Got to echo the comments about Ward’s timewasting. Truly maginificent staring over to the Northeast touch flag while standing in the centre circle as his number is held up and his name read out. Ref had to whistle him and basically collect him lol.
He started off near the dug outs and walked to the far side of the centre circle, when he realised he was going to be subbed.
Delighted to get the three points we rode our luck at times, but we deserved to come out victorious. Second half was a non starter, as we looked to hold on to the 1 goal lead.
Most frustrating thing for me was that Ajose and Lapslie did not step up for their opportunity. They both missed massive chances when they should have put the ball in the back of the net.
Must give credit to Lee Lee Bowyer think he made the correct subs at the correct time.
Wasn't our greatest display but I've been very impressed with us so far this season, yes we have limitations but considering the injuries and constant changes in the side the fact we are 6th with half a first team to come back bodes well I feel...
Decent line up under the circumstances. The first surprise of the afternoon was Ajose taking the corners. They were alright at first but he soon caught the corner disease(unable to clear the first man). I could make a fortune as a corner coach. Straight away, you could see what we were missing with both Grant and Ajose struggling to hold the ball up. The first real chance fell to Lapslie, who looked composed as he shaped up to shoot but disappointed himself and us. I loved the first goal. We took advantage of a poor free kick by Upson who fed Steer easily who in turn distributed immediately upfield to a running Ward who lobbed Bonham skilfully to put us 1-0 up. The management team including the goalkeeping coach Andy Marshall must of worked on this as it appeared well orchestrated. Their No 29 Martin had already caught my eye and I wasn't surprised with his wonderful execution for the goal. 1-1 Steer produced a good save, then Ajose should of scored when fed by Grant. I was hoping his goal against Mansfield would of put him in good stead. My worries about the forward line and that we needed more help from our midfield players were put to bed as first Grant did some initial work in the box before Aribo craned all his neck muscles to head in for a 2-1 half time lead. There was a very quiet start to the second half peppered with a subtle time wasting tactic as Bowyer nonchantly knocked the ball into the dug out but this would be usurped later on by a great bit of West End acting by Ward when he was substituted. My confidence levels rose still further when Fosu replaced Ajose. We fell into the trap of giving away needless free kicks putting us on the back foot but we defended stoically. Then the kamikaze move of goalkeeper Bonham going up for a final foray led to jubilant scenes as Grant broke away, kept his cool and nailed the 3 points. Hoorah
A 3-1 win sounds comfortable doesn't it? In truth it was anything but!
It all started well and after 10 minutes or so Steer distributed swiftly to Ward who broke away and coolly lobbed the advancing Bristol Rovers goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
As we know Charlton are at their most dangerous (to themselves) when a goal up and in traditional Charlton fashion the Bristol equivalent of Moses had a chat with the Charlton midfield and they duly started parting like the Red Sea. The Gas came into it increasingly as the first half progressed. Steer made a sharp stop diving to his left to preserve our lead but inevitably the Bristol Rovers No 29 found himself with the freedom of The Valley on the edge of the 18 yard box and shot perfectly across Steer into the left hand corner of his goal. he had little or no chance of saving it.
Charlton roused themselves after conceding and exerted more pressure which eventually culminated in a goal on the stroke of halftime from a header by Joe Aribo after a goalmouth scramble. Bristol Rovers were victims of the sort of body blow that normally happens to us.
The second half was pretty dire with Charlton attacks few and far between. Jamie Ward slotting narrowly wide from an acute angle was about the closest we came. As is usual our lack of meaningful attacking intent encouraged the oppo that perhaps all was not lost and that they could get a draw or better. Somehow we kept Bristol Rovers out, partially aided and abetted by the fact that their corners were as bad if not worse than ours in failing to beat the first defender, and it was still 2-1 as we entered time added on.
In a desperate last throw of the dice The Gas brought their goalkeeper forward and a Charlton boot into space found Grant racing away hotly pursued by a couple of Bristol Rovers defenders. It seemed to take an age for him to put it in the net but put it in the net he did and that concluded the 'entertainment' for the afternoon as the referee blew the final whistle.
Not a vintage performance and Bristol Rovers obviously have their own problems but at the end of it we managed to grab the 3 points and that is what mattered. This was a game we would have drawn or lost on another day the way we played.
There were no particularly poor individual performances but equally no particularly good ones either with the notable exception of Jamie Ward.
In my opinion Ward was the defining difference between the two sides. His goal speaks for itself but he is such a horrible, niggly little so and so and, because he plays for us at the moment, I mean that in a good way! His antics on being substituted to run the clock down were the culmination of a number of 'professional' incidents throughout the afternoon. Unlike Jason Pearce he was also clever enough not to get himself booked. If I was a Gas fan or even a neutral I'd be asking how!
Anyway we weathered the loss of Taylor and we are 3 points better off.
We still look like a team that should be ripping the arse out of other teams but are waiting for the final instructions to come through the post...the 8-0 and 5-0 results when they didn’t really need to happen are a foretaste of what is to come...I have a sneaky feeling it well may actually be Pompey or Sunderland that might just be the unlucky victims for when it all comes together
n my opinion Ward was the defining difference between the two sides. His goal speaks for itself but he is such a horrible, niggly little so and so and, because he plays for us at the moment, I mean that in a good way! His antics on being substituted to run the clock down were the culmination of a number of 'professional' incidents throughout the afternoon. Unlike Jason Pearce he was also clever enough not to get himself booked. If I was a Gas fan or even a neutral I'd be asking how!
It’s also how he reads the game. Always positioning other players, esp our young forwards. So clear that he’s played for many years at a higher level.
A poor match, but an important 3 points. That we won is more a reflection on how poor Rovers were, rather than our good play. One bit of quality really stands out, the kick from Steer and the quality first touch and finish from Ward
What today and indeed memories of Tuesday show is how important Taylor is to us, his workrate and movement terrorise defenders in this division.Neither Ajose nor Grant were poor, but they carried little threat as a pairing. Puzzled why Ajose was taking dead balls, why isn't Aribo given a go, his delivery was excellent when he first played?
Bielik is a quality player BUT 3 or 4 times lost the ball in really dangerous positions, wanting too much time on the ball. I'm sure Bowyer will be having a word, as if he does the same against better teams we'll be punished.
Bristol Rovers are not a significant team by any means, they seemed to me to still be gliding along after their consecutive promotions of a couple of seasons ago. But, as noted elsewhere, we made rather laborious work of winning this one. To be frank, we could have been 1-3 down at half time, rather than 2-1 up. The result rather flattered us in the end.
Still, given Forster-Caskey, Page, Taylor, Clarke, Vetokele, Pratley, Sarr and Cullen were all sidelined for one reason or another we weren't at full strength and still managed a win. Which is a sign of a team that is serious about promotion.
No one has mentioned that for their first goal, Pearce was clearly pushed which gave them the possession. Not for the first time.
I thought the ref was ok overall but he did miss quite a few of these.
Also thought Solly got away with a yellow first half which could have proved costly.
Overall I thought they were poor and lack any cutting edge. If they don’t buy a decent centre forward in January I think they will go down.
So pleased for Grant. 9 goals already!
We have struggled to have a striker get into double figures in the last few years, and this season we could have two get 20+,
The big plus of course is that Grant is still only 21. Would love it if the crowd could back him a bit more as I think he would really respond.
I really really hope that Rolly gives Bows a bit of money to improve the squad in January as it would be great to keep Taylor and Grant, which is only likely if we go up.
Good 3 points that . Look at all the players that we had missing and you would take any sort of win . Actually thought we played well at times , especially first half . Held back a bit second half with big game on Tuesday in mind . Ward had a very good game apart from a couple of over hit passes .
Good 3 points that . Look at all the players that we had missing and you would take any sort of win . Actually thought we played well at times , especially first half . Held back a bit second half with big game on Tuesday in mind . Ward had a very good game apart from a couple of over hit passes .
Yes we have a game on Tuesday, but we were far too reserved in the second half, with such a narrow lead
My first game of the season. (Got to join the countdown to promotion some time!)
A few random thoughts:-
1) A good journey across London saw us arrive at 2.20. So few people around I thought I had got the dates mixed up! Into the ground, sitting in our old seats where we had a season ticket for many years and shocked at the acres of empty seats all around us and the lack of faces who had been sitting around us through thin and thin over recent years.
I hadn't realised just how bad things had got. Even if Douchbag effs off tomorrow, this is going to take years to get attendances back to where they were prior to his arrival.
2) Have to say not really that impressed by the team and think they were lucky to win by 3-1. Hope I just picked a bad day. That said, there does look to be a genuine spirit amongst the players and this could be one of the first "proper" Charlton teams we have had since Chris Powell's promotion winning team.
3) Chris Solly really is the ultimate professional. Playing on the left, when he so right footed, he just put in a really solid performance. A stranger would never have known he is so right footed.
4) Watched the win at Walsall on I-Follow and thought Krystian Bielik put in an outstanding performance in the middle of defence. Thought he looked lost at the base of the diamond today. The loss of Cullen is a real blow and on today's evidence, Bielik is not the answer to replacing him.
5) Had been looking forward to seeing Taylor in the flesh but sod's law he didn't play. But that convinced me of one thing - if he gets injured we are going to struggle to make the play-offs, let alone automatics.
6) I like Darren Ward! As others have said, what a superb piece of acting to pretend he didn't know he was being subbed. The sort of player you love to have in your side but loathe if he is playing against you. Hope we can keep him for the season.
7) Ajose is a rubbish corner taker.
8) And finally, that is one strange haircut Joe Aribo has!
Not a great game of football if im honest. But plenty of positives to take from the match. No Taylor yet we still scored 3 No Cullen or Reeves yet we still created chances. No page and full backs playin out of position yet we still looked pretty solid. I'm probably more confident now than I have been all season that we just might do it. A couple of criticisms Aribo what the fcuc is going on with your hair. As for the crossbar challenge haha.
Not a great game of football if im honest. But plenty of positives to take from the match. No Taylor yet we still scored 3 No Cullen or Reeves yet we still created chances. No page and full backs playin out of position yet we still looked pretty solid. I'm probably more confident now than I have been all season that we just might do it. A couple of criticisms Aribo what the fcuc is going on with your hair. As for the crossbar challenge haha.
Not a great game of football if im honest. But plenty of positives to take from the match. No Taylor yet we still scored 3 No Cullen or Reeves yet we still created chances. No page and full backs playin out of position yet we still looked pretty solid. I'm probably more confident now than I have been all season that we just might do it. A couple of criticisms Aribo what the fcuc is going on with your hair. As for the crossbar challenge haha.
Bielik is a quality player BUT 3 or 4 times lost the ball in really dangerous positions, wanting too much time on the ball. I'm sure Bowyer will be having a word, as if he does the same against better teams we'll be punished.
This is why Bowyer subbed Bielik at half time v Rochdale.
Bielik is a quality player BUT 3 or 4 times lost the ball in really dangerous positions, wanting too much time on the ball. I'm sure Bowyer will be having a word, as if he does the same against better teams we'll be punished.
This is why Bowyer subbed Bielik at half time v Rochdale.
Yes it was but unfortunately you don't have the same time on the ball in midfield as you do bringing it out from the back so perhaps Bowyer needs to accept that Bielik's best position is as a CB.
Don't get all the slaying off ajose Had a good game today
I'd have said OK rather than good. He got no service around the area but his first touch was poor when he received the ball in the rest of the pitch. He chased down their backs when they had the ball.
Didn't think we'd win today, being without Taylor & Cullen.....But the lads battled well & stuck with it even during the 2nd half when we were as bad as tues (1st half)
However......which one if the coaching team thinks Ajose is our best option for a dead ball specialist ?? His corners got worse & worse and his free kicks were just as bad. All in all I thought he had a poor game...but he wasn't the only one.
Lapslie. Sorry.....but just not a L1 player. Totally inconspicuous today & whereas at the start of the season he was everywhere & biting into tackles, today he was slow & innefectual. As for that miss....that's the 3rd time this season he's been 10 yards out & not scored. Not good enough imo.
With Ajose & Lapslie today it felt like we were playing with 9 men. Good job Taylor is back on Tues & hopefully soon Clarke & Reeves too.
Onto Burton on Tues night. Shame it wasn't a sat as we'd had gone. Will just watch Jules & the team on Sky.
Comments
Most frustrating thing for me was that Ajose and Lapslie did not step up for their opportunity. They both missed massive chances when they should have put the ball in the back of the net.
Must give credit to Lee Lee Bowyer think he made the correct subs at the correct time.
The first surprise of the afternoon was Ajose taking the corners. They were alright at first but he soon caught the corner disease(unable to clear the first man). I could make a fortune as a corner coach.
Straight away, you could see what we were missing with both Grant and Ajose struggling to hold the ball up.
The first real chance fell to Lapslie, who looked composed as he shaped up to shoot but disappointed himself and us.
I loved the first goal. We took advantage of a poor free kick by Upson who fed Steer easily who in turn distributed immediately upfield to a running Ward who lobbed Bonham skilfully to put us 1-0 up. The management team including the goalkeeping coach Andy Marshall must of worked on this as it appeared well orchestrated.
Their No 29 Martin had already caught my eye and I wasn't surprised with his wonderful execution for the goal. 1-1
Steer produced a good save, then Ajose should of scored when fed by Grant. I was hoping his goal against Mansfield would of put him in good stead.
My worries about the forward line and that we needed more help from our midfield players were put to bed as first Grant did some initial work in the box before Aribo craned all his neck muscles to head in for a 2-1 half time lead.
There was a very quiet start to the second half peppered with a subtle time wasting tactic as Bowyer nonchantly knocked the ball into the dug out but this would be usurped later on by a great bit of West End acting by Ward when he was substituted.
My confidence levels rose still further when Fosu replaced Ajose.
We fell into the trap of giving away needless free kicks putting us on the back foot but we defended stoically.
Then the kamikaze move of goalkeeper Bonham going up for a final foray led to jubilant scenes as Grant broke away, kept his cool and nailed the 3 points. Hoorah
A 3-1 win sounds comfortable doesn't it? In truth it was anything but!
It all started well and after 10 minutes or so Steer distributed swiftly to Ward who broke away and coolly lobbed the advancing Bristol Rovers goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
As we know Charlton are at their most dangerous (to themselves) when a goal up and in traditional Charlton fashion the Bristol equivalent of Moses had a chat with the Charlton midfield and they duly started parting like the Red Sea. The Gas came into it increasingly as the first half progressed. Steer made a sharp stop diving to his left to preserve our lead but inevitably the Bristol Rovers No 29 found himself with the freedom of The Valley on the edge of the 18 yard box and shot perfectly across Steer into the left hand corner of his goal. he had little or no chance of saving it.
Charlton roused themselves after conceding and exerted more pressure which eventually culminated in a goal on the stroke of halftime from a header by Joe Aribo after a goalmouth scramble. Bristol Rovers were victims of the sort of body blow that normally happens to us.
The second half was pretty dire with Charlton attacks few and far between. Jamie Ward slotting narrowly wide from an acute angle was about the closest we came. As is usual our lack of meaningful attacking intent encouraged the oppo that perhaps all was not lost and that they could get a draw or better. Somehow we kept Bristol Rovers out, partially aided and abetted by the fact that their corners were as bad if not worse than ours in failing to beat the first defender, and it was still 2-1 as we entered time added on.
In a desperate last throw of the dice The Gas brought their goalkeeper forward and a Charlton boot into space found Grant racing away hotly pursued by a couple of Bristol Rovers defenders. It seemed to take an age for him to put it in the net but put it in the net he did and that concluded the 'entertainment' for the afternoon as the referee blew the final whistle.
Not a vintage performance and Bristol Rovers obviously have their own problems but at the end of it we managed to grab the 3 points and that is what mattered. This was a game we would have drawn or lost on another day the way we played.
There were no particularly poor individual performances but equally no particularly good ones either with the notable exception of Jamie Ward.
In my opinion Ward was the defining difference between the two sides. His goal speaks for itself but he is such a horrible, niggly little so and so and, because he plays for us at the moment, I mean that in a good way! His antics on being substituted to run the clock down were the culmination of a number of 'professional' incidents throughout the afternoon. Unlike Jason Pearce he was also clever enough not to get himself booked. If I was a Gas fan or even a neutral I'd be asking how!
Anyway we weathered the loss of Taylor and we are 3 points better off.
COYR!!!
It’s also how he reads the game. Always positioning other players, esp our young forwards. So clear that he’s played for many years at a higher level.
What today and indeed memories of Tuesday show is how important Taylor is to us, his workrate and movement terrorise defenders in this division.Neither Ajose nor Grant were poor, but they carried little threat as a pairing. Puzzled why Ajose was taking dead balls, why isn't Aribo given a go, his delivery was excellent when he first played?
Bielik is a quality player BUT 3 or 4 times lost the ball in really dangerous positions, wanting too much time on the ball. I'm sure Bowyer will be having a word, as if he does the same against better teams we'll be punished.
Still, given Forster-Caskey, Page, Taylor, Clarke, Vetokele, Pratley, Sarr and Cullen were all sidelined for one reason or another we weren't at full strength and still managed a win. Which is a sign of a team that is serious about promotion.
A good afternoon
I thought the ref was ok overall but he did miss quite a few of these.
Also thought Solly got away with a yellow first half which could have proved costly.
Overall I thought they were poor and lack any cutting edge. If they don’t buy a decent centre forward in January I think they will go down.
So pleased for Grant. 9 goals already!
We have struggled to have a striker get into double figures in the last few years, and this season we could have two get 20+,
The big plus of course is that Grant is still only 21. Would love it if the crowd could back him a bit more as I think he would really respond.
I really really hope that Rolly gives Bows a bit of money to improve the squad in January as it would be great to keep Taylor and Grant, which is only likely if we go up.
Well done the lads today.
A few random thoughts:-
1) A good journey across London saw us arrive at 2.20. So few people around I thought I had got the dates mixed up! Into the ground, sitting in our old seats where we had a season ticket for many years and shocked at the acres of empty seats all around us and the lack of faces who had been sitting around us through thin and thin over recent years.
I hadn't realised just how bad things had got. Even if Douchbag effs off tomorrow, this is going to take years to get attendances back to where they were prior to his arrival.
2) Have to say not really that impressed by the team and think they were lucky to win by 3-1. Hope I just picked a bad day. That said, there does look to be a genuine spirit amongst the players and this could be one of the first "proper" Charlton teams we have had since Chris Powell's promotion winning team.
3) Chris Solly really is the ultimate professional. Playing on the left, when he so right footed, he just put in a really solid performance. A stranger would never have known he is so right footed.
4) Watched the win at Walsall on I-Follow and thought Krystian Bielik put in an outstanding performance in the middle of defence. Thought he looked lost at the base of the diamond today. The loss of Cullen is a real blow and on today's evidence, Bielik is not the answer to replacing him.
5) Had been looking forward to seeing Taylor in the flesh but sod's law he didn't play. But that convinced me of one thing - if he gets injured we are going to struggle to make the play-offs, let alone automatics.
6) I like Darren Ward! As others have said, what a superb piece of acting to pretend he didn't know he was being subbed. The sort of player you love to have in your side but loathe if he is playing against you. Hope we can keep him for the season.
7) Ajose is a rubbish corner taker.
8) And finally, that is one strange haircut Joe Aribo has!
But plenty of positives to take from the match.
No Taylor yet we still scored 3
No Cullen or Reeves yet we still created chances.
No page and full backs playin out of position yet we still looked pretty solid.
I'm probably more confident now than I have been all season that we just might do it.
A couple of criticisms Aribo what the fcuc is going on with your hair.
As for the crossbar challenge haha.
Going to bed happy with 3 points night night all.
I might not be telling the truth. 😁
A really good win, given how average we were
However......which one if the coaching team thinks Ajose is our best option for a dead ball specialist ?? His corners got worse & worse and his free kicks were just as bad. All in all I thought he had a poor game...but he wasn't the only one.
Lapslie. Sorry.....but just not a L1 player. Totally inconspicuous today & whereas at the start of the season he was everywhere & biting into tackles, today he was slow & innefectual. As for that miss....that's the 3rd time this season he's been 10 yards out & not scored. Not good enough imo.
With Ajose & Lapslie today it felt like we were playing with 9 men. Good job Taylor is back on Tues & hopefully soon Clarke & Reeves too.
Onto Burton on Tues night. Shame it wasn't a sat as we'd had gone. Will just watch Jules & the team on Sky.