Watching our goals again .......... you can't help but remember Bowyer saying that most goals are scored in and around the 6-yard box - and that's why he's always telling midfielders to continue their run into the box.
Particularly today with the Forster-Caskey and Williams goals. Plus, of course, Purrington doing what all good 'fox-in-the-box' strikers do and anticipating where the ball is going to fall.
I didn’t think much of our first half display even though we took the lead, and was fearing the worse after those 2 quick goals put AFC 2-1 up at half time. Credit to Bowyer, he made 2 impactful changes early on, even though we started the second half brightly. Bogle knew he was going off as soon as he missed that chance that Maddison played through. Gilbey is someone I’ve only seen a handful of times, so don’t want to write him off too quickly, but he’s largely a passenger. He certainly doesn’t work on the left side of a diamond.
I’m not the biggest fan of JFC, but credit where credit’s due, he did well today. Thought Maddison was great. He always looks for the forward pass and has the intent to want to make things happen. He worked hard too. Maatsen and Gunter got forward well, which is important as they’re our only real width in that set up.
Overall, very pleasing and I was genuinely beginning to worry about whether or not something bigger was going on re:Bowyer and the dressing room, but hopefully that result will give us the confidence to build on, and be the start of a little run.
Personally, I still think there’s a few things that need to be ironed out. I’m annoyed Famewo is now out. Pratley and Pearce will give their all as a CB pairing, but will struggle against pace. I still don’t think Bowyer knows his best side/set up. Get the feeling Bogle isn’t going to work out under Bowyer and Aneke can’t seem to start a game with the impact he does when he comes on as sub.
I think after the frustration of the last few weeks has taught me just to enjoy this win for what it is, but not to get too carried away. We’ll hopefully be in with a shout of promotion this season, but it won’t be as momentous as when we did it 2 years ago
I haven’t had time to catch up on this and I’m sure it’s been mentioned, but it’s no surprise that we score goals when the midfielders make runs into the box, chucks immense again and so so pleased for Williams, can just put last weekend behind him now, no reason why he can’t add goals to his game, super talent!
Little word for JFC I thought he played very well today and maddison is class there's no doubt. Certainly didn't see that scoreline after 45 mobs but credit to LB and just sooo pleased for Johnny.
I think we play a much better style of football when JFC plays
Little word for JFC I thought he played very well today and maddison is class there's no doubt. Certainly didn't see that scoreline after 45 mobs but credit to LB and just sooo pleased for Johnny.
I think we play a much better style of football when JFC plays
Wow, I think we all needed that second half and result!
Genuinely surprised that those watching on stream seemed to be less negative about the first half than I was. In the ground there just seemed a whole bundle of nothingness about us; ploddy, ponderous, unadventurous and bar Washington’s goal out of nothing, completely toothless going forward.
It was an extension of the last two games and I’ll be honest I was very worried that we had a team that was falling into massive underperformance territory.
we had much more verve about us from the start of the second half and the additions of Williams and Aneke definitely helped crack it up a notch.
It was a comfortable win in the end and you could see a weight seemed to be lifted off shoulders in the second half. It was soooo nice to cheer a goal and have a smile on your face in the stands again
We still have a long way to go though and have to improve considerably. This squad / side is far behind the one from two years ago. But hopefully this is a turning point and we go on and play a lot more positively in the coming period.
Smiles and cheers from a win but no getting carried away. Wimbledon were very poor.
Our 5th goal is absolutely hilarious if you just watch Purrington. He has absolutely no right to carry on his run after he lays it off. Continues into the box and takes up the position of a centre forward waiting to receive it back, lingers, doesn’t get the ball and then gambles again to end up able to poke the ball over the goal line. It’s exactly the kind of goal you only score in injury time when you’re already 4–2 up. At any other point in the game Bowyer would have beaten him to death for that series of choices. I love that he decided to do it though, and it paid off for him
For a player that many claim doesnt get forward, its a run he's made before now late in the game
Lots of talk last week about Bowyer losing the dressing room,well if that is losing the dressing room,it will be a sight to behold when he gets it behind him.So much effort all round,so pleased for Jonny,this guy is a gem and if him and Maddison keep fit they will form the best midfield pairing in this league.Boggle is suffering a bit,but he has his job to do.Chucks clearly for some reason is not a 90 minute player,
Our 5th goal is absolutely hilarious if you just watch Purrington. He has absolutely no right to carry on his run after he lays it off. Continues into the box and takes up the position of a centre forward waiting to receive it back, lingers, doesn’t get the ball and then gambles again to end up able to poke the ball over the goal line. It’s exactly the kind of goal you only score in injury time when you’re already 4–2 up. At any other point in the game Bowyer would have beaten him to death for that series of choices. I love that he decided to do it though, and it paid off for him
For a player that many claim doesnt get forward, its a run he's made before now late in the game
Purrington was playing in midfield so more right than usual to be in the box.
He went to school in Chislehurst - Coopers - so maybe he's a fan?
He is my mates mate (one of them turn outs!). Safe to say he isn’t a Charlton fan.
So what was he doing there? Odd.
He’s been doing a bit of work for Sky Sports / LGTB - He was at West Ham the other week and also on Soccer AM. But yeah, it’s bit of a strange one I guess.
I've been one of the "Bogle softens defences up for Chuks", "he's definitely got some good skills" brigade. But not yesterday. His control was appalling and he hardly ever stayed on his feet. He's got to seriously up his game or, as soon as we can bring in a better striker, Bogle rightly won't get a look in.
Great second half. At least now we’ve got 8 of 9 players that looked like they belonged yesterday. Maddison, JFC, Williams, Gunter, Maatson, Chucks, Washington all really played well. Well done to Bowyer for attacking with the defensive limitations that we have. If you look at Gilbert’s strengths- driving with the ball, long distance passing and getting around the pitch then why not play him at the base of the diamond? No idea why he started on the left again. Watson did as well as he could yesterday but any movement ether side of him and he just can’t react quick enough. Again lucky not to get booked- as soon as he’s one on one he has to try to foul. I’m sure Gilbey could play that role more effectively. And against quicker team without Famewo we will get exposed for pace in the break. Maybe this is the time that Deji makes his name. He’ll add some much needed mobility at the back. Would be great to see him come back like a new signing! And please in the transfer window a back up for Chucks is so needed! COYA
As has been alluded to, I hope that goal now allows Purrington some time and love from Charlton fans again. When he joined us, we didn’t have a left back and he came in and showed brilliant consistency as a league 1 left back, including scoring one of the two most important goals in recent Charlton history. The championship seemed perhaps too much of a step up for him, but back in league one he has an important role to play and he is highly capable of it. We Charlton fans have always said you don’t need to be the best player as long as you give 100% and he has always done that.
I think there could be quite a few games where he and Maatsen could play together down that left and do very well.
I've been one of the "Bogle softens defences up for Chuks", "he's definitely got some good skills" brigade. But not yesterday. His control was appalling and he hardly ever stayed on his feet. He's got to seriously up his game or, as soon as we can bring in a better striker, Bogle rightly won't get a look in.
Thought he did alright getting out of a few tight situations, winning free kicks with the ball at his feet. Has virtually no goal threat though, looking more like Parker with every game. Don't necessarily mean that as a negative, they both have done jobs for us. We'd be screwed without Bogle at the moment as there's no way Aneke could play the amount he has.
Both teams demonstrated why you shouldn’t be too cautious when you are winning by only one goal, Wimbledon more so because they were 2-1 up and time wasting. As Louis Mendez pointed out in a tweet, 2 minutes after their goalkeeper got booked for time wasting at 2-1 they were losing 3-2.
I thought we played well all game except for the 5 minute spell before half time. The whole team played well , passed the ball well and were on the front foot , looked a different class to AFC.
Agreed. I just don't understand some of the negative views of our first half performance. Obviously it got nowhere near the heights of that second half showing but for 35-40 minutes it was a major improvement on the performances against Burton, MK and Shrewsbury.
I thought we played well all game except for the 5 minute spell before half time. The whole team played well , passed the ball well and were on the front foot , looked a different class to AFC.
Agreed. I just don't understand some of the negative views of our first half performance. Obviously it got nowhere near the heights of that second half showing but for 35-40 minutes it was a major improvement on the performances against Burton, MK and Shrewsbury.
For me it was not a major improvement, or at least not for as long as you mention. I won't compare it to the MK Dons game because they were just the better side.
But after the first 20 minutes the way we played in possession was no different to Burton or Shrewsbury. We didn't lose the ball at the back like we did against Burton, but that's because Wimbledon didn't press us like they did - and we didn't look as likely to concede as against Shrewsbury but Wimbledon didn't have any pace to hurt us.
However once Wimbledon changed it up in that first half and stopped us playing through JFC and Maddison we slipped back into the same predictable patterns of play - passing along the back line, and cutting back when we advanced up the pitch due to lack of options and movement.
However the moment the second half started, even before the subs, this all changed. I'm not sure what we did, though I feel it might be to do with the full backs being more attacking, but we played with alot more pace and purpose and there were so many more options.
I thought we played well all game except for the 5 minute spell before half time. The whole team played well , passed the ball well and were on the front foot , looked a different class to AFC.
Agreed. I just don't understand some of the negative views of our first half performance. Obviously it got nowhere near the heights of that second half showing but for 35-40 minutes it was a major improvement on the performances against Burton, MK and Shrewsbury.
I don’t think it was, just my opinion but I’ll explain my reasons. It was largely different because we weren’t playing a team like Burton who pressed us really hard all over the pitch and forced mistakes, or MK Dons who simply outplayed us.
Wimbledon sat, kept shape let our back four have the ball and basically said down to you to break us down. And because we’d were set up pretty defensively ourselves, we as an 11 just were comfortable with that.
So it was largely nothingness. Pearce, to Pratley, to Gunter, to Watson, to Pearce, to Maatsen, to Pearce, to Pratley etc...there was little movement in front, and where you needed Watson or Gilbey or JFC to pick the ball on the half turn and start something forward-making, it was just the same old status quo of pushing it around without intent. Halfway through the first half Gilbey got the ball off Maatsen on the left, launched a beautiful cross field ball, to the right touchline to switch play, yet within two passes it was back with Pratley and any forward impetus had gone. That move summed up our play first half.
We were playing a team whose game plan was to stay tight, frustrate and put the onus on us to attack and our starting team / set up wasn’t going to trouble that. We were languid and effectively playing defensive training ground keep ball until we tried something different and inevitability lost it. That’s why Washington’s heavily deflected goal seemed such a surprise to what had gone before it.
Of course, we won, scored 5 goals and everyone will point out its a game played over 90 mins. Perhaps that’s our game plan, keep tight for 60 mins and then turn it into a 30-min game to win with our best attacking players. Like a boxer who’s conserved energy for the first 7 rounds. But off the back of two really poor performances, what was shown first half and to go in losing to a poor team, I thought was concerning personally.
I agree Afka - unfortunately modern day football at all levels doesn’t seem to last 90 mins any more - it’s 60 mins of nothingness abc then depending on the score, they engage in a game - most prem games r like this - wolves being the worst for it - we partially have an excuse in that our players who can actually play can’t last 90 mins - hopefully sort that in the window
AFKA sums it up well. It could have gone very badly had we waited any longer to make the subs but looking back, there were signs that Dons wouldn't be able to maintain their shape when confronted by players that ran at them.
Overall they looked physically weaker than us and when Terrell Thomas went off, they became an utter shambles at the back. LB has been pragmatic; he knows his star players are burst players, so tries to wear down the oppo physically and mentally before picking them off.
There will be much greater tests than this one. It was great fun and should breed confidence but we do have frailties.
It's taken this poor old soul a ridiculous amount of time to assimilate just what we saw before our very eyes this afternoon.
90+ minutes of excitement, stress, nail biting through a mask & gloves (?), screams of joy, groans of despair and even a few tears of emotion culminated in a thoroughly exhausted Fanny .....definitely out of practise !
But amongst all the jubilation of watching our lads overcome a team of beefy giants with some decent moves of their own, the realisation that finally we were back at OUR Valley was something I'll remember for a very long time.
Above the masks of varying colours of the rainbow (and black, thanks @northstandsteve) eyes were bright & shining as they eagerly anticipated the drama about to unfold before them on the hallowed turf.
They were definitely not disappointed.
Regardless of what others have described as a disappointing, even poor1st half performance, I loved every single minute ....apart from those 2 strikes from the visitors that stunned us temporarily as half time approached. 2 of those 3 goals were excellent and both Conor's and Joe's deserve praise.
At 1-2 down, I began to mutter under my breath that we would win 3-2 although I will admit to being not totally convinced.
2nd half, we were mustard.
Too many great showings to list but a special mention must go to Chuks & Jonny who silenced the away fans with their bursts of energy & determination. How good is it to watch our players do what you KNOW they can do !!!
All 15 that pulled on the shirt today did us proud, with maybe one or two less so but perfection is difficult to achieve.....still a work in progress, hampered by the inevitable injuries that continue to plague us
The best afternoon I've spent since March, with the people I love to spend it with...family and lots of familiar faces .
Let's make sure we stay safe and look forward to the start of a new era for our beloved club with our Valley packed to the gunwales and really rocking.
Our "Fairy" Godfather (sorry, Thomas) is doing everything HE possibly can.
I know that we are ready, willing and more than able to play our part...with knobs on !
No Morgan, No Shinnie, and Maddison was the positive player in the first half trying to get some momentum.
An honest appraisal of Bogle is he started brightly and even had a good first touch and layed the ball off well. But the longer the game went on he looks second rate. A player out of his depth in League 1. I personally will continue to support him until we bring in a replacement in January. Bowyer still believes in him but I don't think he has a football brain but we live in hope.
Aneke was the opposite yesterday, he messed up his first couple of touches, but he just got better as the game went on and the super sub is all power and action. I said he should be a number 9 when Lee said he was a 10 when he first joined. He scares CB's and the Dons number 14 bricked it and Chuks picked up the gift and fired home.
Washington works his socks off every game even though many fans on Valley pass can't see this. A cracking goal by Conor yesterday supplied with a smashing pass by Naby Pearce. Both Washington and Aneke are the real deal but we must get another striker to supplement our strike force.
I have consistently said for Cafc to be a real contender Marcus Maddison will play a free role and he will assist and score goals. MM was more rusty than my first car when he joined but he will be successful if he stays fit and happy off the pitch.
A CB is desperately needed as a replacement for Famewo and with Inniss having a dubious fitness record this is as paramount as another Striker.
The shackles were off second half and what a difference that made. Why we give League 1 teams so much respect I really don't know. You don't go gung ho from the start but surely being pro active and playing more forward passes that the likes of Morgan, Maddison and Shinnie can do is the way to be successful in this mediocre division ?
Attacking full backs in any formation you like must be mandatory. When we have no width we just go sideways and backwards.
This Grind of a season became a joy 2nd half but no one can be sure we won't retreat into our shell against Bristol Rovers.
Who did the tunnel jump? could hear it in the background of JW's interview
Pearce... eventually. I think everyone was thinking it was nailed on Jonny to do it but he got collared by Minto at the end and we waited a while for it to happen. I suppose it’s been a long time since the players have had a chance to do it....
Comments
Watching our goals again .......... you can't help but remember Bowyer saying that most goals are scored in and around the 6-yard box - and that's why he's always telling midfielders to continue their run into the box.
Particularly today with the Forster-Caskey and Williams goals.
Plus, of course, Purrington doing what all good 'fox-in-the-box' strikers do and anticipating where the ball is going to fall.
I’m not the biggest fan of JFC, but credit where credit’s due, he did well today. Thought Maddison was great. He always looks for the forward pass and has the intent to want to make things happen. He worked hard too. Maatsen and Gunter got forward well, which is important as they’re our only real width in that set up.
Overall, very pleasing and I was genuinely beginning to worry about whether or not something bigger was going on re:Bowyer and the dressing room, but hopefully that result will give us the confidence to build on, and be the start of a little run.
Personally, I still think there’s a few things that need to be ironed out. I’m annoyed Famewo is now out. Pratley and Pearce will give their all as a CB pairing, but will struggle against pace. I still don’t think Bowyer knows his best side/set up. Get the feeling Bogle isn’t going to work out under Bowyer and Aneke can’t seem to start a game with the impact he does when he comes on as sub.
.........in the right position!
But after the first 20 minutes the way we played in possession was no different to Burton or Shrewsbury. We didn't lose the ball at the back like we did against Burton, but that's because Wimbledon didn't press us like they did - and we didn't look as likely to concede as against Shrewsbury but Wimbledon didn't have any pace to hurt us.
However once Wimbledon changed it up in that first half and stopped us playing through JFC and Maddison we slipped back into the same predictable patterns of play - passing along the back line, and cutting back when we advanced up the pitch due to lack of options and movement.
However the moment the second half started, even before the subs, this all changed. I'm not sure what we did, though I feel it might be to do with the full backs being more attacking, but we played with alot more pace and purpose and there were so many more options.
Wimbledon sat, kept shape let our back four have the ball and basically said down to you to break us down. And because we’d were set up pretty defensively ourselves, we as an 11 just were comfortable with that.
So it was largely nothingness. Pearce, to Pratley, to Gunter, to Watson, to Pearce, to Maatsen, to Pearce, to Pratley etc...there was little movement in front, and where you needed Watson or Gilbey or JFC to pick the ball on the half turn and start something forward-making, it was just the same old status quo of pushing it around without intent. Halfway through the first half Gilbey got the ball off Maatsen on the left, launched a beautiful cross field ball, to the right touchline to switch play, yet within two passes it was back with Pratley and any forward impetus had gone. That move summed up our play first half.
We were playing a team whose game plan was to stay tight, frustrate and put the onus on us to attack and our starting team / set up wasn’t going to trouble that. We were languid and effectively playing defensive training ground keep ball until we tried something different and inevitability lost it. That’s why Washington’s heavily deflected goal seemed such a surprise to what had gone before it.
Of course, we won, scored 5 goals and everyone will point out its a game played over 90 mins. Perhaps that’s our game plan, keep tight for 60 mins and then turn it into a 30-min game to win with our best attacking players. Like a boxer who’s conserved energy for the first 7 rounds. But off the back of two really poor performances, what was shown first half and to go in losing to a poor team, I thought was concerning personally.
Just my take.
Overall they looked physically weaker than us and when Terrell Thomas went off, they became an utter shambles at the back. LB has been pragmatic; he knows his star players are burst players, so tries to wear down the oppo physically and mentally before picking them off.
There will be much greater tests than this one. It was great fun and should breed confidence but we do have frailties.
90+ minutes of excitement, stress, nail biting through a mask & gloves (?), screams of joy, groans of despair and even a few tears of emotion culminated in a thoroughly exhausted Fanny .....definitely out of practise !
But amongst all the jubilation of watching our lads overcome a team of beefy giants with some decent moves of their own, the realisation that finally we were back at OUR Valley was something I'll remember for a very long time.
Above the masks of varying colours of the rainbow (and black, thanks @northstandsteve) eyes were bright & shining as they eagerly anticipated the drama about to unfold before them on the hallowed turf.
They were definitely not disappointed.
Regardless of what others have described as a disappointing, even poor1st half performance, I loved every single minute ....apart from those 2 strikes from the visitors that stunned us temporarily as half time approached. 2 of those 3 goals were excellent and both Conor's and Joe's deserve praise.
At 1-2 down, I began to mutter under my breath that we would win 3-2 although I will admit to being not totally convinced.
2nd half, we were mustard.
Too many great showings to list but a special mention must go to Chuks & Jonny who silenced the away fans with their bursts of energy & determination. How good is it to watch our players do what you KNOW they can do !!!
All 15 that pulled on the shirt today did us proud, with maybe one or two less so but perfection is difficult to achieve.....still a work in progress, hampered by the inevitable injuries that continue to plague us
The best afternoon I've spent since March, with the people I love to spend it with...family and lots of familiar faces .
Let's make sure we stay safe and look forward to the start of a new era for our beloved club with our Valley packed to the gunwales and really rocking.
Our "Fairy" Godfather (sorry, Thomas) is doing everything HE possibly can.
I know that we are ready, willing and more than able to play our part...with knobs on !
Onwards and upwards !
An honest appraisal of Bogle is he started brightly and even had a good first touch and layed the ball off well. But the longer the game went on he looks second rate.
A player out of his depth in League 1. I personally will continue to support him until we bring in a replacement in January. Bowyer still believes in him but I don't think he has a football brain but we live in hope.
Aneke was the opposite yesterday, he messed up his first couple of touches, but he just got better as the game went on and the super sub is all power and action.
I said he should be a number 9 when Lee said he was a 10 when he first joined. He scares CB's and the Dons number 14 bricked it and Chuks picked up the gift and fired home.
Washington works his socks off every game even though many fans on Valley pass can't see this. A cracking goal by Conor yesterday supplied with a smashing pass by Naby Pearce. Both Washington and Aneke are the real deal but we must get another striker to supplement our strike force.
I have consistently said for Cafc to be a real contender Marcus Maddison will play a free role and he will assist and score goals. MM was more rusty than my first car when he joined but he will be successful if he stays fit and happy off the pitch.
A CB is desperately needed as a replacement for Famewo and with Inniss having a dubious fitness record this is as paramount as another Striker.
The shackles were off second half and what a difference that made. Why we give League 1 teams so much respect I really don't know. You don't go gung ho from the start but surely being pro active and playing more forward passes that the likes of Morgan, Maddison and Shinnie can do is the way to be successful in this mediocre division ?
Attacking full backs in any formation you like must be mandatory. When we have no width we just go sideways and backwards.
This Grind of a season became a joy 2nd half but no one can be sure we won't retreat into our shell against Bristol Rovers.
I hope not.