Northampton Town v Charlton Athletic
Good Friday … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey)
IntroductionAnd so we come to the last big hurdle in the Football Season, the Easter Weekend!!… This Good Friday will mark the first of two games in four days for Charlton as they make a last minute dash for the Play-Offs. Last Saturday saw Lee Bowyer take charge for the first time and in impression fashion, a 2-0 win over Plymouth putting the Addicks firmly back into contention… This Friday, our Caretaker Manager will take the squad to Northampton, another three points and the chance of prolonging our season into May would please many a fan!!
The OppositionName: Northampton Town |
Manager: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Ground: Sixfields
For our opponents its been a difficult season… Two years ago; Chris Wilder and Ricky Holmes led the Cobblers to the League Two title, both men would leave that summer for pastures new, yet Northampton would give a good account of themselves at this level. Finishing 16th and never in danger of relegation, the Cobblers would take four points from the Addicks last season, including a 2-1 win at the Sixfields.
This season has been a case of second season syndrome though and Northampton have struggled… Justin Edinburgh would be sacked (two weeks after losing 4-1 at the Valley) with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink taking charge. Results havent improved and the Northampton season has revolved around the relegation zone, defeat on Friday could leave Hasselbaink and his side edging even closer to League Two football once more.
Charlton Team NewsFor Charlton on Saturday it wasn’t just the victory that put smiles on faces, yet the manner of how the players went about their job… Two Strikers were played in attack for the first time since Walsall and the result of that formation was as everyone had hoped – Michal Zyro scoring his second goal whilst Nicky Ajose would impress in what was his first start for the club for some time.
Lee Bowyer though has shown today that he’s a man willing to change things… Lewis Page, impressed in defence, yet with Jay Dasilva returning from injury it’ll be hard to drop either play – Josh Magennis and Ezri Konsa will also return from International action and may find their paths blocked, as too could Stephy Mavididi, another returnee from injury
One thing we do know… there will be two up front!!...
Vive la Révolution!!Amos
Dijksteel | Bauer | Pearce | Page
Fosu | Aribo | Forster-Caskey | Dasilva
Ajose | Zyro
Substitutes Bench: Phillips | Konsa | Sarr | Reeves | Kaikai | Magennis | Mavididi
PredictionWhen you win so well in Football, the most irritating aspect is having to wait so long before the next game… Many fans will be wondering if Saturdays result against Plymouth was just another flash in the pan or whether this is the result that could start a run similar to the one seen 20-years ago – Victory against Northampton will keep those extended season hopes on track, failure to win and it’ll be an anxious look at results around us
Comments
1-2 win to Charlton, Ajose & Bauer with the goals. COYR
I loved writing the bench for this Preview as we've so many choices, yet forgot about Mark Marshall - Where do you put him, who do you take out... Looking at the current squad I could see it being Dijksteel who gets replaced
3-0 - Ajose (2) Zyro
I'm hoping for another 2-0 win.
I presume so going by this comment, it does seem a sudden quick return from Jay though
We’ve got two internationals back in the building (Josh Magennis and Ezri Konsa), we’ve got little Jay Dasilva, who I love and obviously Stephy
3-1 Charlton ( Zyro, Fosu an big Josh after coming off the bench!
I did think that we looked a little lopsided against Plymouth with Dijksteel a little bit exposed... If he plays the Diamond then I suspect we'll see an unchanged squad, if he goes more flat 4-4-2, we might see another wingr come in to start
2.1 Charlton and our push for the playoffs continue.
Bowyer once again proves to be better at setting the team up than Robinson ever was.
Getting players back from injury is a good reminder that we have a good squad, we just haven't been able to utilize it much this season, or since January,
This is what I think the team will be
................. Amos
Dijksteel Bauer Pearce Page
..... ......... F-Caskey
.... ... Konsa...........Aribo
... ..............Fosu
..... ..... Zyro....... Ajose
I could see Konsa coming in at RB, and Dijksteel moving to the base of midfield with JFC in one of the "shuttling" roles. But both Dijksteel and JFC were so good in their respective positions on Saturday, and Konsa brings steel, but also athleticism, drive, and more defensive cover to midfield plus having the freedom of the shuttling role I think it could suit us well. It'd worth remembering how Konsa did against Northampton in the game at home, he came on with 15 minutes and played in the 10 role, drove at them on the ball and caused them nightmares (the game was stretched at that point, but it was still a good display of what he's capable of). I think playing in a midfield diamond would give him the freedom to do that, to use his pace and ability on the ball in a way he couldn't against Blackpool where he was the holding midfielder.
The nice thing about Saturday was how fluid we were in our attack and build up. I expect at time Zyro and Ajose will drift wide, leaving Fosu to play as a 9/false 9. And also for Ajose to Zyro to move through the middle with Fosu and the other forward taking up wide positions.
Indeed I'd keep the same starting 11, but be more proactive with the bench with the extra options we have
Putting aside the S.H.I.T. (Scouser's Hideously Inept Tenure) period, we haven't lost to Northampton since 1964.
We've got players returning from injury and international duty
We've got momentum from a cracking performance last week
Thomas Driesen has spent the last week in Roland's cave, retuning his telly from live feeds of Charlton matches to Webcam Girls posing seductively whilst wearing nothing but Duct Tape
We've got proper Charlton people picking the team for the first time since March 2014
4-0 to Charlton, Ajose hat trick, Magennis with one off the bench.
We lost to them @ Sixfields last season, was one of Robinson's legacies... All those teams who had us as their bogey team (i.e. Peterborough), thats no more!!!
And it was me that put together the list of all the long-standing unbeaten records he destroyed - Posh, Oxford, nearly a century (in the league) against Gillingham for starters