pals. Decent away day thoroughly enjoyable. Leaving the ground singing songs with fellow away supporters is always special. Long may it continue
And let's face it , there are an awful lot of past players out there, one more after today indeed!
One downside is the form of Jordan Cousins,not quite sure where his head is at the moment.Maybe he needs a reality check and he can learn so much from Diarra.Runs a lot and that's about it.He's a much better player than the last few displays and I hope this is just a bad patch for him.
Jordan looked like a young Gerrard when he first appeared, composed, breaking up play, putting in quality tackles and threatening runs on goal. He is now tending to look more like a headless chicken at times, caught between defending and pressing and doing neither. He is young and developing and has bags more to give but have we got the coaching staff to recognise what's needed to bring it out. Could see him leaving and doing the real business for a different club.
Not sure how true a reflection of the game those highlights are but to me it looked like we rode our luck quite a bit ?
My thoughts exactly.
The space they exploited down the wings probably gives an exaggerated picture. The fact their fans hardly broke breath to cheer speaks volumes.
We could have scored from at least three clear cut chances, they had more speculative attempts and showed a lack of quality in the box. Rode our luck a few times but nowhere near a case of surviving a battering.
Comments
Just a few comments really:
Morgan Fox busy but strong today, not much got past him, he is really growing into the LB role.
Lookman looked exciting, exhuberant and didn't seem to tire, only went off due to slight knock. His movement was good and he did as good a job of looking for Makienoks knockdowns as anyone I've seen this season.
THD also had a good game, and went forward with confidence knowing that Diarra was dropping in behind him when required.
We passed the ball around very well, almost in slow motion at times, and even though Birmingham closed down quite well our keep ball was good.
There were three traps I thought we would fall in to before the game, which we didn't. Firstly constantly looking for the long ball, The ball over the top was used sparingly. Secondly dropping too deep and inviting pressure, we didn't play like an unconfident side, the back four kept quite a high line and Birmingham's wingers weren't as much of a threat as they have seemingly posed to other teams this season. Finally getting frustrated and releasing the ball too early, there was nothing panicky about our game. Our composure really stood out.
Birmingham came into the game late on and despite them going close a few times, we really deserved the three points. The ref had quite a good game letting it flow (but he didn't have much to officiate), but one of the linos was a bit of a homer (although who knows why, I think the home fans volume must sound a lot better on the pitch that we could hear in the away end).
Finally Ill say a word for Karel Fraeye, whatever you might think of the owners I think he deserves a great deal of credit for the way he is conducting himself at the moment, as he turned his players round and sent them back again to applaud the fans, he didn't join them but just stood back by the tunnel and clapped his players. The guy has quiet unassuming class.
I'm not saying they should give him the job, but I'm very pleased with the way he is going about it, playing to the players strengths, looks like he has the players onside, which is something that seemingly hasn't been the case for quite some time. Tactically we were strong, we seemed pretty well drilled on corners and other set pieces (including the goal), nice to see we are not always looking for Maks head on a stick in the box. Plus the team kept their shape and weren't over-run. Nice composure from the two centre halves for the majority of the game.
As for KF credit where credit is due but don't forget Jason Euell is also part of that team.
Top marks to Lookman running the channel, then THD following his pass for the overlap. Simple football at its best.
As for giving credit to KF, each to his own mate, I'm willing to give him a chance at least, he's just getting on with the job he's been given, quietly and without getting involved in the politics, got nothing against the guy. And of course I don't forget Jason Euell is part of that team, we're all quick to praise Jason and rightly so, but I thought Id stick my head above the parapet and give KF a quick nod. Didn't think I'd be shot down for it.
Amazing what a difference a win makes, we look confident (and fit) again.
Need to start making the good build up really pay though. For all the great work we did, there was one massive let off in particular right at the end when the Blues player puts wide from about a yard. That goes in and the tone on here is a bit different today. I guess those are the small margins by which most games are won and lost though. For now I think it's fair to focus on the positives - confident players playing to a cohesive and effective game plan. Someone, Fraeye or otherwise, finally appears to be doing decent homework on the opposition and producing a plan to beat them. Well done to whoever that is, even if it's Fraeye.
Captain fantastic with a proper blokes header to seal the win , beautiful .
As mentioned above KF has an air of class about him as a person at least , hopefully his management ability does too , we shall see or not as the case maybe !
7th-12th 10% ............ 13th-21st 55% ........... Bottom three 35%
Whilst we played well and looked really comfortable in possession at times for an away game, we could easily have conceded a few, Henderson was well beaten on at least 3/4 occasions (through no fault of his own) for the ball to go inches wide. Honestly, I think we got away with one to win 1-0, but we did play well enough to deserve a bit of luck
Difficult game to be sat in the Birmingham end for!
The Top 5 look hard to catch, but I'd say 6th place was a very very small possibility!
Brum could have been there all night and not scored,their heads dropped when Jacko scored which is always great to see from the opposition.What a lovely move too and a pinpoint cross from THD.
Lookman reminds me of Shaun Wright-Phillips when he was a top player,hard to track or predict.Fast and with an open mind to the game.A little more composure would have given him a goal but he seems to be a quick learner and I feel he will be a great asset to us.Plenty of experience around him to absorb and the team want him to do well,you can see that.I thought that JBG looked excellent second-half too.And what a change with Diarra in his true role in midfield,showing what a classy player he is,great to have him playing so well.
Gary Rowett was quite confused by it all---how did they lose to his old club seemed to be the theme.Too big a reliance on Donaldson may be the answer.Who cares though?
One downside is the form of Jordan Cousins,not quite sure where his head is at the moment.Maybe he needs a reality check and he can learn so much from Diarra.Runs a lot and that's about it.He's a much better player than the last few displays and I hope this is just a bad patch for him.
Can we get past Ipswich and Brighton without defeats--I think so,the situation after those games will tell us a lot more.
Great credit to KF too for his whole attitude since his appointment,getting on with the job in hand,arresting the slide and setting everyone up to play in their best roles with the right information,tactically very sound against the Wendies and Brum.And confidence starting to run through the team.
Let's get behind them---the enjoyment is watching the team win and we need to set aside the off-field matters for other times than 3 to 4.50 and support these guys.Great that KF pointed for them to come back to the fans and applaud them.Classy and well received.Loved hearing the re-run of old Charlton songs at the game,shows the fans are enjoying their football again.
He sat with me in the home end at the valley last season so fair is fair and he was well impressed with THD.
One thing was noticeable was how quickly the home fans turned on the team, despite them doing really well of late, and how this visably affected some of their players.
The idiot kid sat next to me was constantly berating their LB (Grounds) for everything that went wrong, even though he weren't involved.
On the whole i thought that the team played with a lot of energy yet had the composure to create chances and keep the ball.
Amazing how players playing in their correct positions (THD aside), in a formation that suits them can go a long way to creating a competitive footballing side!
He said "very[,] very small possibility", which it is, so there's no need for the sarcasm.
He said "very[,] very small possibility", which it is, so there's no need for the sarcasm.
Yes, Palace's promotion season started with them in a similarly hopeless situation, so it's not impossible
Don't think we'll do it though.