POST-MATCH THREAD: Stoke City v Charlton Athletic: Saturday 5th September 2026: KO 12:30

Just got home after the 300 mile round trip and almost 20k in steps too (that walk really is horrendous). Usually I'd write some deep thoughtful post on here after a game, but my only thoughts today is I'm disappointed in the team, and that's the worst ref I've ever witnessed in the 30 years I've been watching Charlton. 

Great away fans though and we sang our hearts out too, onwards to Wednesday with QPR and hopefully a much better performance. 

AberystwythAddick said:

ct_addick said:

Note to NJ…we are not a Man City or Liverpool…we don’t have strength in depth….play your best XI available 

We play Saturday midweek Saturday midweek Saturday midweek. We can’t play our best 11 every week players need to rest 

Is this a modern day thing? Back in the 90s I swear this wasn’t a thing for example.

ELCAFC123 said:

ProperCharlton said:

ELCAFC123 said:

Probably an unpopular opinion but just watched the Nathan Jones interview where he said they don't have to apologise to the fans, strange comment. 

He has obviously done a good job and is supported by default as manager of the club but as a man I really do think he's a bit of prick. 

He seems to have some sort of grudge against the supporters, always harping back to that Crawley game where they got a bit of stick (rightly so). He's a strange one - I can see why many dislike him. 

Weird 

not really, just an observation. I think the guy is a bit of a plum.

Its factual that he has mentioned that Crawley game lots of times, I think that's weird. 

You are of course correct.

Jones's nervous energy gets the better of him and he struggles to say the right things, lacking composure.
Yes he does keep banging on about the Crawley game, which once again did him no favours in my eyes, as he clearly bears a grudge and is thin skinned.

However, I've not heard him say it for some time now and we've got 10 points from 5 games.
2 points a game over the course of the season could get you promoted.

We were struggling to stay up in L1 when he took over.

So looking at the overall picture I have to back him 100%, even if I haven't got the man love for him like say Powell or Curbs. 

Joint most points (admittedly with a lot of teams on the same) after 5 games with only Swansea that can get more by the end of the gameweek. Absolutely everyone would've taken that. Horrible double away game week, shite ref & tired legs. We go again on Wednesday. COYR!

So the issue is that the squad isn’t deep enough in quality.

Clearly rotating so heavily didn’t work today on evidence of the result and performance. Even NJ said he got it wrong.

Be interesting to see how he approaches it next time. 

Powell2ThePeople said:

Red card changed the game. 

Correct, for the better , pre red card 4-0 down after red card 0-0 thank you ref , a move I’d wish you’d done earlier 

Rufisonfire said:

Nathan not holding back in his interview with Louis. He said my players threw me under the bus today. 

I feel like he was actually holding back quite a bit. Sounded composed considering the performance and the referee. I thought it was going to be another "Absolutely raging off my nut" interview.

And he's not wrong, the players did throw him under the bus. One setback and they totally collapsed. 

MattF said:

ArmchairAddick said:

cantersaddick said:

Anyone surprised that someone who would make a video hating on disabled people would also referee like a complete twat.  

Did I miss something?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63394543

PragueAddick said:

Really, somebody, prove me wrong.

Can we just first  agree that when refs hold up a card  they do it more or less straight upwards? 

Good. So for a player to be punished for visually demanding a card he needs to mimic that. Not an arm out like he’s directing traffic. Nor a Nazi salute for that matter. 

Right then. Post up the footage  that shows Danny Mac holding his arm up vertically like that. Right now, I don’t think it exists. You can’t cop out by saying “for me” @LargeAddick. Its a draconian rule, so it has to be interpreted strictly. Lets see the footage. If it exists, I am ready to apologise to all who claim DM was correctly carded. 

 But as I said on the match thread, Sky dont have superior footage that CTV and others don’t. Everything goes through a central EFL studio in Osterley and is fed out from there to the club streams. I’m not ITK. There was an article in the Athletic about it.

NJ said it was for the gesture which means Madley thinks that’s what he saw. Regardless of all that, it’s silly of McNamara to run over to do that when in theory the rule is only the captain can approach the ref. That means he’s already making the ref twitchy. He’s a senior pro playing in a match where his team needed leadership and a cool head and he did the opposite 

I can only think that Nathan Jones has upset this ref somewhere down the line. That was one of the most biased displays by a so called ref that I’ve seen in a long time. With Leaburn being assaulted & Lloyd Jones, ref gave us no protection, plus a soft pen for them, a joke sending off, a ball that went at least a foot out of play for a corner not given, all of these things have a bearing on the game. Yes you can say we were well beaten in the end but bloody hell, talk about being given a helping hand ! Predictably he started giving us decisions when the game was gone. Pathetic. I don’t normally comment about refs as they do have a difficult job, but this bloke is either totally incompetent or just plain bent. We did well just to keep it scoreless in the 2nd half. One to forget & move on to the next game. 

Covered End said:

lordromford said:

Garrymanilow said:

Really looking forward to the reaction if PeterGage comes on here later and tells us why all Madley's decisions were in fact correct

To be fair, if you look at the penalty or the red card in isolation, they may be justifiable. The problem, as I mentioned earlier, was consistency. And that’s both consistency with what all the other refs in the league are doing (giving a pen rather than speaking to people wrestling in the box, then retaking the corner), and consistency throughout the game (bookings for us, not bookings for them, often for worse offences).

The only exception is the corner that wasn’t given, which was absolutely, clear as day, a wrong decision. But that doesn’t necessarily make the decision to book McNamara wrong.

Dont get me wrong, I’m not defending the ref. He had a honking game. But individual decisions are defendable.

And whether you agree with @PeterGage or not, he gives his opinion in good faith and I respect his expertise. I understand why it might sometimes seem like he’s defending refs all the time, but that’s often because he brings a perspective we might not all have.

Edit: I should add, in no way would I presume to speak for @PeterGage
I’ve no idea what his opinion is on these incidents.

I agree with this, many of his decisions weren't clearly and obviously wrong, but he was inconsistent.

I very rarely criticise refs, it's a tough job.  But he was not inconsistent today imo.  I can't help thinking that was a proper bent performance by the ref.  I haven't lost it that much at a football game in years.  They fouled our players relentlessly from about minute 2 or 3 and the first player booked was Leaburn.  Sorry, I am simply not having that.  I lost count of the number of bookable offences by their players.  The tackle on Leaburn when Mcnammara was sent off was just one of many.

I almost left at that point, reached the door and had a change of heart as I have never left that early before and went back for the rest. 

I am glad I did as the atmosphere was great for the rest of the game, but more importantly after I did leave then due to poor train booking, I found myself obliged to pass some 2 hours in what must be counted amongst the most cheerless and souless places I have yet encountered. The aspect of the town was one of marked desolation, as though long bereft of prosperity; its streets bore the unmistakable signs of neglect, and the general air was one of hardship endured without relief.

I can only imagine Bet365 has sucked all money and hope from most Stoke residents, who generally looked a desperate bunch of hard luck types.  It was so grim I spent an hour aimlessly wondering around a Sainsburys to seek refuge from the melancholy that existed outside of its doors.  My boy asked if there was an asylum there and everyone had escaped. 

In a way I feel happy for those Stoke fans to have experienced a little joy in their lives, especially when they will inevitably finish top half, fail to be promoted and soon enough be hit with over spending under FFP rules which will crush even that small glimmer of hope in their joyless lives.

Couldn't watch the game today but from what others have stated, it sounds as though the gaffer made more changes to the starting line up than was absolutely necessary & it backfired on him....partly due to putting too many newcomers together. Surely there was a less drastic option ! 

The of course there was the pillock in the middle..'nuff said. 

But following a couple of observations re Lloyd's captaincy, maybe the realisation has now hit home that our reliable Doc is no longer around to show his experience when times are tough on the pitch. 

Miss him already. :'(

fenaddick said:

PragueAddick said:

Really, somebody, prove me wrong.

Can we just first  agree that when refs hold up a card  they do it more or less straight upwards? 

Good. So for a player to be punished for visually demanding a card he needs to mimic that. Not an arm out like he’s directing traffic. Nor a Nazi salute for that matter. 

Right then. Post up the footage  that shows Danny Mac holding his arm up vertically like that. Right now, I don’t think it exists. You can’t cop out by saying “for me” @LargeAddick. Its a draconian rule, so it has to be interpreted strictly. Lets see the footage. If it exists, I am ready to apologise to all who claim DM was correctly carded. 

 But as I said on the match thread, Sky dont have superior footage that CTV and others don’t. Everything goes through a central EFL studio in Osterley and is fed out from there to the club streams. I’m not ITK. There was an article in the Athletic about it.

NJ said it was for the gesture which means Madley thinks that’s what he saw. Regardless of all that, it’s silly of McNamara to run over to do that when in theory the rule is only the captain can approach the ref. That means he’s already making the ref twitchy. He’s a senior pro playing in a match where his team needed leadership and a cool head and he did the opposite 

That’s your opinion, but is not the subject of my post. The rule is new , and its very specific. Its also very easy to spot, unlike the other new guidance on grappling which Madley was also interested in showing he could apply when no one else in the ground could see it. 

DamoNorthStand said:

How about the World Cup? Players deal with playing 7 or & games in a condensed period, and at the end of a long season.

And as I say, we know we have a three week break just round the corner.

I think it’s not a straight yes or no. More we went too far today and the evidence as to why is in front of our eyes.

Also our lower budget is an issue - we have to cut corners when buying players in order to work within our financial resources- and sometimes that will include buying players who have existing fitness issues. 

I happen to think that NJ will think twice before making so many changes again.

I think you’re right to say that on today’s evidence the depth of quality in the squad isn’t currently there but it was actually only 4 changes. It’s the nature of the changes that exposed us - 3 of them were the central 3 in midfield (Skipp, Ouma, JRC) and those changes in hindsight were miles off being capable of getting anything away at Stoke who have spent millions. The other change was Mesik at RB and he isn’t a RB (which you could argue showed with the cross for their third goal).

Definitely food for thought in terms of the squad depth - we have the numbers, but the first real rotation of the season produced a bit of a horror show 

PragueAddick said:

fenaddick said:

PragueAddick said:

Really, somebody, prove me wrong.

Can we just first  agree that when refs hold up a card  they do it more or less straight upwards? 

Good. So for a player to be punished for visually demanding a card he needs to mimic that. Not an arm out like he’s directing traffic. Nor a Nazi salute for that matter. 

Right then. Post up the footage  that shows Danny Mac holding his arm up vertically like that. Right now, I don’t think it exists. You can’t cop out by saying “for me” @LargeAddick. Its a draconian rule, so it has to be interpreted strictly. Lets see the footage. If it exists, I am ready to apologise to all who claim DM was correctly carded. 

 But as I said on the match thread, Sky dont have superior footage that CTV and others don’t. Everything goes through a central EFL studio in Osterley and is fed out from there to the club streams. I’m not ITK. There was an article in the Athletic about it.

NJ said it was for the gesture which means Madley thinks that’s what he saw. Regardless of all that, it’s silly of McNamara to run over to do that when in theory the rule is only the captain can approach the ref. That means he’s already making the ref twitchy. He’s a senior pro playing in a match where his team needed leadership and a cool head and he did the opposite 

That’s your opinion, but is not the subject of my post. The rule is new , and its very specific. Its also very easy to spot, unlike the other new guidance on grappling which Madley was also interested in showing he could apply when no one else in the ground could see it. 

I believe you are all across socials, etc. Have you got footage to post of DM doing the card signal ( like we saw in the World Cup) or not?

Weirdly I haven’t seen it anywhere, I saw it once during the game and that’s it. It was from one of those far away, lower quality type cameras. With a bigger telly it might have been more obvious but I just saw him waving his hand around. I guess we also don’t know the context of what he was saying at the time which could be a contributing factor