Adkins has options with the signings and with Gilbeys and Forster Caskeys eventual return will have two more. The two wide players DJ and Kirk don't seem to have an idea as to what their role is when we haven't got the ball and are not finding space when we do have it. The midfield has been poor for six games and there has been a change of personel in there, for me both of these items mean the system doesn't suit the players or they don't understand it. Adkins will need to prove he is tactically aware now and get his message over to the players and get results.
I think you are dreaming if you think JFC (long term injured) or Gilbey (long covid) will be back firing on all cylinders in time to make us a promotion winning side. They might be back in time, maybe, to save us from relegation.
For me over the last few years, we have played our best football when we play 3-5-2 we now have the players that can play that formation. And I would get Pearce in the team, we look like we are lacking leadership at the back.
We don’t have the wing backs for it. We’d end up with full backs who can’t offer the width and pace going forward or wingers who can’t defend (remember Smyth last season?). Or someone trying to do a job there like Clare.
I disagree, Matthew’s was outstanding when he played wing back previously. Souare is more of a wing back than a full back.
On the counter attack in the Championship? That was a couple of years ago.
Could argue it’s harder in L1 as teams are sitting back in numbers behind the ball.
I think that the Adkins Out noises are premature.My own view is that he needs two seasons before the axe should fall.
I agree that in L1 a Play Off place is expected . I see last season's failure as Bowyer rather than Nige. Sacking him after ten games would be ridiculous.
I suspect that Jackson is being groomed to be his successor , but if Nigel did get dumped then an older head is more likely to be appointed.
Wasn’t at the game yesterday thankfully, but have seen a few comments about Stockley’s role as a captain.
Whatever anyone says about his supposed limitations, he is the sort of player who will typically battle hard against any side.
For those saying he shouldn’t be our captain, can you name someone out of this mediocre, tame lot who would be more suitable?
I’ll wait.
Sadly there isn't a single leader on the pitch in a Charlton shirt. Stockley may battle (though he didn't yesterday), but he's not a leader in the true sense of the word.
Look at the personalities of our previous captains, then look at Stockley's. Miles apart.
Yes been saying this from the beginning. Get your leader sorted out and the team can play for them. Stockley is someone who needs a captain he isn't one himself. Maybe a new leader will emerge. Managers know who the leaders are which is why NA surprised me in his choice here.
Watching Charlton these last 2 seasons my abiding memory will be Watson doing his frustration hand gesture as the opposition begin to celebrate their goal.
Side issue really, but I thought their keeper should've been booked.
The long winded approach from the ref, followed by an extra long verbal caution just added to our frustration and played somewhat into their hands. An early booking for time wasting sorts out all that old malarky.
A ref wont book a keeper that early into the game (and I know we still had over 30 mins to play). It leaves him with nowhere to go if there is another misdemeanor. No ref is going to send a keeper off for 2 yellows that come from time wasting.
I thought during the first half, when there was a break in play for injury, all the players came over for a drink and Adkins was speaking to them individually (as were the backroom team) and it was as plain as anything, that to-a-man, they were ALL blaming someone else. What was clear was that they were not a unit and Adkins eluded to this in his post match critique. It was 11 individuals being slaughtered by a coherent unit of Cheltenham players who all knew their job and how it fitted in with the next.
Whilst watching the build up for their second I started to count the passes from the halfway line. As the ball hit the back of the net it was 8 I think and remarked to my dad, how easy it looked. I said at that point I'd swap our 11 for theirs in a heartbeat. The big problem right now, we are easy to beat and the whole league knows it.
We're very easy and predictable to play against. Teams know they just need their CBs to match up and have a ruck with Stockley & when things are not working for him we tend to have very little else to offer.
Hopefully we go 2 up front and Leko changes that going forward....Cheltenham struggled alot with what he brought to the table 2nd half.
To think some people slagged Lee Bowyer off, this Adkins is a joke!
Bowyer would have blown a gasket after that first half.
The least he demanded was a work effort, that lot today with few exceptions were devoid of any spirit. I have to wonder about Kirk, I've not seen him pass anyone yet and as for tracking back or putting a tackle in forget it. As usual our midfield was toothless and gutless. I don't think Morgan and Watson can play in the same team.
Crewe supporters said this when we signed him, for all the praise for him offensively we shouldn't expect him to track back, he just doesn't do it. Do we actually watch the players that we hope to sign ? Ok stupid question but if Crewe supporters can see it why can't our scouts ?
I firmly believe that the players we signed after the season started were not on our lists before August.
Compare & contrast Dobson & Clare with Arter & Lee. Add in Kirk but I realise that we (supposedly) bid for him in January. But then if we did why didnt we sign him early on like Stockley & MacGillivray. I dont think Crewe caved in but we did due to panic.
The question mark over Adkins was that while his record is good, his best success was quite a while ago.
It used to be that successful managers could have 20 to 30 year long careers but tactics, fitness management, and man management did not change dramatically in that time.
These days the game seems to evolve much more quickly. There are a few exceptions out there but, at EFL level in particular, management seems to be increasingly a young man’s game. There is a worry that he is yesterday’s man.
We are giving Kirk pelters for not producing what we expect from a "winger" but never saw Kirk as a traditional winger like say DJ. At Crewe he played on the wing linking up intelligently with mobile attackers with incisive short passing. He is not suited to receiving the ball with 3 defenders on him and no one moving to receive a pass. He'd be magic playing in Cheltenham's team.
Teams all know that if you score first against us then that is usually job done. We might pull a goal back but not 2.
Anyone want to stick their necks out & predict when we will do the next Golfie ? I think I'll go back through last years matches to see how many it is since the last one.
Countdown to the “Has Adkins lost it thread” some people want a manager change after every loss. The rest of the bowyer outters are just saving face until they finally jump on board
Did anyone else notice that there were 6 minutes added time. And on 95 minutes the ref had a word with their player for wasting time and then blew the whistle on 95:45.
The ref should’ve booked their keeper, zero doubt about it. Stamp it out early and it won’t happen again. 6 minutes of added time. Really? 6 minutes for all the subs, trainers on and time wasting. Should’ve been 10. Wouldn’t have changed the result and we got what we deserved, but such a weak referee. It’s the league we’re in unfortunately.
God, what a depressing set of predictions, and IF it came to be accurate then I'm afraid Nige and his tenure at Charlton could be severed, his position would surely become very precarious, I couldn't see Thomas just sitting on his hands and letting things ride should your prediction ring true , can't afford to lose more than one of these games..
I just think Morgan and Watson can't play the kind of football that this pseudo-4-2-3-1/4-4-1-1 weird-ass system wants of them. Morgan has large weaknesses of defensive positional play, pressing and tackling. Meanwhile, Watson has obvious lack of energy/pace and, quite honestly, doesn't care about results either way. Everything revolves around both of them providing passing options for our defenders and making runs/space for our wide players. When they don't do their job, Famewo/Inniss/<insert defender> go hoofball. Not enough running from our midfielders and they make us look infinitely worse.
As I've already said, I'm not going to have as much bad to say about Kirk/DJ/Stockley when they all barely touched the ball in that first half. It's no coincidence that we look REALLY bad when we don't get them the ball. The system needs to fit the players we have and we have only looked OK vs a dire Crewe side that are likely to go down. Everyone else has run rings round us in midfield, and in the absence of our injured midfielders, a lot of players are looking poor in this system.
NA used the post-match interview to spew a lot of jargon to justify what he was doing, which is dual-purposed. Not only is he trying to justify to us, the fans, he is doing the right thing, this is also a clear message to TS that players let him down in that first half, in particular. I would ditch the 2 defensive midfielders and go with something like this next game:
McG Matthews - Famewo - Elerewe/Pearce - Souare DJ - Lee - Dobson - Kirk Stockley - Leko
Watson can gtfo as far as I'm concerned. Morgan needs a step back. I think Lee and Dobson is the next best option until Arter and Gilbey come in.
Unfortunately, baring a miracle this season is over already. I back TS as he has spent money and the squad is very capable IMO.
HOWEVER, signings like Dobson and Clare leave me scratching my head, we haven’t got the right set up in the management and backroom staff at the top, and it shows.
I think that the Adkins Out noises are premature.My own view is that he needs two seasons before the axe should fall.I agree that in L1 a Play Off place is expected and I see last season's failure was Bowyer rather than Nige. Sacking him after ten games would be ridiculous.
I suspect that Jackson is being groomed to be his successor if Nigel did get dumped then an older head is more likely to be appointed.
Agree that I think it’s too premature for Adkins to go. There’s 40 games left and that’s a lot of football, but if we carry on like this, I’m not giving him 2 seasons. We’d be on a crash course into the non league :-)
Comments
Could argue it’s harder in L1 as teams are sitting back in numbers behind the ball.
I agree that in L1 a Play Off place is expected . I see last season's failure as Bowyer rather than Nige. Sacking him after ten games would be ridiculous.
I suspect that Jackson is being groomed to be his successor , but if Nigel did get dumped then an older head is more likely to be appointed.
Hopefully we go 2 up front and Leko changes that going forward....Cheltenham struggled alot with what he brought to the table 2nd half.
Compare & contrast Dobson & Clare with Arter & Lee. Add in Kirk but I realise that we (supposedly) bid for him in January. But then if we did why didnt we sign him early on like Stockley & MacGillivray. I dont think Crewe caved in but we did due to panic.
These days the game seems to evolve much more quickly. There are a few exceptions out there but, at EFL level in particular, management seems to be increasingly a young man’s game. There is a worry that he is yesterday’s man.
Anyone want to stick their necks out & predict when we will do the next Golfie ? I think I'll go back through last years matches to see how many it is since the last one.
What was it last time....32 games?
- Wycombe- 0 pts
- Gills - 1pta
- Pompey - 0 pts
- Bolton - 0 pts
can’t see much else with our record against Evans
As I've already said, I'm not going to have as much bad to say about Kirk/DJ/Stockley when they all barely touched the ball in that first half. It's no coincidence that we look REALLY bad when we don't get them the ball. The system needs to fit the players we have and we have only looked OK vs a dire Crewe side that are likely to go down. Everyone else has run rings round us in midfield, and in the absence of our injured midfielders, a lot of players are looking poor in this system.
NA used the post-match interview to spew a lot of jargon to justify what he was doing, which is dual-purposed. Not only is he trying to justify to us, the fans, he is doing the right thing, this is also a clear message to TS that players let him down in that first half, in particular. I would ditch the 2 defensive midfielders and go with something like this next game:
McG
Matthews - Famewo - Elerewe/Pearce - Souare
DJ - Lee - Dobson - Kirk
Stockley - Leko
Watson can gtfo as far as I'm concerned. Morgan needs a step back. I think Lee and Dobson is the next best option until Arter and Gilbey come in.
HOWEVER, signings like Dobson and Clare leave me scratching my head, we haven’t got the right set up in the management and backroom staff at the top, and it shows.
All cleavage no tit this team.