I think they probably do - the only position I am worried they don't is Sarr's. The problem is Perace is such a great professional and club captain that when you are close to things you can make an emotional judgement. Sarr plays an important roll in starting a lot of our moves and is now good enough defensively to be the first name on the team sheet.
Having said that, it makes sense to give Pearce games so we are prepared for injuries. But before today's result Monday was the game to rest Sarr. And with players missing, it was all the more important to start with Sarr. That is why I am worried about Bowyers judgemnt in this one area.
In terms of one up front - with your next best being Parker, what the hell do you do?
I think they probably do - the only position I am worried they don't is Sarr's. The problem is Perace is such a great professional and club captain that when you are close to things you can make an emotional judgement. Sarr plays an important roll in starting a lot of our moves and is now good enough defensively to be the first name on the team sheet.
Having said that, it makes sense to give Pearce games so we are prepared for injuries. But before today's result Monday was the game to rest Sarr. And with players missing, it was all the more important to start with Sarr. That is why I am worried about Bowyers judgemnt in this one area.
In terms of one up front - with your next best being Parker, what the hell do you do?
people are entitled to their opinions as to who should play out of Sarr and Pearce. Either way that is not our problem and certainly is not the reason we lost today. We are fortunate to have 2 very good players in that position. Your comment about who to play as we had missing players is totally wrong. Remember Purrington was announced to play and was withdrawn very shortly before kick off. At that stage you couldn't leave Pearce out having announced him.
Was at the game...first 15 all us and should have had more...wayward pass at the time we are ribbing robinson, result inevitable an equaliser....why do we slag ex players managers etc as the inevitable always happens and usually quickly....That was their first shot and after that an inevitable dodgy foul by a dodgy ref, and que their left back to put in the top corner after Phillips gave him the whole goal to shoot at.
What made it worse a fan I spoke to after the game said his free kicks usually go igh wide and handsome....
Parker....I am an ebbsfleet and a Hartley wintney fan ...as some of you will know, I wouldn't want him wearing those shirts let alone charltons...utter garbage...
First of all found the Oxford commentators a bit embarrassing at times, two wonder goals and in the trenches defending from the start of the second half yet they made out it was a good performance? Behave
As for us, bit embarrassing. We are against 10 and players and we're panicking, Solly over zealous, Bielik like Bambi on ice, sliced passes by numerous players. It's like it did Oxford a favour being a man down. Solly needlessly lunges in. I get that it's probably a harsh red but a player that experienced needs to show it, we had what 20 minutes to go? Show some composure. No need for dagger tackles when one play can get us back level pegging.
While we're on the subject of Solly, although I agree it is harsh to scapegoat him, now might be the time Dijksteel claims the right back. He is a better athlete, looks a lot more composed on the ball and has the better ability to beat a man. I think it's just one of those ones where the risk needs to be taken like with Sarr, now is a good time with Solly being out.
Pearce cannot start ahead of Sarr, Pearce is what I would call 'proper Charlton' but you can see why Wigan let him go. He like Solly is not as composed as he should be and has too many mistakes in him.
Imo only Aribo, Cullen and Taylor had decent games, everyone else pretty pony. Now it's down to Bow and Jacko to manage the team into the play offs and get it done there. Still in with a shout of promotion but players can't make the same mistakes they did today, that simple.
Quite right boss...the biggest crime that Bows and Jacko have committed is giving us a bit of hope.Hope that we shouldn't of expected with the turd of an owner we have. That second goal was a once in a lifetime stunner.hay ho ...on to the play offs.
Today wasn't the day to rest, but now we have we probably should some more with how heavily first 11 reliant we seem to be.
Reaction to today seems a bit over the top, form has been incredible recently and we were always going to lose at some point.
Sure Bowyer deserves blame for the loss but losing for the first time in 10 games or so needs to calm down a little bit. Oxford have been in pretty great form recently too
Had a feeling we were gonna have a bad day when arriving 10 minutes before kickoff the bloody stewards informed us we had to walk around the ground to the other side, as they fenced off the entrance 😡!
Really can’t see the Solly blame thing, the dude playing in front of him was far from creative (Williams) had a stinking match in my view.
Never seen Reeves play the right side effectively today was no exception, the match was lost in the midfield.
As it happens the other results went against us so it’s probable that even if we’d won today we wouldn’t have made the automatics anyway. But it was a shame that our charge had such a damp squib ending. I personally wouldn’t have rotated the squad until the autos was gone. As it now stands the last three games are pretty academic other than for momentum purposes. We are crystal clear what our best 11 is so I’d now be wrapping some very important players in cotton wool for the playoffs and getting games into Parker, Fosu, Marshall, Lapslie and Pratley just in case we end up relying on them when it matters.
Didn't get there until half time due to awful traffic on the M25 & M40......so missed all 3 goals & by the sounds if it awful performances by Solly, Reeves and others.
In the 45 mins we did see I would say it was same old same old. Can't beat a team when we are in a losing position as they get all 11 (and for 30 mins 10) men behind the ball abd we have no way if getting past them. Reminds me of away games at Plymouth & Gillingham last season - all huff & puff but no real penetration. Parker probably should have done better with his chance from a yard out (couldn't really see what happened though)but too many sideways balls when it really needed to bypass the midfield & just lump it up to the front 2 (Or by then 3).
This is not being OTT as I've said it for ages but....
1) Solly is not a left back. Never will be. Doesn't use his left foot. Once Purrington dropped out Sarr should have gone in there. Doesn't help that Dijikstel can't cross either. If you are going to play without wingers/wide men then your full backs HAVE to be able to overlap & cross.
2) Sarr should have been in the team. Pearce maybe the captain but he is not the better defender. Sarr also has a great left foot & his passing (long balls) would have been beneficial in the 2nd half. Home game v Sunderland comes to mind.
3) I hear (obviously didn't see) that they scored from a corner AND a free kick. Something we can only dream of. Our set pieces are awful ( I don't count pens as "set peices"). How many goals have we scored directly from a free kick ? Only Sarr at the wombles from what I can recall. Awful.
4). Fosu should at least be on the bench.....especially today when there was no Vetokele. A squad of 18 & we have just 2 recognised strikers. At least Fosu can run with the ball & will have a shot. I don't fecking care if he's leaving next month. He is still contracted to us so he should be part of the squad.
5) Said the autos were out of reach. We are now in the (un)enviable position of at least getting 5th spot. Not sure if we can get any higher & don't know if it really matters. Still don't want to play Sunderland at all & hope they beat Pompey next Saturday. Would be happy playing Pompey over 2 legs.....or Donny.
Funny how in just 1 afternoon it's gone from maybe getting 2nd place to only really looking at 4th or 5th.
Sorry but I don't understand the rotating of players for the sake of it. Vetokele and Purrington should have been the only absentees today. As much as I like Pearce and don't fault him for today's loss, Sarr has evolved into the better defender and footballer as others have said and should be in the team ahead of Pearce.
It goes to show just how important Purrington has been to the team, he's been a steady 7/10 just like Bowyer said and having to replace him showed what a problem it is when we have to shuffle the deck at the back. We can't live without both Page and Purrington, we got lucky earlier in the season when Sarr filled in. Which leads to another question, could Sarr not have filled in at left back without Purrington?
The free kick I could see going in where it did as there was a huge gaping hole to Phillips' left, I felt he should have been a lot more central to the free kick or maybe deployed a player on the post but it doesn't take away what a sweet hit it was and Oxford took an undeserved 2-1 lead.
Frustrating but these things happen at times.
As for the ref I think he actually got both red cards right and should have shown Lapslie a red as well, he got that one wrong to our relief but then I think the ref got a lot wrong today for both sides.
What's more frustrating though is our desire to try and walk the ball into the net all the time. Especially Parker. I swear it was just before the Solly red card he was by the six yard box when the ball came to him and he laid it backwards instead of having a pop at goal. Just look at the Oxford first goal, we *never* score goals like that. Bowyer can tell us we had so many shots on goal but how many actually tested the keeper and how many were blocked by a forest of Oxford players because we overpassed it. Last away game I went to was Bristol Rovers and we did the exact same then that day too.
Frustrating and disappointing but not the end of the world, we're guaranteed to finish no lower than 5th now which is little short of a miracle worked by Bowyer, Jackson and Gallen. Almost to the miracle levels produced by Lennie Lawrence.
Just one of those games. Had Bowyer had his best team for most of the season I'm certain we'd have made automatic promotion.
I think we can be critical and still respect the achievement of Bowyer and the team. There were lots of reasons for defeat today and a contributory one was the manager, but injuries in certain positions are an issue too, probably the biggest issue. Still back Bowyer 100% and think Solly is a Charlton legend but we shouldn't not try to express why we think we had such a disapointing day.
I still can't understand why Sarr wasn't brought on when we were chasing the game at least. They were packing the box and we had lots, and we were always going to have lots, of opportunities to cross the ball in. Surely an extra big man in there would have helped. What does Sarr have to do? For me he is the best centre half in the league!
Didn't get there until half time due to awful traffic on the M25 & M40......so missed all 3 goals & by the sounds if it awful performances by Solly, Reeves and others.
In the 45 mins we did see I would say it was same old same old. Can't beat a team when we are in a losing position as they get all 11 (and for 30 mins 10) men behind the ball abd we have no way if getting past them. Reminds me of away games at Plymouth & Gillingham last season - all huff & puff but no real penetration. Parker probably should have done better with his chance from a yard out (couldn't really see what happened though)but too many sideways balls when it really needed to bypass the midfield & just lump it up to the front 2 (Or by then 3).
This is not being OTT as I've said it for ages but....
1) Solly is not a left back. Never will be. Doesn't use his left foot. Once Purrington dropped out Sarr should have gone in there. Doesn't help that Dijikstel can't cross either. If you are going to play without wingers/wide men then your full backs HAVE to be able to overlap & cross.
2) Sarr should have been in the team. Pearce maybe the captain but he is not the better defender. Sarr also has a great left foot & his passing (long balls) would have been beneficial in the 2nd half. Home game v Sunderland comes to mind.
3) I hear (obviously didn't see) that they scored from a corner AND a free kick. Something we can only dream of. Our set pieces are awful ( I don't count pens as "set peices"). How many goals have we scored directly from a free kick ? Only Sarr at the wombles from what I can recall. Awful.
4). Fosu should at least be on the bench.....especially today when there was no Vetokele. A squad of 18 & we have just 2 recognised strikers. At least Fosu can run with the ball & will have a shot. I don't fecking care if he's leaving next month. He is still contracted to us so he should be part of the squad.
5) Said the autos were out of reach. We are now in the (un)enviable position of at least getting 5th spot. Not sure if we can get any higher & don't know if it really matters. Still don't want to play Sunderland at all & hope they beat Pompey next Saturday. Would be happy playing Pompey over 2 legs.....or Donny.
Funny how in just 1 afternoon it's gone from maybe getting 2nd place to only really looking at 4th or 5th.
Great analysis. Completely agreed, in a must-win match why do we have Lapslie, Pratley and Morgan all on the bench. Fosu and Marshall are still our players and ought to have been on the bench for a must-win match.
I'd pay Pearce and Sarr on Monday and give Bauer a rest. We are at home and any defensive issues will be lessened by that fact. Page should get part of a game - a fair bit too early but might help him be more ready when needed. Is Stephenson fit? If so he could be involved too. Marshall, Lapslie, Morgan and Pratley ought to play. Taylor has to as there is no alternative, probably with Parker.
Even if we lose, it won't be that big a deal and it will keep our key players fresh. I'd play our strongest team against Gills and rest a few at home to Rochdale. I haven't checked the dates, but the play off normally start soon after the end of the season don't they?
Didn't get there until half time due to awful traffic on the M25 & M40.....
I don’t know if it would have helped on this occasion but you really should use waze/ google maps app on your phone with live navigation it will help with journeys when there’s bad traffic . im sure it’s been mentioned before on here . do yourself a favour and give it a go , it’s a no brainer
Didn't get there until half time due to awful traffic on the M25 & M40.....
I don’t know if it would have helped on this occasion but you really should use waze/ google maps app on your phone with live navigation it will help with journeys when there’s bad traffic . im sure it’s been mentioned before on here . do yourself a favour and give it a go , it’s a no brainer
Comments
Having said that, it makes sense to give Pearce games so we are prepared for injuries. But before today's result Monday was the game to rest Sarr. And with players missing, it was all the more important to start with Sarr. That is why I am worried about Bowyers judgemnt in this one area.
In terms of one up front - with your next best being Parker, what the hell do you do?
Your comment about who to play as we had missing players is totally wrong. Remember Purrington was announced to play and was withdrawn very shortly before kick off. At that stage you couldn't leave Pearce out having announced him.
What made it worse a fan I spoke to after the game said his free kicks usually go igh wide and handsome....
Parker....I am an ebbsfleet and a Hartley wintney fan ...as some of you will know, I wouldn't want him wearing those shirts let alone charltons...utter garbage...
As for us, bit embarrassing. We are against 10 and players and we're panicking, Solly over zealous, Bielik like Bambi on ice, sliced passes by numerous players. It's like it did Oxford a favour being a man down. Solly needlessly lunges in. I get that it's probably a harsh red but a player that experienced needs to show it, we had what 20 minutes to go? Show some composure. No need for dagger tackles when one play can get us back level pegging.
While we're on the subject of Solly, although I agree it is harsh to scapegoat him, now might be the time Dijksteel claims the right back. He is a better athlete, looks a lot more composed on the ball and has the better ability to beat a man. I think it's just one of those ones where the risk needs to be taken like with Sarr, now is a good time with Solly being out.
Pearce cannot start ahead of Sarr, Pearce is what I would call 'proper Charlton' but you can see why Wigan let him go. He like Solly is not as composed as he should be and has too many mistakes in him.
Imo only Aribo, Cullen and Taylor had decent games, everyone else pretty pony. Now it's down to Bow and Jacko to manage the team into the play offs and get it done there. Still in with a shout of promotion but players can't make the same mistakes they did today, that simple.
That second goal was a once in a lifetime stunner.hay ho ...on to the play offs.
Reaction to today seems a bit over the top, form has been incredible recently and we were always going to lose at some point.
Sure Bowyer deserves blame for the loss but losing for the first time in 10 games or so needs to calm down a little bit. Oxford have been in pretty great form recently too
We lose and some will always see the downside to the defeat
To others its meh! and we move on to the next one forgetting what just happened
Really can’t see the Solly blame thing, the dude playing in front of him was far from creative (Williams) had a stinking match in my view.
Never seen Reeves play the right side effectively today was no exception, the match was lost in the midfield.
Rest some players get ready for the playoffs
COYRs
Didn't get there until half time due to awful traffic on the M25 & M40......so missed all 3 goals & by the sounds if it awful performances by Solly, Reeves and others.
In the 45 mins we did see I would say it was same old same old. Can't beat a team when we are in a losing position as they get all 11 (and for 30 mins 10) men behind the ball abd we have no way if getting past them. Reminds me of away games at Plymouth & Gillingham last season - all huff & puff but no real penetration. Parker probably should have done better with his chance from a yard out (couldn't really see what happened though)but too many sideways balls when it really needed to bypass the midfield & just lump it up to the front 2 (Or by then 3).
This is not being OTT as I've said it for ages but....
1) Solly is not a left back. Never will be. Doesn't use his left foot. Once Purrington dropped out Sarr should have gone in there. Doesn't help that Dijikstel can't cross either. If you are going to play without wingers/wide men then your full backs HAVE to be able to overlap & cross.
2) Sarr should have been in the team. Pearce maybe the captain but he is not the better defender. Sarr also has a great left foot & his passing (long balls) would have been beneficial in the 2nd half. Home game v Sunderland comes to mind.
3) I hear (obviously didn't see) that they scored from a corner AND a free kick. Something we can only dream of. Our set pieces are awful ( I don't count pens as "set peices"). How many goals have we scored directly from a free kick ? Only Sarr at the wombles from what I can recall. Awful.
4). Fosu should at least be on the bench.....especially today when there was no Vetokele. A squad of 18 & we have just 2 recognised strikers. At least Fosu can run with the ball & will have a shot. I don't fecking care if he's leaving next month. He is still contracted to us so he should be part of the squad.
5) Said the autos were out of reach. We are now in the (un)enviable position of at least getting 5th spot. Not sure if we can get any higher & don't know if it really matters. Still don't want to play Sunderland at all & hope they beat Pompey next Saturday. Would be happy playing Pompey over 2 legs.....or Donny.
Funny how in just 1 afternoon it's gone from maybe getting 2nd place to only really looking at 4th or 5th.
Sorry but I don't understand the rotating of players for the sake of it. Vetokele and Purrington should have been the only absentees today. As much as I like Pearce and don't fault him for today's loss, Sarr has evolved into the better defender and footballer as others have said and should be in the team ahead of Pearce.
It goes to show just how important Purrington has been to the team, he's been a steady 7/10 just like Bowyer said and having to replace him showed what a problem it is when we have to shuffle the deck at the back. We can't live without both Page and Purrington, we got lucky earlier in the season when Sarr filled in. Which leads to another question, could Sarr not have filled in at left back without Purrington?
The free kick I could see going in where it did as there was a huge gaping hole to Phillips' left, I felt he should have been a lot more central to the free kick or maybe deployed a player on the post but it doesn't take away what a sweet hit it was and Oxford took an undeserved 2-1 lead.
Frustrating but these things happen at times.
As for the ref I think he actually got both red cards right and should have shown Lapslie a red as well, he got that one wrong to our relief but then I think the ref got a lot wrong today for both sides.
What's more frustrating though is our desire to try and walk the ball into the net all the time. Especially Parker. I swear it was just before the Solly red card he was by the six yard box when the ball came to him and he laid it backwards instead of having a pop at goal. Just look at the Oxford first goal, we *never* score goals like that. Bowyer can tell us we had so many shots on goal but how many actually tested the keeper and how many were blocked by a forest of Oxford players because we overpassed it. Last away game I went to was Bristol Rovers and we did the exact same then that day too.
Frustrating and disappointing but not the end of the world, we're guaranteed to finish no lower than 5th now which is little short of a miracle worked by Bowyer, Jackson and Gallen. Almost to the miracle levels produced by Lennie Lawrence.
Just one of those games. Had Bowyer had his best team for most of the season I'm certain we'd have made automatic promotion.
I still can't understand why Sarr wasn't brought on when we were chasing the game at least. They were packing the box and we had lots, and we were always going to have lots, of opportunities to cross the ball in. Surely an extra big man in there would have helped. What does Sarr have to do? For me he is the best centre half in the league!
Even if we lose, it won't be that big a deal and it will keep our key players fresh. I'd play our strongest team against Gills and rest a few at home to Rochdale. I haven't checked the dates, but the play off normally start soon after the end of the season don't they?
im sure it’s been mentioned before on here .
do yourself a favour and give it a go , it’s a no brainer