Myself and Rich Cawley tried something different today - we did a twitter space chatting about the game and season so far. I've uploaded it to the website so you can listen back here.
Thanks to you both for giving up part of your Saturday evening to do this. It was an interesting listen, in particular to hear from Mr. Cawley as a neutral, yet one who understands the situation. Please do more of these if you can.
Something that he said provoked an interesting point in my mind...If you take that game in isolation yesterday was it really that bad? Or is it the general apathy around the club that makes each latest disappointing result equate to the worst performance ever seen right now?
As I reflect I'm not sure yesterday would even register amongst the worst 30 performances I've seen from CAFC since 1982. Forgettable yes, but there were some positives and, dare I suggest, signs of green-shoots in the second half.
As difficult as it is, maybe we just need to be more patient with this new crop...
Closest effort first half was my dad’s attempt at the crossbar challenge!
I’ll be honest I thought “fuck off let your son take it” (was it you? ) and it was a great attempt and he got a round of applause from me , deffo the highlight of the day , especially with some of the real shit attempts we’ve seen in the last year . thanks dad 👍
Cheers oohaah, he couldn’t let me take it cos I’ve a brother who was also with us so we convinced the old man to have a go, he’s 66 this year so he was happy he got it off the floor!
I know it’s fcuked up thinking because a monkey is much much better than nothing but I think psychologically, yesterday was the perfect outcome because had he hit ,if it was me, all I’d have been thinking is ffs would have been £12k if that fella had missed last time and would have done my noggin in but that’s cos I’m always looking for a cloud in every silver lining !!
Myself and Rich Cawley tried something different today - we did a twitter space chatting about the game and season so far. I've uploaded it to the website so you can listen back here.
Thanks to you both for giving up part of your Saturday evening to do this. It was an interesting listen, in particular to hear from Mr. Cawley as a neutral, yet one who understands the situation. Please do more of these if you can.
Something that he said provoked an interesting point in my mind...If you take that game in isolation yesterday was it really that bad? Or is it the general apathy around the club that makes each latest disappointing result equate to the worst performance ever seen right now?
As I reflect I'm not sure yesterday would even register amongst the worst 30 performances I've seen from CAFC since 1982. Forgettable yes, but there were some positives and, dare I suggest, signs of green-shoots in the second half.
As difficult as it is, maybe we just need to be more patient with this new crop...
I think that statistically, these are going to be the worst performances in the club’s history if we stay in this league this year.
I, like many others have tried to be patient, and given I’m 40, I’ve actually been quite lucky in that our best years coincided with me being in my late teens and early twenties, so perhaps I’ve been a bit spoilt in that respect and accept I was very lucky to see the Curbishley days.
The thing is, I don’t need Premier League football to make me happy. I loved the two promotion seasons under Powell and Bowyer, and a lot of the years under Curbs prior to the Prem were okay. It was because it felt like we were building something. With Powell and Bowyer we were building a team you could associate with, decent players and a togetherness (particularly under Bowyer given the situation with RD). With Curbs, he was rebuilding a club that had lost their home, fought tooth and nail to get back there and we saw the Valley, along with the team, gradually being rebuilt. With the current owner, team and situation, I see none of that, and ultimately, I’m just angry. Couldn’t even be bothered to cheer y’day when Stockley scored, because the performances this season have been dire, I don’t really like any of the players (again), and we’re pretty much where we were this time last season, just 3pts better off.
Perhaps the players deserve more time, more patience. I don’t mind affording that to BG as I think he’s a decent bloke and has a plan, it’s just that (and I’m sure I’m not alone), the patience well has been run dry over the last 14 years.
It’s cumulative. I saw a bit of hope and optimism in a lot of fans on here pre-season which is natural. I couldn’t quite bring myself to join in. It’s not helped cushion the blow of yet another pitiful season ahead.
If you can see green shoots then good luck. I see mediocrity, lack of direction and no way out
Not sure that CBT can be AWOL and left out by Garner. It's one or the other surely.....
This bombing of players out of the 18 is becoming a bit of a feature of Garner"s tenure. He did the same with Kirk recently. I wonder if by trying to make a point to raise the standards he is actually cutting off his nose to spite his face. A flyer like CBT on for the last 10 mins yesterday could have brought us fresh impetus and 3 points, especially as by that point Rak-Sak was blowing out of his crack.
The second time in 11 games where he's come out and said that, which is concerning. And JRS for all his skills, is hardly someone who tracks back and does lots of defensive work either,
There's no consistency in team selection or team shape at the moment, and who even features in the 18. This week Morgan isn't even on the bench, but if Garner thought he was that bad last Saturday, why was he the only one of the 3 midfielders to play the full 90 against Barnsley, with both Fraser and Dobson being subbed?
Oxford have the slowest right back in world football so we decide to drop CBT - great!! Leaburn and Stockley up top has to be the way forward until the january window. Not having a threat in behind up top is killing us as much as the passing it round the back boreathon football. 442 and give ourselves half a chance of not getting sucked into a relegation battle - i like egbo - i reckon you could play him in most positions and he'd be better than who is currently there.
There are quite a few people on here debating Charlton's risk of relegation from this division, I think that there is a very real danger of this happening . Last season our three main strikers were out injured, our form plummeted when those injuries happened, since then Sandgaard in his infinite wisdom has removed one of those options in Washington. We are now down to one fit striker, please don't tell me Aneke will be fit, that one striker will be, at some point, suspended, injured or even sold. Sandgaard will not buy or loan replacements so not only has he tied the managers hands behind his back with regards to options up front and systems but he has also given him no real prospect of adequate cover in the event of the inevitable happening.
Oxford have the slowest right back in world football so we decide to drop CBT - great!! Leaburn and Stockley up top has to be the way forward until the january window. Not having a threat in behind up top is killing us as much as the passing it round the back boreathon football. 442 and give ourselves half a chance of not getting sucked into a relegation battle - i like egbo - i reckon you could play him in most positions and he'd be better than who is currently there.
Doucher, do you think Sandgaard will use the window to bring in players ? I think that would only happen if it was cost neutral which means players leaving, that didn't happen in the summer why would it happen in January ?
Think anyone slagging off Garner for this season has picked up all the wrong signals from the past 5 or so years.
When every single manager we try can't get a squad to play above mid-tier League One football. The problem is elsewhere.
Understand what your saying but that first half set up was so disjointed and open defensively I was starting to wonder how a team could be so badly coached.
Second half was better and we did look defensively at least less open. Lavelle was hopeless first half and Payne is not a wide man, did they even practice that formation as it looked like it was slung together 10 minutes before kick off.
Please Garner 4 fucking 4 fucking 2 and give us a chance of winning.
I thought it would be weird if going to a more “open formation” in 4-4-2 would’ve actually made us more solid so I had to check the stats.
Oxford had more shots in the second half than they did in the first. They didn’t have a single shot from inside the penalty area in the first half, they had four of them in the second half.
Oxford enjoyed more attacking opportunities against us after the formation change. It only felt better to us fans because in the first half we offered zero ourselves.
When in fact the first half was a 45 minutes of effectively complete nothing from both sides, aside from one long range strike.
the football is so frustrating and feels so unnatural its painful to watch - i had lots of new faces with me - friends who came to watch our friends boy who was playing for oxford and they all said the same - the turning back and going round the defence with the ball even when in decent positions to go forwards just wasn't right and having no pace up top meant the defence could push up and close down (refuse to say press!!!) what we were trying to do with no fear of the through ball - basic, basic stuff
Oxford have the slowest right back in world football so we decide to drop CBT - great!! Leaburn and Stockley up top has to be the way forward until the january window. Not having a threat in behind up top is killing us as much as the passing it round the back boreathon football. 442 and give ourselves half a chance of not getting sucked into a relegation battle - i like egbo - i reckon you could play him in most positions and he'd be better than who is currently there.
Doucher, do you think Sandgaard will use the window to bring in players ? I think that would only happen if it was cost neutral which means players leaving, that didn't happen in the summer why would it happen in January ?
i'm not saying he will, i'm just talking about what we can do until then - what we can do and will do are 2 different things unfortunately
Think anyone slagging off Garner for this season has picked up all the wrong signals from the past 5 or so years.
When every single manager we try can't get a squad to play above mid-tier League One football. The problem is elsewhere.
Understand what your saying but that first half set up was so disjointed and open defensively I was starting to wonder how a team could be so badly coached.
Second half was better and we did look defensively at least less open. Lavelle was hopeless first half and Payne is not a wide man, did they even practice that formation as it looked like it was slung together 10 minutes before kick off.
Please Garner 4 fucking 4 fucking 2 and give us a chance of winning.
I thought it would be weird if going to a more “open formation” in 4-4-2 would’ve actually made us more solid so I had to check the stats.
Oxford had more shots in the second half than they did in the first. They didn’t have a single shot from inside the penalty area in the first half, they had four of them in the second half.
Oxford enjoyed more attacking opportunities against us after the formation change. It only felt better to us fans because in the first half we offered zero ourselves.
When in fact the first half was a 45 minutes of effectively complete nothing from both sides, aside from one long range strike.
the football is so frustrating and feels so unnatural its painful to watch - i had lots of new faces with me - friends who came to watch our friends boy who was playing for oxford and they all said the same - the turning back and going round the defence with the ball even when in decent positions to go forwards just wasn't right and having no pace up top meant the defence could push up and close down (refuse to say press!!!) what we were trying to do with no fear of the through ball - basic, basic stuff
That annoyed me. Going forward, options to try and get in among their defence, and in three passes, we had the ball back over the halfway line and our back four were playing it around with the entire Oxford team between them and the goal. We did the same all over the pitch, occasionally avoiding the chance to play a winger in and counter attack to play a safe ball to a Charlton player in a nowhere situation, and then lose possession anyway. Points to a huge lack of confidence.
McGillivray 8 solid as a rock. Clare 7.5 so much energy as an attacking RB and nevers makes a mistake.
Deji: 8.5 hope we can hold on to this ball playing CB. Lavelle 7.5 like a young Pearce in a 4 at the back but without the Rugby tackles ! Clayden 7 left footed: enough said. Morgan 9 +1 for the 35 yard screamer that he scored. The keeper didn't move as he assumed the shot would end up in Row Z. JFC 8 one paced but the Liam Brady clone ran the show. Henry 8 king Henry was majestic and no way should he get the chop after this performance. Washington 9 +1 for the he way he took that one on one with the keeper at the end was a great climax to a big win. So pleased that TS gave him the contract. Stockley 8.5 a better player when he has a player close in a two and especially a forward who can run on in behind. CBT 9 The x factor player who went past his markers with ease. Great composure when he see the goalposts.
Sub: Aneke 8.5 superb 30 minute cameo and far to strong for the defenders. Unlucky with winning the crossbar challenge 4 times and hitting the upright twice. Should only be out for six weeks after pulling a muscle doing the tunnel jump.
Think anyone slagging off Garner for this season has picked up all the wrong signals from the past 5 or so years.
When every single manager we try can't get a squad to play above mid-tier League One football. The problem is elsewhere.
Understand what your saying but that first half set up was so disjointed and open defensively I was starting to wonder how a team could be so badly coached.
Second half was better and we did look defensively at least less open. Lavelle was hopeless first half and Payne is not a wide man, did they even practice that formation as it looked like it was slung together 10 minutes before kick off.
Please Garner 4 fucking 4 fucking 2 and give us a chance of winning.
I thought it would be weird if going to a more “open formation” in 4-4-2 would’ve actually made us more solid so I had to check the stats.
Oxford had more shots in the second half than they did in the first. They didn’t have a single shot from inside the penalty area in the first half, they had four of them in the second half.
Oxford enjoyed more attacking opportunities against us after the formation change. It only felt better to us fans because in the first half we offered zero ourselves.
When in fact the first half was a 45 minutes of effectively complete nothing from both sides, aside from one long range strike.
442 made us more threatening, but also more open. Oxford are :-
a) not that good this season b) got knackered in the second half
So didn't exploit the extra space very well.
Yes we were better in the second half, but I would really worry about playing with just 2 in midfield against one of the top 6 teams.
Agreed. Oxford have similar issues to us in terms of scoring goals. 4-4-2 is not the answer anymore. I think we will have to compromise but the solution is probably an unbalanced system with one wing back and one wide man so Leaburn can support Stockley.
No consistency in team selection is hurting us. Consequently, the players selected are not familiar enough with their colleagues style of play. The passing is too slow . Movement is too slow as players are being pressed hard and failing to show themselves for a pass. This gives the opposition plenty of time to get into position to nullify our forward play.
The goal kicks and drop kicks are almost hilarious. No one appears to know what to do. How about mixing it sometimes and going for a quick long kick to start a surprise attack. You can see that they have been told it must be played out from the back regardless. Bad passes to tightly marked players occur often as oppositions are now aware of this and press hard to take advantage. It is not working. We are not getting out of defence quick enough. We are making blunders. Sooner or later we will start conceeding goals.
Yesterday Oxford played quicker and found their players well whilst attacking. They looked a settled side. Garner seems to satisfy himself that because the stats show his system is working it is still the system to pursue - regardless. It is not working. We are not winning. The players look confused and are finding it difficult to employ - all the time! It is like we are playing in a straight jacket with no flexibility. The moves often break down long before we get anywhere near the penalty box and we make very few opportunities to have a shot.
I am beginning to think Garner is not expansive enough with his tatics and I do not like his "teacher-like" dicipline punishing good players by leaving them out of the squad. Yesterday we could have benefitted by bringing on CBT to run at their flagging defence in the last 20 minutes. Just poor decision making to deal with the CBT problem like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
9 points from 11 games 2021 12 points from 11 games 2022 25% improvement Happy days
Gallows humour, magic on a Sunday morning. 20 points from Johnnie Jackson's first 10 games in charge when he realised that 4-3-3 wouldn't work most games with Stockley isolated and Conor Washington out wide.
Of course we Couldn't go higher than mid table that JJ got us too because we weren't good enough and had weaknesses in several positions.
My views as we go into October are the same as they were when we kicked off the season. We are a mid table team unless we get the right combination in our forwards to at least get us out of jail at times with some finishing which full time players should be capable off when you have the luxury of training every day with the tools of your trade: A football not an effing grenade that's needs to be hurled into row z. At the moment we need to improve to finish in the top 12.
I said we would be the draw specialists back in August and we are joint top with 6 draws from the 11 games.
With no Jason Euell at Cafc now was there no one to tell Ben Garner that other when we play Plymouth, Jayden Stockley struggled in a 3 when he is isolated ?
I would liked to have thought that Ben Garner would have worked that out for himself before August was finished. Catch 22 now because Garner was hired because at the interview he and the guitar man were singing the same song about how to play football
No way can Sandgaard sack Garner as it would reflect badly on him.
Garner is partly culpable here and remains on the register of those not seeing at least another striker as being absolutely THE critical signing - he signed lots of other players but didn’t sign THE player most needed - we had many on here who saw a centre half it left back as more critical but for a professional to not push that signing through forcefully is beyond belief
Garner is partly culpable here and remains on the register of those not seeing at least another striker as being absolutely THE critical signing - he signed lots of other players but didn’t sign THE player most needed - we had many on here who saw a centre half it left back as more critical but for a professional to not push that signing through forcefully is beyond belief
You actually think Garner is the single person in charge of recruitment?
He didn't make those decisions. He wanted a striker and wasn't given one.
Comments
Something that he said provoked an interesting point in my mind...If you take that game in isolation yesterday was it really that bad? Or is it the general apathy around the club that makes each latest disappointing result equate to the worst performance ever seen right now?
As I reflect I'm not sure yesterday would even register amongst the worst 30 performances I've seen from CAFC since 1982. Forgettable yes, but there were some positives and, dare I suggest, signs of green-shoots in the second half.
As difficult as it is, maybe we just need to be more patient with this new crop...
Thought he looked a decent player yesterday. Him & Brannigan were strong in the middle of the park.
Also notice how nobody is closing the striker of the ball down, letting them pick and execute their spot at will.
Perhaps the players deserve more time, more patience. I don’t mind affording that to BG as I think he’s a decent bloke and has a plan, it’s just that (and I’m sure I’m not alone), the patience well has been run dry over the last 14 years.
There's no consistency in team selection or team shape at the moment, and who even features in the 18. This week Morgan isn't even on the bench, but if Garner thought he was that bad last Saturday, why was he the only one of the 3 midfielders to play the full 90 against Barnsley, with both Fraser and Dobson being subbed?
12 points from 11 games 2022
25% improvement
Happy days
McGillivray 8 solid as a rock.
Clare 7.5 so much energy as an attacking RB and nevers makes a mistake.
Lavelle 7.5 like a young Pearce in a 4 at the back but without the Rugby tackles !
Clayden 7 left footed: enough said.
Morgan 9 +1 for the 35 yard screamer that he scored. The keeper didn't move as he assumed the shot would end up in Row Z.
JFC 8 one paced but the Liam Brady clone ran the show.
Henry 8 king Henry was majestic and no way should he get the chop after this performance.
Washington 9 +1 for the he way he took that one on one with the keeper at the end was a great climax to a big win. So pleased that TS gave him the contract.
Stockley 8.5 a better player when he has a player close in a two and especially a forward who can run on in behind.
CBT 9 The x factor player who went past his markers with ease. Great composure when he see the goalposts.
Sub: Aneke 8.5 superb 30 minute cameo and far to strong for the defenders. Unlucky with winning the crossbar challenge 4 times and hitting the upright twice. Should only be out for six weeks after pulling a muscle doing the tunnel jump.
The goal kicks and drop kicks are almost hilarious. No one appears to know what to do. How about mixing it sometimes and going for a quick long kick to start a surprise attack. You can see that they have been told it must be played out from the back regardless. Bad passes to tightly marked players occur often as oppositions are now aware of this and press hard to take advantage. It is not working. We are not getting out of defence quick enough. We are making blunders. Sooner or later we will start conceeding goals.
Yesterday Oxford played quicker and found their players well whilst attacking. They looked a settled side. Garner seems to satisfy himself that because the stats show his system is working it is still the system to pursue - regardless. It is not working. We are not winning. The players look confused and are finding it difficult to employ - all the time! It is like we are playing in a straight jacket with no flexibility. The moves often break down long before we get anywhere near the penalty box and we make very few opportunities to have a shot.
I am beginning to think Garner is not expansive enough with his tatics and I do not like his "teacher-like" dicipline punishing good players by leaving them out of the squad. Yesterday we could have benefitted by bringing on CBT to run at their flagging defence in the last 20 minutes. Just poor decision making to deal with the CBT problem like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Look at the top third of the table, all those teams have one or two players capable of winning or turning a game for you. We have nothing.
Gallows humour, magic on a Sunday morning.
20 points from Johnnie Jackson's first 10 games in charge when he realised that 4-3-3 wouldn't work most games with Stockley isolated and Conor Washington out wide.
Of course we Couldn't go higher than mid table that JJ got us too because we weren't good enough and had weaknesses in several positions.
My views as we go into October are the same as they were when we kicked off the season. We are a mid table team unless we get the right combination in our forwards to at least get us out of jail at times with some finishing which full time players should be capable off when you have the luxury of training every day with the tools of your trade: A football not an effing grenade that's needs to be hurled into row z.
At the moment we need to improve to finish in the top 12.
I said we would be the draw specialists back in August and we are joint top with 6 draws from the 11 games.
With no Jason Euell at Cafc now was there no one to tell Ben Garner that other when we play Plymouth, Jayden Stockley struggled in a 3 when he is isolated ?
I would liked to have thought that Ben Garner would have worked that out for himself before August was finished. Catch 22 now because Garner was hired because at the interview he and the guitar man were singing the same song about how to play football
No way can Sandgaard sack Garner as it would reflect badly on him.
I fear the slide into obscurity as much as i am currently resigned to it.
Happy Sunday everyone!
He didn't make those decisions. He wanted a striker and wasn't given one.