One thing is for sure, January and Summer will need to see big clear outs of the remaining deadwood and a lot of money will need to be spent.Â
I don’t disagree, but we’ve been saying that for years, it never happens and it won’t again. We will ship a few out and replace with similar types due to the bargain basement way we go about things. Signings like May and Dobson are too few and far between to fundamentally change our outcome. When Bowyer took us up we somehow managed to cobble a decent team together, but it stands out as an anomaly. All we can do is hope for another season like that sometime in the future and we have owners, at that point, that are willing to try and sustain us in a league higher with investment.
Is the replay likely to be during an international break? If it does, then there should be no reason to not field a strong side if no game on the saturday.
Good shout, however if we're already not playing due to intl call ups, that won't work.Â
One of our internationals is Anderson who likely won’t play anyway. I presume the other two are Hector and AMB? Can still field a strong side without those.
Yes but I believe if we have had a league fixture called off for Intl call ups, it would be seen as disingenuous or at least disrespectful to the league to then play another fixture on the same date.Â
I could be wrong.Â
It’ll be on the 14th with the international break on the 18th.Â
I don’t buy the excuse/angle from Appleton that the humiliation enabled him to learn stuff about our players so all is good then. Absolute crap to say he has only been here a short time and he is learning about our players. What does he do all week FFS? He was presented with a Televised cup game at home against a team more than 100 places below us in the pyramid, and it was his decisions that have led to our humiliation. Whoever appointed Appleton is also responsible.
Well there’s a surprise!
All you have done since he was appointed is set unrealistic and unachievable “goals” and flogged every game as a must win, but with absolutely no reference to the squad he inherited or the appalling instability at the club generally. Any plus points are largely ignored and negatives seem to be seized upon and illustrate your central hostility to Appleton.
It was a poor & foolish choice of squad, a frankly appalling result and ultimately hasn’t has the effect of resting the first team as we have another game now anyway. Of course the manager has made big mistakes in this situation. We also have a squad with clearly limited depth (and enthusiasm) and the defence from Hades and some players need to go.
I get & feel the anger about Appletons mistakes, the disconnect between his talk and action and the pathetic performances last night, however we have done much better in the league since his arrival and his stats are not by any measure poor.
Sure if there is resentment we didn’t get another manager, the expectations are set ridiculously high and the squad and context are ignored, then it’s easy to jump up and down about this result and catastrophise.
If he learns from the mistakes he makes that’s good enough for me, if he continues to make them it’s a different situation, however the fact is he is still new, it’s is a very threadbare squad and the context to his appointment was one of chaos and instability and he, like all managers, should be given at least a modicum of time to improve things. At the present time it’s far far to early to be quite as hostile.
Lets see how he responds to this appalling shambles and how we do at the weekend…..
You might think it is only me, but have you looked at the player mark/Applescore thread and read a few of the remarks? It could be we're all crying for the moon, whilst we lay in this gutter.
I'm not saying I want Appleton gone but let's stop pretending he hasn't made huge mistakes recently.
1) He started Aneke - which any of us could have told him wasn't a good idea - and left him on for 65 minutes. He's now out for 3 months.
2) He dropped Louie Watson after a series of really good performances for 2 games for a half fit Fraser
3) He played May up front by himself against Bolton's 3 big defenders
4)And now yesterday's cock-up.
If he carries on like this, the jury will be out on him very soon.
Personally think he is another stubborn, ignorant manager who can only see one way of playing. Don’t think he will last till next season at current rate, never seems to learn. If he didn’t already realise Kirk was a lousy player then God help us.
Having watched the last two games on my PC, can add another Appleton balls-up. Against Wigan bringing on Kirk and Thomas almost cost us 2 points. Never been a fan of Appleton he seems to go from club to club just picking up a two years contract for easy money. Certainly I cannot believe he bring will bring us any success. Also can't we fine Charlie Kirk a months wages for not trying, in any other profession he would be out of a job!
That 11 Should have beat Cray Valley - But didn't.
It obvious some of the players shouldn't and hopefully wont, be used again.
Some players were 'rested' but we now have another fixture - meaning some players will play 3 games in 7 days.
All the above means Appleton fucked up.
For me the draw was the worst possible outcome. Watching the highlights after seeing the game live, we had enough chances to win by 3-1 maybe 4-1. At times I thought we played too slowly .
If Mickey Apples didn't know it before he does now!
The players who are currently freeloading piss takers and who will never go into battle for him, started that game yesterday. Easy to say get rid of them, so I will... GET FUCKING RID OF EM!
Apart from the keeper all have played for the 1st team at some point this season......and almost half of them (Ness, Thomas, Edun, Fraser, Tedic)Â could be called upon to be part of the 18 man squad on Saturday. Lets not sugar coat it, they weren't u18's who were asked to step up - they were players that will be needed for the rest of the season. Getting rid of them is just not feasible, unless you think the US investors are suddenly going to spend millions on replacements.Â
I don’t buy the excuse/angle from Appleton that the humiliation enabled him to learn stuff about our players so all is good then. Absolute crap to say he has only been here a short time and he is learning about our players. What does he do all week FFS? He was presented with a Televised cup game at home against a team more than 100 places below us in the pyramid, and it was his decisions that have led to our humiliation. Whoever appointed Appleton is also responsible.
Well there’s a surprise!
All you have done since he was appointed is set unrealistic and unachievable “goals” and flogged every game as a must win, but with absolutely no reference to the squad he inherited or the appalling instability at the club generally. Any plus points are largely ignored and negatives seem to be seized upon and illustrate your central hostility to Appleton.
It was a poor & foolish choice of squad, a frankly appalling result and ultimately hasn’t has the effect of resting the first team as we have another game now anyway. Of course the manager has made big mistakes in this situation. We also have a squad with clearly limited depth (and enthusiasm) and the defence from Hades and some players need to go.
I get & feel the anger about Appletons mistakes, the disconnect between his talk and action and the pathetic performances last night, however we have done much better in the league since his arrival and his stats are not by any measure poor.
Sure if there is resentment we didn’t get another manager, the expectations are set ridiculously high and the squad and context are ignored, then it’s easy to jump up and down about this result and catastrophise.
If he learns from the mistakes he makes that’s good enough for me, if he continues to make them it’s a different situation, however the fact is he is still new, it’s is a very threadbare squad and the context to his appointment was one of chaos and instability and he, like all managers, should be given at least a modicum of time to improve things. At the present time it’s far far to early to be quite as hostile.
Lets see how he responds to this appalling shambles and how we do at the weekend…..
You might think it is only me, but have you looked at the player mark/Applescore thread and read a few of the remarks? It could be we're all crying for the moon, whilst we lay in this gutter.
@seth plum I think the point @IAgree was making, is that since MA has been here you have set every single game as 'must win', which is entirely unrealistic! It seems that you have a dislike for him, or don't want him as our manager. I to was not overly enthusiastic by his appt at the beginning and yes he has made mistakes, but he has also only lost 2 games during his tenure to date, that's not a bad record and, as I said on an earlier post, we are 5 points off a play off spot with a game in hand and this is not his squad! Yesterday was a huge fuck up, but I blame the pros, who it seems, couldn't be arsed. The scores on the player mark thread were about yesterday, look at the one for Wigan its completely different. No manager can 'must win' every game, as even the likes of Man City and Arsenal have found out this season. Cut the guy some slack, he is trying to recover a terrible start to the season, which he can't be blamed for! He needs to be given a fair chance to build his own squad in January and needs full support from the owners. 22 managers since Curbishly, as I quoted earlier, proves that knee jerk reactions don't work, we need stability on and off the field! Keep chopping and changing managers is not going to improve our situation, and I would begin to wonder which manager in their right minds that would want to come to a club that hires and fires as quick as we do, can you?
For this cup game i didn't call it a must win. Every time I say a game is a must win it is related to the number of points needed for success.
No you didn't, for the first time since he's been here, but you did say you don't buy the excuse from him when he said the result enabled him to see and learn things about the players. Well that group on the field yesterday have hardly turned out in a match situation, which is completely different from training ground stuff! Well now he has, he's seen at least 60 odd mins in a match situation and he said he's seen who he now knows he can't basically trust. Then you have a dig at the people who appointed MA in the first place, it all points to you not wanting him here from the beginning, so I ask again who do you think would come to us that would-: 1) Join a club that hires and fires on a whim? 2) Can get better results from the Current group of players? 3) Would have your seal of approval where you had some patience? We have to be realistic nowadays, we are a 3rd Division club, have been for most of the last few years and been poorly owned by a constant flow of chancers. It has to stop and stop now, so let's give MA time to build his own squad, if allowed to do so in January, and see if we can push on for the play offs. You never know it might just work out!
Well thank goodness we've got that replay! I didn't expect a draw beforehand but it seems the right result, well done to Cray Valley they deserve it. We started brightly and after the goal I thought we'd crack on and put the result beyond doubt. Even when we hadn't scored another before half time I still thought we'd do it. Predictably they came out for the second half hungry and with all guns blazing. Where were we? Still stuck in in stroke it around at the back mode. Low energy and low speed of passing/movement........ down to MA for not winding them up before he sent them out and down to the players themselves too. Given their lack of matchplay I thought Edun, McGrandles and Campbell did ok. Abankwah looks like he will be decent but like Anderson and Ness he's not near the finished article yet and I think MA should have realised we'd be weak with these 3 defending our right side. Tedic worked hard but was outfought and outplayed by a very experienced CB, so I'd keep going with him when needed. As the second half rolled in I started to think about which game changers MA could bring on. Campbell looked the most likely to open them up but then he picked up the knock on his hip and it seemed to knock the stuffing out of him. With the benefit of hindsight MA didn't gets the subs right this time, neither the timing or the choices. The timing was too late and the 2 guys who'd be most likely to shake them up, CBT and TC, didn't figure in his choices. I can see why MA started with that 11, they all needed game time and some also needed to 'prove' themselves, it also gave other more regular players a chance at a rest. Why on earth he didn't gee them up at half time or make more timely/better sub choices who know. A bad day at the office for MA and the team. And a rotten evening on the sofa for me!
What baffles me is that we won the London Senior Cup last season with our U21s, beating non-league teams that are better than Cray Valley. Yet a team of senior pros, given a shop window to get moves out of the club, play as if they can't be arsed.Â
I really hope that Thomas Sandgaard was watching last night - it'd have shown him how much he hollowed out the club and the damage he caused.Â
For this cup game i didn't call it a must win. Every time I say a game is a must win it is related to the number of points needed for success.
No you didn't, for the first time since he's been here, but you did say you don't buy the excuse from him when he said the result enabled him to see and learn things about the players. Well that group on the field yesterday have hardly turned out in a match situation, which is completely different from training ground stuff! Well now he has, he's seen at least 60 odd mins in a match situation and he said he's seen who he now knows he can't basically trust. Then you have a dig at the people who appointed MA in the first place, it all points to you not wanting him here from the beginning, so I ask again who do you think would come to us that would-: 1) Join a club that hires and fires on a whim? 2) Can get better results from the Current group of players? 3) Would have your seal of approval where you had some patience? We have to be realistic nowadays, we are a 3rd Division club, have been for most of the last few years and been poorly owned by a constant flow of chancers. It has to stop and stop now, so let's give MA time to build his own squad, if allowed to do so in January, and see if we can push on for the play offs. You never know it might just work out!
I take your point about being realistic, even though I am getting quite fed up with the realism of being stuck down here as a soft touch nothing much club. But may i ask if it was realistic to expect much better than we were served up yesterday?
After a few hours kip I believe there are some positives.
1 We have given the supporters of a small local team a jolly. 2 We have given the small local team a financial bonus. 3 We are still going to get another crack at it with another financial bonus possibly. 3 We now realise that we DONT have the strength in depth that we once thought. 4 We now know who urgently needs to be shipped off to the donkey sanctuary. 5 Manchester City and Udinese will have to write off some money. 6 Our new owners now know that a large bank loan may shortly be necessary. 7 Efforts must be doubled to retain Dobbo. 8 The sellers of half and half scarves can have another crack at pedalling tatt. 9 We have given Millwall supporters a bit of a laff.
Apart from this what a total crock of shit.
Yup, but I’m failing to get angry about this. If anything I see points 3 & 4 as being far more valuable than a four nil win would have been.Â
Short term pain, long term gain. Glad Appleton did what he did (sorry @bedsaddick). Playing a strong side wouldn’t have revealed (emphasised) those weaknesses.Â
Walker - In Isted's absence, he's our No 2 keeper. If we can't play him against an 8th tier team, when can we play him?
Abankwah - Not a RB, but would Asiimwe or T Watson have been much different? Ness - Wasn't everyone screaming for Hector to be dropped and Ness to replace him? Thomas - Has been a regular at LB, so again perfectly reasonable to play him in his correct position Edun - Our 1st choice LB coming back from injury. The perfect game for him to get some minutes
Anderson - Talented youngster, started the season well McGrandles - Has done well under Appleton previously. A perfect opportunity to give him some minutes after his injury Fraser - "The Scottish Pirlo". Was one of the 1st names on the teamsheet at the start of the season before his injury.
Kirk - The ideal opportunity to get some confidence into him Tedic - Not been given a chance to play as a No 9, the perfect chance for him to get a goal or 2 and get some confidence Chem - Many people have been questioning why he hasn't been in the matchday squads
It didn't work, but I can understand why Appleton picked that team. He would have learned a lot from yesterday, and not just about Kirk. Other players "failed the audition" while the lack of leadership in the first 11 is even worse in the reserve 11.Â
The problem isn't playing those players. The problem is playing them all together & expect them to play as a team.
By all means give Tedic a run out. And McGrandles if needs be. But start with 4 or 5 of your regular starters. What is it we are persistently told about having a spine of a team.Â
Brian Clough is regarded as one of this counties best ever managers. He would never have made 11 changes to a side that had just won their first away game of the season.Â
Play your best players. Win the game. Then make changes.Â
Playing your best players doesn’t guarantee shit. Ask Portsmouth how their first choice XI got on yesterday.
Appleton picked a starting XI that had almost 1600 combined senior league appearances between them. It’s not as if he played a group of 18 year olds that barely had 50 senior appearances between them and they got outmuscled.Â
Whatever combination of full time pros he picked, it should have been comfortable against 8th tier opposition.
Portsmouth didn't play a team in the 8th tier. That is the difference. 12 years ago, aged 35, I was playing in games and beating Cray Valley. It simply isn't acceptable. You know it. I know it. Appleton knows it.
For this cup game i didn't call it a must win. Every time I say a game is a must win it is related to the number of points needed for success.
No you didn't, for the first time since he's been here, but you did say you don't buy the excuse from him when he said the result enabled him to see and learn things about the players. Well that group on the field yesterday have hardly turned out in a match situation, which is completely different from training ground stuff! Well now he has, he's seen at least 60 odd mins in a match situation and he said he's seen who he now knows he can't basically trust. Then you have a dig at the people who appointed MA in the first place, it all points to you not wanting him here from the beginning, so I ask again who do you think would come to us that would-: 1) Join a club that hires and fires on a whim? 2) Can get better results from the Current group of players? 3) Would have your seal of approval where you had some patience? We have to be realistic nowadays, we are a 3rd Division club, have been for most of the last few years and been poorly owned by a constant flow of chancers. It has to stop and stop now, so let's give MA time to build his own squad, if allowed to do so in January, and see if we can push on for the play offs. You never know it might just work out!
I take your point about being realistic, even though I am getting quite fed up with the realism of being stuck down here as a soft touch nothing much club. But may i ask if it was realistic to expect much better than we were served up yesterday?
Yes it was realistic to expect a whole lot better, as I said in a previous post that it was a 'fuck up'. However I blame the players, maybe with the exception if Mcgrandles, Edun and Campbell. They are all experienced pros and didn't turn up! You can be the best manager in the world but if players, as a collective, don't show up then you are screwed. For me MA should've made subs at HT, especially Kirk and Tedic, for May and Miles. He left them too late in the day. I would also have subbed Mcgrandles when he run out of steam for Dobbo. So, yes MA made mistakes in my eyes, but 95% of the fault lies with the players who started, it shouldn't be the end of MA.Â
For this cup game i didn't call it a must win. Every time I say a game is a must win it is related to the number of points needed for success.
No you didn't, for the first time since he's been here, but you did say you don't buy the excuse from him when he said the result enabled him to see and learn things about the players. Well that group on the field yesterday have hardly turned out in a match situation, which is completely different from training ground stuff! Well now he has, he's seen at least 60 odd mins in a match situation and he said he's seen who he now knows he can't basically trust. Then you have a dig at the people who appointed MA in the first place, it all points to you not wanting him here from the beginning, so I ask again who do you think would come to us that would-: 1) Join a club that hires and fires on a whim? 2) Can get better results from the Current group of players? 3) Would have your seal of approval where you had some patience? We have to be realistic nowadays, we are a 3rd Division club, have been for most of the last few years and been poorly owned by a constant flow of chancers. It has to stop and stop now, so let's give MA time to build his own squad, if allowed to do so in January, and see if we can push on for the play offs. You never know it might just work out!
I take your point about being realistic, even though I am getting quite fed up with the realism of being stuck down here as a soft touch nothing much club. But may i ask if it was realistic to expect much better than we were served up yesterday?
Yes it was realistic to expect a whole lot better, as I said in a previous post that it was a 'fuck up'. However I blame the players, maybe with the exception if Mcgrandles, Edun and Campbell. They are all experienced pros and didn't turn up! You can be the best manager in the world but if players, as a collective, don't show up then you are screwed. For me MA should've made subs at HT, especially Kirk and Tedic, for May and Miles. He left them too late in the day. I would also have subbed Mcgrandles when he run out of steam for Dobbo. So, yes MA made mistakes in my eyes, but 95% of the fault lies with the players who started, it shouldn't be the end of MA. Absolutely agree Red, but you know that there are people who will use that result on Sunday to reinforce their case against Appleton, ignoring the progress made so far under his tenure.Â
Walker - In Isted's absence, he's our No 2 keeper. If we can't play him against an 8th tier team, when can we play him?
Abankwah - Not a RB, but would Asiimwe or T Watson have been much different? Ness - Wasn't everyone screaming for Hector to be dropped and Ness to replace him? Thomas - Has been a regular at LB, so again perfectly reasonable to play him in his correct position Edun - Our 1st choice LB coming back from injury. The perfect game for him to get some minutes
Anderson - Talented youngster, started the season well McGrandles - Has done well under Appleton previously. A perfect opportunity to give him some minutes after his injury Fraser - "The Scottish Pirlo". Was one of the 1st names on the teamsheet at the start of the season before his injury.
Kirk - The ideal opportunity to get some confidence into him Tedic - Not been given a chance to play as a No 9, the perfect chance for him to get a goal or 2 and get some confidence Chem - Many people have been questioning why he hasn't been in the matchday squads
It didn't work, but I can understand why Appleton picked that team. He would have learned a lot from yesterday, and not just about Kirk. Other players "failed the audition" while the lack of leadership in the first 11 is even worse in the reserve 11.Â
The problem isn't playing those players. The problem is playing them all together & expect them to play as a team.
By all means give Tedic a run out. And McGrandles if needs be. But start with 4 or 5 of your regular starters. What is it we are persistently told about having a spine of a team.Â
Brian Clough is regarded as one of this counties best ever managers. He would never have made 11 changes to a side that had just won their first away game of the season.Â
Play your best players. Win the game. Then make changes.Â
Isn’t some of this down to the current trendy thinking that you get all teams at the club (1st Team, U21s, U18s, whatever) to play the same way so that any player can slot into any team at any time?
Sounds kind of ok in theory but certainly the reality at Charlton at the moment is that we have a number of players who make a unique contribution (Aneke when fit, May, L Watson, Dobbo) who cannot be replaced by anyone else on the playing staff.
We saw to good effect what happens when our best starting 11 are withdrawn (the Wigan nearly shit show last week) and what happened yesterday proved it beyond doubt.Â
Our squad depth is hopelessly shallow and this will be what stops us getting promoted this season.
I was in the directors box for the Bolton game & noticed his lack of involvement with the team during the game, sat 2nd row of the West last night, same thing again, nothing. Not sure how you can improve things on the field without some involvement with the team.
If you ever wanted a demonstration that football is a team game, then last night was perfect. Throw together players that have not played together and that is what happens, especially if one of them is Kirk.
I suspect the performance will be totally different against Portsmouth - but that will just highlight the contempt in which Appleton holds the competition and the opposition.
Walker - In Isted's absence, he's our No 2 keeper. If we can't play him against an 8th tier team, when can we play him?
Abankwah - Not a RB, but would Asiimwe or T Watson have been much different? Ness - Wasn't everyone screaming for Hector to be dropped and Ness to replace him? Thomas - Has been a regular at LB, so again perfectly reasonable to play him in his correct position Edun - Our 1st choice LB coming back from injury. The perfect game for him to get some minutes
Anderson - Talented youngster, started the season well McGrandles - Has done well under Appleton previously. A perfect opportunity to give him some minutes after his injury Fraser - "The Scottish Pirlo". Was one of the 1st names on the teamsheet at the start of the season before his injury.
Kirk - The ideal opportunity to get some confidence into him Tedic - Not been given a chance to play as a No 9, the perfect chance for him to get a goal or 2 and get some confidence Chem - Many people have been questioning why he hasn't been in the matchday squads
It didn't work, but I can understand why Appleton picked that team. He would have learned a lot from yesterday, and not just about Kirk. Other players "failed the audition" while the lack of leadership in the first 11 is even worse in the reserve 11.Â
The problem isn't playing those players. The problem is playing them all together & expect them to play as a team.
By all means give Tedic a run out. And McGrandles if needs be. But start with 4 or 5 of your regular starters. What is it we are persistently told about having a spine of a team.Â
Brian Clough is regarded as one of this counties best ever managers. He would never have made 11 changes to a side that had just won their first away game of the season.Â
Play your best players. Win the game. Then make changes.Â
Playing your best players doesn’t guarantee shit. Ask Portsmouth how their first choice XI got on yesterday.
Appleton picked a starting XI that had almost 1600 combined senior league appearances between them. It’s not as if he played a group of 18 year olds that barely had 50 senior appearances between them and they got outmuscled.Â
Whatever combination of full time pros he picked, it should have been comfortable against 8th tier opposition.
Portsmouth didn't play a team in the 8th tier. That is the difference. 12 years ago, aged 35, I was playing in games and beating Cray Valley. It simply isn't acceptable. You know it. I know it. Appleton knows it.
and they were away against a team doing well at the moment in the National League. We were at home to a team in the 9th tier.
Comments
It could be we're all crying for the moon, whilst we lay in this gutter.
Yesterday was a huge fuck up, but I blame the pros, who it seems, couldn't be arsed.Â
The scores on the player mark thread were about yesterday, look at the one for Wigan its completely different.
No manager can 'must win' every game, as even the likes of Man City and Arsenal have found out this season.
Cut the guy some slack, he is trying to recover a terrible start to the season, which he can't be blamed for!
He needs to be given a fair chance to build his own squad in January and needs full support from the owners.
22 managers since Curbishly, as I quoted earlier, proves that knee jerk reactions don't work, we need stability on and off the field!
Keep chopping and changing managers is not going to improve our situation, and I would begin to wonder which manager in their right minds that would want to come to a club that hires and fires as quick as we do, can you?
Â
Every time I say a game is a must win it is related to the number of points needed for success.
Well now he has, he's seen at least 60 odd mins in a match situation and he said he's seen who he now knows he can't basically trust. Then you have a dig at the people who appointed MA in the first place, it all points to you not wanting him here from the beginning, so I ask again who do you think would come to us that would-:
1) Join a club that hires and fires on a whim?
2) Can get better results from the Current group of players?Â
3) Would have your seal of approval where you had some patience?Â
We have to be realistic nowadays, we are a 3rd Division club, have been for most of the last few years and been poorly owned by a constant flow of chancers. It has to stop and stop now, so let's give MA time to build his own squad, if allowed to do so in January, and see if we can push on for the play offs. You never know it might just work out!
We started brightly and after the goal I thought we'd crack on and put the result beyond doubt. Even when we hadn't scored another before half time I still thought we'd do it. Predictably they came out for the second half hungry and with all guns blazing. Where were we? Still stuck in in stroke it around at the back mode. Low energy and low speed of passing/movement........ down to MA for not winding them up before he sent them out and down to the players themselves too.
Given their lack of matchplay I thought Edun, McGrandles and Campbell did ok. Abankwah looks like he will be decent but like Anderson and Ness he's not near the finished article yet and I think MA should have realised we'd be weak with these 3 defending our right side.
Tedic worked hard but was outfought and outplayed by a very experienced CB, so I'd keep going with him when needed.
As the second half rolled in I started to think about which game changers MA could bring on. Campbell looked the most likely to open them up but then he picked up the knock on his hip and it seemed to knock the stuffing out of him. With the benefit of hindsight MA didn't gets the subs right this time, neither the timing or the choices. The timing was too late and the 2 guys who'd be most likely to shake them up, CBT and TC, didn't figure in his choices.
I can see why MA started with that 11, they all needed game time and some also needed to 'prove' themselves, it also gave other more regular players a chance at a rest. Why on earth he didn't gee them up at half time or make more timely/better sub choices who know.
A bad day at the office for MA and the team. And a rotten evening on the sofa for me!
But may i ask if it was realistic to expect much better than we were served up yesterday?
That is the difference.Â
12 years ago, aged 35, I was playing in games and beating Cray Valley.
It simply isn't acceptable.
You know it. I know it. Appleton knows it.
However I blame the players, maybe with the exception if Mcgrandles, Edun and Campbell. They are all experienced pros and didn't turn up! You can be the best manager in the world but if players, as a collective, don't show up then you are screwed. For me MA should've made subs at HT, especially Kirk and Tedic, for May and Miles. He left them too late in the day. I would also have subbed Mcgrandles when he run out of steam for Dobbo.
So, yes MA made mistakes in my eyes, but 95% of the fault lies with the players who started, it shouldn't be the end of MA.Â
Sounds kind of ok in theory but certainly the reality at Charlton at the moment is that we have a number of players who make a unique contribution (Aneke when fit, May, L Watson, Dobbo) who cannot be replaced by anyone else on the playing staff.
We saw to good effect what happens when our best starting 11 are withdrawn (the Wigan nearly shit show last week) and what happened yesterday proved it beyond doubt.Â
They lost to Chesterfield, everyone thought it was the upset of the round, and then Charlton basically said “hold my beer”.