Gillingham v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 27th April 2019 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Lee Swabey (Devon)
Introduction
Well this is rather interesting isnt it… In true
Charlton fashion our season has turned into that of a commuter standing on a
platform, you can see that there is a delay (in this case to our promotion
hopes) yet know that the train is imminent, all you can do is stand around,
keep yourself occupied and wait – That’s certainly the feeling of the Football
season for the Addicks, baring a drastic set of results it the Play-Off route
that we must go down, before we can get on with that particular campaign we
need to get two final games out of the way, starting with a short trip to
Gillingham and the dark depths of Medway!!
The Opposition
Name: Gillingham | Manager: Steve Lovell
Ground: Priestfield Stadium
In all honesty it’s a bit of a relief that our
season can now peter out, our last trip on the road was a tricky encounter
against Oxford, as many feared it was where our hopes of automatic promotion
ended yet even had we won on Good Friday then this equally would (and still
will) be a challenging hurdle as we look to end our season in form.
Of course for Charlton this isnt a derby match; one
team is located in Kent, the other in South East London yet with Gillingham as
the only League team in their county they have to find rivalries where there
are none and with the Addicks being their closest opponents; hey presto!!...
Trips down the A2 certainly havent been without difficulty though, you have to
go back to 1980 to find our last win in these parts, with two defeats (one in
the FA Cup whilst we were a Premier League team) and two draws it confirms that
despite having one eye on their holidays; Gillingham will still be up for this
encounter!!
Charlton Team News
It’s because of this “derby” that you have to
question the team that Lee Bowyer will decide upon… At this stage the important
factor is keeping players fit whilst continuing the good form that we’ve seen
in 2019 – Surprisingly on Easter Monday we received the early news that Chris
Solly’s red card would stand (the result being expected by many) meaning that
he will be absent until the second leg of the Play-Off Semi Finals.
Against Scunthorpe last week we certainly saw squad
management from the backroom staff and can potentially expect the same again;
Albie Morgan would put in a good shift so may be rewarded with a second successive
start whilst we should expect another hour run out for Igor Vetokele as we look
to keep his fitness levels at the required level… Jake Forster-Caskey made the
extremely welcome return to first team duties on Monday afternoon, he replaced
Krystian Bielik at the last minute who had issues with his shoulder and could
(maybe should) be rested for an extra week just to be safe
Comments
Bauer | Bielik | Taylor | Williams are all slight injury concerns at the moment, I posted my Preview before seeing it and cant be bothered to update my Line Up
But something for others to think about when naming their teams
This Is Gillingham’s cup final so I think it will be tough .
I’m going 1-1
0-2 Charlton, JFC starts and plays 45-60 minutes hopefully in readiness for play offs to get him match fit.
Wouldn't mind resting Lyle and play Big Josh up top just for fun
Result doesn't matter , but it would be nice to keep the form going into the playoffs COYA
A. Rest players to keep them fit for the playoffs.
Or
B. Play his strongest side and hope to finish 4th.
Probably a bit of both.
2.1 Charlton and 4th could still happen.
Lots of former Charlton connections with Hanlon, Regan C-C and Steve Lovell and I think Barry Fuller was an Addick many years ago too - but I am hopeful we can get a morale boosting win and keep others on their toes
Got to go with a full strength team though...not taking the foot off the gas now
realistically we are only going to finish 5th at a push maybe 4th but will depend on other results.
Difficult.
Important in our overall season
A Derby.
Things this game is:
A 3-0 win.
A Taylor hatrick.
The last time we play Gillingham for a while.
Taylor, Bauer, Williams and Bielik should all stay at home. (Groin, knee, knee and shoulder)
Being 5th is set in stone, but play our strongest team who are 100% fit against Rochdale.
Not worth reaching 4th with Taylor watching Parker in the strikers role.
If we still had a realistic chance of the automatics, then I imagine the Gillingham fans and players would be more up for preventing it, but that's no longer a factor
1-1 Gillingham fans celebrate long into the night July after avoiding defeat against against the massive club down the road that fear them barely know who they are.
Maxwell
Marshall | Pearce | Sarr | Purrington
Williams | Cullen | Morgan
Reeves
Parker Fosu (Vetokele if he needs some time)
1) Bad record there (I've never seen us win)
2) Bad weather expected (wind & rain) with exposed open seating
3) ex-players in scoring form (Halon & Charles-Cook)
4) potentially no Taylor
With all that considered I'm going for a 3-0 defeat.
Yellow warning of wind
Areas affected: London & South East England | South West England | Wales
Starts: 21:00 BST on Fri 26 April
Ends: 15:00 BST on Sat 27 April
A spell of strong winds is expected across parts of south Wales, south and southwest England, bringing a risk of disruption to travel. - Some delays to road, rail, air and ferry transport are likely, with bus and train services affected - Delays for high-sided vehicles on exposed routes and bridges likely - Some short term loss of power and other services is possible due to fallen branches - It’s likely that some coastal routes, sea fronts and coastal communities could be affected by spray and/or large waves
https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/0/warnings/weather
on the other hand Gillingham are not yet perfectly safe from relegation and will not give us an easy ride .. one more point will do it for them .. let's hope that it is not against us (though I suspect it'll be a draw) and that they do not cut up toooo rough in the desire for League One safety
Gillingham 0 v CAFC 0
There is no chance of Marshall coming in from the wilderness and playing in a role he has never played previously. Right wing back sure, he has done that and can do a half decent job, but right back, no chance.
Just find it bizarre. We need momentum going into the play-offs, of course don’t take unnecessary risks, if some are carrying a knock that could get worse, be cautious and do the right thing but come on, drastic changes does nothing really positive for the team moving forward.
The temporary scaffold terrace will collapse and the the match will be abandoned.
Phillips
Dyksteele, Pearce, Sarr, Purrington.
Aribo Cullen Morgan
Reeves
Parker Vetokele
Plus just play Igor 45 minutes against the Gills.
Play our strongest team against Rochdale, unless Taylor, Bauer, Bielik or Williams still have a niggle.