Match Thread: Charlton v Blackpool | Sat 27 Feb 2021

Garrymanilow said:

FishCostaFortune said:

Garrymanilow said:

Bad. Very easy to blame Bowyer, and he's definitely not coming out of this season with much credit, but some of these players are getting away with not doing even the most basic aspects of their jobs. No crowd on their backs and knowing the manager will get the boot before they do I imagine it's easy to stop bothering. You can set up however you like, but if your CB gives away a pen after 9 minutes you're always going to struggle to get a foothold on a game especially when confidence is already low. When Purrington is your best player purely because he always tries and puts in a steady performance it says a lot about what the other players are bothering to turn up with. I'm far angrier with them than anything else. Most of them won't be here next season and I don't think I'll be too upset about that

Perhaps have a think at why players don't look like they are performing. Could be something to do with the constant changes of formation, and the clear lack of any plan.

DJ has gone from terrorising us to looking likes he barely played football before. Shinnie at the beginning of the season couldn't put a foot wrong, Millar looked dangerous every time he got the ball. Maatsen has gone backwards. Gunter and Watson 'men' as Bowyer would call them who have come from very decent championship pedigree now look shocking. 

Why do you think all these players have regressed?

The thing is, it's so easy just to say it's the manager's fault but that absolves the players of their part. Is there no plan? Do we think that in training Bowyer just sits there and tells them to go for a jog and sends them off home? He's surely telling them a way to play come the weekend. It's possible that he's just got very bad at communicating what he wants, but he never used to have that issue. Today we've set up with four in midfield and two wingers on the pitch, which is what many have been clamouring for. We've got a big, strong striker and one with a bit more pace. These players don't look like a team who are being asked to take on a complex new system of playing though, they look like a team that can't really be arsed. I just feel like the players get away with a hell of a lot when the manager becomes a lightning rod for criticism. Should Deji get away with looking like a dad filling in to help a youth team out? Should the team not talking and not chasing, failing to find each other with simple passes just be the manager's concern? Confidence is a hell of a thing in football and a manager change can sometimes give the players a boost but even if we sacked Bowyer today and replaced him with Guardiola I'd be hard-pressed to look back on some of these matches and forgive the basic, basic defensive errors or the lack of application from some of these players. A lot of these players look like they are looking at the end date of their contract and shrugging their shoulders when the manager talks about putting in the hard yards.