Just in after a 16 hour day away from home, so tiredness kicking in but, without reading any posts on here, need to put my thoughts down.
Realistically, we should not have expected to win at the Riverside today. A new manager has steadied the ship there and results have been positive for them. Little has changed for us of late, albeit the addition of 2 SL players to the gaffer's squad.
We were told on the concourse that Alnwick had been taken ill this morning , that Hamer had not travelled due to a late injury & therefore Thuram would make his debut with young Dillon Phillips warming the bench. The other news was that Solly was not in the squad but Stephens had recovered from his illness. So, on paper, our strongest eleven ( as seen at Portman Rd ?) had once more been disrupted...
We could have scored very early with Yann in on goal with what looked like a decent chance but it wasn't to be. From then on, my memory is of Boro playing some decent passing football with fairly slow build up at times but with a couple of quick , skilful front runners who caused us a few problems although our defence on the whole looked fairly solid in front of a 'keeper they'd barely been introduced to. And then, an error seemingly from our newbie gave them the lead. At that point, it seemed that this could be the first of several although a couple of decent chances were created by our lads but to no avail.
But, second half, as in recent games, we came back into it and for the last 20-25 mins, started to look more promising especially when 2 substitutions were made. The disallowed goal looked a really harsh decision from where we sat almost in line with Given but we know how protected goalies seem to be these days & with little going in our favour of late, it was no real surprise to the travelling faithful. The Wiggins' red card also appeared harsh - it was an obvious yellow, but red ?- not clear cut for me. And finally, the ultimate blow was dealt with the Irishman's great save which secured a barely deserved 3 points for the home team. On the second half performance, a draw might have been a fair result but it wasn't to be with another 1-0 defeat for our Reds.
I'm positive that I'm not the first to put a striker on my wish list tonight- nothing new there then- but today's performance reinforced this 100%. Another 1-0 defeat says it all for me. We hold our own, away from home, with a depleted squad so where on the pitch is this squad lacking ? A decent strike partner for The Beast. Not another goalkeeper, not another midfielder. What does the gaffer have to do to get across to our new owner that this hardworking group of players are not a million miles away from being a mid table team ? Is RD communicating with SCP or , as has been suggested, dialogue has mainly been via email ? Is there any possibility of any money being made available before the end of January or will another window be closed sans signings whilst all around us strengthen their squads ?
Rumours abound as usual amongst the faithful travellers. Could today have been the gaffer's last throw of the dice ? Someone hazarded a guess as Wiggins trudged off the pitch that this could be the last we see of the Welshman- one of our players who would surely command a good fee. The Charlton as we know & love it appears to be in a complete state of flux & I would guess that 99% of our fans are very concerned about the direction our Club is taking. The uncertainty of the Slater/Jimenez era has been replaced with the uncertainty of the Belgian regime....not what we were hoping for. Of course, it is early days and the promises made regarding Paddy's pitch have been warmly received. But a team cannot live on grass alone ....it needs new lifeblood to give it a fair chance of progressing away from the dreaded drop zone. And additions must surely be identified & agreed by the manager & his team - who else knows the strengths & weaknesses of his squad ?
I left the Riverside with a heavy heart - not as a result of the performance I'd witnessed but because I am very worried about the future of as honest, decent & committed man that you could hope to meet. One who took his team to a record 101 points in Division One and who now is forced to perform miracles with a threadbare squad of players recruited on the whole to gain promotion from said league. One who has been poorly treated by his past employees in the managerial stakes & who must have hoped for more than a few crumbs from the top table following the takeover. He and his honest players deserve the opportunity to show how much they can achieve with a degree of investment before it's too late. I apologise in advance to RD if I am failing to afford him the respect he is due for taking on our great Club but where I stand at this moment in time, I am totally confused as to his immediate plans to turn around our fortunes and I don't think I'm alone in this. Heaven knows what confusion & concern is felt in our dressing room & in the gaffer's office....Of course, my perception of the current situation might be well wide of the mark and I'd be happy to be proved wrong but there appears to be worrying cracks in the very fabric of our football club.
Maybe it's time for Richard Murray to show us what influence he has in his new position. We 're holding out for a hero ....
Viewfinder - to answer your question: Stephens was ok but a little below before par, as he and Cousins never really got to grips with the game (without being dominated by Leadbitter and Whitehead - it was a scrappy old match); Cook was, I am afraid, lightweight; Harriott was quick and direct and offered a genuine threat (a view shared by the Boro supporters around us).
Thanks, Blucher - I much appreciate your observations. Having watched today's match, what changes would you make for the Cup on Tuesday and away at Donny the week after?
Great post Fanny, sums up the prevailing mood. We seem to be in flux Duchatelet: Okay, you've added us to your portfolio, now quit farting around and declare your hand. There are 15K+ of us that need to hear and see something positive happening
Good post Fanny and thanks. I'm sure we are all as concerned at the moment of RD's motives and plans but I'm sure relegation isn't in those plans. This week is crunch week. He is either gonna back or sack CP. That I feel is the long and the short of it. Unfortunately he hasn't the time to wait and see and then make a decision in the Summer, which would surely be the wisest option. I truly hope he backs CP but something tells me he will be backing someone else.
RD has been in charge, what, 2 or 3 weeks. I would suggest that he be given a chance. I'm sure he has his ideas of what the club needs to move forward. He hasn't bought the club to languish near the bottom of the Championship or be relegated to league 1. He, also, doesn't have our pre-conceived loyalties towards CP. He will view it purely on what he sees on the pitch and if that isn't working he will change things and Chris will be in the firing line. I think we need to accept that and move forward and embrace our new owner and what he wants to do for our club.
CP deserves a bloody medal from the new owners for preventing the playing side of the club from imploding while the protracted take-over rumours and talks seem to go on and on. How he has kept those players fired-up with zero budget, no information and no job security, I have no idea and it says a lot about him as a man-manager.
Give him a contract, a new striker and a flashy new European motor ASAP and lets get things moving.
We have had enough uncertainty and buggering about for one season.
In work today to help pay for yesterdays trip! Bit hard to take as didn't enjoy the trip or the game. Don't think we were really outplayed just we had no output from the midfield to much sideways passing before a final hoofball ,playing yann as the last man looked so wrong He looked like he didnt want that responsibility? Yann always needs someone to play off his shoulder? As for our new keeper don't know why he's getting so much abuse he kept us in with a chance second half
It ain't over till the fat bloke sings, have some belief. The takeover is creating instability until the dust settles and this will be reflected in the performances on the pitch. Game in hand, or 2 as Bournemouth are still in the cup, better goal difference and everyone below gets a win. That's not going to happen every week it's a fluke. Still think we are in a better position to recover from this than we were a month ago. COYAs
Having been at the game it is the link up play between our forwards and midfield that seems to be the problem. Many on here are looking for reinforcements in the forward line, which I agree with, but we are not getting the ball into and around the box and this surely is the fault of the midfield. Our forwards always seem to living off tiny scraps rather than missing glaring chances, because those chances are not being made. So as well as bolstering the forward line we need more creativity in midfield or to work harder to find ways of breaking down well organised defences. On another point the height the ball bounced on the Boro pitch was amazing. Several times our players misjudged the bounce and I think it was a contributary factor in their goal, although I do think that Thuram went down very ponderously. He did make some good saves in the second half. I thought Wiggins dismissal was a bit harsh. There was no malice in the challenge, he was just stretching to try an win the ball back. Their player made a meal of it and was not hurt.
I'll add to my previous comments that the the majority of the game was played at a pedestrian pace with little penetrative attacking from either side, Boro got lucky with a goalie mistake and we came alive in the last 10 minutes, that was it, a dull, boring uneventful game, as for individual players: Thuram - yes the goal was his mistake as the ball bounced just in front of him but for the rest of the game he was excellent, which included his kicking and distribution. Defence - never as good when Wilson is RB, looked like Wood picked up a knock towards the end and Wiggins red card was for a sliding tackle that warranted a card but I was in no position to judge. Midfield - Cousins and Cook were lightweight, Stephens had moments of skill and mistakes, JJ was slow and ineffective, Harriott at least gave hope as he rushed down the wing and properly the best of the bunch Attack - Yann on his own is ineffective, especially when he doesn't get the ball, things improved when Church and Green came on as we seemed to stretch their defence. Ajdarevic - strong lad, showed some nice touches and tried to pass forwards, made a few mistakes but looks promising.
for those that like the formations we started 4-5-1 and when the 2 subs came on went 4-4-2 then towards the end Morrison went forward and we became 3-4-3
throughout the game the ball seemed to have a very high bounce which caught out a number of our players including Thuram for their goal.
The thing I don't understand is for the majority of the match we played negative football and got no where, for the last 10 minutes we put the ball down the wings, passed forwards and nearly got a goal, why can't they play like that for 90 minutes??????
I don't think we should be too surprised the chalked off goal and the red card. It was Keith Stroud reffing. He was the useless ref who took charge of our home game with Leeds. They were always going to be given. It's personal.
Maybe not surprising we didn't get the rub of the green with the refereeing decisions yesterday, I was thinking Church's disallowed goal which looked ok to me and Wiggins red card which looked harsh. I think the ref Stroud was the same one that reffed the Leeds game and we had a few decisions go against us in that one plus some of the Leeds "tackling" was no worse than Wiggins yesterday. Hope we don't get Stroud again.
Maybe not surprising we didn't get the rub of the green with the refereeing decisions yesterday, I was thinking Church's disallowed goal which looked ok to me and Wiggins red card which looked harsh. I think the ref Stroud was the same one that reffed the Leeds game and we had a few decisions go against us in that one plus some of the Leeds "tackling" was no worse than Wiggins yesterday. Hope we don't get Stroud again.
Ignore me comment above, although I think the refereeing decisions were wrong yesterday, it wasn't Stroud who was the ref against Leeds. My mistake, must be age.
At the moment everything seems to reek of underinvestment in the past, and we are paying the price in all areas of the club, on and off the pitch, I hope things get better.
This period was always going to be difficult due to the amount of away games on the bounce.
Church isn't good enough. Simple as that. We need better forwards with Yann. Smith deserves a run in the side.
Hoping Koc is useful for us because he is just what we need.
We have two games in hand, both at home, one of which is against Barnsley. Win at least one of them and we'll be on our way to sorting this season out.
I can see why the referee disallowed the goal, Thuram looks a bit dodgy, never a red for Wiggins. Can we appeal it?
THINK I read that the gaffer's said he'll consider an appeal - probably said this before he's had chance to review the incident many times over & then make a decision.
Don't forget that "frivolous" is in the dictionary as " Stupid, time wasting , silly, with reference to Charlton Athletic FC "
Comments
Us, Barnsley and Yeovil
Realistically, we should not have expected to win at the Riverside today. A new manager has steadied the ship there and results have been positive for them. Little has changed for us of late, albeit the addition of 2 SL players to the gaffer's squad.
We were told on the concourse that Alnwick had been taken ill this morning , that Hamer had not travelled due to a late injury & therefore Thuram would make his debut with young Dillon Phillips warming the bench. The other news was that Solly was not in the squad but Stephens had recovered from his illness. So, on paper, our strongest eleven ( as seen at Portman Rd ?) had once more been disrupted...
We could have scored very early with Yann in on goal with what looked like a decent chance but it wasn't to be. From then on, my memory is of Boro playing some decent passing football with fairly slow build up at times but with a couple of quick , skilful front runners who caused us a few problems although our defence on the whole looked fairly solid in front of a 'keeper they'd barely been introduced to. And then, an error seemingly from our newbie gave them the lead. At that point, it seemed that this could be the first of several although a couple of decent chances were created by our lads but to no avail.
But, second half, as in recent games, we came back into it and for the last 20-25 mins, started to look more promising especially when 2 substitutions were made. The disallowed goal looked a really harsh decision from where we sat almost in line with Given but we know how protected goalies seem to be these days & with little going in our favour of late, it was no real surprise to the travelling faithful. The Wiggins' red card also appeared harsh - it was an obvious yellow, but red ?- not clear cut for me. And finally, the ultimate blow was dealt with the Irishman's great save which secured a barely deserved 3 points for the home team. On the second half performance, a draw might have been a fair result but it wasn't to be with another 1-0 defeat for our Reds.
I'm positive that I'm not the first to put a striker on my wish list tonight- nothing new there then- but today's performance reinforced this 100%. Another 1-0 defeat says it all for me. We hold our own, away from home, with a depleted squad so where on the pitch is this squad lacking ? A decent strike partner for The Beast. Not another goalkeeper, not another midfielder. What does the gaffer have to do to get across to our new owner that this hardworking group of players are not a million miles away from being a mid table team ? Is RD communicating with SCP or , as has been suggested, dialogue has mainly been via email ? Is there any possibility of any money being made available before the end of January or will another window be closed sans signings whilst all around us strengthen their squads ?
Rumours abound as usual amongst the faithful travellers. Could today have been the gaffer's last throw of the dice ? Someone hazarded a guess as Wiggins trudged off the pitch that this could be the last we see of the Welshman- one of our players who would surely command a good fee. The Charlton as we know & love it appears to be in a complete state of flux & I would guess that 99% of our fans are very concerned about the direction our Club is taking. The uncertainty of the Slater/Jimenez era has been replaced with the uncertainty of the Belgian regime....not what we were hoping for. Of course, it is early days and the promises made regarding Paddy's pitch have been warmly received. But a team cannot live on grass alone ....it needs new lifeblood to give it a fair chance of progressing away from the dreaded drop zone. And additions must surely be identified & agreed by the manager & his team - who else knows the strengths & weaknesses of his squad ?
I left the Riverside with a heavy heart - not as a result of the performance I'd witnessed but because I am very worried about the future of as honest, decent & committed man that you could hope to meet. One who took his team to a record 101 points in Division One and who now is forced to perform miracles with a threadbare squad of players recruited on the whole to gain promotion from said league. One who has been poorly treated by his past employees in the managerial stakes & who must have hoped for more than a few crumbs from the top table following the takeover. He and his honest players deserve the opportunity to show how much they can achieve with a degree of investment before it's too late. I apologise in advance to RD if I am failing to afford him the respect he is due for taking on our great Club but where I stand at this moment in time, I am totally confused as to his immediate plans to turn around our fortunes and I don't think I'm alone in this. Heaven knows what confusion & concern is felt in our dressing room & in the gaffer's office....Of course, my perception of the current situation might be well wide of the mark and I'd be happy to be proved wrong but there appears to be worrying cracks in the very fabric of our football club.
Maybe it's time for Richard Murray to show us what influence he has in his new position. We 're holding out for a hero ....
We seem to be in flux
Duchatelet: Okay, you've added us to your portfolio, now quit farting around and declare your hand. There are 15K+ of us that need to hear and see something positive happening
Glad you had a safe trip.
CP deserves a bloody medal from the new owners for preventing the playing side of the club from imploding while the protracted take-over rumours and talks seem to go on and on. How he has kept those players fired-up with zero budget, no information and no job security, I have no idea and it says a lot about him as a man-manager.
Give him a contract, a new striker and a flashy new European motor ASAP and lets get things moving.
We have had enough uncertainty and buggering about for one season.
Bit hard to take as didn't enjoy the trip or the game.
Don't think we were really outplayed just we had no output from the midfield to much sideways passing before a final hoofball ,playing yann as the last man looked so wrong
He looked like he didnt want that responsibility?
Yann always needs someone to play off his shoulder?
As for our new keeper don't know why he's getting so much abuse he kept us in with a chance second half
Wiggins was never a red card!
Disallowed goal, 99 times out of 100 the ref will rule in favour of the keeper!
On another point the height the ball bounced on the Boro pitch was amazing. Several times our players misjudged the bounce and I think it was a contributary factor in their goal, although I do think that Thuram went down very ponderously. He did make some good saves in the second half.
I thought Wiggins dismissal was a bit harsh. There was no malice in the challenge, he was just stretching to try an win the ball back. Their player made a meal of it and was not hurt.
For some reason church always looks like he impeeds the keeper?
Thuram - yes the goal was his mistake as the ball bounced just in front of him but for the rest of the game he was excellent, which included his kicking and distribution.
Defence - never as good when Wilson is RB, looked like Wood picked up a knock towards the end and Wiggins red card was for a sliding tackle that warranted a card but I was in no position to judge.
Midfield - Cousins and Cook were lightweight, Stephens had moments of skill and mistakes, JJ was slow and ineffective, Harriott at least gave hope as he rushed down the wing and properly the best of the bunch
Attack - Yann on his own is ineffective, especially when he doesn't get the ball, things improved when Church and Green came on as we seemed to stretch their defence.
Ajdarevic - strong lad, showed some nice touches and tried to pass forwards, made a few mistakes but looks promising.
for those that like the formations we started 4-5-1 and when the 2 subs came on went 4-4-2 then towards the end Morrison went forward and we became 3-4-3
throughout the game the ball seemed to have a very high bounce which caught out a number of our players including Thuram for their goal.
The thing I don't understand is for the majority of the match we played negative football and got no where, for the last 10 minutes we put the ball down the wings, passed forwards and nearly got a goal, why can't they play like that for 90 minutes??????
it for the last 10/15 mins
Church isn't good enough. Simple as that. We need better forwards with Yann. Smith deserves a run in the side.
Hoping Koc is useful for us because he is just what we need.
We have two games in hand, both at home, one of which is against Barnsley. Win at least one of them and we'll be on our way to sorting this season out.
What a dire cross from Green.
What sensational play from Kermogant to rescue that.
Why the f*** was the goal disallowed, Church has done absolutely nothing wrong!!
Wiggins didnt look like a straight red but difficult to tell with no replay or slow motion on fls.
Don't forget that "frivolous" is in the dictionary as " Stupid, time wasting , silly, with reference to Charlton Athletic FC "
:-)
I'm pretty sure that our new Sporting Director was sitting with Chris & Sue Parkes at the front of the Directors' Box.
One of few positives to take from the game if I'm correct ? Or should we expect her to attend all our matches ?