Like others, I think JFC coming back will give us stability, although not the kind of consolidation that @cabbles is talking about... A must win game against inferiour opposition, and if we're to have any hope of the play-offs then we need to come away with 3 pts. Goodbye, then, to the 1-1's, albeit briefly: 1-3 to the Adicks!!! Good luck to the hardy followers heading up the M6
Edit: maybe just a 45 minute cameo for Watt? Can't see him surviving 8 matches in 4 weeks... Aribo and Ezri need a breather too, and given this match is, on paper, a given, maybe it's time to rest the both of them and give the others a try
Seem to recall we had to play in Oldham's away kit for a midweek match at Boundary Park in the mid-90's, whilst my favourite Oldham memory is of David Whyte coming off the bench to grab a late winner in a 1-0 win at The Valley in '96. More recently, having been to about 16 away matches in our first League 1 season under Parky, I stupidly decided not to bother going to Oldham on the last day of the season and then went into panic mode about 10 minutes into the second half when a freakish selection of scorelines temporarily propelled us into the second promotion slot, and I had to deal with the very real possibility of not being their to witness us sealing promotion. A harrowing "don't know whether to laugh or cry" afternoon, and fortunately I had learned from that mistake by the time we travelled up to Carlisle to seal promotion a couple of years later.
Much like watching Charlton this season, the vast majority of my Charlton vs Oldham memories are of drab 1-1 draws - from our last 15 meetings with the Latics, 10 of them have been draws and 8 of those were 1-1. Our most recent meeting was a particularly dull affair, so much so that I spent the second half reading the match thread for a game I was actually at. Can only see yet more boredom to come, and another opportunity to close in on the top 6 passes us by, yet another 1-1.
If you're travelling up to this then I salute you for either your heroic dedication or the extreme lengths you'll go to in order to coerce your other half into divorcing you.
What's important is to make sure the stoppage mindset stays positive because back to back injury time equalisers against you that doubt can creep into the mind whether you are a goal ahead or level when comes to conceding an equaliser in stoppage time or worse conceding the winning goal in stoppage time. Partly in giving us that slim hope for the play-off but much more over for general confidence levels.
Ricky Holmes needs to sort out his tackling. After two bad challenges, both of which could have reds, I suspect Refs will be harder on him from now on.
Flair players sometimes get away with tackles that "physical players" don't because of the "he's not that sort of player" benefit of the doubt that they tend to have, but Holmes now has a bit of a reputation...
Just arrived in the Manchester area after a very pleasant and unusually quiet drive over the Pennines on the M62 .. staying here for this and the Rochdale game
We need six points from these two, alas, given our current form, 2 points is more likely .. Oldham will scrap like mad as they strive to get away from the bottom, recently they have been in decent form
Must be a recall for Magennis and I would keep Chicksen at full back
Heart says a fighting three points, head says YET another draw
Oldham Athletic 1 v CAFC 2 (from the heart)
The lengths you'll go to avoid North Ferriby v Dover.....
The back four pretty much picks itself, and Rudd hasn't done anything to get dropped, so we'll start with this: Rudd Solly Bauer Tex Page
Watt's wasted out wide but was still one of our best performers against the wombles, so let's put him behind Mag; Holmes has to play; Aribo is quite a talent and doesn't look like needing a rest yet but should he give way to Watt? JFC should come back in to the middle if he's fit; neither Crofts nor Konsa is suited to playing on the opposite wing to Holmes so one of them should go to the bench in favour Mavididi:
Crofts or Konsa JFC Holmes Watt Mavididi Mag
Of course, Robinson will put Watt on the wing and Aribo in the centre behind Mag.
Just arrived in the Manchester area after a very pleasant and unusually quiet drive over the Pennines on the M62 .. staying here for this and the Rochdale game
We need six points from these two, alas, given our current form, 2 points is more likely .. Oldham will scrap like mad as they strive to get away from the bottom, recently they have been in decent form
Must be a recall for Magennis and I would keep Chicksen at full back
Heart says a fighting three points, head says YET another draw
Oldham Athletic 1 v CAFC 2 (from the heart)
The lengths you'll go to avoid North Ferriby v Dover.....
enjoy it .. are you meeting up with your mate from Goxhill ?
The back four pretty much picks itself, and Rudd hasn't done anything to get dropped, so we'll start with this: Rudd Solly Bauer Tex Page
Watt's wasted out wide but was still one of our best performers against the wombles, so let's put him behind Mag; Holmes has to play; Aribo is quite a talent and doesn't look like needing a rest yet but should he give way to Watt? JFC should come back in to the middle if he's fit; neither Crofts nor Konsa is suited to playing on the opposite wing to Holmes so one of them should go to the bench in favour Mavididi:
Crofts or Konsa JFC Holmes Watt Mavididi Mag
Of course, Robinson will put Watt on the wing and Aribo in the centre behind Mag.
I don't think Holmes will start as he is still coming back from a bit of a lay off, same goes for Novak. JFC might not be fit. On a heavy pitch like Oldhams you need to be fully fit and able to plough on through the conditions in my view. There is the game on Saturday to consider as well.
I'm very proud to have predicted the correct score for the last match. I'm sure I was alone in that. But this time, 1-2 (Watt & Holmes).
Page & JFC returning would help tomorrow.
I'd leave Magennis on the bench for standing by and watching Elliott equalise, rather than sticking a boot out. He (almost) literally fell asleep.
I'd play Mavididi in Novak's place for a laugh. And when he tires replace him with Dasilva, because then we'll hold the record for fielding the shortest centre forward in the modern era.
Just arrived in the Manchester area after a very pleasant and unusually quiet drive over the Pennines on the M62 .. staying here for this and the Rochdale game
We need six points from these two, alas, given our current form, 2 points is more likely .. Oldham will scrap like mad as they strive to get away from the bottom, recently they have been in decent form
Must be a recall for Magennis and I would keep Chicksen at full back
Heart says a fighting three points, head says YET another draw
Oldham Athletic 1 v CAFC 2 (from the heart)
The lengths you'll go to avoid North Ferriby v Dover.....
enjoy it .. are you meeting up with your mate from Goxhill ?
Does not look like it, family commitments it seems.
Fail to win this and it's bye bye fading play off hopes and three months of meaningless fixtures with a squad that will be scattered to the four winds in the summer. Doesn't sound so bad if you say it quickly!
some of the teams above us will drop points currently the table looks like this;
team P W D L F A GD Pts 1.Sheffield United 31 19 6 6 58 34 24 63 2.Scunthorpe United 30 17 7 6 57 32 25 58 3.Bolton Wanderers 29 16 6 7 41 23 18 54 4.Fleetwood Town 31 14 10 7 44 31 13 52 5.Bradford City 31 12 15 4 39 27 12 51 6.Millwall 30 13 8 9 45 40 5 47 7.Rochdale 29 14 5 10 41 36 5 47 8.Southend United 30 12 10 8 43 37 6 46 9.Peterborough United 30 12 8 10 43 38 5 44 10.Bristol Rovers 31 12 8 11 49 51 -2 44 11.Oxford United 29 12 7 10 37 31 6 43 12.Walsall 31 10 12 9 39 43 -4 42 13.Charlton Athletic 29 9 14 6 37 29 8 41
were 6 points off a playoff position, 3 if we win tonight as we have a game in hand chances must be taken and stop conceding late fucking goals, we have dropped 4 points in the last 2 matches. said we needed 12 from feb and still 15 to play for so its still on but we need to dish out a wallaping tonight, to get a bit of confidence back not score 1 then sit back and draw another game.
some of the teams above us will drop points currently the table looks like this;
team P W D L F A GD Pts 1.Sheffield United 31 19 6 6 58 34 24 63 2.Scunthorpe United 30 17 7 6 57 32 25 58 3.Bolton Wanderers 29 16 6 7 41 23 18 54 4.Fleetwood Town 31 14 10 7 44 31 13 52 5.Bradford City 31 12 15 4 39 27 12 51 6.Millwall 30 13 8 9 45 40 5 47 7.Rochdale 29 14 5 10 41 36 5 47 8.Southend United 30 12 10 8 43 37 6 46 9.Peterborough United 30 12 8 10 43 38 5 44 10.Bristol Rovers 31 12 8 11 49 51 -2 44 11.Oxford United 29 12 7 10 37 31 6 43 12.Walsall 31 10 12 9 39 43 -4 42 13.Charlton Athletic 29 9 14 6 37 29 8 41
were 6 points off a playoff position, 3 if we win tonight as we have a game in hand chances must be taken and stop conceding late fucking goals, we have dropped 4 points in the last 2 matches. said we needed 12 from feb and still 15 to play for so its still on but we need to dish out a wallaping tonight, to get a bit of confidence back not score 1 then sit back and draw another game.
oldham 1 - charlton 3
But you are assuming neither Millwall or Rochdale will not pick up points tonight. (we have played the same number of games as Rochdale).
some of the teams above us will drop points currently the table looks like this;
team P W D L F A GD Pts 1.Sheffield United 31 19 6 6 58 34 24 63 2.Scunthorpe United 30 17 7 6 57 32 25 58 3.Bolton Wanderers 29 16 6 7 41 23 18 54 4.Fleetwood Town 31 14 10 7 44 31 13 52 5.Bradford City 31 12 15 4 39 27 12 51 6.Millwall 30 13 8 9 45 40 5 47 7.Rochdale 29 14 5 10 41 36 5 47 8.Southend United 30 12 10 8 43 37 6 46 9.Peterborough United 30 12 8 10 43 38 5 44 10.Bristol Rovers 31 12 8 11 49 51 -2 44 11.Oxford United 29 12 7 10 37 31 6 43 12.Walsall 31 10 12 9 39 43 -4 42 13.Charlton Athletic 29 9 14 6 37 29 8 41
were 6 points off a playoff position, 3 if we win tonight as we have a game in hand chances must be taken and stop conceding late fucking goals, we have dropped 4 points in the last 2 matches. said we needed 12 from feb and still 15 to play for so its still on but we need to dish out a wallaping tonight, to get a bit of confidence back not score 1 then sit back and draw another game.
oldham 1 - charlton 3
But you are assuming neither Millwall or Rochdale will not pick up points tonight. (we have played the same number of games as Rochdale).
after tonight millwall will have played 31 and us 30.
Play like we should 0-2 Charlton Play like we have most of this season 1-1, its the default score. Play like we did at home against Oldham it's a 2-0 defeat.
So here I am in Singapore, its about 9.40 pm and the temp is a cool 30c. As the match is an evening one, in the UK, I wont be able to follow the match thread as it'll be 4 am here. However I'll read the match thread when I'm awake, without knowing the score, and hope to see we managed to at least nick 1 point of the mighty Lattics!!
Next stop for me on Saturday is Malaysia, so I might just get there on time to follow the thread live!! It'll be 11 pm there.
Comments
Edit: maybe just a 45 minute cameo for Watt? Can't see him surviving 8 matches in 4 weeks... Aribo and Ezri need a breather too, and given this match is, on paper, a given, maybe it's time to rest the both of them and give the others a try
Flair players sometimes get away with tackles that "physical players" don't because of the "he's not that sort of player" benefit of the doubt that they tend to have, but Holmes now has a bit of a reputation...
Rudd
Solly Tex Bauer Page
Crofts Konsa
Watt Aribo Chicksen
Magennis.
Subs: Phillips, Holmes, Novak, KAG, Mavididi, da Silva, Ulvestad/JFC.
Rudd
Solly Bauer Tex Page
Watt's wasted out wide but was still one of our best performers against the wombles, so let's put him behind Mag; Holmes has to play; Aribo is quite a talent and doesn't look like needing a rest yet but should he give way to Watt? JFC should come back in to the middle if he's fit; neither Crofts nor Konsa is suited to playing on the opposite wing to Holmes so one of them should go to the bench in favour Mavididi:
Crofts or Konsa JFC
Holmes Watt Mavididi
Mag
Of course, Robinson will put Watt on the wing and Aribo in the centre behind Mag.
JFC might not be fit.
On a heavy pitch like Oldhams you need to be fully fit and able to plough on through the conditions in my view.
There is the game on Saturday to consider as well.
But this time, 1-2 (Watt & Holmes).
Page & JFC returning would help tomorrow.
I'd leave Magennis on the bench for standing by and watching Elliott equalise, rather than sticking a boot out. He (almost) literally fell asleep.
I'd play Mavididi in Novak's place for a laugh. And when he tires replace him with Dasilva, because then we'll hold the record for fielding the shortest centre forward in the modern era.
1-1.
team P W D L F A GD Pts
1.Sheffield United 31 19 6 6 58 34 24 63
2.Scunthorpe United 30 17 7 6 57 32 25 58
3.Bolton Wanderers 29 16 6 7 41 23 18 54
4.Fleetwood Town 31 14 10 7 44 31 13 52
5.Bradford City 31 12 15 4 39 27 12 51
6.Millwall 30 13 8 9 45 40 5 47
7.Rochdale 29 14 5 10 41 36 5 47
8.Southend United 30 12 10 8 43 37 6 46
9.Peterborough United 30 12 8 10 43 38 5 44
10.Bristol Rovers 31 12 8 11 49 51 -2 44
11.Oxford United 29 12 7 10 37 31 6 43
12.Walsall 31 10 12 9 39 43 -4 42
13.Charlton Athletic 29 9 14 6 37 29 8 41
were 6 points off a playoff position, 3 if we win tonight as we have a game in hand chances must be taken and stop conceding late fucking goals, we have dropped 4 points in the last 2 matches. said we needed 12 from feb and still 15 to play for so its still on but we need to dish out a wallaping tonight, to get a bit of confidence back not score 1 then sit back and draw another game.
oldham 1 - charlton 3
2-0 win for the Addicks ...
I'd save Watt for 30 mins off the bench to run at their tired defense. That will be his best use I think.
One of Aribo/Konsa rested to allow JFC back in. We have a lot of games coming up so will need to rotate the midfield.
Holmes on one wing allowed Chicksen/Botaka on the other.
It's key we win this game to kick start allow run so expecting all the half fit players to start.
Rudd
Solly Bauer Tex Page
Crofts Konsa
Holmes JFC Chicksen
Magennis
Phillips Lennon? Jackson Botaka Watt Novak Mavididi
Play like we have most of this season 1-1, its the default score.
Play like we did at home against Oldham it's a 2-0 defeat.
Next stop for me on Saturday is Malaysia, so I might just get there on time to follow the thread live!! It'll be 11 pm there.