MATCH THREAD : Charlton Athletic V Norwich City : Saturday 24th October 2026 : KO 12:30

Leuth said:

charltonbob said:

Jac_52 said:

Edwards was a shambles last time he played not sure why he's starting again

Ridiculous, WTF does Mesik have to do to get a start ?

He got one last week, put in a perfect cross for Leaburn and a through ball for Kelman. Idk what he did wrong really 

The Jones complex.  Some players can be mediocre week in and week out and are always picked .  Some have one chance and come straight out .  

Pedro45 said:

Bit of a personal disaster so far.  Picked up last season's season ticket in error and also forgot my glasses! Ticket office graciously gave me a ticket so big thanks to them.  I think the last three times I've forgotten my glasses the games have finished nil-nil....

How would you have known?

Had to be Carey in the 10 if its JRC in with Cov. 

No Chalobah or Godders on the bench which is a shame.

Pisisng it down

fenaddick said:

Wondering if it’s more of a flat midfield 3 with Coventry at the base and Carey and JRC as 8’s. Could help with some of JRC’s mobility issues 

I would like that a lot. I said it on another thread but the 10 thing isn't really working, we don't carve out enough space to utilise it in the gaps so we just end up giving the ball away and suffering in the transitions where we get punished if even one midfielder is out of position. I'd much rather have Coventry sitting and JRC and Carey there in front of him. Carey can drive the ball forward from deeper (and then run into someone's shins or hammer it into the stands no matter what pass is on) and JRC can drive with it and hopefully pick a pass. They will have to do a lot of running to support the wingers but we keep conceding the same goal where one of the midfielders gives the ball away and the opposition can just run through the middle unchallenged. Coventry deeper permanently would mitigate that

And my audio coverage still isn’t working ffs 🙄😩😭

fenaddick said:

Wondering if it’s more of a flat midfield 3 with Coventry at the base and Carey and JRC as 8’s. Could help with some of JRC’s mobility issues 

JRC has got a good engine.

Leaving Leaburn on the bench against a Norwich defense that has lost 5 on the bounce is mad. Their center-backs are fragile and hate physical pressure, yet we’ve left our best physical weapon on the bench instead of going for them from the first whistle.

As for the midfield, I'm glad Skipp is dropped, but with Chalobah completely missing, Jones has just defaulted to a conservative Coventry and JRC axis. We saw against Watford and Bristol City that playing flat, passive midfields doesn't actually protect the back four—it just surrenders territory until we crack. 

If Coventry and JRC are expected to suddenly dictate a high tempo without any natural forward outlets, we’re in trouble. The only way this works is if Carey is given total license to bomb forward and Kelman acts as a genuine link, because if we sit deep and try to contain Norwich with this shape, we’re going to get walked through anyway. This lineup looks cautious when we should be attacking them from the off. 

COYR.

AberystwythAddick said:

Edwards looked dreadful the last game he played. Mesik has done well so an undeserved drop I think.
hopefully Josh is fitter than his last runout 

That kind of rotation just screams that we dont know our best side.

Mesik comes in, does well, dropped again.

No rhyme or reason why Edwards is back after the Bristol City game.

None of it makes sense.

eastterrace6168 said:

Great seeing the great Killer on The Valley pitch again..true legend for the club

And wearing one of the Killer Che shirts as well.

Skipp looked really pissed off when arriving - good.

Game changers on the bench......need a goal, lets bring on Leaburn & Mbick 😳
 

My Bruv is back in my lugoles, hurrah!
Thank you Josh you star bar 👏🏻🤩