At the start of the season we were conceding lots of shots, but managing to save or block them. Now the opponents are starting to score them more frequently
The Expected Goals table does show this, indeed on that basis we should have conceded the most goals of any team in the division, which suggests a lack of protection for the defence is as much of an issue as the defending itself
The more I see of EG the more I think what a crock of shit it is.
Please explain to me what the fuck it matters...?? The above table tells me that Bristol City SHOULD be 2nd bottom.....but they aren't. They are in the top 6. Does that mean they are crap or excellent..?? EG has NO bearing on what happens in a match. Page scored a screamer 2 years ago & Mo Salah can miss from 5 yards. Should Liverpool have Page & us have Salah. If not, then EG doesnt amount to a hill of beans. What matters is what happens over 90 mins. No more, no less.
It doesn't matter BUT it gives additional insight as to whether a team is playing well or not and at the moment our current form matches the EG table pretty well.
We're conceding too many chances, now we're being punished for it whereas earlier in the season we were getting away with it more.
Well those who are effectively arguing the team "quit", were a disgrace or are ready to dump half the players out the door in January need to look at themselves. Some loyalty there guys.
They had a bad day at the office. It happens. It was a physically and mentally tired and lethargic performance. Due to suspensions, injuries and illness there were five more player changes and a positional change. It is precisely when you focus on the basics. The squad has been running flat out for nearly 6 weeks trying to cope with the endlesss and ever expanding injury list.
It has consequences.
Did you not see the exceptional effort and competitiveness against Sheff Wed a week earlier? Now according to this thread half of these players are mercenary bums.
When are some people EVER going to realise if you cut corners in your preparation it will come back to bite you.
This clubhouse was reconstructed for the umpteenth time on foundations of sand. 16 new signings were added plus 4 youngsters graduating out of the U23 and U18 squad.
Just 12 of the current squad were active partipants in the squad last season.
3 of yesterday's squad were playing in non league just weeks ago, another stepped up out of the juniors for the first time last week and another just walked in off the street.
Really great comments guys!
With the momentum you take forward from promotion and the adrenaline that comes with the next challenge and new players you gain an edge.
No one can help if some get carried away with the early success.
No one can help if some now sway wildly in the other direction.
The Championship is among the most intensive and competitive leagues on the planet. You do not get to carry any passengers at any time.
In the Championship November, December and January are when the intensity ramps up and the shit hits the fan.
Injuries mount up, the hard graft and competitive intensity takes its toll, bright young things start to fade.
Just 4 of the starting line up at Wembley started today.
The number of injuries have been exceptional.
13 Senior players were unavailable yesterday with a fourteenth only able to start on the bench.
We lost 1-0 to a very scruffy goal involving two deflections. We could get nothing going. Such is football.
We know the background to all of this. Just because it has been our norm for years under Duchatelet does not mean it is normal. It is NOT NORMAL
Once again we had no pre-season. How many senior players came in the last 2 weeks of the window? You never ever get that time back. Two or three of them have barely kicked a ball with 5 or 6 more struggling.
13 of the players who have appeared in senior match squads have never appeared in the Championship before
15 of the players who have appeared in senior match squads had no senior pre-season.
Just 4 players come with any Championship credentials. Amos is on the bench and Williams is back in the treatment room while we signed Matthews and Ledley off the street.
We are/ were operating with the lowest budget in the Championship... by some margin.
The club under Bowyer has secured 36 players on professional contracts - 23 on permanent or short term contracts - 13 on loan. We have paid just 2 fees for Bonne and Purring ton. In an industry spending millions we have spent £300k in fees.
Is the progress achieved under Bowyer over past 18 months to this point at risk? Yes - he and his management colleagues and coaches have delivered way, way beyond their resources. He and the players are worthy of our respect, our patience and support as they try to restore some equilibrium.
I accept people have paid good money and thus you can have your say but people are allowed a bad day at the office. Some of the whingeing diatribe on here says significantly more about the contributors than the players.
These guys have consistently put in a shift this season in the face of exceptional challenges. Supporters have played an important in such progress. Surely the efforts of the players and management over the past 18 months deserve better than this.
There is a desperate need for stability and a renewal on and off the pitch. Then we can go again.
Ultimately there is a new business to be built here but it will take time.
It's a long trip to Middlesbrough and people who were at the match have every right to express their feelings on it. Bowyer himself has admitted it was not good enough.
WBA are presently mullering Swansea, they are 5-1 in front after 70 mins .. let's not forget that yes, Swansea beat us, BUT we got a point at the Hawthorns .. LONG way to go this season
Lord Grapevine, as always, spelling out succinctly & honestly how it is ....
And WHY it is.
It's said that fortune favours the brave & Bow demonstrated how true is that adage in the first quarter of this season, with bold decisions made time after time both on & off the pitch. How we loved what we saw & heard and, as is human nature, how we dared to dream!
Our results and the way they were achieved were recognised by many & our fellow clubs in the Championship found a new respect for " Little old Charlton ". That respect was indeed well deserved. The widest smiles seen for many a moon on the faces of the Faithful as they exited The Valley brought a lump to my throat (and was NOT due to the "lucky" humbugs!)
But, as our esteemed fellow Lifer pointed out, the significant lack of funds available to our gaffer which initially seemed merely a statistic, began to play its part as the squad was ravaged by injuries week after week until the bare bones remained. Of course, we put our faith in Bow to ride out this most damaging of storms but the cupboard was all but empty and remains thus today.
And the spectre of the Belgian based Scrooge continues to haunt us in the final days of his stewardship.
A couple of weeks ago, I reminded Lifers that the buck stops across the Channel , and that, lest we forget, the current situation should ultimately be laid at Duchatelet's door. Just re read Grapevine's interpretation of events if you need to ...
Our faith in Bow & his team must not waver in these final days of the Duchatelet Empire with 2 home games upcoming. And we must shout our support to the rafters leaving all concerned in no doubt, especially next Friday with Sky in attendance.
The rubber stamping of the long awaited takeover should give us all a huge boost, and the January window will hopefully be flung open with alacrity.Together with the Treatment room starting to empty, we can begin to look upwards for the first time in many, worrying weeks.
PLEASE keep the faith & resolve to playing your part in making 2020 the start of a new, successful era for the Addicks.
Grapevine 49 is spot on with his post. Bowyer, Gallen the backroom team and the squad have preformed miracles to get us to where we are now. Results have been bad for the last 8 games but I dont expect results to turn around overnight just because we have new owners. We need to hang on in there and we need to stay patient otherwise our new owners wont be. They say managers are only ever 6 bad results away from the sack. We all expected a relegation battle at the start of the season and we are now in one. A true test of character is not how you behave when things go right, but when they don't. We need to show character now by getting behind all the players in the team. COYR
I bet almost everyone of yesterdays 499 will be 'getting behind the boys' on Tuesday not 'turning on them', but by a long chalk, regardless of injuries and in-experience, yesterday fell way short of an acceptable performance, and one against an equally woefull Middlesbrough side.
It may well have been a bad day at the office, but one that in Bowyers own words was not good enough. From what I witnessed, none of them 'left their all on the pitch' as we had seen after the Sheff Wed game a week earlier.
I felt the team were playing like strangers - somewhat understandable under the circumstances. We missed Blockyer (as Lyle called him) and Gallagher was trying to do too much. So many times Doughty was in a great position and he was bypassed.
It's a long trip to Middlesbrough and people who were at the match have every right to express their feelings on it. Bowyer himself has admitted it was not good enough.
We only lost because Boro scored a goal and we didn’t. If Boro didn’t score that goal in the first minute it would have been 0-0. That wouldn’t have been a bad result considering out poor record in smoggyland and most of our team are injured. Big miss is Cullen without doubt.
If only football was that simple that you can blame the defence for every goal you concede. Maybe 70 years ago this could be the case, but in the modern game you defend and attack as a team. The midfield was too weak on Saturday which impacted on both attack and defence. What cost us that first goal was not skill but lack of desire to win a 50/50 ball two times.
Good point about defence and attack, but if your CH is so pedestrian that he doesn't push out when we have the ball, it means a growing gap between midfield and defence, longer, riskier passes, and instant pressure if we lose the ball. And creates similar problems between MF and attack. In possession we need to advance up the pitch as a unit, keeping pass options down to 10 yards, not resemble a piece of elastic.
The problem is at this current stage is that Roland still owns us.
Bowyer bringing in a geezer who has not kicked a ball in 18 months is baffling. Surely there are other players more suitable.
I was VERY surprised that Ledley started yesterday, I had assumed he'd be on the bench and come on for the last 20 to give some experience.
But then I'm still slightly puzzled by the reluctance that Bowyer has to play Morgan.
I do feel that Bowyer has favourites & those that dont suit his plans will be sidelined. It seems that Morgan is this seasons....and Fosu last season's.
However.......I echo all that @Grapevine49 said. The person to blame for the past 3 months is RD. Getting promoted to one of the toughest leagues in the world & then loosing 2 of your best players in Bauer & Aribo would usually mean you spend to replace them. We spent diddly squat when teams all around us were spending millions. I said at the start of the season that I'd be happy with 4th bottom....and I'm still confident we can achieve that.
If your players aren't good enough you're going to struggle however hard they work. We were flattered by some of our early season results and now that injuries have kicked in we can see the problems.
We have a difficult run of fixtures in Jan so we desperately need to get going this month. Results are more important than style so LB and JJ need to work out how to grind out some results with our limited resources.
I was pretty shocked to see Ledley starting yesterday and it really shows where our midfield is at. Interested to see who starts Tues eve.
Our main aim is to stay up this season and things have to pick up at some stage.
I'll blame RD for everything I can but it was not his fault that the body language and communication between "team mates" was so poor yesterday.
Doughty and Gallagher got in each other's way, as did Taylor and Bonne. Pearce and Oshilaja left gaping holes between themselves. It's understandable in that these partnerships are embryonic. But when it happened, there were too many casual gestures and turning away from each other instead of a team spirit of "we're all in this together".
It was frustrating but above all worrying. Up till 3pm yesterday, the thought of relegation had barely crossed my mind. By the final whistle I felt like it was blocking my exit from the stand. The team knew - just about none of them acknowledged the fans and barely anyone clapped them off. I guess you had to be there.
In Bowyer we trust - he has one helluva job to do this week as we desperately need to get out of this rut.
I'll blame RD for everything I can but it was not his fault that the body language and communication between "team mates" was so poor yesterday.
Doughty and Gallagher got in each other's way, as did Taylor and Bonne. Pearce and Oshilaja left gaping holes between themselves. It's understandable in that these partnerships are embryonic. But when it happened, there were too many casual gestures and turning away from each other instead of a team spirit of "we're all in this together".
It was frustrating but above all worrying. Up till 3pm yesterday, the thought of relegation had barely crossed my mind. By the final whistle I felt like it was blocking my exit from the stand. The team knew - just about none of them acknowledged the fans and barely anyone clapped them off. I guess you had to be there.
In Bowyer we trust - he has one helluva job to do this week as we desperately need to get out of this rut.
Wow! That's a worrying read WA. Hitherto Bowyer has always compensated for any individual shortcomings with a fantastic team work ethic. Hopefully just a blip/bad day at the office as some have suggested.
On a positive note Leko improved in the second half when he played the number 10 role. Hopefully means we can get Leko Bonne and Taylor all in the same team
On a positive note Leko improved in the second half when he played the number 10 role. Hopefully means we can get Leko Bonne and Taylor all in the same team
Maybe at some point but for me, despite only conceding one on Saturday, and that was mainly down to Boro's dreadful shooting, it's the defence that needs sorting first. A clean sheet is desperately needed, as is some composure at the back; every defender was guilt of panicking on Saturday, especially Pearce who seems to have gone down a notch in the past few weeks, resorting to needless fouls and shirt-pulling and Purrington who looks a shadow of that seven out of ten player we saw last season and the beginning of this one. JFC was performing admirably at left wing back until his injury. I don't think I've seen any update on his progression BTW.
It also hasn't helped that Pratley is being forced to play elsewhere; he's at his best protecting the defence but springing the occasional surprise with a forward burst and the odd goal. Olishaja doesn't have the same presence or experience in that role and although he's done OK it's just not the same.
I'll blame RD for everything I can but it was not his fault that the body language and communication between "team mates" was so poor yesterday.
Doughty and Gallagher got in each other's way, as did Taylor and Bonne. Pearce and Oshilaja left gaping holes between themselves. It's understandable in that these partnerships are embryonic. But when it happened, there were too many casual gestures and turning away from each other instead of a team spirit of "we're all in this together".
It was frustrating but above all worrying. Up till 3pm yesterday, the thought of relegation had barely crossed my mind. By the final whistle I felt like it was blocking my exit from the stand. The team knew - just about none of them acknowledged the fans and barely anyone clapped them off. I guess you had to be there.
In Bowyer we trust - he has one helluva job to do this week as we desperately need to get out of this rut.
So much for the unity between the fans and players.
Doughty came in and gave us a glimpse he could be more than decent. He got that glimpse himself. He now needs a spell in the reserves. We know Morgan can be a star, he needs a good loan. Ledley hasn't played in a year. We have been missing an attacking talisman. Pratley does a job, but he needs other players around him doing their jobs to be effective, he isn't our go to midfielder. Not their fault but we are now running on empty. We need players returning and to back that up with a few decent additions in January and we'll be fine.
Comments
We're conceding too many chances, now we're being punished for it whereas earlier in the season we were getting away with it more.
Well those who are effectively arguing the team "quit", were a disgrace or are ready to dump half the players out the door in January need to look at themselves. Some loyalty there guys.
They had a bad day at the office. It happens. It was a physically and mentally tired and lethargic performance. Due to suspensions, injuries and illness there were five more player changes and a positional change. It is precisely when you focus on the basics. The squad has been running flat out for nearly 6 weeks trying to cope with the endlesss and ever expanding injury list.
It has consequences.
Did you not see the exceptional effort and competitiveness against Sheff Wed a week earlier? Now according to this thread half of these players are mercenary bums.
When are some people EVER going to realise if you cut corners in your preparation it will come back to bite you.
This clubhouse was reconstructed for the umpteenth time on foundations of sand. 16 new signings were added plus 4 youngsters graduating out of the U23 and U18 squad.
Just 12 of the current squad were active partipants in the squad last season.
3 of yesterday's squad were playing in non league just weeks ago, another stepped up out of the juniors for the first time last week and another just walked in off the street.
Really great comments guys!
With the momentum you take forward from promotion and the adrenaline that comes with the next challenge and new players you gain an edge.
No one can help if some get carried away with the early success.
No one can help if some now sway wildly in the other direction.
The Championship is among the most intensive and competitive leagues on the planet. You do not get to carry any passengers at any time.
In the Championship November, December and January are when the intensity ramps up and the shit hits the fan.
Injuries mount up, the hard graft and competitive intensity takes its toll, bright young things start to fade.
Just 4 of the starting line up at Wembley started today.
The number of injuries have been exceptional.
13 Senior players were unavailable yesterday with a fourteenth only able to start on the bench.
We lost 1-0 to a very scruffy goal involving two deflections. We could get nothing going. Such is football.
We know the background to all of this. Just because it has been our norm for years under Duchatelet does not mean it is normal. It is NOT NORMAL
Once again we had no pre-season. How many senior players came in the last 2 weeks of the window? You never ever get that time back. Two or three of them have barely kicked a ball with 5 or 6 more struggling.
13 of the players who have appeared in senior match squads have never appeared in the Championship before
15 of the players who have appeared in senior match squads had no senior pre-season.
Just 4 players come with any Championship credentials. Amos is on the bench and Williams is back in the treatment room while we signed Matthews and Ledley off the street.
We are/ were operating with the lowest budget in the Championship... by some margin.
The club under Bowyer has secured 36 players on professional contracts - 23 on permanent or short term contracts - 13 on loan. We have paid just 2 fees for Bonne and Purring ton. In an industry spending millions we have spent £300k in fees.
Is the progress achieved under Bowyer over past 18 months to this point at risk? Yes - he and his management colleagues and coaches have delivered way, way beyond their resources. He and the players are worthy of our respect, our patience and support as they try to restore some equilibrium.
I accept people have paid good money and thus you can have your say but people are allowed a bad day at the office. Some of the whingeing diatribe on here says significantly more about the contributors than the players.
These guys have consistently put in a shift this season in the face of exceptional challenges. Supporters have played an important in such progress. Surely the efforts of the players and management over the past 18 months deserve better than this.
There is a desperate need for stability and a renewal on and off the pitch. Then we can go again.
Ultimately there is a new business to be built here but it will take time.
I was surprised he started though, I thought he’d come off the bench.
http://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1011648566?-11197:833
And WHY it is.
It's said that fortune favours the brave & Bow demonstrated how true is that adage in the first quarter of this season, with bold decisions made time after time both on & off the pitch. How we loved what we saw & heard and, as is human nature, how we dared to dream!
Our results and the way they were achieved were recognised by many & our fellow clubs in the Championship found a new respect for " Little old Charlton ". That respect was indeed well deserved. The widest smiles seen for many a moon on the faces of the Faithful as they exited The Valley brought a lump to my throat (and was NOT due to the "lucky" humbugs!)
But, as our esteemed fellow Lifer pointed out, the significant lack of funds available to our gaffer which initially seemed merely a statistic, began to play its part as the squad was ravaged by injuries week after week until the bare bones remained. Of course, we put our faith in Bow to ride out this most damaging of storms but the cupboard was all but empty and remains thus today.
And the spectre of the Belgian based Scrooge continues to haunt us in the final days of his stewardship.
A couple of weeks ago, I reminded Lifers that the buck stops across the Channel , and that, lest we forget, the current situation should ultimately be laid at Duchatelet's door. Just re read Grapevine's interpretation of events if you need to ...
Our faith in Bow & his team must not waver in these final days of the Duchatelet Empire with 2 home games upcoming. And we must shout our support to the rafters leaving all concerned in no doubt, especially next Friday with Sky in attendance.
The rubber stamping of the long awaited takeover should give us all a huge boost, and the January window will hopefully be flung open with alacrity.Together with the Treatment room starting to empty, we can begin to look upwards for the first time in many, worrying weeks.
PLEASE keep the faith & resolve to playing your part in making 2020 the start of a new, successful era for the Addicks.
We all expected a relegation battle at the start of the season and we are now in one. A true test of character is not how you behave when things go right, but when they don't. We need to show character now by getting behind all the players in the team. COYR
It may well have been a bad day at the office, but one that in Bowyers own words was not good enough. From what I witnessed, none of them 'left their all on the pitch' as we had seen after the Sheff Wed game a week earlier.
However.......I echo all that @Grapevine49 said. The person to blame for the past 3 months is RD. Getting promoted to one of the toughest leagues in the world & then loosing 2 of your best players in Bauer & Aribo would usually mean you spend to replace them. We spent diddly squat when teams all around us were spending millions. I said at the start of the season that I'd be happy with 4th bottom....and I'm still confident we can achieve that.
We have a difficult run of fixtures in Jan so we desperately need to get going this month. Results are more important than style so LB and JJ need to work out how to grind out some results with our limited resources.
I was pretty shocked to see Ledley starting yesterday and it really shows where our midfield is at. Interested to see who starts Tues eve.
Our main aim is to stay up this season and things have to pick up at some stage.
Doughty and Gallagher got in each other's way, as did Taylor and Bonne. Pearce and Oshilaja left gaping holes between themselves. It's understandable in that these partnerships are embryonic. But when it happened, there were too many casual gestures and turning away from each other instead of a team spirit of "we're all in this together".
It was frustrating but above all worrying. Up till 3pm yesterday, the thought of relegation had barely crossed my mind. By the final whistle I felt like it was blocking my exit from the stand. The team knew - just about none of them acknowledged the fans and barely anyone clapped them off. I guess you had to be there.
In Bowyer we trust - he has one helluva job to do this week as we desperately need to get out of this rut.
Hitherto Bowyer has always compensated for any individual shortcomings with a fantastic team work ethic.
Hopefully just a blip/bad day at the office as some have suggested.
First ray of light, Taylor getting a run out. Lockyer back on Tuesday. Willo promised soon.
Curbs: "Don't let the highs get too high or the lows, to low."