I’ve said it a good few weeks ago and got pelters for it. It’s never easy to stop a slide regardless of personnel returning. A run of bad results has a very damaging effect on the whole club. I thought then and I still think we will at some point drop into bottom three and I Hope have enough to climb out again. This is going to be very close.
To be fair we're not currently in a slide. 2 wins in our last 4 matches is the sort of form that will keep us up.
no - things changed after abou 10 minutes when blackburn realised their defence had our forwards in their pocket and swarmed forward and dominated midfield / possession - we had no real pace up top and looked toothless - taylor was found out a bit today but hemed was particularly useless as was davies
No point in trying to analyse that - rain and wind always meant it was going to be a bit of a lottery today. At the end of the day, Blackburn managed to play a bit more football when it mattered and the best team won.
One thing I will say is that I think Oztumer is getting a rough deal. Played really well the other night and gets dropped the next game. Not the first time this has happened. Can't understand why McGeady got the nod over him today.
Can't see us being as bad next week but I really hope Bowyer goes for a 4-4-2 line up.
Don’t think Oztumer was dropped - it’s rotation, and no doubt he will play against Luton, as will Pratley and Bonne from the start.
I take your point but Oztumer has only started 7 or 8 games this season. He surely can't be that knackered. And to play as well as he did the other night only to be told he's being rotated for some chap on loan who has scarcely played lately can't do much for his confidence.
No point in trying to analyse that - rain and wind always meant it was going to be a bit of a lottery today. At the end of the day, Blackburn managed to play a bit more football when it mattered and the best team won.
One thing I will say is that I think Oztumer is getting a rough deal. Played really well the other night and gets dropped the next game. Not the first time this has happened. Can't understand why McGeady got the nod over him today.
Can't see us being as bad next week but I really hope Bowyer goes for a 4-4-2 line up.
Don’t think Oztumer was dropped - it’s rotation, and no doubt he will play against Luton, as will Pratley and Bonne from the start.
I take your point but Oztumer has only started 7 or 8 games this season. He surely can't be that knackered. And to play as well as he did the other night only to be told he's being rotated for some chap on loan who has scarcely played lately can't do much for his confidence.
It felt similar to Morgan being dropped at Boro for Ledley to come straight in
Oztumer only played 60 minutes or so midweek, no way does he need resting after that, and it wasn't as if McGeady was that good when he came on on Tuesday anyway
Charlton Athletic: agony to ecstacy to agony in a week since 1905.
The signs were there: P****** down with rain, blowing a gale but worse of all Operation Football For A Fiver guaranteed failure as we seldom if ever turn up for these.
It all started rather well and we could have scored a couple of times but the chances came and went and Blackburn got a foothold and scored two goals where our lot seemed to be collectively ball watching during the build up. Was the referee wrong to give the free kick that led to their second goal? P'raps as Curbs would say but that is no excuse.
Second half we came out looking with intent to take the advantage of the conditions Blackburn had but it wasn't too long before aggressive intent turned to panicky desperation. We never really looked like scoring even after the largely anonymous Hemed had been replaced by Green. Bonne later replaced Mc Geady but, unsurprisingly after such a long lay-off, made little or no impact.
I felt as time went on our exertions and mental effort on Tuesday may have taken a toll. I'm not too sure why Davis seemed to be in advance of Cullen so much. My understanding was that Davis is a defensive midfielder. We know Cullen is too but as we have seen Cullen can also contribute when a goal is needed.
Other results didn't really go our way but the gap is still 5 points and hopefully in more normal conditions our lads can do the necessary next week against Luton. Another big six pointer.
It is a well known fact written in stone that Charlton would not be Charlton without these periodical displays of self flagellation and organised shiteness. We really have made the notion of anti-climax an art form. On top of making less money at the gate as to make it worthwhile commercially, the committed regular attenders get pissed off by the football for a fiver virgins, who no doubt will rarely return again after blundering in 15 minutes late for kick off and then out again on 70 minutes. Give it a catchy name and Bobs yer uncle Fannies yer aunt, a true Charlton fuck up! Thank Christ we only do this once a season. "Overawed by the occaision" my arse Bowyer!
Sorry to say but imo I think LB is on borrowed time. Keeps playing too many defensive midfielders......please choose just one of:
Pratley Cullen Smith Davis
Playing 2 together doesn't work & 3 (like we did in the 2nd half) is just a defeat waiting to happen. We have no-one in midfield to drive us forward & no real width either. Best player today was Mathews.
Thought McGeady had a good 1st but not surprising he faded in the 2nd half due to lack of proper game time. Oz should have come on for him, Bonne for Hemed & Green instead of Smith.
I don’t agree that LB is on borrowed time, but I agree with the rest of your comments above.
Cullen, Davis and Smith are all defensive type midfielders, so who did we rely on to add the creative spark?
Rather than Oztumer, who was excellent at Forest, we had McGeady on his own, quite a burden for a new signing lacking match practice.
To not see Ozzy at all was very disappointing, and to have such a defensive setup was slightly alarming. But it’s certainly nowhere near curtains for Bowyer.
I thought their No 2 Nyambe was excellent, and most of their players’ first touch was excellent in the windy and wet conditions. Ours’ tended to be a bit heavy.
Maybe Bowyer could keep a more settled side from time to time. Oztumer was key in our win at Forest, so unless he was injured I can’t understand why he didn’t appear today.
Smith and Davis both a bit anaemic, Hemed and Taylor didn’t link up well.
McGeady was ok, Green looked sharp when he came on.
No luck either; Hemed’s goal bound header from the corner hit a defender’s head. Whoever’s shot it was produced a wonder save from the Blackburn keeper. but we did t really deserve anything from the game.
Positive; meeting @Solidgone on the train before the game.
Have to agree. Keeping a winning side would have been a good idea. We lacked creativity without Oztumer or Williams.
Thought he could have brought Oztumer on for Davis and put McGeady on the left. It's all very well putting 3 up front, but what's the point when you have 3 defensive midfielders whose game is not about creating chances?
Slim margins though and hindsight is 20/20. Taylor's free kick and Cullen's shot were so close to going in. And both Blackburn's goals had a bit of luck.
We looked jaded after the first 15 and the wind did not help us at all. We missed so many headers and passes first half and Blackburn took advantage of that. After the first 15, I thought we were going to go on and put in a decent performance. That didn't last long!
As others have said - we are playing too many defensively minded players
Thought Smith did fine when he came on. Gave us some energy and played some nice, quick passes - something we seemed very reluctant to do after the first fifteen.
Blackburn coped with the conditions much better than us and they shut-up shop in the second half. Their keeper made a couple of good saves, the one off Cullen's shot second half was excellent.
The better team won on the day, it's just a shame that their goals came about the way they did (a huge deflection and from a freekick that should never have been).
We cannot perform like that against our relegation rivals.
Having watched Doughty the last few games I think he’s now been found out a bit. His positioning isn’t great, he was quite languid at times despite the occasional turn of pace and he had to be bailed out on a few occasions.
Also Mcgeady was absolutely terrible. Lost the ball 4 times in the first half and each time strolled back, no effort to make amends. Didn’t fit the team press or work ethic at all. I don’t think we will see him much.
No excuses. After a decent first 15-20 mins Blackburn gradually took control and once they got 2 goals in front there was no way back for us. Whether it was a reaction to the effort put in at Forest or the conditions (which they seemed to cope with OK) too many of our guys were below par and not for the first time we didn't make the most of a bumper crowd. At least it could have been worse. Wigan didn't win and although Barnsley & Luton did the latter winning keeps Boro in the dogfight and with Stoke losing and Huddersfield only drawing we are still 19th and in effect only a point worse off than at the start of the day. The Luton game next week however is now very big. If we fail to win and especially if we lose the alarm bells will really start ringing.
It was a pretty dreadful performance, but the positive side of me is saying with those conditions today it was a bit of a weird game and shouldn't really be reflective of what we'd do next week against Luton.
McGeady was poor, I'm not going to write him off as he clearly has talent but I don't think that role is for him at all. Pretty much all the back 3 were dreadful in the wind first half, but Pearce was probably the worst and right one to bring off of the 3, even though none of them did much impressive in the second. Davis doesn't really seem to have any positive trait to get behind and performed badly, I mean even if Pratley has a bad game you can see his industry/defensive work but I really wasn't sure on him. Neither Taylor/Hemed played well, but Hemed after the first 10 mins or so was just completely irrelevant to the game, whereas at least with Taylor they were having to work hard to stop, and the centre back marking him had a blinder.
Hopefully it is just a one-off with our fully fit team, but I'm probably being naive thinking that considering how easily teams find it just to completely shithouse us and take us off our game.
Did we win the toss? If so would’ve been a better call to kick with the wind first half, even if it broke with convention of attacking the covered end last.
Did we win the toss? If so would’ve been a better call to kick with the wind first half, even if it broke with convention of attacking the covered end last.
Also, and i never thought id say it, Cullen has arguably been our worst midfielder over the last few weeks. He wont be dropped coz hes our best footballer, and needs the match fitness. Once hes back booom!
Just left Euston - thankfully on the way home from that dross. In many ways just as bad as the Stoke game.
Taylor not at the races today, very poor. Maybe he would have been better with Bonne alongside him, but I doubt it.
Only Naby played with any degree of ability - the rest rubbish.
We are in the brown stuff.
Lyle didn't look right in the warm ups, in my opinion.
Was he waving goodbye?
I appreciate the joke. But to answer the question head on, he was shooting with a lack of energy in the warm ups. Maybe its bollocks, but he looked a bit down.
I thought Blackburn were the better team and deserved to win.
They coped with the weather better but also played better football, moved the ball well and moved off the ball better.
Taylor didnt play well but his centre half was up his arse all game and didn't give him a sniff.
All comments need to take into account the swirling wind and rain but disappointed with McGeady and Davies. I think Pratley grabs that game by the scruff of the neck. No bookings for us.
Smith did little but he wasn't the only one. Doughty was busy.
We got done by a good team going for the play-offs, that's how far behind we are but their keeper made some good stops and the first goal was deflected.
I thought it was a pen to them in the first half though.
We need to be better v Luton and Huddersfield.
LLLBH
It was a foul before that. The player grabbed Lockyer(?) and pulled him back which is why he got through. I was fearful that that the ref would not have seen this as it was definitely a foul that followed. His behaviour after the decision was disgraceful, he knew he had committed a foul and ran around calling for a pen. As the ref had obviously seen the offence he should have booked him.
They also had a shout for Sarr handball and I think it was Lockyer who forearmed a player in the second half .... the Pearce one looked like a penalty as well, I thought blackburn striker outmuscled and paced Pearce before being shrewdly taken out
Maybe Bowyer could keep a more settled side from time to time. Oztumer was key in our win at Forest, so unless he was injured I can’t understand why he didn’t appear today.
Smith and Davis both a bit anaemic, Hemed and Taylor didn’t link up well.
McGeady was ok, Green looked sharp when he came on.
No luck either; Hemed’s goal bound header from the corner hit a defender’s head. Whoever’s shot it was produced a wonder save from the Blackburn keeper. but we did t really deserve anything from the game.
Positive; meeting @Solidgone on the train before the game.
Have to agree. Keeping a winning side would have been a good idea. We lacked creativity without Oztumer or Williams.
Thought he could have brought Oztumer on for Davis and put McGeady on the left. It's all very well putting 3 up front, but what's the point when you have 3 defensive midfielders whose game is not about creating chances?
Slim margins though and hindsight is 20/20. Taylor's free kick and Cullen's shot were so close to going in. And both Blackburn's goals had a bit of luck.
I usually watch the games on Valley Pass but had to go to a funeral for a 51 year old friend who died suddenly last week from an aneurysm. I saw the the line up before leaving for the funeral and thought oh no we should have kept the line up from Tuesday and prob kept Purrington in instead of Doughty. also thought Oztumer should have started. In the grand scheme of things a wife and 3 kids lost a father and husband way too early. Today’s loss pales in comparison and we move on to the next game.
I feel like we really miss Williams in home games. Someone who can get hold of the ball, link the play between midfield and the strikers, beat a man, win a free kick in a dangerous area. That was definitely missing yesterday. At times the game just passed our midfield by.
Not sure how long he's out for, but i hope he's back for Luton.
Comments
Oztumer only played 60 minutes or so midweek, no way does he need resting after that, and it wasn't as if McGeady was that good when he came on on Tuesday anyway
Charlton Athletic: agony to ecstacy to agony in a week since 1905.
The signs were there: P****** down with rain, blowing a gale but worse of all Operation Football For A Fiver guaranteed failure as we seldom if ever turn up for these.
It all started rather well and we could have scored a couple of times but the chances came and went and Blackburn got a foothold and scored two goals where our lot seemed to be collectively ball watching during the build up. Was the referee wrong to give the free kick that led to their second goal? P'raps as Curbs would say but that is no excuse.
Second half we came out looking with intent to take the advantage of the conditions Blackburn had but it wasn't too long before aggressive intent turned to panicky desperation. We never really looked like scoring even after the largely anonymous Hemed had been replaced by Green. Bonne later replaced Mc Geady but, unsurprisingly after such a long lay-off, made little or no impact.
I felt as time went on our exertions and mental effort on Tuesday may have taken a toll. I'm not too sure why Davis seemed to be in advance of Cullen so much. My understanding was that Davis is a defensive midfielder. We know Cullen is too but as we have seen Cullen can also contribute when a goal is needed.
Other results didn't really go our way but the gap is still 5 points and hopefully in more normal conditions our lads can do the necessary next week against Luton. Another big six pointer.
COYR
Who the f is Doherty?
Cue an "Operation anything" in the pipeline...
Thought he could have brought Oztumer on for Davis and put McGeady on the left. It's all very well putting 3 up front, but what's the point when you have 3 defensive midfielders whose game is not about creating chances?
Slim margins though and hindsight is 20/20. Taylor's free kick and Cullen's shot were so close to going in. And both Blackburn's goals had a bit of luck.
As others have said - we are playing too many defensively minded players
Thought Smith did fine when he came on. Gave us some energy and played some nice, quick passes - something we seemed very reluctant to do after the first fifteen.
Blackburn coped with the conditions much better than us and they shut-up shop in the second half. Their keeper made a couple of good saves, the one off Cullen's shot second half was excellent.
The better team won on the day, it's just a shame that their goals came about the way they did (a huge deflection and from a freekick that should never have been).
We cannot perform like that against our relegation rivals.
McGeady was poor, I'm not going to write him off as he clearly has talent but I don't think that role is for him at all. Pretty much all the back 3 were dreadful in the wind first half, but Pearce was probably the worst and right one to bring off of the 3, even though none of them did much impressive in the second. Davis doesn't really seem to have any positive trait to get behind and performed badly, I mean even if Pratley has a bad game you can see his industry/defensive work but I really wasn't sure on him. Neither Taylor/Hemed played well, but Hemed after the first 10 mins or so was just completely irrelevant to the game, whereas at least with Taylor they were having to work hard to stop, and the centre back marking him had a blinder.
Hopefully it is just a one-off with our fully fit team, but I'm probably being naive thinking that considering how easily teams find it just to completely shithouse us and take us off our game.
He wont be dropped coz hes our best footballer, and needs the match fitness. Once hes back booom!
The player grabbed Lockyer(?) and pulled him back which is why he got through. I was fearful that that the ref would not have seen this as it was definitely a foul that followed.
His behaviour after the decision was disgraceful, he knew he had committed a foul and ran around calling for a pen. As the ref had obviously seen the offence he should have booked him.
the Pearce one looked like a penalty as well, I thought blackburn striker outmuscled and paced Pearce before being shrewdly taken out
Not sure how long he's out for, but i hope he's back for Luton.