I think we all, team and management included, learnt something this afternoon - how to play dirty and win.
Before the game LB said that they had to be patient and play attacking quick short pass football - they didn’t, our defence kept giving the ball away or passing to each other, our midfield was overrun and our forward play predictable.
This game came at the wrong time in terms of keeping our momentum. It had a draw all over it, but they took their one of 2 chances and that was the difference. We have nothing to worry about if Birmingham are typical of a mid table team, which is exactly what they are. The changes we had in the starting line up, and the sub (Kayal) caused a problem for us, no blame, but we didn't look great. It will take time to bed these 'better' players in, I'm talking about the ex Brighton boys, who weren't particularly bad, but they need more game time. Lyle is out for a month, which is a big loss in terms of the movement off the ball, as much as his scoring (penalties), and Jonny will come back in the starting line up. We shouldn't panic, in my opinion we will be ok. The amount of their fans being removed showed them up, but they were loud, (I sit in the west stand nearest their end). The ref was pretty bad in the second half, but what do you expect, seen it too many times.
We seem to play better as underdogs. Interesting that today was the first game this season where we were favourites to win. Today's result didn't surprise me. I actually thought it would be a draw.
I think today was our 'Welcome to the Championship' game in many ways - moreso than the Brentford game, where they outplayed us but it was all about keeping them out for an hour. Today was about trying to make something happen and countering the dark arts of a more experienced side at this level - and we didn't have the guile to do it. But they say sometimes you learn more in defeat than victory, so let's hope this is one of those occasions.
I thought Birmingham did a good job on us, indeed the sort of away performance we do on other teams, scoring on the break and defending for their lives, with great blocks. A slightly disappointing performance, we did enough for the draw but football is like that, as Brentford will know from their visit a few weeks ago!
I thought Solly had a good game today, one of his best attacking performances for a while, and an excellent left foot shot. Really impressed with Gallagher, he's massively talented but also gave 100% effort with his defensive play. Field was a bit anonymous, did nothing with the ball and not providing the physicality that Pratley would have provided. Hemed and Leko worked hard without posing much goal threat, while Kayal and Chuks were also ineffective.
1-0 down 80 minutes gone 1 sub remaining, striker sat on the bench and you bring a midfielder on, what is the point in having Bonne on the bench if he isnt coming on when we are losing with 10 ninutes to go and chasing a goal.
If Bowyer doesnt think he is good enough yet even for that 10 minutes then why not loan him, i am sure Orient would have taken him back on loan and then he would have had league football experience
Nothing was being created for the two Strikers on the pitch - No point bringing on another Striker if you cant provide a service for those already playing
Kayal's balls into the box were off the mark today which makes it look a bad choice in the aftermath but I still believe it was the right call
The obvious “missing Taylor’s movement” comment, he always brings so much to the team with and without the ball.
I thought midfield was very compressed, highly competitive, both teams pressing in the first half. Brum kept on pressing that combined with time wasting, made the second half less attractive to watch.
Our front three simply did not link to the midfield, Frodo Baggins was never at the races, Hemed got nothing out of their CBs, the result was we did not create opportunity until JW made an appearance.
I don’t think we were much worse than Brum and we deserved a draw, still second, and hopefully Taylor is not hurt badly.
The ref was on drugs made some really annoying decisions. I agree the atmosphere in the North Upper was subdued, the missing Taylor effect?
Disappointing result but was on the cards when Williams & Aneke are on the bench & Oztumer & Hemed start.. Oztumer didnt get into the game & Williams was miles better when he came on. Hemed didnt look that good although we played too many balls to him head or chest high. I thought Aneke actually looked pretty good when he came on - and least he was prepared to run at them & almost scored at the end.
I think the International break was decisive not for stopping our flow but because players like Wiliams, Cullen etc all traveled & played earlier this week & were not 100% on their game. Best players for me were Gallagher & Lockyer.
Anyway......all the top sides lose once in a while, just look Man City !!
Lyle Taylor has gone up even higher in my estimation today. Hemed struggled to get involved in the game, and the way Taylor’s personality can sometimes take the match by the scruff of the neck was much missed.
I thought at times we looked very good in the second half and were unlucky not to score, but Birmingham, who weren’t the most likeable team we’ve come up against, made life difficult and defended well, but didn’t have the nouse to add to their total despite getting opportunities on the break.
Bit disappointed with our passing game today, and another home game goes by without our pass meister Naby Sarr setting things up from the back. I think he needs another chance, at home at least, if only to annoy Henners.
Positives were Oztumer, who needs a couple more games, and Gallagher who was everywhere. What an engine he has.
Glad Swansea lost and some other results seemed to go our way. Still second in the league. Result!
When Charlton finally started to build momentum it was snuffed out by the Brums gamesmanship - ably abetted by the ref's lack of control and fitness? His walk towards the Brum bench to issue yellow cards and then to ours was excruciating. I mean, come on ref the game ain't about you, there's a paying public out there who just wanna be entertained.
Thought it was a disgrace how lo g the referee took to walk over to their dugout. It was painful to watch. All about him!!!
Fear this could be a taste of things to come result-wise if (when?) Taylor leaves in January. Total lack of penetration up front today without our injured main man. Maybe a little harsh on Hemed as he needs more game time but surprised Aneke went down clutching his ankle after being fouled because his legs seemed to be made of lead from the moment he came on. Positive points were performances of Lockyer, Gallagher and Williams. Fingers crossed that Taylor is not out too long.
Think pretty much everyone's summed it up. Seen a couple of comments about the atmosphere. Wasn't awful today but thought the J block was almost silent after the first 10 mins. H block definitely seems to start a lot more chants nowadays. Atmosphere's been class since the start of last season as we kept playing well and winning but it can become pretty flat pretty quickly when its not going well (like today)
Think pretty much everyone's summed it up. Seen a couple of comments about the atmosphere. Wasn't awful today but thought the J block was almost silent after the first 10 mins. H block definitely seems to start a lot more chants nowadays. Atmosphere's been class since the start of last season as we kept playing well and winning but it can become pretty flat pretty quickly when its not going well (like today)
'The Adams family', 'who the fucking hell are you ' to a team with 3000 supporters, ' you're just a shit Aston Villa ' to a team beating us. Are not going to get the Covered end rocking.
I appreciate it was Hemed’s first start, and so much of our game revolves around Taylor (we struggled without him in a much worse league last season), but it was Hemed’s work rate that annoyed me today. You can’t judge a player on one game, but we got proper shifts from Lockyer, Gallagher and Cullen today. I can forgive poor performances, but to me it looked like he wasn’t trying as hard as he could have today. It’s all I ask. Put a shift in
Did anybody see that Birmingham fan run on the pitch to get rid of that flare? He tried to go back to the stands after and got kicked out lol
I thought it was out of order , he was an oldish fella and was doing a bit of housekeeping because whoever was supposed to get smoke bombs off the pitch hadn’t arrived . He then gets turfed out but fair play again he seemed to take that well rather than kick off .
We have had a glimpse of life in 2020 without Taylor once he leaves in January and there may well be more of the same before then too given the well known ability of Charlton players to pick up an injury and disappear for the duration.
Those that did play today gave their all against a Birmingham side who knew their limitations and played to them. Our lads were willing as ever but Birmingham had that little bit of nous, cheating, professionalism at the vital times which makes the difference when fighting to hold onto a slender lead.
We lost concentration shortly after the start of the second half when Moses donned a blue shirt and parted our red ones enabling Bellingham to give Dillon Phillips in the Charlton goal no chance.
Our boys huffed and puffed in the hot sun but we only really had 2 shots both of which Lee Camp saved well to be fair.
Hopefully we will respond to this disappointment. 7 games, 1 defeat 14 points is still a bloody good start!
I can't really criticise individuals today other than a general loss of concentration all round for Birmingham's goal. Sadly Hemed does not have Taylor's mobility and ability to stretch opposition defences and defenders. That's why he has come to us and Taylor will be moving onto better things.
I can't help feeling gutted after today but should really be philosophical.
We didn't play well at all but I thought we did enough, if not to win, to draw. Birmingham had one moment of magic and the midfield didn't do enough to stop the player. The ref was terrible. Their number 26 should have been sent off and he didn't add any time for booking the managers and the time he stopped. You realise how big a player Lyle is. He does the job of two players. He is absolutely everywhere and no one else we have comes close. Hemed was rusty and should have come off. I think Johnny and Chuks came on too late. Too lose like that was awful. Birmingham support was great but made me angry for some reason. Was fuming at the end.
Think pretty much everyone's summed it up. Seen a couple of comments about the atmosphere. Wasn't awful today but thought the J block was almost silent after the first 10 mins. H block definitely seems to start a lot more chants nowadays. Atmosphere's been class since the start of last season as we kept playing well and winning but it can become pretty flat pretty quickly when its not going well (like today)
'The Adams family', 'who the fucking hell are you ' to a team with 3000 supporters, ' you're just a shit Aston Villa ' to a team beating us. Are not going to get the Covered end rocking.
if that's all you heard you must be deaf as well as bald
We have had a glimpse of life in 2020 without Taylor once he leaves in January and there may well be more of the same before then too given the well known ability of Charlton players to pick up an injury and disappear for the duration.
Those that did play today gave their all against a Birmingham side who knew their limitations and played to them. Our lads were willing as ever but Birmingham had that little bit of nous, cheating, professionalism at the vital times which makes the difference when fighting to hold onto a slender lead.
We lost concentration shortly after the start of the second half when Moses donned a blue shirt and parted our red ones enabling Bellingham to give Dillon Phillips in the Charlton goal no chance.
Our boys huffed and puffed in the hot sun but we only really had 2 shots both of which Lee Camp saved well to be fair.
Hopefully we will respond to this disappointment. 7 games, 1 defeat 14 points is still a bloody good start!
I can't really criticise individuals today other than a general loss of concentration all round for Birmingham's goal. Sadly Hemed does not have Taylor's mobility and ability to stretch opposition defences and defenders. That's why he has come to us and Taylor will be moving onto better things.
I can't help feeling gutted after today but should really be philosophical.
This is pretty much how I saw the game, Len & echo your "gutted" feeling although as a so called adult, I should be able to deal with the first loss of the season far better.
What worries me most is whether we have the players to compensate for Lyle's absence and adapt accordingly. This afternoon, it was clear to me that this wasn't happening & I thought overall we lacked that spark we've had thus far this season.
It goes without saying that in Bow we trust & I'm certain he will have Plan B up & running by the time we travel to Wigan. And of course, our coveted striker was unlikely to play every match between August & January for one reason or another, which is why our management team worked so hard to bring in suitable ( and affordable) players to strengthen the squad as a whole.
I should take into consideration the fact that the international break disrupted our momentum but I am reminded that there is another in October and a 3rd in November .....Let's hope all our capped players return fit & raring to go again each time. Maybe it was too much to expect that those returning today would be able to hit the ground running although they clearly did their best against a Blues' team that gave us little space & time to regroup, aided & abetted at times by the fanny in black - a description I'll find hard to forget !
So, as Len rightly said, we pick ourselves up & go again - players & supporters alike. It's what we do.
And with another week's training under their belts, wounds licked & Plan B honed as close to perfection as possible, we travel north once more to give 100% support to our lads whatever the outcome.
Comments
Their supporters are among the scummiest that you will ever encounter though.
Before the game LB said that they had to be patient and play attacking quick short pass football - they didn’t, our defence kept giving the ball away or passing to each other, our midfield was overrun and our forward play predictable.
LB needs a rethink before Wigan
I thought Solly had a good game today, one of his best attacking performances for a while, and an excellent left foot shot. Really impressed with Gallagher, he's massively talented but also gave 100% effort with his defensive play. Field was a bit anonymous, did nothing with the ball and not providing the physicality that Pratley would have provided. Hemed and Leko worked hard without posing much goal threat, while Kayal and Chuks were also ineffective.
Kayal's balls into the box were off the mark today which makes it look a bad choice in the aftermath but I still believe it was the right call
I thought midfield was very compressed, highly competitive, both teams pressing in the first half. Brum kept on pressing that combined with time wasting, made the second half less attractive to watch.
Our front three simply did not link to the midfield, Frodo Baggins was never at the races, Hemed got nothing out of their CBs, the result was we did not create opportunity until JW made an appearance.
I don’t think we were much worse than Brum and we deserved a draw, still second, and hopefully Taylor is not hurt badly.
The ref was on drugs made some really annoying decisions. I agree the atmosphere in the North Upper was subdued, the missing Taylor effect?
I think the International break was decisive not for stopping our flow but because players like Wiliams, Cullen etc all traveled & played earlier this week & were not 100% on their game. Best players for me were Gallagher & Lockyer.
Anyway......all the top sides lose once in a while, just look Man City !!
I thought at times we looked very good in the second half and were unlucky not to score, but Birmingham, who weren’t the most likeable team we’ve come up against, made life difficult and defended well, but didn’t have the nouse to add to their total despite getting opportunities on the break.
Bit disappointed with our passing game today, and another home game goes by without our pass meister Naby Sarr setting things up from the back. I think he needs another chance, at home at least, if only to annoy Henners.
Positives were Oztumer, who needs a couple more games, and Gallagher who was everywhere. What an engine he has.
Glad Swansea lost and some other results seemed to go our way. Still second in the league. Result!
The referee was terrible.
Thought it was a disgrace how lo g the referee took to walk over to their dugout. It was painful to watch. All about him!!!
Total lack of penetration up front today without our injured main man. Maybe a little harsh on Hemed as he needs more game time but surprised Aneke went down clutching his ankle after being fouled because his legs seemed to be made of lead from the moment he came on.
Positive points were performances of Lockyer, Gallagher and Williams.
Fingers crossed that Taylor is not out too long.
He then gets turfed out but fair play again he seemed to take that well rather than kick off .
Well today was a reality check!
We have had a glimpse of life in 2020 without Taylor once he leaves in January and there may well be more of the same before then too given the well known ability of Charlton players to pick up an injury and disappear for the duration.
Those that did play today gave their all against a Birmingham side who knew their limitations and played to them. Our lads were willing as ever but Birmingham had that little bit of nous, cheating, professionalism at the vital times which makes the difference when fighting to hold onto a slender lead.
We lost concentration shortly after the start of the second half when Moses donned a blue shirt and parted our red ones enabling Bellingham to give Dillon Phillips in the Charlton goal no chance.
Our boys huffed and puffed in the hot sun but we only really had 2 shots both of which Lee Camp saved well to be fair.
Hopefully we will respond to this disappointment. 7 games, 1 defeat 14 points is still a bloody good start!
I can't really criticise individuals today other than a general loss of concentration all round for Birmingham's goal. Sadly Hemed does not have Taylor's mobility and ability to stretch opposition defences and defenders. That's why he has come to us and Taylor will be moving onto better things.
I can't help feeling gutted after today but should really be philosophical.
The one good thing was having @Len\'s_little_girl with me today.
COYR pick yourselves up and go again.
The ref was terrible. Their number 26 should have been sent off and he didn't add any time for booking the managers and the time he stopped.
You realise how big a player Lyle is. He does the job of two players. He is absolutely everywhere and no one else we have comes close. Hemed was rusty and should have come off. I think Johnny and Chuks came on too late. Too lose like that was awful.
Birmingham support was great but made me angry for some reason. Was fuming at the end.
4th bottom and above that filth will be a brilliant season .
Kayals crossing , wow , surely no matter how fit he is or isn’t that can’t be right .
didn’t think the atmosphere was too bad , good to see a packed away end .
Size of the dog shit on woolwich road between the antigallican and ransom walk ffs dirty filth pick it up
What worries me most is whether we have the players to compensate for Lyle's absence and adapt accordingly. This afternoon, it was clear to me that this wasn't happening & I thought overall we lacked that spark we've had thus far this season.
It goes without saying that in Bow we trust & I'm certain he will have Plan B up & running by the time we travel to Wigan. And of course, our coveted striker was unlikely to play every match between August & January for one reason or another, which is why our management team worked so hard to bring in suitable ( and affordable) players to strengthen the squad as a whole.
I should take into consideration the fact that the international break disrupted our momentum but I am reminded that there is another in October and a 3rd in November .....Let's hope all our capped players return fit & raring to go again each time. Maybe it was too much to expect that those returning today would be able to hit the ground running although they clearly did their best against a Blues' team that gave us little space & time to regroup, aided & abetted at times by the fanny in black - a description I'll find hard to forget !
So, as Len rightly said, we pick ourselves up & go again - players & supporters alike. It's what we do.
And with another week's training under their belts, wounds licked & Plan B honed as close to perfection as possible, we travel north once more to give 100% support to our lads whatever the outcome.
It's that other "thing" we do.