Reflecting on the game, the result wasn't that important. What stood out for me is that there is a reconnect between the players, manager and the team, with the fans. For too long, whether it was caused by owners, managers and the frustration of inconsistent results, players that didn't seem to be putting in a shift, there was so much vitriol. Fans seemed ready to pounce, to pan the team for poor performances, and some might say fully deserved. But when push comes to shove, it's our Charlton, our team, our heritage. How much is this down to Dean Holden, I don't know, but listening to his press conferences about we've got to learn to win ugly, the Dobson tackle against Lincoln springs to mind, the mindset of the players seemed to have changed, they appear more together, instructions simplified, eg Inness lumping the ball out for throw ins, rather than trying to be cute around the back four. Pushing Fraser further up the pitch to influence games, getting CBT and Rak-Sakyi to put in a shift, and I could list many others. All these small, but significant changes look like they have galvanised the team. Guess the acid test will be against Barnsley on Saturday, but certainly there is a new vibe around the club.
Watched on a stream...I can't fault any player, they did us immensely proud. Our fans were amazing! Never stopped all night long - where as Man Utd fans were absolutely awful, quiet, and boring! Only made a noise when they scored..pathetic,! Rashford was the difference in the end, but by God did we give it a go.....especially in the second half!
It's an interesting observation. If there was any atmosphere at all in their end, it certainly didn't cut through the magnificent atmosphere in our end. To be fair to them though, I think that was very much their b-team of supporters.
As we were walking to the ground last night there were several street vendors selling split Man U / Charlton scarves. One of them asked my son if he wanted one (bear in mind he's 28, not 5). To which my son replied, "I'll tell you what mate, if we win I'll come back and get one". That got me thinking who on earth would be buying all these scarves? Surely not Man Utd fans because if they bought a scarf for every match they'd have no place to put them all. Surely not Charlton fans, because other than in the event of a surprise giant killing, there surely can't be enough Addicks who are sufficiently tolerant of Man Utd to allow them half a scarf worth of space. The answer, as I found on my way out of the ground, is that it isn't the regular fans of either side who were buying this stuff, it was tourists and Man United newbies looking for a little keepsake of the day they lost their Old Trafford virginity. And as I walked to the tram stop there were hundreds of them, bedecked in their new regalia, proud to be a part of their clan. I'm sure the regular fans will be back in big numbers with their season tickets on Saturday. If you wanted to see a regular Man Utd fan last night, you had to look out for the ones in Norwich City scarves.
Many of last nights temporary support probably wouldn't know many songs and if they did they'd not be ready to join in. What they would do though is disperse themselves amongst the regulars making it more difficult to get anything going. As for the regulars, they were probably as disinterested in us as we were with Coalville when they came to The Valley. I'm not therefore going to call Man United's support pathetic. It is what it is. And what it was last night seemed to be made up of a large number of people who probably wouldn't get the chance to get a ticket for a league match. There's no shame in that. In fact, what a great thing it would be for our club if we had that many supply-fans ready to fill the gaps when the regulars fancied a night off.
Probably the bigger question though is, what can we do to repeat the magnificent atmosphere we created last night? To be so buoyant and so supportive after a three goal defeat is nothing short of brilliant. Hopefully that will build some bridges between fans and players and spur the team on for the rest of the league campaign. But that will only happen if we are consistently supportive as supporters.
Agreed. The massive draw of Man U is what makes an away game there so lucrative for the away team. They could be playing the Dog and Duck, and still sell 60000 tickets to "tourists", desperate to see "their" team
Imagine how awful it would have been to play last night in a half empty stadium
Surprised to hear Albies free kick in the first half hit the woodwork. From where I was up in the gods it looked like it went well wide
Haha no way it hit the woodwork. It was well wide, your eyes didn't deceive you.
Well wide is an exaggeration, it curved towards then away from goal, never on target. Was about 30-60cm away depending on when it crossed the touch line.
Can’t you be more specific? From where I was it was well wide but it was Albie so maybe I’m biased, as are you.
When I say well wide I mean from the moment it left his foot it looked like it was bending away from goal. Maybe it was the angle I was looking at it from. That's why i was surprised to hear a few people saying it hit the woodwork.
I was right behind it and it was a shit free kick. Started off target and curled away from goal. I’m sure he was frustrated with himself cos it was a good opportunity.
Best angle of the effort here at 3:53 - just about on target had he hit it without any curve but it was always bending away from goal and ended up a good 3-4 foot wide.
It is what it is, not trying to bash Albie here.
Best angle of the effort here at 3:53 - just about on target had he hit it without any curve but it was always bending away from goal and ended up a good 3-4 foot wide.
It is what it is, not trying to bash Albie here.
Okay the replay in the game looked closer.
I take it back, not well wide but certainly wider than the in game replay suggested.
Thomas took the proper away dressing room, for his post match gig
Slightly off topic, Bayern Munichs Allianz arena has 4 changing rooms. One that they use is like a wardroom, 1860 has a simular one.
Visitors change rooms are basic and painted in battleship grey with no treatment room, where the home teams have a injury and knock recovery rooms attached.
Can we have another cup next season please? What a night.
Been saying this for years. Take the cups seriously. It's our only chance of glory atm
But it's not. Most fans want us to make the 3rd Round of the fa Cup. Draw man city away and they can then have their big day out. If fans really wanted a cup run, they would be home games against teams in the same lower division until the semi final.
Can we have another cup next season please? What a night.
Been saying this for years. Take the cups seriously. It's our only chance of glory atm
Not sure about glory but certainly brings a feel good vibe to the club and unites the fan base. Some of my best memories as a Charlton fan are cup games, especially from the 90s and early 2000s.
Watched on a stream...I can't fault any player, they did us immensely proud. Our fans were amazing! Never stopped all night long - where as Man Utd fans were absolutely awful, quiet, and boring! Only made a noise when they scored..pathetic,! Rashford was the difference in the end, but by God did we give it a go.....especially in the second half!
It's an interesting observation. If there was any atmosphere at all in their end, it certainly didn't cut through the magnificent atmosphere in our end. To be fair to them though, I think that was very much their b-team of supporters.
As we were walking to the ground last night there were several street vendors selling split Man U / Charlton scarves. One of them asked my son if he wanted one (bear in mind he's 28, not 5). To which my son replied, "I'll tell you what mate, if we win I'll come back and get one". That got me thinking who on earth would be buying all these scarves? Surely not Man Utd fans because if they bought a scarf for every match they'd have no place to put them all. Surely not Charlton fans, because other than in the event of a surprise giant killing, there surely can't be enough Addicks who are sufficiently tolerant of Man Utd to allow them half a scarf worth of space. The answer, as I found on my way out of the ground, is that it isn't the regular fans of either side who were buying this stuff, it was tourists and Man United newbies looking for a little keepsake of the day they lost their Old Trafford virginity. And as I walked to the tram stop there were hundreds of them, bedecked in their new regalia, proud to be a part of their clan. I'm sure the regular fans will be back in big numbers with their season tickets on Saturday. If you wanted to see a regular Man Utd fan last night, you had to look out for the ones in Norwich City scarves.
Many of last nights temporary support probably wouldn't know many songs and if they did they'd not be ready to join in. What they would do though is disperse themselves amongst the regulars making it more difficult to get anything going. As for the regulars, they were probably as disinterested in us as we were with Coalville when came to The Valley. I'm not therefore going to call Man United's support pathetic. It is what it is. And what it was last night seemed to be made up of a large number of people who probably wouldn't get the chance to get a ticket for a league match. There's no shame in that. In fact, what a great thing it would be for our club if we had that many supply-fans ready to fill the gaps when the regulars fancied a night off.
Probably the bigger question though is, what can we do to repeat the magnificent atmosphere we created last night? To be so buoyant and so supportive after a three goal defeat is nothing short of brilliant. Hopefully that will build some bridges between fans and players and spur the team on for the rest of the league campaign. But that will only happen if we are consistently supportive as supporters.
Sorry to say we saw a couple of young boys wearing the split scarves on the concourse in the away end. The lads were under 10 so maybe a bit of an excuse but no idea what their parent was thinking.
You can be such a nob at times, it’s not about what the parents were thinking, it’s about what the kids were thinking !🤨🤨🤨
The half-and-half scarves are weird, but for loads of United fans this would have been a rare chance to see their team.
A couple of sights on the way out jolted me: the two young women who looked to be of Somali heritage in headscarves and Rashford replica shirts taking pictures of themselves outside the east stand with huge smiles; the Irish mum with her two small kids telling them “it’ll be a long while before we see United again”.
Both topped this morning by the 40-something Irish bloke with his little boy at Wharfside tram stop - he was trying to get back to the airport after his first *ever* United match, despite having supported them all his life.
Last night would have been a big one for them too - and I wouldn’t blame any of them if they picked up a half and half scarf.
The half-and-half scarves are weird, but for loads of United fans this would have been a rare chance to see their team.
A couple of sights on the way out jolted me: the two young women who looked to be of Somali heritage in headscarves and Rashford replica shirts taking pictures of themselves outside the east stand with huge smiles; the Irish mum with her two small kids telling them “it’ll be a long while before we see United again”.
Both topped this morning by the 40-something Irish bloke with his little boy at Wharfside tram stop - he was trying to get back to the airport after his first *ever* United match, despite having supported them all his life.
Last night would have been a big one for them too - and I wouldn’t blame any of them if they picked up a half and half scarf.
More international Utd fans in my hotel than any Charlton fans. Mulligans obviously full of Irish Utd fans too.
People get het up about the strangest things. If someone wants to buy a scarf, even a half and half one, for their kid or themselves, be they 4 or 44, as a souvenir of attending a football match, what on earth is the harm?
I have a half and half Charlton v Leyton Orient scarf. It was on the way out of The Valley and he was asking £2. No idea what he was thinking buying those.
Bought two and gave one to my dad. He still has his too.
It was the FA Cup game in '06
It always makes me laugh when he turns up in it for a game.
Aside from a lot of their fans living in London etc, the loyal close man united supporters are very very loud, passionate and vocal.
They have great away support, so for them to say our fans were the loudest they've had at old Trafford all season - it is a good positive light and meaningful compliment.
Both topped this morning by the 40-something Irish bloke with his little boy at Wharfside tram stop - he was trying to get back to the airport after his first *ever* United match, despite having supported them all his life.
Last night would have been a big one for them too - and I wouldn’t blame any of them if they picked up a half and half scarf.
@InspectorSands this is unreal, the same Irish guy and son got on my tram. Was asking me on the platform at Wharfside at 12.30 how long it will take from Cornbrook to the airport!
I have a half and half Charlton v Leyton Orient scarf. It was on the way out of The Valley and he was asking £2. No idea what he was thinking buying those.
Bought two and gave one to my dad. He still has his too.
It was the FA Cup game in '06
It always makes me laugh when he turns up in it for a game.
You should cut them in half and sew the two Charlton bits together. Clean your car or your shoes with the leftovers
Did the museum get a half and half scarf? I'm not entirely joking either, as I don't think they existed back in our PL days, so quite a novelty.
We have a Charlton v Truro half and half scarf , one is enough. We got there at 3pm , asked a group of four United fans where the nearest tram stop was. They didn't know as they were from Ireland. All four were wearing half & half scarves.
Both topped this morning by the 40-something Irish bloke with his little boy at Wharfside tram stop - he was trying to get back to the airport after his first *ever* United match, despite having supported them all his life.
Last night would have been a big one for them too - and I wouldn’t blame any of them if they picked up a half and half scarf.
@InspectorSands this is unreal, the same Irish guy and son got on my tram. Was asking me on the platform at Wharfside at 12.30 how long it will take from Cornbrook to the airport!
ha, we must have just missed each other! He was worried about buying the right ticket (hopefully he was okay when the inspectors got on as I suggested what ticket he should buy!)
I bought 2 of the half and half scarves one for my 16 year old sons mate who was with us who supports Man Utd but has been to a few Charlton matches and Burton and Pompey away so his two teams and then Peter Kay (12) wanted one and he’d take anything , I said what do you want a scarf with Man Utd written on it for ffs
my mate and his son are Charlton season ticket holders with us and have advertising boards at Charlton but Man Utd is their club they prolly see a handful of their games a season and most of our home and the odd away . his son is 21 and got a half and half they were in the Charlton end and stayed in the Lowry (is it called that ) hotel and Sandgaard was in there and they saw and spoke to Holden and his wife I asked my mates son did he want us to nick it in the end and he said yes cos he was in our end roaring us on .
Each to their own , not for me , I hate every team (none more so than Charlton )
Surprised to hear Albies free kick in the first half hit the woodwork. From where I was up in the gods it looked like it went well wide
Haha no way it hit the woodwork. It was well wide, your eyes didn't deceive you.
Well wide is an exaggeration, it curved towards then away from goal, never on target. Was about 30-60cm away depending on when it crossed the touch line.
From my angle it looked like it started wide and curled further wide. Still, was a chance not taken.
Fair enough. I didn't expect that some berk would have nicked and posted the whole thing. I don't like the Athletic's 100% paywall but I respect it, not least because they went over and above to help at the time of ESI. And of course I pay the sub. No subs, no salaries, no Athletic. Comprendo?
I can't be arsed to look and see who posted the full thing, but I have a question for them if they are reading:
Did you nick your friends' homework at school? and then expect plaudits because of the clever way you nicked it?
Do you know what, appropos of nothing and sincere apologies for digressing your post Prague, but my best mate used to nick my homework at school and I tolerated it because well, he was my mate. Then the cnut passed all the exams that I failed
Comments
How much is this down to Dean Holden, I don't know, but listening to his press conferences about we've got to learn to win ugly, the Dobson tackle against Lincoln springs to mind, the mindset of the players seemed to have changed, they appear more together, instructions simplified, eg Inness lumping the ball out for throw ins, rather than trying to be cute around the back four. Pushing Fraser further up the pitch to influence games, getting CBT and Rak-Sakyi to put in a shift, and I could list many others. All these small, but significant changes look like they have galvanised the team.
Guess the acid test will be against Barnsley on Saturday, but certainly there is a new vibe around the club.
Imagine how awful it would have been to play last night in a half empty stadium
Best angle of the effort here at 3:53 - just about on target had he hit it without any curve but it was always bending away from goal and ended up a good 3-4 foot wide. It is what it is, not trying to bash Albie here.
I take it back, not well wide but certainly wider than the in game replay suggested.
Visitors change rooms are basic and painted in battleship grey with no treatment room, where the home teams have a injury and knock recovery rooms attached.
Most fans want us to make the 3rd Round of the fa Cup.
Draw man city away and they can then have their big day out.
If fans really wanted a cup run, they would be home games against teams in the same lower division until the semi final.
A couple of sights on the way out jolted me: the two young women who looked to be of Somali heritage in headscarves and Rashford replica shirts taking pictures of themselves outside the east stand with huge smiles; the Irish mum with her two small kids telling them “it’ll be a long while before we see United again”.
Both topped this morning by the 40-something Irish bloke with his little boy at Wharfside tram stop - he was trying to get back to the airport after his first *ever* United match, despite having supported them all his life.
Last night would have been a big one for them too - and I wouldn’t blame any of them if they picked up a half and half scarf.
Bought two and gave one to my dad. He still has his too.
It was the FA Cup game in '06
It always makes me laugh when he turns up in it for a game.
They have great away support, so for them to say our fans were the loudest they've had at old Trafford all season - it is a good positive light and meaningful compliment.
Clean your car or your shoes with the leftovers
one for my 16 year old sons mate who was with us who supports Man Utd but has been to a few Charlton matches and Burton and Pompey away so his two teams and then Peter Kay (12) wanted one and he’d take anything , I said what do you want a scarf with Man Utd written on it for ffs
my mate and his son are Charlton season ticket holders with us and have advertising boards at Charlton but Man Utd is their club they prolly see a handful of their games a season and most of our home and the odd away .
his son is 21 and got a half and half
they were in the Charlton end and stayed in the Lowry (is it called that ) hotel and Sandgaard was in there and they saw and spoke to Holden and his wife
I asked my mates son did he want us to nick it in the end and he said yes cos he was in our end roaring us on .
Each to their own , not for me , I hate every team (none more so than Charlton )
Then the cnut passed all the exams that I failed