Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
We got 3 points - I don't care how we get them at this stage of the season as long as we get them.
Agree with your sentiments but I was there and second half we really did look like a relegation side - for whatever reason (tiredness for those who started on Saturday or big win come down after Saturday?).
Not only did we not get a shot away all half but we actually could not even pass the ball as Burton pressed us hard and we simply weren’t up for it.
Hopefully this one bad performance will be the last this season - seriously, the second half we were like a Sunday morning pub team after a big Saturday night and Sunday morning out - it was sh*te.
Our midfield isn't great and we struggle to retain possession which invariably makes it difficult to close games out. We were under the cosh for the last 15 minutes against Pompey and for almost the entire second half last night.
We show plenty of effort but lack composure - Lapslie typifies this. We have spells of knocking the ball about allied to constantly losing it.
Did what was needed but made hard work of the 2nd half
one thing I will say, disgusted at Fosu’s work rate tonight. One of the laziest performances in a Charlton shirt I’ve seen in a long time. Didn’t care and based on that, I’m pleased to see the back of him if he goes
Must be the most frustrating thing for a Manager when he knows the boy has game-changing talent but the player leaves it on the training ground.
You’d think he’d be taking his chance when getting selected to start but dream on.
Bielik and Williams were huge misses last night, especially Bielik. Good header from Reeves finishing a great cross but Reeves was chasing shadows when Burton in possession and he is never going to be a play breaker.
The midfield on Saturday against Portsmouth could play in a Championship side, no problem. That is the midfield that will take us to the promised land, injuries aside.
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
I wasn’t there last night, but from what I’ve seen this season his distribution isn’t all *that* bad. He probably puts a couple of clearances into touch during a match, on average, which isn’t the biggest of disasters. What would be a disaster is if he kept dropping the ball, or kept palming it into the path of an oncoming striker. I think he’s a very good keeper who’ll go far.
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
I wasn’t there last night, but from what I’ve seen this season his distribution isn’t all *that* bad. He probably puts a couple of clearances into touch during a match, on average, which isn’t the biggest of disasters. What would be a disaster is if he kept dropping the ball, or kept palming it into the path of an oncoming striker. I think he’s a very good keeper who’ll go far.
I agree with this. I like Dillon as a keeper but his distribution last night was beyond laughable. One of those “the harder he tries the worse he gets” sort of nights. Not helped by the fact that anything he did manage to keep on the pitch quickly came straight back to him.
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
Very few keepers are particularly good with the ball at their feet - this doesn't just apply to Dillon. A poor back pass will invariably put the keeper under pressure and composure will go out of the window.
Hamer had good distribution but I didn't particularly rate the rest of his game.
How much difference does it really make if the keeper has good distribution - it doesn't seem to be a game changer whereas a keeper who can't keep the ball out of the net is.
We're not comparing Dillon with Neuer or one of the top 6 PL keepers
Dillon wasn't under pressure when he was shanking his clearances, these were bread and butter clearances for a keeper, the sort that a National League keeper would deal with better
Not saying we should drop Dillon for this, but it something he really has to sort out and quickly. The rest of his game is solid enough, but lets face it our defence is solid so it's not as if he has to make that many crucial saves anyway.
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
I wasn’t there last night, but from what I’ve seen this season his distribution isn’t all *that* bad. He probably puts a couple of clearances into touch during a match, on average, which isn’t the biggest of disasters. What would be a disaster is if he kept dropping the ball, or kept palming it into the path of an oncoming striker. I think he’s a very good keeper who’ll go far.
Distinctly remember him playing a few really great wide balls out from the back first half, but then puts it into touch twice second half and all is forgotten.
I think we have an exceptionally strong midfield in terms of individual skill but somehow it often looks unbalanced.
Love the stick for poor old Reeves. Runs his socks off, one of the few who shoots or delivers a half-decent cross, scores the winner (and the assist for the winner against Pompey) but for some on here, he's just not good enough.
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
Very few keepers are particularly good with the ball at their feet - this doesn't just apply to Dillon. A poor back pass will invariably put the keeper under pressure and composure will go out of the window.
Hamer had good distribution but I didn't particularly rate the rest of his game.
How much difference does it really make if the keeper has good distribution - it doesn't seem to be a game changer whereas a keeper who can't keep the ball out of the net is.
We're not comparing Dillon with Neuer or one of the top 6 PL keepers
Dillon wasn't under pressure when he was shanking his clearances, these were bread and butter clearances for a keeper, the sort that a National League keeper would deal with better
Not saying we should drop Dillon for this, but it something he really has to sort out and quickly. The rest of his game is solid enough, but lets face it our defence is solid so it's not as if he has to make that many crucial saves anyway.
Not sure where you were sitting, but the balls back to him were bobbling all over the place when returned. Especially to his right hand side in particular. It was also very windy. Let’s cut the lad some slack. He has improved massively since coming back from on loan.
He has the ability to be our keeper for many years. I would rather that than the continual loan route we have followed for the last few years.
Thought Dillon made a crucial save in the second half down to his right from about 12 yards to maintain our lead. Given he had little to do relatively speaking his concentration levels were good and he has deserved to keep his place in the side. His kicking yesterday wasn't as good as recently but as mentioned the pitch and conditions didn't help. I've said it before, he's a goal preventer first and foremost and is performing that role well.
I think we have an exceptionally strong midfield in terms of individual skill but somehow it often looks unbalanced.
Love the stick for poor old Reeves. Runs his socks off, one of the few who shoots or delivers a half-decent cross, scores the winner (and the assist for the winner against Pompey) but for some on here, he's just not good enough.
Yeah, I don't get the Reeves bashing at all. He was crap last season, but has been pretty decent this season imo. Has produced some important assists and goals.
Thought Dillon made a crucial save in the second half down to his right from about 12 yards to maintain our lead. Given he had little to do relatively speaking his concentration levels were good and he has deserved to keep his place in the side. His kicking yesterday wasn't as good as recently but as mentioned the pitch and conditions didn't help. I've said it before, he's a goal preventer first and foremost and is performing that role well.
Is that the one where the Burton player somehow got through on goal? - If so I dont think he got a touch as was right behind it, was livid when the ref gave a corner
Reeves is bit like Marmite, he didn't get off to the best of starts with some fans when he first arrived by holding out for a move abroad which never materialised. Then accepted Robinson's offer as a last resort and took a while to get match fit with no pre season in him. A succession of injuries then plagued him preventing a decent run in the side.
His poor set pieces have also brought a fair amount of criticism upon him as did his shooting at every opportunity 2nd half on Saturday, no doubt under instructions. If you don't shoot you don't score. To his credit however he has believed in his own ability and kept going with an assist v Pompey and a good goal last night. Given the paucity of goals from midfield this season, Aribo aside, his scoring ratio of 1:5 in 163 league appearances for MK and ourselves is not to be sniffed at. A frustrating player at times but he has an important role to play in the absence of Bielik and Williams with injury or from the bench for the rest of the season.
I’ve started to warm to Purrington, the odd lapse of concentration but overall he offers us much needed balance on the left hand side.
Can’t fault any of the defence since the start of the new year. They’ve all played their part to make us very difficult to beat.
We’ve got one more match to get threw before we have a weeks rest before the final run in. Reeves has worked way back in the squad and will give Bowyer a dilemma when Williams is back.
Two goals in two games for Taylor is a bonus and hopefully that will continue to the end of the season. Still not sure whose the best option to play up top with him.
Would like to see Morgan brought back into the squad in the coming weeks as he really impressed in the Walsall/Sunderland match.
Reeves is bit like Marmite, he didn't get off to the best of starts with some fans when he first arrived by holding out for a move abroad which never materialised. Then accepted Robinson's offer as a last resort and took a while to get match fit with no pre season in him. A succession of injuries then plagued him preventing a decent run in the side.
His poor set pieces have also brought a fair amount of criticism upon him as did his shooting at every opportunity 2nd half on Saturday, no doubt under instructions. If you don't shoot you don't score. To his credit however he has believed in his own ability and kept going with an assist v Pompey and a good goal last night. Given the paucity of goals from midfield this season, Aribo aside, his scoring ratio of 1:5 in 163 league appearances for MK and ourselves is not to be sniffed at. A frustrating player at times but he has an important role to play in the absence of Bielik and Williams with injury or from the bench for the rest of the season.
The problem is imho that you need players who are good off the ball as well as on the ball. In the case of midfield that would mean pressing, when and where to press, positioning, blocking channels and holes and breaking up play.
In the case of Reeves, he is a capable player on the ball, what he lacks and is a massive hole is contribution off the ball - last night he was chasing shadows mostly when Burton in possession.
Aribo, Bielik and Cullen, by comparison are a different level as they can and do regularly win ball. Williams has other qualities, my favourite being forward runs at pace, forcing defences deeper.
Reeves also concedes possession way too often by way of his edge of penalty area shots which are always blocked.
Reeves has potential and probably needs more game time to develop these other crucial areas of his game.
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
Very few keepers are particularly good with the ball at their feet - this doesn't just apply to Dillon. A poor back pass will invariably put the keeper under pressure and composure will go out of the window.
Hamer had good distribution but I didn't particularly rate the rest of his game.
How much difference does it really make if the keeper has good distribution - it doesn't seem to be a game changer whereas a keeper who can't keep the ball out of the net is.
We're not comparing Dillon with Neuer or one of the top 6 PL keepers
Dillon wasn't under pressure when he was shanking his clearances, these were bread and butter clearances for a keeper, the sort that a National League keeper would deal with better
Not saying we should drop Dillon for this, but it something he really has to sort out and quickly. The rest of his game is solid enough, but lets face it our defence is solid so it's not as if he has to make that many crucial saves anyway.
Not sure where you were sitting, but the balls back to him were bobbling all over the place when returned. Especially to his right hand side in particular. It was also very windy. Let’s cut the lad some slack. He has improved massively since coming back from on loan.
He has the ability to be our keeper for many years. I would rather that than the continual loan route we have followed for the last few years.
Some of his kicking was fine last night but this immediately gets forgotten. As you say it was windy and the pitch bobbly - a couple of the back passes to him weren't great so it's not surprising if he wasn't always 100% composed given he is the last line of defence. The majority of keepers I've seen aren't great with the ball at their feet - the ones that are are a minority.
Hamer as I've said before had good distribution but the rest of his game wasn't always so solid.
7 goals conceded in the last 10 games - some of this must be down to the defence.
Struggling to understand why Purrington is so consistently low rated by what seems the majority?
Conceded only 6 goals in the 10 games Purrington has played.
Compared with before he signed, the defence looks balanced. He's not a standout player, but does the simple stuff well.
Even Bowyer said this about Purrington after his debut ““Ben was solid. He’s going to be a seven every game. Gives that stability down the left-hand-side that we’ve been missing so much.
Thought Dillon made a crucial save in the second half down to his right from about 12 yards to maintain our lead. Given he had little to do relatively speaking his concentration levels were good and he has deserved to keep his place in the side. His kicking yesterday wasn't as good as recently but as mentioned the pitch and conditions didn't help. I've said it before, he's a goal preventer first and foremost and is performing that role well.
Is that the one where the Burton player somehow got through on goal? - If so I dont think he got a touch as was right behind it, was livid when the ref gave a corner
I like Purrington. Aside from the fact it means we don't have to play a RB or CB at left back, he's a solid player who shores up our left side. When you play a diamond you need to have full backs who won't regularly get caught out of position on transitions and he is rarely so far up the pitch we can be got at down our left. He's not the kind of LB to bomb forward but he does support attacks as required and provides an outlet for attackers to lay off the ball and receive it back. He's quite decent at beating his man from a standing start, which opens up options for crossing. He is however not brilliant at crossing. He's rubbish in the air however and if an opposition player gets even half a yard run-up on him they'll win the header. He's got a LB's brain. Dijksteel is learning but I do find he plays like an athletic midfielder filling in at full back. When the pressure ramped up against Pompey it was Dijksteel who started to sweat more than Purrington and I was more nervous of attacks coming that way than the other side. All in all, he's a League One level left back who has had a huge impact just by restoring balance to our line-up, for that alone we should be grateful. If we go up this season then I doubt we'll be looking to bring him in again, otherwise we could do a lot worse than have him permanently. Even if we don't get him again, given what's available in January on loan we've done well to end up with him. I get why his player marks are low as he's unspectacular, but if you took him out of the team now we'd feel it.
I agree that he's better than playing someone out of position but that's damning with faint praise.
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
We got 3 points - I don't care how we get them at this stage of the season as long as we get them.
How do we get them I don't know. How do we get them I don't care. Alli I know is charltons on our way.
"Charlton are on our way" or "Charlton's on its way" both sound wrong even though both are grammatically correct and "Charlton's on our way" isn't but sounds right. Go figure.
Just had a chat with Bowyer at the women’s game at HT, reckons the lads were dead on their feet last night, heavy pitch and another hard slog this Saturday. Then looking forward to the break, reckons we’ll beat Luton at home and still quietly confident of top 2 but says if not then we’ll beat whoever is in front of us in the playoffs - it’s written in the stars to be Sunderland at Wembley !
Just had a chat with Bowyer at the women’s game at HT, reckons the lads were dead on their feet last night, heavy pitch and another hard slog this Saturday. Then looking forward to the break, reckons we’ll beat Luton at home and still quietly confident of top 2 but says if not then we’ll beat whoever is in front of us in the playoffs - it’s written in the stars to be Sunderland at Wembley !
Thought Dillon made a crucial save in the second half down to his right from about 12 yards to maintain our lead. Given he had little to do relatively speaking his concentration levels were good and he has deserved to keep his place in the side. His kicking yesterday wasn't as good as recently but as mentioned the pitch and conditions didn't help. I've said it before, he's a goal preventer first and foremost and is performing that role well.
Is that the one where the Burton player somehow got through on goal? - If so I dont think he got a touch as was right behind it, was livid when the ref gave a corner
Always appreciate the post match threads more when I’ve not gone to the game, so thanks to all the summaries so far.
Reading these past 5 pages though, I’d have thought we lost if didn’t already know the score. Is it because peoples expectations are rising dramatically at this stage of season and they think 2-1 win against Burton is not good enough.
Purrington and Phillips seem to take on the majority of the negative comments this season (well since they’ve been in the starting 11 anyway).
I know it’s been mentioned by others before, but it’s important to see performances in where they are, not where you want them to be. No point being frustrated with Phillips because he’s not the complete package with every ability, because if he had all of those, then no one here would be watching him this season.
We've had so many good/great keepers over the years (going back to mid 90s when I started attending) who couldn’t kick straight or struggled to find a teammate from a goal kick. There’s a reason the price of a keeper has shot up in recent years and personally feel that Phillips is more than acceptable for a league one promotion chasing team.
The problem is that you weren't there & the vast majority of the posters were.....we can't all be wrong. It wasn't about expectations of winning, but the fact the team were a shadow of the one that played just 3 days previously. Being without Beliek didn't help, or that we now know Aribo wasn't well.....but by god I expect that in 45 second half mins of football we actually put together a meaningful attack. That 2nd half reminded me if the bad old days of fighting relegation with no hope of getting anywhere near scoring a goal.
Phillips kicking, especially from back passes were dreadful......most didn't even stay on the pitch. The defenders would be better off just booting the ball into the stands because usually that's where the ball would eventually end up.
No problem with him as a goalkeeper, ie saving & catching the ball, but unless they teach him how to clear his lines it's probably not worth passing the ball back to him.
We got 3 points - I don't care how we get them at this stage of the season as long as we get them.
How do we get them I don't know. How do we get them I don't care. Alli I know is charltons on our way.
"Charlton are on our way" or "Charlton's on its way" both sound wrong even though both are grammatically correct and "Charlton's on our way" isn't but sounds right. Go figure.
Parker didn't show nothing. I thought he put in a shift and did OK. He made several crucial bits of defending from corners and won several free-kicks. He kept their defenders occupied. He showed far more than Vetokele of late
All those defensive headers from Parker from their corners. He's a poor man's Shaun Bartlett.
Shaun Bartlett was a poor man's Shaun Bartlett to be fair.
Parker didn't show nothing. I thought he put in a shift and did OK. He made several crucial bits of defending from corners and won several free-kicks. He kept their defenders occupied. He showed far more than Vetokele of late
All those defensive headers from Parker from their corners. He's a poor man's Shaun Bartlett.
Shaun Bartlett was a poor man's Shaun Bartlett to be fair.
Which makes Parker an Aldi-own-brand-on-special-offer Bartlett I guess.
Comments
Our midfield isn't great and we struggle to retain possession which invariably makes it difficult to close games out. We were under the cosh for the last 15 minutes against Pompey and for almost the entire second half last night.
We show plenty of effort but lack composure - Lapslie typifies this. We have spells of knocking the ball about allied to constantly losing it.
I think he’s a very good keeper who’ll go far.
Dillon wasn't under pressure when he was shanking his clearances, these were bread and butter clearances for a keeper, the sort that a National League keeper would deal with better
Not saying we should drop Dillon for this, but it something he really has to sort out and quickly. The rest of his game is solid enough, but lets face it our defence is solid so it's not as if he has to make that many crucial saves anyway.
Love the stick for poor old Reeves. Runs his socks off, one of the few who shoots or delivers a half-decent cross, scores the winner (and the assist for the winner against Pompey) but for some on here, he's just not good enough.
He has the ability to be our keeper for many years. I would rather that than the continual loan route we have followed for the last few years.
His poor set pieces have also brought a fair amount of criticism upon him as did his shooting at every opportunity 2nd half on Saturday, no doubt under instructions. If you don't shoot you don't score. To his credit however he has believed in his own ability and kept going with an assist v Pompey and a good goal last night. Given the paucity of goals from midfield this season, Aribo aside, his scoring ratio of 1:5 in 163 league appearances for MK and ourselves is not to be sniffed at. A frustrating player at times but he has an important role to play in the absence of Bielik and Williams with injury or from the bench for the rest of the season.
Can’t fault any of the defence since the start of the new year. They’ve all played their part to make us very difficult to beat.
We’ve got one more match to get threw before we have a weeks rest before the final run in. Reeves has worked way back in the squad and will give Bowyer a dilemma when Williams is back.
Two goals in two games for Taylor is a bonus and hopefully that will continue to the end of the season. Still not sure whose the best option to play up top with him.
Would like to see Morgan brought back into the squad in the coming weeks as he really impressed in the Walsall/Sunderland match.
In the case of Reeves, he is a capable player on the ball, what he lacks and is a massive hole is contribution off the ball - last night he was chasing shadows mostly when Burton in possession.
Aribo, Bielik and Cullen, by comparison are a different level as they can and do regularly win ball. Williams has other qualities, my favourite being forward runs at pace, forcing defences deeper.
Reeves also concedes possession way too often by way of his edge of penalty area shots which are always blocked.
Reeves has potential and probably needs more game time to develop these other crucial areas of his game.
it was a lovely header for his goal last night.
Hamer as I've said before had good distribution but the rest of his game wasn't always so solid.
7 goals conceded in the last 10 games - some of this must be down to the defence.
Compared with before he signed, the defence looks balanced.
He's not a standout player, but does the simple stuff well.
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/charlton-athletic/11663773/charlton-2-1-burton