I enjoyed the match & it was great to be back at the Valley.
...................
Charlton can pass the ball & have some quick players. Charlton’s squad is weak though as showed by the bench & lack of depth of quality. That definitely limits Robinson’s tactical options & his ability to respond to changing match situations. Clarke not playing probably didn’t help but if Charlton had stronger attacking options then Charlton would be a reasonable bet for the top 2. It’s a shame as the team is not far off. I enjoyed the game though all in all. It helps not having too much expectation.
Great drinking game, take a shot every time you read the world Charlton in vff's match review.
So you're on Charlton Life, reading a thoughtful post from a fellow supporter who was at the match and your response is to take the rise out of how many times VFF says Charlton? Weird.
Thanks for your post VFF.
Not a rise mate, just trying to be jovial and lighten the mood after an otherwise disappointing result. Why assume negative intent?
Thanks @ValleyMick . @CAFCTrev correct on the post with all the Charltons. I am out of practice with posts / match reports, first game of the season. Not been bothered to post lately as the squad is light & I have no faith in the Duchatelet way of doing things. I enjoyed the game & missed being at the Valley. Good to catch up with family.
Reading in Voice of the Valley was encouraging that new ownership is not far off. Squad strength wise the team reminded me of the Parkinson team before the Jimenez / Slater takeover. Better football though.
An addition of a decent striker would make a lot of difference. Let’s hope Duchatelet sells soon in time for new owners, with sufficient funds so the club doesn’t have to sell Konsa & can get a striker in to push for automatic promotion. Myself & a lot of CAFC supporters can then have some faith in the project & be encouraged to attend more & give a damn again. Onwards & forwards.
The best we can rationally hope for is top 6. Honestly, we are not good enough to get top 2. And with a sale looking more likely, I don't see how things will get better during a transition period. It will be a poor distraction.
Harsh. I doubt anyone in League One played as well as we did in the first 60 minutes.
First game since the opener against Bristol Rovers.
Day didn't start too well. Meeting my son in the shop - he was sheltering from the rain honest - I realised we were standing next to Daisy Meire. I so wanted to ask her to autograph my new voice of the valley but my British reserve got the better of me. Sorry!
Into the ground and so dispiriting to see an ocean of empty seats. That is the true legacy Douchbag and Daisy will leave behind. Still spirits revived watching the hapless staff trying to space out equally the kids carrying flags along the front of the east stand!
As for the game most things already said. But some thoughts after a few months away from the Valley :-
1)Not too impressed by what I saw of Reeves. Looked very lightweight.
2)Not something you could say about Sarr. Blimey he's huge. Never one of his greatest fans previously but looked a different player today.
3)Very disappointed with Kashi. Played so deep and kept playing his teammates into trouble. Not sure if it was a penalty but it was a bloody stupid tackle he put in.
4)This really is a pub league. We need to get out of it urgently. And provided Holmes stays fit I think we are nailed on for the play - offs despite today's result. I just worry we will not be good enough for an automatic spot.
20% Automatic promotion ........55% Play offs ........... 25% 7th-12th
100% Roland Out
Blackburn are coming up on the rails , see them , Wigan and Shrewsbury as the threats to us for automatic but I find it hard to get too excited whilst our nearest rivals are playing their trade in higher divisions, shameful
Scunthope are back on track. They have had a very strong 18 months, definitely another team being play-off material at least.
The best we can rationally hope for is top 6. Honestly, we are not good enough to get top 2. And with a sale looking more likely, I don't see how things will get better during a transition period. It will be a poor distraction.
Harsh. I doubt anyone in League One played as well as we did in the first 60 minutes.
In jest, I commented at the time that it was like watching Barcelona, but we were playing great stuff
Sadly the last 30 was like watching Crystal Palace
Missed Bauer - really hope he returns Tuesday. Not convinced that Sarr has become a completely changed player. For a tall defender, he was very poor with his head when under pressure yesterday, and I believe both of their goals (one directly) came from his inability to clear away their crosses. He has improved a little from the mistake-ridden player of a few season ago, but there's still the strong suspicion for me that he's a liability under pressure. Very surprised that the training ground hasn't cured this. After all, timing a jump and heading away the ball from crosses should be a basic requirement for a tall, well built centre back! As for KR's assertion that he would make a good centre forward - is this scouse humour? Reminds me of what he said about Dodoo, who played on the wing in Scotland - KR wanted to convert him to a centre forward. Yes, well, enough said.
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
@Viewfinder Do you sit near row UU of the Covered End, slight to the left of goal?
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
Sad to say, there's a few home truths in @Viewfinder 's post.
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf and retarded: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
Sad to say, there's a few home truths in @Viewfinder 's post.
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf and retarded: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
Sad to say, there's a few home truths in @Viewfinder 's post.
the lack of leadership that his mate said rings very true. after their first equalise we went to pieces (no calm heads) nearly conceding again. then after our second goal no discipline in holding out a few minutes against an average side.
It is down to playing with one striker though IMO.
You imply we are making lots of chances that are not taken, and it is because we have five in midfield and only one striker. If we changed to two strikers and only four in midfield we could have a situation where we have two strikers chasing fewer chances and conceding more goals because there is one less midfielder to help when defending.
Of the top six, only Wigan have a marginally better goals per game rate. That suggests our main problem is not with the formation.
I think it is not the "one striker" strategy which is to blame. Top teams all over Europe are increasingly adopting it. Their coaches cannot all be mistaken. Our problem is that Magennis is willing but limited and is being over-played because we have no competent deputy and no Plan B to change games.
It is down to playing with one striker though IMO.
You imply we are making lots of chances that are not taken, and it is because we have five in midfield and only one striker. If we changed to two strikers and only four in midfield we could have a situation where we have two strikers chasing fewer chances and conceding more goals because there is one less midfielder to help when defending.
Of the top six, only Wigan have a marginally better goals per game rate. That suggests our main problem is not with the formation.
I think it is not the "one striker" strategy which is to blame. Top teams all over Europe are increasingly adopting it. Their coaches cannot all be mistaken. Our problem is that Magennis is willing but limited and is being over-played because we have no competent deputy and no Plan B to change games.
I don’t have a problem with the formation, just the inflexibility with which it is deployed. And that’s why Magennis doesn’t have a deputy. It comes back to the manager’s priorities in the summer.
As for chances falling to midfielders, indeed and in Holmes and Fosu, in particular, we have midfielders with a record of converting them. But presumably strikers are strikers because they are better at it.
Naby Sarr had a long range drive yesterday which was competent but hardly threatening. The later chance did not provide evidence he is a striker in waiting. Like most centre halves, he is more likely to score with his head at set-pieces.
I suspect we’d have won yesterday with Bauer or Pearce in the back four anyway. Sarr and Konsa was not a satisfactory alternative, whatever their individual merits, but needs must. We were not good enough to win the game. Beat Rochdale and that will be forgotten.
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
What a load of nonsense. It was a real shame that MK Dons got anything from that game. They were poor and were quite frankly lucky to get anything.
To say that we were appalling or dreadful is just categorically untrue. For the first 60 minutes we were bloody excellent.
For those who followed the match thread and read my mistake in moaning about scoring from corners and that we should practice more, this quote has put me in my place.
On Charlton’s first goal, scored by Josh Magennis
"It was Jacko’s set piece. We worked on it yesterday. He’d seen a fault in their set piece setup. Even when you see a weakness in that, the delivery has to be right, the movement has got to be right. I was so happy for them."
It is down to playing with one striker though IMO.
You imply we are making lots of chances that are not taken, and it is because we have five in midfield and only one striker. If we changed to two strikers and only four in midfield we could have a situation where we have two strikers chasing fewer chances and conceding more goals because there is one less midfielder to help when defending.
Of the top six, only Wigan have a marginally better goals per game rate. That suggests our main problem is not with the formation.
I think it is not the "one striker" strategy which is to blame. Top teams all over Europe are increasingly adopting it. Their coaches cannot all be mistaken. Our problem is that Magennis is willing but limited and is being over-played because we have no competent deputy and no Plan B to change games.
I don’t have a problem with the formation, just the inflexibility with which it is deployed. And that’s why Magennis doesn’t have a deputy. It comes back to the manager’s priorities in the summer.
As for chances falling to midfielders, indeed and in Holmes and Fosu, in particular, we have midfielders with a record of converting them. But presumably strikers are strikers because they are better at it.
Naby Sarr had a long range drive yesterday which was competent but hardly threatening. The later chance did not provide evidence he is a striker in waiting. Like most centre halves, he is more likely to score with his head at set-pieces.
I suspect we’d have won yesterday with Bauer or Pearce in the back four anyway. Sarr and Konsa was not a satisfactory alternative, whatever their individual merits, but needs must. We were not good enough to win the game. Beat Rochdale and that will be forgotten.
I suppose these days the divide between attacking midfielders and strikers is flexible anyway, with fewer teams replying on a front 2 in a 442 formation to score the goals
The likes of Hazard, Salah, Sane etc aren't out and out strikers (like a Lineker) but play a key attacking role behind/around the centre forward and score a lot of goals
Others may have said this already on this thread and I know it's been mentioned on other threads so I apologise for going over old ground.
Good as Fosu and Holmes have been, the lack of a proper finisher will quite possibly derail our promotion campaign. We should have been out of sight before their first goal and the penalty at the end, given rightly or wrongly, should have been an irrelevance.
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf and retarded: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
Sad to say, there's a few home truths in @Viewfinder 's post.
the lack of leadership that his mate said rings very true. after their first equalise we went to pieces (no calm heads) nearly conceding again. then after our second goal no discipline in holding out a few minutes against an average side.
Agreed, but I think we look a lesser team without Bauer and/or Pearce. Konsa isn't yet the great player he probably will be, and Kashi needs to make more of those forward runs that led to the OG. He somehow looks less comfortable than normal on a slippery pitch.
We started pretty well, and dominated for at least the first 30 mins. But towards the end of the first half Reeves was given the ball in midfield, with acres of space in front of him, but he put his foot on the ball and ended up passing back to the keeper. This was so unnecessary, and somehow the momentum shifted, if only slightly.
We started getting bullied (just as well we had Sarr yesterday) and the ref was too weak to do anything about it.
We generally work the ball quite well, but as I said earlier, the final pass is letting us down.
It is down to playing with one striker though IMO.
You imply we are making lots of chances that are not taken, and it is because we have five in midfield and only one striker. If we changed to two strikers and only four in midfield we could have a situation where we have two strikers chasing fewer chances and conceding more goals because there is one less midfielder to help when defending.
Of the top six, only Wigan have a marginally better goals per game rate. That suggests our main problem is not with the formation.
I think it is not the "one striker" strategy which is to blame. Top teams all over Europe are increasingly adopting it. Their coaches cannot all be mistaken. Our problem is that Magennis is willing but limited and is being over-played because we have no competent deputy and no Plan B to change games.
I don’t have a problem with the formation, just the inflexibility with which it is deployed. And that’s why Magennis doesn’t have a deputy. It comes back to the manager’s priorities in the summer.
As for chances falling to midfielders, indeed and in Holmes and Fosu, in particular, we have midfielders with a record of converting them. But presumably strikers are strikers because they are better at it.
Naby Sarr had a long range drive yesterday which was competent but hardly threatening. The later chance did not provide evidence he is a striker in waiting. Like most centre halves, he is more likely to score with his head at set-pieces.
I suspect we’d have won yesterday with Bauer or Pearce in the back four anyway. Sarr and Konsa was not a satisfactory alternative, whatever their individual merits, but needs must. We were not good enough to win the game. Beat Rochdale and that will be forgotten.
I suppose these days the divide between attacking midfielders and strikers is flexible anyway, with fewer teams replying on a front 2 in a 442 formation to score the goals
The likes of Hazard, Salah, Sane etc aren't out and out strikers (like a Lineker) but play a key attacking role behind/around the centre forward and score a lot of goals
Big problem. We don't have Hazard, Salah, Sane, Sanchez, Mahrez, Ronaldo or any other "number 10" that happens to play that roll. Not sure how many teams have got out the 3rd tier of Englisgh football trying to play like Real Madrid, Man City or Arsenal, but having a couple of main strikers, One big & burly and the other nippy & opportunistic suited us well in our record breaking season, in the 1998 play off season & in the 2000 Championship winning season. I think we'll make the play-offs, but wont get the top 2 - I think it will be Blackburn & Wigan.
That was appalling. Utterly dreadful, again. We started well enough, quick and fluent, bright and sharp, sweeping forward. Good goal after six minutes: accurate corner, and header from Magennis: One-nil.
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
What a load of nonsense. It was a real shame that MK Dons got anything from that game. They were poor and were quite frankly lucky to get anything.
To say that we were appalling or dreadful is just categorically untrue. For the first 60 minutes we were bloody excellent.
Another reason to blame the referee. He insisted on playing 90 minutes.
The debate around one striker versus two is an interesting one.
Robinson would not doubt argue that five men in midfield - with two good attacking full-backs in Solly and Silva - allows us to dominate possession and come at teams from more threatening positions.
If, for example, you had Ajose hanging around up front with Maginnis then he really wouldn't add much to the overall team pattern of play.
Ideally, you may actually switch Maginnis for a more prolific goal scorer like Darren Bent or Clive Mendonca given Josh is never going to get you 25 goals.
The debate around one striker versus two is an interesting one.
Robinson would not doubt argue that five men in midfield - with two good attacking full-backs in Solly and Silva - allows us to dominate possession and come at teams from more threatening positions.
If, for example, you had Ajose hanging around up front with Maginnis then he really wouldn't add much to the overall team pattern of play.
Ideally, you may actually switch Maginnis for a more prolific goal scorer like Darren Bent or Clive Mendonca given Josh is never going to get you 25 goals.
Sorry. Bent and super Clive were exceptional players and very good at what they did. But neither of then brought the all round play that Josh brings to this system. They weren't exactly known for holding the ball up and bringing others into play nor for winning arial battles.
Whilst Josh isn't a 1 in 2 striker he brings so much more to the side and that's essential in this system.
Neither Bent nor Mendonca would thrive in this system and the team would suffer too.
The debate around one striker versus two is an interesting one.
Robinson would not doubt argue that five men in midfield - with two good attacking full-backs in Solly and Silva - allows us to dominate possession and come at teams from more threatening positions.
If, for example, you had Ajose hanging around up front with Maginnis then he really wouldn't add much to the overall team pattern of play.
Ideally, you may actually switch Maginnis for a more prolific goal scorer like Darren Bent or Clive Mendonca given Josh is never going to get you 25 goals.
He would argue that because he's shown both here and at MK that he can't manage any other formation successfully. .
The debate around one striker versus two is an interesting one.
Robinson would not doubt argue that five men in midfield - with two good attacking full-backs in Solly and Silva - allows us to dominate possession and come at teams from more threatening positions.
If, for example, you had Ajose hanging around up front with Maginnis then he really wouldn't add much to the overall team pattern of play.
Ideally, you may actually switch Maginnis for a more prolific goal scorer like Darren Bent or Clive Mendonca given Josh is never going to get you 25 goals.
Sorry. Bent and super Clive were exceptional players and very good at what they did. But neither of then brought the all round play that Josh brings to this system. They weren't exactly known for holding the ball up and bringing others into play nor for winning arial battles.
Whilst Josh isn't a 1 in 2 striker he brings so much more to the side and that's essential in this system.
Neither Bent nor Mendonca would thrive in this system and the team would suffer too.
Sorry, but I totally disagree. You couldn't have seen much of the 97-98 play-off season. Mendonca was one of the best for holding the ball up & bringing others into play. You don't always have to play it 6ft in the air - he was a master of receiving a pass to feet (with his back to goal) and laying it off to someone else and/or bringing someone else into play.
I agree about D Bent - he preferred a ball over the top or alongside of him to run onto. All strikers bring something different to a team, Leaburn was different to Magennis, Bent was different to Mendonca - but they had someone playing alongside them.
A slightly baffling game and one that we should have won, despite our level dipping significantly in the last half hour.
An excellent first half, with some of the best passing and overall control of a game that I’ve seen from a Charlton side for a long time. We were literally first to every second ball and MK really struggled to get a foothold in the game. For all that and our obvious superiority over a relatively limited opposition, one goal is never enough and the the fear persisted (articulated by a number of regulars) that we would pay for failing to score a second. JFC was unlucky with his deflected shot against the post but he missed a header six yards out when it looked easier to score.
Thus it proved, albeit after a decent enough start to the second half. Marshall failed with his one-on-one chance and once MK got their equaliser, we seemed to fall apart for a period and, but for an appalling miss by Aneke, we'd have found ourselves behind. Spurred on by the equaliser, the opposition started to dominate us in midfield and, whilst we had a few threatening moments, I didn't feel confident that we were going to push on and win the game, especially as we didn't look secure at the back. The own goal in the closing minutes was a real slice of luck but, rather like at Walsall, we managed to concede at the death and cast another two points to the wind.
It sounds like Bauer will be back on Tuesday to add a bit of solidity, although the recurrence of the injury to Fosu is a blow, as I thought he made a difference when he came on, especially as Reeves was largely ineffective. Hopefully we can put things right and get three points on the board against Rochdale on Tuesday, although they'll be no pushovers.
Reeves lacked confidence and Fosu would have been a better option at least for that extra goal. But do you play a player to give him confidence to, in the long term, get a fantastic player over playing a player who will make more of a difference, in the short term, to the outcome of the game. Marshall is a strong player and still needs time settling in but his intent is obvious and whilst not linking up with solly very well he will get there I am sure. I thought we played well and very well in the first half. If Konsa's sale money is used for a striker in Jan then I expect that we shall be going to Wembley for the play-offs rather than automatic promotion as Shrewsbury don't lose as much as us.
Comments
Reading in Voice of the Valley was encouraging that new ownership is not far off. Squad strength wise the team reminded me of the Parkinson team before the Jimenez / Slater takeover. Better football though.
An addition of a decent striker would make a lot of difference. Let’s hope Duchatelet sells soon in time for new owners, with sufficient funds so the club doesn’t have to sell Konsa & can get a striker in to push for automatic promotion. Myself & a lot of CAFC supporters can then have some faith in the project & be encouraged to attend more & give a damn again. Onwards & forwards.
Sadly the last 30 was like watching Crystal Palace
Yet, after 20 minutes our players fell flat. Their energy drained away, brains evaporated to ectoplasm. Dull and dreary. Unopposed by MK Dons, who mustered no threat at all and had no shots in 45 minutes.
Half time. Fat guy waddles on to the pitch, shouting at the Covered End as if we are deaf: the Crossbar Challenge. Note that even the bird in heels with clipboard has deserted him. Barry from Bexleyheath steps up and hoofs it wide. There is a ripple of applause. More entertaining, the ref yesterday resembled the legendary Roger Kirkpatrick in the 1970s: knees up high, running backwards diagonally across the turf. Ex-Army. Cold showers. Spoofed by Fulton Mackay in 'Porridge'.
We fell apart in the second half. Holmes is our best player, seizing the ball and running at the opponents: aggressive, disruptive and incisive. Yet, alone with a dead ball, he makes the most basic errors: shanked a corner to the ball-boy behind the goal – shades of Danny Green – then sent a free-kick on the edge of the box straight out of play. Piss-poor.
In the entire second half, the Dons' keeper did not have a proper save to make. What on earth were we doing? We went to pieces, all ragged and clumsy, like pavement buskers without a song. We had a free-kick in their half, thought about the dead ball for a long time, then passed it back to our keeper. That is simply pathetic. Amos – as usual – hoofed it directly to Row Z.
There is a vast constituency on Charlton Life that swoons over Kashi: a 'great player', a 'master of the game'. What a lovely idea. He received four easy passes in defensive positions yesterday and made a suicidal mess of each of them: MK Dons were in on goal.
And the vapid midfield that has failed us for years: Forster-Caskey, Clarke, Aribo: perm any three from a register of dozens: all anonymous men, a regiment of shuffling shadows. None of them ever gets forward and pushes the crucial ten-yard ball to a capable striker, in on goal. Magennis is a talented player: sprints over to the corner, muscles the defender off the ball – yet there is no-one in the box, eager to receive. Our second was an own goal: a favour, a gift from the gods. We should watch and learn from Wigan, who ripped us apart 3-0 at The Valley two months ago. They are planets beyond our ability and imagination.
Reeves played 60 minutes yesterday and barely touched the ball. Marshall is peripheral and seems frightened by the game going on around him. He was free in the second half, one-on-one against the keeper – and muffed it. Sarr is a big tough guy – yet five yards out, unchallenged, he was a little girl, tapping the ball to the keeper's palms. In the last minute of added time, ball flies over to Ahearne-Grant, three yards from goal – and he hoofed it to the upper tier.
No, no, no. My neighbour in the Covered End has been watching us since the days of Stuart Leary and Johnny Summers in 1958; he is a forgiving and optimistic soul. His verdict on yesterday's mess: “There is no leadership in this team. We can't score. Carry on like this, and we'll miss the play-offs by a mile.”
Of the top six, only Wigan have a marginally better goals per game rate. That suggests our main problem is not with the formation.
I think it is not the "one striker" strategy which is to blame. Top teams all over Europe are increasingly adopting it. Their coaches cannot all be mistaken. Our problem is that Magennis is willing but limited and is being over-played because we have no competent deputy and no Plan B to change games.
As for chances falling to midfielders, indeed and in Holmes and Fosu, in particular, we have midfielders with a record of converting them. But presumably strikers are strikers because they are better at it.
Naby Sarr had a long range drive yesterday which was competent but hardly threatening. The later chance did not provide evidence he is a striker in waiting. Like most centre halves, he is more likely to score with his head at set-pieces.
I suspect we’d have won yesterday with Bauer or Pearce in the back four anyway. Sarr and Konsa was not a satisfactory alternative, whatever their individual merits, but needs must. We were not good enough to win the game. Beat Rochdale and that will be forgotten.
To say that we were appalling or dreadful is just categorically untrue. For the first 60 minutes we were bloody excellent.
On Charlton’s first goal, scored by Josh Magennis
"It was Jacko’s set piece. We worked on it yesterday. He’d seen a fault in their set piece setup. Even when you see a weakness in that, the delivery has to be right, the movement has got to be right. I was so happy for them."
Sorry KR and JJ.
The likes of Hazard, Salah, Sane etc aren't out and out strikers (like a Lineker) but play a key attacking role behind/around the centre forward and score a lot of goals
Good as Fosu and Holmes have been, the lack of a proper finisher will quite possibly derail our promotion campaign. We should have been out of sight before their first goal and the penalty at the end, given rightly or wrongly, should have been an irrelevance.
We started pretty well, and dominated for at least the first 30 mins. But towards the end of the first half Reeves was given the ball in midfield, with acres of space in front of him, but he put his foot on the ball and ended up passing back to the keeper. This was so unnecessary, and somehow the momentum shifted, if only slightly.
We started getting bullied (just as well we had Sarr yesterday) and the ref was too weak to do anything about it.
We generally work the ball quite well, but as I said earlier, the final pass is letting us down.
Robinson would not doubt argue that five men in midfield - with two good attacking full-backs in Solly and Silva - allows us to dominate possession and come at teams from more threatening positions.
If, for example, you had Ajose hanging around up front with Maginnis then he really wouldn't add much to the overall team pattern of play.
Ideally, you may actually switch Maginnis for a more prolific goal scorer like Darren Bent or Clive Mendonca given Josh is never going to get you 25 goals.
Whilst Josh isn't a 1 in 2 striker he brings so much more to the side and that's essential in this system.
Neither Bent nor Mendonca would thrive in this system and the team would suffer too.
I agree about D Bent - he preferred a ball over the top or alongside of him to run onto. All strikers bring something different to a team, Leaburn was different to Magennis, Bent was different to Mendonca - but they had someone playing alongside them.
The following season we signed JFH, who didn't add much of anything to our strike force...
An excellent first half, with some of the best passing and overall control of a game that I’ve seen from a Charlton side for a long time. We were literally first to every second ball and MK really struggled to get a foothold in the game. For all that and our obvious superiority over a relatively limited opposition, one goal is never enough and the the fear persisted (articulated by a number of regulars) that we would pay for failing to score a second. JFC was unlucky with his deflected shot against the post but he missed a header six yards out when it looked easier to score.
Thus it proved, albeit after a decent enough start to the second half. Marshall failed with his one-on-one chance and once MK got their equaliser, we seemed to fall apart for a period and, but for an appalling miss by Aneke, we'd have found ourselves behind. Spurred on by the equaliser, the opposition started to dominate us in midfield and, whilst we had a few threatening moments, I didn't feel confident that we were going to push on and win the game, especially as we didn't look secure at the back. The own goal in the closing minutes was a real slice of luck but, rather like at Walsall, we managed to concede at the death and cast another two points to the wind.
It sounds like Bauer will be back on Tuesday to add a bit of solidity, although the recurrence of the injury to Fosu is a blow, as I thought he made a difference when he came on, especially as Reeves was largely ineffective. Hopefully we can put things right and get three points on the board against Rochdale on Tuesday, although they'll be no pushovers.