Powell has more money than most managers in League 1 to spend, but a good team on paper doesn't guarantee good results. Time and again, we see this season that the tactics are right to get the most from the game. Last night, we stopped a very good footballing side play the way they wanted. The last 15-20 minutes we forced them into long hopeful balls and stopped them playing their passing game which looked as though it could dominate in the first 15 minutes.
Whether it can be pretty football or a case of slugging it out, Powell seems to be get the tactics right time after time. The problem wasn't that Powell was tactically inept last season, he had a squad that, in general, didn't care tuppence.
0
Comments
The biggest difference for me is not how much they care, or how much "passion and commitment" they show. They are simply better players.
The effort is there yes but last season we had less quality, made more mistakes, couldn't keep the ball too well, gave away fouls, created less chances etc. When you lose games you lose confidence and that leads to more mistakes.
If you look through last seasons squad there are not many players there that could be accussed of not trying.
Big difference is that he seems to have learnt from them ie not playing players out of position.
And so far, other than dropping Solly at Stevenage which he corrected PDQ, he's not made many mistakes.
He is still a very young and inexperienced manager but he is proving to be a very good manager and one that learns fast.
One thing I noticed was the fight your team had. They won most 50/50's, they threw themselves into blocks & tackles & run all night.
Of course, it's much easier to do that when you're top & clear by a few points, but it's a big difference from previous games I've seen, particularly the play-off games last season.
This year he has his players, his squad and his ideas. Look at the results
If ever a club were the template for letting a manager have a little bit of time to make his mark on a club it's this occasion.........hang on, didn't we do that once before? :-)
Play offs - we wish
a) Attempting to sit back and soak up pressure - don't even think about it! Attack is far and away our best form of defense.
b) Subs - They generally need to come on a little earlier to give them more of a chance to make an impact in the game, either through a change of tactics or simply some fresh legs.
Other than that though, I don't think you can criticise a man who has guided us into such an amazing position in the league.
I said the same at the time but in hindsight Powelly got it right so I was proved wrong. We've also got to give credit to Hudds for pushing us right up to the 90 minute so it might not have been simply a case of ours tiring ergo get them off but them pushing us back.
Then again, I also remember another recent Charlton managerial legend who used to drive me crackers with his policy on substitutions some times. It's fair enough when things are going well, like last night, but Curb's often used to leave it far to late sometimes to try to change a game if we were behind IMO.
For an inexperienced manager I can imagine it would be very hard to walk into a dressing room of players your unsure about, and take them forward.
There's something special about SCP. Crucially, as said, he learns and learns fast. But the players not only respect him but will go that extra mile for him. Said it all for me that when Hogan Ephraim came off the pitch, SCP was there ready to give him a hug, Hogan was grinning from ear to ear. The added extra that SCP and his team have got going has me hopelessly in love with it all.
Doesn't mean he won't make mistakes or that those mistakes should be ignored but I think he's here for the long haul and personally I hope he is. It won't always be as quite as fantastic as it is right now but I think there will be more good times than bad under Chris.