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POST-MATCH THREAD: Coventry City v Charlton Athletic: Saturday 29th November 2025: KO 15:00
Comments
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He's not experienced though is he, he's played 2 games in men's football this season, both in the League cup and for a combined total of 33 minutes. The season before that he played one game in the banter cup as a central midfielder and got one 2 minute cameo in L1. He might have played LWB in the u21s but he's far from experienced and if Jones thought he was ready to fill that role he'd play him. If he can't make the first team In the League Cup against lower league opposition when we make 11 changes he clearly isn't ready for the Championship.Gisappointed said:Since Bell's injury, not too long ago, we have tried TC and Onel, both right footed wingers and Ramsay a right footer, and perhaps Fullah, a winger. All round pegs in square holes.
Yet in our U21s, the top player is possibly Enslin, an experienced 20yo LWB who doesn't even make the squad when we cant name a defender on the bench, despite Bell being an injury risk. WTF is going on.2 -
1. Probably because they were cheap, because of their injury records. When they do play we have a bargain, when they don’t play at least they’re cheap.Fortune 82nd Minute said:
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.
2. NJ probably doesn’t trust the U-21 players, he’s seen in training that playing other players out of position perform better than the U-21s at the moment.
3, completely agree, and NJ probably does too, hindsight eh, it’s always right.2 -
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Charlton away support is getting more moronic every game. These cretins are pathetic. Love to see them in a one on one fight. Club should ban them.AS1987 said:Yet another game where I found myself surrounded by some of our worst fans.
After Knibbs scored, the guy to my left climbed onto his seat and kept kicking my seat down with his other foot, with it repeatedly hitting my leg. He then jumped on top of me, putting his full weight onto the back of me neck. I am still in pain and that could have ended up a whole lot worse for me.
Why did he do this? Well, he wanted to hit some Coventry fans and I was blocking his path to them. He got past after almost breaking my neck and continued his way towards the Coventry fandom. He was immediately stopped by the police, but kept trying to push past them to get into the home end. He was immediately removed from the ground.
His mate then tried telling me that it wasn't his mate that has had jumped on top of me, but somebody behind. Of course it wasn't. I saw him...
A few minutes later, his mate tells those around him that, if we score a second, I am to get battered as it's my fault their friend was arrested by the police. Again, it wasn't. I doubt the police were even aware of the fact that he jumped on top of me. It was him trying to climb into the home end that got him arrested.
Five minutes before the end, another one of this guy's mates wants to get into the home end to beat up a child... It looked like this guy was also going to be arrested, so the guy who had arranged to have me battered earlier went down and involved himself. My view was obstructed after that, so I don't know if they were also arrested or were just told to leave.2 -
This, especially about shoehorning players into positions to which they are not suited, see Hernandez at Wrexham. Still puzzled why Roussellon didn’t make the bench and don’t see how playing say 60 mins for the U21’s in midweek will help. No disrespect but it’s hardly the same intensity as first team football.ForeverAddickted said: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.5 -
Posting without reading
Posting without enthusiasm
Posting without hope
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I wouldn't say Edwards is injury prone. He suffered two assaults, from memory neither penalised yet alone carded.CAFCFW05 said:We can all blame TC but what do you expect when you play someone who has played winger/striker all his life at lwb. What’s killed us is signing injury prone players that can’t play all season. We all knew that Burke/Bell/Edwards wouldn’t last and it’s killed us.9 -
We'll be fine this season.
Think Jones makes mistakes when he tries to shoehorn people into positions it should be clear to anyone would not work. First sub bringing Leaburn on completely threw the game.
Hopefully we get our injured guys back soon so we can stop doing that.5 -
DDOUBLEE said: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 thereWell hopefully:
- no dodgy take over
- no secret transfer embargo
- no global pandemic disrupting the season
- no ownership feud
- no top scorer downing tools
- no Nathan Jones reinvigorating one of the teams below us who looked dead and buried
- no second dodgy take over attempt that ends up in court
- no last minute winner on the final day by one of the teams below us against one of the promoted teams
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Conor Coventry on media duties
https://x.com/cafcofficial/status/1994836537926730066?s=46&t=MojDVxh_AjG5taAWPQn6Tw
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Edwards missed one game in the three seasons prior to signing for us.Gisappointed said:
I wouldn't say Edwards is injury prone. He suffered two assaults, from memory neither penalised yet alone carded.CAFCFW05 said:We can all blame TC but what do you expect when you play someone who has played winger/striker all his life at lwb. What’s killed us is signing injury prone players that can’t play all season. We all knew that Burke/Bell/Edwards wouldn’t last and it’s killed us.
Last season he got done by a nasty tackle by Sean Clare.
He’s just unfortunately ended up with the Charlton left back curse.9 -
Jones said Bell suffered a minor recurrence of his injury so hopefully that's not a bad one and he might be in contention for Saturday. Would be great if we could play him and Roussillon. Bell's more likely to pull up again having to bomb up and down the left hand side at LWB and if he's able to just sit in at LCB and pick his moments to sprint we might not have to pack him off to the physio table again so quickly. I don't think we'll see Roussillon for a bit though5
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Haven't seen it that often recently on here, but...aliwibble said:DDOUBLEE said: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 thereWell hopefully:- no dodgy take over
- no secret transfer embargo
- no global pandemic disrupting the season
- no ownership feud
- no top scorer downing tools
- no Nathan Jones reinvigorating one of the teams below us who looked dead and buried
- no second dodgy take over attempt that ends up in court
- no last minute winner on the final day by one of the teams below us against one of the promoted teams
This5 -
Bit disappointed as well that we've seemingly rushed back Bell and aggrevated his injury some more.
Thought we were past all of that.9 -
Ah, but you've deliberately missed out the most crucial parallels, with your rose tinted specs on.aliwibble said:DDOUBLEE said: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 thereWell hopefully:- no dodgy take over
- no secret transfer embargo
- no global pandemic disrupting the season
- no ownership feud
- no top scorer downing tools
- no Nathan Jones reinvigorating one of the teams below us who looked dead and buried
- no second dodgy take over attempt that ends up in court
- no last minute winner on the final day by one of the teams below us against one of the promoted teams
- The division has the same name
- We are playing at the same home ground
- Our home shirts are red
- Some people love a good moan - even when we get beat away from home at the runaway leaders!
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I have mostly just been observing idiots, without being directly involved.Karim_myBagheri said:You seem really unlucky with the people who happen to be around you at matches recently. Hope you're ok.
Being hit by a hard projectile at Wrexham was the only other incident where anything has actually happened to me, but that was just aimed at our fans in general and could just have easily have hit somebody else.
Wrexham AFC seems to approve of their supporters doing that based on both the stewards response and the fact that they haven't even acknowledged my report.
With knowledge that has came to light since my post, I believe all three fans have been arrested (the first assaulted police officers, so is screwed).DaisyEdwards said:Charlton away support is getting more moronic every game. These cretins are pathetic. Love to see them in a one on one fight. Club should ban them.
Since the police know who they are, the club will and all three are likely to be banned.7 -
I hope your (nearly) broken neck heals. Sounds horrific.AS1987 said:
I have mostly just been observing idiots, without being directly involved.Karim_myBagheri said:You seem really unlucky with the people who happen to be around you at matches recently. Hope you're ok.
Being hit by a hard projectile at Wrexham was the only other incident where anything has actually happened to me, but that was just aimed at our fans in general and could just have easily have hit somebody else.
Wrexham AFC seems to approve of their supporters doing that based on both the stewards response and the fact that they haven't even acknowledged my report.
With knowledge that has came to light since my post, I believe all three fans have been arrested (the first assaulted police officers, so is screwed).DaisyEdwards said:Charlton away support is getting more moronic every game. These cretins are pathetic. Love to see them in a one on one fight. Club should ban them.
Since the police know who they are, the club will and all three are likely to be banned.0 -
I said he was a LWB but has played LCB, LB and midfield and ten. I was unaware of any negative feedback from pre-season in which he only played a couple of early games which were fitness exercises.ForeverAddickted said:
Enslin isn't technically a Left-Back either is he?Gisappointed said:Since Bell's injury, not too long ago, we have tried TC and Onel, both right footed wingers and Ramsay a right footer, and perhaps Fullah, a winger. All round pegs in square holes.
Yet in our U21s, the top player is possibly Enslin, an experienced 20yo LWB who doesn't even make the squad when we cant name a defender on the bench, despite Bell being an injury risk. WTF is going on.
He also looked vulnerable himself, when playing that role during Pre-Season
The point is, he has played there many times and offers at both ends of the pitch. And he is left-footed!0 -
I expected us to lose today, so in a sense in can't be too disappointed. But I would question NJ a bit about bringing Miles on for Bell. Any change would have disrupted us, but the change we made killed the attacking threat on the break we had in the first 20 minutes. And we lost shape badly.
I had no problem with the second half. The best we could hope for was to keep it tight, and nick an equaliser. Going gungho against a team like Coventry could have seen a rugby score against us.
A horrible week, but the big one is Pompey. A real 6 pointer against another side out of form.2 -
The announcement that he was eligible to play against Coventry naturally would've led people to believe he was ready. Unless it was meant to be mind games to confuse the opposition, I'm not sure why it was mentioned.SouthLincsAddick said:
Why are we all presuming Roussillon was fit to play and NJ didn’t put him on the bench to be awkward. He hasn’t hardly played for over a year, if we’d thrown him on I could’ve imagined him doing his hamstring.ForeverAddickted said: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.
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Hope youre ok, that sounds awful. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, if theres one thing away games tell you it's that just because someone supports Charlton it doesn't mean you'll have anything else in common with them, or even want to like them as a person.AS1987 said:
I have mostly just been observing idiots, without being directly involved.Karim_myBagheri said:You seem really unlucky with the people who happen to be around you at matches recently. Hope you're ok.
Being hit by a hard projectile at Wrexham was the only other incident where anything has actually happened to me, but that was just aimed at our fans in general and could just have easily have hit somebody else.
Wrexham AFC seems to approve of their supporters doing that based on both the stewards response and the fact that they haven't even acknowledged my report.
With knowledge that has came to light since my post, I believe all three fans have been arrested (the first assaulted police officers, so is screwed).DaisyEdwards said:Charlton away support is getting more moronic every game. These cretins are pathetic. Love to see them in a one on one fight. Club should ban them.
Since the police know who they are, the club will and all three are likely to be banned.4 -
Yeah, had a neighbour I could not stand. Proper prick. Anyway met him as we all had to wait to get out of the den a few years back. The fact we lost 4 nil and then meeting him and finding out he was Charlton just made the day that much worse.CAFCTrev said:
Hope youre ok, that sounds awful. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, if theres one thing away games tell you it's that just because someone supports Charlton it doesn't mean you'll have anything else in common with them, or even want to like them as a person.AS1987 said:
I have mostly just been observing idiots, without being directly involved.Karim_myBagheri said:You seem really unlucky with the people who happen to be around you at matches recently. Hope you're ok.
Being hit by a hard projectile at Wrexham was the only other incident where anything has actually happened to me, but that was just aimed at our fans in general and could just have easily have hit somebody else.
Wrexham AFC seems to approve of their supporters doing that based on both the stewards response and the fact that they haven't even acknowledged my report.
With knowledge that has came to light since my post, I believe all three fans have been arrested (the first assaulted police officers, so is screwed).DaisyEdwards said:Charlton away support is getting more moronic every game. These cretins are pathetic. Love to see them in a one on one fight. Club should ban them.
Since the police know who they are, the club will and all three are likely to be banned.4 -
So do we have a great Academy or not? What's the point of it all if when you have an injury crisis you cant bring in someone from the "yoof".
And then all this guff about they are too young & inexperienced. How old was Bowyer Shelvey or Gomez ?? The first 2 were just 16. And if they aren't good enough to fill in for a handful of games then get rid & use the loan market instead.13 -
Bloke's really got the bit between his teeth and building up a head of steam tonight ......golfaddick said:So do we have a great Academy or not? What's the point of it all if when you have an injury crisis you cant bring in someone from the "yoof".
And then all this guff about they are too young & inexperienced. How old was Bowyer Shelvey or Gomez ?? The first 2 were just 16. And if they aren't good enough to fill in for a handful of games then get rid & use the loan market instead.8 -
I was at the game, and I can’t fault the players for their effort. The real problem is the imbalance caused by not having a proper LB or LWB. For the first 30 minutes we matched them and, on another day, could easily have gone 2–0 up.I’m as frustrated as anyone, but the reality is that you need to spend millions on Championship-ready players if you want to push on after a recent promotion. Coventry needed three or four seasons to build the squad they have now, and we’re also up against clubs benefitting from parachute payments.Hopefully the new left-back gives us some stability until January, and we can aim to finish around 15th — which would be an incredible achievement. I’m sticking with what I said back in August: finish 4th from bottom and I’ll be happy.23
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I think perspective is key here! Start of the season good start or not we would have all agreed we would have struggled to get any points from this week of fixtures.Whereas Stoke and Southampton were poor performances I actually don’t think we played that badly today. We made a very good account of ourselves and we showed once again we can compete with the teams at the top of this league, 3-1 flattered them. We had some fight in us, something which couldn’t be said against Stoke or Southampton.
It was good to see our defence making key blocks and I thought Kaminski made some good saves. Bell was a massive loss, let’s hope he isn’t out long term.
We had enough chances today and could have been 2/3 up half time, we really lack up front as per the season so far. Leaburn just can not hold up play, we really miss Kelmans hold up play.Week off will be good for us and we go again next week against Pompey. Win there, the rots stopped and we can start looking up again.
I strongly believe we aren’t far off being a top 10 championship team but this season let’s just get to 50 points and enjoy what comes after.10 -
Edwards? He hasnt got a bad injury record. He was out for ages after a disgraceful tackle from Sean Clare, which deserved a red and a 5 match ban.CAFCFW05 said:We can all blame TC but what do you expect when you play someone who has played winger/striker all his life at lwb. What’s killed us is signing injury prone players that can’t play all season. We all knew that Burke/Bell/Edwards wouldn’t last and it’s killed us.6 -
Defensively clearly depleted, but think we really miss kelman aswell, a lot of the work he did went unnoticed, he seemed to link things up and did a lot of running, dragging defenders and making space10
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Pretty much panned out how most expected today, the performance was better but NJ really says it all in his post match interview, it’s from next week we need to get back on track, pompey on almost the anniversary of one of a charlton fans best days, the fans will be up for it, hopefully the players will and we can all settle down a bit. We’ve been in worse situations.keep the faith.🤞4
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Although @aliwibble is right to point out the big differences between 2019-20 and now, I still have an uneasy feeling about it when the injuries keep coming at exactly the same stage. I am reassured that the club is in way better hands than then, but the injuries seem to be non-impact and often unexplained. When did Kelman get his injury? Was Edwards injury made worse because he stayed on? Godden was supposed to be back in October. How can you play Bree if he can’t take corners? Who cleared Bell to start today?For years , as Duchatelet ran down the club, we had similar stories to these, but last season we didnt. Last season we had Will Abbott. And during the close season too, and we came out of the stocks running opponents off the park. Then, suddenly, and still unexplained, he leaves. And we start looking leggy, and the injuries suddenly pile up as they did in autumn 2019.
i have no idea whether or not I am making 2+2 = 5. But I don’t like what I see.19
