Lee Bowyer was right to highlight the importance of playing as a team before the - unfortunately the performance of a team that had played together for 40 plus games against one that had played together for only 10 illustrated how right he was. Playing against the curse of Sky and Gobby was just too much tonight - praying for some magic on Sunday.
All this about fans not giving Shrews enough respect. I don't really see that. Their own manager said they were the underdogs, clearly a strategy to encourage us to underestimate them. It is possible our team didn't show enough respect which would explain the great start and then the shutting down and loss of confidence when we found their defence too strong for us.
Obvs we would all take the chance offered to Charlton, but Shrew deserve to go up on their season-long form. They have enough points to send them well clear of the pack in 3rd and we're just lucky beneficiaries of the EFLs desperate attempt to monetize every aspect of the game.
Maybe LB should bring in some of the players that saw us through the 97/98 play-offs all those years ago - Sasa, Kinsella, Mendonca, Newts (if he isn't in prison), Rufus (see Newts), Hunt - tell them what it means to be Charlton and to make it to Wembley....
They did not lack desire tonight, they lacked quality and composure
We started brightly but we lack a cutting edge. I’m still massively up for/think we can get something from the second leg, but Bowyer will have to mix it up.
The two players who I thought were poor tonight were Reeves and Kashi, Kashi was ominously anonymous...very poor
What’s really frustrated me is that this was the first time in ages that I felt we had ‘our Charlton back’. The atmosphere, having Bowyer in place and the hope of the recent turnaround.
Fuck it. We can do this, we just gotta believe and mix it up to give Shrewsbury to think about. COME ON YOU REDS
Dasilva sloppy tonight. Gave the ball away when under no pressure a couple of times, beaten by their winger other times.
Genuinely don't see the hype.
He has the best touch in League One and decent tonight - but keep doubling down on your 'Page is better' opinion
Remember when he lumped it across the field to no-one and it rolled out of play into the dugout? Then he did the same thing again 10 minutes later. It was a bit weaker the second time so Konsa was able to run back 15 yards and collect the ball before it rolled out of play again.
What about when the ball sailed over his head and into the feet of Whalley who then had a free run at goal? Poor positioning or just not tall enough?
He's flashy going forward so play him as a left midfielder, if at all.
Get rid of Reeves The difference tonight was that Nolan scored and played well and his opposite number Reeves was a waste of space
Give over mate. Reeves is not a winger, he has no pace and no strength and basic dribbling skills. He needs to be played through the middle where he has options to pass (something he can do very well) to players on either side of him.
But he's not strong enough to play in the middle in a 4-4-2 so if he's not good enough as a winger then we're restricted to either 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-2-1-2 diamond when he plays.
But being a play maker in the middle of the park is not about strength. I know this is a somewhat stretch of a point, but your Silva's, Eriksens, or let's be a bit more comparable and say a Will Hughes (because they look similar) are effective at where they play because
A: they can pass the ball, and B: they have players around them who make decent runs to receive the ball.
I obviously might be wrong, but I'm a full believer that Reeves is a very good passer of the ball and given the opportunity to play through the middle of the park with two strikers and some movement in front of him he could perform well.
Get rid of Reeves The difference tonight was that Nolan scored and played well and his opposite number Reeves was a waste of space
Give over mate. Reeves is not a winger, he has no pace and no strength and basic dribbling skills. He needs to be played through the middle where he has options to pass (something he can do very well) to players on either side of him.
Sorry, not having that. He's at least one level, probably two, below the 3rd Division. Look at him overall throughout the entirety of the season. He isn't really that good at all, honestly. Too lightweight, wants too much time on the ball when he's not good enough to dictate the play, and goes missing when it gets a bit tough. Clearly Robinson had a 'thing' for him and that's why he brought him in. But seriously, he's just not very good.
We had the game for first 15, other than that we had no idea. Their plan to slow down and frustrated worked and then they bossed second half and deserved the win. They are not too good to be beaten but we need to be commited and believe in ourselves. We are not better than them but can beat them over 90 minutes. Cannot turn up and think we will walk it. Bowyer and Jackie need to lift them
I’d like to see Ajose and Zyro up front on Sunday. Why can’t we get the ball down and actually play some proper football in the final third? All of Ajose’s runs were wasted tonight and I’m sick of seeing Magennis just throwing his weight around. Mav ended on his arse most of the time and Reeves can do nothing about the power Shrewsbury have in midfield. Thought our central defence were really good and kept us in it. Kashi needs to have a word with himself - for someone who lit up the championship when he arrived, he seems to have regressed. However, got high hopes for the away leg and trust Bowyer will set us up better.
Agree with most of the above. We huffed and puffed but it’s hard to see how we’ll break them down on Sunday.
Would bring in Fosu and Aribo for Reeves and Kashi and contemplate Marshall for Afjose as despite all the clamour for 4-4-2 he’s been anonymous in the two games I’ve seen (Blackburn & tonight)
Reeves played a really poor pass at the start of the second half and then ran into traffic a few minutes later. Consequently everyone is giving him 3 or whatever in Player Marks, even though he
- blocked a near-certain goal - did his man and put over a decent cross - put over another decent cross that Magennis almost got on the end of - played a few slick through-balls to Ajose and Mavididi - tackled back well - ran for the entire time he was on - came as close as anyone to scoring in the second half with a great instinctive snapshot - recycled possession pretty well
He just can't win. If anyone deserves your ire it's JFC and Kashi who gave it away for fun
Well I’m gonna be positive as I’m going to Shrewsbury on Sunday
Beaten by a very good team tonight who negated our strongest area (midfield)
However, it’s only 1 goal, I’d personally bring Fosu in for Steph and Marshall for Reeves, have a right go at them and have our fans singing like we did for the last month
Whether you are watching it pretending not to care in Bromley Working Men’s Club or with proper fans behind the goal I still fancy us to do this
Get rid of Reeves The difference tonight was that Nolan scored and played well and his opposite number Reeves was a waste of space
Give over mate. Reeves is not a winger, he has no pace and no strength and basic dribbling skills. He needs to be played through the middle where he has options to pass (something he can do very well) to players on either side of him.
Sorry, not having that. He's at least one level, probably two, below the 3rd Division. Look at him overall throughout the entirety of the season. He isn't really that good at all, honestly. Too lightweight, wants too much time on the ball when he's not good enough to dictate the play, and goes missing when it gets a bit tough. Clearly Robinson had a 'thing' for him and that's why he brought him in. But seriously, he's just not very good.
Calling Reeves a Conference player is about the most ludicrous call on a post-match thread I can remember
First half was tight with two teams containing each other well, us showing slightly more attacking intent but only creating a few half chances.
Second half was tight with two teams containing each other well, them showing slightly more attacking intent but only creating a few half chances.
Difference was, one of their half chances found the top corner, none of ours did. Reeves' half volley, JFC's effort from outside the box, or Big Mag's header - any of those sneak inside the frame rather than just outside it and it's a different story. But those are the fine margins these play-off games are often won and lost by.
We've seen it lots this season, when a team sets out to stop us first, rather than attack us, we struggle to break them down and so it proved tonight. As the game wore on we started to run out of ideas, but they did not exactly pummel our goal with shots either.
Still all to play for here, but Bowyer needs to get his thinking cap on and find a better way to break this lot down as the onus is very much on us now. I doubt they will try to do anything different now they have a lead to defend and that's a problem because chasing the game is not our strength and I felt we lacked a little intensity, which is the minimum we've come to expect under Bowyer. Equally though, it's not like they didn't give us a single sniff all night.
They're favourites, but as AFKA said in the OP, if you thought they were anything less at kick-off you haven't been paying attention to the season. Favourites do not always win though.
Dasilva sloppy tonight. Gave the ball away when under no pressure a couple of times, beaten by their winger other times.
Genuinely don't see the hype.
Was it him that tried that cross field pass to nobody I our own half that went out for their throw? Too many times our midfield treated the ball like a hot spud when a bit of composure was needed. It’s not over until it’s over but by jingo we are always junk on TV ( or maybe we just look worse when on the box ).
The Da Silva crossfield pass came about because Konsa had literally half the field to himself. It was executed poorly as he got closed down but if he'd hit it properly Konsa was away
Don’t half feel tonight that a lot of our fans like to slag off our players.
Personally think they’re an honest bunch who’ve put a good shift in in recent months and deserve a bit more respect / support. Some of the criticism seems well OTT to me
Don’t half feel tonight that a lot of our fans like to slag off our players.
Personally think they’re an honest bunch who’ve put a good shift in in recent months and deserve a bit more respect / support. Some of the criticism seems well OTT to me
Comments
Obvs we would all take the chance offered to Charlton, but Shrew deserve to go up on their season-long form. They have enough points to send them well clear of the pack in 3rd and we're just lucky beneficiaries of the EFLs desperate attempt to monetize every aspect of the game.
We started brightly but we lack a cutting edge. I’m still massively up for/think we can get something from the second leg, but Bowyer will have to mix it up.
The two players who I thought were poor tonight were Reeves and Kashi, Kashi was ominously anonymous...very poor
What’s really frustrated me is that this was the first time in ages that I felt we had ‘our Charlton back’. The atmosphere, having Bowyer in place and the hope of the recent turnaround.
Fuck it. We can do this, we just gotta believe and mix it up to give Shrewsbury to think about. COME ON YOU REDS
What about when the ball sailed over his head and into the feet of Whalley who then had a free run at goal? Poor positioning or just not tall enough?
He's flashy going forward so play him as a left midfielder, if at all.
A: they can pass the ball, and
B: they have players around them who make decent runs to receive the ball.
I obviously might be wrong, but I'm a full believer that Reeves is a very good passer of the ball and given the opportunity to play through the middle of the park with two strikers and some movement in front of him he could perform well.
Clearly Robinson had a 'thing' for him and that's why he brought him in. But seriously, he's just not very good.
They are not too good to be beaten but we need to be commited and believe in ourselves. We are not better than them but can beat them over 90 minutes. Cannot turn up and think we will walk it. Bowyer and Jackie need to lift them
However, got high hopes for the away leg and trust Bowyer will set us up better.
Would bring in Fosu and Aribo for Reeves and Kashi and contemplate Marshall for Afjose as despite all the clamour for 4-4-2 he’s been anonymous in the two games I’ve seen (Blackburn & tonight)
- blocked a near-certain goal
- did his man and put over a decent cross
- put over another decent cross that Magennis almost got on the end of
- played a few slick through-balls to Ajose and Mavididi
- tackled back well
- ran for the entire time he was on
- came as close as anyone to scoring in the second half with a great instinctive snapshot
- recycled possession pretty well
He just can't win. If anyone deserves your ire it's JFC and Kashi who gave it away for fun
Beaten by a very good team tonight who negated our strongest area (midfield)
However, it’s only 1 goal, I’d personally bring Fosu in for Steph and Marshall for Reeves, have a right go at them and have our fans singing like we did for the last month
Whether you are watching it pretending not to care in Bromley Working Men’s Club or with proper fans behind the goal I still fancy us to do this
Come on you reds
Second half was tight with two teams containing each other well, them showing slightly more attacking intent but only creating a few half chances.
Difference was, one of their half chances found the top corner, none of ours did. Reeves' half volley, JFC's effort from outside the box, or Big Mag's header - any of those sneak inside the frame rather than just outside it and it's a different story. But those are the fine margins these play-off games are often won and lost by.
We've seen it lots this season, when a team sets out to stop us first, rather than attack us, we struggle to break them down and so it proved tonight. As the game wore on we started to run out of ideas, but they did not exactly pummel our goal with shots either.
Still all to play for here, but Bowyer needs to get his thinking cap on and find a better way to break this lot down as the onus is very much on us now. I doubt they will try to do anything different now they have a lead to defend and that's a problem because chasing the game is not our strength and I felt we lacked a little intensity, which is the minimum we've come to expect under Bowyer. Equally though, it's not like they didn't give us a single sniff all night.
They're favourites, but as AFKA said in the OP, if you thought they were anything less at kick-off you haven't been paying attention to the season. Favourites do not always win though.
I’m more worried about taking 16 year old drunk as a skunk son home and getting GBH of the eardrums off Mrs Otto than I am about Sunday’s game.
Until he gave away a free kick I forgot he was on the pitch, after he gave the free kick away I forgot he was on the pitch.
His 1 and only contribution to that game was giving away a free kick
As others have said, all to play for on Sunday and could be a real memorable day for those in attendance.
Personally think they’re an honest bunch who’ve put a good shift in in recent months and deserve a bit more respect / support. Some of the criticism seems well OTT to me