A tremendous first senior goal from Sessegnon was the only highlight in what was yet another dreadful performance against relegation threatened Accrington Stanley. A club where our record against reeks shows how low we’ve fallen, and the general feeling of pure apathy around The Valley continues to grow. Whoever makes the enormous trek up to the north west coast on Tuesday evening against another relegation struggler needs two things: a medal for being diehards and being a huge credit to themselves and the club, but also an emergency psych evaluation! - well done to anyone making the journey to support the team.
Opposition
Morecambe come into this midweek fixture off the back of a defeat in Shropshire against an in form Shrewsbury. The Shrimpers though, have won just once in their last 9, scoring 4 and conceding 17. They must be drooling at the thought of playing Charlton to kickstart their charge to safety.
Last season, Morecambe stayed up by 2 points and that was largely down to the form of Cole Stockton. The striker has reverted back to his usual form throughout his career this season and has scored just the 4 goals since he opened the scoring at The Valley in our 3-2 defeat (that arguably kept Morecambe up) back in mid-April 2022. Lots has changed since then with only 4 players in the squad that day set to be in our squad this Tuesday evening. In comparison to Stockton, our very own Miles Leaburn has made his professional debut and scored more goals (6) in less time (1000 minutes fewer) and is our last striker to have scored, and that’s not even in this calendar year!
Someone who we should keep an eye on and is arguably far too good for a relegation threatened League One club is Danny Crowley. The 25-year-old former Aston Villa and Arsenal youngster has really struggled to find a home, with Morecambe his 11th club so far. The midfielder joined in January and has the ability to play in between the lines and pick a pass, something we don’t do very well at all.
Charlton Team News
Ness and Rak-Sakyi picked up what looked to be minor knocks on the weekend so you’d expect both to travel and be available. Inniss missed the draw on Saturday due to a dental operation earlier in the week but could make return to the squad on Tuesday. Scott Fraser has been nursing a hip problem for a few weeks and with a lot of travel, I’d lean on the side of caution with him returning against Cambridge instead of Morecambe.
Until Egbo gets through another game for the U21s, which I believe is scheduled for today, Clare will continue at right back. It will be nice to have the chance to see him in midfield once Egbo is back, as clearly, our midfield is a huge concern. Payne and Kilkenny have offered very little, and that’s being kind, making Dobson the only one in midfield, and it looks to be wearing him down. Morgan has had his chances but fails to show ability consistently, and Henry’s squad place looks increasingly tokenistic with the aim of convincing the youngster to sign a new contract.
We’re better when Leaburn plays and not Bonne but the managing of minutes is likely to continue with the latter starting up top. However, it really is the time to start attacking teams and taking the offensive side of the game seriously. We aren’t good enough throughout, so at least have a right go at it.
The following team is what I would like to see with half an eye on next season knowing at least this set of players will put in the effort and care, but it’ll never happen…
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Morecambe v Charlton Athletic | Tuesday 14 March 2023 - 19:45 | Match Preview, News & Views
Sage
Posts: 7,278
Introduction
Maynard-Brewer
Clare | Hector | Ness | Sessegnon
Blackett-Taylor | Dobson | Henry | Campbell
Leaburn | Kanu
Wollacott, Inniss, Morgan, Kilkenny, Payne, Rak-Sakyi, Bonne
Clare | Hector | Ness | Sessegnon
Blackett-Taylor | Dobson | Henry | Campbell
Leaburn | Kanu
Wollacott, Inniss, Morgan, Kilkenny, Payne, Rak-Sakyi, Bonne
26
Comments
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Cole Stockton may not have scored many this season, but I bet he will against us. I think we will continue the creativity in conceding goals by booting a clearance on to Eric Morecombes' statue and it will go in off his derriere.
I'll warn the wife about potential tantrums.0 -
If anyone deserves a medal for loyal support then each and every one of the 227 going up there do tomorrow
Morecambe good at home and need a result more than us so not expecting much out of this one8 -
I spent most of pre season, alongside @Rothko , fighting the Cole Stockton opinion tide. Statistically he had a hot season last year, but in the performances against us I saw nothing from him that put him above any of the other decent league one strikers we had come against - and seemingly he appears to have reverted back to the mean.
So it stands to reason that we will gift him some goals tomorrow.
Morecambe are relatively strong at home, we’ve had to travel, and we are a poor team - so sadly I’d be happy if we can escape with a draw.
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Christ, are we playing again15
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And you can watch it live in glorious colour thanks to Charlton TV.Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:Christ, are we playing again
You lucky man!5 -
I don't mind saying I was a strong advocate for bringing him in, but we absolutely would have paid a hefty premium given his goals last season. His performance vs. us at home last season was one where I tried to keep my eyes on him more and his hold-up play and movement was infinitely better than Stockley. He was also put his chance away and generally looked a threat. There may well have been other better options, but he would undeniably be better than every striker bar Leaburn. You also add in the fact that, in theory, he'd be able to play every game if he stayed fit. I suspect his weaker early goal return was due to sulking about not leaving in the summer, and everyone got a bit pissed off with him about that.FishCostaFortune said:I spent most of pre season, alongside @Rothko (RIP), fighting the Cole Stockton opinion tide. Statistically he had a hot season last year, but in the performances against us I saw nothing from him that put him above any of the other decent league one strikers we had come against - and seemingly he appears to have reverted back to the mean.
So it stands to reason that we will gift him some goals tomorrow.
It's all completely irrelevant now, since TS was never going to spend the money. However, I'd have still rather have had him over any of Stockley, Aneke or Bonne. He probably would have been Charltonised pretty quickly, but I feel he would have been good for close to 10 goals over the season and played the solo striker role better than anyone else we had.1 -
For me Cole Stockton was the perfect example of confirmation bias in football. People had seen his goal return that season, and then when they saw him play against us elevated his actual skill level compared to what it is.th0rryy said:
I don't mind saying I was a strong advocate for bringing him in, but we absolutely would have paid a hefty premium given his goals last season. His performance vs. us at home last season was one where I tried to keep my eyes on him more and his hold-up play and movement was infinitely better than Stockley. He was also put his chance away and generally looked a threat. There may well have been other better options, but he would undeniably be better than every striker bar Leaburn. You also add in the fact that, in theory, he'd be able to play every game if he stayed fit. I suspect his weaker early goal return was due to sulking about not leaving in the summer, and everyone got a bit pissed off with him about that.FishCostaFortune said:I spent most of pre season, alongside @Rothko (RIP), fighting the Cole Stockton opinion tide. Statistically he had a hot season last year, but in the performances against us I saw nothing from him that put him above any of the other decent league one strikers we had come against - and seemingly he appears to have reverted back to the mean.
So it stands to reason that we will gift him some goals tomorrow.
It's all completely irrelevant now, since TS was never going to spend the money. However, I'd have still rather have had him over any of Stockley, Aneke or Bonne. He probably would have been Charltonised pretty quickly, but I feel he would have been good for close to 10 goals over the season and played the solo striker role better than anyone else we had.I saw him bully Chris Gunter in the away leg last year, the same as many other strikers in the division had done - and at home I saw a decent first half performance where he managed to stretch our defence and grab a well taken goal - the same as many other strikers in the division had done.
I didn’t see anything from him that suggested he was better than other options, and that we should be paying a fee for him when he is towards the end of his career. He just looked in line with many strikers in and around our level, who was just having a hot season - and I feel others must have agreed because no one took a punt on him.Either way I can guarantee he will score against us tomorrow, and I’ll be joining @Rothko by banning myself immediately when it happens ha ha.2 -
I think he definitely would’ve been better than Stockley in the role that would’ve been deployed. Stockton can hold the ball and has movement, Stockley does neither. So I don’t think that would’ve been difficult.th0rryy said:
I don't mind saying I was a strong advocate for bringing him in, but we absolutely would have paid a hefty premium given his goals last season. His performance vs. us at home last season was one where I tried to keep my eyes on him more and his hold-up play and movement was infinitely better than Stockley. He was also put his chance away and generally looked a threat. There may well have been other better options, but he would undeniably be better than every striker bar Leaburn. You also add in the fact that, in theory, he'd be able to play every game if he stayed fit. I suspect his weaker early goal return was due to sulking about not leaving in the summer, and everyone got a bit pissed off with him about that.FishCostaFortune said:I spent most of pre season, alongside @Rothko (RIP), fighting the Cole Stockton opinion tide. Statistically he had a hot season last year, but in the performances against us I saw nothing from him that put him above any of the other decent league one strikers we had come against - and seemingly he appears to have reverted back to the mean.
So it stands to reason that we will gift him some goals tomorrow.
It's all completely irrelevant now, since TS was never going to spend the money. However, I'd have still rather have had him over any of Stockley, Aneke or Bonne. He probably would have been Charltonised pretty quickly, but I feel he would have been good for close to 10 goals over the season and played the solo striker role better than anyone else we had.
Stockton has played more than enough minutes this season to have a better return than he does. I think last season was a one hit wonder and he’s returned back to the status quo.
It’s Alfie May that I would have liked to have signed in the summer instead, and he’s done okay again for Cheltenham this season. Think he could do a job for us next season.4 -
Buzzing for this one!11
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I agree your team and a 4-4-2 as it would fit who we have available.
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I didn't (and still don't) see him as some sort of messiah - just from what I saw, he looked better than what we had. Admittedly, that's not been particularly difficult, but as Sage mentioned, he had better hold up play and movement than Stockley and we were persisting with one up top under Garner, and now, with Holden. I also don't disagree that last season was a freak overperforming season, but at 29 (today, weirdly enough), I think there's potentially at least a couple of good seasons in the tank.FishCostaFortune said:
For me Cole Stockton was the perfect example of confirmation bias in football. People had seen his goal return that season, and then when they saw him play against us elevated his actual skill level compared to what it is.th0rryy said:
I don't mind saying I was a strong advocate for bringing him in, but we absolutely would have paid a hefty premium given his goals last season. His performance vs. us at home last season was one where I tried to keep my eyes on him more and his hold-up play and movement was infinitely better than Stockley. He was also put his chance away and generally looked a threat. There may well have been other better options, but he would undeniably be better than every striker bar Leaburn. You also add in the fact that, in theory, he'd be able to play every game if he stayed fit. I suspect his weaker early goal return was due to sulking about not leaving in the summer, and everyone got a bit pissed off with him about that.FishCostaFortune said:I spent most of pre season, alongside @Rothko (RIP), fighting the Cole Stockton opinion tide. Statistically he had a hot season last year, but in the performances against us I saw nothing from him that put him above any of the other decent league one strikers we had come against - and seemingly he appears to have reverted back to the mean.
So it stands to reason that we will gift him some goals tomorrow.
It's all completely irrelevant now, since TS was never going to spend the money. However, I'd have still rather have had him over any of Stockley, Aneke or Bonne. He probably would have been Charltonised pretty quickly, but I feel he would have been good for close to 10 goals over the season and played the solo striker role better than anyone else we had.I saw him bully Chris Gunter in the away leg last year, the same as many other strikers in the division had done - and at home I saw a decent first half performance where he managed to stretch our defence and grab a well taken goal - the same as many other strikers in the division had done.
I didn’t see anything from him that suggested he was better than other options, and that we should be paying a fee for him when he is towards the end of his career. He just looked in line with many strikers in and around our level, who was just having a hot season - and I feel others must have agreed because no one took a punt on him.Either way I can guarantee he will score against us tomorrow, and I’ll be joining @Rothko by banning myself immediately when it happens ha ha.
Alfie May probably would have been the better shout, but again, it's all irrelevant since TS wasn't going to invest. Given where we are and the situation we're in, the players at top half clubs wouldn't be considering us unless we were paying crazy, Wrexham-esque wages. We'll see what Holden does in the summer and where we are at in terms of owners, but a player like Stockton would have improved us, imho. The bar for comparison is hilariously low and would not have solely carried us to playoffs, but still.2 -
A must win.0
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Dodgy weather in the NW tonight & tomorrow morning. Either rain or snow & very cold.
Could be postponed again.0 -
One win in nine for Morecambe. Promises to be a deeadful game.5
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Anyone been falsely accused of sleeping in the Morcambe Travel Lodge yet?3
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11
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I’ll be on the beers in Covent Garden, won’t give one poop of an idea to this old shite….0
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Nailed on defeat0
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Respect to anyone brave enough to make the long trip up North on a cold Tuesday evening. We could really do with something from this, but I don't think we will get anything. Another poor performance predicted and a 2-0 defeat.0
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When is the “Morecombe away, where you drinking thread?” being put up2
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Bit strong to say we played against Accrington.Six-a-bag-of-nuts said:Christ, are we playing again2 -
must win, but we won't0
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Scrap the one man up front .. 433 and lately 4231 don’t work because our wingers are simply not good enough …so get two up top and let’s see 352
AMB
Clare
Ness
Inniss
Hector
SS or Penny
Dobson
Fraser
Payne
Bonne
Kanu0 -
Oh yay another game!2
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6 pointer.3
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Charlton are the modern version of Sisyphus.Dazzler21 said:Oh yay another game!
He's constantly trying to push the rock up the hill for eternity.
We're doomed to watch Charlton play drab games in turn.
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Phew, I thought you were saying Charlton are syphilis for a moment.ForeverAddickted said:
Charlton are the modern version of Sisyphus.Dazzler21 said:Oh yay another game!
He's constantly trying to push the rock up the hill for eternity.
We're doomed to watch Charlton play drab games in turn.4 -
Normally I would be gutted to be missing out on a away game but I am actually glad I am missing this one
But got to give it to all who are traveling up for the game lets hope the team turn up & get a win to make your trip worthwhile have a safe trip
Come On you Reds show some respect for the club & do what you get paid for
5
