The worst thing is the misery can't even be over inside the next week. At least this time next week we will probably know.
Not sure how I feel about that it would have been robbery if we had won it, then it felt like we were robbed!
Watson can't play 3 games back to back. JFC was out on his feet for the last ten minutes. Its a massive worry because we don't have anything like a like for like replacement. I thought it was all over when Inniss won that second header.
Gilbey is like a different player these last 5 or 6 games. The balance DJ gives us was missing tonight. Pearce had his worst game for 2 months.
I understand why people want 2 up top but it's difficult if you want a winger or 2 as well. We don't really have a wide midfielder at all.
We could easily have replaced Watson with Pratley and JFC with Morgan or Shinnie. While neither can do exactly the same role that JFC plays, having fresh legs can make a big difference.
Or 442 with a winger on the left (Millar) and a midfielder like Morgan on the right. Like how Powell used to play with Bradley Pritchard on the right
Or even 352 with Gunter as the right centre back? He can't play as a 2, but can do a job as a right CB, especially as Crewe aren't an aerial side.
When we replace JFC with Morgan or Shinnie we always concede 2 goals.........JFC is irreplaceable within this current squad.
The 442 with 1 winger is an option and we did do it under Bowyer but I don't think either Morgan or Shinnie are that good at it. Maybe Gilbey could play there but he was awful there earlier in the season, I have no idea if his massive improvement is down to position, fitness or other issues.
Well we let in 2 goals tonight, and if Crewe had been better up front, would have conceded more
As noted on Valley Pass on the game, there was no pressure on the ball when Crewe were passing it around, players with more energy might have got closer to them
When it is in your hands with three games to go, you don't give up.
I don't think they'll give up and can't fault the effort just can't see them having some miraculous change in attitude where they can go and grab the jugular.
Just have to hope Portsmouth and Oxford drop points
The marking was like watching my 8 year olds team playing on a Sunday, all watching the ball rather than their player. Crewe had bucket loads of time on the ball, we didn't. I have lost count of the number of games in the last 2 seasons it has felt like that.
3 games, in our hands but realistically we will need to win them all and I suspect we get 4-6 points so miss out. That last minute penalty miss v Oxford.could be the difference.
Shame.
Worried we need a huge overhaul in the summer and not sure we will have the deep pockets to compete with some potentially big teams at this level in the summer. Adkins may have to pull off some very good buys.
Though result was marginally better, performance wise it was very similar to the disjointed, one sided football lesson MK Dons gave us earlier in the season.
That performance has really shocked me tonight. I really thought we’d moved on from those performances.
Well, I feel much the same as I did 3 or 4 weeks ago. There has a been a mild uptick under Adkins, but certainly no major change. We have a consistent shape now, but not a particularly well drilled or effective method of attacking. I don't particularly blame Adkins for that, he hasn't had long or got much to work with, but I do think it's an accurate reflection of where we sit. I honestly feel we have played pretty much the same in every game this season, bar probably 45 mins vs Wimbledon and last Tuesday vs Plymouth, and results have mostly just kind of happened to us, rather than us directly influence them.
We have had two long unbeaten spells this season, but barely turned in a truly good performance in either of those runs. Yes we have battled well at times but so many of our wins could easily have been draws or losses. The opposite goes for many of our defeats and draws - tonight is a prime example, we could easily have won it but somehow didn't. We look like a mid-table side and have done all season. Bowyer was blamed for so much of this, but the undefeated run we've just completed was started under him, and tonight's performance was just the same as many of the games in which we dropped points before Bowyer left. The common denominator is the players.
I think the bottom line is the squad is not quite good enough. We may well still sneak into the play-offs but I just don't see us winning them for a second. That's how I felt in November and it's how I feel now.
This is a piss poor league and I hate having to watch the standard of the football down here (that's no slight on Crewe, they were easier on the eye than us) but, while you can never turn down a promotion, I honestly feel like another year down here would not be the worst thing for us. We just don't feel quite ready as a club for a promotion. TS has laid a lot of good foundations, but the shenanigans of last summer and the wage cap have left a long shadow over the team that we are not quite out of yet. The squad needs an overhaul as it is, trying to rebuild from being a mediocre League 1 team to becoming a decent championship side in one step would be a huge ask. It could well be more realistic and sustainable in the long run to recruit the players needed to turn this side into a genuine League 1 promotion challenger, rather than a potential League One promotion fluker, and then need to take a smaller step to become a decent Championship side.
This all feels a lot like 2010/11 right now. Very much easier said than done to repeat what followed that, but I think that is a more realistic target than getting up now and staying up next season.
The longer this season drags on though we are just delaying our recruitment for next season. It might be healthier to know we aren't in the playoffs and just get busy trying to bag a couple of quality League One signings early doors.
Only read the first page so far but all I'll say is we didn't even deserve to draw that. The players bottled it and it was like watching a Bowyer team again with no clue how to play just sitting deep and hoping we don't concede. Absolutely gutted with the performance most of all.
Feel for Adkins must be hard to build up a team that has been mentally torn down so much by the season up til he took over.
What a load of hog wash. We were on a winning run, players were protected by not playing unless they were 100% fit, we had a long injury list and didn’t have Famewo or Inness available. Did you see the interview with Mathews? Seemed confused that things were different now. Under pressure said it was positive that he likes him! To me we are becoming a soft touch again. We would never had started a game at home with one up front with Bowyer. Ever. Let alone in a must win game.
Fine having a preferred line up - when you have the players that can do that.
Playing a left back up front! Really! I think that is b****cks!
We got away with it and he scored in one game. Were you impressed? Great finish, but did you think he would do it regularly? I said in the preview that I would have played Stockley and Washington up front and Chucks in the hole. Not rocket science- play your best strikers in a need to win game. We should play our strongest players and the system works it own way out.
Is that the left back Bowyer played on the right wing at Hull or a different left back?
Your argument is nonsense firstly Bowyer did play one up front at home, more than once. Secondly if he protected the players so they didn't play unless they were 100% fit Aneke and Washington couldn't/wouldn't have played. You can't argue it both ways.
Were you not one of the fans criticising him for doing that! On a score of 1 to 10 how popular do you think that decision to play him there was received?
More than once he played one up front’ when was that? Even so, you agree that he normally did play two up front. I think that most supporters would agree that Bowyer liked to play two up front home and away. Have you any stats that disprove this?
I believe he took medical advice and played players that took the medical advice that was given. Are you stating that he played both Aneke and Washington against that advice?
Feel for Adkins must be hard to build up a team that has been mentally torn down so much by the season up til he took over.
What a load of hog wash. We were on a winning run, players were protected by not playing unless they were 100% fit, we had a long injury list and didn’t have Famewo or Inness available. Did you see the interview with Mathews? Seemed confused that things were different now. Under pressure said it was positive that he likes him! To me we are becoming a soft touch again. We would never had started a game at home with one up front with Bowyer. Ever. Let alone in a must win game.
Fine having a preferred line up - when you have the players that can do that.
Playing a left back up front! Really! I think that is b****cks!
We got away with it and he scored in one game. Were you impressed? Great finish, but did you think he would do it regularly? I said in the preview that I would have played Stockley and Washington up front and Chucks in the hole. Not rocket science- play your best strikers in a need to win game. We should play our strongest players and the system works it own way out.
Is that the left back Bowyer played on the right wing at Hull or a different left back?
Your argument is nonsense firstly Bowyer did play one up front at home, more than once. Secondly if he protected the players so they didn't play unless they were 100% fit Aneke and Washington couldn't/wouldn't have played. You can't argue it both ways.
Were you not one of the fans criticising him for doing that! On a score of 1 to 10 how popular do you think that decision to play him there was received?
More than once he played one up front’ when was that? Even so, you agree that he normally did play two up front. I think that most supporters would agree that Bowyer liked to play two up front home and away. Have you any stats that disprove this?
I believe he took medical advice and played players that took the medical advice that was given. Are you stating that he played both Aneke and Washington against that advice?
No I am saying you can't defend Bowyer because he didn't play players who weren't 100% fit then critic Adkins for not playing players who aren't 100% fit.
Adkins said he could only get 30 odd minutes out of both of them. You slaged him off for not starting both of them. A load of old hog wash you might say.
Edit: Also Bowyer's justification of playing Maatsen on the right wing and Adam Matthews at left back was to counter Wilkes on their left. Wilkes played on the other side yet Bowyer didn't change it.
Is JFC a top League One CM or are we just so devoid of talent?
Nope, not even our better players are good enough. Can’t wait to see the back of this bunch of useless fuckwits. It’s good that Adkins has had a couple of months to assess the squad, though I doubt it took him that long, and I can’t see many being here next season.
Is JFC a top League One CM or are we just so devoid of talent?
Bit of both. A team with JFC in it could get automatically promoted from this division, but he wouldn't the best player in that team. There's a strong argument to say he is currently our best player, or at least in the top 2 or 3, and that speaks volumes to the quality of the rest of the team.
Feel for Adkins must be hard to build up a team that has been mentally torn down so much by the season up til he took over.
What a load of hog wash. We were on a winning run, players were protected by not playing unless they were 100% fit, we had a long injury list and didn’t have Famewo or Inness available. Did you see the interview with Mathews? Seemed confused that things were different now. Under pressure said it was positive that he likes him! To me we are becoming a soft touch again. We would never had started a game at home with one up front with Bowyer. Ever. Let alone in a must win game.
Fine having a preferred line up - when you have the players that can do that.
Playing a left back up front! Really! I think that is b****cks!
We got away with it and he scored in one game. Were you impressed? Great finish, but did you think he would do it regularly? I said in the preview that I would have played Stockley and Washington up front and Chucks in the hole. Not rocket science- play your best strikers in a need to win game. We should play our strongest players and the system works it own way out.
Is that the left back Bowyer played on the right wing at Hull or a different left back?
Your argument is nonsense firstly Bowyer did play one up front at home, more than once. Secondly if he protected the players so they didn't play unless they were 100% fit Aneke and Washington couldn't/wouldn't have played. You can't argue it both ways.
Were you not one of the fans criticising him for doing that! On a score of 1 to 10 how popular do you think that decision to play him there was received?
More than once he played one up front’ when was that? Even so, you agree that he normally did play two up front. I think that most supporters would agree that Bowyer liked to play two up front home and away. Have you any stats that disprove this?
I believe he took medical advice and played players that took the medical advice that was given. Are you stating that he played both Aneke and Washington against that advice?
No I am saying you can't defend Bowyer because he didn't play players who weren't 100% fit then critic Adkins for not playing players who aren't 100% fit.
Adkins said he could only get 30 odd minutes out of both of them. You slaged him off for not starting both of them. A load of old hog wash you might say.
Edit: Also Bowyer's justification of playing Maatsen on the right wing and Adam Matthews at left back was to counter Wilkes on their left. Wilkes played on the other side yet Bowyer didn't change it.
I am not defending Bowyer. I did not know that Adkins was playing players that weren’t fit or had them on the bench. All the reports said they were fit. Who say they aren’t?
What has that got to do with players who “were mentally torn down” which was the original comment?
Where has this they can only play 30 minutes come from?
Still all bollocks. Play your best strikers when you need to win. End of.
So Chuks and Washington couldn't have started then. Let's put that to bed.
I think anyone with even half a brain knew that. We are trying to pick a side whilst many are carrying knocks and need to try to manage them as best we can. No way could either Chuks or Wash start, even half an hour was a risk, and if we’d brought them on earlier we could have lost either, or both, for the last three games. However, we are nearly now in the last chance saloon and we will have to start taking risks with some of them. I’d start Stockley and Wash on Saturday and leave Aneke to come on if needed, starting Wash and Aneke would be too risky in my opinion.
Yes I was shocked how bad we were and now don't really think we will make the play offs.
Washington playing RM for 15mins was a shocker for me, yep couple strange decisions in past couple game but nothing compared to the blatant not having a clue on the pitch for the past 6months.
Cant wait for this season to end tbh but if you'd told me 3 months ago we'd have it in our own hands for play offs with 3 games to go I'd have bit your hand off.
A tired jaded performance. I see the value of keeping a settled side and not constantly changing it a la Bowyer. However maybe Nigel should have fielded different personnel from the outset to freshen things up a bit.
That was the first bad performance under Adkins and I would say he made some mistakes today. Maybe in hindsight but Stockily just didn’t work out up there. Too isolated. He received zero support from the midfield who I thought were pretty bad all game (excluding Gilbey who played ok). The second major mistake from Adkins was that he persevered too long with what just hadn’t worked in the first half. And that wasn’t in hindsight but pretty obvious for all to see. Bringing on Innis, Washington and especially Aneke made such a difference but it was too late. Even then we almost snatched a win but by then Crewe had their tails up and were full of confidence.Such a difference from the largely inept team we saw in the first half, but we handed that confidence to them on a plate. That truly was a bad performance which we just didn’t deserve to win. But, once we did go 2-1 up I thought we had done it but our ineptitude caught up with us in the end. Now we really have a battle on our hands to get into the playoffs. In my opinion it’s essential we win the next two games to give us any chance at all.
I worry that someday many fans will get as tired of the "always looking on the bright side" statements by Nigel as they did of Lee's "blaming the players" statements. Positivity is good. Always being positive when we lose matches we should not might wear out quicker than some think.
I worry that someday many fans will get as tired of the "always looking on the bright side" statements by Nigel as they did of Lee's "blaming the players" statements. Positivity is good. Always being positive when we lose matches we should not might wear out quicker than some think.
I’m resigned to missing out this season, and tbh, not particularly fussed if we do. We all know that due to the ownership we had, and the wage cap etc, we ended up shopping at Lidl. With TS backing NA in the summer, we can clear out a lot of the driftwood, build a proper, balanced and hungry squad, and hopefully, with crowds allowed back into grounds, really go for an automatic spot next season. A far more appealing proposition than limping over the line to a game that none, or most of us, can’t attend anyway. Obviously I’d still take it, but I have a “meh” attitude towards it.
Comments
As noted on Valley Pass on the game, there was no pressure on the ball when Crewe were passing it around, players with more energy might have got closer to them
Just have to hope Portsmouth and Oxford drop points
3 games, in our hands but realistically we will need to win them all and I suspect we get 4-6 points so miss out. That last minute penalty miss v Oxford.could be the difference.
Shame.
Worried we need a huge overhaul in the summer and not sure we will have the deep pockets to compete with some potentially big teams at this level in the summer. Adkins may have to pull off some very good buys.
That performance has really shocked me tonight. I really thought we’d moved on from those performances.
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/nigel-adkins-determined-charlton-will-not-be-deterred-by-late-crewe-leveller-as-league-one-play-off-race-takes-another-twist/
https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/nigel-adkins-admits-charlton-took-a-gamble-by-playing-ryan-inniss-and-provides-update-on-diallang-jaiyesimi-injury/
More than once he played one up front’ when was that? Even so, you agree that he normally did play two up front. I think that most supporters would agree that Bowyer liked to play two up front home and away. Have you any stats that disprove this?
I believe he took medical advice and played players that took the medical advice that was given. Are you stating that he played both Aneke and Washington against that advice?
Adkins said he could only get 30 odd minutes out of both of them. You slaged him off for not starting both of them. A load of old hog wash you might say.
Edit: Also Bowyer's justification of playing Maatsen on the right wing and Adam Matthews at left back was to counter Wilkes on their left. Wilkes played on the other side yet Bowyer didn't change it.
Still all bollocks. Play your best strikers when you need to win. End of.
It happens.
Yes I was shocked how bad we were and now don't really think we will make the play offs.
Washington playing RM for 15mins was a shocker for me, yep couple strange decisions in past couple game but nothing compared to the blatant not having a clue on the pitch for the past 6months.
Cant wait for this season to end tbh but if you'd told me 3 months ago we'd have it in our own hands for play offs with 3 games to go I'd have bit your hand off.
That truly was a bad performance which we just didn’t deserve to win. But, once we did go 2-1 up I thought we had done it but our ineptitude caught up with us in the end.
Now we really have a battle on our hands to get into the playoffs. In my opinion it’s essential we win the next two games to give us any chance at all.
We all know that due to the ownership we had, and the wage cap etc, we ended up shopping at Lidl.
With TS backing NA in the summer, we can clear out a lot of the driftwood, build a proper, balanced and hungry squad, and hopefully, with crowds allowed back into grounds, really go for an automatic spot next season.
A far more appealing proposition than limping over the line to a game that none, or most of us, can’t attend anyway.
Obviously I’d still take it, but I have a “meh” attitude towards it.