Cheltenham Town vs Charlton Athletic
Saturday 15th January 2022 - 3pm Kick-OffReferee: Sebastian Stocksbridge
IntroductionAfter the disappointment of 2021, Charlton fans really should have known better than to hope for an improvement in fortunes when Big Ben chimed to bring in the New Year - Johnnie Jackson has so far been unable to replicate the form we saw when he was caretaker manager, and our American / Danish owner must be wondering why he bothered change the job title. We travel to Cheltenham Town this weekend, and after the trip to Crewe on Wednesday night, we're definitely not at the races - This really will be a season to focus on the cup.
The OppositionName: Cheltenham Town (13th) | Manager: Michael DuffGround: Whaddon RoadPrevious Meeting: Charlton Athletic 1-2 Cheltenham TownWhilst Wednesday night wasn't a great performance by any means, the worst game of the season surely had to have happened at the Valley as we hosted newly promoted: Cheltenham Town - Run ragged for the majority of the game, there was no question of who would be taking the three points in that game. Whilst the Addicks perhaps had the better of the second half, it was once again the same old story... Concede first and we might somehow get a draw, go 2-0 down and its pretty much good night.
Credit though has to go to Cheltenham for their performance in the first half of that game, they left the Charlton players chasing their tails, and have had a pretty solid return to League One for the first time since 2009 - The Robins find themselves a place above their visitors this weekend, yet Michael Duff and his men have struggled in recent weeks; Cheltenham's last win came towards the end of November (a 2-0 victory at Gillingham), and have since picked up just four points in the last seven games.
In terms of their players... local boy: Alfie May is their top scorer with ten goals. Raised in Gravesend, he'd cut his teeth in front of goal for the likes of VCD Athletic, Erith & Belvedere and Hythe Town, scoring 37-goals in 45-games for the latter which would earn a dream move to Doncaster Rovers in 2017 - Conceding goals appears the issue for the Robins though, whilst they've as many goals themselves as the Addicks, they let in a further thirteen. Not helped by the fact that they lost Ben Tozer to big spending Wrexham.
Charlton Team NewsWell those who have been picked in recent games haven't exactly showered themselves in glory have they - Once again we're seeing a group of players who for some reason, struggle to keep up the playing intensity for long periods, and we're now seeing a similar dip in form to the one we'd witness under both Lee Bowyer and Nigel Adkins.
Thankfully our injured players do appear to be returning for selection: Ryan Inniss put in an impressive display against Norwich City last time out so could come into the heart of the defence. Albie Morgan, another who at a push was one of the shining lights from Wednesday night, he too could get a rare start, but unfortunately as we know... consistency is a huge issue for the academy graduate.
On the other hand it was great to see Mason Burstow with his first league goal against Crewe, he would no doubt have started against Crewe, but for the fact that he was struggling with cramp - You'd hope that he could now come back into the starting line up, especially with very few striking options. Of course we could yet see Stephen Henderson remaining between the sticks; Craig MacGillivray was absent for our last game, and with no news about an impending birth, that absence could well continue.
Henderson
Clare - Inniss - Famewo
Dobson
Leko - Gilbey - Morgan - Purrington
Washington - Burstow
Substitutes Bench: Harness - Matthews - Pearce - Lee - Jaiyesimi - Blackett-Taylor - Davison
PredictionWednesday night saw a Charlton side losing to a Crewe team for the first time in their history.
Can they follow it up and become the first Charlton side to record any type of result against a Cheltenham side, or are we too worried about the League proving too much of a distraction for our EFL Trophy exploits... I'll leave it at that.
Comments
Change have to be made. Bring in some players in from the cold and give them a chance. Some will disagree for sure but I would have Kirk starting.
System in my opinion needs to change.
Leko, for me, cant start..he was just so very bad.
Going for the Curbs mentality...draw to halt the slump and try to push on.
MacG/Harness
Matthews-Inniss-Famewo-Purrington
BT-Clare-Morgan-Kirk
Washington-Burstow
We're yet to see the flexibility from him that we need to grow.
No idea who will win this one.
Really need to pull something out the bag here.
2-0 Cheltenham
It has a win for us written all over it so......................
Cheltenham 3 Charlton 1
It's a sign of the times when a club like ours is struggling to match small clubs like Cheltenham Town, But remember, clubs like Leeds spent years struggling to get out of the third tier. Perhaps we need some patience during uncertain times .. anyway enough philosophising, Cheltenham haven't won for a while, have a terrible goal difference and yet are still one point better off than us. we could do with a win, I am not convinced we'll get one, but ..
Cheltenham Town 1 v CAFC 2
I genuinely have no clue how this one ends, it could be a 2-0 Loss or we could win 0-3, nothing would shock me, these players have shown they can do it (Plymouth at home, Sunderland away, Ipswich at home). I really do despair sometimes.
A season in league one, being dead in the water by January is next level depressing.
Good preview as always. If I had to I’d say 1-1 Washington pen.
Stockley`s absences appear to have a big negative affect on our performances and results eg. 3 week red card suspension and the current period due to the hip injury.
We dont know yet if he will be in the squad for Saturday after reports that his problem may not be as serious as first thought. However, if he has not been training, he is unlikely to start.
I`m hoping JJ has galvanised his side, following the disappointing display on Wednesday, to give it "their all" again and get the result we all need.
I think that, after three consecutive league defeats, the side needs to be shaken up. Subject to availability, MacGillivray and Inniss will start. DJ and (in particular) Leko were poor and I'd bring in Matthews and Burstow. Lee also looks as if he could do with a rest and Morgan is the most likely replacement, even though he's more effective in a deeper role.
Scrappy, lacking quality and a bit desperate.
Would be great though, to see an end product if we manage to string some passes together that we managed at times vs Norwich.
Happy we've got tickets and to be watching from a terrace as a novelty.
Just disappointed not to be in the away end.