Some promising performances today. Great to see Dobbo back to his best and CBT in the first half was on fire.
I'm going to comment on something completely different: throw-ins. We kept possession on most of our throws and I've not seen that in years and players were looking to get the ball into play quickly without waiting for the appointed throw-in taker to arrive. This must have been something they've worked on.
We still dont have a long throw specialist though.
All I noticed about our throw-ins were that they all went backwards, invariably to a defender.
Does my head in. Its about the only passage of play that you cant be offside from and you go away from goal. Imo the ball should always be thrown forwards - get someone down by the byline, so as to drag their defenders deep. Gets you nearer to their goal & also creates space in midfield.
Haven’t seen further replies to see if someone already has. But Fraser and Camara are not the same type of player.
Camara is better at breaking up play and bringing the ball further up the pitch. But Fraser is MUCH better with his passing accuracy and final ball. They compliment each other in my opinion, they’re not competing for the same midfield spot.
Camara's passing looked pretty good today (albeit it's the first time I've seen him) – almost the first thing he did was feed a good through ball to Campbell, who tried to go round the keeper but was thwarted, and there were a couple of other decent balls out wide.
Fair point though, and it'll be interesting to see if we can fit Fraser and Camara into a midfield along with Dobson. It's good to have options!
Some promising performances today. Great to see Dobbo back to his best and CBT in the first half was on fire.
I'm going to comment on something completely different: throw-ins. We kept possession on most of our throws and I've not seen that in years and players were looking to get the ball into play quickly without waiting for the appointed throw-in taker to arrive. This must have been something they've worked on.
We still dont have a long throw specialist though.
All I noticed about our throw-ins were that they all went backwards, invariably to a defender.
Does my head in. Its about the only passage of play that you cant be offside from and you go away from goal. Imo the ball should always be thrown forwards - get someone down by the byline, so as to drag their defenders deep. Gets you nearer to their goal & also creates space in midfield.
Funny how we all see the game differently.
I'm the opposite, much rather keep the ball from throw ins. Lack of movement to give options from throw ins grinds my gears!
A win and a clean sheet, more than happy with that. For those whose whelmometer is close to neutral, may I suggest we would have won more convincingly and more swashbucklingly if we had been kicking the right blimmin way! That win moves next week at Peterborough from a must win to a must not lose.
Also, anyone else figure out what the huddle and then following yellow for Fraser before that corner was about - assuming timewasting?
It looked like they were discussing a pre-planned set piece... Given the movement made by Lloyd Jones to win the header.
The referee deemed it as time wasting, rather than using his brain
It was timewasting & totally unnecessary. I know it's the first game of the season but that should have been worked out during the week.
Have you never noticed before any set piece gets taken, a group of players will stand around discussing which routine they should be using? - There are probably a few set pieces that get worked on in training.
A well deserved victory, with Orient offering little threat in the second half after we got our noses in front just before half time.
Their plan was not to press our defenders whilst in possession but to play a high line and to try and compress the play into a 30 yard band. The congestion made it difficult for us to play through midfield and our response was either to try and utilise our pace by looking for runs with passes over the top or to get CBT on the ball in order to roast the right back, which he did repeatedly - ultimately leading to the winning goal.
Our two 18 year olds both did very well, with their physicality a major plus in transitioning to the men’s game. Asiimwe was very solid and Anderson was more than happy to receive the ball in tight areas in midfield. His four year deal is excellent news.
CBT was outstanding and Orient simply couldn’t cope with his searing pace. May showed good pace, movement and work rate, although I don’t remember the last time one of our players was caught offside so often. I’m sure our midfielders will become more accustomed to the timing of his runs as they play more games together.
Dobbo was outstanding in midfield - Fraser less so - while the introduction of Camara and Edun in the second half really helped us get back on the front foot towards the end after Orient had enjoyed a decent spell of possession (albeit without creating a meaningful opportunity).
I thought we defended well generally, with a particularly strong performance from Terrell Thomas in the left side/left back role.
There were certainly some promising and encouraging signs, with grounds for optimism, especially if we can strengthen further this month. The team delivered a good performance and result to send most of the sizeable crowd home happy and hopefully a good number of them will be back a week on Tuesday for the Bristol Rovers game.
Great result , as 3 points always is , not so great a performance but it’s too early to know how good/bad we may be . On that showing I can’t see Orient making the top half . We’ll play better than that and get beat this season .
Brilliant crowd numbers , lack of noise from both sets apart from beginning and the end and I was front middle upper (I hadn’t checked and our season tickets had moved up there from back of lower tier, going to move back downstairs , I don’t do change) …Eddie Youds was up there . Saw Ravi in the Vista Lounge and told him they’d get relegated, his replacement Arnie is a good fella and a laugh .
Loved being back and great feeling to come away with 3 points. Really get the sense that this is shaping up to be a very good season.
All new signings looked good, some like May, Camara and Edun when all have a touch of quality we haven’t had for a while.
Anderson and Asiimwe showing their ability. I mean, to both be in the starting eleven for the first game of the season when expectations are high, shows how highly thought of they are and what talent they have. Both done well, maybe Asiimwe slightly better than Karoy but both were good.
CBT was fantastic and had their right back on toast. Smoked him time after time. Such an asset to have.
Dobson was excellent and was everywhere. Thoroughly deserved to be match winner today.
Ness needs to trust his ability more, he’s better on the ball than he showed today. Feel he had too much time today and over hit so many passes. But it’s his first competitive 90 in months so can dust off those cobwebs.
So pleased Campbell played alongside May. He should’ve probably scored with his chance and hit it first time, but that’s something he’ll learn too.
Lots have been said about Kirk and the less I say the better. Borrowed time does not do it justice.
3 points today and so pleased with the clean sheet too. We will learn a lot more about us as a team away next weekend. Hopefully a signing (striker) is coming soon.
I hate how twisted and sick my stomach gets as it gets near the end and injury time and I’m sitting there waiting for the final whistle twisting and turning , kicking and heading every ball , swearing , screaming wanting this shit over with and 3 points in the bag and then the wave of relief and cheering and shouting like a maniac loonbag at a win . I fucking hate what this shithouse club does to me and I can see my 4 boys twitching in agony as well with their own cranky quirkiness , we have a stopwatch running on Peter Kay’s phone when the injury time board goes up and he just holds it up to stop,me asking how long gone every 5 fucking seconds ….. FUCK YOU CHARLTON .
For those whose whelmometer is close to neutral, may I suggest we would have won more convincingly and more swashbucklingly if we had been kicking the right blimmin way!
That was down to Darren Pratley. He's no mug and knows we'd want to kick towards the Covered End 2nd half. He won the toss & turned us around.
Corey Blackett-Taylor is our X factor player: A two footed player who can beat a defender with pace on the outside or cut inside. He will always be erratic and not blessed with the greatest stamina but he is explosive and can rip defenders apart.
I predicted a draw because we have many players not up to speed yet, so to win was a bonus and shows that we will scrap. Fraser will be important for this team and his link up with Alfie May.
The Squad will be our strength this season where it's normally our weakness as it's not usually strong enough.
Its a results business and we won.
Decent day at the office with so much more to come.
That was a proper, solid, shithousing performance, the sort we have witnessed many times at The Valley in the last few seasons from teams that have the desire, nous, and real quality player or two, to win, even when playing badly. Unfortunately for us, those performances came from our promotion chasing opponents, as we flattered to deceive before rolling over for them. I haven't felt this hopeful in a long while. We have a steely edge. We have a sharp striker. We have togetherness. We have a good manager. And we have a great bunch of youngsters deservedly breaking into the first team together. I know it is only one scrappy win into the season, but I reckon we have a bloody good chance of going up.
For those whose whelmometer is close to neutral, may I suggest we would have won more convincingly and more swashbucklingly if we had been kicking the right blimmin way!
That was down to Darren Pratley. He's no mug and knows we'd want to kick towards the Covered End 2nd half. He won the toss & turned us around.
Smart bloke.
Gamesmanship in the most negative form is all he has in his locker.Good riddance. PS it didn't work
For those whose whelmometer is close to neutral, may I suggest we would have won more convincingly and more swashbucklingly if we had been kicking the right blimmin way!
That was down to Darren Pratley. He's no mug and knows we'd want to kick towards the Covered End 2nd half. He won the toss & turned us around.
Smart bloke.
Gamesmanship in the most negative form is all he has in his locker.Good riddance. PS it didn't work
I mean he had Fraser in his pocket and he did get in a few of our players heads.
The Charlie Kirk negativity is getting boring now.
he was only on for ten minutes and short of choosing not to shoot from his own half I can’t see what he did wrong.
That was the correct decision he was a long way out and on the touchline.. So he played safe and got us a throw... If he had kicked it and it got picked up by Orient and led to a goal what would be people saying then..
I disagree.
He got us a throw in our own half that nearly got turned over into an attack for them.
Wouldn't expect him to score from where he was but the ball could (and should) have ended up in with the Orient fans. Much harder to score from a gk than in our half.
And he miskicked 18 yards out. Wouldn't have him upfront in a month of Sunday's
Ball was toe poked away from him for the attempted shot to be fair. The error there was trying to be too cute with the 1:2 with May.
I noticed the ref having a quick word with AMB - obviously about time wasting.
He then proceeded up the pitch and turned round to blow his whistle - AMB hadn't even placed the ball down ready to take the goal kick. The ref immediately booked him. I do hope that refs will continue to do that (not book AMB obviously), but clamp down on goalkeeper time wasting.
Last season it did my nut in as goalies were given chance after chance only to receive a token booking in the 92nd minute - if at all.
On reflection, this game was a potential banana skin. The starting line up was a surprise. In terms of the game itself, it wasn't the spectatcle that the opening exchanges suggested it could be. It may have been the conditions but I think our quick passing is going to be a big positive for us, and whilst it wasn't terrible yesterday it felt a bit below what I think we are capable of.
Orient didn't offer that much but I never felt truly comfortable. Having said that, the game should have been won 2-0 on the play and a victory was well deserved. Nobody had a poor game but the stand outs were Dobbo and CBT. This really could be a great season for CBT. He doesn't need to skill his way through defenders, just get that first touch past them right and he is through. And he seems to have mastered that. He also has that cut in which I think will get him goals.
The defence did ok, Orient seemed happy to give Ness a lot of time on the ball and again it was hard to judge him harshly in terms of his distribution due to the conditions but I think our best CB back three is Jones, Hector and Thomas. But Ness didn't have a bad game. I thought Thomas showed signs at the end of last season that he has gone up a level from where he started with us and I think yesterday confirmed this. I really like his passing quality.
Anderson and Assimwe had solid games. Assimwe slightly the stronger. You can see both are going to be very good players but they are still learning too. Camara was exciting. Energy, skill on the ball and the ability to win the ball. He missed a sitter but he looks above the League to me and I think he will get a few goals.
In terms of May, I thought he should be pleased with himself. He would have scored had Dobbo hadn't beaten him to it and that early chance showed a lot of composure. He is a willing runner and keeps opponents on the edge. It is clear that a big man playing with him, like Leaburn, will be the optimum and you worry if he gets injured but he is IMO a great addition.
The first game of the season is never a definitive sign of how your season will go and I think we know the starting team will not be what ends it, even what the team will be in a month;s time. But it shows we have some strength in depth and there isn't a reason for our early season optimism to take a hit. There will be bigger tests to come for sure though. Next Saturday being one. As for Orient. Still early days but I think their aim is clearly to stay up.
Decent win against a resolute side ,a good test for our first game.We had 5 academy players starting,what a credit to our youth policy,and they all did well,they will be the backbone of this club if we can keep them.But,where would we be without Dobbo,this guy was everywhere,and looked good on the ball,he is one player we cannot afford to lose.May run his legs off and when playing with a partner will score plenty.I still have doubts about central defence ,a long ball through or over will cause us problems if the opposition have quick forwards,(Peterborough next week will be a test).Good crowd,home win,clean sheet,ideal start.
Comments
Does my head in. Its about the only passage of play that you cant be offside from and you go away from goal. Imo the ball should always be thrown forwards - get someone down by the byline, so as to drag their defenders deep. Gets you nearer to their goal & also creates space in midfield.
Fair point though, and it'll be interesting to see if we can fit Fraser and Camara into a midfield along with Dobson. It's good to have options!
I'm the opposite, much rather keep the ball from throw ins. Lack of movement to give options from throw ins grinds my gears!
Fraser is supposed to supply the bullets.
..... Problem was, he couldn't climb out of Pratleys pocket
For those whose whelmometer is close to neutral, may I suggest we would have won more convincingly and more swashbucklingly if we had been kicking the right blimmin way!
That win moves next week at Peterborough from a must win to a must not lose.
A well deserved victory, with Orient offering little threat in the second half after we got our noses in front just before half time.
Their plan was not to press our defenders whilst in possession but to play a high line and to try and compress the play into a 30 yard band. The congestion made it difficult for us to play through midfield and our response was either to try and utilise our pace by looking for runs with passes over the top or to get CBT on the ball in order to roast the right back, which he did repeatedly - ultimately leading to the winning goal.
Our two 18 year olds both did very well, with their physicality a major plus in transitioning to the men’s game. Asiimwe was very solid and Anderson was more than happy to receive the ball in tight areas in midfield. His four year deal is excellent news.
CBT was outstanding and Orient simply couldn’t cope with his searing pace. May showed good pace, movement and work rate, although I don’t remember the last time one of our players was caught offside so often. I’m sure our midfielders will become more accustomed to the timing of his runs as they play more games together.
Dobbo was outstanding in midfield - Fraser less so - while the introduction of Camara and Edun in the second half really helped us get back on the front foot towards the end after Orient had enjoyed a decent spell of possession (albeit without creating a meaningful opportunity).
I thought we defended well generally, with a particularly strong performance from Terrell Thomas in the left side/left back role.
There were certainly some promising and encouraging signs, with grounds for optimism, especially if we can strengthen further this month. The team delivered a good performance and result to send most of the sizeable crowd home happy and hopefully a good number of them will be back a week on Tuesday for the Bristol Rovers game.
On to Rodney Parade.
On that showing I can’t see Orient making the top half .
We’ll play better than that and get beat this season .
Brilliant crowd numbers , lack of noise from both sets apart from beginning and the end and I was front middle upper (I hadn’t checked and our season tickets had moved up there from back of lower tier, going to move back downstairs , I don’t do change) …Eddie Youds was up there .
Saw Ravi in the Vista Lounge and told him they’d get relegated, his replacement Arnie is a good fella and a laugh .
All new signings looked good, some like May, Camara and Edun when all have a touch of quality we haven’t had for a while.
Anderson and Asiimwe showing their ability. I mean, to both be in the starting eleven for the first game of the season when expectations are high, shows how highly thought of they are and what talent they have. Both done well, maybe Asiimwe slightly better than Karoy but both were good.
CBT was fantastic and had their right back on toast. Smoked him time after time. Such an asset to have.
Dobson was excellent and was everywhere. Thoroughly deserved to be match winner today.
Ness needs to trust his ability more, he’s better on the ball than he showed today. Feel he had too much time today and over hit so many passes. But it’s his first competitive 90 in months so can dust off those cobwebs.
So pleased Campbell played alongside May. He should’ve probably scored with his chance and hit it first time, but that’s something he’ll learn too.
Lots have been said about Kirk and the less I say the better. Borrowed time does not do it justice.
3 points today and so pleased with the clean sheet too. We will learn a lot more about us as a team away next weekend. Hopefully a signing (striker) is coming soon.
I fucking hate what this shithouse club does to me and I can see my 4 boys twitching in agony as well with their own cranky quirkiness , we have a stopwatch running on Peter Kay’s phone when the injury time board goes up and he just holds it up to stop,me asking how long gone every 5 fucking seconds ….. FUCK YOU CHARLTON .
Smart bloke.
A two footed player who can beat a defender with pace on the outside or cut inside.
He will always be erratic and not blessed with the greatest stamina but he is explosive and can rip defenders apart.
I predicted a draw because we have many players not up to speed yet, so to win was a bonus and shows that we will scrap.
Fraser will be important for this team and his link up with Alfie May.
The Squad will be our strength this season where it's normally our weakness as it's not usually strong enough.
Its a results business and we won.
Decent day at the office with so much more to come.
I haven't felt this hopeful in a long while. We have a steely edge. We have a sharp striker. We have togetherness. We have a good manager. And we have a great bunch of youngsters deservedly breaking into the first team together.
I know it is only one scrappy win into the season, but I reckon we have a bloody good chance of going up.
PS it didn't work
He then proceeded up the pitch and turned round to blow his whistle - AMB hadn't even placed the ball down ready to take the goal kick. The ref immediately booked him. I do hope that refs will continue to do that (not book AMB obviously), but clamp down on goalkeeper time wasting.
Last season it did my nut in as goalies were given chance after chance only to receive a token booking in the 92nd minute - if at all.
Orient didn't offer that much but I never felt truly comfortable. Having said that, the game should have been won 2-0 on the play and a victory was well deserved. Nobody had a poor game but the stand outs were Dobbo and CBT. This really could be a great season for CBT. He doesn't need to skill his way through defenders, just get that first touch past them right and he is through. And he seems to have mastered that. He also has that cut in which I think will get him goals.
The defence did ok, Orient seemed happy to give Ness a lot of time on the ball and again it was hard to judge him harshly in terms of his distribution due to the conditions but I think our best CB back three is Jones, Hector and Thomas. But Ness didn't have a bad game. I thought Thomas showed signs at the end of last season that he has gone up a level from where he started with us and I think yesterday confirmed this. I really like his passing quality.
Anderson and Assimwe had solid games. Assimwe slightly the stronger. You can see both are going to be very good players but they are still learning too. Camara was exciting. Energy, skill on the ball and the ability to win the ball. He missed a sitter but he looks above the League to me and I think he will get a few goals.
In terms of May, I thought he should be pleased with himself. He would have scored had Dobbo hadn't beaten him to it and that early chance showed a lot of composure. He is a willing runner and keeps opponents on the edge. It is clear that a big man playing with him, like Leaburn, will be the optimum and you worry if he gets injured but he is IMO a great addition.
The first game of the season is never a definitive sign of how your season will go and I think we know the starting team will not be what ends it, even what the team will be in a month;s time. But it shows we have some strength in depth and there isn't a reason for our early season optimism to take a hit. There will be bigger tests to come for sure though. Next Saturday being one. As for Orient. Still early days but I think their aim is clearly to stay up.
“Don't see the fuss over Alfie May. We've saved ourselves £300k there.
He looked crap.”
So not sure how much stock to put into his posts 🤔