Portsmouth vs Charlton AthleticNew Years Day - 3pm Kick-OffReferee: Tom ReevesIntroductionWell as they seemingly say, with the New Year hours away (even being celebrated by some Lifers), there is a chance for new beginnings, and a good opportunity to start over - For Charlton, the latest takeover rumours appear to be rumbling on, but for now it appears as though we must strap ourselves in and brace against the bumpy ride that is still to come - This Sunday will see the Addicks travelling to the South Coast, with Portsmouth the hosts for our first clash of 2023.
The OppositionName: Portsmouth (10th) | Manager: Danny CowleyGround: Fratton ParkPrevious League Result: Portsmouth 0-2 Milton KeynesIn some regard; League One is becoming just as hard to compete as the Championship - More and more sides appear to be dropping down to the third tier, and with ambitious / well ran sides moving upwards from League Two, the job of winning promotion back to the second tier is becoming harder and harder - Our opponents tomorrow will be well aware of this, its been over a decade since Pompey's demise from the Championship, and their fans continue to wait to return.
With Danny Cowley entering his second full season on the South Coast, the focus of the summer transfer window was spent on strengthening the attack... Four attacking players were signed on loan, whilst one: Colbey Bishop joined on a permanent deal, moving from Accrington Stanley - Even with all that firepower, its surprising that Portsmouth have (as a whole) scored five less goals than their visitors for this upcoming clash. An over-reliance on Colbey Bishop (with 14-goals, compared to Ronan Curtis with four), is clear proof that if you mark the prolific striker out of the game, Portsmouth potentially become toothless in attack.
Thats perhaps a clear sign of recent results; Portsmouth have won just a single game since October, whilst they've only lost four games (including a 3-0 loss at the Valley), have only managed to score more than a single goal in a game the once, albeit their last match hosting Ipswich.
Their bogey team may well be struggling themselves... But even this may be a wasted opportunity for Pompey to record three points against Charlton, something they'll be looking to do at Fratton Park for the first time since 2005, six encounters ago.
Charlton Team NewsAt the moment it feels as though there are pictures of Charlton players on a dart board, with random selections being made wherever the dart lands - That theory will without doubt be confirmed at 2pm tomorrow, if "skirting board" ends up amongst the starting eleven.
The Addicks showed typical weakness down the left against Oxford on Thursday evening; Richard Chin (thrown into the First Team, and out of position to boot, far too early) is a deer caught in the headlights when playing Left-Back. However with Steven Sessegnon potentially injured again, we may have no choice until further reinforcements can be signed in Transfer Window which is set to creek open - Miles Leaburn will hopefully lead our attack, one of our few shining lights in the darkest of seasons, and currently scoring every 97-minutes.
Maynard-Brewer
Clare - Inniss - Lavelle - Ness - Thomas
Dobson - Fraser
Payne
Leaburn - Kanu
Substitutes Bench: Harness - Chin - Henry - Rak-Sakyi - Blackett-Taylor - Stockley - Campbell
Comments
times like this think you need to go back to basics forget 433 , 352 etc etc and just go 442
and play your experience players no matter how people have performed ..
McG
Clare
Laville
Inniss
Ness (with SS and Egbo out )
CBT
Dobson
Fraser
Payne
Stockley
Leaburn
Or he'll play a 3-5-2 and we'll lose again.
Clare , Innis/ Lavelle, Ness
CBT, Morgan, Dobson, Fraser, JFC
JRS, Leaburn.
I won't be watching, as off to Princes Park to see if Dartford can beat Ebbsfleet twice over the holiday period.
We normally do well at FP but with the squad we have at the minute I cannot see past a defeat
We'll score, we'll concede.
Chin - Elerewe - Ness - Oguntayo
Dobson
R.Sakyi - Morgan - Fraser - B.Taylor
Leaburn
Subs
MacGillivray, Clare, Lavelle, Mitchell, Henry, Campbell, Stockley
Clair Innis Lavelle Ness
Sakyi Dobson Fraser CBT
Leaburn Stockley.
Play a simple 4-4-2 so the poor dears don’t have to think too much and as many players in their correct positions as you can.
Cross fingers and hope.
Maynard Brewer
Ness Innis Lavelle Thomas
Claire, Elewere Mitchell
Dobson Morgan
Stockley
Keep the faith 😉
COYR