What's gone wrong in the last month?

AFKABartram

Personally I think its too early to go into panic mood but its clear things have gone noticeably awry in the last month.

Its just 28 days ago following the Luton draw that at the 10 game point, the members poll showed:

Better than expected - 81%
As expected -19%
Worse than expected - 0%

I know if we repeated it now it would be very very different, but its worth reminding of the contented picture just 5 games, 28 days ago.

Since then there has been 1 win, 1 draw, 3 defeats.

So has it been a tactical change? personnel change? inconsistent team selection? further injury impact? attitude & effort shift? underlying squad issues?

or is it just a bad run, it happens and although hard post-defeat, we shouldn't be so short-termist in trying to analyse ??

what's your thoughts?

Uboat

My thoughts are that we are a long way from promotion and there is no obvious reason why that would stop being the case. I'm not panicking, because my expectations are now so low.

Henry Irving

Injuries especially the loss of Bauer and Page. Has also lead to Bowyer being unwilling to risk players when not 100% IE Bielik.

Inconsistencies ie today was same side that beat Barnsley.

Lack of goals from anyone but Grant and Taylor.

Inexperience. Not just some young players like Aribo being up and down but more importantly Bowyer and Jackson coming up against old heads like Keith Hill.

stonemuse

It happens ... when you don’t have a strong enough squad.

The core is fine but without financial support to get new players in, we are hitting a bump in the road.

killerandflash

Yes, it's a mystery really, though it can't be a coincidence that the downturn started with Page going off after 5 minutes of the Scunthorpe game

J BLOCK

Diamond formation being found out for me, they had all the space in the world on the wings, Tuesday. Again today, they sprayed the ball out wide and had acres of space.

BR7_addick

Sorry for the doom and gloom but we are just not that good.

Look at who we beat in our run.

Southend 11th, but not convinced they’ll finish there.
Wycombe 16th and just come up, which we still made hard work of.
Bradford 24th and cleary thee worst team in the league.
Plymouth 22nd and on a dog run when we played them.

And for me we cannot use the injury card, last three games have not been because of a left back. I’ll give you Scunthorpe.

The Red Robin

J BLOCK said:

Diamond formation being found out for me, they had all the space in the world on the wings, Tuesday. Again today, they sprayed the ball out wide and had acres of space.

Shrewsbury found us out with it in the playoffs.

I think the rotation of the starting XI is also an issue.

blackpool72

Roland

guinnessaddick

blackpool72 said:

Roland

Every season since he's been here, off to a reasonable start, with a good first eleven. Then players pick up injuries and we don't have any strength in depth. This won't change until he's gone.

Leuth

We had a very strong bench today though. It isn't the strength in depth. I think Bowyer has made some weird decisions of late

superdulvertonred

We are inconsistent but have talent and spirit still feel we can get promoted even the automatic places are attainable

TalBHAndreBA

Henry Irving said:

Injuries especially the loss of Bauer and Page. Has also lead to Bowyer being unwilling to risk players when not 100% IE Bielik.

Inconsistencies ie today was same side that beat Barnsley.

Lack of goals from anyone but Grant and Taylor.

Inexperience. Not just some young players like Aribo being up and down but more importantly Bowyer and Jackson coming up against old heads like Keith Hill.

Yes, this was my biggest concern when Bowyer took over. I felt he should have chosen a more experienced assistant manager, and kept JJ as coach. Although, I do understand that Andy Marshall was goalkeeping coach at Villa for over 3 years, so there is some experience amongst the coaching staff.

Am I correct in thinking, that the coaching numbers have been reduced? I remember Russell Slade having Kevin Nugent as assistant manager, Simon Clark as first team coach and Lee Turner as GK coach. Similarily, Karl Robinson had Richie Barker as assistant manager, Chris O'Loughlin/Lee Bowyer as first team coach and Lee Turner as GK coach. Now we just have a manager, assistant manager and GK coach.

Sillybilly

It’s absolutely obvious as far as I’m concerned. Firstly the loss of Page means that we have no natural width in the team. Solly is doing ok at left back but he doesn’t have the pace or skill to be a proper wing back and Dijksteel has obviously been told not to cross halfway. As a result the entire defence is unbalanced and our attack is neutered. Page is absolutely critical to the way we play as was Da Silva last season. Secondly, and I’m sorry to state the bleeding obvious, we are simply not as good as we believed/hoped. All this talk of automatic promotion and we are better than this is claptrap. We are a mid table league one side and that’s funnily enough where we are right now. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I have a humble pie in the freezer just in case I’m wrong but I’ve seen nothing so far to suggest that we are any better. The games that we have won have been largely a struggle. I’m confident that we won’t be anywhere near a relegation struggle but this squad is brittle and, as the loss of Page has proved, full of potential single points of failure. Just wait till Lyle gets injured.

N01R4M

I was one who ticked "better than expected", but I was not assuming this would continue. Overall, the results are now more in line with "as expected" with the squad we have this year, lacking sufficient cover for certain key positions - as has been the case for the past 4+years.

Yes, there may be ups and downs with tactics, attitude, the officials, the pitch, the weather, and a hundred and one other excuses, but there is one common factor - an owner who doesn't care for anything which hasn't got a euro sign in front of it.

We have a team, manager and coaches who have the ability and spirit, when all are fit, to beat anyone in this league. At the moment we have key players who are not 100% and we do not have the depth of squad to deal with that. All too often this month we have been forced to play round pegs in square holes.

The one solution is outside of everyone's control except Roland's - we need new owners with ambition, and long arms to match their deep pockets.

Roland OUT.

Cardinal Sin

Personally speaking, the over-performance early on was the bigger surprise. We are simply settling down to what this side really deserves, fair-to-middling League One average, because our squad isn't strong enough to do better. Well done to Lee Bowyer for again managing some over-performance but you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. The problem is still Roland Duchatelet but the blinkered stalwarts aren't interested and just want to be left alone to carry on suffering supporting the team . We are far more likely to be relegated than promoted under this disinterested owner, for whom it's only now about cutting his losses. Sadly, he is deluded about the loss of value since he took over and it's hard to see how we get out of it, short of him kicking the bucket.

simonmatthews

Injury to Bauer seems critical. Not sure Bowyer and Jackson aren't still finding their way tactically too.

Dazzler21

Lack of strength in depth and a tactically inexperienced manager whose only direct management experience comes from working under Karl Robinson.

Stig

What was that Curbs quote about not getting too excited or despondent?

JoshAddick

As much as I hate Roland, we can’t blame him for everything (although we can blame him for a lot). Our loss today and our draw against Oxford are not his fault. Our squad is stronger than both Oxford and Rochdale so why can’t we beat them? I hate to say it but we have to question Bowyer

Dazzler21

JoshAddick said:

As much as I hate Roland, we can’t blame him for everything (although we can blame him for a lot). Our loss today and our draw against Oxford are not his fault. Our squad is stronger than both Oxford and Rochdale so why can’t we beat them? I hate to say it but we have to question Bowyer

Lacknof strength in depth, caused by funding cuts... By... ROLAND.

JoshAddick

Dazzler21 said:

JoshAddick said:

As much as I hate Roland, we can’t blame him for everything (although we can blame him for a lot). Our loss today and our draw against Oxford are not his fault. Our squad is stronger than both Oxford and Rochdale so why can’t we beat them? I hate to say it but we have to question Bowyer

Lacknof strength in depth, caused by funding cuts... By... ROLAND.

Our only starters who are injured are Page and Bauer. Doesn’t explain why we can’t score goals

Dazzler21

What's so hard to understand about lack of strength in depth... When your first 11 aren't performing you need at least competition for their places...

We have no strength in our depth... At least not fit, ready to challenge strength in depth.

Can't score yet scored 22 in 15 league games of which our strike partnership has 15 of those. We've scored 7 in the last 5 of those.

If we include cup games it's 32 in 17.

I think the fact is we can't defend. Probably still Naby's fault.

Dazzler21

.

cafcfan1990

Dazzler21 said:

What's so hard to understand about lack of strength in depth... When your first 11 aren't performing you need at least competition for their places...

We have no strength in our depth... At least not fit, ready to challenge strength in depth.

Can't score yet scored 22 in 15 league games of which our strike partnership has 15 of those. We've scored 7 in the last 5 of those.

If we include cup games it's 32 in 17.

I think the fact is we can't defend. Probably still Naby's fault.

Agreed, you don't deserve to win games, even at this level if you are playing Pratley at CB, Dijksteel at RB and Solly at LB.

Rob7Lee

If you look at goal scorers this season outside of Grant & Taylor;

Only Aribo has two, no one else has more than one. Think i'm right that outside of those three it's only Solly, Bielik, Sarr and Fosu who have scored. After 15 games thats a poor return.

Lack of cover in key positions has also meant a makeshift defence.

If you can't keep a clean sheet and your midfielders aren't helping out the forwards in the goals we'll lose more than we win.

I don't think the diamond is working right now consistently, Bowyer needs to get back to basics defensively, but does he have the personnel to do so, i'm not sure.

The last 5 games has not been a great points return, but it's a little early to panic. We have a game in hand on 8 of the 12 teams above us, we're 5 points away from 6th.

I've said since the start we're a top 12 team, but not a top 4, 5th - 12th I still maintain will be the best we'll do this season,

hoof_it_up_to_benty

Can't blame our bad results on a couple of injuries. We're in L1 ffs and few of the teams have much squad depth.

I like LB but he has a lot to learn.

cabbles

Stig said:

What was that Curbs quote about not getting too excited or despondent?

I think this is a good point, but the most frustrating thing for me is ever since RD took over, we’ve been so fucked over, as soon as there’s just the slightest glimpse of hope, I cling to it. I was willing to give RD a chance when he turned up despite his dismissal of Powell, as I thought perhaps Powell had just ran his course (for numerous reasons, not just down to Powell’s ability). The first full season RD had as owner I was encouraged at the start that maybe, with the network etc and new signings, we could do a Watford. It ended in disaster and in my head even though I knew he wasn’t right for Charlton I thought, perhaps he’s learned his lessons appointing Slade and going British. He then sacked Slade who I appreciate wasn’t setting the world alight, but it was another example of dictatorial ownership with no insight as to any long term planning. Even when KR came in, again, his enthusiasm made me think maybe, just maybe. Each time it went wrong I still romantically believed that whoever came in might be able to do something.

I didn’t expect us to make the playoffs last season and miraculously, Bowyer rallied the team to get us there, but if was clear we weren’t good enough over the 2 legs against Shrewsbury.

This season with the lack of investment in the summer and RD openly wanting to sell I just thought survival, but then you realise we’ve actually got some decent players and I truly believe we’ve got some real Charlton identity back with Bow and JJ at the helm.

Ultimately the one key theme throughout all of this is our owner. I truly believe that you cannot build a successful operation when the very top of the operation is incompetent, despite my heart wishing it so.

We’ve seen some examples of slight turnarounds under Coventry, Blackburn and Blackpool and let’s be honest, this division isn’t that strong, so we could get out of it (still may do). But I have to keep reminding myself we’re a basket case of a club where the fan base has been alienated, driven away and in some cases turned against one another. It’s just not healthy. We’re actually incredibly lucky we’ve got someone like Bowyer who gets the club and his desire to win is so evident in charge. The likes of JJ and Solly have stuck around when they saw such a unity under Powell evaporate over time and they must be thinking ‘how’? This is Bowyer first proper job in management and this time last year he didn’t even have a role in football, let alone seem like he wanted to come back and be a manager.

Unfortunately for us, we’re in limbo until RD goes and I truly believe we’ve got some decent players and a decent manager, but until that culture and core is similar to what we had under RM and Curbs (I’m not saying have RM back, just mean the stability of the set up), we can’t truly succeed.

I do think there is room for improvement both from Bowyer and the team in terms of how we handle matters on the pitch, but this constant cloud of RD as owner just means we cannot truly succeed

golfaddick

Henry Irving said:

Injuries especially the loss of Bauer and Page. Has also lead to Bowyer being unwilling to risk players when not 100% IE Bielik.

Inconsistencies ie today was same side that beat Barnsley.

Lack of goals from anyone but Grant and Taylor.

Inexperience. Not just some young players like Aribo being up and down but more importantly Bowyer and Jackson coming up against old heads like Keith Hill.

THIS.

golfaddick

Sillybilly said:

It’s absolutely obvious as far as I’m concerned. Firstly the loss of Page means that we have no natural width in the team. Solly is doing ok at left back but he doesn’t have the pace or skill to be a proper wing back and Dijksteel has obviously been told not to cross halfway. As a result the entire defence is unbalanced and our attack is neutered. Page is absolutely critical to the way we play as was Da Silva last season. Secondly, and I’m sorry to state the bleeding obvious, we are simply not as good as we believed/hoped. All this talk of automatic promotion and we are better than this is claptrap. We are a mid table league one side and that’s funnily enough where we are right now. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I have a humble pie in the freezer just in case I’m wrong but I’ve seen nothing so far to suggest that we are any better. The games that we have won have been largely a struggle. I’m confident that we won’t be anywhere near a relegation struggle but this squad is brittle and, as the loss of Page has proved, full of potential single points of failure. Just wait till Lyle gets injured.

THIS. as well.

Rob

I think the problem has been too many disruptions at the back. For me a strong back 4 (especially at CB) is the backbone of any team and after the Page injury we have been unbalanced back there.

Both Pierce and Solly playing out of position was the reason we looked so bad at the back against Scunny and Coventry in my opinion. We looked good going forward but were woeful in defence whenever they threatened.

Against Bradford we were solid again because we had two CB's in Pierce and Bielik who were comfortable in their positions. Even with Solly on the left we looked solid and Dijksteel had his best game for us on the right. I believe that was because the entire back 4 felt a solid unit.

And then in both the Oxford game and today we started with Pierce and Pratley at CB even though Bielik was available. And Pratley has never played at CB before! Too much tinkering at the back I feel. Trying to be too clever? Who knows.

And, more worrying, is that the tinkering seems to be affecting the rest of the team, because today we were woeful all over.

This strikes me as just inexperience on the part of both LB and Jacko. But, it is also basic football common sense in my opinion, which is a concern. I believe players should always play in their natural positions if at all possible, especially at the back.