Shout out to the Burton fans who, despite losing, were just partying the whole game and loved the banana conga! Glad we have Wycombe as did not fancy Stockport in the semis but we can beat them at Wembley on a wide pitch with Small/Campbell. Wycombe will lick their wounds and let's remember that a wounded animal is a dangerous one so no complacency but if we turn up and play as we have then Wembley here we come.....
Conversely, Leyton Orient may enjoy the Wembley pitch. They looked a decent footballing side. I was pretty impressed with them v Manchester City in cup too.
chatting to some Wrexham fans after our defeat .. they reckoned Orient was the best team to visit them all season .. depends of course what mood/form both teams were in on the day, AND opinions are only opinions after all
They’re quite expansive for L1. Obviously have weaknesses & no need to fear. But they are a good football side from the looks of it.
Brilliant day and just back to Norwich. Was in Greenwich with 10 year old grandson at 8.30 this morning. Great day, great result, great atmosphere. Really enjoyed today. Am I looking forward to the playoffs? Not really. Desperately want us to get promotion. Nervous as hell now.
Everything about today was great. The weather, the performance, the constant pressing at 3-1, the hunger, the redemption of Mitchell, the academy players at half time, the awful crossbar challenge, Nathan’s speech, the award winners, finishing with 5 youngsters, Kanye Ramsey’s performance, Godden’s turn, the bananas and 3 points.
6 hour round trip for me today. Worth every minute.
Nathan was wrong. We have achieved something. We’ve got our Charlton back.
Stockport’s 3 goals in 11 second half minutes mean that we avoid them in the semi-final and instead face a Wycombe side who go into the play-offs on the back of three straight defeats.
We have a second leg to look forward to at The Valley under the lights.
So far as I could see, we avoided any further injuries.
Squad players like Mitchell, Watson and Gilbert got 90 important minutes under their belt. If we have to call on them, whether from the start or the bench, they’ll be better for it after today.
We were able to give league debuts to a couple of our youngsters, Enslin and Fullah, the latter almost scoring within a couple of minutes of entering the fray. Had his shot against the woodwork gone in, it would have been the icing on the cake. It’s great to give these lads a taste of the action
A fine turnout of just over 20,000 home fans, all of whom were sent home very happy.
Nice post-match awards presentations a few words from Nathan.
As for the game, Matty Godden delivered yet another masterclass in finishing, whilst Alex Mitchell’s redemption was complete with that third goal. It could and perhaps should have been more but it didn’t matter one iota and we got the job done comfortably.
I reckon if we dont go up via. the Play-Offs, we'll finish in the top two under Nathan Jones next season.
I think we could be even more dangerous as with our 20 (?) clean sheets, we've clearly fixed the issue surrounding the Defence that has caused us problems over the last few years - Yes we may have to replace a few outgoings in both Defence / Attack, but think we'll possibly look even better going forward.
I was disapointed last week but I thought it could work for us if we won today, resting players we needed to and not getting any injuries. Well we got that and to confirm it worked, imagine how we would have felt if we missed out after beating Wrexham and Burton. We would have had to risk players today and we haven't and we are in a great position for our next opponent.
We shouldn't fear Stockport or Orient but I wanted Wycombe. They are an injured animal and we have to put them out of their misery but a wounded animal is still dangerous and deserves respect. Oh and Millwall missed out which also put some of last week's awfulness right.
Nice run out in the sun - and avoiding a trip to Stockport. Happy Days.
Midfield was very effective today with Gilbert adding finesse in the first half with some lovely passing. Ramsey was having a ball at the back and driving forward at every opportunity but my shout out goes to Mitchell who overcame that early horror pass to play very well at the back.
I can't think of another individual player to ever stage such a turnaround from a mare in the same game.
we have the tie we wanted with the 2nd leg at home .. Wycombe with a 2nd half collapse look shot .. if we don't get to Wembley, we will only have ourselves to blame
Anyone noticeably absent from the end of season presentations?
Nor sure but I was watching closely to see if Jones & Small were limping.
Now the First leg have been put back to Sunday 11th May, The situation, as the speeches were happening after the match was the injured lads had 193 hours to be fit for the away match at Wycombe. Dr Will Abbott and physio's will be working overtime to get Lloyd, Berry, Thierry and Mannion fit over the next 8 days.
I reckon if we dont go up via. the Play-Offs, we'll finish in the top two under Nathan Jones next season.
I think we could be even more dangerous as with our 20 (?) clean sheets, we've clearly fixed the issue surrounding the Defence that has caused us problems over the last few years - Yes we may have to replace a few outgoings in both Defence / Attack, but think we'll possibly look even better going forward.
Jones will need backing. If he gets it, top two should be aim. But gonna be a competitive division next season with Luton Town, Plymouth Argyle, Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town, Rotherham United, Blackpool, Reading and Peterborough United all having designs on promotion too.
Fullah and Enslin looked very comfortable coming in.
Exciting.
I think it's the number of prospects that's so exciting, even without any Gomez/Lookman/Shelvey level stars. They all need to be managed carefully and developed further, but in a way it's more exciting - we should hold on to them for longer and they can grow with the club, rather than see them sold after less than 50 appearances because they're too good for us.
In Enslin, Fullah and Mbick who all came on today, we have three who have scored and created plenty at u21 level, and the latter two only turned 18 this season (Fullah very recently).
Zach Mitchell was doing well in the SPL until he got injured, and Asiimwe eventually broke into Walsall's team in L2. Both were playing in a 3-5-2 at their loan clubs (hopefully a good choice of clubs, rather than a coincidence), which can only help them if they get a chance in our first team. Our u21s also play the same formation.
Laqeretabua is another promising defender, perhaps one to go on loan next season as those two have, as it's so hard for CBs to break into first team football.
In Dixon we have another goalscoring u21 striker, and one with pace - as TC and Small have shown, that's so important to have in the team.
Alan Mwamba nearly made the bench going on NJs comments. Same age as Mbick and Fullah, a box to box midfielder with a good engine. Having watched plenty of u21 streams this season he's someone I've really seen develop, he looks after the ball and reads the game far better than he was earlier this season.
I'd like to think we have more of a plan and are coaching more effectively than in recent years, as that's 8 players who all have a case for being part of the first team squad next season. I don't remember a time when so many were genuinely knocking on the door at the same time, and that's not to write off any u21s I haven't mentioned.
Beyond that, in the u18s, Reid, Sol-Loza and Tagoe were an exciting front three in the u17 cup final vs Spurs with pace and skill, and Elliott was impressive at CB in that game too. Reid's been making more u21 cameos in recent months and is one to keep an eye on.
Below that, the u16s also got to a cup final recently, so hopefully there's plenty more to come.
If we have everyone back the the subs will surely be Gilbert, probably Mitchell and Watson, but which strikers will he choose, Chucks probably, but who else?
Fullah looked threatening when he came on. I'd like to see him given a place on the bench.
Love watching Ramsay play. Any time he gets in a tricky position, I watch totally at ease thinking "I don't know how you're getting out of this, but I know you will". And then he does!
Comments
Exciting.
6 hour round trip for me today. Worth every minute.
Nathan was wrong. We have achieved something. We’ve got our Charlton back.
Today was just about perfect in all respects:
As for the game, Matty Godden delivered yet another masterclass in finishing, whilst Alex Mitchell’s redemption was complete with that third goal. It could and perhaps should have been more but it didn’t matter one iota and we got the job done comfortably.
On to Wycombe.
I think we could be even more dangerous as with our 20 (?) clean sheets, we've clearly fixed the issue surrounding the Defence that has caused us problems over the last few years - Yes we may have to replace a few outgoings in both Defence / Attack, but think we'll possibly look even better going forward.
We shouldn't fear Stockport or Orient but I wanted Wycombe. They are an injured animal and we have to put them out of their misery but a wounded animal is still dangerous and deserves respect. Oh and Millwall missed out which also put some of last week's awfulness right.
Now the First leg have been put back to Sunday 11th May, The situation, as the speeches were happening after the match was the injured lads had 193 hours to be fit for the away match at Wycombe. Dr Will Abbott and physio's will be working overtime to get Lloyd, Berry, Thierry and Mannion fit over the next 8 days.
In Enslin, Fullah and Mbick who all came on today, we have three who have scored and created plenty at u21 level, and the latter two only turned 18 this season (Fullah very recently).
Zach Mitchell was doing well in the SPL until he got injured, and Asiimwe eventually broke into Walsall's team in L2. Both were playing in a 3-5-2 at their loan clubs (hopefully a good choice of clubs, rather than a coincidence), which can only help them if they get a chance in our first team. Our u21s also play the same formation.
Laqeretabua is another promising defender, perhaps one to go on loan next season as those two have, as it's so hard for CBs to break into first team football.
In Dixon we have another goalscoring u21 striker, and one with pace - as TC and Small have shown, that's so important to have in the team.
Alan Mwamba nearly made the bench going on NJs comments. Same age as Mbick and Fullah, a box to box midfielder with a good engine. Having watched plenty of u21 streams this season he's someone I've really seen develop, he looks after the ball and reads the game far better than he was earlier this season.
I'd like to think we have more of a plan and are coaching more effectively than in recent years, as that's 8 players who all have a case for being part of the first team squad next season. I don't remember a time when so many were genuinely knocking on the door at the same time, and that's not to write off any u21s I haven't mentioned.
Beyond that, in the u18s, Reid, Sol-Loza and Tagoe were an exciting front three in the u17 cup final vs Spurs with pace and skill, and Elliott was impressive at CB in that game too. Reid's been making more u21 cameos in recent months and is one to keep an eye on.
Below that, the u16s also got to a cup final recently, so hopefully there's plenty more to come.
Video of NJs speech after the game.