Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Very modest of you.
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
I'm glad that we seem to have ditched the 'short goal kick at all costs' approach, now only doing so if it's actually on. Perhaps no surprise the defence are looking more confident now.
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Very modest of you.
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
Inniss simply watched a long throw go over his head and into the 6 yard box yesterday, but it's the injuries that hold him back.
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Very modest of you.
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
Inniss simply watched a long throw go over his head and into the 6 yard box yesterday, but it's the injuries that hold him back.
Presumably someone else cleared it. Did you see how many aerial clearances Inniss made? He was absolutely dominant
Aneke highlights what the right type of striker could do in Garner's preferred 4-2-3-1. That touch on to CBT for our 4th was sublime. We looked a much more threatening and cohesive unit with him up top, linking and causing problems.
Hope we can shift Stockley in Jan and bring in two better-suited strikers with the money. (Doubt this will happen, though).
Minutes per goal: Aneke - 8 Leaburn - 111
Stockley - 529
Wow, I missed that flick on by Aneke to CBT for our 4th.
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Very modest of you.
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
Inniss simply watched a long throw go over his head and into the 6 yard box yesterday, but it's the injuries that hold him back.
Yes I saw that. Both he and Stockley hesitated because each thought the other was going for it I think.
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Did you see that moment in the second half when Inniss new he has committed a foul and then just stood there waiting for the ref to blow up. oh! and their play got into the box need I think Dobson to tackle him, or when Inniss gets the ball at his feet, he just hangs about with it not knowing what to do other than put in an under hit so called pass. He is a league one player at best.
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Did you see that moment in the second half when Inniss new he has committed a foul and then just stood there waiting for the ref to blow up. oh! and their play got into the box need I think Dobson to tackle him, or when Inniss gets the ball at his feet, he just hangs about with it not knowing what to do other than put in an under hit so called pass. He is a league one player at best.
He was passing to teammates though. He quite often found Leaburn or JRS with forward passes too. The slander is ridiculous
Good to walk out of The Valley with a feeling of positivity after such a dark cloud over the club in recent weeks.
Playing two up top leaves us a bit more open in midfield but it gets Miles Leaburn on the pitch and is immensely better than seeing an isolated and labouring Stockley being dominated by two big centre-halves every game. It puts a big responsibility on the two central midfielders - and Dobbo, in particular - but at least we’re finally giving the opposition something to think about.
After a very bright start and the two early goals, Exeter got right back into the game, moving the ball well and outnumbering us in midfield, although they lacked any end product until the excellent strike from Stansfield.
We started the second half well but I was worried when we couldn’t get a third goal during our 15 minute spell of dominance and it looked as if Exeter would get back on level terms. We became particularly flakey when Leaburn went off and Albie Morgan slotted into a completely unsuited advanced role, although the whole team seemed to lose it for a period. Fortunately, the other later substitutions worked well for a change, with Clare and Blackett-Taylor injecting fresh energy and pace down the left. The late goals from Aneke and Payne’s thumping header sealed a very entertaining, if occasionally nervy, evening.
We did ok defensively and Egbo was the standout performer in the back four, with his pace, athleticism and attacking verve down the right, especially in the first half. He really has a strong start to his Charlton career since recovering from his pre-season injury. In midfield, Dobson had an excellent game and Fraser also did well alongside him. He occasionally gets caught in possession in dangerous areas but that is, in part, because of the lack of movement and options in front of him.
Up front, Leaburn was boss and we just have to hope his injury isn’t serious. The concern is that some club will wave a cheque at the owner in January and the lad will be sold post-haste, as Sandgaard seeks to reduce the losses. Rak-Sakyi was dangerous, with his ability to go past defenders at will, even if the final ball wasn’t always the best. Kirk was deeply unimpressive and Blacket-Taylor - in complete contrast to his terrible cameo on Saturday- contributed more in 15 odd minutes than Kirk has done in the last two games. Kirk can certainly cross a ball if we can get it to him in the final third but he contributes nothing defensively, is largely static when teammates are in possession and never attempts to beat the full-back on the outside - as such, he is totally predictable and a passenger for most of the game.
The win takes a lot of heat of Ben Garner, whose recent comments tend to underscore the fact that he’s unsurprisingly feeling the pressure. Let’s hope we can back up this result with some more wins this month, although I think that will depend, to a significant extent, on the fitness of Leaburn and Aneke for his cameos off the bench.
The impressive stat is Chuks Aneke scores a goal every 90 Minutes in League 1 for Cafc over his two spells at Cafc. The Least impressive stat is the time he has been unavailable since coming back from Birmingham.
I said Aneke and CBT were X factor players but others said they are Y factor players.
"Y did we sign Aneke back" and Y did we sign a player that Tranmere didn't want in CBT !
It appears they are probably better from the bench for fitness and impact reasons against tiring defenders.
I agree with Ben Garner, that we are about 6 points shy because of the injuries to Aneke.
Has anyone mentioned Stockley receiving the ball near the edge of the six yard box with a clear goalscoring opportunity on his left foot and opting to... Pass?
Has anyone mentioned Stockley receiving the ball near the edge of the six yard box with a clear goalscoring opportunity on his left foot and opting to... Pass?
Think that’s slightly harsh, it was quite wide too. He should have drilled it across rather than cutting it back but think clear goalscoring opportunity is a tad of an exaggeration, especially for a league 1 striker on his weaker foot
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Very modest of you.
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
While I think @Leuth’s claim is a bit over the top ( we were saying the same about the Inniss-Famewo partnership this time two years ago, when we went six without conceding) his essential point is right IMO. You could add decision-making to the negatives, but that too is what you get in L1. There was some shocking Exeter defending but I only noticed because Brownie pointed it out- as a partisan fan I’m focused on our players. And like I said earlier the stats apparently showed the two of them were dominant in the air, as was Stockley.
Was watching on the stream but I really liked the look of Exeter in the first half, very quick on the ball and not afraid to get forward and attack away from home, on paper we should finish above them but they look like they have some good players, hopefully that win will give us confidence that we can get something against Pompey and go on a run.
3 wins in 13 games and we’re still only 4 points off the playoffs although we have played more games than most teams, maybe our season isn’t completely finished after all, just need our players to keep on winning although much easier said than done.
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Very modest of you.
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
While I think @Leuth’s claim is a bit over the top ( we were saying the same about the Inniss-Famewo partnership this time two years ago, when we went six without conceding) his essential point is right IMO. You could add decision-making to the negatives, but that too is what you get in L1. There was some shocking Exeter defending but I only noticed because Brownie pointed it out- as a partisan fan I’m focused on our players. And like I said earlier the stats apparently showed the two of them were dominant in the air, as was Stockley.
I don't agree with the comparison. Inniss and Famewo formed a very good partnership straight away and like you say, we went 6 without conceding. O'Connell has had some real shaky moments this season. His pace is an issue but even if he wasn't as slow I don't think he'd be Championship quality, maybe just top end League 1.
EOC has something Famewo will never have: the ability to have the ball leave his foot and arrive at the foot of a teammate with some degree of reliability
Kirk just wants to do a few nice things and leave the rest to the others. We've all known and played with similar players, am sure. You can just about get away with it when at your boyhood/local club.
I thought he chased around reasonably well yesterday, and seemed to be making an effort to get back and defend. But he clearly doesn’t know how to tackle.
I can't recall many/any light weight wingers that are good at tackling. They are light weight wingers because they can't tackle.
EOC has something Famewo will never have: the ability to have the ball leave his foot and arrive at the foot of a teammate with some degree of reliability
Agreed, and of course someone like EOC was a crucial signing for Garners style. But being able to pass doesn’t make a CB a top defender
EOC has something Famewo will never have: the ability to have the ball leave his foot and arrive at the foot of a teammate with some degree of reliability
Agreed, and of course someone like EOC was a crucial signing for Garners style. But being able to pass doesn’t make a CB a top defender
Well of course not, otherwise you'd just put a midfielder there. EOC aerially dominant and good on the ball, maybe lacks a bit of pace. Doesn't mind a wander forwards. Reminds me of someone. A slight return. A whiff of what has been
Has anyone mentioned Stockley receiving the ball near the edge of the six yard box with a clear goalscoring opportunity on his left foot and opting to... Pass?
I wish Stockley would attempt to turn/swivel and shoot at goal, instead of always passing for someone else to shoot. (Mind you I thought it was his best game of the season last night).
Has anyone mentioned Stockley receiving the ball near the edge of the six yard box with a clear goalscoring opportunity on his left foot and opting to... Pass?
Think that’s slightly harsh, it was quite wide too. He should have drilled it across rather than cutting it back but think clear goalscoring opportunity is a tad of an exaggeration, especially for a league 1 striker on his weaker foot
He's supposed to be a good League One striker. But I think most strikers in this league will be able to take a shot on their weaker foot from 6-8 yards out.
Reading Player Marks I'm struck once again, as usual, by how Charlton fans simply hate centre-backs and love to blame them for anything
Whereas real heads (me) recognise Inniss and EOC as our best CB pairing in absolutely ages. If Inniss had a non-broken body and EOC had pace, neither would be in League One
Very modest of you.
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
Inniss simply watched a long throw go over his head and into the 6 yard box yesterday, but it's the injuries that hold him back.
Presumably someone else cleared it. Did you see how many aerial clearances Inniss made? He was absolutely dominant
No it dropped into a dangerous position with no one near it, and it was definitely his ball. I'm not saying he didn't have a good game, but I don't agree that he's playing below his level.
Has anyone mentioned Stockley receiving the ball near the edge of the six yard box with a clear goalscoring opportunity on his left foot and opting to... Pass?
Think that’s slightly harsh, it was quite wide too. He should have drilled it across rather than cutting it back but think clear goalscoring opportunity is a tad of an exaggeration, especially for a league 1 striker on his weaker foot
He's supposed to be a good League One striker. But I think most strikers in this league will be able to take a shot on their weaker foot from 6-8 yards out.
Not sure it's a case that he can't take a shot on his weaker foot, just that he didn't. It was simply poor decision making and probably down to a lack of confidence at the moment.
Something that was pleasing last night that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is the number of throw-ins we won from 50/50 balls. It ain't necessarily pretty and it doesn't always lead to an attack, let alone a goal, but it's things like that that can help change the momentum in a game.
Anyone know John Randall in the East Stand (Alan Curbishley)? He dropped his Freedom Pass at the turnstiles and the CAFC stewards thought I dropped it. Ask at reception I guess.
Has anyone mentioned Stockley receiving the ball near the edge of the six yard box with a clear goalscoring opportunity on his left foot and opting to... Pass?
Think that’s slightly harsh, it was quite wide too. He should have drilled it across rather than cutting it back but think clear goalscoring opportunity is a tad of an exaggeration, especially for a league 1 striker on his weaker foot
He's supposed to be a good League One striker. But I think most strikers in this league will be able to take a shot on their weaker foot from 6-8 yards out.
I think as the season goes on, the best we can hope for him is to be a handful to mark. He laid off a couple of balls last night, but I think he’s been massively exposed this season. We’re going a bit more direct now, which should suit him, but he’s all arms and legs. I think Leaburn is really showing him up. If Aneke was fit to start I would say go with him and Leaburn
Yeah i dont rate Kirk at all. His main attribute is meant to be his ability on the ball in terms of creativity, control and passing yet he doesn't seem to ever want the fucking thing.
You must be watching a different player to me then. Kirk is always overlapping with our full back & had got quite a few assists this season. His main problem (like most wide players thesedays) is that he plays on his "wrong" foot and si has to stop, cut back inside, before delivering a cross. Curbs made the point after the game that CBT (or just CB to Curbs) did both & he set up 2 goals. For Aneke's he cut inside & laid the ball off but for Payne's he took his man on & crossed with his left. But then JRS is just as one footed.
Comments
If O'Connell had pace he'd be a better player, sure. But he doesn't. If Stockley had pace he'd probably be good enough. If Maguire had pace he'd walk in the Man Utd side. But he doesn't.
Good to walk out of The Valley with a feeling of positivity after such a dark cloud over the club in recent weeks.
Playing two up top leaves us a bit more open in midfield but it gets Miles Leaburn on the pitch and is immensely better than seeing an isolated and labouring Stockley being dominated by two big centre-halves every game. It puts a big responsibility on the two central midfielders - and Dobbo, in particular - but at least we’re finally giving the opposition something to think about.
After a very bright start and the two early goals, Exeter got right back into the game, moving the ball well and outnumbering us in midfield, although they lacked any end product until the excellent strike from Stansfield.
We started the second half well but I was worried when we couldn’t get a third goal during our 15 minute spell of dominance and it looked as if Exeter would get back on level terms. We became particularly flakey when Leaburn went off and Albie Morgan slotted into a completely unsuited advanced role, although the whole team seemed to lose it for a period. Fortunately, the other later substitutions worked well for a change, with Clare and Blackett-Taylor injecting fresh energy and pace down the left. The late goals from Aneke and Payne’s thumping header sealed a very entertaining, if occasionally nervy, evening.
We did ok defensively and Egbo was the standout performer in the back four, with his pace, athleticism and attacking verve down the right, especially in the first half. He really has a strong start to his Charlton career since recovering from his pre-season injury. In midfield, Dobson had an excellent game and Fraser also did well alongside him. He occasionally gets caught in possession in dangerous areas but that is, in part, because of the lack of movement and options in front of him.
Up front, Leaburn was boss and we just have to hope his injury isn’t serious. The concern is that some club will wave a cheque at the owner in January and the lad will be sold post-haste, as Sandgaard seeks to reduce the losses. Rak-Sakyi was dangerous, with his ability to go past defenders at will, even if the final ball wasn’t always the best. Kirk was deeply unimpressive and Blacket-Taylor - in complete contrast to his terrible cameo on Saturday- contributed more in 15 odd minutes than Kirk has done in the last two games. Kirk can certainly cross a ball if we can get it to him in the final third but he contributes nothing defensively, is largely static when teammates are in possession and never attempts to beat the full-back on the outside - as such, he is totally predictable and a passenger for most of the game.
The win takes a lot of heat of Ben Garner, whose recent comments tend to underscore the fact that he’s unsurprisingly feeling the pressure. Let’s hope we can back up this result with some more wins this month, although I think that will depend, to a significant extent, on the fitness of Leaburn and Aneke for his cameos off the bench.
The Least impressive stat is the time he has been unavailable since coming back from Birmingham.
I said Aneke and CBT were X factor players but others said they are Y factor players.
"Y did we sign Aneke back" and Y did we sign a player that Tranmere didn't want in CBT !
It appears they are probably better from the bench for fitness and impact reasons against tiring defenders.
I agree with Ben Garner, that we are about 6 points shy because of the injuries to Aneke.
3 wins in 13 games and we’re still only 4 points off the playoffs although we have played more games than most teams, maybe our season isn’t completely finished after all, just need our players to keep on winning although much easier said than done.
They are light weight wingers because they can't tackle.
Good to see you at a game.