Disappointing day today but let's keep it in perspective. 14 points from 8 games is more than most of us would have expected. Tough run of games coming up but in Bowyer we trust.
Seemed second best in every nearly department today and games like this are what I expected when we got promoted. Taylor May be missing but we should still be a lot better and I think it's probably a case of needing time to find out how we can utilise the new attacking players we have better.
Positives were I thought Lockyer played well despite missing two great chances and Aneke looked decent. Aneke should’ve started ahead of Leko despite what Bowyer thinks about him not being a striker.
Teams have figured out how to stop us playing, and without Taylor and with Hemed still getting up to speed, we lack an outlet ball and we run out of ideas really quickly.
Think Cullen needs to be played at the base of the diamond. He's good at maintaining possession, playing in tight spaces, and switching the play. On the right of the diamond he's too conservative and ends up playing a sort of second defensive midfield. That would also leave a space for Kayal or JFC, both of whom are technically gifted, good defensively, and can look after the ball. The problem is I don't know if either of them are fit.
Also think Aneke deserves a start with Hemed up front. He blows hot and cold but right now he looks far more consistent than Leko (who is more of a winger) and his pace and strength and touch can cause teams problems.
Lockyer was by far our best player and Bonne looked promising when he came on. Not sure Leko is the answer through a run of tough fixtures like this and he doesn't have a player like Lyle Taylor next to him.
Lockyer was by far our best player and Bonne looked promising when he came on.
I agree on Lockyer. Bonne had little flashes but it's hard to tell because the game was stretched when he came on.
As the lads said Lockyer handled Moore well. The problem was that our three best chances, arguably four best chances, all fell to Lockyer. He didn't put any of them in target. He is a CB but missing the target with the header is frustrating.
Disappointing day yet cant really have many complaints
Wigan like Birmingham arent better than us but arent worse than us either - We just couldnt cope with Dunkley's pressence at set pieces today so fair play to them for that
Both Kieffer Moore and Jamal Lowe were dangerous in League One but very ineffective today for Wigan and could be their problem this season
Taylor is always going to be a big miss but as I said a couple of times, it doesnt matter if he's playing or not, if you cant pass the ball between yourself or press properly (players would remain far too deep long after set pieces had been cleared) then it wont make any difference, the latter will just invite a lot more pressure back on to yourself
Would definitely like to see Bonne given more of an opportunity based on his cameo today, showed more than what Leko can do who needs to learn to pass so much more - Its great when he beats one or two players but its bloody pointless when you dont have the sense to pick out a Charlton shirt at the end of it!!... The end of the game though simply clarrified proceedings, how we didnt come back from Wigan with a goal is beyond me; David Marshall (no mug at this level) making an outstanding stop to ensure it wasnt our day!!
Perspective yes, its been a great start, but anyone watching the last two games must see the reality check of Championship football.
Both Birmingham's winner and Wigans first today were the sort of strikes we didnt encounter last season, equally under pressure, both Birmingham and Wigan have got bodies making last ditch challenges that we felt we had trademarked.
Onto Leeds next week, not a lot to take from today, anyway back in the Red Robin pub where they are showing Fylde v Eastleigh, great?!
Pretty well a solid comprehensive defeat. Whatever we were able to bring to the table Wigan brought more. On the fleeting occasions we upped our game as a team Wigan responded, and they also competed well as individuals against individuals. Not unlucky, we lost and there can be no argument. It might have been a different story if we had shown the effort at the start of the gams that we showed after going behind, we began in a lacklustre fashion, Pratley tried to show some leadership, mind you he should have been shown the red card after that first half challenge, then again so should the Wigan player who did the stooped headbutt on Williams minutes later. Yes Sarr had his shirt pulled, then again the Lockyer 'handball' was a tricky call, but we would be kidding ourselves if we think that it was only two set pieces that did for us. Yes they scored unchallenged from two corners, but were winning these Mulgrew set pieces because we had trouble stopping their attacks. I reckon it was our worst performance of the season, our first attempt on target was from Bonne after about 63 minutes, however we did get a few more in after that, but the game was lost by then anyway. Easy to say we missed significant players, which is true, but the remaining players needed something to get going around, and despite Lockyer (our best player) giving everything, it had the feel that players were expecting other players to unlock the doors. Great noisy support for the first hour or so, credit to them because it is a long journey home, our support was probably the best feature of the afternoon.
I'm trying to stay positive but the one thing that does worry me is. With Williams,Gallagher and Cullen in the side we really should be able to keep possession and pass the ball better than today.
The start of the season has shown that any teams can get any result in this league. You need a bit of quality and a bit of luck and we've shown more quality than most of us expected, the last two weeks excepted. Of course teams now know more about the newly-promoted sides and Bowyer may have to change the gameplan a little more often
The first thing I noticed is that Dillon had to give up playing the short ball very quickly. Wigan must have expected this and were putting our defenders under pressure from the start. Wigan managed to dominate the midfield and I was impressed with a few of their players. Not sure about their strikers though. Did Dillon have a save to make apart from the two shots straight at him?
It's annoying we had to to go back to the season before last, when we conceded so many goals from corners. Needs working on.
Bonne had a good cameo and I like Chuks, who's a real handful. Surprised Hemed was taken off so early, though; he'd had a decent second half, useful in defence as well. Leko could be such a good player if he added a brain to his game!
The start of the season has shown that any teams can get any result in this league. You need a bit of quality and a bit of luck and we've shown more quality than most of us expected, the last two weeks excepted. Of course teams now know more about the newly-promoted sides and Bowyer may have to change the gameplan a little more often
The first thing I noticed is that Dillon had to give up playing the short ball very quickly. Wigan must have expected this and were putting our defenders under pressure from the start. Wigan managed to dominate the midfield and I was impressed with a few of their players. Not sure about their strikers though. Did Dillon have a save to make apart from the two shots straight at him?
It's annoying we had to to go back to the season before last, when we conceded so many goals from corners. Needs working on.
Bonne had a good cameo and I like Chuks, who's a real handful. Surprised Hemed was taken off so early, though; he'd had a decent second half, useful in defence as well. Leko could be such a good player if he added a brain to his game!
Could say that the new rule is making it harder for Defenders / Goalkeepers - Now that a Goal kick can be passed to a team mate inside the box its meant that the opposition players can also be closer
Unless your the very best at playing out from the back then the added danger gets created now as you've less time / space to correct if you make an error
Watched on the stream. Easy to say we missed Taylor and it's all down to that, but we weren't good enough on the ball, especially in the first half. Too many poor decisions or moments of poor control of the ball. For everything Taylor brings he can't make decisions for other players. He can't move the ball from the back four to the other end, that's down to the rest of the team.
Our start wasn't proof we'd be promoted and these last two games aren't proof "we've been found out" or are a "one man team".
We'll find a way to cope without Taylor and we'll improve. Being Charlton we'll probably get a few unexpected results over the next 4/5 games.
Comments
14 points from 8 games is more than most of us would have expected.
Tough run of games coming up but in Bowyer we trust.
Seemed second best in every nearly department today and games like this are what I expected when we got promoted. Taylor May be missing but we should still be a lot better and I think it's probably a case of needing time to find out how we can utilise the new attacking players we have better.
Positives were I thought Lockyer played well despite missing two great chances and Aneke looked decent. Aneke should’ve started ahead of Leko despite what Bowyer thinks about him not being a striker.
Think Cullen needs to be played at the base of the diamond. He's good at maintaining possession, playing in tight spaces, and switching the play. On the right of the diamond he's too conservative and ends up playing a sort of second defensive midfield. That would also leave a space for Kayal or JFC, both of whom are technically gifted, good defensively, and can look after the ball. The problem is I don't know if either of them are fit.
Also think Aneke deserves a start with Hemed up front. He blows hot and cold but right now he looks far more consistent than Leko (who is more of a winger) and his pace and strength and touch can cause teams problems.
Who was it who said, "Don't let the highs get too high. Or the lows too low"......?
As the lads said Lockyer handled Moore well. The problem was that our three best chances, arguably four best chances, all fell to Lockyer. He didn't put any of them in target. He is a CB but missing the target with the header is frustrating.
Wigan like Birmingham arent better than us but arent worse than us either - We just couldnt cope with Dunkley's pressence at set pieces today so fair play to them for that
Both Kieffer Moore and Jamal Lowe were dangerous in League One but very ineffective today for Wigan and could be their problem this season
Taylor is always going to be a big miss but as I said a couple of times, it doesnt matter if he's playing or not, if you cant pass the ball between yourself or press properly (players would remain far too deep long after set pieces had been cleared) then it wont make any difference, the latter will just invite a lot more pressure back on to yourself
Would definitely like to see Bonne given more of an opportunity based on his cameo today, showed more than what Leko can do who needs to learn to pass so much more - Its great when he beats one or two players but its bloody pointless when you dont have the sense to pick out a Charlton shirt at the end of it!!... The end of the game though simply clarrified proceedings, how we didnt come back from Wigan with a goal is beyond me; David Marshall (no mug at this level) making an outstanding stop to ensure it wasnt our day!!
People talking about promotion and the like. Ridiculous.
Both Birmingham's winner and Wigans first today were the sort of strikes we didnt encounter last season, equally under pressure, both Birmingham and Wigan have got bodies making last ditch challenges that we felt we had trademarked.
Onto Leeds next week, not a lot to take from today, anyway back in the Red Robin pub where they are showing Fylde v Eastleigh, great?!
Pretty well a solid comprehensive defeat. Whatever we were able to bring to the table Wigan brought more. On the fleeting occasions we upped our game as a team Wigan responded, and they also competed well as individuals against individuals. Not unlucky, we lost and there can be no argument.
It might have been a different story if we had shown the effort at the start of the gams that we showed after going behind, we began in a lacklustre fashion, Pratley tried to show some leadership, mind you he should have been shown the red card after that first half challenge, then again so should the Wigan player who did the stooped headbutt on Williams minutes later. Yes Sarr had his shirt pulled, then again the Lockyer 'handball' was a tricky call, but we would be kidding ourselves if we think that it was only two set pieces that did for us. Yes they scored unchallenged from two corners, but were winning these Mulgrew set pieces because we had trouble stopping their attacks.
I reckon it was our worst performance of the season, our first attempt on target was from Bonne after about 63 minutes, however we did get a few more in after that, but the game was lost by then anyway.
Easy to say we missed significant players, which is true, but the remaining players needed something to get going around, and despite Lockyer (our best player) giving everything, it had the feel that players were expecting other players to unlock the doors.
Great noisy support for the first hour or so, credit to them because it is a long journey home, our support was probably the best feature of the afternoon.
With Williams,Gallagher and Cullen in the side we really should be able to keep possession and pass the ball better than today.
Unless your the very best at playing out from the back then the added danger gets created now as you've less time / space to correct if you make an error
Our start wasn't proof we'd be promoted and these last two games aren't proof "we've been found out" or are a "one man team".
We'll find a way to cope without Taylor and we'll improve. Being Charlton we'll probably get a few unexpected results over the next 4/5 games.