POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic v Derby County: Saturday 15th August 2026: KO 15:00

Redrobo said:

jimmymelrose said:

LoOkOuT said:

A new season kicked off this afternoon in warm, summery conditions at The Valley with Derby County the visitors looking to test the new look Addicks and Nathan Jones’ 4-2-3-1 formation.

The home side started brightly. We looked a level up in terms of being comfortable and purposeful in possession. Just over eleven minutes had elapsed on the clock when the first shot on target tested either keeper. It was Karlan Grant from the edge of the box on the left but it was ultimately a tame effort straight at the Derby keeper. The Addicks managed to maintain the pressure, poking and probing, until about sixteen minutes when Derby swung the momentum their way.

On 22 minutes Derby found a way through. Lloyd Jones was dragged out of position and, after a one-two on the edge of the box, Szmodics managed to leave Koumetio behind to receive the ball in front of goal and slot easily past Will Mannion. A goal down, Charlton’s confidence then dropped.

After half an hour had elapsed Nathan Jones swapped his wingers, with Campbell moving over to the left and Grant to the right. This paid dividends again, as it did last week at Cheltenham, having an immediate impact. Campbell came alive on the ball and the momentum swung back in Charlton’s favour; he looked dangerous driving into the box on multiple occasions. It was on 37 minutes when one such drive resulted in Derby scrambling in the box only to clear the ball as far as Danny McNamara, whose half volley was sweetly struck but ultimately blocked. Charlton finished the half strong, with Campbell forcing a save and Derby retreating deep under pressure. Derby were able to see the half out with the one goal lead but I thought Charlton acquitted themselves well and were unlucky to be behind. Charlton looked a decent Championship side on first look but even the smallest mistakes are more-than-likely punished at this level and the Addicks bore the brunt of that lesson in the first forty-five.

Charlton started the second half as they finished the first. A few dangerous foray’s forward put Derby under pressure but it was Tyreece Campbell’s attempt to win the ball in the box that resulted in a penalty shout. It didn’t look cast iron on first viewing but on replay it’s not obvious that the defender got anything on the ball and it could have gone the home side’s way.

On 59 minutes Sonny Carey was replaced by Millenic Alli and Matty Godden made way for Miles Leaburn. Poetic justice struck right after the subs came on when Karlan Grant swung a ball in from the edge of the box to find Lloyd Jones leaping like a salmon to head it past the hapless Derby keeper. Drawing the home side level after his poor positioning for Derby’s goal was sweet redemption for the Addicks’ new captain.

On 73 minutes Joe Rankin-Costello came on for Karlan Grant. The Addicks continued the pressure, mostly through Campbell, but it was Derby that, on tested the goal next when a counter attack led to a snapshot that Mannion did well to push wide. After dispatching the resultant corner the Addicks broke forward on the counter themselves but tired legs, on both sides, lead to a drop in quality and nothing to break the deadlock for either side.

Well, until a period of Derby possession left them vulnerable on the counter when Conor Coventry found himself with the ball at his feet at the edge of his own box. He picked a forward pass to Joe Rankin-Costello who pushed it on to Miles Leaburn, who being one with fresh legs, collected it in his own half, splitting the Derby defence, and pushing ahead on the break. He marshaled the retreating defenders well until his blocked shot fell to Tyreece Campbell. When the chance looked to have been snuffed, Campbell unleashed a left-footed shot from a tight angle that gave the keeper no chance. Charlton were ahead on just over 80 minutes, with Tyreece Campbell’s valiant efforts rewarded with the potential winning goal. Sign the deal!!!

A raft of changes were made by Nathan Jones with an eye on replenishing tired legs and shifting to five at the back to see things out. Derby brought on former-Addick Corey Blackett-Taylor and the referee signaled eight minutes of added time, both of which combined to fray Charlton nerves further. On just under 95 minutes Will Mannion made a decent diving save. Charlton had retreated to defending deep and relinquishing possession as the minutes slipped away. And it worked! The home side saw out the victory against a dangerous, if uninspiring, Derby County.

I thought the performance was excellent, particularly given the task of integrating the new players and the new formation on the first day of the new season, when fitness isn’t as sharp as it will be. Better performances were what the Charlton faithful have been after and today signals a turn towards better football. Yet, as always, it’s the result that is sweetest!

The Championship journey continues this season in SE7 and it looks to be a potentially exciting one!

Charlton 2 Derby 1
Over to you.

Very good report that I read out aloud to my son in a restaurant.
I would just suggest not adding apostrophes to plural nouns please.

If you are that good at English teach him to read.

Dave Rudd said:

Redrobo said:

jimmymelrose said:

LoOkOuT said:

A new season kicked off this afternoon in warm, summery conditions at The Valley with Derby County the visitors looking to test the new look Addicks and Nathan Jones’ 4-2-3-1 formation.

The home side started brightly. We looked a level up in terms of being comfortable and purposeful in possession. Just over eleven minutes had elapsed on the clock when the first shot on target tested either keeper. It was Karlan Grant from the edge of the box on the left but it was ultimately a tame effort straight at the Derby keeper. The Addicks managed to maintain the pressure, poking and probing, until about sixteen minutes when Derby swung the momentum their way.

On 22 minutes Derby found a way through. Lloyd Jones was dragged out of position and, after a one-two on the edge of the box, Szmodics managed to leave Koumetio behind to receive the ball in front of goal and slot easily past Will Mannion. A goal down, Charlton’s confidence then dropped.

After half an hour had elapsed Nathan Jones swapped his wingers, with Campbell moving over to the left and Grant to the right. This paid dividends again, as it did last week at Cheltenham, having an immediate impact. Campbell came alive on the ball and the momentum swung back in Charlton’s favour; he looked dangerous driving into the box on multiple occasions. It was on 37 minutes when one such drive resulted in Derby scrambling in the box only to clear the ball as far as Danny McNamara, whose half volley was sweetly struck but ultimately blocked. Charlton finished the half strong, with Campbell forcing a save and Derby retreating deep under pressure. Derby were able to see the half out with the one goal lead but I thought Charlton acquitted themselves well and were unlucky to be behind. Charlton looked a decent Championship side on first look but even the smallest mistakes are more-than-likely punished at this level and the Addicks bore the brunt of that lesson in the first forty-five.

Charlton started the second half as they finished the first. A few dangerous foray’s forward put Derby under pressure but it was Tyreece Campbell’s attempt to win the ball in the box that resulted in a penalty shout. It didn’t look cast iron on first viewing but on replay it’s not obvious that the defender got anything on the ball and it could have gone the home side’s way.

On 59 minutes Sonny Carey was replaced by Millenic Alli and Matty Godden made way for Miles Leaburn. Poetic justice struck right after the subs came on when Karlan Grant swung a ball in from the edge of the box to find Lloyd Jones leaping like a salmon to head it past the hapless Derby keeper. Drawing the home side level after his poor positioning for Derby’s goal was sweet redemption for the Addicks’ new captain.

On 73 minutes Joe Rankin-Costello came on for Karlan Grant. The Addicks continued the pressure, mostly through Campbell, but it was Derby that, on tested the goal next when a counter attack led to a snapshot that Mannion did well to push wide. After dispatching the resultant corner the Addicks broke forward on the counter themselves but tired legs, on both sides, lead to a drop in quality and nothing to break the deadlock for either side.

Well, until a period of Derby possession left them vulnerable on the counter when Conor Coventry found himself with the ball at his feet at the edge of his own box. He picked a forward pass to Joe Rankin-Costello who pushed it on to Miles Leaburn, who being one with fresh legs, collected it in his own half, splitting the Derby defence, and pushing ahead on the break. He marshaled the retreating defenders well until his blocked shot fell to Tyreece Campbell. When the chance looked to have been snuffed, Campbell unleashed a left-footed shot from a tight angle that gave the keeper no chance. Charlton were ahead on just over 80 minutes, with Tyreece Campbell’s valiant efforts rewarded with the potential winning goal. Sign the deal!!!

A raft of changes were made by Nathan Jones with an eye on replenishing tired legs and shifting to five at the back to see things out. Derby brought on former-Addick Corey Blackett-Taylor and the referee signaled eight minutes of added time, both of which combined to fray Charlton nerves further. On just under 95 minutes Will Mannion made a decent diving save. Charlton had retreated to defending deep and relinquishing possession as the minutes slipped away. And it worked! The home side saw out the victory against a dangerous, if uninspiring, Derby County.

I thought the performance was excellent, particularly given the task of integrating the new players and the new formation on the first day of the new season, when fitness isn’t as sharp as it will be. Better performances were what the Charlton faithful have been after and today signals a turn towards better football. Yet, as always, it’s the result that is sweetest!

The Championship journey continues this season in SE7 and it looks to be a potentially exciting one!

Charlton 2 Derby 1
Over to you.

Very good report that I read out aloud to my son in a restaurant.
I would just suggest not adding apostrophes to plural nouns please.

If you are that good at English teach him to read.

Ah, pedantry.  Or is it pedantism?

I'm much more interested in where jimmymelrose was when he read out the report to his son in a restaurant.

We know that the son was in a restuarant ... and you'd hope that jimmymelrose was in the same restaurant, but that's not clear.  Imagine if jimmymelrose was standing in a nearby carpark, for example.

"Can you hear me, son?  No, no.  Ignore the waiter.  I have important match detail from LoOkOut."

A tremendous 3 points and a big confidence boost, especially as we had to come from behind to win.

We started brightly enough but Derby had a good spell where they took control in midfield and opened us up on a number of occasions down our left flank, with their number 23, Ward, giving us a lot of trouble. Bell seemed to be repeatedly drawn into the centre, with Grant ending up being pulled back to help stem the tide.

The Derby goal came from the other side when Lloyd Jones was beaten to a flicked header which took him out of the game and, to compound matters, we found ourselves horribly undermanned at the back. If Szmodics hadn’t tucked the ball home, there was another attacker to the right who could have done so. There are bound to be some teething problems with our new shape but it was alarming how Derby were able to cut through us.

We picked up afterwards, with TC beating their right back repeatedly, but couldn’t get back on terms before half time. We struggled at times to play the ball through midfield and Matty Godden found himself isolated, with long balls being comfortably hoovered up by Derby’s dominant centre-half, Sanderson. 

Lloyd’s early second half goal really gave us the platform to go on and win the game. It was created by an excellent inswinging cross from Karlan Grant, demonstrating the quality we’ve been lacking in the final third.

Miles Leaburn’s introduction from the bench gave us some much needed physicality and aerial presence up front and he played like a man with a point to prove. We continued to press and, following another foray from Miles, TC’s fine strike earned us the opening day win. We went to 5 at the back late on and, whilst the officials somehow found no less than 8 minutes injury time, we held on without too much difficulty, although our old friend Corey Blackett-Taylor did give us some trouble following his late introduction from the bench.

In terms of individual performances, I thought that Danny McNamara had an impressive league debut - a fully committed, no-nonsense defender. Koumetio also did well - strong, quick and athletic and he passes the ball well. A shout out too to Will Mannion - he didn’t have too much to do but, following last week’s wobble and the scrutiny he was under today, he turned on a very competent performance. 

TC was excellent in his natural left wing position and there is certainly much more to come from him in our new formation.

A very satisfying day’s work and hopefully we can go on and give a good account of ourselves next week at the taxpayers’ stadium.

Whitehawk1 said:

I took my friend who at the age of 62 attended her first ever game. She doesn’t watch football on tv but wanted to experience a game.
Her observation at half time was…….” Why do Charlton keep kicking it to the little man up front    ( Godden) when he has 3 huge men around him? 

Her full time observation……” why do Charlton play around with it near the goal instead of trying to score”. ……….. “ the referee seems scared of the players” 
interesting observations I thought.