Like many have said Dempsey was head and shoulders above our midfield second half. What we would give to have someone in the middle who is prepared to run at teams like he did. We had two players in Morgan and Watson who can knock it about and play the odd good pass but can’t prompt an attack. CBT showed what could be achieved first half and faded second. I know he was signed after the season started, but what fitness training did the rest of the squad do pre season. To me we look really unfit.
Interesting that Lavell has played the last 3 on the spin and wasn’t with us preseason. whatever you think of Bowyer we were amongst the fittest squads in the division under him. We seem to have players blowing out of their arse after one half of football. I am not even confident we will finish top half currently.
- There were some really encouraging aspects in that opening 30 mins and had that instead been the last 30 mins, everyone would be feeling much more chipper
- There seem to be a fair difference in reflective mood of those at the game and those watching on TV. I think when you are there, it’s a pretty depressing place and second half you could FEEL the step up in energy from them, the slow down in confidence and movement from us. You absorb that so much better at the game than you can from TV. It was so frustrating.
- It’s great to see a player like CBT be given an opportunity and actually taking it. So often over the last couple of years when trying to search for an improving formula we’ve seen a player do ok as a sub, be given a starting chance, and then not really take it. Was great seeing a player want to be positive and direct when he got the ball.
- Elliot Lee if played properly and give the right support will prove a very good player this season
- Adkins has now got himself in a bit of a quandary with what to do with Stockley.
I do not agree or disagree with everything some of our most negative fans have said tonight. tonight was possibly our best performance after the first home game against Sheffield Wednesday. and Crewe was the worst team we have played so far and not Gillingham.
However if we lose our next two games Adkins should be Sacked.
But I honestly think we could beat Portsmouth on Saturday if we play for 90 minutes like we did for 45 minutes tonight. maybe that’s I big ask but I still think it’s possible.
That's the problem right there - "if we play for 90 minutes like we did for 45 minutes tonight." We haven't played for 45 minutes like that all season and Fatty Arbuckle sussed it out and counteracted it at half-time. I fully expect Adkins to start with Watson and Morgan in front of the back-four again and if Pompey press us there we will struggle to create anything once again. Groundhog Day.
Since the beginning of time, wingers blow hot and Cold ( Finney and Matthews !!) especially if they play in the 3rd tier or lower, if you let me finish.
We have purchased 4 possible wide men and it's hard to see how more than one can be on the pitch because all 4 of them are poor when they don't have the ball.
Charlie kirk hasn't got going yet on the ball, DJ had a good first half against Wigan but a shocker against Cheltenham. CBT is looking very lively and is trying to impress either Cafc or anyone else for a contract in 3 months time. 9 out of 10 performance from him last night in the 1 half where he was the star man. The Gills lad was a RB playing at LB and a two footed winger highlighted why that is never a good idea unless the opposition are utter tosh and can't exploit it.
Leko is a tricky player but can out fox himself and can play anywhere across the front; Not a winger per se.
We took steps forward 1st half and steps backwards 2nd half.
Always be better that the guy in the other dug out. Sometimes luck plays a part but skill in selection is paramount in the starting 11 and the 11 who finish the match.
I'll just be happy to get a few wins and finish mid table this season. We're so bad at present it's just embarrassing - to be this clueless in L1 is some achievement.
Fuck off soppy bollocks. This is going to go down like a lead balloon. He aint got a scooby, well intentioned and thanks for taking the club on but fuck me you have zero clue.
Wow
I dont mean literally fuck off as he seems a good guy but come on a point against Gillingham... onwards and upwards FML. This is an absolute joke and we are a joke of a club.
Will post once I manage to get home. Currently locked outside Gillingham station. Golfie is about to go into a rant
Get over yourself mate
If you had been there you would agree with me.
Thrre were hundreds of people outside Gillingham station as they had locked the doors so no-one could get inside.
I mean wtf ?? Has nobody learnt anything from Hillsborough ? Good job there wasn't more fans.....or drunken rowdy ones or it could have really got nasty.
I really would like to ask someone in authority what they were thinking. What was the rationale for locking hundreds of people (whether they were football fans is completely immaterial imo) outside of a train station at 10pm. When the doors were finally unlocked there was an almighty scrum & someone could really have got seriously hurt.
The only thing I can think is that they wanted empty trains to be there waiting so we could all board as soon as getting onto the platforms rather than overcrowding the 2 main platforms in use for London bound trains - but then all they did was move the problem from inside the station to outside.
What didn't happen was any communication to let us know this. Nothing.
As I said - Hillsborough on a smaller scale.
And apart from all that - again civil liberties being totally trodden on. What makes it right that I cant enter a train station at 10pm to get home ?
I stand in a queue outside locked platform gates, every single charlton home game.
C'mon Golfie
You don't still believe we have civil liberties, do you?
Fuck off soppy bollocks. This is going to go down like a lead balloon. He aint got a scooby, well intentioned and thanks for taking the club on but fuck me you have zero clue.
Wow
I dont mean literally fuck off as he seems a good guy but come on a point against Gillingham... onwards and upwards FML. This is an absolute joke and we are a joke of a club.
How do you say 'fuck off' in a non-literal sense?
You just change the tone of your voice to indicate you're slightly exasperated when saying it.
Taking the positives from the game, we bossed it the first half with movement and real threatening pace. Lee was at the centre of everything and CBT was showing that blistering pace. The goal was top notch - love that chest on by CBT and Lee running flat out to get on the end of the cross. Full backs were providing balance and stability at the back and Watson was directing things nicely in the middle.
The pundits in the studio were saying it and I am sure NA said it in the dressing room - "just keep it going as it is lads".
The trouble is that Gillingham had other ideas and I think we all knew what to expect including the same blokes in the studio. That they would throw the kitchen sink at us in the opening 15 mins of the second half. They did just that and we began to buckle. Dempsey was storming forward in yards of space and their big men were all over our defence. One slip of concentration and another shot across our keeper and it's one all.
A team which has played together as a unit for some time can weather this kind of frantic action. But our lot are still relative strangers and it shows. Also CBT, although superb for most of the first half, was getting leggy by half time and should have been replaced (it has now come to light that Washington was actually injured and thus didn't come out for the second half). Leko is fine as an attacking alternative, but what was needed at the beginning of the second half were fresh legs in the middle of the park to help stem the forward runs of Dempsey and co. Oh to look to the bench and see Pratley ready and waiting. There wasn't even a Dobson.
We can take heart from that first half (and the fact we nearly snatched it near the end) and, with CBT and Lee in particular gaining full match fitness, hope for better things in the coming weeks. But we need a settled side with a familiar playing style. If we can attain that then we will be better equipped to deal with the likes of Gillingham. If not, then we may well see changes of management personnel.
Just a point on their goal. Leaving aside the criminal defending, only Lee in our side would have scored from a similar opening. The rest of our lot shoot like my Grandmother.
Maybe he needs to play a partner for Stockley and not stick with a formation that is struggling to deliver. One winger only unless the track back showing blood and guts.
The issue here is that we are overloaded with wingers now. But injuries occur, as we know all too well.
Go there Gilbs! Great to see some form of leadership. In today's world of social media, all of our players seem to have gone missing from interacting with fans.
That 1on1 that Washington had was exactly the clearcut chance we hope one of our five forward/left wingers would get and make count.
Can you blame them? Sandgaard posts during and after every game and gets told what to do, gets a bit of grief and ends up with people calling him Guitar Boy or David Brent and criticising him for trying to be positive and not slagging off his staff in public. Adkins gets complaints after every press conference for the crime of not saying what they want and people are apparently sick of the sound of his voice. When Albie Morgan posted that he was happy a former youth team player scored for Bournemouth the hand-wringing could be heard from space. You can't really win as a person in sport posting on social media; it's not what you post, it's the mood of the fanbase when you post it that you have to be wary of and that's pretty hard to manage.
Did well first half, but we really needed that 2nd goal as we are not good enough to hold on for a 1-0 win. We looked better without Stockley. Great to see CBT taking on players and Watson had his best game for us.
A better opposition would have beaten us though - not sure what was said at half time but we came out a totally different side. Really disappointing result again.
Did well first half, but we really needed that 2nd goal as we are not good enough to hold on for a 1-0 win. We looked better without Stockley. Great to see CBT taking on players and Watson had his best game for us.
A better opposition would have beaten us though - not sure what was said at half time but we came out a totally different side. Really disappointing result again.
Our fitness levels are shocking.
They have been for a long time, for a while it was masked by having a number of superb natural athletes.
We still don't have a strength and conditioning coach do we? A relatively small investment would make such a difference.
So can we conclude that Stockley is part of the problem? Sounds like Davison came and showed for the ball, which Stockers never does, and we looked more dynamic for it.
Just a point on their goal. Leaving aside the criminal defending, only Lee in our side would have scored from a similar opening. The rest of our lot shoot like my Grandmother.
Good point on shooting. This was a persistent niggle from last season. Nobody appears capable of hitting the ball cleanly. At least it can be said that there were some efforts on goal from outside the area in this game, but they were pretty lame.
From the interview with NA after the game, it became worryingly apparent to me that the system ain't for changin'. He'll die on the hill of the 4-2-3-1, but it's way too dependent on requiring better than average (for L1) players in certain roles, notably the central midfielders. I honestly think he thought Clare and Dobson were the answer, with Morgan in the 10, and we had to beg/borrow/steal unfit players to fix the issue. The concept of Stockley (and even Kirk/DJ) being much weaker than we thought, in my eyes, is linked heavily to this.
All things being equal, I'll take a 1-1 away to Gillingham. We've been poor vs them in recent years. However, I still find the awful football where we can't deal with average L1 sides pressing our defenders/midfielders pretty inexcusable. You could have had the Man City front line last night and they'd have struggled with the complete lack of service for the bulk of the game. It's just really dire.
Everything is not lost - Oxford lost 8 of their first 10 last season, but then went 13 games unbeaten and ended up 6th. Bottom of the table at the end of October. With the squad we have, we can still rapidly progress. Hope is not yet extinguished for me, but we need FULL games of the first half last night. This is a tough, tough league that bites and claws for every scrappy little point, and we need to show more fire.
It’s all just so depressing to consider that our season could be over before it really began. If you told me at this moment that we’ll finish the season 14th in the table I’d bite your hand off.
From the interview with NA after the game, it became worryingly apparent to me that the system ain't for changin'. He'll die on the hill of the 4-2-3-1, but it's way too dependent on requiring better than average (for L1) players in certain roles, notably the central midfielders. I honestly think he thought Clare and Dobson were the answer, with Morgan in the 10, and we had to beg/borrow/steal unfit players to fix the issue. The concept of Stockley (and even Kirk/DJ) being much weaker than we thought, in my eyes, is linked heavily to this.
All things being equal, I'll take a 1-1 away to Gillingham. We've been poor vs them in recent years. However, I still find the awful football where we can't deal with average L1 sides pressing our defenders/midfielders pretty inexcusable. You could have had the Man City front line last night and they'd have struggled with the complete lack of service for the bulk of the game. It's just really dire.
Everything is not lost - Oxford lost 8 of their first 10 last season, but then went 13 games unbeaten and ended up 6th. Bottom of the table at the end of October. With the squad we have, we can still rapidly progress. Hope is not yet extinguished for me, but we need FULL games of the first half last night. This is a tough, tough league that bites and claws for every scrappy little point, and we need to show more fire.
I agree with every word of this bar one. Replace he with "someone" and its bang on.
Evans may be annoying but he is right that the riches Adkins has in his squad makes him very lucky. Evans may be envious of this but of course it is a different pressure to be under. We all know Adkins should be doing so much more with his squad.
So can we conclude that Stockley is part of the problem? Sounds like Davison came and showed for the ball, which Stockers never does, and we looked more dynamic for it.
Apart from Stockley making us a lot more one dimensional, the main thing I dislike about him is he always seems to be moaning at other players. Can’t help your confidence when your captain is giving you an earful every time you put a foot wrong.
Just seen the Gillingham goal again .. so unlucky hits the post cones out hits Purrington who know nothing about and goes in … that’s what happens when things not quite going your way …
I agree, but they hit the post later with the keeper beaten and that went our way.
And denied a penalty for a clear handball by Watson.
From the interview with NA after the game, it became worryingly apparent to me that the system ain't for changin'. He'll die on the hill of the 4-2-3-1, but it's way too dependent on requiring better than average (for L1) players in certain roles, notably the central midfielders. I honestly think he thought Clare and Dobson were the answer, with Morgan in the 10, and we had to beg/borrow/steal unfit players to fix the issue. The concept of Stockley (and even Kirk/DJ) being much weaker than we thought, in my eyes, is linked heavily to this.
All things being equal, I'll take a 1-1 away to Gillingham. We've been poor vs them in recent years. However, I still find the awful football where we can't deal with average L1 sides pressing our defenders/midfielders pretty inexcusable. You could have had the Man City front line last night and they'd have struggled with the complete lack of service for the bulk of the game. It's just really dire.
Everything is not lost - Oxford lost 8 of their first 10 last season, but then went 13 games unbeaten and ended up 6th. Bottom of the table at the end of October. With the squad we have, we can still rapidly progress. Hope is not yet extinguished for me, but we need FULL games of the first half last night. This is a tough, tough league that bites and claws for every scrappy little point, and we need to show more fire.
I agree with every word of this bar one. Replace he with "someone" and its bang on.
Ultimately, NA must have had a decent level of buy in to this, so for me, there's a fair amount of responsibility here. He's the one who's going to lose his job if it goes horribly wrong and he's been around the block long enough to know this is how management works.
Two were brought in early as a cornerstone of our purchases. It's very telling that they came in when they did - if any players felt like NA-driven ones, it was those two for me. He bangs on about having players early in pre-season, and in a system that revolves around dynamic midfields, SURELY these were the key pieces. Particularly without JFC and also Gilbey being out. I'm just not willing to give NA a free pass to divert blame elsewhere. The end of window buying all felt like it happened because of the Clare/Dobson/Morgan trio not working, plus that trio failing making the others look much worse.
We'll never know truly goes on here, and tbh, its quite a bit speculation looking for people to scapegoat. If I'm the manager, that is all on me, regardless of any convolution about how the proposed players get to me. Maybe I'm naïve about things, but the manager will pick the 11.
Comments
Washington useless in a 1on1 situation.
But there again I am 67, whereas Watson is...surely not?
CBT showed what could be achieved first half and faded second. I know he was signed after the season started, but what fitness training did the rest of the squad do pre season. To me we look really unfit.
whatever you think of Bowyer we were amongst the fittest squads in the division under him. We seem to have players blowing out of their arse after one half of football.
I am not even confident we will finish top half currently.
- There were some really encouraging aspects in that opening 30 mins and had that instead been the last 30 mins, everyone would be feeling much more chipper
- There seem to be a fair difference in reflective mood of those at the game and those watching on TV. I think when you are there, it’s a pretty depressing place and second half you could FEEL the step up in energy from them, the slow down in confidence and movement from us. You absorb that so much better at the game than you can from TV. It was so frustrating.
- It’s great to see a player like CBT be given an opportunity and actually taking it. So often over the last couple of years when trying to search for an improving formula we’ve seen a player do ok as a sub, be given a starting chance, and then not really take it. Was great seeing a player want to be positive and direct when he got the ball.
- Elliot Lee if played properly and give the right support will prove a very good player this season
- Adkins has now got himself in a bit of a quandary with what to do with Stockley.
We have purchased 4 possible wide men and it's hard to see how more than one can be on the pitch because all 4 of them are poor when they don't have the ball.
Charlie kirk hasn't got going yet on the ball, DJ had a good first half against Wigan but a shocker against Cheltenham. CBT is looking very lively and is trying to impress either Cafc or anyone else for a contract in 3 months time. 9 out of 10 performance from him last night in the 1 half where he was the star man. The Gills lad was a RB playing at LB and a two footed winger highlighted why that is never a good idea unless the opposition are utter tosh and can't exploit it.
Leko is a tricky player but can out fox himself and can play anywhere across the front; Not a winger per se.
We took steps forward 1st half and steps backwards 2nd half.
Always be better that the guy in the other dug out. Sometimes luck plays a part but skill in selection is paramount in the starting 11 and the 11 who finish the match.
You don't still believe we have civil liberties, do you?
The pundits in the studio were saying it and I am sure NA said it in the dressing room - "just keep it going as it is lads".
The trouble is that Gillingham had other ideas and I think we all knew what to expect including the same blokes in the studio. That they would throw the kitchen sink at us in the opening 15 mins of the second half. They did just that and we began to buckle. Dempsey was storming forward in yards of space and their big men were all over our defence. One slip of concentration and another shot across our keeper and it's one all.
A team which has played together as a unit for some time can weather this kind of frantic action. But our lot are still relative strangers and it shows. Also CBT, although superb for most of the first half, was getting leggy by half time and should have been replaced (it has now come to light that Washington was actually injured and thus didn't come out for the second half). Leko is fine as an attacking alternative, but what was needed at the beginning of the second half were fresh legs in the middle of the park to help stem the forward runs of Dempsey and co. Oh to look to the bench and see Pratley ready and waiting. There wasn't even a Dobson.
We can take heart from that first half (and the fact we nearly snatched it near the end) and, with CBT and Lee in particular gaining full match fitness, hope for better things in the coming weeks. But we need a settled side with a familiar playing style. If we can attain that then we will be better equipped to deal with the likes of Gillingham. If not, then we may well see changes of management personnel.
IF we can get a full game from CBT @ full speed then that could be interesting.
Our game decayed as he exhausted himself I thought.
Leaving aside the criminal defending, only Lee in our side would have scored from a similar opening.
The rest of our lot shoot like my Grandmother.
The issue here is that we are overloaded with wingers now. But injuries occur, as we know all too well.
We still don't have a strength and conditioning coach do we? A relatively small investment would make such a difference.
All things being equal, I'll take a 1-1 away to Gillingham. We've been poor vs them in recent years. However, I still find the awful football where we can't deal with average L1 sides pressing our defenders/midfielders pretty inexcusable. You could have had the Man City front line last night and they'd have struggled with the complete lack of service for the bulk of the game. It's just really dire.
Everything is not lost - Oxford lost 8 of their first 10 last season, but then went 13 games unbeaten and ended up 6th. Bottom of the table at the end of October. With the squad we have, we can still rapidly progress. Hope is not yet extinguished for me, but we need FULL games of the first half last night. This is a tough, tough league that bites and claws for every scrappy little point, and we need to show more fire.
Two were brought in early as a cornerstone of our purchases. It's very telling that they came in when they did - if any players felt like NA-driven ones, it was those two for me. He bangs on about having players early in pre-season, and in a system that revolves around dynamic midfields, SURELY these were the key pieces. Particularly without JFC and also Gilbey being out. I'm just not willing to give NA a free pass to divert blame elsewhere. The end of window buying all felt like it happened because of the Clare/Dobson/Morgan trio not working, plus that trio failing making the others look much worse.
We'll never know truly goes on here, and tbh, its quite a bit speculation looking for people to scapegoat. If I'm the manager, that is all on me, regardless of any convolution about how the proposed players get to me. Maybe I'm naïve about things, but the manager will pick the 11.