Charlton v Blackburn 28/04/2018 - POST MATCH THREAD

PWR

It was cruel in the extreme to make the players do a (half) lap of honour after the game because they had nothing left. I have never seen a Charlton team fight like that since the days of Chris Powell, and even in that era it wasn't a regular occurrence.

Stand up and take a bow Bow. The players gave you, and us, and themselves everything they could, because if nothing else you have instilled teamwork, work rate, and desire that we simply never showed under KR with much the same group of players.

In terms of desire and commitment, every single player was a straight 10, and they have to drag those same qualities out of themselves next week at Rochdale, and hopefully in games to come.

The game was about as tense and dramatic as you could imagine from our point of view, if you need a reference point it was not unlike the Wimbledon performance against us a couple of weeks ago, only more so, and even if Blackburn went down a notch, and were already on the beach, and rested players, they were bloody good and well supported, it was tough.

Sometimes as the cliche goes hard work brings it's own luck, perhaps the deflection for our goal was that, and Blackburn hit the woodwork, but our victory today was more than luck, and it was deserved, simple as that.

In terms of the players where to start?
It was a clean sheet, and Amos was astonishingly good. The entire defence was at it 100%, blocks, headers, willpower, skill too was all there, and if needed JFC and Marshall made important interceptions and blocks, I mean did I imagine a certain Rovers goal just after half time being essentially saved by work from Marshall? In that sequence Page was injured, I have no news of what has happened, but it seems like terrible luck for a player getting back and getting form to be stretchered off.

The second half Alamo-like defending at times was exceptional, often a Rovers player would have the ball yet we conjured up two, three even four players to be on them before they had a chance to catch breath. Bauer, Jason fucking Pearce and Konsa put in an elemental shift, and as I said Amos was able to react when called on. What a second half defensive display that was.

Leading 1-0 under Robinson and others you just knew an equaliser was coming, and although under the cosh today, somehow I felt an equaliser wasn't coming. A weird feeling.

The midfield of Reeves Kashi JFC and Marshall was fantastic. Every one of them had their moments, but for a while now (certainly under Bowyer, but before that too) JFC was outstanding in terms of unselfish intelligent team play, Kashi as usual was Kashi, but I believe Reeves made at least one vital defensive block and generally contributed, and Marshall, playing in an unfamiliar position gave his best ever showing in a Charlton shirt. Overall the midfield work rate was collectively one of the best I have ever seen from a Charlton team, can anybody point to any Blackburn midfielder today and say they had as much as a sniff? We bossed the midfield.

Up front Josh and Ajose were negated by and large by the Blackburn defence, but both players worked hard to ensure it was never a stroll for them, and they were an available outlet that helped quite frequently to give the defence some respite. Their contribution mattered and they were a vital part of the overall victory for the team.

The crowd, us, were great. The non orchestrated standing and cheering the team home from the East Stand came from the gut, and the North Stand were awesome all afternoon.

It was my birthday yesterday and I wondered what kind of present today would bring. It was delivered. It is rare to feel as good as this following Charlton under this regime, if the mood music of the past was that results don't matter, that music wasn't playing today. The result mattered, and to all of us it was indeed everything.