(3rd) Reading v Charlton Athletic (17th)
Saturday 17 October 2015 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Rob Lewis (Shrewsbury)
Introduction
Not that bloody International Break again… Those are the words I’m sure I’ll hear many Charlton fans say when they start reading the preview for this Saturdays match, sadly for those, I’m the one who writes the preview so I get to say what I want and secondly it’s been such an important factor in our season that it’s too good to ignore.
At the beginning of the season, Charlton were riding high, they had won impressively against Queens Park Rangers and Hull City, with one game remaining before the break, the Addicks were leading 1-0 at Wolves, and then the wheels came off we lost that match 2-1, we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and upon returning from the break, the players could do nothing right.
In our last fixture, the wheels were still very much wobbling, things looked bleak and after going 2-0 down against Fulham, it didn’t look like getting any better… In true Charlton fighting style though, the players managed to drag themselves back and rescue a point (almost stealing three points in the dying embers of the match)
Now with the latest International Break interrupting proceedings once more, will we see a new Charlton rise continuing on from the Fulham match, and rising from the ashes, I guess we’ll find out against Reading this Saturday
The Opposition
When the 2014/15 season came to an end, it also brought to a close my first season writing previews for CharltonLife and heading into the summer I wanted to think of ways to change my style so that it wasn’t the same old boring thing (Well stop discussing the International Break I hear you say), one example has been documenting the fortunes of those countries with Championship connections and the 2018 World Cup.
One new feature is rather than putting the line-up / result that I think, I put it to you fans to tell me what the result may be, another thought was based on this very category… When I write about the opposition it is purely about the stats yet as we know, these tell us nothing, the only people that know our opponents each week are the opponents themselves, the fans that go and see their team every week when we may only see them once or twice a year…
The Fans View … From Reading
Firstly would like to say thank you to the fans of ReadingLife (otherwise known as Hobnob Royals), there were a few strange fans on there, yet the majority kindly responded to my four simple questions, which were as follows:
How the Reading season has been so far: Many consider the summer transfer window being the best that they’ve had in many years, with their being a huge overhaul on deadline day (With one fan believing that they now have two players for each position who would walk into most sides in this Division)… Reading currently play a mixture of exciting one touch football, yet can also play direct if need be… the goalkeepers have cost Reading points this season but many do feel as though Charlton are going to Berkshire at the wrong time.
Who will the Key Player for Reading be? There were a few players that got picked out by the Reading fans, firstly you have Nick Blackman who is the Championship Top-Scorer whilst Danny Williams knows what to do with the ball and will work his socks off… Many though believe that Ollie Norwood could be our main problem, he quietly dictates play from the midfield and will be on a high after qualifying for Euro 2016 with Northern Ireland (Congratulations to him)
How will your season pan out? There are vibes coming from the squad that remind their fans of the 2005/06 season, there is a great chance of promotion, yet they also believe there is plenty of time for a major reality check or squad disaster, regardless though it seems as though Reading will be better this season than last.
Result: 2-0 to Reading seems the favourable score line at the moment… As already mentioned, one fan believes that Charlton are going to Berkshire at the wrong time and that the result won’t be pretty, although it was highlighted that we are a bogey side of theirs at the moment and Reading have only won three of the last nine against us.
Once again, many thanks to the Reading fans for taking it seriously and providing some proper answers for me, as mentioned I plan on this being a regular feature yet might be harder for the Preston game with such a short space of time between matches, let me know by Saturday if you want me to ask the Preston fans any different questions.
The Fans View … From Charlton
Line-Up:
Pope
Solly … Bauer … Diarra … Fox
Gudmundsson … Cousins … Jackson … McAleny
Makienok … Ahearne-Grant
Key Player (Karlan Ahearne-Grant): With many of our Strikers either injured or out of form, it’s a chance for some of our youngsters to step up to the plate; Josh Umerah has already been named on the bench this season, whilst it can’t be long before we see Ademola Lookman if he continues his scoring form…
At the moment the golden Striker from the youth team is Ahearne-Grant, and being our joint top scorer this season, he’ll want to start scoring more regularly to cement his place in the starting eleven.
Result: Many believe that the points will be remaining in Berkshire this weekend with a 2-0 defeat, let’s hope that’s not the case.
My Prediction
Reading 1-2 Charlton Athletic (Gudmundsson, Ahearne-Grant)
3
Comments
yep a typical 3-0 defeat
3-0 Charlton
I think Ahearne-Grant would be better alongside Makienok when playing away from home, we need to hit teams on the counter-attack and KAG will run himself into the ground to cause trouble.
With both Watt and Makienok up front, I fear the ball might come back towards us a lot quicker
Reading 1 v CAFC 2 ....
4-1 Reading
Will be there
Will be drunk.
Not sure who will score ours so maybe an own goal???
I predict a 3-0 but wouldn't be surprised if we nick it, the championship is a funny old league, and international breaks do strange things