The points were what we deserved from previous performances that weren’t fully rewarded. Me and XG knew it was coming . We looked comfortable against another of the numerous pony nothing sides this league has produced with such aplomb this season. Still plenty of room for improvement and we face Pompey 2 wins and 4 losses in their last 6 next up, so they’ll be ripe for picking off if we can keep gathering momentum.
Millar and Pratley the obvious standouts but how well has Deji done in central defence ,why oh why did it take so long to get him in there .
Great result, let's hope that brings some confidence back - it ought too. Thought the midfield in particular were excellent - so much so that I was going to start naming names here, but then thought that I couldn't miss anybody out. Any chance that Liverpool might not want Millar back?
Bizarre sight of the evening: Not one, but two, flags saying 'The Real Dons'. How bloody odd is that for a team that aren't the real dons anyway? They really do need to get an identity of their own.
They are the real Wimbledon though. Just because they moved 100 miles doesn't mean they are a different team. Or are Arsenal not the real Arsenal.
It’s odd, every team plays with a midfielder who can break up play and doesn’t necessarily offer too much going forward, but some people think we’re too good for a player like Pratley. It’s broken thinking; not every player in a team can be a creative presence, and those who can both destroy and create play at a higher level. The fact is Pratley does exactly what’s asked of him and brings organisation, professionalism and commitment into our whole team. When he’s not in our midfield other players, good as they are, aren’t anywhere near as cohesive. If you’re looking at Pratley and thinking he’s the kind of player we need to move on from then you’re focusing on the wrong areas
100%. If we are to replace Pratley then it needs to be with a younger, faster Daren Pratley. The midfield looked balanced tonight with Prately destroying, Millar stretching them, Shinnie busy and creative in pockets of space and JFC box to box. Put a Williams or a Morgan in there instead of Pratley and it would not look nearly as well rounded as a unit. If you want to play without someone like Pratley you need to be utterly on top in a game, but the paradox people don’t seem to understand is that to be utterly on top you need complete control of the midfield, but you very rarely get control of the midfield without someone destroying things the oppositions are trying to do, i.e. a Prately. Bieleik did it last time in this league, it just so happened Bielik was at a different stage in his career and destined for much brighter things. You don't players like Bielik in League 1 a) often and b) for very long at a time and even then he was primarily a defensive player.
Glad for the won & the clean sheet, but let's not get carried away with ourselves. We played well for 20 mins, scored & then ran out of ideas. The only reason why we won was because MK Don's like to pass the ball. As someone said, on 90+3 mins they were still passing it around the back & not even contemplating hoofing it forward. Another team on another day would have been causing mayhem in the last 15 & would have probably nicked a goal.....or even 2.
However......it wasn't another team or another day & like Saturday you take tte smooth with the rough. We created enough chances on Saturday to win 2 games but didnt - tonight we created one real chance & scored from it (just like teams have done to us). I'll take the 3 points & move on
Shout out to Millar (my MOTM) followed closely by Pratley & Shinnie. Thought we fell apart on the 2nd half & Aneke, Schwartz & especially Morgan all combined to make us worse. Just hope it was a blip from them as we'll be counting on them over the next 20 games.
For two weeks running I've woken up and watched the last 30 minutes. For two weeks running it was the worst part of the game for Charlton, though, in all honesty, Dons didn't really look like scoring.
I could see the quality of Shinnie, JFC and Millar, all the defenders looked untroubled, though I was half expecting someone to make a stupid mistake, Pratley was being Pratley without giving away a foul every time the ball came near him. Schwartz isn't seeing the ball in the right places, Chuks wasn't the dominant figure he usually is and poor Albie was running about aimlessly from the moment he came on (and what was that passback to Amos from an attacking poistion?).
Maybe I should just go back to sleep next time I wake up during a midweek game!
The high press worked so well first 60 minutes that MK Dons were forced to play long ball and we kept catching them in their own half and breaking, which is also how we scored. I'm not sure why we changed and sat back for the last 35 when we looked so comfortable. They weren't getting anywhere near us before that.
Curbs said it was player-lead rather than tactical, which you can understand after our recent run. P'raps this is the win that will give them the confidence to keep playing out a bit. I hope so because it's not great game management. You only have to look at their huge rise in xG in the last third of the game to see that it hurt us rather than helped.
I thought it was interesting that Amos' kicks were aimed out wide to Millar when we had Stockley up front. I can't figure this one out. I assume they must have spotted something in analysis, I'd love to know what it was.
JFC & Pratley raise an interesting question for LB with Watson back, I hope that he is rotated for Pratley as JFC seems undroppable at the moment, and don't want a return to the Pratters-Watters midfield, as good as Pratley was against Fraser.
Finally, credit to Lee for the way he set up today. He's still a young and relatively inexperienced manager and he completely nullified MK Dons for the first 60 minutes with the shape and the gameplan. After what they did to us at our place, that shows he's learning.
Fine margins again. If MK had got an equaliser during that 2nd half pressure then this thread would be in meltdown. Instead, the majority are happy. I'm happy with the three points but why did we revert back to the negativity of four games or so ago! I was almost convinced they were going to get a goal in typical Charlton fashion. But we held out. It was pointless bringing on Chuks and Ronnie as there is no way they were going to make a difference. Not with the way we were set up.
So, very pleased with the three points but not so pleased with the second half performance. I would much rather have seen us on the front foot more. Still not convinced that Bowyer is getting it right but he did today. But it is fine margins. Let's not delude ourselves. Onto Saturday.
Lovely stuff. MK are a decent side and one we always seem to slip up against no matter what season it is. Professional performance, good effort in the press. Pratley as usual showing how it’s done. Hope Washington isn’t too hurt. My only slight concern is that’s now 1 goal in 6 appearances for Ronnie. Obviously a player in there so I hope he can get another one soon to get his confidence flowing and his head doesn’t drop while he gets fitter
Isn't it one goal in four appearances, and three of them as a sub? Also, he hit the post and had another disallowed incorrectly so I'd say his confidence should be OK.
Lovely stuff. MK are a decent side and one we always seem to slip up against no matter what season it is. Professional performance, good effort in the press. Pratley as usual showing how it’s done. Hope Washington isn’t too hurt. My only slight concern is that’s now 1 goal in 6 appearances for Ronnie. Obviously a player in there so I hope he can get another one soon to get his confidence flowing and his head doesn’t drop while he gets fitter
Isn't it one goal in four appearances, and three of them as a sub? Also, he hit the post and had another disallowed incorrectly so I'd say his confidence should be OK.
Scored a legit goal on Saturday too wrongly ruled out for offside.
Lovely stuff. MK are a decent side and one we always seem to slip up against no matter what season it is. Professional performance, good effort in the press. Pratley as usual showing how it’s done. Hope Washington isn’t too hurt. My only slight concern is that’s now 1 goal in 6 appearances for Ronnie. Obviously a player in there so I hope he can get another one soon to get his confidence flowing and his head doesn’t drop while he gets fitter
Isn't it one goal in four appearances, and three of them as a sub? Also, he hit the post and had another disallowed incorrectly so I'd say his confidence should be OK.
Scored a legit goal on Saturday too wrongly ruled out for offside.
Gunter: I'm not putting my hands in the way, if they get hit I'm taking it like a man Pratley's trying to give it a look that'll make the ball explode Stockley has the look of someone who has just heard the ball talking to him Deji's is questioning if he forgot to flush the loo in the dressing room
Gunter clearly has balls of steel if he doesn't feel the need to protect them, but possibly a bit of a complex about his height given he's standing on tiptoes to try to be as tall as Pratley.
Pratley's just got wise to that and so has lifted his heels up a bit to exert dominance over Gunter.
Stockley's trying to work out if he's supposed to be getting on his tiptoes as well
Oshilaja's wondering why he's got lumbered with the socks that shrank in the wash, and if they make him look bow-legged. Yes Deji, they do
Absolutely mega performance from Pratley - made sure Fraser did not get a look-in. Millar superb, Shinnie adding magic to midfield, Stockley looking the part and Oshilaja growing in stature every game. A case on onwards and upwards from now on. The clean sheet will have done wonders for confidence. Yes, it was twitchy-bum time in the closing minutes but understandable that players were concerned about conceding after recent games. Now the shutters have gone up again, they will be hard to break down. Shame about Maddison. He has so much talent but, it seems, something is not wired right. Doubt if we will see much more of him.
Got to say it was unconvincing and painful to watch - i have been clinging on to the view that we will go on a run now we have better forward players (and the centre halves come back) and we will start to sweep sides away - just hoping that yesterday was a hangover from the bad run / nerves but the pattern is still there atm - go behind and we stay on the front foot, watch an entertaining game and bemoan our luck / mistakes and draw or go in front and endure an age of defending and clinging on - hope this changes as we get a few wins under our belt and relax because its not an ideal loop to be stuck in. Once we get a few goals up and see a game out comfortably is when we can start seriously thinking about our promotion chances. as soon as we scored we just seem to stop playing - did bowyer instruct this or did it just happen - chalk and cheese before and after the goal.
Slept on it... Yeah, I'll still take that. Three points. Clean sheet. Pretty? No. Perfect? Hardly. Professional away win? Yup. Confidence boost? Hope so. One small step...
What we need to get a bit better at is taking our chances when we're in front. We had a few chances last night, mostly through Millar, to double our lead but we didn't take them. If just one of those had gone in then we would have played a decent bit of counter-attacking football when 1-0 up, eased the pressure on ourselves and been less stressed in the final ten minutes. We're very good at piling on goals when we've already given the opposition a headstart but we need to be more clinical with the chances we create earlier in games, that will have us seeing them out much more comfortably
Have a feeling we’re not going to see much of Maddison for remainder of the season.
Agreed which really annoys me.
He has so much quality. It’s just a shame Bowyer can’t swallow his pride. I’m assuming he hasn’t apologised for the way he’s treated him this season.
With all due respect, this is not a Primary School. No one player is more important than the club. Despite his abilities, I feel Maddison's attitude is questionable. And he didn't 'Take a knock', as reported. He claimed some injury after stepping oddly. My first thought on watching was he just wanted to get off the pitch as he was having a 'mare. Now, 'He says he's ill'. Pretty well sums him up for me. I believe Bow 'has his number' and I think I do too. I wish another club would take him and free up the salary. Just sayin'.
Funnily enough, I also said the same at the time. Especially off the back of Bowyer not playing him and calling him out etc, I would never have though players done it until hearing Jermaine Pennant on a podcast
Liam Miller was my MOM already, but I was very impressed with his post-match interview. Great attitude. Like Conor Gallagher, it will be that which gives him a great future in the game. Curbs was big on likening him to John Robinson, but actually, Robbo didn't quite have the pace, did he? But I see where Curbs is coming from, Robbo could also bring the ball out and hold it, take the pressure off, and he was great at coming back to cover. And all round good egg, who is apparently a Valley pass guest on Saturday. You gotta' dream, and right now I dare to dream of our centre backs coming back soon, we sneak promotion and sign Miller up permanently, he becomes the new Jonny Robinson on our march back towards the Prem...
Glad for the won & the clean sheet, but let's not get carried away with ourselves. We played well for 20 mins, scored & then ran out of ideas. The only reason why we won was because MK Don's like to pass the ball. As someone said, on 90+3 mins they were still passing it around the back & not even contemplating hoofing it forward. Another team on another day would have been causing mayhem in the last 15 & would have probably nicked a goal.....or even 2.
However......it wasn't another team or another day & like Saturday you take tte smooth with the rough. We created enough chances on Saturday to win 2 games but didnt - tonight we created one real chance & scored from it (just like teams have done to us). I'll take the 3 points & move on
Shout out to Millar (my MOTM) followed closely by Pratley & Shinnie. Thought we fell apart on the 2nd half & Aneke, Schwartz & especially Morgan all combined to make us worse. Just hope it was a blip from them as we'll be counting on them over the next 20 games.
You’ve changed your tune from the match thread re Pratley !!!
Delighted with three points away and a clean sheet but anyone who reckons that was a great performance is deluded:
First half was good. Pratley did a right job on Fraser and Millar was great but we hardly strung two passes together in the second half which was mostly played at walking pace- we simply waited for MK to equalise but they didn't oblige. It was mega-negative. Morgan (who was awful) was playing up front with Schwarz and Chuks (both awful) playing as half backs. It was a bizarre set up but LB got away with it. MK had 98.3% possession, had two corners and won free headers from both, plus two decent free kick opportunities and struck the post. We could easily have lost 3-1 on another day.
Good away win, wanted a second to make it more comfortable but we did what we had to in the end. After we scored and MK Dons hit the post it felt like our luck was turning after recent games.
Millar for Smyth/the injured Doughty, Stockley for Bogle and Shinnie back in the team improves us. Great performance from Pratley, Fraser couldn't run straight through the middle like he did in the home game.
We did well going forward in the first half. Didn't threaten much in the second half but we were 1-0 up and playing who have a lot of possession. As good as it can look their league position shows it's not getting them results.
For some it won't be enough, for me we're improving. Bowyer's picking more balanced sides that have threats going. Attacking subs came on other than Pearce with a few minutes to go. Only one game but we got through the first half without giving the opposition a 2/3 goal lead.
I said after Saturday I'd stick with 4-4-2 and play Morgan on the right. Good decision from Bowyer to go more defensive with Pratley in the middle. Due to that Shinnie then started in that role on the right. It gives the midfield a good balance with Millar's pace, energy and dribbling ability on one side and Shinnie on the other. He's just as comfortable on the ball but offers a different threat with his passing rather than pace.
I've seen a few negative comments about tonight's win on here and social media. Maybe it's easy to forget that our promotion winning sides in the recent past didn't dominate all game and neither was every win comfortable. Look back there are plenty of examples of grinding out narrow wins. I remember reading comments from opposition fans claiming "Charlton aren't that good" when we were regularly winning games in 11/12. There were flaws in that side but we built a team that was very consistent, strong defensively and could score goals. The 18/19 team under Bowyer had a lot of narrow wins and players we rate now like Dijksteel, Bielik and Aribo were improving as the season went on. In Parker we had a striker who couldn't score, even Bogle's scored twice this season.
We haven't looked like a team at times this season but I've seen positive changes recently, even though there's still room and a need to improve further. It feels to me like all the small improvements here and there are adding up and those fine margins are moving in our favour. There will be bumps along the way but I can see us going on a good run and unless there's another big injury crisis we should have enough to at least make the play-offs. With TS as owner I'm looking forward to seeing how the squad looks once the window has closed. Based on what we've done so far I think we can be confident we'll be stronger than we were at the start of January.
If a new manager had replaced Bowyer from the Rochdale game I think most would be thinking they've made a promising start.
I do agree, but those ground out wins were interspersed with games where we looked like a seventies Brazil. Currently we have the ground out wins, I look forward to the Brazil performances. An I believe we have a squad capable, let’s hope we have the manager capable. The confidence and belief of a winning team will be as important in improved performance, as anything Bowyer and Jackson can do at Sparrows Lane.
Glad for the won & the clean sheet, but let's not get carried away with ourselves. We played well for 20 mins, scored & then ran out of ideas. The only reason why we won was because MK Don's like to pass the ball. As someone said, on 90+3 mins they were still passing it around the back & not even contemplating hoofing it forward. Another team on another day would have been causing mayhem in the last 15 & would have probably nicked a goal.....or even 2.
However......it wasn't another team or another day & like Saturday you take tte smooth with the rough. We created enough chances on Saturday to win 2 games but didnt - tonight we created one real chance & scored from it (just like teams have done to us). I'll take the 3 points & move on
Shout out to Millar (my MOTM) followed closely by Pratley & Shinnie. Thought we fell apart on the 2nd half & Aneke, Schwartz & especially Morgan all combined to make us worse. Just hope it was a blip from them as we'll be counting on them over the next 20 games.
You’ve changed your tune from the match thread re Pratley !!!
My post match comments were out of respect of his defensive duties. My match thread comments were to do with his attacking ones.
Good away win, wanted a second to make it more comfortable but we did what we had to in the end. After we scored and MK Dons hit the post it felt like our luck was turning after recent games.
Millar for Smyth/the injured Doughty, Stockley for Bogle and Shinnie back in the team improves us. Great performance from Pratley, Fraser couldn't run straight through the middle like he did in the home game.
We did well going forward in the first half. Didn't threaten much in the second half but we were 1-0 up and playing who have a lot of possession. As good as it can look their league position shows it's not getting them results.
For some it won't be enough, for me we're improving. Bowyer's picking more balanced sides that have threats going. Attacking subs came on other than Pearce with a few minutes to go. Only one game but we got through the first half without giving the opposition a 2/3 goal lead.
I said after Saturday I'd stick with 4-4-2 and play Morgan on the right. Good decision from Bowyer to go more defensive with Pratley in the middle. Due to that Shinnie then started in that role on the right. It gives the midfield a good balance with Millar's pace, energy and dribbling ability on one side and Shinnie on the other. He's just as comfortable on the ball but offers a different threat with his passing rather than pace.
I've seen a few negative comments about tonight's win on here and social media. Maybe it's easy to forget that our promotion winning sides in the recent past didn't dominate all game and neither was every win comfortable. Look back there are plenty of examples of grinding out narrow wins. I remember reading comments from opposition fans claiming "Charlton aren't that good" when we were regularly winning games in 11/12. There were flaws in that side but we built a team that was very consistent, strong defensively and could score goals. The 18/19 team under Bowyer had a lot of narrow wins and players we rate now like Dijksteel, Bielik and Aribo were improving as the season went on. In Parker we had a striker who couldn't score, even Bogle's scored twice this season.
We haven't looked like a team at times this season but I've seen positive changes recently, even though there's still room and a need to improve further. It feels to me like all the small improvements here and there are adding up and those fine margins are moving in our favour. There will be bumps along the way but I can see us going on a good run and unless there's another big injury crisis we should have enough to at least make the play-offs. With TS as owner I'm looking forward to seeing how the squad looks once the window has closed. Based on what we've done so far I think we can be confident we'll be stronger than we were at the start of January.
If a new manager had replaced Bowyer from the Rochdale game I think most would be thinking they've made a promising start.
I do agree, but those ground out wins were interspersed with games where we looked like a seventies Brazil. Currently we have the ground out wins, I look forward to the Brazil performances. An I believe we have a squad capable, let’s hope we have the manager capable. The confidence and belief of a winning team will be as important in improved performance, as anything Bowyer and Jackson can do at Sparrows Lane.
I believe it's coming. Up front and in midfield all the pieces are falling into place, although as Curbs said, it's clear some of the new arrivals are still just not up to full fitness, and neither can they yet rely fully on Chuks as a starter. However the key will be to get our two top quality centre-backs back. You can't play like 70's Brazil when you know your centre-backs are basically makeshift.
Glad for the won & the clean sheet, but let's not get carried away with ourselves. We played well for 20 mins, scored & then ran out of ideas. The only reason why we won was because MK Don's like to pass the ball. As someone said, on 90+3 mins they were still passing it around the back & not even contemplating hoofing it forward. Another team on another day would have been causing mayhem in the last 15 & would have probably nicked a goal.....or even 2.
However......it wasn't another team or another day & like Saturday you take tte smooth with the rough. We created enough chances on Saturday to win 2 games but didnt - tonight we created one real chance & scored from it (just like teams have done to us). I'll take the 3 points & move on
Shout out to Millar (my MOTM) followed closely by Pratley & Shinnie. Thought we fell apart on the 2nd half & Aneke, Schwartz & especially Morgan all combined to make us worse. Just hope it was a blip from them as we'll be counting on them over the next 20 games.
You’ve changed your tune from the match thread re Pratley !!!
My post match comments were out of respect of his defensive duties. My match thread comments were to do with his attacking ones.
Comments
We looked comfortable against another of the numerous pony nothing sides this league has produced with such aplomb this season.
Still plenty of room for improvement and we face Pompey 2 wins and 4 losses in their last 6 next up, so they’ll be ripe for picking off if we can keep gathering momentum.
Millar and Pratley the obvious standouts but how well has Deji done in central defence ,why oh why did it take so long to get him in there .
3% Automatic promotion
48% 7th-12th
5% 13th-20th
Btw - they won the FA Cup in 1988.
100%. If we are to replace Pratley then it needs to be with a younger, faster Daren Pratley. The midfield looked balanced tonight with Prately destroying, Millar stretching them, Shinnie busy and creative in pockets of space and JFC box to box. Put a Williams or a Morgan in there instead of Pratley and it would not look nearly as well rounded as a unit. If you want to play without someone like Pratley you need to be utterly on top in a game, but the paradox people don’t seem to understand is that to be utterly on top you need complete control of the midfield, but you very rarely get control of the midfield without someone destroying things the oppositions are trying to do, i.e. a Prately. Bieleik did it last time in this league, it just so happened Bielik was at a different stage in his career and destined for much brighter things. You don't players like Bielik in League 1 a) often and b) for very long at a time and even then he was primarily a defensive player.
However......it wasn't another team or another day & like Saturday you take tte smooth with the rough. We created enough chances on Saturday to win 2 games but didnt - tonight we created one real chance & scored from it (just like teams have done to us). I'll take the 3 points & move on
Shout out to Millar (my MOTM) followed closely by Pratley & Shinnie. Thought we fell apart on the 2nd half & Aneke, Schwartz & especially Morgan all combined to make us worse. Just hope it was a blip from them as we'll be counting on them over the next 20 games.
How ace did the kits look with black shorts? We should wear that configuration more often.
I had to watch on my phone because my power was out and I missed chunks of the game so this is my big contribution.
Curbs said it was player-lead rather than tactical, which you can understand after our recent run. P'raps this is the win that will give them the confidence to keep playing out a bit. I hope so because it's not great game management. You only have to look at their huge rise in xG in the last third of the game to see that it hurt us rather than helped.
I thought it was interesting that Amos' kicks were aimed out wide to Millar when we had Stockley up front. I can't figure this one out. I assume they must have spotted something in analysis, I'd love to know what it was.
JFC & Pratley raise an interesting question for LB with Watson back, I hope that he is rotated for Pratley as JFC seems undroppable at the moment, and don't want a return to the Pratters-Watters midfield, as good as Pratley was against Fraser.
Finally, credit to Lee for the way he set up today. He's still a young and relatively inexperienced manager and he completely nullified MK Dons for the first 60 minutes with the shape and the gameplan. After what they did to us at our place, that shows he's learning.
Pratley's just got wise to that and so has lifted his heels up a bit to exert dominance over Gunter.
Stockley's trying to work out if he's supposed to be getting on his tiptoes as well
Oshilaja's wondering why he's got lumbered with the socks that shrank in the wash, and if they make him look bow-legged. Yes Deji, they do
The clean sheet will have done wonders for confidence. Yes, it was twitchy-bum time in the closing minutes but understandable that players were concerned about conceding after recent games. Now the shutters have gone up again, they will be hard to break down.
Shame about Maddison. He has so much talent but, it seems, something is not wired right. Doubt if we will see much more of him.
Just a special mention for Stockley though...he was a menace and won so much in the air. Think once hes a little fitter he will be a great signing.
First half was good. Pratley did a right job on Fraser and Millar was great but we hardly strung two passes together in the second half which was mostly played at walking pace- we simply waited for MK to equalise but they didn't oblige.
It was mega-negative.
Morgan (who was awful) was playing up front with Schwarz and Chuks (both awful) playing as half backs. It was a bizarre set up but LB got away with it.
MK had 98.3% possession, had two corners and won free headers from both, plus two decent free kick opportunities and struck the post. We could easily have lost 3-1 on another day.
I'm not sure he's that versatile, he's a fox in the box