Swindon Town v Charlton AthleticSaturday 19th December 2020 ... 3pm Kick-OffReferee: Ben SpeedieIntroductionWell in theory we should have been spending these last few days discussing the performance from the Bristol Rovers game on Tuesday night... This though is going to be one of the more unique seasons in English Football and as we know, said game was called off due to a number of the opposition coming down with COVID-19. Of course its a surprise to some extent that its taken this long to happen, and what wont be a surprise is if it happens again!! - Naturally the biggest repercussions could revolve around the fact that these games will still need to be played, and for some rivals the fixture congestion could already hinder their seasons come the business end of the season. As always though its time to look to the current future, we travel to Wiltshere and Swindon in search of what'll be our second win of the season at the County Ground!!
The OppositionName: Swindon Town (22nd) |
Manager: John Sheridan
Ground: The County Ground
Previous Result: Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Swindon Town
For those scratching their heads in bafflement and confusion this is another reminder that this is a fixture we've already played this season. The Addicks would travel to Swindon still in a bit of disarray, yet there would be light at the end of the tunnel with potential owner: Thomas Sandgaard in attendance (whatever happened to him!!) - It would be the game that would show that Charlie Barker could be the next success story from the Academy and despite winning 3-1 come the end of the game, you could argue it was a scoreline that flattered a make shift Charlton team who would advance to the second round of the League Cup.
Swindon themselves looked impressive that day, but considering they faced, and ultimately fell to the sword of a Charlton team that hadnt been rebuilt yet its no real surprise that they're struggling in League One this term. Already they've replaced the Manager that faced us in September with Richie Wellens departing and the journeyman manager: John Sheridan joining from fellow strugglers Wigan Athletic - When it comes to teams replacing management I've always personally questioned if its not the players that have reached their limits and you could certainly question that with our opponents this Saturday, after all nine points were achieved under Wellens, yet only six points have been achieved since with the same amount of games played by both Managers!!
So its once again the focus turns to the players themselves; Jonny Smith was the standout player from the cup performance, into his fifth loan spell (from parent club: Bristol City), the 23-year old winger is playing at the highest level of his career so far, although after twelve performances has just the one league goal to his name. Its also worth remembering that when we faced the Robins the transfer window was still open for themselves, since our encounter, the Robins have been able to rely upon the experience of Brett Pitman (Portsmouth) and Jonathan Grounds (Birmingham City), not that their experience is helping them to get out of their mess!!
Charlton Team NewsAs always we now turn our attention to trying to out think Lee Bowyer and imagine the team that he's going to put out to record another three points. The biggest bonus from Tuesdays cancellation is the fact we've had a week to prepare for this encounter, and as we've already seen this season, Charlton arent a team that cope well with two fixtures in a week.
So with a weeks rest since our impressive second half against AFC Wimbledon, the question is who do we play, and who is available for selection? - Well the easy bit is the latter; Albie Morgan currently in self-isolation will return to the squad on Monday, whilst Paul Smyth has started running after his injury earnt against Ipswich Town... Andrew Shinnie on the other hand remains absent as per Bowyer's latest press conference.
With that out of the way, what does Bowyer do this weekend, does he go with the team that impressively put Wimbledon to the sword or does he continue to mix it up?
Amos
Gunter | Pratley | Pearce | Maatsen
Gilbey | Watson | Forster-Caskey
Maddison
Bogle | Washington
Substitutes Bench: Maynard-Brewer | Purrington | Oshilaja | Matthews | Levitt | Williams | Aneke
PredictionIf you didnt expect League One to be tight this year then you need to pay attention a bit more often. As per last season there appears to be no team running away with proceedings and nor should we expect to see it either happen to another team, or to ourselves... The further down the pyramid you go the more chance of facing a scenario where anyone can beat anyone - Despite that though you'd expect Charlton to put in a strong showing this weekend, they had no game midweek (like our opponents) so will be fresher and will be fired up after last weeks showing. We've struggled at times against those towards the bottom but expect less resistance this time out!!
Comments
With the postponement of our game on Tuesday the boys should be well rested for this match.
Swindon are on current form just about the worse team in league one.
No excuses we simply have to win this one.
2.1 Charlton and we move up a couple of places.
Swindons current form is woeful so they are there for the taking, the question is can we?
Wellens we faced and they played a bit like Wimbledon, opened themselves up and we just picked them off
We've already faced a Sheridan team (Wigan) who were VERY tight and didnt give us many chances
Personally I don’t think Gilbey is playing too well so would play Purrington at left back and push Maatsen forward.
attack,
attack, attack, attack
Don’t keep passing it sideways or back and let them build up the confidence to keep attacking us and score. Overwhelm them.
A midfield of Gilbey, Watson and JFC is just too slow and predictable.
Williams deserves to start.
We never win the easy games.
0.0
Lose and Bowyer has lost the dressing room and something is not right at Sparrows Lane
Draw it is then , desmond
3-1 Charlton