First chance to come on here since arriving home last night ( "baby sitting " daughter's new Cavachon puppy whilst they're away & had to sleep on the sofa near his bed after he cried for 75 mins at bedtime!) and haven't read any posts yet.
For me, this was an unbelievable performance by the " second string" with football, skill and commitment such as I've rarely witnessed before at The Valley.
That might sound a tad OTT but considering the age & previous experience of several players, and the fact that presumably they have never played 90mins before as a team, it was an amazing & totally encouraging sight. The coaches must be congratulated on the way they are going about their business and of course, SCP must be lauded on the signings he has made. I wish that this had been a SKY match so that many others could see for themselves that the phoenix is well and truly rising from the flames in SE7.
Difficult to highlight individual performances but for me Pritchard, Bover, Hamer & Evina were immense plus there was a very decent first half from Benno before his injury. Not to forget the contributions of Francis and of course Jason who pleasantly surprised me. No-one let us down although I thought Danny Green was trying a bit too hard to impress at times which I can understand in the circumstances. Overall, a fantastic team performmance & a dilemma for SCP with Bury appraoching.....
The most enjoyable game down there for a long, long time. Pritchard looks the business, Mambo did very well, Francis and Benson showed they still could make a contribution. As for Danny Green...some of those corners were the football equivalent of Joel Garners yorkers - unplayable. TBH everybody deserves credit. A front three of Waggy, SWP and Green would be something to see. Sir Chris, it's over to you...
Thoroughly enjoyable game and a well deserved win. Should have been 5-2 in the end. SCP learnt some lessons from Saturday and didn't switch to a defensive set up, we kept our shape when Reading scored, rode the initial response and took control again to see the game out on top. Couple of interesting things happening out there yesterday, firstly Doc and Mambo, Mambo was taking charge of the defense and a fair few times was telling Doc where and what to do. Interesting as Doc is apparently the experienced pro. Secondly, Green's defensive cover, he was mesmerising going forward but let his marker roam too often and a couple of times in the second left Francis 2 on 1 while strolling back, Francis was left in exactly the same position as Solly was on Saturday which lead to the Scunthorpe equaliser. Hamer looked good, Francis was a bit hit and miss early but grew in confidence and had a really good game. Pritchard was brilliant, MOTM, Bover looks miles from being ready for first team football, Benno was miles better than Euell but had to go off injured which was a shame, Wagstaff caused the Reading defense all sorts of problems when he came on.
Good performance which higlights the strength of the squad.
Was standing under the West Stand when I heard the team and I have to admit I was worried. When I saw Manset and Church were playing for Reading and were lining up against Doc & Mambo I suspected a tonking.
Ended up being a great game all round. By fay the best League Cup game I have seen in years.
We looked very good in posession and stretched them everytime we went forward.
I don't rate Mambo at all but I'll give him that one last night. The first time he has looked like a proper centre half.
Benson worked very hard and it was a shame he had to go off.
Agree with most that Pritchard was mom looked very impressive. Disagree slightly re: Evina, looks a threat going forward but had problems defensively. Francis looked more solid than Solly has all season and put in alovely cross for Euell's goal.
Hamer had a decent debut. Great shot stopper, a little flappy at set plays but his kicking is certainly a step up on anything else we have.
Negatives for me - Hughes - thought he was poor. Gave the ball away constantly and looked like a poor man's Brendan O'Connell. Also another goal conceded from a setplay. Have to say part of the blame lays with CP for that. Cardinal sin of making a substitution when a set play is about to be taken. Having said that, I think I read that Doc was injured so might not have had a choice.
Attacking football...players running their socks off....Front 2 & midfield linking up....dangerous crosses....proper defending.....Dangerous at Set Plays....midfielders putting their foot in and not diving or rolling around tryingto win free kickswhats going on? This was supposed to be the B team. Nothing like competition for places.
I have not seen Evina but judging by the comments it would seem the lad needs to become better defensively. With CP mentoring him I have no worries in that department. Decent enough cover for Wiggins now and potential to challenge for the shirt in a year or so.
Pritchard is our new Keith Jones.Green confirmed he is class.Mambo much improved and even the Doc looks a yard faster!Benson with Green is much improved.Evina has pace to burn and can even play left wing.Waggy outstanding in midfield role.And what a Keeper we have!!!Everything is looking positive and Francis showed his potential going forward and in defending.Cut the silly errors and he is at least a Championship player.Bover ,excellent technique and good football mind.Fantastic prospect.
Lets hope this show goes on and on.Its been years since I have seen such a happy Valley.Going home people were singing in their cars!!Happy Days!
First time poster here. Glad to finally be getting involved after reading from a far for some time now!
Couple of points to take away from last night's performance;
1) Hughes is definitely no central midfielder! Looked completely lost in the centre of the park and he spent all game chasing shadows. The excellent Pritchard (looks a great find on that performance!) had to do the work of two players to compensate.
2) The impact that Wagstaff made when he came on to play in the hole behind Euell was there for all to see. Reading couldn't handle him playing in that free role and he linked up well with both Euell and Green. Backs up previous posts in that he can make a real impact coming off the bench to run at tired defences. I think this young lads future is definitely as a striker rather than a winger. He can finish and has pace & energy to burn. Could save as a few quid in our search for our a front man I reckon!
A nice selection headache for SCP this weekend against Bury as Pritchard has certainly staked a claim for at least a place on the bench and could Wagstaff push Hayes for a starting role alongside BWP, allowing Green to slot in on the right.
Yeah I have to agree with the majority of posts on here. I too felt my stomach hit the floor when Charlton had a second XI pitted against what I thought was a very strong Reading team. How wrong I was....
I felt from start to finish we looked very good at the back, the middle and even going forward. Within minutes Danny Green exchanged passes with Benson and smashed his shot high and wide of the left hand upright. When have we ever done that? Last year it took us 25-30 minutes to even get out of our half.
Evina was excellent getting forward but was caught out fairly often with his marker exchanging short one-two's and making a surging run forward. Thats said his desire to win the ball back was superb. Francis I thought had a very good game, he was strong going forward, crossing and marking his man. The critics are too harsh on this guy I think.
Green, Euell, Benson, Bover, Pritchard, Mambo (this kid is 17/18 and was bossing Manset all game) and even Doc...yes Doc were all outstanding. Doc in particular kept both Church and Manset quiet.
Reading had chances early in the first half and during a spell in the second, both their strikers are big powerful lumps but we more than matched them. One player that stood out for me in their team was Tabb but he had little or no options open to him.
Atmosphere was great and can't wait for the Preston game.
Outstanding performance in a very open game from a complete second string. Virtually everyone pushed their case, even if one or two understandably need a bit more time to develop. Have to admit I thought we'd get turned over, especially when I saw they'd included 5 or 6 regulars but although we had scares, we gave them plenty more, and with the now familiar attractive attacking football.
The period of sustained pressure building up to the goal was really exciting, with so many players contributing. High-quality performances right through the team; Mambo & Francis at the back, Pritchard and Green in the midfield, and Benson then Waggy up front. This standard of reserve (as things stand) can only be a good thing. Would be happy if both Francis & Benson stayed, though unlikely both will.
This was a decent Reading side but we made so many chances. There's a real positivity and hunger running through the club at the moment. I hold my hand up and admit to having mixed emotions upon Chrissy's appointment (lack of experience) but that feel-good factor can't be a coincidence - he's got players expressing themselves without neglecting their responsibilities.
Just a first round League cup tie that many will forget with time but a decision that could have back-fired after Saturday's minor disappointment instead gave us a thrilling performance where we could properly assess the fringe players who passed their auditions with flying colours. Really enjoyable night.
Firstly reading this thread tells me I wasn't kidding myself whilst feeling that the whole match was really great, enough to make any jaded and battered football fan, and especially any Charlton fan fall back in love with the game, and schlepping down The Valley. So many people on here have captured the sheer joy of the event, made all the better because it wasn't expected.
I felt the support was interesting, we had to endure the 'your support is xxxing sxit' chants from Reading, and 'your grounds too big for you', and we firstly tried dutifully to respond, but by the end the sheer desire to get behind the lads, the sheer pride in how we were doing, led to a noise and an atmosphere that was far from dutiful, but absolutely authentic and exhuberant. The roar for Euells goal (and wasn't it great to savour the cross, feeling absolutely certain he would score...that time stands still moment?) was as loud as it has been with triple the attendance.
I won't mention the players performances, it has all been said....for accuracy I feel certain Francis crossed for Euell, and the substitution of Docherty at their corner was because of injury, and we needed a centre back in there pretty quickly.
However conside what astute management there was from all of the Charlton staff. For a start, they didn't make some changes but the whole team. Am I the only one who reads that as especially shrewd? Instead of saying to one player 'we are only making a few changes, and one of them is you..' that would make them feel unsettled and threatened. The staff said, 'OK, sod it, if we're going to make a change, lets play them all'. Something Brendan Rogers didn't have the nerve to do! What a great decision regarding the morale of the squad. The staff also provided a positive platform, one that liberated the players to play, to express themselves, and their honest enthusiasm translated everywhere in the stadium...it was really great.
I also think the squad we have assembled is looking balanced, and simply pretty good. Our reserves last night would have beaten our first team of the most of last season.
Final thought about criticism of Euell. If people say BWP is a lazy forward, but he will always get you a goal, well last night Euell was a hard working forward who got us (the winning) goal. He is a striker who scored...have we really got a problem with that?
Firstly reading this thread tells me I wasn't kidding myself whilst feeling that the whole match was really great, enough to make any jaded and battered football fan, and especially any Charlton fan fall back in love with the game, and schlepping down The Valley. So many people on here have captured the sheer joy of the event, made all the better because it wasn't expected.
I felt the support was interesting, we had to endure the 'your support is xxxing sxit' chants from Reading, and 'your grounds too big for you', and we firstly tried dutifully to respond, but by the end the sheer desire to get behind the lads, the sheer pride in how we were doing, led to a noise and an atmosphere that was far from dutiful, but absolutely authentic and exhuberant. The roar for Euells goal (and wasn't it great to savour the cross, feeling absolutely certain he would score...that time stands still moment?) was as loud as it has been with triple the attendance.
I won't mention the players performances, it has all been said....for accuracy I feel certain Francis crossed for Euell, and the substitution of Docherty at their corner was because of injury, and we needed a centre back in there pretty quickly.
However conside what astute management there was from all of the Charlton staff. For a start, they didn't make some changes but the whole team. Am I the only one who reads that as especially shrewd? Instead of saying to one player 'we are only making a few changes, and one of them is you..' that would make them feel unsettled and threatened. The staff said, 'OK, sod it, if we're going to make a change, lets play them all'. Something Brendan Rogers didn't have the nerve to do! What a great decision regarding the morale of the squad. The staff also provided a positive platform, one that liberated the players to play, to express themselves, and their honest enthusiasm translated everywhere in the stadium...it was really great.
I also think the squad we have assembled is looking balanced, and simply pretty good. Our reserves last night would have beaten our first team of the most of last season.
Final thought about criticism of Euell. If people say BWP is a lazy forward, but he will always get you a goal, well last night Euell was a hard working forward who got us (the winning) goal. He is a striker who scored...have we really got a problem with that?
Feels great to be an Addick today.
One of the best posts I have read on here for ages.
Most of my comments are on my blog (not sure if you're allowed to post links like this. I'll leave it here unless told otherwise: http://t.co/aNMMxU7)
It was great to see Euell score at the Valley. I was certainly very pleased. Also Benson, who looked really hungry last night, which is great. He really is a good player, and I only think we need to sign a loan striker when an injury occurs. Otherwise, I am more than happy with Benno and Euell.
Disappointed at the reviews Hughes has got. He worked really hard in the middle and did the 'ugly' job really well, which meant Pritchard could attack much more. I agree he did misplace a few passes, and that header towards the end was rather frightening, but otherwise I thought he did a decent job.
Really optimistic about this season now. If we've got players like this in reserve, injuries like last season will not have as much of an impact as they did. Powell has built a superb squad. Lets get behind him for the whole season, and success should be on its way.
I must admit that my only fear is an irrational one born out of recent years of misery. Chrissy has definitely put together an excellent squad which on can logically suppose should comfortably gain promotion. Only Charlton could cock it up from here!
Andy Hughes ran the game, Gary Doherty had Church and Manset in his pocket, Benson looked like a world beater (he is their 3rd choice striker at best), think this tells you all you need to know.
Charlton made 11 changes to the team they had on Saturday, and comfortably beat us, the scoreline may say 2-1, but had their best striker (BWP) been playing, I'm sure we would have lost by 3 or 4.
Disappointed at the reviews Hughes has got. He worked really hard in the middle and did the 'ugly' job really well, which meant Pritchard could attack much more. I agree he did misplace a few passes, and that header towards the end was rather frightening, but otherwise I thought he did a decent job.
Also worth mentioning that whilst I have been critical of Hughes' midfield performance last night it doesn't make him a bad player. I was simply stating that judging by that performance (and it was his first start of the season) he seemed a little lost in midfield. I am sure he has a key role to play throughout the campaign with the experience he brings but I hope he is used in his preferred position as full back. We certainly have enough quality midfielders to step in if required.
Andy Hughes ran the game, Gary Doherty had Church and Manset in his pocket, Benson looked like a world beater (he is their 3rd choice striker at best), think this tells you all you need to know.
Charlton made 11 changes to the team they had on Saturday, and comfortably beat us, the scoreline may say 2-1, but had their best striker (BWP) been playing, I'm sure we would have lost by 3 or 4.
Been a while since opposing fans have said this about us, I am officially getting excited about this season now
hamer: more than capable to be our 1st choice did well all game but did flap at the odd cross
Evina: looked very fast and went past a lot of players. Also did some good sliding sliding tackles
Mambo: owned the air balls and is the best I've sen him play
Doherty : I've never been a big fan of him and thought he was average last night and is getting past it
Francis: cracking game. did everything right, good cross for Euell's goal and linked up with green well
Bover: not at his best but still played o'k and was unlucky not to score at the end
Hughes: started off very poor and couldn't even pass straight but got better as it went on. Worst player for us
Pritchard: good game. energetic would be how I sum him up in a word. unlucky with the Lob
Green: can see him starting next game as he played well and was very god at set pieces
Euell: Should've scored more but played well. reaction time seems slow
Benson: again could've got more goals but had a great game and it was a shame he got injured
I'm only going to mention Wagstaff out of the substitutes as he was good when he came on and played the supporting role very well, also linked up with Green well.
Francis and Green have really challenged for starting places
Francis is my MoM
we need to take more of our chances and kill the game off while we can as other team's will come back and punish as what happened at scunny and nearly again last night
Comments
OMG !!!!
First chance to come on here since arriving home last night ( "baby sitting " daughter's new Cavachon puppy whilst they're away & had to sleep on the sofa near his bed after he cried for 75 mins at bedtime!) and haven't read any posts yet.
For me, this was an unbelievable performance by the " second string" with football, skill and commitment such as I've rarely witnessed before at The Valley.
That might sound a tad OTT but considering the age & previous experience of several players, and the fact that presumably they have never played 90mins before as a team, it was an amazing & totally encouraging sight. The coaches must be congratulated on the way they are going about their business and of course, SCP must be lauded on the signings he has made. I wish that this had been a SKY match so that many others could see for themselves that the phoenix is well and truly rising from the flames in SE7.
Difficult to highlight individual performances but for me Pritchard, Bover, Hamer & Evina were immense plus there was a very decent first half from Benno before his injury. Not to forget the contributions of Francis and of course Jason who pleasantly surprised me. No-one let us down although I thought Danny Green was trying a bit too hard to impress at times which I can understand in the circumstances. Overall, a fantastic team performmance & a dilemma for SCP with Bury appraoching.....
The future looks great. The future is RED !
Hamer looked good, Francis was a bit hit and miss early but grew in confidence and had a really good game. Pritchard was brilliant, MOTM, Bover looks miles from being ready for first team football, Benno was miles better than Euell but had to go off injured which was a shame, Wagstaff caused the Reading defense all sorts of problems when he came on.
Good performance which higlights the strength of the squad.
Ended up being a great game all round. By fay the best League Cup game I have seen in years.
We looked very good in posession and stretched them everytime we went forward.
I don't rate Mambo at all but I'll give him that one last night. The first time he has looked like a proper centre half.
Benson worked very hard and it was a shame he had to go off.
Agree with most that Pritchard was mom looked very impressive. Disagree slightly re: Evina, looks a threat going forward but had problems defensively. Francis looked more solid than Solly has all season and put in alovely cross for Euell's goal.
Hamer had a decent debut. Great shot stopper, a little flappy at set plays but his kicking is certainly a step up on anything else we have.
Negatives for me - Hughes - thought he was poor. Gave the ball away constantly and looked like a poor man's Brendan O'Connell. Also another goal conceded from a setplay. Have to say part of the blame lays with CP for that. Cardinal sin of making a substitution when a set play is about to be taken. Having said that, I think I read that Doc was injured so might not have had a choice.
Couple of points to take away from last night's performance;
1) Hughes is definitely no central midfielder! Looked completely lost in the centre of the park and he spent all game chasing shadows. The excellent Pritchard (looks a great find on that performance!) had to do the work of two players to compensate.
2) The impact that Wagstaff made when he came on to play in the hole behind Euell was there for all to see. Reading couldn't handle him playing in that free role and he linked up well with both Euell and Green. Backs up previous posts in that he can make a real impact coming off the bench to run at tired defences. I think this young lads future is definitely as a striker rather than a winger. He can finish and has pace & energy to burn. Could save as a few quid in our search for our a front man I reckon!
A nice selection headache for SCP this weekend against Bury as Pritchard has certainly staked a claim for at least a place on the bench and could Wagstaff push Hayes for a starting role alongside BWP, allowing Green to slot in on the right.
I felt from start to finish we looked very good at the back, the middle and even going forward. Within minutes Danny Green exchanged passes with Benson and smashed his shot high and wide of the left hand upright. When have we ever done that? Last year it took us 25-30 minutes to even get out of our half.
Evina was excellent getting forward but was caught out fairly often with his marker exchanging short one-two's and making a surging run forward. Thats said his desire to win the ball back was superb. Francis I thought had a very good game, he was strong going forward, crossing and marking his man. The critics are too harsh on this guy I think.
Green, Euell, Benson, Bover, Pritchard, Mambo (this kid is 17/18 and was bossing Manset all game) and even Doc...yes Doc were all outstanding. Doc in particular kept both Church and Manset quiet.
Reading had chances early in the first half and during a spell in the second, both their strikers are big powerful lumps but we more than matched them. One player that stood out for me in their team was Tabb but he had little or no options open to him.
Atmosphere was great and can't wait for the Preston game.
Outstanding performance in a very open game from a complete second string. Virtually everyone pushed their case, even if one or two understandably need a bit more time to develop. Have to admit I thought we'd get turned over, especially when I saw they'd included 5 or 6 regulars but although we had scares, we gave them plenty more, and with the now familiar attractive attacking football.
The period of sustained pressure building up to the goal was really exciting, with so many players contributing. High-quality performances right through the team; Mambo & Francis at the back, Pritchard and Green in the midfield, and Benson then Waggy up front. This standard of reserve (as things stand) can only be a good thing. Would be happy if both Francis & Benson stayed, though unlikely both will.
This was a decent Reading side but we made so many chances. There's a real positivity and hunger running through the club at the moment. I hold my hand up and admit to having mixed emotions upon Chrissy's appointment (lack of experience) but that feel-good factor can't be a coincidence - he's got players expressing themselves without neglecting their responsibilities.
Just a first round League cup tie that many will forget with time but a decision that could have back-fired after Saturday's minor disappointment instead gave us a thrilling performance where we could properly assess the fringe players who passed their auditions with flying colours. Really enjoyable night.
My fairly considered post.
Firstly reading this thread tells me I wasn't kidding myself whilst feeling that the whole match was really great, enough to make any jaded and battered football fan, and especially any Charlton fan fall back in love with the game, and schlepping down The Valley. So many people on here have captured the sheer joy of the event, made all the better because it wasn't expected.
I felt the support was interesting, we had to endure the 'your support is xxxing sxit' chants from Reading, and 'your grounds too big for you', and we firstly tried dutifully to respond, but by the end the sheer desire to get behind the lads, the sheer pride in how we were doing, led to a noise and an atmosphere that was far from dutiful, but absolutely authentic and exhuberant. The roar for Euells goal (and wasn't it great to savour the cross, feeling absolutely certain he would score...that time stands still moment?) was as loud as it has been with triple the attendance.
I won't mention the players performances, it has all been said....for accuracy I feel certain Francis crossed for Euell, and the substitution of Docherty at their corner was because of injury, and we needed a centre back in there pretty quickly.
However conside what astute management there was from all of the Charlton staff. For a start, they didn't make some changes but the whole team. Am I the only one who reads that as especially shrewd? Instead of saying to one player 'we are only making a few changes, and one of them is you..' that would make them feel unsettled and threatened. The staff said, 'OK, sod it, if we're going to make a change, lets play them all'. Something Brendan Rogers didn't have the nerve to do! What a great decision regarding the morale of the squad. The staff also provided a positive platform, one that liberated the players to play, to express themselves, and their honest enthusiasm translated everywhere in the stadium...it was really great.
I also think the squad we have assembled is looking balanced, and simply pretty good. Our reserves last night would have beaten our first team of the most of last season.
Final thought about criticism of Euell. If people say BWP is a lazy forward, but he will always get you a goal, well last night Euell was a hard working forward who got us (the winning) goal. He is a striker who scored...have we really got a problem with that?
Feels great to be an Addick today.
Views from Reading forum:
Andy Hughes ran the game, Gary Doherty had Church and Manset in his pocket, Benson looked like a world beater (he is their 3rd choice striker at best), think this tells you all you need to know.
Charlton made 11 changes to the team they had on Saturday, and comfortably beat us, the scoreline may say 2-1, but had their best striker (BWP) been playing, I'm sure we would have lost by 3 or 4.
Also worth mentioning that whilst I have been critical of Hughes' midfield performance last night it doesn't make him a bad player. I was simply stating that judging by that performance (and it was his first start of the season) he seemed a little lost in midfield. I am sure he has a key role to play throughout the campaign with the experience he brings but I hope he is used in his preferred position as full back. We certainly have enough quality midfielders to step in if required.
are the goals online (free) anywhere?
Nothing to add...but one of the best threads to have read in ages.
We have a strong first choice XI and plenty of reserves who know that when they get their chance they had better take it.
Had to miss this unavoidably.
It sounds as though it was a good one.