Exeter City vs Charlton AthleticSaturday 9th November 2024 - 3pm Kick-OffReferee: Matt CorlettIntroductionCharlton return to League action this Saturday, after a break from League One last time out... Our FA Cup encounter with National League side: Southend United turned out to be a bit of a thriller, with no one expecting a 4-3 result, which involved the Goal of the Round from Gassan Ahadme who was returning from injury - Its back to the serious matter of trying to achieve promotion now though, with the Addicks making the trip down to Devon this weekend.
The OppositionName: Exeter City (11th) - Manager: Gary CaldwellGround: St. James' Park (No not that one)Previous League Result: Huddersfield 2-0 ExeterMy focus for the opposition this coming weekend will revolve around the Manager himself: Gary Caldwell
I mean when you win promotion in impressive fashion, especially when you're just starting out in Management... well your stock is only going to increase, and thats exactly what Caldwell did with Wigan back in 2016 - Unfortunately though, his career on the touchline has been a bit of a roller-coaster... Sacked by Wigan not long after promotion to the Championship, he turned to Chesterfield, yet took them in the wrong direction, and was sacked shortly after relegation to League Two.
He then tried to rekindle that winning formula North of the Border with Partick Thistle, and whilst he helped avoid relegation from the Scottish Championship he was sacked the season after - Roll forward three years later to 2022, and Gary had become bit of a forgotten name, he rocked up at Exeter City, helped them finish 14th, and then 13th last season... This season and the Grecians sit 11th, ahead of the Addicks solely on Goal Difference, so there is little to separate the two sides.. However our opponents come into this game, pointless in their last two games, although a Josh Magennis hat-trick (Yes... You read that right) in a 5-3 win against Barnet in the FA Cup last week, has restored a bit of confidence in this side.
Dont be fooled either, they may have conceded a number of goals last time out, but their Defence (involving one Ben Purrington), has conceded four less goals than ourselves, whilst its at the other end they're struggling, having scored two less than ourselves - Combining results from the FA Cup and League, this could either be an absolute classic, or a game that'll quickly be forgotten come 5pm tomorrow afternoon.
Charlton Team NewsAgain we get to October and injuries appear to be appearing amongst the squad once more... Tyreece Campbell is the latest name that'll be potentially missing this Saturday, as he recovers from the effects of a late Wrexham challenge - Its in defence we seem to be struggling the most at the moment, our solid back line has suffered without Lloyd Jones, and now Kayne Ramsay, and that doesnt look to be changing any time soon.
Well what's the good news I hear you ask... Erm... Err... I'll get back to you on that one - Miles Leaburn at least in recent games has started to find his match sharpness, those goals may have come against Youth and Non-League opposition, but they'll have given him some much needed confidence as we start to rely more and more on his potential - Thankfully our strike force has been bolstered with the return of Gassan Ahadme; the Moroccan has had a tough start in SE7, and that doesnt include an odd injury that involved him being hospitalised for a number of days - Hopefully his goal against Southend can see him kick on, as a partnership of Leaburn and Ahadme could be problematic for any defence at this level.
Mannion
Asiimwe - A.Mitchell - Gillesphey - Edwards
Coventry - Taylor
Anderson - Berry
Leaburn - Godden
Substitutes Bench: Maynard-Brewer - Small - Edmonds-Green - Docherty - A.Campbell - Hylton - Ahadme
Comments
Don’t trust our defence but do think Leaburn and Godden will cause enough problems to get us a result. 2-2
The glass half full brigade will be happy with our unbeaten run.
The glass half empty will moan it's 4 league draws on the trot.
Personally I think we have to start winning games soon otherwise we will start getting cut adrift from the playoffs.
As for the score I have absolutely no idea.
For me there's no reason to be starting Asiimwe so it's REG at right back.
Z Mitchell must be knocking on the door for a start, there has to be a time for him to break into the starting eleven but I'm not sure this is the right game for it. His lapses against Chelsea u21s still showed a bit of naivety in what promises to be a tough game.
Taylor & Coventry have to start but the other two midfield places are up for grabs with Doc, Anderson, Campbell less than impressive while Berry seems to have more of a impact from the bench.
Leaburn & Godden are probably our best front two at the moment so I expect to see them with Gas being a Leaburn replacement if he needs it.
I'd love to somehow get Edwards & Small in the team together as I think that would really give us something extra down that left.
I'll be down there but I'm worried. Either 1-0 to them or 1-1
I also went with the assumption that Jones might want a Centre-Back in reserve just in case - But thinking about it; he's already deployed Edwards at Centre-Back in recent games, when having both him and Small on at the same time so worst case scenario he'll probably just do that again.
The epic come back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 with the popular Pardew scoring the winner.
Enjoy your trip to the North east and Europe beckons.
I'm sure the 5 year plan for European football was this season ?
Oops sorry, that's the parallel universe 😕
Tomorrow is the mid table battle between CAFC and Exeter in Devon: 366 miles apart are the st James park stadiums but a universe away in football terms.
1-1 stalemate as we crave for 15/8/98.
1-1
In NJ we trust.
The football league season is very long, and I'm a fan of late runs (depending on how tight the league is, you can go on runs as late as Feb and still make the play offs), but if you're not going to put together a long winning/unbeaten run, I would also like to see us bang out mini runs of 3/4 wins at a time. 6 of those a season can also make a difference
Interestingly, Exeter only have 1 draw all season
I think we win 2-1 or 1-0.
Wrexham had only conceded 8 goals before we played them and we scored 2. I'm more worried about us conceding.
will we get the basic 's right
maybe but the football will be dire
Anderson, Taylor, Coventry, Small
Godden, Leaburn
I appreciate Jones doesn’t believe in balance but this is the best I can do .
Just think with what we have available we would need to get a lead early and hold on
Nothing from the bench excites me
Really enjoyed Exeter last season it’s a great place for a night out for those travelling and staying over