POST-MATCH THREAD: Coventry City v Charlton Athletic: Saturday 29th November 2025: KO 15:00
After a string of drubbings changes were made for this trip to league leaders Coventry, perhaps the most welcome being the return of Amari’i Bell to help secure the left side. Greg Docherty and Miles Leaburn returned to the bench, making way for Harvey Knibbs and Tanto Olaofe.
Coventry started confidently, keeping possession and playing the ball around fluidly. As time ticked on it was comforting to not look like conceding in the early minutes. Coventry applied pressure without any clear chances. Despite the possession, it was the visitors that struck first. After 12 minutes, Thomas Kaminsky’s long free kick was bundled into the path of Tyreece Campbell, who’s shot was blocked but, fortunately, fell conveniently for Harvey Knibbs to blast into the back of the net to put the visitors ahead.
Only moments later, the home side had their best chance through a corner swung in dangerously. Kaminsky, pinned on his goal line, pulled off a reaction save from a free header. The second corner was defended well and led to an Addick’s counter.
19 minutes had passed on the clock when Coventry broke on the counter attack. Amari’i Bell chased back and made a light rugby-like tug around the shoulders of the attacker, bringing him down in the box. No foul was given, but the home supporters were not happy!
The Addicks wasted no time in jabbing back. Aggrieved, Coventry weren’t let off the hook just yet. Charlton came forward again and had a header cleared off the line that would have put the Addicks two nil up. By this time, there was so much action, I couldn’t keep up with my notes! I’ve no idea of the details of what happened, but there was a clearance of the line.
It was now ridiculously open, end-to-end action!
Tanto Olaofe then had his chance when he was just short getting on the end of a ball blazed by Tyreece Campbell across the six yard line after beating his two defenders and driving into the penalty area.
On 26 mins, Nathan Jones was forced into a change when Amari’i Bell, who had the effect of stabilising the defence, could no longer continue. With Bell going off through injury, Charlton reverted to a back four, with Miles Leaburn coming on to lead the line and Kayne Ramsay shifting over to cover the left in Bell’s absence.
The equaliser came on 39 minutes with a strike from eighteen yards. Tanto Olaofe lost his man on the edge of the box, then Conor Coventry struggled to catch up, and when the shot came in, there was no one who could get close enough. The change at the back had left us less secure. After the restart, Coventry had new inspiration. The attacks came in waves and it was from a corner that they found the goal to put them in front, through a header at the near post. With eight minutes additional time, Charlton looked to limp into the break without conceding further, which they managed.
Charlton created a number of chances in the first half and looked to have shaken Coventry. Until the Bell substitution. With problems on the left, the reshuffle didn’t help and big holes opened up that the home side wasted no time in exploiting.
To kick off the second half, tactical changes were made, with Jones taking goal scorer Harvey Knibbs off for, we can assume, the presumed defensive stability of Greg Docherty. The Addicks did look more composed and less fragile, with Coventry happy to concede a bit more possession in return for trying to draw the Addicks out.
On 56 minutes, the Addicks had their best chance when the ball was lifted up high in the air to Miles Leaburn, whose first touch and turn gave him the space to find Sonny Carey in from of goal. His shot from seventeen yards blazed over the bar. He had the time and space to do better but it was a positive sign that an equaliser was possible.
The game then settled into a slower pace with Coventry City content to probe patiently. For long periods the Addicks proved resolute. But that changed on 76 minutes when Coventry attacked down the right. A shot from the right corner of the box flew in, possibly glancing off of Conor Coventry, I’m not sure. Nonetheless, a diving Kaminsky saved the initial shot with his foot. The rebound, however, fell to a Coventry man at the far post for a tap in to put the home side up by two goals. Nathan Jones had been planning a couple of changes, which were then made, bringing Ibrahim Fullah and Onel Hernandez on for Sonny Carey and Tanto Olaofe. Just before the expiration of normal time Rob Apter was given some minutes in place of James Bree.
In summary, it’s unfortunate to concede another three goals but, given the run we’re on and the injuries that underly that, many of us expected much worse. Truth is, we were competitive for large parts and that was certainly what has been missing and what has been the most galling through this run of bad form. Bell’s injury changed the whole complexion of the game. We were still in it until the third went in but we didn’t do enough at that point to make the difference. On another day, we may have engineered a draw on the back of the second half performance but that wasn’t to be. The fixture list gets a bit easier now, at least theoretically, so let’s hope there’s a bit of light ahead.
Coventry City 3 Charlton 1
Over to you.
Comments
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Too long, I’m not reading all that.76
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Bit of criticism today for NJ. I don’t want him out, I like him, however he needs to think about a few things.
First 25 he got spot on. Apart from that he just makes the same mistakes. Players are just shoehorned into odd positions.
System shouldn’t have changed. We removed all threat by pulling Tanto and TC back.
Leaburn up top allowed them to play their high line without worry. Less said about Leaburn the better I’m afraid.
TC as a LWB or whatever that role is has to stop. TC is not a perfect footballer, but he looks dangerous at least when he’s up top. Defenders are wary of him and he presses well.
3 tough games over - now the season really starts. We have to get it right from here or we’ll be in a bit of trouble.
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Down to Nathan Jones this IMO. The sub decision with putting Leaburn on instead of someone defensively when the set up was working at the time. Don’t get that decision at all!
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Has Nathan Jones lost four on the bounce as Charlton manager before?0
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They're 10 points clear at the top with +32 goal difference. They've got much better players than us. I feel frustrated watching us lose but are we supposed to go to their ground and beat them...? Rudoni alone is much better than anyone we've got. None of our strikers are fit to lace Ellis Simms boots. They'll be playing prem football next season we've just came up from League One. Can't read too much into games like this.
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Last minute equaliser for Hollywood
Last minute winner Scumwall
It's all very frustrating11 -
Probably not but I fear he will get plenty of experience in doing so before this season is over.CAFCTrev said:Has Nathan Jones lost four on the bounce as Charlton manager before?3 -
Frustrating in the sense that we didn't have that new signing on the bench, especially with Bell's injury problems.
Those first 20mins though, show that if we can start getting some balance (something I've been banging on about for the last week now), and start getting players in their proper positions, well we should start to climb the League table again. The moment Bell went off, and our problems were made obvious for all to see, and the balance in the team disappeared
A bit like a year ago, again I've said this already, and Nathan Jones is forcing himself (needlessly this week, had we used Roussillon) to piss about, not just with the formation, but shoe-horning individuals into roles that are negating their strengths.8 -
Sorry nathan but you made a mess of this after bell went off .. and to bring on aptor for a few minutes is a p ... take9
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You go from one extreme to another. I read it all though mate and to save everyone time it was top notch analysis.LoOkOuT said:Too long, I’m not reading all that.10 -
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Just an observation, we got three free kicks today. One of them was in the 88th minute.6
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We gave that a right good go, indicates team spirit is still there .. Campbell's best game of the season, Knibbs scores but does nothing else (I wouldn't have picked either to start lol)
Coventry go marching on, shows what a few million to spend allied to good scouting and management can do
Onward we go9 -
Leaburn wasn’t the right player to bring on for Bell that’s for sure, didn’t agree with subbing off our goalscorer at half time & TC playing 90 mins when he must have had his worst ever game for us, aside from all that it’s a bit disappointing these last 4 games the opposition haven’t really had to get out of second gear to beat us4
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Partly on the ref that one, he missed about 5 foulsAlgarveaddick said:Just an observation, we got three free kicks today. One of them was in the 88th minute.8 -
It wasn't a humiliating loss, so there's that. Coventry is by far the best side in the league, but we gave it a good go, though, I suspect Coventry did purposely play in a lower gear basically the entire second half.
Our next game against Pompey is a must win.15 -
Jones got that so wrong, again. Have to also start questioning the recruitment. Stuck with players he knew with terrible injury records and it’s coming back to bite us.Think we are in serious trouble now.10
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SheedyCAFC said:Leaburn wasn’t the right player to bring on for Bell that’s for sure, didn’t agree with subbing off our goalscorer at half time & TC playing 90 mins when he must have had his worst ever game for us, aside from all that it’s a bit disappointing these last 4 games the opposition haven’t really had to get out of second gear to beat us
Docherty on for Knibbs at start of second half.
— Richard Cawley (@RichSCawley) November 29, 2025
Knibbs did go down (without getting any treatment) while Eccles needed the medical team in that first period.
So that could be another injury. #cafc2 -
Jerome not being on the bench as a possible option if an injury prone Bell got injured (another masterclass from Jones) was a terrible decision, Leaburn coming on was an awful, awful decision. Knibbs coming off, which is fair enough if he's injured (shock horror) then Fullah should have come on.4
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9s and 10s some were giving that transfer window!WillmoreTheRed said:Jones got that so wrong, again. Have to also start questioning the recruitment. Stuck with players he knew with terrible injury records and it’s coming back to bite us.Think we are in serious trouble now.2 -
Once again, we are totally devoid of any idea or spark.
The players look down, and the once workman'like performances with some sparks and determination, has evaporated. There is simply no way it can continue.
The gameplan of lumping it to leaburn/olaofe presumes either can win the flick on or hold it up - with that not being much the case at the moment, and neither have the agility or pace to run in behind as our lumped balls forward/in the channles suggest we want to do!
Bell will be a huge loss, and presumably out for even longer now - hopefully Rousillion can hit the ground running. Midfield looked ok, but just no spark or grit as the game went on longer. no camaraderie or leadership in an issue too, when we're needing to be dragged through games.
As usual, the substitutes come too late and invariably mess around what little system was working - TC at LB again was just poor, which was only realised and rectified 5 mins later...
Genuinely worried for us, as its hard to see where we turn things around - LOTS of new additions and improvements needed in January. What was being touted as "spend in jan to firm up a top 10 finish!" as swiftly become the need to spend money in jan to stay in the league!
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No points but we do return to SE7 with a degree of self-respect after the capitulations against Southampton and Stoke. We were well in that game until Amari’i Bell went off injured and the total lack of defensive options on the bench did for us. The injuries are really taking their toll now.
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Annoying that he was happy to penalise us for 50/50 fouls, but on a number of occasions in the second half, he was happy to let play continue when twice our players got barged into, especially when Coventry didnt get the ballfenaddick said:
Partly on the ref that one, he missed about 5 foulsAlgarveaddick said:Just an observation, we got three free kicks today. One of them was in the 88th minute.
Yes we completed the pass, so there is argument to let the game flow (So why not let it flow when we did it)
But it also gave Coventry liberty to keep doing it, and denied us the opportunity to do anything from a dead ball7 -
On the plus side, Kanu and Mbick are going to absolutely light up League 1 next season. Whether that’s with us or another side.8
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Dont know how anyone can pass judgement on a Transfer Window, when at most five games (?) would have been played.DDOUBLEE said:
9s and 10s some were giving that transfer window!WillmoreTheRed said:Jones got that so wrong, again. Have to also start questioning the recruitment. Stuck with players he knew with terrible injury records and it’s coming back to bite us.Think we are in serious trouble now.6 -
I'm also failing to see how we are so much better off than the 19/20 season, while I do agree that we can at least rectify this in January and we won't be ruined by a loan signing being recalled, the parallels are definitely there4
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Keeper is a liability6
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FAO @aliwibble and @ForeverAddickted
Not.
My.
Fault.
Now excuse me while I go back to my last rum before disembarking the ship ...10 -
Did we ever replace the conditioning coach?ForeverAddickted said:SheedyCAFC said:Leaburn wasn’t the right player to bring on for Bell that’s for sure, didn’t agree with subbing off our goalscorer at half time & TC playing 90 mins when he must have had his worst ever game for us, aside from all that it’s a bit disappointing these last 4 games the opposition haven’t really had to get out of second gear to beat usDocherty on for Knibbs at start of second half.
— Richard Cawley (@RichSCawley) November 29, 2025
Knibbs did go down (without getting any treatment) while Eccles needed the medical team in that first period.
So that could be another injury. #cafc
It's been a horrible week, we've just got to stick with 'em.4 -
It certainly doesn't seem like it, how many injuries did we have at the same stage last season?charlton_hero said:
Did we ever replace the conditioning coach?ForeverAddickted said:SheedyCAFC said:Leaburn wasn’t the right player to bring on for Bell that’s for sure, didn’t agree with subbing off our goalscorer at half time & TC playing 90 mins when he must have had his worst ever game for us, aside from all that it’s a bit disappointing these last 4 games the opposition haven’t really had to get out of second gear to beat usDocherty on for Knibbs at start of second half.
— Richard Cawley (@RichSCawley) November 29, 2025
Knibbs did go down (without getting any treatment) while Eccles needed the medical team in that first period.
So that could be another injury. #cafc
It's been a horrible week, we've just got to stick with 'em.
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Some fair points there.Laddick01 said:Bit of criticism today for NJ. I don’t want him out, I like him, however he needs to think about a few things.
First 25 he got spot on. Apart from that he just makes the same mistakes. Players are just shoehorned into odd positions.
System shouldn’t have changed. We removed all threat by pulling Tanto and TC back.
Leaburn up top allowed them to play their high line without worry. Less said about Leaburn the better I’m afraid.
TC as a LWB or whatever that role is has to stop. TC is not a perfect footballer, but he looks dangerous at least when he’s up top. Defenders are wary of him and he presses well.
3 tough games over - now the season really starts. We have to get it right from here or we’ll be in a bit of trouble.
I'd add a couple more questions:_
1) Burke and Bell are class defenders. They have also been in recent seasons walking sicknotes. Why sign them if they are going to be injured for long periods?
2) Why on earth not have a defender on the subs bench today? Does Jones not trust our U-21 players like Gough and Laquertabua. If so, why are they still here?
3) Replacing Bell with Leaburn was bonkers, particularly as it meant pulling Olaofe back which didn't work at all. What possessed him to do that?
All the early season optimism now fading quickly. Portsmouth next week is now vital.
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