Let's be honest we were pretty poor first half. We didn't create one opportunity against a poor side, who really just came for a point.
Second half totally different. Bowyer's tactical change was bothe brave and brilliant. Bielik playing in front of the back 2. He showed his class often carrying the ball forward and into areas where Wimbledon could get hurt. So different to first half where we hardly committed a defender.
As for the sending offs Sarrs was a bad tackle although some refs would only have given it a booking. Kettle evened it up though with a harsh second yellow for Pinnock. Definately looked some contact with Bauer.
I was impressed with Ajose today without him managing to score, was certainly disappointed when Aribo didnt square him the ball for a tap in at one point and understand his frustrations from that
On the subject he raised the other day though where he said he'd have the same amount of goals as Taylor or Grant if he'd been given that sort of service this season then I completely disagree - There were two occasions when he got in behind the Wimbledon defence, the first time he was too slow (Grant would have been on it in seconds), the second he was more unlucky as he couldnt quite take it round the 'keeper but just have a feeling that either Grant or Taylor would have handled it... Definitely worthy of being a backup Striker though
Conditions were bitter and gloomy and a home defeat today would have been very hard to take into the next week. So there we have the earliest sending off for a Charlton player that I can remember, and you're wondering if we can get through 89 minutes with 10 men in a game we frankly needed to win. But we got the three lovely points. Actually I thought we were better than Wimbledon with 10v11 anyway. The adjustments we made at the start, not feeling sorry for ourselves, with a particularly good subsequent spell from Reeves, but also Pearce, Bauer and Belik, and all the other players stepping it up, meant we dominated play. All credit to the players and management for that. Incidentally the Sarr challenge happened right in front of me in the East Stand and I thought it was a red straight away. No complaints about Kettle from me there. Then when Wimbledon broke on us soon after Pinnock's first booking, Kettle was proper Usain Bolt joining that Wimbledon attack, and he was well up with things enough to judge whether Pinnock had dived or not, second booking off he went, my how we laughed as they say. From then on it really was only a matter of time. A lovely 'change the direction of the ball' goal from Taylor was followed by the customary humble celebration against his old club. However Taylor's piss taking then followed during the rest of the game where he did what he wanted as if controlling the ball with a piece of string. Must have been annoying for the (pretty vocal and good) Wimbledon support. The shifts and adjustments that followed a flurry of substitutes gave Wimbledon fleeting hope, and Charlton familiar fear, but really we were always going to win, and the very accurate shot cum pass goal from Marshall was beautiful in its finality. I can think of no credible reason to criticise any of our players except Sarr for his early recklessness. To a man jack they responded and even facing the different kind of challenge today I sensed they were determined to win. There wasn't any Wimbledon player that was better than our worst player, and we showed it fully today. I mean I wish Aribo had not been as simply excellent as he was today because then losing him wouldn't hurt so much. He was my MoM. But all the players that had to adjust in the game, Reeves, Belik, Bauer, and Pearce are especially deserving of praise. Hard to say much about Steer because for him today was routine and uneventful. Fosu frightened them, Aribo occupied them decently, Reeves ran the game for a while. Last Christmas we gave Robinson our hearts, but this year we give them to Lyall Taylor. Taylor is one of those players worth the admission price (at this level), he was take for granted excellent throughout. The booking he got from Kettle was a totally unjustified joke, but then again Kettle never disappoints if you want to see a bit of crap from time to time. The game was good enough to take my mind off the cold and gloom. Delighted. And now we have to go again against Gillingham next week which I think will be a much harder game. In terms of lucky superstitions I gave some pasta and beans to the food bank today, so I advise all supporters to remember to bring something along for the food bank next week to guarantee a win. It is more certain than wearing a Fedora.
Well if you had told me in August that today we would be in the play off places and 4 points clear of 7th place I would have been well pleased. Especially when the idiot is still the owner. Hats off to Bow and Jacko.
Enjoyed that in the end, but it felt like a long afternoon. Didn't see what happened with Sarr, so will reserve judgement until I see a replay. Obviously it affected us and a team with any fight or intent might have hurt us when we were down to 10. But AFCW were very poor indeed. Good support, but they look doomed on that showing. Worse than Bristol Rovers. Thought the back 3 were good, Bielek had an alright game, Fosu best I've seen him this season, Aribo masterful, Reeves wasted a few chances but clearly gives something. Ajose doesn't get stuck in, pleased he got an assist for the first, but his positioning is of a luxury striker who expects the midfield to do a lot of the work for him. Taylor of course is worth 2 players so another reason the extra man didn't count. Credit to Marshall as well - the guy in front was saying he wished we'd got the Marshall who used to play for Bradford and he scored 2 minutes later. Deserves a run in the team. Cold, wet, miserable game, but thankfully a good result. Another banana skin game next Saturday, need to win that as well.
A richly deserved three points against a very poor Wimbledon side, who look to be in big trouble. There was an absolute chasm in technical ability between the two sides but what pleased me most about Charlton’s performance was the side’s maturity in managing the game.
Bowyer’s response to going a man down in the first minute was an astute one, going to three at the back against a side playing a lone striker and deploying a rigid, deep-lying 4/5/1 formation. The logical response from Wally Downes and Wimbledon would have been to have pushed a second man up front, but they were more than happy to sit behind the ball and let us play in front of them.
Taylor’s moment of class and opportunism got our noses in front and a lovely ball through from Reeves gave Ajose a chance to close the game out, which he predictably blew with a pretty feeble effort. Wimbledon then had their best - and only - decent spell of the match and threatened with some crosses into the box towards their pair of gigantic substitutes.
Reeves’ departure and the reversion to a back four enabled Bielik to move into midfield and we gradually resumed control. His nice ball to Mark Marshall enabled our sub to strike a sweet shot into the bottom corner and put the result beyond doubt. Thereafter, apart from one decent save from Jed Steer from the edge of the box, we saw the game out comfortably, keeping possession and sensibly conserving energy.
On the plus side, we showed a lot of character and composure after going down to 10 men in the first minute, aided and abetted by Wimbledon’s total lack of ambition. We defended very competently and kept the ball well - albeit against opponents who were toothless up front and applied practically no pressure on the ball.
On the negative side, our crossing was incredibly poor, especially from Tarique Fosu, who skinned the defenders every single time but either didn’t attempt a cross or, when he did, failed to beat the first defender. The first good cross in the game came from Wimbledon’s left back in the second half and the second came from Ajose for Lyle Taylor’s opener.
There was also a marked reluctance to shoot from the edge of the box, including from the otherwise excellent Joe Aribo. I’m sure that Lee Bowyer and Jacko will be on his case about that, because his quick feet and trickery repeatedly open up shooting opportunities.
All in all, an excellent three points against a side who have been a bit of a bogey team in the last few years. Another of those arrives at the Valley next Saturday and at least we now have a clear week to recharge the batteries and to get a couple more players fit.
In the meantime, congratulations to Lee Bowyer and Jacko for getting us to 40 points after 22 games in the teeth of multiple injuries and the second worst owner in the division. Just imagine what could be achieved with a bit of meaningful backing.
Prat Of The Season is decided...and it's not Sarr. Or even Kettle
You are a self-obsessed clown... Someone ban this bellend. Incessant, needless digs. I don't know why I am biting because that is all he is looking for.
Onto the match... We never got out of first gear, nor did we need to. Thought the subs were a tad defensive as we were still in total control. Bielek was a class above, spraying it about like Pirlo. Ajose is no grant.
I was talking about Pinnock ffs!
Hahaha, I sincerely apologise. I thought that was a dig after the outburst earlier 😂
No problem. I got carried away and I was still completely incensed at the decision. I'm the one who chucked his Bovril
Genuinely disappointed in you that it wasn't homemade hummus and carrots.
I was impressed with Ajose today without him managing to score, was certainly disappointed when Aribo didnt square him the ball for a tap in at one point and understand his frustrations from that
On the subject he raised the other day though where he said he'd have the same amount of goals as Taylor or Grant if he'd been given that sort of service this season then I completely disagree - There were two occasions when he got in behind the Wimbledon defence, the first time he was too slow (Grant would have been on it in seconds), the second he was more unlucky as he couldnt quite take it round the 'keeper but just have a feeling that either Grant or Taylor would have handled it... Definitely worthy of being a backup Striker though
Yeah I agree I think he gets too much stick but he's never likely to be a 20 goal a season striker with any regularity.
Thought his ball for the first was excellent. Thought his touch when in behind to try to take it round the keeper was really, really clever. I thought for sure he'd bring it more under control but he was unlucky that the keeper just got a toe to it. But a good day from him.
Weird game overall. But the kind we would have drawn last season probably. Wimbledon were really bad. We just had a couple moments of quality.
Think the team deserves a lot of credit. 90 minutes+ with ten men and we rarely gave them the ball. Bielik is absolutely class. Taylor must be a nightmare for defenders. And a lot of players put in a real shift out of position today, special shout for Fosu who worked very hard as a LWB.
A really good result when it could have gone so wrong.
(If you can't recognise the satire see the thread about sterling and calling black players names like beast apparently being racist as you're likening them to animals... Despite the most famous Beast in football, Jon Parkin)
(If you can't recognise the satire see the thread about sterling and calling black players names like beast apparently being racist as you're likening them to animals... Despite the most famous Beast in football, Jon Parking)
Steve Thompson was a beast, didn't give a fck if he was black, white whatever, snowflake wankers looking for reactions.
These are the type of games,crap conditons,10 man defensive teams,that you have to dig in and win,we did that and will do it a lot more this season.Re Sarr,quite a few times we have seen him lunge for these out of reach balls,this was a red card waiting to happen.Delighted Marshall got his goal,left on the bench,left out of the squad,no moaning,got on with it,ultimate proffesional,hope he gets a run in the team soon.
Massive doth of cap to Mark Marshall. Had an incredibly impacting cameo and throughly deserved his goal, with a great strike.
We didn’t have experience on the bench today but as a manager you can’t ask for anything more than someone coming on late in a miserable weather game and really taking the game by the scruff of the neck.
Increasingly annoyed by idiots who don't understand football slagging off 70% of our side around me.
There really is some thick twats in our support.
If people want faultless football they should fck off to a prem club on a saturday, maybe they will get the 30yd strike top bins they crave or the faultless crosses they need to witness.
It's league 1, it is what it is with flashes of brilliance here and there.
Was any of that aimed at Reeves? Watching on iFollow I noticed he was the one player willing to keep trying difficult passes. It often led to him giving it away but you need to take that risk against a team sitting back like Wimbledon did.
Thought Reeves was very good today. Not everything came off, but he was really trying to control the game and be that creative fulcrum. It the trajectory of a a couple of passes had been half a degree different, or the recipient’s first touch had been a bit sharper, he could have had 3 or 4 assists today. He looks much less lightweight than last season too and much more like the playmaker we thought we’d be getting.
Important he does more of this with Ward injured. Overdue a goal though.
Comments
Pinnock - complete pillock.
Bielik - a class apart at this level.
Ajose - constantly looking for balls over the top or through the channel but the midfielders don’t see the possibilities.
Kettle - got nearly everything right, especially the two red cards.
Bowyer - he in whom we trust.
Second half totally different. Bowyer's tactical change was bothe brave and brilliant. Bielik playing in front of the back 2. He showed his class often carrying the ball forward and into areas where Wimbledon could get hurt. So different to first half where we hardly committed a defender.
As for the sending offs Sarrs was a bad tackle although some refs would only have given it a booking. Kettle evened it up though with a harsh second yellow for Pinnock. Definately looked some contact with Bauer.
On the subject he raised the other day though where he said he'd have the same amount of goals as Taylor or Grant if he'd been given that sort of service this season then I completely disagree - There were two occasions when he got in behind the Wimbledon defence, the first time he was too slow (Grant would have been on it in seconds), the second he was more unlucky as he couldnt quite take it round the 'keeper but just have a feeling that either Grant or Taylor would have handled it... Definitely worthy of being a backup Striker though
Conditions were bitter and gloomy and a home defeat today would have been very hard to take into the next week. So there we have the earliest sending off for a Charlton player that I can remember, and you're wondering if we can get through 89 minutes with 10 men in a game we frankly needed to win.
But we got the three lovely points.
Actually I thought we were better than Wimbledon with 10v11 anyway. The adjustments we made at the start, not feeling sorry for ourselves, with a particularly good subsequent spell from Reeves, but also Pearce, Bauer and Belik, and all the other players stepping it up, meant we dominated play. All credit to the players and management for that.
Incidentally the Sarr challenge happened right in front of me in the East Stand and I thought it was a red straight away. No complaints about Kettle from me there. Then when Wimbledon broke on us soon after Pinnock's first booking, Kettle was proper Usain Bolt joining that Wimbledon attack, and he was well up with things enough to judge whether Pinnock had dived or not, second booking off he went, my how we laughed as they say.
From then on it really was only a matter of time. A lovely 'change the direction of the ball' goal from Taylor was followed by the customary humble celebration against his old club. However Taylor's piss taking then followed during the rest of the game where he did what he wanted as if controlling the ball with a piece of string. Must have been annoying for the (pretty vocal and good) Wimbledon support.
The shifts and adjustments that followed a flurry of substitutes gave Wimbledon fleeting hope, and Charlton familiar fear, but really we were always going to win, and the very accurate shot cum pass goal from Marshall was beautiful in its finality.
I can think of no credible reason to criticise any of our players except Sarr for his early recklessness. To a man jack they responded and even facing the different kind of challenge today I sensed they were determined to win. There wasn't any Wimbledon player that was better than our worst player, and we showed it fully today.
I mean I wish Aribo had not been as simply excellent as he was today because then losing him wouldn't hurt so much. He was my MoM. But all the players that had to adjust in the game, Reeves, Belik, Bauer, and Pearce are especially deserving of praise. Hard to say much about Steer because for him today was routine and uneventful.
Fosu frightened them, Aribo occupied them decently, Reeves ran the game for a while.
Last Christmas we gave Robinson our hearts, but this year we give them to Lyall Taylor. Taylor is one of those players worth the admission price (at this level), he was take for granted excellent throughout. The booking he got from Kettle was a totally unjustified joke, but then again Kettle never disappoints if you want to see a bit of crap from time to time.
The game was good enough to take my mind off the cold and gloom. Delighted. And now we have to go again against Gillingham next week which I think will be a much harder game.
In terms of lucky superstitions I gave some pasta and beans to the food bank today, so I advise all supporters to remember to bring something along for the food bank next week to guarantee a win.
It is more certain than wearing a Fedora.
Someone along from me called out to Taylor asking how he was and didnt get a very enthusiastic response, felt then as though he wasnt 100% fit
Get hit by a cricket ball - That gives you a proper bruise ;-)
Thought the back 3 were good, Bielek had an alright game, Fosu best I've seen him this season, Aribo masterful, Reeves wasted a few chances but clearly gives something. Ajose doesn't get stuck in, pleased he got an assist for the first, but his positioning is of a luxury striker who expects the midfield to do a lot of the work for him. Taylor of course is worth 2 players so another reason the extra man didn't count.
Credit to Marshall as well - the guy in front was saying he wished we'd got the Marshall who used to play for Bradford and he scored 2 minutes later. Deserves a run in the team.
Cold, wet, miserable game, but thankfully a good result.
Another banana skin game next Saturday, need to win that as well.
Bowyer’s response to going a man down in the first minute was an astute one, going to three at the back against a side playing a lone striker and deploying a rigid, deep-lying 4/5/1 formation. The logical response from Wally Downes and Wimbledon would have been to have pushed a second man up front, but they were more than happy to sit behind the ball and let us play in front of them.
Taylor’s moment of class and opportunism got our noses in front and a lovely ball through from Reeves gave Ajose a chance to close the game out, which he predictably blew with a pretty feeble effort. Wimbledon then had their best - and only - decent spell of the match and threatened with some crosses into the box towards their pair of gigantic substitutes.
Reeves’ departure and the reversion to a back four enabled Bielik to move into midfield and we gradually resumed control. His nice ball to Mark Marshall enabled our sub to strike a sweet shot into the bottom corner and put the result beyond doubt. Thereafter, apart from one decent save from Jed Steer from the edge of the box, we saw the game out comfortably, keeping possession and sensibly conserving energy.
On the plus side, we showed a lot of character and composure after going down to 10 men in the first minute, aided and abetted by Wimbledon’s total lack of ambition. We defended very competently and kept the ball well - albeit against opponents who were toothless up front and applied practically no pressure on the ball.
On the negative side, our crossing was incredibly poor, especially from Tarique Fosu, who skinned the defenders every single time but either didn’t attempt a cross or, when he did, failed to beat the first defender. The first good cross in the game came from Wimbledon’s left back in the second half and the second came from Ajose for Lyle Taylor’s opener.
There was also a marked reluctance to shoot from the edge of the box, including from the otherwise excellent Joe Aribo. I’m sure that Lee Bowyer and Jacko will be on his case about that, because his quick feet and trickery repeatedly open up shooting opportunities.
All in all, an excellent three points against a side who have been a bit of a bogey team in the last few years. Another of those arrives at the Valley next Saturday and at least we now have a clear week to recharge the batteries and to get a couple more players fit.
In the meantime, congratulations to Lee Bowyer and Jacko for getting us to 40 points after 22 games in the teeth of multiple injuries and the second worst owner in the division. Just imagine what could be achieved with a bit of meaningful backing.
Totally deserved 3 points today.
Kettle was his usual I want to be centre of attention self. He really is a prick.
The conditions were almost as bad as the wimbledon, but not quite.
Thought his ball for the first was excellent. Thought his touch when in behind to try to take it round the keeper was really, really clever. I thought for sure he'd bring it more under control but he was unlucky that the keeper just got a toe to it. But a good day from him.
Weird game overall. But the kind we would have drawn last season probably. Wimbledon were really bad. We just had a couple moments of quality.
Think the team deserves a lot of credit. 90 minutes+ with ten men and we rarely gave them the ball. Bielik is absolutely class. Taylor must be a nightmare for defenders. And a lot of players put in a real shift out of position today, special shout for Fosu who worked very hard as a LWB.
A really good result when it could have gone so wrong.
(If you can't recognise the satire see the thread about sterling and calling black players names like beast apparently being racist as you're likening them to animals... Despite the most famous Beast in football, Jon Parkin)
Not aimed at you pal, as I get 'it'....
Important he does more of this with Ward injured. Overdue a goal though.
We so need to get out of this League obviously.
We are scrapping with Luton, Peterborough and Doncaster - that is currently our level.
Bottom three of the Championship are, as it stands today, Ipswich, Millwall and Bolton.....