They say that when you fall off your bike the best thing is to get straight back on.
So after a nasty fall last Friday Charlton have a very quick opportunity to get back in the saddle and start moving forward ASAP.
Chris Powell now has carte blanche to change. He might have wanted to give his league 1 winning side a go at the Championship and was at least partially justified in that when they went unbeaten in the first four games. He now has the excuse, if he ever needed one, to cut and burn as he sees fit.
The Line-upAt least one change will be forced on him with Wiggins out for at least 4 - 6 weeks according to the totally professional and accurate Richard Cawley. Cedric Evina is the obvious replacement given that Chris Solly is not a left back no matter how hard he tries. We at Preview Towers believe that given a run of game Ceddy will prove his worth but time and patience might be in short supply among the Valley faithful right now.
That will allow Chris to move Chris back to the right but who plays in front of him? Pritchard didn't impress many in the last game while Danny Green did, albeit in a very brief cameo. Another Danny, Haynes, might be an option if Powell wants pace. Wagstaff appears to still be a few weeks away.
Stephens put in one of the better displays last time out but the whole midfield struggled to deal with the Glazier's pace and movement. Options, unless we make a quick signing from the rumoured trialists, are limited. Wilson can play centre mid but how much of an improvement would he be?
Up top, BWP was been the most impressive striker this season and will be ruing his bad luck with linesmen in the last two home games. So the option seems to be a not yet fully fit Fuller or stick with Kermorgant despite him getting little joy from the Palace man mountains. Or even go with all three. Powell toyed with 4 - 3- 3 pre-season but that was with the pacey Cooke and Wagstaff
So to sum up we at the Tower haven't got a scooby what Powelly is going to do and we imagine that Chris, while very far from clueless, is burning the midnight oil alongside Alex Dyer and Damien Matthew, debating what needs to be done. And a big part of that will not be dropping players. Getting the players' heads together and their confidence back is also required.
It may seem rather melodramatic but for the first time Chris will be under scrutiny. In his first 6 months he was given time by most as he had inherited someone else's squad. Now, after a season of great success he has a challenge on his hands. Unfair? Too extreme? Yes, indeed. We in the Preview Team follow the old adage of "wait till the season is 10 games in and then see where you are in the table" but we fear that the current ADHD culture of football means that managers and players are often only as good as their last result and we all know what that means.
The oppositionDerby are yet another of Chris Powell's former sides and he will get his usual warm welcome. After a poor start the Rams appeared to have turned the corner when they thrashed Udinese 5 - 1. But a 1 - 0 defeat to Huddersfield leaves them level with Charlton on 5 points. They have yet to lose at home though so will be confident of another win as you can see from here
http://www.dcfcfans.co.uk/topic/10111-derby-v-charlton-and-the-wheelies/Nigel Clough is under some pressure to move County to the top half of the table at least but he continues to try and get his sides to play a neat passing game.
Prediction1 - 1 and some pride restored.
Comments
I also think Green deserves a starting place given what he did when he came on.
I would leave the back 5 as finished the Palace game.
Might also bring Kerkar in, leaving Stephens and Hollands in the middle.
A win would be nice whatever the score.
1-0 charlton, Stephens
Very different game to Palace as Derby County are less physical and it wont be a highly charged local derby which will suit us better.
Fancy a draw (1-1) which will also suit both sides eager to steady their respective ships.
300
0travelling addicks not enough to give the team a lift1-0 away win and back into the top half of the table.
All I've read is that he's "ill."
Suspect that CP will ignore my suggestions and will instead be thinking to himself "what would Curbs do?". Curbs would set us up to not get beat and we'd grind out a dull but well-earned 0-0 to stop the rot before it sets in. And I would be perfectly happy with that.
It's early in the season but looking at the two sides we are away to this week we cannot afford to lose either. We certainly cannot afford to be carrying people who at the moment are incapable of impacting on games, e.g. Jackson, Pritchard, Kermorgant.
If we play sensibly and keep tight at the back we will take at least a point (1-1).
Still can't get into gear...