Charlton Athletic v Shrewsbury TownSaturday 13th March 2021 - 3pm Kick-OffReferee: Declan BourneIntroductionSeven points and two clean sheets from the last three games could be regarded as an acceptable return to some sort of form after what has been a rubbish couple of months supporting the Addicks - Whilst our two wins have come against opposition that we should be beating it appears that some type of benchmark is being put together so that the squad can potentially kick on and have a strong end to the season. Form at the Valley hasnt been great this season and was a bit of a relief when we recorded a 2-1 win over Northampton Town on Tuesday night, although it could have been ever sweeter had the Addicks kept what would have been a deserved clean sheet. Of course this recent run though will be for nothing if we dont keep it up; Shrewsbury Town the next visitors to South East London in what is a triple header of back to back games here at what is the home of Football.
The OppositionName: Shrewsbury Town (17th) |
Manager: Steve Cotterill
Ground: The New Gay Meadow
Previous Meeting: Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Charlton Athletic
Before I commence with talking about the opposition its first worth bringing up Steve Cotterill.
Hired by Salop the week before our previous meeting Steve has shown his Managerial experience at this level by dragging his side away from the relegation zone and into mid-table, just four defeats have been recorded since he took charge so you can ask the question as to how they'd be doing if he was in charge from the very beginning of the season. Unfortunately that doesnt paint a true picture of what has gone on under Cotterill, COVID appears to be playing havoc with the Manager who is currently spending a second spell in hospital after once again contracting COVID-pneumonia... Get well soon Steve.
In his place has been Caretaker / Assistant Manager: Aaron Wilbraham who is better known to Addicks as a (now retired) Striker for Milton Keynes and Surrey rivals: Crystal Palace - Results have dropped of late with two defeats and a draw coming in the last four games yet once again the League table doesnt paint a very clear picture, a number of Salop games were called off at the backend of last year meaning that similar to Blackpool they're three games behind everyone else, in fact three wins out of three, including victory on Saturday could at present take them above Charlton in terms of points total. It shows just how much there is left to play for, and that you cant realistically rule anyone out of the Play-Offs with just under two months of football still to play.
Charlton Team NewsPost Blackpool it was confirmed by Lee Bowyer that there would be a player dropped from the squad after a series of mistakes. Given the line ups and substitutions of late you'd have to imagine that Deji Oshilaja is the player mentioned, especially with Darren Pratley taking Akin Famewo's place in the defence on Tuesday night.
Of course Akin was only dropped on Tuesday as a precaution so should now return to the line-up. It means that Bowyer now either has to choose whether to drop one of Ben Watson or Darren Pratley from the team come Saturday or find a way to play them together, one option would be to play both in midfield with the latter able to drop into a three man defence as and when required. Elsewhere and Albie Morgan finally returned to the squad after a four game absense, Bowyer was happy with his performance so could well earn a second start on the trot, although if a more experienced selection is opted for then its either Albie or Liam Millar that you'd expect to see dropped from the starting eleven.
With regards to injuries; Adam Matthews is now the only player on the sidelines and will be absent for up to ten days after picking up a hamstring issue at Oxford - Ashley Maynard-Brewer could now return to the bench having survived a midweek game against Eastbourne Borough, whilst Ryan Inniss is now back in training yet will surely play a couple of U23 games before being seen in the First-Team.
Amos
Gunter - Famewo - Pearce - Maatsen
Watson - Pratley
Washington - Forster-Caskey - Millar
Stockley
Substitutes Bench: Maynard-Brewer | Oshilaja | Morgan | Shinnie | Schwartz | Aneke | Jaiyesimi
PredictionSalop showed back in December that they're a physical team so we should expect to see a similar battle to the one from Tuesday night, our run of form after conceding the first goal is well documented so its important that we do score first. From recent games it appears that we're potentially seeing the sort of organisation in defence from earlier in the season which could bode well for the matches still to come... For a while I've felt that the Play-Offs are beyond us, but as I've said a few times after Tuesday night, if we can win on Saturday and against Bristol Rovers (on Tuesday night), we may just be able to start paying attention to other results around us again.
Ultimately lets do what we need to do, and worry about the League table come May.
Comments
https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/view/6049c15bd15ca/charlton-tv-to-walk-in-a-wilson-wonderland-this-saturday
Wouldnt it have been Curbs who released Wilson?
Amos
Gunter
Famewo
Pearce
Maatsen
Watson
JFC
Morgan
Millar
Aneke
Washington
Subs: AMB, Oshilaja, Pratley, Shinnie, Jaiyesimi, Schwartz, Stockley
They beat us three times in 2018 out of the 4 times we played them. Then we did the double on them last season.
As we managed a 1-1 last time out, I am going for a 2-1.
I expect to see us line up like so:
Gunter - Famewo - Pearce - Maatsen
Morgan - Watson - F.Caskey - Millar
Aneke- Washington
Subs: M.Brewer, Oshilaja, Pratley, Jaiyesimi, Shinnie, Stockley, Schwartz
Personally I'd prefer we go for the following:
Gunter - Famewo - Pearce - Maatsen
Morgan - Shinnie - F.Caskey - Millar
Aneke - Schwartz
Subs: M.Brewer, Oshilaja, Pratley, Watson, Jaiyesimi, Stockley, Washington
This is the team I hope to see, I'd say everyone in this team is in good form and had a run of games except Morgan. Also really hope we have Millar on the Left this game as he is twice as effective on that side!
Gunter | Famewo | Pearce | Maatsen
Watson
Morgan | JFC | Millar
Aneke | Wash
With Matthews injured and Purrington the latest to disappear the back 4 pretty much picks its self.
Against this level of opposition I would pick Watson and JFC then any 2 from Smith, Morgan, Shinnie or Millar.
Then Washington and either Stockley or Aneke.
Defend properly for 100 minutes and we won't not win. We fell asleep during injury time and nearly didn't win on Tuesday, that would have been a travesty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrewsbury_Town_F.C.
Northampton were awful and failed to muster one decent attack but still scored. They had acres of space in midfield despite being unable to control the ball properly and I don't remember one decent move from us or a single aggressive shot on target for the first 75 minutes.
Anyone who believes that seven from nine is anything more than some overdue good fortune, is deluding themselves. We are getting worse not better.
If Pratley and Watson are the solution to shoring up our fragile midfield and protecting the leaky defence, we might as well start picking traffic bollards and cut down on the wage bill.
As an alternative entertainment option I will be live streaming some essential housework and DIY from my home from 3pm. At only nine quid for a full 95 minutes of turgid boredom with zero excitement, passion or skill ==it's an offer every cost-conscious Lifer should seriously consider.
Sign up today at: www.grumpys-turgid-saturday.org.borefest
1-2
Personally, I’d like to see Morgan start, think he deserves that as a reward for Tuesday. Out the team for quite some time and to come in at his age and perform like that was very impressive. Also, he’s by far the happiest everytime we score and enjoy seeing his individual celebrations before joining the group hug.
Gunter, Famewo, Pearce, Maatsen
Watson
Shinnie, JFC, Millar
Stockley, Washington
Another 2-1 win and a few eyebrows are raised again.