Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

MATCH THREAD (+POSTp22): Gillingham vs Charlton Athletic: FA CupšŸ†(2): Sat 2nd Dec 2023 | KO 3.00PM

1293032343537

Comments

  • Melrose said:
    Awful no bottle or heart.Ā 

    Appleton knows a lot of these are not good enough. Ā I just hope he can get them out and replace with players he wants.Ā 
    Appleton needs replacing as well
    Seriously?? Look at paper thin squad, the mess we were in and his stats. If he had started the season we would be comfortably in the top six.
  • supaclive said:
    supaclive said:
    The way people are talking about Appleton youā€™d think weā€™ve lost half of our last dozen odd games.

    3 losses in 17ā€¦

    9 losses from the 17 competitive games before he came in.
    The power of Chuks Aneke mate. It's no coincidence that since Chuks got injured, we have only had two wins in the league.

    He's the only player who has a bit of fight up top or physicality about him. Massive loss.

    Also to say 'losses' implies drawing is a result. Some of these draws are poor

    We can talk about wins if you want to.

    8 wins in 17 under Appleton: Wycombe (H), Exeter (H), Villa U21 (H), Reading (H), Wigan (A), Cray Valley (A), Sutton (H), Cheltenham (H)

    5 wins in the prior 17: Fleetwood (H), Orient (H), Port Vale (H), MK Dons (A), Burton (H)



    Putting it all together:

    Appleton: 8 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses

    Holden/Pearce: 5 wins, 3 draws, 9 losses
    Itā€™s a limp compare though Callum as Appleton has had a number of players signed or fit (for part) that Holden / Pearce didnā€™t.Ā 

    Iā€™ve not particularly taken to Appleton so far, not from a pre-conceived dislike as Iā€™ll happily support him and can see as youā€™ve shown there have been wins.Ā 

    But because Iā€™ve no clear idea of how he wants to play, he doesnā€™t seem to engage during games so no desire or urgency is being driven from the touchline, and weā€™ve the highest scoring player in the country now playing out wide and rarely getting in positions where he is at his best. Alfie is one of our performers yet we are not playing him to his strengths.Ā 

    My most concerning point, Iā€™ve not seen a single player get better since heā€™s arrived, yet many are performing worse. That might be coincidental and not down to him, but Iā€™ve no real faith in seeing an improvement over the next month. Boy I hope Iā€™m wrong, last thing we need is to get to the January window and there is no point to it as weā€™ll be playing for nothing. As @Cabbles said, itā€™s last season all over again.Ā 
    Appleton is a mediocre managerĀ 
    We have mediocre playersĀ 
    MOST of our deadline day signings have turned out to be proper shite and two of them can't make tbe match day squad.
    We are struggling to tread water.
    The apologists are even starting to apologise for being apologistsĀ 
    The trend, post manager bounce is not looking good

    Playing May central
    Seriously that's the EASIEST selection to make

    #mental
    It's not though. Remember the last time May played as the central striker? Bolton, where we lost 2-0 and he barely got a sniff. In fact, if you look at May's last 10 games, the only two where he played as a centre forward he didn't score. Playing as a 10 or on the right though he scored 10 in 8. I don't love him out on the right but he's better there than as a central striker on his own. I liked him as a 10 and it's a bit frustrating that Appleton has switched to a 3 made up of midfielders who don't seem to be able to play together but having May as a 10 did tend to leave us a bit exposed as well.
    The big problem is a lack of balance. We signed players for a 352 and signed a striker who plays best with a player alongside him. Either we stick two strikers up, but then don't have the balance to play a four behind them and will leave our terrible defence even more exposed, we stick May at 10 and leave ourselves a bit too shallow in the middle or we stick him on the right and ask him to drift in whenever he can and have the third midfielder provide a bit of width as he does it. None of it's ideal but the solution isn't just May central up front as he just gets eaten up by the opposition defenders and we suffer even more.
    May is a centre forwardĀ 
    The best centre forward in the division
    3 years running
    The rest is conjectureĀ 
    Thatā€™s just a completely fundamental misunderstanding of football at an almost impossible level. Players play different roles in different positions. May doesnā€™t have the size or the strength to play as a lone striker and weā€™ve seen that with our own eyes. Itā€™s not conjecture, itā€™s right there in front of us
    Surely it would be obvious to play him up front with Tedić? Might help Tedić be less shit as well

    Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā AMBĀ 
    Ā  Ā  Ā  Jones Hector ThomasĀ 
    Watson Ā  Ā Dobson Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā EdunĀ 
    Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Watson Ā Fraser
    Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā Tedić Ā May

    Can use CBT as an impact sub or start him on one of the flanks against weaker sides, and upgrade the centre back options in January.Ā 

    Iā€™m still baffled we appointed Appleton when this was the system we were building for all summer. heā€™s done well but we are going to have the exact same problems next season when heā€™s still trying to work out where to play MayĀ 

    May on the right means we are defensively better and have more control, but May is less likely to get into scoring areas. May central means he will score goals, but I think it hurts us defensively. Unless Appleton switches to 2 up top we are going to have the exact same issues next seasonĀ 

  • I cannot agree with any calls to get Appleton gone but he got it just as wrong yesterday as the players, it was clear early to everyone that a lot of those players decided they could not be bothered to compete in the cold against a team who were always going to be up for it, so he should have been bolder with the subs, as at least the youngers like Mbick & Kanu had enthusiasm to try.Ā 

    To most Charlton fans it is hard to understand but as someone who has Gillingham fans in the extended family, this was their cup final, they absolutely despise us as a club, so throw in a few ex addick players keen to make a point and this was always going to be a fight, so our team of softies rocking up with a terrible attitude, sadly was inevitable we would be turned over.

    Weirdly now a day later, I will take the two nil as they should have smashed us for four or five.
  • Never at any point did we look like we were going to turn it around.
    There were a number of stoppages, due to injuries etc, when the players ran to the touchline.
    Surely there was an opportunity for Appleton to cajole, motivate, inspire, bawl them out etc.
    Clearly not his way but,Ā  fcuk they needed a firework up their arse.
    I certainly don't advocate sacking Appleton.
    I suspect he knows his squad is peopled with mediocrity but can't say much other than, don't knock on my door demanding to be picked.
    I can imagine Thomas Frank would be getting his white board out & having a mini team talk.Ā 
  • For once yesterday I just sat numbly watching that turgid display apart from the occasional expletive at some of our players. Sadly Iā€™ve witnessed worse than what was served up on numerous occasions down the years.

    Fortunately though I wasnā€™t freezing my nuts off in that excuse for an away end stand and my condolences go out to all 1600 who suffered that gutless, pathetic offering.Ā 

    A poster on here who shall remain nameless observed beforehand that our ex players were no longer playing for us for a reason (they werenā€™t good enough?) lol. All three had a hand in our downfall and were way better on the day than their opposite numbers, Oops!

    Five changes, a couple of which were injury enforced and the strength of the squad exposed for what it is, shallow, especially with four already long term injured. Hence an over reliance on youth some of whom will suffer major setbacks in their development if they are not taken out of the firing line.

    It goes without saying, January is therefore crucial for yet another squad overhaul and player churn. Andy Scott needs to get it right but Iā€™m not holding my breath from what heā€™s contributed so far.

    This defeat or Wednesdayā€™s Mickey Mouse Cup tie at Reading wonā€™t define our season either but the next seven weeks will, starting with Cambridge followed by Barnsley and then the busy Xmas programme.Ā 

    Just like a pet, Charlton is not just for Christmas! 65 years of support and countingĀ šŸ˜©.

  • Melrose said:
    redbuttle said:
    Melrose said:
    redbuttle said:
    Melrose said:
    Awful no bottle or heart.Ā 

    Appleton knows a lot of these are not good enough. Ā I just hope he can get them out and replace with players he wants.Ā 
    Appleton needs replacing as well
    He inherited this bunch of bottle jobs. How do you think he feels? . I actually think we know now after hearing his post match interviewĀ 

    He has no idea of a compact competitive formation. He keeps playing May out wide on the right. He continues to play Tedic. He's another Adkins type, had some success in the past, but we'll past his sell by date. In his defence Scott's acquisitions have been appalling
    So what should the club do ? Sack another manager and start again. Let's see what happens in January.Ā 
    Shouldn't have been appointed in the F,ing first place. Its obvious yhe problem lies deeper than MA.Ā 
    The thing is we all knew he was beige.....there is even that stock photo of him ! There seems to be no passion or fire about him. Can't see how he can motivate players & cant see him getting us any further than where we are now.Ā 
    Like others on here I can accept MA may be the type of boss that goes about his job in relatively quiet and maybe professional manner- though we have speculated that he must be capable of putting rockets up arses at half time at least, behind closed doors. But what about the rest of the coaching team, and team captain? Why are they so apparently introverted or lacking in that required quality to show a bit of emotion when it matters?
  • NabySarr said:
    supaclive said:
    supaclive said:
    The way people are talking about Appleton youā€™d think weā€™ve lost half of our last dozen odd games.

    3 losses in 17ā€¦

    9 losses from the 17 competitive games before he came in.
    The power of Chuks Aneke mate. It's no coincidence that since Chuks got injured, we have only had two wins in the league.

    He's the only player who has a bit of fight up top or physicality about him. Massive loss.

    Also to say 'losses' implies drawing is a result. Some of these draws are poor

    We can talk about wins if you want to.

    8 wins in 17 under Appleton: Wycombe (H), Exeter (H), Villa U21 (H), Reading (H), Wigan (A), Cray Valley (A), Sutton (H), Cheltenham (H)

    5 wins in the prior 17: Fleetwood (H), Orient (H), Port Vale (H), MK Dons (A), Burton (H)



    Putting it all together:

    Appleton: 8 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses

    Holden/Pearce: 5 wins, 3 draws, 9 losses
    Itā€™s a limp compare though Callum as Appleton has had a number of players signed or fit (for part) that Holden / Pearce didnā€™t.Ā 

    Iā€™ve not particularly taken to Appleton so far, not from a pre-conceived dislike as Iā€™ll happily support him and can see as youā€™ve shown there have been wins.Ā 

    But because Iā€™ve no clear idea of how he wants to play, he doesnā€™t seem to engage during games so no desire or urgency is being driven from the touchline, and weā€™ve the highest scoring player in the country now playing out wide and rarely getting in positions where he is at his best. Alfie is one of our performers yet we are not playing him to his strengths.Ā 

    My most concerning point, Iā€™ve not seen a single player get better since heā€™s arrived, yet many are performing worse. That might be coincidental and not down to him, but Iā€™ve no real faith in seeing an improvement over the next month. Boy I hope Iā€™m wrong, last thing we need is to get to the January window and there is no point to it as weā€™ll be playing for nothing. As @Cabbles said, itā€™s last season all over again.Ā 
    Appleton is a mediocre managerĀ 
    We have mediocre playersĀ 
    MOST of our deadline day signings have turned out to be proper shite and two of them can't make tbe match day squad.
    We are struggling to tread water.
    The apologists are even starting to apologise for being apologistsĀ 
    The trend, post manager bounce is not looking good

    Playing May central
    Seriously that's the EASIEST selection to make

    #mental
    It's not though. Remember the last time May played as the central striker? Bolton, where we lost 2-0 and he barely got a sniff. In fact, if you look at May's last 10 games, the only two where he played as a centre forward he didn't score. Playing as a 10 or on the right though he scored 10 in 8. I don't love him out on the right but he's better there than as a central striker on his own. I liked him as a 10 and it's a bit frustrating that Appleton has switched to a 3 made up of midfielders who don't seem to be able to play together but having May as a 10 did tend to leave us a bit exposed as well.
    The big problem is a lack of balance. We signed players for a 352 and signed a striker who plays best with a player alongside him. Either we stick two strikers up, but then don't have the balance to play a four behind them and will leave our terrible defence even more exposed, we stick May at 10 and leave ourselves a bit too shallow in the middle or we stick him on the right and ask him to drift in whenever he can and have the third midfielder provide a bit of width as he does it. None of it's ideal but the solution isn't just May central up front as he just gets eaten up by the opposition defenders and we suffer even more.
    May is a centre forwardĀ 
    The best centre forward in the division
    3 years running
    The rest is conjectureĀ 
    Thatā€™s just a completely fundamental misunderstanding of football at an almost impossible level. Players play different roles in different positions. May doesnā€™t have the size or the strength to play as a lone striker and weā€™ve seen that with our own eyes. Itā€™s not conjecture, itā€™s right there in front of us
    Surely it would be obvious to play him up front with Tedić? Might help Tedić be less shit as well

    Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā AMBĀ 
    Ā  Ā  Ā  Jones Hector ThomasĀ 
    Watson Ā  Ā Dobson Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā EdunĀ 
    Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Watson Ā Fraser
    Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā Tedić Ā May

    Can use CBT as an impact sub or start him on one of the flanks against weaker sides, and upgrade the centre back options in January.Ā 

    Iā€™m still baffled we appointed Appleton when this was the system we were building for all summer. heā€™s done well but we are going to have the exact same problems next season when heā€™s still trying to work out where to play MayĀ 

    May on the right means we are defensively better and have more control, but May is less likely to get into scoring areas. May central means he will score goals, but I think it hurts us defensively. Unless Appleton switches to 2 up top we are going to have the exact same issues next seasonĀ 

    I quite like that team. More solid, on what was going to be a tough battle against a motivated Gillingham team, with 3 in midfield AND a great opportunity to see if Tedic and May could work alongside each other. Even if we played Asiimwe and Ness, I think they'd be less exposed in that side.
  • Worst thing is people wanting a refund. Obviously started supported charlton this year or its their first away game or something.
  • Sponsored links:


  • supaclive said:
    supaclive said:
    The way people are talking about Appleton youā€™d think weā€™ve lost half of our last dozen odd games.

    3 losses in 17ā€¦

    9 losses from the 17 competitive games before he came in.
    The power of Chuks Aneke mate. It's no coincidence that since Chuks got injured, we have only had two wins in the league.

    He's the only player who has a bit of fight up top or physicality about him. Massive loss.

    Also to say 'losses' implies drawing is a result. Some of these draws are poor

    We can talk about wins if you want to.

    8 wins in 17 under Appleton: Wycombe (H), Exeter (H), Villa U21 (H), Reading (H), Wigan (A), Cray Valley (A), Sutton (H), Cheltenham (H)

    5 wins in the prior 17: Fleetwood (H), Orient (H), Port Vale (H), MK Dons (A), Burton (H)



    Putting it all together:

    Appleton: 8 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses

    Holden/Pearce: 5 wins, 3 draws, 9 losses
    Itā€™s a limp compare though Callum as Appleton has had a number of players signed or fit (for part) that Holden / Pearce didnā€™t.Ā 

    Iā€™ve not particularly taken to Appleton so far, not from a pre-conceived dislike as Iā€™ll happily support him and can see as youā€™ve shown there have been wins.Ā 

    But because Iā€™ve no clear idea of how he wants to play, he doesnā€™t seem to engage during games so no desire or urgency is being driven from the touchline, and weā€™ve the highest scoring player in the country now playing out wide and rarely getting in positions where he is at his best. Alfie is one of our performers yet we are not playing him to his strengths.Ā 

    My most concerning point, Iā€™ve not seen a single player get better since heā€™s arrived, yet many are performing worse. That might be coincidental and not down to him, but Iā€™ve no real faith in seeing an improvement over the next month. Boy I hope Iā€™m wrong, last thing we need is to get to the January window and there is no point to it as weā€™ll be playing for nothing. As @Cabbles said, itā€™s last season all over again.Ā 
    Appleton is a mediocre managerĀ 
    We have mediocre playersĀ 
    MOST of our deadline day signings have turned out to be proper shite and two of them can't make tbe match day squad.
    We are struggling to tread water.
    The apologists are even starting to apologise for being apologistsĀ 
    The trend, post manager bounce is not looking good

    Playing May central
    Seriously that's the EASIEST selection to make

    #mental
    It's not though. Remember the last time May played as the central striker? Bolton, where we lost 2-0 and he barely got a sniff. In fact, if you look at May's last 10 games, the only two where he played as a centre forward he didn't score. Playing as a 10 or on the right though he scored 10 in 8. I don't love him out on the right but he's better there than as a central striker on his own. I liked him as a 10 and it's a bit frustrating that Appleton has switched to a 3 made up of midfielders who don't seem to be able to play together but having May as a 10 did tend to leave us a bit exposed as well.
    The big problem is a lack of balance. We signed players for a 352 and signed a striker who plays best with a player alongside him. Either we stick two strikers up, but then don't have the balance to play a four behind them and will leave our terrible defence even more exposed, we stick May at 10 and leave ourselves a bit too shallow in the middle or we stick him on the right and ask him to drift in whenever he can and have the third midfielder provide a bit of width as he does it. None of it's ideal but the solution isn't just May central up front as he just gets eaten up by the opposition defenders and we suffer even more.
    May is a centre forwardĀ 
    The best centre forward in the division
    3 years running
    The rest is conjectureĀ 
    Thatā€™s just a completely fundamental misunderstanding of football at an almost impossible level. Players play different roles in different positions. May doesnā€™t have the size or the strength to play as a lone striker and weā€™ve seen that with our own eyes. Itā€™s not conjecture, itā€™s right there in front of us
    I genuinely don't misunderstand football.

    Our ownership and manager buy the best centre forward in League 1 then play a formation and set up that doesn't play to his strengths and DESPITE him scoring goals this set up sees us knocked out the FA Cup in the 2nd round of the FA Cup and sitting mid table in the division DESPITE his goals and apparently one of the highest wage bills in the Division.

    They also think they can break even in this Division.

    Yet it's me that misunderstands football.

    Right-o.

    I'm not arguing May can play wide.Ā  I'm arguing it's mental to buy him and then not set the side up to maximise his abilities.Ā  Ā That's not understanding football!

    Unless we make the play offs, the managememt will have failed on their first objective.
  • Worst thing is people wanting a refund. Obviously started supported charlton this year or its their first away game or something.
    You really think that's the worst thing about yesterday?
  • Worst thing is people wanting a refund. Obviously started supported charlton this year or itā€™s their first away game or something.
    Errr - I have been to many many home and away games since 1976 - and I did post about a refund - this was out of anger and frustration - I donā€™t mind seeing us lose (letā€™s face it, thatā€™s an occupational hazard supporting Charlton) - what I do mind, is losing when the players are abject, no effort, donā€™t seem to care etc etc

    All of us in that away yesterday were freezing our nuts off, in what is an utter disgrace of a ā€˜standā€™ (the late great Brian Moore must be spinning in his grave to have it named after him !!) - the minimum I expect is that our players at least tryā€¦.
  • Appleton cheap as chips appointment!
    You get what you pay for.
    Please don't play T Campbell and Assimwe in freezing cold weather!
    What's happened to Anderson and C Campbell?
  • Appleton cheap as chips appointment!
    You get what you pay for.
    Please don't play T Campbell and Assimwe in freezing cold weather!
    What's happened to Anderson and C Campbell?
    He was not cheap cost a lot more in wages than DH ā€¦ you pay for experienceā€¦ā€¦..Ā 
  • edited December 2023
    The complete absence of leadsership on the field is stark.
    Edit: I mean, I hate Roy Keane with a passion, but can you imagine somebody of his ilk in the team yesterday allowing his teammates to let their standards drop so low

  • Sponsored links:



  • Charlton fans suddenly caring about the FA Cup where was everyone at the valley v Cray Valley ā€¦ ??? fact is the game was a pain in the bum for us we knew it was Gillingham final and MA was forced to play a team he most likey did not want to ā€¦ and said before it was a case as they walked out the door ā€œ just donā€™t do anything to get injured ā€œ and you could tell that in the performanceĀ 
    You didn't go did you
  • 3rd round draw about to start everyone!!

  • Charlton fans suddenly caring about the FA Cup where was everyone at the valley v Cray Valley ā€¦ ??? fact is the game was a pain in the bum for us we knew it was Gillingham final and MA was forced to play a team he most likey did not want to ā€¦ and said before it was a case as they walked out the door ā€œ just donā€™t do anything to get injured ā€œ and you could tell that in the performanceĀ 
    I think you are right.Ā 
  • weā€™ve missed out on a home tie against Sheffield utdĀ 
    oooh a Ā prem teamĀ 
  • edited December 2023
    .Ā 
  • The problem playing May in his best position is that we only have him and CBT that can score goals even close to reliably. In that situation, it can be an advantage for him making late runs rtaher than have two men on him all the time. Stats show he has scored more for us playing out of position than in the central role so not sure why Appleton is getting criticism for that. The problem lies elsewhere in the team/squad and I strongly suspect that Appleton is trying to find a way round it.Ā 
  • The problem playing May in his best position is that we only have him and CBT that can score goals even close to reliably. In that situation, it can be an advantage for him making late runs rtaher than have two men on him all the time. Stats show he has scored more for us playing out of position than in the central role so not sure why Appleton is getting criticism for that. The problem lies elsewhere in the team/squad and I strongly suspect that Appleton is trying to find a way round it.Ā 
    He scores plenty in the 10, but the debate is more about whether him playing there isnā€™t actually helping us as we can then only play 2 central midfielders. We lose some control and are less protected defensively.Ā 

    I think Appleton is aware of this, hence why he has been playing him on the right a bit, but then May doesnā€™t look as likely to get into scoring areas, so that hasnā€™t worked great either.Ā 

    3-5-2 is the simple solution but Appleton seems to be one of those managers that will never stray far away from his preferred systemĀ 
Sign In or Register to comment.

Roland Out Forever!