Seen the tackle again. Foul, yes. Red card, no. Pritch was trying to get his feet out the way and trying to get it with one foot. furthermore there were no studs showing. It was two opposing players going for the same ball and their lad gets there first and Pritch catches him by accident. There is not one single bad bone or bad drop of blood in Pritch's body. I was willing for him to go in to win the ball back as we were chasing the game at that point. At the very worst it's a yellow card. I've seen much worse challenges than that only get a free-kick with no card. But when you have a criminal referee incharge like we had at Bouremouth it was always going to be a red card. Sadly I think it will be a waste of time appealing as the FA reject appeals for less than that. It's one we have to take on the chin.
I listened to Powell's post-match interview on the radio. He said he had absolutely no complaints about the sending-off.
He said he only saw it live and had not seen it again. He's under pressure to say something. Reckon when he's seen it in slow motion he might not think it's a red. But he won't appeal becasue he won't want a friverlous.
Summer is for Stephens. I'll be at the Valley for the first time in a while on tuesday and then Saturday. I'm not too worried about '442 at home, and think it'll be the better option in many a match. But in the champ the object away is to not get beat. Most teams do not have consistent attacking quality, frustrate them and narrow the game and our form will be good away again. Hopefully Sordell will get back to his Watford levels and we can even rest Kermy sometime. Powell seems to play '(& away when he's forced, but it get's much better results. On drier pitches where Stephens passing will be a factor play him, and bring Sordell on for the last thirty minutes.
Kermorgant was the standout for Charlton - as usual. I really think he'll have a fantastic season.
Gower and Hughes meant that we kept possession but only in non-threatening areas. Hughes sometimes looked like he wasn't sure where to be. Jackson is vital to us in that central midfield as he's the only one who really pops up in positions further up the field. I like Gower and think he can pull things together but we need that extra dynamism from Jackson alongside him.
Sordell, not surprisingly, looked like he was playing with strangers in the first half. Thought he improved in the second half (along with most of our players), and there were signs of a player in there. Church didn't really get involved much, but on the basis of yesterday's game, he won't win much in the air.
Unfortunately, I would have to agree that Pritchard was our weakest performer, although Harriott wasn't too much better. Been said before, but that all-important decision making will be crucial to Harriott going from a good to an excellent player, but he's young and learning all the time.
Arter was the most influential man on the pitch (as he seems to be whenever he plays us). Francis looked very calm and confident. So different to the player we saw here.
Two real lapses in concentration cost us - the first was frustrating as Bournemouth had pulled a similar quick corner "trick" about 10 minutes before which we got away with. With the second, Grabban seemed to have so much time and space approaching the edge of the area, although the shot itself was excellent. On another day we'd have got something from the game. As it was, we didn't.
One game in, 45 to go. Signs of promise, other things that we need to work on. Fans of half of the teams in our league will be saying the same thing this morning.
Saturday 3rd August 2013 in Sport Photograph of the Author By Neil Perrett
LEWIS Grabban’s finely-taken double helped Cherries mark their return to the Championship with a stirring victory over Charlton today.
Grabban paved the way for the Dean Court win when he headed home the opener after 26 minutes, the striker’s first goal since February.
And although Yann Kermorgant levelled for the Addicks just after half-time, Grabban’s stunning second deservedly won the day for Cherries.
It was Cherries’ first home league victory over the south Londoners in 40 years, with Charlton finishing with 10 men following the dismissal of Bradley Pritchard.
New signings Elliott Ward and Mohamed Coulibaly were both handed their debuts as injuries impacted on boss Eddie Howe’s first selection of the season.
Striker Brett Pitman, who tweaked his hamstring against Real Madrid a fortnight ago, was deemed fit enough only for the bench, while Matt Ritchie was again sidelined.
Ward came in at the heart of the Cherries defence alongside Steve Cook, with skipper Tommy Elphick also named on the bench, while Coulibaly started on the right flank.
Charlton included former Cherries defender Rhoys Wiggins and new loan signing Marvin Sordell from Bolton, a striker who had been rumoured to have been a target for Howe.
Sordell was quickly in the thick of the action, heading a Mark Gower corner over the crossbar before Callum Harriott blazed well wide as the hosts started brightly.
Cherries responded when Coulibaly, signed last month from Grasshoppers, poked a right-foot effort narrowly wide of the upright.
Despite forcing a flurry of corners early on, Cherries were unable to fashion any chances as the Addicks stood firm at the back.
Chances were at a premium during the opening skirmishes with Charlton striker Kermorgant side-footing wide from distance after 20 minutes.
However, Cherries broke the deadlock after 26 minutes when Grabban planted a header past the flat-footed Hamer after being picked out by Harry Arter’s precision cross.
It was Grabban’s first goal since he netted in a 2-0 home win over Portsmouth in February, the 25-year-old Londoner ending a run of 14 games without scoring. Cherries went close to doubling their lead just two minutes later when Wes Thomas nipped in front of Hamer to meet Pugh’s cross, only to prod his shot wide.
Hamer gathered Arter’s speculative 30-yarder before Grabban, buoyed by his goal, tried his luck with a curling effort, the Charlton goalkeeper saving with relative ease.
Grabban forced Hamer into another save after being teed up by Charlie Daniels, the stopper scurrying across his line and diving to his left to smother.
Thomas, who was full of running during the first half, almost capped his hard-working display with a goal, the striker’s venomous 20-yard drive dipping over the crossbar.
Charlton levelled three minutes after the restart when Kermorgant rifled an unstoppable volley past Ryan Allsop, the targetman latching on to a cross from the left by Cherries old boy Wiggins.
Pritchard’s glancing header sailed over the crossbar before Coulibaly made way for Ryan Fraser after taking a knock during a block tackle with Pritchard.
Fraser could have made a name for himself just minutes after coming on but the Scotsman was unable to connect properly at the far post after a Pugh cross had fallen invitingly for him.
However, Fraser got everything behind a fiercely-struck 20-yard drive, with Hamer alert at his near post to snaffle the teenager’s effort.
The visiting goalkeeper was powerless to prevent Grabban restoring Cherries’ lead, the striker plundering his second with a stunning strike from around 25 yards after 66 minutes.
Grabban, who hit 13 goals for Cherries last season, picked his spot and despatched a thunderous right-foot shot past the despairing dive of Hamer.
Daniels went close to making it 3-1 when his free-kick flashed past the upright before Ward cleared off the line from a Pritchard header eight minutes from time.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Pritchard received a straight red card for scything down Fraser right in front of referee Andy D’Urso.
As Cherries looked to capitalise, Pugh volleyed into the Steve Fletcher Stand after being found in space by Francis before Dorian Dervite headed over from a Danny Green corner.
You cannot blame the manager for the apparent below-par performances of our wide men.
Seems the only mistake Powell made was playing Gower and Hughes together in a 4-4-2 while starting an unfamiliar Sordell up front. In hindsight take Sordell out of the starting XI, replace him with Jackson and I think we'd have seen a different result yesterday.
Funnily enough, JJ's niggle forced the gaffer's hand and I reckon he went to plan B (4-4-2 with Sordell). We should have only played Sordell yesterday if we were chasing the game in the second half.
I am afraid that the better team won. We never really got going and too many of our best players had off days, including Harriot and even Solly. The balance was wrong in midfield, although our plans were obviously disrupted by Jacko's injury. Difficult also to introduce Marvin at such short notice, although I am sure Chris was right to go with two up front.
Although Grabban was awarded their MoM, I felt that Arter dominated the game from midfield. Apart from always being available to keep things ticking over, he has an eye for an incisive pass, as illustrated by the second goal ( albeit that Hughes was turned far too easily ). in future, I suspect teams will come here and deploy someone to sit on him. Francis also played well.
A game of few chances and not much for us to enthuse about, save for Yan's excellent left foot, hooked volley. Dervite also did well, both defensively and in terms of his distribution from the back.
One down, 45 to go. This was always going to be a tough one.
Beating people and crossing is not his quality. If you can not do either at right wing you should not be there.
He is not a right winger ! He played on the right of midfield, just like Graham Stuart did for years. Stuart was an excellent player, but he didn't cross or beat men, as such.
good weekend except the footy. It was disjointed, mid field was to slow. passing was all over the show. we cant play 2 up front with that midfield. Pritchard-----------what is his role ? i just cant see it. Solly was ok defensively but his passing(as others)was crap. Harriet didnt do much. The cross for Yans goal was shit knee high and deflected.
most thought we were crap and i wouldnt argue. Poor.
Beating people and crossing is not his quality. If you can not do either at right wing you should not be there.
He is not a right winger ! He played on the right of midfield, just like Graham Stuart did for years. Stuart was an excellent player, but he didn't cross or beat me, as such. It's not that difficult to understand.
Graeme Stuart is always the first name that pops into my head whenever Pritch's role comes up for discussion. Not in the same league figuratively or literally but you can see what Chrissy is aiming to do with BP.
1 down, 45 to go. Early days for any doom talk. Chris is piecing together his team. I'm sure he knows the main weakness is in midfield. Expect to see him do something about that over the next 2/3 weeks. Have faith :-)
Don't think BP's feet left the ground, hurried clearance caught Pritch on follow through. Not his best game perhaps but two headers from shortest guy on pitch, one cleared off line. Sure he made a few tackles but people are scoring him 3. Come on!
Can't believe how much stick Pritch has been getting from some. Apart from the usual suspects (Kermo, Jacko and Solly) he was probably the most prominently mentioned name for POTY last year. What's changed after one game? Nothing.
Harriott was just as bad, if not worse. Should he be lambasted? No.
Can't believe how much stick Pritch has been getting from some. Apart from the usual suspects (Kermo, Jacko and Solly) he was probably the most prominently mentioned name for POTY last year. What's changed after one game? Nothing.
Harriott was just as bad, if not worse. Should he be lambasted? No.
I am not a big fan of Pritchard, but last season I was pretty well outnumbered by those that thought he was everything that epitomised Charlton and more to the point Chris Powells Charlton, so I cannot believe the amount of stick after one game he is getting. He made an error in the tackle and he had a poor game, so what has happened to all his defenders of last season? He is the same player as he was last season, if you supported him last season then give him a chance this season. And to be honest, we have played one game so lets take a few more before we nominate whipping boy of the season.
Pritchard is not a right winger, he gets in the team in that position because he typically does a better job than Green. Hughes is not a central midfield player and when we put a side out that has two midfielders not playing in their natural positions we a probably going to struggle as we did. We have an abundance of central midfielders to choose from we should either get rid (if poss) or play them even the youngsters. We need a right sided player desperately and though Harriott and Sordell had poor games if the team is out of sync can they be faulted? Not sure the extent of JJ's injury but if that on Saturday is the best the senior squad can do against a not so good Bournmouth team than lets give one or kids a go! Suprised not to see at least one on the bench.
I watched Azeez in pre-season friendlies at Maidstone and Dartford. Yes, he's got some pace and is fairly strong but I saw little evidence of being able to deceive defenders with tricks. I guess Powell's thinking in not including the kids at Bournemouth was the need for men of experience who might deploy some guile and cunning. I'll be interested to see the line-up for Oxford tomorrow.
Frustrating and we didn't play well but it was one of those days. It would have taken a real top performance to pee of Bournemouth's parade. A lot of teams will lose there this season.
I don't hold Pritchard accountable, no one played particularly well. I have slagged him off in the past (to mates, not really on here) but he can work in that role. By not being a 'winger' it gives Solly a bit more freedom and he can come inside to cover when Jackson gets forward. Although not as flashy as Wilson or Green I'd say he's more reliable, and having scored at Barnsley, Boro and Portsmouth we should see him more confident in front of goal.
Funny old game, we should of moved the ball on from midfield a lot quicker than we did. AFCB aren't anything special, they just wanted it more which is frustraiting as last season not many teams got the better of us in terms of effort and desire.
They were just so much quicker than us, harrying and hassling our midfield and defence all the time, not a moments peace, that's the main thing I noticed.
The reality is that we are in a division with fine margins, as we saw last season, and for us to finish above the bottom 3 with our squad will be as big an achievement as last year.
Comments
I have no idea if he played well or not but who cares he ain't gonna play for us ever again.
Gower and Hughes meant that we kept possession but only in non-threatening areas. Hughes sometimes looked like he wasn't sure where to be. Jackson is vital to us in that central midfield as he's the only one who really pops up in positions further up the field. I like Gower and think he can pull things together but we need that extra dynamism from Jackson alongside him.
Sordell, not surprisingly, looked like he was playing with strangers in the first half. Thought he improved in the second half (along with most of our players), and there were signs of a player in there. Church didn't really get involved much, but on the basis of yesterday's game, he won't win much in the air.
Unfortunately, I would have to agree that Pritchard was our weakest performer, although Harriott wasn't too much better. Been said before, but that all-important decision making will be crucial to Harriott going from a good to an excellent player, but he's young and learning all the time.
Arter was the most influential man on the pitch (as he seems to be whenever he plays us). Francis looked very calm and confident. So different to the player we saw here.
Two real lapses in concentration cost us - the first was frustrating as Bournemouth had pulled a similar quick corner "trick" about 10 minutes before which we got away with. With the second, Grabban seemed to have so much time and space approaching the edge of the area, although the shot itself was excellent. On another day we'd have got something from the game. As it was, we didn't.
One game in, 45 to go. Signs of promise, other things that we need to work on. Fans of half of the teams in our league will be saying the same thing this morning.
Saturday 3rd August 2013 in Sport Photograph of the Author By Neil Perrett
LEWIS Grabban’s finely-taken double helped Cherries mark their return to the Championship with a stirring victory over Charlton today.
Grabban paved the way for the Dean Court win when he headed home the opener after 26 minutes, the striker’s first goal since February.
And although Yann Kermorgant levelled for the Addicks just after half-time, Grabban’s stunning second deservedly won the day for Cherries.
It was Cherries’ first home league victory over the south Londoners in 40 years, with Charlton finishing with 10 men following the dismissal of Bradley Pritchard.
New signings Elliott Ward and Mohamed Coulibaly were both handed their debuts as injuries impacted on boss Eddie Howe’s first selection of the season.
Striker Brett Pitman, who tweaked his hamstring against Real Madrid a fortnight ago, was deemed fit enough only for the bench, while Matt Ritchie was again sidelined.
Ward came in at the heart of the Cherries defence alongside Steve Cook, with skipper Tommy Elphick also named on the bench, while Coulibaly started on the right flank.
Charlton included former Cherries defender Rhoys Wiggins and new loan signing Marvin Sordell from Bolton, a striker who had been rumoured to have been a target for Howe.
Sordell was quickly in the thick of the action, heading a Mark Gower corner over the crossbar before Callum Harriott blazed well wide as the hosts started brightly.
Cherries responded when Coulibaly, signed last month from Grasshoppers, poked a right-foot effort narrowly wide of the upright.
Despite forcing a flurry of corners early on, Cherries were unable to fashion any chances as the Addicks stood firm at the back.
Chances were at a premium during the opening skirmishes with Charlton striker Kermorgant side-footing wide from distance after 20 minutes.
However, Cherries broke the deadlock after 26 minutes when Grabban planted a header past the flat-footed Hamer after being picked out by Harry Arter’s precision cross.
It was Grabban’s first goal since he netted in a 2-0 home win over Portsmouth in February, the 25-year-old Londoner ending a run of 14 games without scoring. Cherries went close to doubling their lead just two minutes later when Wes Thomas nipped in front of Hamer to meet Pugh’s cross, only to prod his shot wide.
Hamer gathered Arter’s speculative 30-yarder before Grabban, buoyed by his goal, tried his luck with a curling effort, the Charlton goalkeeper saving with relative ease.
Grabban forced Hamer into another save after being teed up by Charlie Daniels, the stopper scurrying across his line and diving to his left to smother.
Thomas, who was full of running during the first half, almost capped his hard-working display with a goal, the striker’s venomous 20-yard drive dipping over the crossbar.
Charlton levelled three minutes after the restart when Kermorgant rifled an unstoppable volley past Ryan Allsop, the targetman latching on to a cross from the left by Cherries old boy Wiggins.
Pritchard’s glancing header sailed over the crossbar before Coulibaly made way for Ryan Fraser after taking a knock during a block tackle with Pritchard.
Fraser could have made a name for himself just minutes after coming on but the Scotsman was unable to connect properly at the far post after a Pugh cross had fallen invitingly for him.
However, Fraser got everything behind a fiercely-struck 20-yard drive, with Hamer alert at his near post to snaffle the teenager’s effort.
The visiting goalkeeper was powerless to prevent Grabban restoring Cherries’ lead, the striker plundering his second with a stunning strike from around 25 yards after 66 minutes.
Grabban, who hit 13 goals for Cherries last season, picked his spot and despatched a thunderous right-foot shot past the despairing dive of Hamer.
Daniels went close to making it 3-1 when his free-kick flashed past the upright before Ward cleared off the line from a Pritchard header eight minutes from time.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men when Pritchard received a straight red card for scything down Fraser right in front of referee Andy D’Urso.
As Cherries looked to capitalise, Pugh volleyed into the Steve Fletcher Stand after being found in space by Francis before Dorian Dervite headed over from a Danny Green corner.
Cherries: Allsop, Francis, Ward, Cook, Daniels, Coulibaly (Fraser, 55), Arter, MacDonald, Pugh, Grabban (Pitman, 90), Thomas (Surman, 85). Unused subs: Elphick, O’Kane, Harte, Flahavan (g/k).
Booked: Arter.
Addicks: Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Dervite, Wiggins, Pritchard, Gower (Stephens, 77), Hughes (Green, 77), Harriott, Sordell (Church, 65), Kermorgant. Unused subs: Evina, Cort, Wilson, Pope.
Sent off: Pritchard.
Referee: Andy D’Urso (Essex).
Attendance: 10,108 (including 1,421 away supporters).
Seems the only mistake Powell made was playing Gower and Hughes together in a 4-4-2 while starting an unfamiliar Sordell up front. In hindsight take Sordell out of the starting XI, replace him with Jackson and I think we'd have seen a different result yesterday.
Funnily enough, JJ's niggle forced the gaffer's hand and I reckon he went to plan B (4-4-2 with Sordell). We should have only played Sordell yesterday if we were chasing the game in the second half.
It was disjointed, mid field was to slow. passing was all over the show.
we cant play 2 up front with that midfield.
Pritchard-----------what is his role ? i just cant see it.
Solly was ok defensively but his passing(as others)was crap.
Harriet didnt do much. The cross for Yans goal was shit knee high and deflected.
most thought we were crap and i wouldnt argue. Poor.
Harriott was just as bad, if not worse. Should he be lambasted? No.
I am not a big fan of Pritchard, but last season I was pretty well outnumbered by those that thought he was everything that epitomised Charlton and more to the point Chris Powells Charlton, so I cannot believe the amount of stick after one game he is getting. He made an error in the tackle and he had a poor game, so what has happened to all his defenders of last season? He is the same player as he was last season, if you supported him last season then give him a chance this season. And to be honest, we have played one game so lets take a few more before we nominate whipping boy of the season.
I don't hold Pritchard accountable, no one played particularly well. I have slagged him off in the past (to mates, not really on here) but he can work in that role. By not being a 'winger' it gives Solly a bit more freedom and he can come inside to cover when Jackson gets forward. Although not as flashy as Wilson or Green I'd say he's more reliable, and having scored at Barnsley, Boro and Portsmouth we should see him more confident in front of goal.
AFCB aren't anything special, they just wanted it more which is frustraiting as last season not many teams got the better of us in terms of effort and desire.
Nice touch!
The reality is that we are in a division with fine margins, as we saw last season, and for us to finish above the bottom 3 with our squad will be as big an achievement as last year.