Couldn't go today. Had a prior engagement. Playing golf. When I saw that Church started I felt vindicated. Can't comment otherwise. Can't go Tuesday. Having heart surgery on Monday (yes really). Please don't start Church. Will just make me feel better.
The very best of luck with our surgery! hope we win for you too
Have only read a few posts & just need to put something on here before I lose the momentum.
Thought we played some decent football again, especially in the first 45mins, albeit without the end result we so badly need. Poyet virtually ran our show, for me & was outstanding yet again.
2nd half they came out fighting & we found it hard to compete. They looked stronger, taller & fitter (at times) although the latter was totally expected due to our battle at Elland Rd 4 days ago. Felt we might hold out for a point but wasn't to be although Ben H kept us in it with one particularly great save.
I DO recognise our frailties up front but we have what we have & Jose has to do the best he can with his limited resources. No point whatsoever crying about spilt milk - The Beast is no more & we have to deal with it. When I heard that Churchy was starting , with Obika & Reza on the bench, my first thought was that JR is happy to give them maybe 45 mins or so in order to keep them fresh for the Yeovil 6 pointer. But I was somewhat surprised that both SC & Callum stayed on the pitch....although on reflection there were other seriously tired legs out there.
This wasn't our strongest, most competitive starting line up but IMHO it was worth tinkering today with Tuesday's game the priority. Not many Lifers were predicting 3 points, some favoured a draw but most feared nil points from a top 6 team that we have a poor record against .If more supporters there today had witnessed the recent victories at Forest & Leeds, I think they would be more inclined to be charitable regarding today's performance. It's a case of "going for it 100% " in the remaining games we are more likely to win ie Yeovil, Barnsley & possibly Sheff Weds & ensuring there are few worrying knocks in the rest - more a question of pacing ourselves ? Just my opinion of course but if Jose were to say this is his game plan, I don't believe there would be too many arguing against it. It's a case of cutting our coat according to the cloth....and that's shrunk in the wash this season.
The players will be SO up for it on Tuesday evening, as will those from the West Country but those wearing the red shirts will have that extra man & we need to make sure they know that from the first to the last whistle.
Can we please stop feckin around with the forwards, For me the attacking line up should be Obika and Reza with AA and JJ in behind.( Church should be nowhere near the 1st eleven.) Obika and Reza both show good movement. Reza not afraid to shoot and can produce subtle touches in the box if played forward enough. He is not a winger/midfielder. Obika has Churches energy but looks far more likely to do something/cause problems. With AA pulling strings behind and JJ arriving late, both could be useful. We have a solid back 4 and with DP and JC holding we can afford to let the others concentrate on actually trying to create and score some goals. We don't have a winger worthy of the title so keep it narrow, Any width can be provided by forays by Wiggins and Wilson
I entirely agree with your positive strategy, Taxi_Lad, especially for these remaining home games - forget the exhilarating wingers we haven't had for ages and urge Wiggins and Wilson to get forward instead.
There is absolutely no point in sending a thirty-yard ball to Harriott on the touchline - our midfield remains thirty yards away and he has three defenders in his ear. Since Ajdarevic doesn't have the muscle to move centrally just now, why not push Poyet up instead - play him farther forward, receiving rather than gathering, and joining in the attack.
We've had a good run under a manager who looks like he knows what he is doing and I think will go onto bring great football to the valley after years of tosh.
Have only read a few posts & just need to put something on here before I lose the momentum.
Thought we played some decent football again, especially in the first 45mins, albeit without the end result we so badly need. Poyet virtually ran our show, for me & was outstanding yet again.
2nd half they came out fighting & we found it hard to compete. They looked stronger, taller & fitter (at times) although the latter was totally expected due to our battle at Elland Rd 4 days ago. Felt we might hold out for a point but wasn't to be although Ben H kept us in it with one particularly great save.
I DO recognise our frailties up front but we have what we have & Jose has to do the best he can with his limited resources. No point whatsoever crying about spilt milk - The Beast is no more & we have to deal with it. When I heard that Churchy was starting , with Obika & Reza on the bench, my first thought was that JR is happy to give them maybe 45 mins or so in order to keep them fresh for the Yeovil 6 pointer. But I was somewhat surprised that both SC & Callum stayed on the pitch....although on reflection there were other seriously tired legs out there.
This wasn't our strongest, most competitive starting line up but IMHO it was worth tinkering today with Tuesday's game the priority. Not many Lifers were predicting 3 points, some favoured a draw but most feared nil points from a top 6 team that we have a poor record against .If more supporters there today had witnessed the recent victories at Forest & Leeds, I think they would be more inclined to be charitable regarding today's performance. It's a case of "going for it 100% " in the remaining games we are more likely to win ie Yeovil, Barnsley & possibly Sheff Weds & ensuring there are few worrying knocks in the rest - more a question of pacing ourselves ? Just my opinion of course but if Jose were to say this is his game plan, I don't believe there would be too many arguing against it. It's a case of cutting our coat according to the cloth....and that's shrunk in the wash this season.
The players will be SO up for it on Tuesday evening, as will those from the West Country but those wearing the red shirts will have that extra man & we need to make sure they know that from the first to the last whistle.
Keep the faith !
"It was like watching paint dry", said a BBC reporter after our win at Forest - I wasn't there, and I believe him. Fanny - I have been watching Charlton home and away since 1966, and our performances in the last two seasons have been utterly pitiful.
Just for a minute, set aside your scarf, the mementos, the warm affection and wishful thinking. Imagine arriving at The Valley yesterday as an outside observer. You take your seat in the stand: Charlton are at home in front of a crowd of 15,000, full of hope and expectancy. And in the next 95 minutes we managed only two accurate shots at goal.
This is bad. Burnley, Barnsley, Blackburn, Bolton - Remember that all those players who regularly beat us are also worried about their future; they are playing with fatigue and injuries, their chairmen are horrible, and their wives are threatening to leave them... And yet - they win.
Again, imagine yourself as an outsider, Fanny, landing at The Valley to watch a game of football. Why on earth are we simply unable to string three accurate passes together?
I think some of you have you man up - thought we played some decent football & didn't look like a team facing relegation. Came away pretty pleased seeing as we lost and 2 teams below us won but we are still 4th from bottom with 2 games in hand & having to play 2 of the teams below us. Its all in our hands now & just need a bit of luck (a soft pen would help) or a piece of magic (ala Reza on tues) and if we can pick up another 10 points we will be safe.
POTM - Poyet by a mile. I don't know why spongefoot played the whole game but hoped is was either a) to rest the other strikers for a more important match on tues or b) to show RD just how bad Church really is.
PS - why was the pitch watered ?? Made it too slippery & players were going over like ninepins. Best just to leave it as it is & play on it dry.
And why oh why do the players turn into statues when we win a throw-in in the opposition's half?
Callum - you are a man after my own heart. Somehow, Sparrows Lane has been consecrated by wishful pilgrims. Until quite recently there was graffito painted on a wall in Greenwich: KILLER HALES IS GOD.
This is like a never ending nightmare for me. Sit up half the night, no goals, lose to a deflected goal, go to bed feeling miserable. Tired and miserable all Sunday. Why can't we ever get a deflected goal, oh I know, we never have a bloody shot. To make things worse, I've got to buy the bloke down the road (Reading fan) another six pack? I take heart from your post Jean (Fanny), I was hoping that was the case. This situation has got to be managed very carefully, finding the balance between keeping players fit and picking up points in the most important games. Reza and Obika up front, Astrit just behind, should get us a goal on Tuesday, if they play!
This is like a never ending nightmare for me. Sit up half the night, no goals, lose to a deflected goal, go to bed feeling miserable. Tired and miserable all Sunday. Why can't we ever get a deflected goal, oh I know, we never have a bloody shot. To make things worse, I've got to buy the bloke down the road (Reading fan) another six pack? I take heart from your post Jean (Fanny), I was hoping that was the case. This situation has got to be managed very carefully, finding the balance between keeping players fit and picking up points in the most important games. Reza and Obika up front, Astrit just behind, should get us a goal on Tuesday, if they play!
Queensland - what a hoot! I have a lady-friend I've known since we were at Dartington Hall School, in Devon, in the 1970s; she lives in Melbourne. I'm still trying to educate her: Look, Valerie, what's this about your ref who stomps into the centre-circle, slams the funny-shaped ball down and then watches a load of pooftahs in tight shorts have a massive ruck?
Where on earth has our subtlety gone - the feints, the acceleration, the glorious arcs, and the silent, incisive three-yard triangles - and the ball (spherical) rifling the onion-bag?
Talk of Petrucci brings me to Riga's substitutes. I'm not at all clear what Riga's thinking was (perhaps he was trying to rest tired legs), but the changes really did not help. Ajdarevic was the first to leave the fray. He'd lasted less than an hour and was clearly disappointed to come off. The quality we'd shown at times during the first half left the field with him. Ghoochannejhad was always going to find Reading's physicality a real challenge, but it was his decision making and lack of quality that let him down. At times he looked like a kid who isn't equipped to play at this level. When Jackson was replaced by Petrucci in the 66th minute the game was up. The loanee never looked comfortable. Whilst at 0-0 there was hope of another late winner, once his mistake gave Reading their lead defeat was inevitable. We simply never looked remotely like scoring. **The above from ViewFinder** Taking off Ajdarevic totally changed the course of the game, I agree entirely with the above paragraph
Starting Church was a brilliant tactical manoeuvre. He runs around like a headless chicken - lulling the Reading defence into a false sense of security. Disastrously, Riga then forgets to sub him after 30 minutes (whilst AA still has some energy left). Battles are won and lost on these simple oversights.
"It was like watching paint dry", said a BBC reporter after our win at Forest - I wasn't there, and I believe him. Fanny - I have been watching Charlton home and away since 1966, and our performances in the last two seasons have been utterly pitiful.
Again, imagine yourself as an outsider, Fanny, landing at The Valley to watch a game of football. Why on earth are we simply unable to string three accurate passes together? ................... Viewfinder, totally agree. I'm a ST holder who travels up from Hampshire. Yesterday, I was happy to miss the match, even more so when I saw that Harriot was out wide with Church alone up front.
I realised when watching the last half hour against Burnley that I was bored. No proper passing, no movement, no real skill, never a hope of scoring a goal. In terms of entertainment the last 2 seasons have been dire and a decent attacking passage of play from us is a rare event.
If we do stay up then we can count ourselves very lucky that there were 3 teams worse than us. Irrespective of what division we're in the squad needs a major overhaul, which I'm not convinced our owner has got the stomach for.
Yes I'm keeping the faith in the hope of better times ahead and in memory of better days gone by. Bloody Charlton.
Some decent football first half yesterday but as usual no cutting edge. I don't know what happened second half but we seemed to lose our way and the longer the game went on it was obvious that Reading were going to win. We look solid enough at the back and Ok in Midfield with Poyet good again yesterday but we are so toothless up front it is no surprise we are the lowest scorers in the division. Baffled by why Riga took off AA yesterday but kept Church on for the full 90 mins. I'd like to see Riga start Obika and either AA and/or Reza up front on Tuesday as Church appears to have lost interest. Still think we can do it but very nervy about the Yeovil & Barnsley games coming up.
One of the bottom four will make a run at it and string a set of results together. Yeovil look like the team most likely to do it as they can score goals. Not bringing in a decent forward on loan will come back to haunt us. Everyone keeps saying we are playing good teams when we play a top 6 team but yeovil got a draw at Leicester. So pissed off because 3 poitnts today would have given us a cushion and pulled other teams into it.
I agree with this. There's always one team who goes on a run and sneaks out of it on the last day. Usually Barnsley, they're the league's cockroaches after a nuclear blast. They always bloody survive.
For me, yesterday was fairly even although I guess Reading had another gear. The only difference in the match's events though was that they have game changers, it wasn't only Williams who could have done that.
Regarding Church, there's a lot already been said but he is also very slow mentally. I missed the first 25 minutes due to Southeastern being bastards but it sounded like AA made an opening for him but he was too slow to see it, Reza later tried teeing him up with a through ball but he was gently jogging in the wrong direction, he himself can't spot a pass. I was one who stuck up for him, no more though. I think earlier in the season Yann made him look better than he was. Now the only forward we've had who I consider as useless is Izale McLeod.
Tuesday is Tuesday, Brighton we then need to have a go at and remember we outdid them in December. As CT mentioned, EVERY game in this division is winnable and most of the top teams can be matched in most departments. This is even more vital given that we will likely drop points to Yeovil and/or Barnsley. That's not me being a pessimist (okay, it is partly) but they're both teams in decent form and will be up for it a lot more than Reading were.
Come on it's not over yet. That was always going to be a tough one. A few weeks back all the results went against us and we went bottom of the league. A few games later we were out of it and the mood on here was positive. Now, again, after one result, the doom and gloom boys on here are having a field day. Games in hand still and we are out of the bottom three. Keep believing and a stiff upper lip is needed. Also why did Church get picked?
I thought we were good value first half but in the second Reading simply upped their work rate and the quality showed. Church up front on his own does not work and with little supply it was even worse. At least we are trying to play some good positive football at the moment
I posted my thoughts on the game earlier in the thread. It seems that most of us who were at the Valley yesterday share the view that once Reading increased their intensity in the second half we were simply unable to cope. That's both disappointing and worrying and may well have a number of underlying causes. However, I feel it is important to retain some perspective.
Reading were playing Premier League football last season and have the benefit of a parachute payment this. The simple fact is that they have much better players than we do and that's very tough to deal with. Reading have been erratic this season, but they are a very decent side at this level. They have won 50% of their away games and their away record against the bottom ten teams in the Table is 6-2-1 (they have yet to play at Doncaster).
As I said in my earlier post, in the second half yesterday we did not look equipped for the battle for survival and that dampened my optimism big time. However, we won't now need to play against any teams at their level. Let's hope, therefore, that against less powerful sides we are able to show a bit more strength and a bit more quality.
One of the bottom four will make a run at it and string a set of results together. Yeovil look like the team most likely to do it as they can score goals. Not bringing in a decent forward on loan will come back to haunt us. Everyone keeps saying we are playing good teams when we play a top 6 team but yeovil got a draw at Leicester. So pissed off because 3 poitnts today would have given us a cushion and pulled other teams into it.
Regarding Church, there's a lot already been said but he is also very slow mentally.
Spot on in my view. As we were watching Church struggle physically with Gorks yesterday, one of my sons remarked that his real problem wasn't his lack of upper body strength or his apparently weak shot (though they are both issues), but instead that its his movement which is the biggest weakness. Church appears unable to anticipate and to find space and I suspect that's why he's not really good enough for the Championship. Along with most others, I was very surprised he lasted ninety minutes yesterday.
Since Ajdarevic doesn't have the muscle to move centrally just now, why not push Poyet up instead - play him farther forward, receiving rather than gathering, and joining in the attack.
One of the reasons our defence has improved is because they now have Poyet sweeping in front of them and he does it brilliantly. If he moves forward too much, that natural cover will disappear.
Yesterday we needed Cousins to make up the extra man in the box but so often it was just Church in there on his own and there wasn't a chance he'd ever win anything surrounded by several Reading giants. Cousins is a good player in the making and doesn't let anyone down but he's still in the very early stages of his career. Although he was ok yesterday I just sensed that he was a little off the pace and might need a game on the bench soon with Petrucci taking his place.
Overall it's hard for the new manager because he hasn't had much time at all to work on things in training because he hasn't had a clear week yet. We're either recovering from the last midweek match or setting up for the next weekend match. I hope he's here next season because I'd like to see if his methods will work with a full pre-season in the bag.
Can we please stop feckin around with the forwards, For me the attacking line up should be Obika and Reza with AA and JJ in behind.( Church should be nowhere near the 1st eleven.) Obika and Reza both show good movement. Reza not afraid to shoot and can produce subtle touches in the box if played forward enough. He is not a winger/midfielder. Obika has Churches energy but looks far more likely to do something/cause problems. With AA pulling strings behind and JJ arriving late, both could be useful. We have a solid back 4 and with DP and JC holding we can afford to let the others concentrate on actually trying to create and score some goals. We don't have a winger worthy of the title so keep it narrow, Any width can be provided by forays by Wiggins and Wilson
Agree with this. It's no wonder we can't score when Riga is changing the forwards every week. Pick who you want and stick to it.
Have only read a few posts & just need to put something on here before I lose the momentum.
Thought we played some decent football again, especially in the first 45mins, albeit without the end result we so badly need. Poyet virtually ran our show, for me & was outstanding yet again.
2nd half they came out fighting & we found it hard to compete. They looked stronger, taller & fitter (at times) although the latter was totally expected due to our battle at Elland Rd 4 days ago. Felt we might hold out for a point but wasn't to be although Ben H kept us in it with one particularly great save.
I DO recognise our frailties up front but we have what we have & Jose has to do the best he can with his limited resources. No point whatsoever crying about spilt milk - The Beast is no more & we have to deal with it. When I heard that Churchy was starting , with Obika & Reza on the bench, my first thought was that JR is happy to give them maybe 45 mins or so in order to keep them fresh for the Yeovil 6 pointer. But I was somewhat surprised that both SC & Callum stayed on the pitch....although on reflection there were other seriously tired legs out there.
This wasn't our strongest, most competitive starting line up but IMHO it was worth tinkering today with Tuesday's game the priority. Not many Lifers were predicting 3 points, some favoured a draw but most feared nil points from a top 6 team that we have a poor record against .If more supporters there today had witnessed the recent victories at Forest & Leeds, I think they would be more inclined to be charitable regarding today's performance. It's a case of "going for it 100% " in the remaining games we are more likely to win ie Yeovil, Barnsley & possibly Sheff Weds & ensuring there are few worrying knocks in the rest - more a question of pacing ourselves ? Just my opinion of course but if Jose were to say this is his game plan, I don't believe there would be too many arguing against it. It's a case of cutting our coat according to the cloth....and that's shrunk in the wash this season.
The players will be SO up for it on Tuesday evening, as will those from the West Country but those wearing the red shirts will have that extra man & we need to make sure they know that from the first to the last whistle.
Keep the faith !
Good post but Riga isn't doing the best he can with what he's got when he starts with Church. Every single forward at the club is better than him.
I actually thought cousins played well in the first half, briefly looking like the box-to-box midfielder I'd like him to become. Second half he got shunted out to the right and once again it didn't work. Not really sure why we brought in Petrucci when we have plenty of central midfielders and very little quality out wide.
Good post but Riga isn't doing the best he can with what he's got when he starts with Church. Every single forward at the club is better than him.
This isn't even a joke post - I think that Morrison would be a greater threat up front than Spongeboots. I hope I never see him again in a Charlton shirt.
The slow-getting-back-onside incident that's been mentioned a few times on here typified his afternoon. Still, with a goal scoring rate of 1 in 11 this season worth persevering with.
Will be seriously annoyed on Tuesday if I travel up from Brighton to find that he's anywhere near the squad.
Comments
Thought we played some decent football again, especially in the first 45mins, albeit without the end result we so badly need. Poyet virtually ran our show, for me & was outstanding yet again.
2nd half they came out fighting & we found it hard to compete. They looked stronger, taller & fitter (at times) although the latter was totally expected due to our battle at Elland Rd 4 days ago. Felt we might hold out for a point but wasn't to be although Ben H kept us in it with one particularly great save.
I DO recognise our frailties up front but we have what we have & Jose has to do the best he can with his limited resources. No point whatsoever crying about spilt milk - The Beast is no more & we have to deal with it. When I heard that Churchy was starting , with Obika & Reza on the bench, my first thought was that JR is happy to give them maybe 45 mins or so in order to keep them fresh for the Yeovil 6 pointer. But I was somewhat surprised that both SC & Callum stayed on the pitch....although on reflection there were other seriously tired legs out there.
This wasn't our strongest, most competitive starting line up but IMHO it was worth tinkering today with Tuesday's game the priority. Not many Lifers were predicting 3 points, some favoured a draw but most feared nil points from a top 6 team that we have a poor record against .If more supporters there today had witnessed the recent victories at Forest & Leeds, I think they would be more inclined to be charitable regarding today's performance. It's a case of "going for it 100% " in the remaining games we are more likely to win ie Yeovil, Barnsley & possibly Sheff Weds & ensuring there are few worrying knocks in the rest - more a question of pacing ourselves ? Just my opinion of course but if Jose were to say this is his game plan, I don't believe there would be too many arguing against it. It's a case of cutting our coat according to the cloth....and that's shrunk in the wash this season.
The players will be SO up for it on Tuesday evening, as will those from the West Country but those wearing the red shirts will have that extra man & we need to make sure they know that from the first to the last whistle.
Keep the faith !
There is absolutely no point in sending a thirty-yard ball to Harriott on the touchline - our midfield remains thirty yards away and he has three defenders in his ear. Since Ajdarevic doesn't have the muscle to move centrally just now, why not push Poyet up instead - play him farther forward, receiving rather than gathering, and joining in the attack.
We've had a good run under a manager who looks like he knows what he is doing and I think will go onto bring great football to the valley after years of tosh.
Lets get over it and move onto Tuesday night.
We can't win and draw them all.
Just for a minute, set aside your scarf, the mementos, the warm affection and wishful thinking. Imagine arriving at The Valley yesterday as an outside observer. You take your seat in the stand: Charlton are at home in front of a crowd of 15,000, full of hope and expectancy. And in the next 95 minutes we managed only two accurate shots at goal.
This is bad. Burnley, Barnsley, Blackburn, Bolton - Remember that all those players who regularly beat us are also worried about their future; they are playing with fatigue and injuries, their chairmen are horrible, and their wives are threatening to leave them... And yet - they win.
Again, imagine yourself as an outsider, Fanny, landing at The Valley to watch a game of football. Why on earth are we simply unable to string three accurate passes together?
Where on earth has our subtlety gone - the feints, the acceleration, the glorious arcs, and the silent, incisive three-yard triangles - and the ball (spherical) rifling the onion-bag?
**The above from ViewFinder**
Taking off Ajdarevic totally changed the course of the game, I agree entirely with the above paragraph
"It was like watching paint dry", said a BBC reporter after our win at Forest - I wasn't there, and I believe him. Fanny - I have been watching Charlton home and away since 1966, and our performances in the last two seasons have been utterly pitiful.
Again, imagine yourself as an outsider, Fanny, landing at The Valley to watch a game of football. Why on earth are we simply unable to string three accurate passes together?
...................
Viewfinder, totally agree. I'm a ST holder who travels up from Hampshire. Yesterday, I was happy to miss the match, even more so when I saw that Harriot was out wide with Church alone up front.
I realised when watching the last half hour against Burnley that I was bored. No proper passing, no movement, no real skill, never a hope of scoring a goal. In terms of entertainment the last 2 seasons have been dire and a decent attacking passage of play from us is a rare event.
If we do stay up then we can count ourselves very lucky that there were 3 teams worse than us. Irrespective of what division we're in the squad needs a major overhaul, which I'm not convinced our owner has got the stomach for.
Yes I'm keeping the faith in the hope of better times ahead and in memory of better days gone by. Bloody Charlton.
For me, yesterday was fairly even although I guess Reading had another gear. The only difference in the match's events though was that they have game changers, it wasn't only Williams who could have done that.
Regarding Church, there's a lot already been said but he is also very slow mentally. I missed the first 25 minutes due to Southeastern being bastards but it sounded like AA made an opening for him but he was too slow to see it, Reza later tried teeing him up with a through ball but he was gently jogging in the wrong direction, he himself can't spot a pass. I was one who stuck up for him, no more though. I think earlier in the season Yann made him look better than he was. Now the only forward we've had who I consider as useless is Izale McLeod.
Tuesday is Tuesday, Brighton we then need to have a go at and remember we outdid them in December. As CT mentioned, EVERY game in this division is winnable and most of the top teams can be matched in most departments. This is even more vital given that we will likely drop points to Yeovil and/or Barnsley. That's not me being a pessimist (okay, it is partly) but they're both teams in decent form and will be up for it a lot more than Reading were.
Also why did Church get picked?
Reading were playing Premier League football last season and have the benefit of a parachute payment this. The simple fact is that they have much better players than we do and that's very tough to deal with. Reading have been erratic this season, but they are a very decent side at this level. They have won 50% of their away games and their away record against the bottom ten teams in the Table is 6-2-1 (they have yet to play at Doncaster).
As I said in my earlier post, in the second half yesterday we did not look equipped for the battle for survival and that dampened my optimism big time. However, we won't now need to play against any teams at their level. Let's hope, therefore, that against less powerful sides we are able to show a bit more strength and a bit more quality.
Spot on in my view. As we were watching Church struggle physically with Gorks yesterday, one of my sons remarked that his real problem wasn't his lack of upper body strength or his apparently weak shot (though they are both issues), but instead that its his movement which is the biggest weakness. Church appears unable to anticipate and to find space and I suspect that's why he's not really good enough for the Championship. Along with most others, I was very surprised he lasted ninety minutes yesterday.
One of the reasons our defence has improved is because they now have Poyet sweeping in front of them and he does it brilliantly. If he moves forward too much, that natural cover will disappear.
Yesterday we needed Cousins to make up the extra man in the box but so often it was just Church in there on his own and there wasn't a chance he'd ever win anything surrounded by several Reading giants. Cousins is a good player in the making and doesn't let anyone down but he's still in the very early stages of his career. Although he was ok yesterday I just sensed that he was a little off the pace and might need a game on the bench soon with Petrucci taking his place.
Overall it's hard for the new manager because he hasn't had much time at all to work on things in training because he hasn't had a clear week yet. We're either recovering from the last midweek match or setting up for the next weekend match. I hope he's here next season because I'd like to see if his methods will work with a full pre-season in the bag.
The slow-getting-back-onside incident that's been mentioned a few times on here typified his afternoon. Still, with a goal scoring rate of 1 in 11 this season worth persevering with.
Will be seriously annoyed on Tuesday if I travel up from Brighton to find that he's anywhere near the squad.