Post Match Thread: Charlton Athletic v Rochdale | Tues 12 January 2021

golfaddick said:

MuttleyCAFC said

Yesterday, we saw a forward with no defensive pedigree whatsoever being played in a defensive position which created the weak link in the chain. Had he been picked to play as a winger, Gunter would have been positioned differently and whilst he may still have been beaten, he is a full back with 99 caps so we could reasonably expect better defending. Bowyer created a weak link in the chain and it is mystifying. Somebody like Marshall who actually showed some defensive qualities when he was with us, fair enough. But Smyth has not displayed any firm evidence he could play in that position. That isn’t being critical of Smyth btw. He is what he is. But playing him there was plain stupid. No other word for it.

This all day long. I said it on the match thread just after kick off when I heard it was 5 at the back with Smyth playing right wing back. Nooooo. I'm.all for playing 5 at the back & think it might be our best option......but that's with Maatsen on the left and either Gunter or Matthews on the right. The wing backs need to be defenders first & foremost.  Or at least have a defensive mindset. Smyth is a striker-cum-winger & probably has never played in defense EVER. We have seen previously that both Matthews & Gunter can deliver good crosses - their crossing might actually be better than Smyth's...!

Braziliance said:

addick1956 said:

Braziliance said:

addick1956 said:

Braziliance said:

I'll try and keep this short.

I'll start by saying Bowyer got it wrong with starting Smyth at RWB, but he will know that better than anyone. Once we went to basics we looked a lot better and played some great football imo, JFC who I usually accuse of being average was making things really tick, like a charity shop Toni Kroos. Aneke was terrific, could have scored 4 or more genuinely, Williams energetic. I could go on but we all saw the same game. Special mention for Oshi, solid game and has earned the right to start. Pearce and Gilbey only negatives, Pearce is alarmingly panicked for such an experienced player, late challenges, typical hoofs and on a rewatch it was a yellow, can't fault his effort but it was one. Gilbey seems really poor, I won't write him off yet cause he put in some good tackles and showed some good awareness but he just doesn't offer enough for me.

Personally I am happy with the result as it's shut down a few comments on here. Clearly the dressing room is not lost, there is fight in this team, now you can say 'The players don't wanna lose!' but that's nonsense as some of you are willing to blame Lee for his tactics, he also needs credit where it's due, he has the respect of these players. We also showed we can play attractive football with the right players on the pitch, it's just our defense that is absolutely shoddy atm.

Finally I'll wrap it up with this & I'm not bothered how it comes across, to anyone messaging Sandgaard on twitter or any other social media platform trying to push Lee out, you are pathetic and I am embarrassed to be associated with you by the team I support.

We are well in this, 100%  behind Bowyer and the lads, on to the next one

Only one person in the country would have played Smyth at wing back. Of course we can blame Bowyer for the tactics.  Or perhaps Smyth just decided  he fancied it once on the pitch

Of course you can, even I have, so has Lee. What I am saying is he surely deserves credit for rectifying his mistakes and salvaging a draw when we were 3-1 down. You could tell we had a bit about us tonight.

I am fairly confident had we lost tonight this thread would be a bit more active 

No he doesn't get credit for two reasons. 
1) It was a simply stupid idea.

2) It was clear after 12 minutes Smyth was lacking everything needed to defend wide right constantly.  Why wait until half bloody time to correct it.

So he is moaned at for not being ambitious enough, he tries to make us attacking as possible and it doesn't pay off, he changes it up and gets a result, that doesn't deserve credit? 

Maybe cause it wasn't entirely Smyth's fault, other people were in the wrong as well, maybe it was something that looked good in training

It's become clear that people are just going to be negative now no matter what and be critical of Bowyer.

Last night definitely had more positives than negatives in our circumstance, if people can't appreciate that then I am truly baffled that they decided to pick Charlton to support in the first place

Braziliance said:

That Baah kid is one to keep an eye on, seems he has a knack for scoring a wonder goal with his right foot 

https://twitter.com/officiallydale/status/1346094033978990594?s=19

Only 17 as well, imagine he will have plenty of interest

Braziliance said:

killerandflash said:

Braziliance said:

addick1956 said:

Braziliance said:

I'll try and keep this short.

I'll start by saying Bowyer got it wrong with starting Smyth at RWB, but he will know that better than anyone. Once we went to basics we looked a lot better and played some great football imo, JFC who I usually accuse of being average was making things really tick, like a charity shop Toni Kroos. Aneke was terrific, could have scored 4 or more genuinely, Williams energetic. I could go on but we all saw the same game. Special mention for Oshi, solid game and has earned the right to start. Pearce and Gilbey only negatives, Pearce is alarmingly panicked for such an experienced player, late challenges, typical hoofs and on a rewatch it was a yellow, can't fault his effort but it was one. Gilbey seems really poor, I won't write him off yet cause he put in some good tackles and showed some good awareness but he just doesn't offer enough for me.

Personally I am happy with the result as it's shut down a few comments on here. Clearly the dressing room is not lost, there is fight in this team, now you can say 'The players don't wanna lose!' but that's nonsense as some of you are willing to blame Lee for his tactics, he also needs credit where it's due, he has the respect of these players. We also showed we can play attractive football with the right players on the pitch, it's just our defense that is absolutely shoddy atm.

Finally I'll wrap it up with this & I'm not bothered how it comes across, to anyone messaging Sandgaard on twitter or any other social media platform trying to push Lee out, you are pathetic and I am embarrassed to be associated with you by the team I support.

We are well in this, 100%  behind Bowyer and the lads, on to the next one

Only one person in the country would have played Smyth at wing back. Of course we can blame Bowyer for the tactics.  Or perhaps Smyth just decided  he fancied it once on the pitch

Of course you can, even I have, so has Lee. What I am saying is he surely deserves credit for rectifying his mistakes and salvaging a draw when we were 3-1 down. You could tell we had a bit about us tonight.

I am fairly confident had we lost tonight this thread would be a bit more active 

I'm sorry but making a bad tactical decision and then reversing it hardly deserves credit. We'd let in 3 goals before we switched to 4 at the back

Yes we looked much better in the second half, but that's because we had better players than Rochdale out there, rather than because of any tactical masterstroke. There won't be many better strike duos in this division than Chuks and Ronnie

So had we just gone 2 down playing 442 from the start and made the same comeback what would the verdict on Lee be today? 

Credit where credit is due, Bowyer had an idea, it went wrong, he rectified it and we got a draw and a we could have probably won with the 2 or 3 chances we had

MuttleyCAFC said:

But he played near enough a full season for MK Dons the season before we bought him!

hoof_it_up_to_benty said:

SoundAsa£ said:

blackpool72 said:

Bowyer has no idea of his best team or his best formation. 
Making it up as he goes along. 
Shocking 

He does have an idea of his best team......unfortunately a lot of it is in the treatment room......or has that point escaped you?

I thought managers were paid to manage when there were injuries?

guinnessaddick said:

Bedsaddick said:

Cafc43v3r said:

Covered End said:

The last time I can remember us drawing 4-4 was Burnley A @1976.

The second half said to me that I don't think Bowyer has lost the dressing room.
If you're 2-4 down at HT to Rochdale and want the manager sacked, I can't see why you'd fight back to 4-4 and nearly win the game.

I have much sympathy for Bowyer re having lost half the team and only being able to replace them from what other clubs had left unsigned.

I also have a lot of sympathy for all the injuries (although do wonder why we get so many injuries in training).

But I do have an issue with how he is setting up the players he does have.
I really don't believe good managers should be shipping 2 goals a game and 4 in the first half to Rochdale.

It wasn't down to luck, it was quite predictable when these players were given so much space.

Why was Smyth at right wing back instead of Matthews?

Why was Oshilaja the right footed centre half spending so much time in the first half on the left wing?

Gilbey gave Lund to much room and turned his back on the first.

Gunter didn't close their lad down & turned his back on the second.

I've forgotten the 3rd (or 2nd), but the 4th the "wall" was poorly set up and then moved out the way.

So at least 3 of their goals were aided by us getting out of the way, rather than blocking.
Is that down to Bowyer or the players?

Amos could maybe have done better all round for the 4th.
Gunter is looking dodgy, but will probably be CH on Saturday.
Oshilaja was good (not sure about being on left wing) apart from one first half cock up.
Pearce is looking very ropey.
Maatsen is not looking reliable, whilst he puts in a lot of effort.
Williams was ok.
JFC played well, scored, but still made a couple of cock ups.
Gilbey was ok
Smyth showed flashes but doesn't contribute enough
Aneke was excellent
Millar was very good
Schwartz looks like a player
Morgan did ok and was better than Gilbey
Washington had a chance but as so often went the wrong way, cutting outside instead of inside.

I was worried about relegation at half time and hoping for promotion on 80 mins.
At FT I think we could end up anywhere between 2nd and 22nd.

You don't remember the 4-4 with westham with former addicks scoring all the goals?

Or one at Wembley?

Or the 4-4 v Millwall . or did i imagine that?

Or the 4-4 away to Ipswich.

1StevieG said:

If Bowyer doesn’t like players ducking out of tackles I am sure he’d be even more pleased with Gunters reaction to the second goal turning his back on a shot.