First half was dull as dish water and we could easily have been behind. As soon as we changed Tedic for Campbell we came alive and, thankfully, the second half was a complete contrast to the first. Four great goals too.
I was going to start by saying that the scoreline was a bit harsh on Reading, but I don't think that is the case - they fell apart badly. As others have said, a special mention for number 32 - Abbey. He had a fantastic game. If not for him we could have given them an even bigger thrashing.
Great to see Chuks get off the mark following his comeback, but sad to see him get injured again. Hoping it's not too bad.
Please Mr Appleton, stop playing Tedic out wide. That is not his position and it's unfair on him. Now Chuks is injured he may get a chance of some time playing centrally. Asiimwe and Campbell down the right is such an upgrade on T Watson and Tedic.
CBT was fairly well shackled first half, but his stamina seems so much better this season, and as the game went on and he had more space, he became unplayable. Three great assists. Well done sir!
I think if there was a camera on Thomas the whole game, people would realise what a great option he is for us at left back.
Yeah. His cloddish efforts to cross from the byeline shouldn't mask that he's defensively solid and handy on the ball, he'll certainly do in Edun's absence and will fight for the starting slot when he's fit
I think if there was a camera on Thomas the whole game, people would realise what a great option he is for us at left back.
Yeah. His cloddish efforts to cross from the byeline shouldn't mask that he's defensively solid and handy on the ball, he'll certainly do in Edun's absence and will fight for the starting slot when he's fit
Having a strong bench with attacking players has been the main difference from the Holden era at the Valley. Chuks (not Chuck's !) had a big impact on this just with his presence. CB's are scared of the big man and despite knowing in our heart of hearts that Aneke would only be available for 6 or so games it was good while it lasted.
Now we have to see if Tedic in his central striker's role can be the foil and Job share with Leaburn. Miles should start and Slobadan should come off the bench. TC had a great impact off the bench and will be inconsistent but can begin to start more in that right attacking position.
May is awesome and can play as a 10 or 9 and score goals at this level.
CBT is our X factor player and please enjoy this season as he will be playing in the Championship next season.
Kanu will also attract interest and is ready to be the impact sub off the bench in League one replacing Aneke if our fears of knowing his Medical CV come to fruition. Daniel's confidence will be sky high after his 4 goals for Southend.
The test now if for Appleton to find a way of cafc scoring goals away from home while being tighter at the back. We can't be contenders until we start winning some tight games on our travels.
new one up for those interested, fair warning, no talks with fans, bad weather so couldn't have the camera out nor did I think people would be too happy to stop and chat with it chucking it haha
As for the game itself just echo a lot of what's been said. Dreadful snoozefest of a first half, second half was well worth the money.
Not going to get ahead of myself yet with Appleton, Bolton is the first big test and I want to see where we are by Christmas before I start pandering to another manager, learnt to not get too ahead of myself after the last few bad batches.
Early signs are it's promising of course though as it doesn't seem like luck. He tends to notice who needs to be subbed on or off. I don't like the formation 4213. We struggled to keep the ball at times and against better sides I think they'll punish us. May isn't a 10 imo (I don't mean looks of course). His goals he is scoring would be scored regardless where you play him up top as his instinct is top level. He doesn't link anyone from that position and he just seems wasted imo. As soon as we changed formation and had an actual winger on the wings they couldn't handle us. I'd like to see Tedic dropped for Campbell or Leaburn and May pushed forward with Fraser where Alfie has been playing.
Bolton will paste us if we play like we did first half.
other than that happy days. Hector and Jones are finally looking like a solid consistent centre back pairing, Thomas is a very decent utility defender, Tennai looking more comfortable, Dobson having a typical performance, if he signs a long term contract he has an opportunity to cement a legacy here forever imo. L.Watson is class, CBT is our starman atm, absolutely love him and then of course the talisman May as usual. What a team to follow.
Drives like Lincoln and Wigan upcoming don't feel bad when you get to watch a team with players like this, they don't take the piss and they have skill to go with. Long may it continue.
Reading happy to sit deep and rely on set pieces which nearly worked for them.
Bit unfair on Reading who I thought were pretty good in the first half, especially considering their problems on and off the pitch. I thought they had the majority of the play and had a couple of decent chances in open play. They lacked a cutting edge fortunately.
new one up for those interested, fair warning, no talks with fans, bad weather so couldn't have the camera out nor did I think people would be too happy to stop and chat with it chucking it haha
Thanks. Good to watch from the west stand perspective as an old west upper season ticket holder. Serious question mate, you are in a seriously restricted view seat with about 2000 empty seats near you. Just move a few maybe?
new one up for those interested, fair warning, no talks with fans, bad weather so couldn't have the camera out nor did I think people would be too happy to stop and chat with it chucking it haha
Thanks. Good to watch from the west stand perspective as an old west upper season ticket holder. Serious question mate, you are in a seriously restricted view seat with about 2000 empty seats near you. Just move a few maybe?
Look mate I paid for my seat and I'll bloody sit in it, alright??!
Jokes aside I really like the rail to lean on and usually when it's a bit emptier I move along, I would stand up when a goal seems imminent but I don't want to block the people behind me.
Think it's fairly cheeky of the club to charge a decent wedge for the seats I am at tbh, at least 5-6 of them have that restricted view. All my previous season tickets were NWU and I kind of miss it there a bit, I'll see next game as it is a bit annoying
Having a strong bench with attacking players has been the main difference from the Holden era at the Valley. Chuks (not Chuck's !) had a big impact on this just with his presence. CB's are scared of the big man and despite knowing in our heart of hearts that Aneke would only be available for 6 or so games it was good while it lasted.
Now we have to see if Tedic in his central striker's role can be the foil and Job share with Leaburn. Miles should start and Slobadan should come off the bench. TC had a great impact off the bench and will be inconsistent but can begin to start more in that right attacking position.
May is awesome and can play as a 10 or 9 and score goals at this level.
CBT is our X factor player and please enjoy this season as he will be playing in the Championship next season.
Kanu will also attract interest and is ready to be the impact sub off the bench in League one replacing Aneke if our fears of knowing his Medical CV come to fruition. Daniel's confidence will be sky high after his 4 goals for Southend.
The test now if for Appleton to find a way of cafc scoring goals away from home while being tighter at the back. We can't be contenders until we start winning some tight games on our travels.
With us! 👍
PS Not sure we can claim Ness as one of our own, as he was fully formed when signed from the Met Police.
Decided not to go today but to stay at home & peel my spuds.
Doh !!! Wrong decision !!
Sorry I am aware there is a LOL system in place to compliment posts, but this actually made me laugh out loud so thought it deserved quote praise, sorry to highlight it golfie but that's an edit and a half
I'm enjoying that the Chuks narrative has moved from 'he should be medically retired' to 'it's negligent to start him in a football match'. Hopefully his injury isn't bad and we can move from here to 'it's literally against the law to start him in away games' and then finally 'giving him the number 22 constitutes a war crime'. We just need to progress to softer stages of things to complain about to do with Chuks and we'll have a good season.
He's actually great isn't he? What a smart and pleasant bloke
Same thing was said about Dean Holden.
Agree it is still too early to declare Appleton the saviour. We’re still in new manager bounce territory and the true test of a manager is how the handle a bad run or loss of form. Can they arrest a slump or does the ship just slowly keep on sinking? It’s what gave Curbs such longevity because he could consistently “stop the rot”.
What I will say for Appleton though, if we’re comparing him to Holden, is that he is much more convincing when talking about tactics and how individual players can improve. Holden talked very well about personality and the emotional side of the game but he never convinced that he could regularly set up a side in a way that might out think and opposing manager.
I really don’t think we’re in new manager bounce territory. Appleton is vastly more experienced than any of Jackson, Garner and Holden. He’s also had the benefit of key players returning from injury. That said, it’s clear he knows what he wants and is able to get that across to the players. It’s not bounce we’re experiencing, it’s good management. I’ve said all along that this season we’ll be a slow burn and make a steady climb up the league after the dreadful start. I’m still not convinced our defence will give us enough clean sheets especially away from home to achieve top six. I think it’ll run close though.
The first 6 to 10 games classic new manager bounce territory. Just reference Jacko’s first few games.
There have been clear improvements under Appleton, but there’s several tests still to be passed. Like I say, turning around a period of bad form, winning against top sides in the division, improving away form are all things we need to see him do before we have proof he can be the man to finally get us out of this division. I’m hopeful he will pass them, based on what we’ve seen so far, but I like solid proof, not optimistic hopes.
we didn't have it all our own way, the difference is that we now have acquired the ability and confidence to attack and score as well as defend and not 'panic' .. some goals yesterday were outstanding .. Blackett -Taylor is having a season to remember and long may it continue .. Appleton, a bit of a fun figure for CLifers (or am I wrong ?) before coming to us has forged a good team, has developed tactics which suit us and all in all is doing a great job The playoffs or better beckon .. I LOVE IT !!
To be fair, there was probably no better time to start Chuks, given that we'd had 2 weeks without a game. Maybe he could have been taken off a little earlier but, given that he'd just scored his first goal since last December, it's understandable that the manager gave him a few extra minutes.
Chuks can break down at any time. We know that. It’s unfortunate, it’s frustrating, but it’s not going to change. It’s hard to prove if starting matches increases his risk or breaking down or if it’s just he’s injury prone and it will happen when it happens, regardless. What we do know is the only time he’s had a consistent run of games without injury for us is when he was used pretty much exclusively as a substitute. It was also his most productive spell in terms of goals and assists, suggesting he’s also actually more effective as a sub. Because of that I’d like to see us resist the understandable temptation to start him and restrict our use of him to super sub.
I’m really disappointed by the criticism here of MA re both Chuks and Tedic. Maybe I’m influenced by Curbs and Brownie, but they do have some advantages over the critics on here…
Players need and want to play. Strikers need to score goals. There were a few people on here in recent months suggesting Chuks was an exception. I would say that his performance and demeanour since he reappeared shows that was a load of bollocks. He also looked better physically balanced than when he tried to return a year ago. But surely the aim is to get a player to the point where he believes he can do the full 90, otherwise he will become a passenger in his own head. At some point, if it all goes well when he comes on second half, you have to start him. Especially when he needs a goal to get that other monkey off his back.
Then there’s Tedic. People are forgetting that they tried to get him in earlier for Holden, when we had the unsustainable situation of only having Alfie May and Dan Kanu. City for whatever reason held off. Then we got him, and in a situation no one dared hope for, both Miles and Chuks got themselves back into contention. In the meantime Tedic shows an excellent work ethic and an intelligence that shows his football pedigree. TC, people forget, had also been injured, and MA rightly worries about the team being too young. It seems to me that in those circs it’s understandable what he has tried with Tedic and Tedic deserves some credit for giving it his best shot. It’s nothing to do with City demanding this and that although they wont be impressed if he never gets more than 10 mins at the end of a game. MA knows thst he will need him. Alfie will pick up another ludicrous yellow card for “looking at the ref in a funny way” or some such new nonsense, Chuks will be out for a few weeks, and some other no-mark is going to try and break Miles leg. Tedic will get his chance, and MA needs him match-sharp and feeling psrt of the squad. Tedic is a good footballer with a good attitude. Give both him and MA a break, will ya?
Excellent post. Spot on.
Well it’s all about opinions isn’t it but I totally disagree on Tedic. Playing Tedic is like playing with 10 men , he offers absolutely nothing - why on earth do you think Appleton took him off a half time ?? why did he take him off after 60ish ( 60 too long) against Blackpool ? It is mad to play him rather than TC. No idea if he is a competent central striker , I guess we will find out now Chuks is injured but if I had to bet on it , I would say he will be poor there too. I totally understand why we signed him because of the injury situation but Ive certainly not seen anything that suggests he is any good !!
Drab first half and i thought that Reading were the better team in the opening exchanges of each half. Their Centre Half is an outstanding prospect and have spoken to a few Reading fans at work this morning and their worried about losing him in January.
Once the second went in from Campbell their heads dropped and we took over.
Special praise for the idiots who spoiled the minutes remembrance at the start of the match. Disgraceful.
For anybody who wasn’t there, near the end of the impeccable minutes silence there was one male voice from what seemed like the North East corner that shouted ‘Free Palestine’, and moments later another male voice from the north end of the Curbishley stand also yelled ‘Free Palestine’. There was an immediate ripple/shoulder stiffening reaction from more or less everybody, who bristled at the spoiling of a rather moving silence only affected by the odd rattle of a seat, the shouts were totally inappropriate at that moment. After the minutes silence ended there were chants of ‘Chuck him out’ from the North Upper.
For anybody who wasn’t there, near the end of the impeccable minutes silence there was one male voice from what seemed like the North East corner that shouted ‘Free Palestine’, and moments later another male voice from the north end of the Curbishley stand also yelled ‘Free Palestine’. There was an immediate ripple/shoulder stiffening reaction from more or less everybody, who bristled at the spoiling of a rather moving silence only affected by the odd rattle of a seat, the shouts were totally inappropriate at that moment. After the minutes silence ended there were chants of ‘Chuck him out’ from the North Upper.
For anybody who wasn’t there, near the end of the impeccable minutes silence there was one male voice from what seemed like the North East corner that shouted ‘Free Palestine’, and moments later another male voice from the north end of the Curbishley stand also yelled ‘Free Palestine’. There was an immediate ripple/shoulder stiffening reaction from more or less everybody, who bristled at the spoiling of a rather moving silence only affected by the odd rattle of a seat, the shouts were totally inappropriate at that moment. After the minutes silence ended there were chants of ‘Chuck him out’ from the North Upper.
There was really no need for it, really disrespectful, especially when Palestine was included in the minutes silence. At the England game last week the minutes silence excluded Palestine and there were similar incidents all around wembley but that’s probably more understandable as they were not mentioned
Comments
I was going to start by saying that the scoreline was a bit harsh on Reading, but I don't think that is the case - they fell apart badly. As others have said, a special mention for number 32 - Abbey. He had a fantastic game. If not for him we could have given them an even bigger thrashing.
Great to see Chuks get off the mark following his comeback, but sad to see him get injured again. Hoping it's not too bad.
Please Mr Appleton, stop playing Tedic out wide. That is not his position and it's unfair on him. Now Chuks is injured he may get a chance of some time playing centrally. Asiimwe and Campbell down the right is such an upgrade on T Watson and Tedic.
CBT was fairly well shackled first half, but his stamina seems so much better this season, and as the game went on and he had more space, he became unplayable. Three great assists. Well done sir!
new one up for those interested, fair warning, no talks with fans, bad weather so couldn't have the camera out nor did I think people would be too happy to stop and chat with it chucking it haha
Not going to get ahead of myself yet with Appleton, Bolton is the first big test and I want to see where we are by Christmas before I start pandering to another manager, learnt to not get too ahead of myself after the last few bad batches.
Early signs are it's promising of course though as it doesn't seem like luck. He tends to notice who needs to be subbed on or off. I don't like the formation 4213. We struggled to keep the ball at times and against better sides I think they'll punish us. May isn't a 10 imo (I don't mean looks of course). His goals he is scoring would be scored regardless where you play him up top as his instinct is top level. He doesn't link anyone from that position and he just seems wasted imo. As soon as we changed formation and had an actual winger on the wings they couldn't handle us. I'd like to see Tedic dropped for Campbell or Leaburn and May pushed forward with Fraser where Alfie has been playing.
Bolton will paste us if we play like we did first half.
other than that happy days. Hector and Jones are finally looking like a solid consistent centre back pairing, Thomas is a very decent utility defender, Tennai looking more comfortable, Dobson having a typical performance, if he signs a long term contract he has an opportunity to cement a legacy here forever imo. L.Watson is class, CBT is our starman atm, absolutely love him and then of course the talisman May as usual. What a team to follow.
Drives like Lincoln and Wigan upcoming don't feel bad when you get to watch a team with players like this, they don't take the piss and they have skill to go with. Long may it continue.
See you all at Lincoln
Jokes aside I really like the rail to lean on and usually when it's a bit emptier I move along, I would stand up when a goal seems imminent but I don't want to block the people behind me.
Think it's fairly cheeky of the club to charge a decent wedge for the seats I am at tbh, at least 5-6 of them have that restricted view. All my previous season tickets were NWU and I kind of miss it there a bit, I'll see next game as it is a bit annoying
PS Not sure we can claim Ness as one of our own, as he was fully formed when signed from the Met Police.
There have been clear improvements under Appleton, but there’s several tests still to be passed. Like I say, turning around a period of bad form, winning against top sides in the division, improving away form are all
things we need to see him do before we have proof he can be the man to finally get us out of this division. I’m hopeful he will pass them, based on what we’ve seen so far, but I like solid proof, not optimistic hopes.
Appleton, a bit of a fun figure for CLifers (or am I wrong ?) before coming to us has forged a good team, has developed tactics which suit us and all in all is doing a great job
The playoffs or better beckon .. I LOVE IT !!
Then I remembered we won 4-0 and I've never managed a football club
why did he take him off after 60ish ( 60 too long) against Blackpool ?
It is mad to play him rather than TC. No idea if he is a competent central striker , I guess we will find out now Chuks is injured but if I had to bet on it , I would say he will be poor there too.
I totally understand why we signed him because of the injury situation but Ive certainly not seen anything that suggests he is any good !!
Once the second went in from Campbell their heads dropped and we took over.
Special praise for the idiots who spoiled the minutes remembrance at the start of the match. Disgraceful.
There was an immediate ripple/shoulder stiffening reaction from more or less everybody, who bristled at the spoiling of a rather moving silence only affected by the odd rattle of a seat, the shouts were totally inappropriate at that moment.
After the minutes silence ended there were chants of ‘Chuck him out’ from the North Upper.