How bad was Marshall's miss? If we'd gone 1-0 up, I suspect we'd have got more as they chased the game. We desperately need a clinical finisher in January.
Bad. Again. He was clean through, as he was against MK Dons, and let the keeper pounce on him with a poor touch.
Though all around he was very poor today. His crossing was anywhere from erratic to awful. And he's now missed a fair few chances. Nothing terrible that can't be undone with a couple goals, and after such a long layoff it's completely reasonable that it takes a while to get back up to speed. But I think he's gotten off a little easy given the stick Ben Reeves has gotten (not wrongly). Both were out for a long time and both are making their way back to form and full fitness.
there's a reason Marshall has spent his time knocking around the lower leagues. He's not very good. He's 32 now, nothing's going to change.
Disagree with that - i think he will be a major player for us this year. Looks a real threat. Regularly beat his man - on the outside - and got good crosses in tuesday night - didnt see him today and know he is carrying a knock and ideally wouldn't have played today.
any idea when Best is signing?
nope - signing him obviously hasn't gone as smoothly as expected.
Puzzling, really, when you consider we have the contract expert as chief executive and there isn’t even another club to negotiate with.
she's negotiating with herself, a tricky business.
In all honesty following KR's comments the other day about looking to the academy it sounds like Roland won't sanction another wage onto the wage bill. If that is because a sale is close then great. If not I don't expect the situation to change in January, in fact I'd bank on a couple of sales and a couple of loan replacements.
Unbeaten in 9 before today. Bad day at the office. Most of our players are Championship quality (i have read on here a number of times). Yet we are in the last play off space in League One.
Two great goals, a difficult place to play but I simply cannot get used to us being in this shit division or reduce my expectations like many others seem to have done.
Roll on a takeover, a balanced squad and Robinson hopefully taking us up.
How bad was Marshall's miss? If we'd gone 1-0 up, I suspect we'd have got more as they chased the game. We desperately need a clinical finisher in January.
Bad. Again. He was clean through, as he was against MK Dons, and let the keeper pounce on him with a poor touch.
Though all around he was very poor today. His crossing was anywhere from erratic to awful. And he's now missed a fair few chances. Nothing terrible that can't be undone with a couple goals, and after such a long layoff it's completely reasonable that it takes a while to get back up to speed. But I think he's gotten off a little easy given the stick Ben Reeves has gotten (not wrongly). Both were out for a long time and both are making their way back to form and full fitness.
there's a reason Marshall has spent his time knocking around the lower leagues. He's not very good. He's 32 now, nothing's going to change.
Disagree with that - i think he will be a major player for us this year. Looks a real threat. Regularly beat his man - on the outside - and got good crosses in tuesday night - didnt see him today and know he is carrying a knock and ideally wouldn't have played today.
any idea when Best is signing?
nope - signing him obviously hasn't gone as smoothly as expected.
Puzzling, really, when you consider we have the contract expert as chief executive and there isn’t even another club to negotiate with.
she's negotiating with herself, a tricky business. In all honesty following KR's comments the other day about looking to the academy it sounds like Roland won't sanction another wage onto the wage bill. If that is because a sale is close then great. If not I don't expect the situation to change in January, in fact I'd bank on a couple of sales and a couple of loan replacements.
I think the interesting thing is that the situation seemed to change. I doubt if that was because Robinson hadn’t considered the young players.
Just arrived back from a long away day in good company as always, with good food & wine and a slightly sore head.
TBH, I feel a bit "meh" on reflection with regards to today's performance. And, more worryingly, not quite sure why.
I felt the first half was pretty even but would have settled for a draw at that point as The Iron appeared a cohesive & skillful outfit.
However, I hadn't factored in the arrival of a certain Mr Morris who set about changing my prediction in no uncertain terms on the hour mark- Ricky Holmes, eat your heart out. And that was that.
Yes, we applied some pressure and tried hard to pull at least one goal back but it just wasn't working. Plenty of possession in their half but with no end result. We could have played all night and not scored.
Today highlighted more than ever the lack of options both in the starting eleven and on the bench but also the spark that has been evident in most performances this season was missing. Our Ricky seems to be going through a quiet patch and IMHO, when Ricky is below par, his team mates "come out" in sympathy.
No one player could be singled out for criticism but neither could one be singled out for special praise. No-one busted a gut for the cause. And, oh how Robbo must have made an early Xmas wish for a competent striker to join his paper thin squad.
So, a pointless trip to the barrens of North Lincs which in itself is disappointing for a team with promotion aspirations.
But, more worrying is the prospect of upcoming games against some of our closest rivals with players thrust back onto the battlefield before they are 100% fit in an effort to field our strongest eleven. Should a victory be gained next Sunday , or worst still, a replay, our backlog of matches from international calls will increase with further pressure heaped on both the manager & his meagre squad.
December can be a cold, heartless month.
Let's hope that before it ends, our very own Ugly Sister and her Uncle Scrooge have been banished forever, heralding the start of a new, positive era for our beloved club under the stewardship of a Prince Charming who "gets" Charlton Athletic & what it takes to bring success back to SE7..... so we all live happily ever after.
Really? The first would have been stopped by an extra man on the wall. The second by better defensive organisation and closing down. I'm not saying both weren't exceptional goals and top quality but unstoppable is overplaying it.
In that case, using your logic, every goal should be prevented and every game finish 0-0.
My first game of the season. Despite the scoreline I didn't think it was as that bad. I expect Charlton will play worse and still win this season. Thought were matched them up until the first goal. In fact the timing of that was particularly unfortunate as we were in the ascendancy at that point. The second was the point of no return. Can't complain about either, both cracking goals. Holmes was the best player for me (except for his corners), when he ran at them he really caused some problems. Shame we couldn't have made more of our opportunities. If I was Robinson there'd be three things we'd be concentrating on in training: 1. Better quality passing: Not that it was terrible, there weren't and real howlers but too often the passing wasn't quite sharp enough. Either played to a man who had someone right on them or just a little bit off so the receiver had to stretch too much to control the ball. 2. Crossing: Pretty poor to be honest, both from corners and from free play. Can't remember one decent cross making it to the back post. 3. Taking chances: Need to be a bit better at finding a space, too many shots at distance right at the keeper.
And finally, I had to laugh at the handful of stupid old men who got all hot under the collar because Gilks was taking the piss ad the end. What did they think was going to happen? They spent the last ten minutes telling him how fat he was (which was admittedly very funny). But they were 2-0 up and we never looked like scoring at that point. Did they imagine for a second that he wasn't going to give it large when the final whistle blew. If you can't take it boys, probably best not to dish it out.
Wasn't blackpool72 giving gilks stick was it.
Not me mate but I was at the game.
First half we were the better team and we should have scored two goals,but unfortunately did not. I said to my mates at half time that those two missed chances would cost us and so it proved. Can't argue with their goals they were both superbly taken but our wastefulness in front of goal is a concern. As some have said win Tuesday and we are still in a decent position. I'm disappointed at the result but we have several players out at the minute and our bench yesterday was very weak. Desperately need another striker to help out Magennis but who that will be is anybody's guess. Let's just make sure we win Tuesday and kick on again.
Next five: Portsmouth (h), Bristol Rovers (a), Blackburn (h), Southend (a), Wigan (a). That's tough; Blackburn an Wigan above us, Pompey on the rise (one behind us) and Bristol Rovers and Southend are both away.
Didn't go but it was clear to see on transfer deadline day with the last minute release of Novak that one established striker in the squad is not the sound basis for guaranteed promotion.
Give Robinson a chance to get some decent strikers in other wise will be making promotion more difficult than need be. Notoriously difficult this window to get real quality in so will have to spend but surely worth it if it significantly bolsters the squad and our chances.
Magennis gets injured and we'll be relying on midfielders for goals.
We've been relying on midfielders scoring all season.
I know it's an old cliche but the first goal in six pointer games is so crucial. We were the width of a coat of paint from Josh's header and a one on one miss from Marshall from taking the lead altering the course / outcome of the game.
But hey ho, we dust ourselves down, two games in hand on some of those above us and a must win Tuesday.
I always feel a bit bad for Darren Anderton. He played something like an average of 9 games more a season than Jamie Redknapp but Redknapp has managed to get away with not having the sicknote tag. Plus Jamie Redknapp did it all while being Jamie Redknapp, which is completely unacceptable.
Line up as I called it with Bauer back to CB, Sarr to LB and Da Silva into midfield.
Pretty even first half with both sides going for it and I thought we shaded it not only on opportunities created. In fact the travelling faithful thought we had scored with the best move of the match on the half hour with Josh I think hitting the post with a header from an acutish angle. At the other end Amos made a fantastic tip over from close range to keep us all square at the break. People may get frustrated with his distribution which wasn't that bad today but he's a keeper first and foremost and he'll do for me
Start of the second half the substitution that was to be our undoing and was the difference between the two sides, Josh Morris, entered the fray. Two wonder strikes after about an hour within a couple of minutes decided the game. The first from a free kick after a debatable Kashi 'foul' was smashed past the two man wall left footed to Amos' right, he having positioned himself to his left expecting a right footed curler from the other player standing over the ball. Undeservedly behind we then conceded a second goal a few minutes later which effectively was game over despite our efforts to salvage something from the game. That man Morris again cut in from the left 30 yards out and buried a worldly in the top right hand postage stamp as we looked at it at the far end of the pitch. Nominated man of the match for 45 mins of individual brilliance says it all.
No one had a stinker for us, a few average performances from Sarr, Josh and Marshall who had little end product. Our man of the match for me was JFK who is in a rich vein of form. A draw would have been a fair result had it not been for a more prolific Josh upsetting our applecart.
Some you win, this one we didn't .We go again Tuesday v P'boro COYRs
ATM the game, with some great views in the main stand not far from the away dug out.
RedChaser has it as I saw it and only a few things to add.
1) Disappointed that Marshall failed to convert his chance. Really should have scored.
2) Thought Magennis had headed us into the lead following a great cross. The keeper in fact made a finger tip save that pushed it onto the post.
3) Terrible free kick to give away. Morris is left footed (he never kicks with his right said Robinson yesterday!) Amos should have covered his right post better.
4) Morris's second goal (with his right foot) was stunning. One of the goals of the season as he went round three of our players before hitting it. He is a real classy player and changed the game as soon as he came on. Their other sub (Holmes) also had a great game.
5) Overall I felt we were the better team and looked a lot more dangerous. Played some lovely one touch football.
6) Ricky was my MOM though he does try to beat the whole team. Other than that our best performers were Konsa and DaSilva.
Managed to speak to an ex player at length prior to the game. He bought up the subject of the ownership saying we were looking more stable now, which surprised him, as RD was still there. He was particularly scathing of KM saying she was ''out of her depth, inexperienced in not only football but management as a whole and unapproachable''.
Can only echo what others are saying. Very even game settled by 2 great strikes.
Positives: Bauer and Konsa looked solid I thought Kashi was outstanding in the first half. Moped up everything even if he lacks on the ball sometimes Holmes just ran all game, exciting and nearly scored with a decent strike tipped round the post
Neutral: Amos made 1 great save, was solid and couldn't do anything about the goals, even if slightly questionable positioning Solly and Dasilva were solid JFC was decent but didn't get into the box enough, contributing to magennis' isolation
Negatives: Marshall was shit Sarrs not a left back but played OK Magennis played OK but missed a sitter
Main negative was the town and ground, complete dump
Thought we controlled the first half without causing them too much trouble. Magennis with our best chance. Header but couldn't tell from the other end whether it was cleared off the line or hit the inside of the post.
Two quick goals killed us in the second half and we gave up. Our one and only and predictable tactic from that point was to get Marshall to keep lumping it into their box to no effect.
There was zero support in numbers for Magennis or any of our attacks. We were poor in the second half.
Oh, and do we really expect promotion when we're bringing on KAG and Reeco to try and rescue a result at 2-0 down? No squad depth.
There is one problem and that is the lack of strikers in our squad. Robinson should have addressed this pre season. But he chose to make attacking midfielders his priority. He signed Reeves, Clarke, Marshall & Fosu. Clarke and Fosu are great signings, Marshal show promise, however Reeves looks a complete waste of space, and now 1 week from December he still hasn’t completed 90 minutes of a league game for us.
I would have preferred that Reeves signing on fee and wages had been spent on a second striker, because Josh Magennis is a great target man, but he really needs someone playing alongside him to feed off the knock downs. Unfortunately KAG and Dodoo are not up to this.
I fear that the set up that the 4,5,1 set up that Robinson has decided on is not working, and ultimately come the end of the season we will be lucky to make the top 6 and a play off place.
How did u know there aren't other clubs? I'm only guessing but I would say he is, as a free agent, seeing what deal he can get now he is fit - probably after more than the short term deal he is being offered. Either way, we need a striker asap. I understand the plan was best now followed byanother striker in january
We need to sign TWO strikers in the next transfer window, not just one. Josh is NOT a striker and will never score prolifically.
According to Robinson's interviews thats the number of Strikers he wants too
Sadly he's also said that it depends if Youth will step up and am partly convinced that one of them will be either Hanlan or Umerah (neither of which are scoring goals in League Two) with the other being Leon Best (provided we get to the end of the Transfer Window and he hasn't gone elsewhere) - Should that happen we'll probably be forced to extend Dodoo's loan deal in panic as we've left it too late
How did u know there aren't other clubs? I'm only guessing but I would say he is, as a free agent, seeing what deal he can get now he is fit - probably after more than the short term deal he is being offered. Either way, we need a striker asap. I understand the plan was best now followed byanother striker in january
I don’t know, but I find it hard to believe Robinson got so far down the line with Best after weeks of training at Charlton that you were posting on here his signing was imminent - and then it turned out Best had other ideas.
I think if that was the case then Robinson wouldn’t have explained it with a rather lame comment about looking at young players first. As if he hadn’t thought of that before.
On the balance of probabilities I think it’s more likely someone above Robinson had other ideas.
Got a feeling there’s going to be a lot of huffing and puffing in the jan transfer window about who we’re going to sign, and we’ll end up with Leon Best, unless we get a takeover.
I do not watch as many games live as many but from reading comments and seeing our results, I think the thought of direct promotion is beyond us and the best we can hope for is play-offs, which is better than any other season under RD. The trouble is: when will we sign another striker?, When will Reeves manage more than 3 competitive games in a row?, how long will it take for Marshall to get up to speed?, when will we have a full fit squad?, when will KR try plan B, other than Sarr as a CF? Seriously, if we do finish in the top 6, there will still be a chance of promotion, but we will have to improve a lot
Comments
In all honesty following KR's comments the other day about looking to the academy it sounds like Roland won't sanction another wage onto the wage bill. If that is because a sale is close then great. If not I don't expect the situation to change in January, in fact I'd bank on a couple of sales and a couple of loan replacements.
Two great goals, a difficult place to play but I simply cannot get used to us being in this shit division or reduce my expectations like many others seem to have done.
Roll on a takeover, a balanced squad and Robinson hopefully taking us up.
TBH, I feel a bit "meh" on reflection with regards to today's performance. And, more worryingly, not quite sure why.
I felt the first half was pretty even but would have settled for a draw at that point as The Iron appeared a cohesive & skillful outfit.
However, I hadn't factored in the arrival of a certain Mr Morris who set about changing my prediction in no uncertain terms on the hour mark- Ricky Holmes, eat your heart out. And that was that.
Yes, we applied some pressure and tried hard to pull at least one goal back but it just wasn't working. Plenty of possession in their half but with no end result. We could have played all night and not scored.
Today highlighted more than ever the lack of options both in the starting eleven and on the bench but also the spark that has been evident in most performances this season was missing. Our Ricky seems to be going through a quiet patch and IMHO, when Ricky is below par, his team mates "come out" in sympathy.
No one player could be singled out for criticism but neither could one be singled out for special praise. No-one busted a gut for the cause. And, oh how Robbo must have made an early Xmas wish for a competent striker to join his paper thin squad.
So, a pointless trip to the barrens of North Lincs which in itself is disappointing for a team with promotion aspirations.
But, more worrying is the prospect of upcoming games against some of our closest rivals with players thrust back onto the battlefield before they are 100% fit in an effort to field our strongest eleven. Should a victory be gained next Sunday , or worst still, a replay, our backlog of matches from international calls will increase with further pressure heaped on both the manager & his meagre squad.
December can be a cold, heartless month.
Let's hope that before it ends, our very own Ugly Sister and her Uncle Scrooge have been banished forever, heralding the start of a new, positive era for our beloved club under the stewardship of a Prince Charming who "gets" Charlton Athletic & what it takes to bring success back to SE7..... so we all live happily ever after.
First half we were the better team and we should have scored two goals,but unfortunately did not.
I said to my mates at half time that those two missed chances would cost us and so it proved.
Can't argue with their goals they were both superbly taken but our wastefulness in front of goal is a concern.
As some have said win Tuesday and we are still in a decent position.
I'm disappointed at the result but we have several players out at the minute and our bench yesterday was very weak.
Desperately need another striker to help out Magennis but who that will be is anybody's guess.
Let's just make sure we win Tuesday and kick on again.
But hey ho, we dust ourselves down, two games in hand on some of those above us and a must win Tuesday.
RedChaser has it as I saw it and only a few things to add.
1) Disappointed that Marshall failed to convert his chance. Really should have scored.
2) Thought Magennis had headed us into the lead following a great cross. The keeper in fact made a finger tip save that pushed it onto the post.
3) Terrible free kick to give away. Morris is left footed (he never kicks with his right said Robinson yesterday!) Amos should have covered his right post better.
4) Morris's second goal (with his right foot) was stunning. One of the goals of the season as he went round three of our players before hitting it. He is a real classy player and changed the game as soon as he came on. Their other sub (Holmes) also had a great game.
5) Overall I felt we were the better team and looked a lot more dangerous. Played some lovely one touch football.
6) Ricky was my MOM though he does try to beat the whole team. Other than that our best performers were Konsa and DaSilva.
Managed to speak to an ex player at length prior to the game. He bought up the subject of the ownership saying we were looking more stable now, which surprised him, as RD was still there. He was particularly scathing of KM saying she was ''out of her depth, inexperienced in not only football but management as a whole and unapproachable''.
Positives:
Bauer and Konsa looked solid
I thought Kashi was outstanding in the first half. Moped up everything even if he lacks on the ball sometimes
Holmes just ran all game, exciting and nearly scored with a decent strike tipped round the post
Neutral:
Amos made 1 great save, was solid and couldn't do anything about the goals, even if slightly questionable positioning
Solly and Dasilva were solid
JFC was decent but didn't get into the box enough, contributing to magennis' isolation
Negatives:
Marshall was shit
Sarrs not a left back but played OK
Magennis played OK but missed a sitter
Main negative was the town and ground, complete dump
Thought we controlled the first half without causing them too much trouble. Magennis with our best chance. Header but couldn't tell from the other end whether it was cleared off the line or hit the inside of the post.
Two quick goals killed us in the second half and we gave up. Our one and only and predictable tactic from that point was to get Marshall to keep lumping it into their box to no effect.
There was zero support in numbers for Magennis or any of our attacks. We were poor in the second half.
Oh, and do we really expect promotion when we're bringing on KAG and Reeco to try and rescue a result at 2-0 down? No squad depth.
How good was that second goal? Absolute stonker. Will be a great runner up to Holmes v Oldham for goal of the year.
Robinson should have addressed this pre season. But he chose to make attacking midfielders his priority. He signed Reeves, Clarke, Marshall & Fosu.
Clarke and Fosu are great signings, Marshal show promise, however Reeves looks a complete waste of space, and now 1 week from December he still hasn’t completed 90 minutes of a league game for us.
I would have preferred that Reeves signing on fee and wages had been spent on a second striker, because Josh Magennis is a great target man, but he really needs someone playing alongside him to feed off the knock downs. Unfortunately KAG and Dodoo are not up to this.
I fear that the set up that the 4,5,1 set up that Robinson has decided on is not working, and ultimately come the end of the season we will be lucky to make the top 6 and a play off place.
Sadly he's also said that it depends if Youth will step up and am partly convinced that one of them will be either Hanlan or Umerah (neither of which are scoring goals in League Two) with the other being Leon Best (provided we get to the end of the Transfer Window and he hasn't gone elsewhere) - Should that happen we'll probably be forced to extend Dodoo's loan deal in panic as we've left it too late
I think if that was the case then Robinson wouldn’t have explained it with a rather lame comment about looking at young players first. As if he hadn’t thought of that before.
On the balance of probabilities I think it’s more likely someone above Robinson had other ideas.