Still angry at the whole thing. More i think about the starting line up the more confused i get.
What do they do in training, can they see they are playing players out of position? do Dyer and Matthews still get involved?
I'm as angry as anyone but I actually didn't think the line up was to bad , Riga didn't know wood hamer would play shit and mainly obika and harriot would have their worse games ever , 4 3 3 it looked ok to me but our strikers played shit .
Except it was Riga who picked Wood ahead of Morro and Harriot ahead of Wilson, which makes it poor judgment IMO.
I first came to The Valley on my Dad's shoulders in the 50's and I have missed very few games since the early 60's. Take it from me, this is one of the worst seasons I have seen. Boardroom upheaval, managerial upheaval, lack of investment in the first team squad, a dreadful pitch, selling two of our best players, bringing in players who couldn't even make the bench for the Barnsley game (Petrucci, Parszyszek) and a forward line that is the most toothless I've seen in all the time I've been coming. There are some bright lights: Poyet, Cousins and more to come from the Academy. But we won't be able to keep good prospects if we're in the third tier next season. Last night was truly awful. Very few redeeming features. To the manager, please, please put out the best team you can against Bolton. No players out of position and no players "rested". It's getting serious.
As much down to team selection as anything for me.
Harriot like Church should be nowhere near the team.
When a point would not have been the end of the world we played far to open again, we just do not have the ability upfront to put the ball away.
Can not understand why Wilson did not start in place of Harriott and why Wood was in for Morrison in such a huge game, if players needed a rest this was not the game, if they where dropped then this manager sucks.
Sad to say I struggle to see how we will stay up under Riga, he has had his honeymoon period and looked a man lost last night.
The ref like so many was mugged with constant time wasting, the bloke clearly didn't have a clue, but then again we could have played till Friday & wouldn't have scored again.
Still angry at the whole thing. More i think about the starting line up the more confused i get.
What do they do in training, can they see they are playing players out of position? do Dyer and Matthews still get involved?
I'm as angry as anyone but I actually didn't think the line up was to bad , Riga didn't know wood hamer would play shit and mainly obika and harriot would have their worse games ever , 4 3 3 it looked ok to me but our strikers played shit .
Except it was Riga who picked Wood ahead of Morro and Harriot ahead of Wilson, which makes it poor judgment IMO.
Well I'm not 100% but have read Morrison was ill and Wilson has still got the problem with he's eye I guess . Fine margins wood missed a sitter at one end and loses he's man for their goal.
Very confused by the starting line up for a game which must have been seen internally as 'must win'. No Wilson was the biggest for me, no AA, but considering Reza has also been doing well playing Harriot on the right was v strange as well.
If we are incapable of scoring then we should be trying to keep a clean sheet. When they have a player up for a set piece who looks like something out of 300, why the fuck is he left to get a free header?
We put it behind us and look to the next game, but I hope mistakes have been learned from, as if we play like that for the remaining games it'll be 3rd tier in a few months.
Seriously, how bad must Parszyszek be if he is not up to the standard of our current strikers? And did he really cost us 700,000 Euros? If that is true, I worry about what kind of players RD is going to bring in next year, in whichever division we're in.
for some reason I'm (still) more annoyed about last night than at any other point during this (woeful) season....we had a golden chance to put daylight between us and others against the worst side in this division (the table doesn't lie) and we monumentally f**ked it up
Seriously, how bad must Parszyszek be if he is not up to the standard of our current strikers? And did he really cost us 700,000 Euros? If that is true, I worry about what kind of players RD is going to bring in next year, in whichever division we're in.
Too angry to post last night. Left with ten to go for the first time in my life.
I've enjoyed Riga so far but that was one monumental feck up of a team selection. OK, I don't know what knocks etc people were carrying but if people needed a rest they should have had it on Saturday for a game we were unlikely to get anything out of. I simply cannot understand why we experimented/rested/rotated/generally fucked about with the team for a game that had we won were virtually safe against the worst team I have seen at the valley in several years. Our best 11 in their proper positions would have pissed that last night.
It's all been said, but criticising Harriott for being shite on the right wing is like beating your dog because it cant play the piano. He was dire though (sorry, couldn't resist).
I have only seen Polish Pete for about Ten minutes and have no view. however, can someone please explain by what possible logic or comparative analysis can he be worse than Sordell, Obika or Church? I am 49, a tad on the meaty side with a dodgy ticker and unable to see a foot in front of me without my Gregg's and I could do better that any of those clowns right now!
We lacked nothing in desire. But that teamselection was simply bizarre. It's the stuff that conspiracy theories are made of. And the substitutions just beggared belief. Powell would have been slaughtered for any of that last night.
The really annoying thing is that Barnsley were just awful. I must say I didn't think the ref was anywhere near as bad as others have said. Mind you I didn't see th last ten minutes. We got our fair share of the 50-50s at least until half time and I thought on another day Cousins could have been sent off. I refer to previous comment about my eyesight should others decide that I'm wrong.
It is still in our own hands remarkable though that is. But I fear last night was the turning point. I have felt for several weeks that we would be ok but now I think we are doomed. I have my ST for next year and I'm looking forward to a fresh start whatever that brings. But last night finished me off for this season. At this moment I have no desire to part with another 24 quid on Friday to watch another team selection experiment or a pile of shite from our forwards. I may relent by then, but I haven't woken up this. Morning feeling any better about it than I did last night.
Oh and by the way, Yann doesnt f###### play for us any more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Riga should not have left Morro and Wilson on the bench , this was a massive game and no matter how tired they are, we should have started with our best team available.
We played pretty well for the first half and didn't deserve to go in at half time losing. Harriet was awful, but I felt for the young man when the crowd got on his back. Sordell, well it's all been said, thank god he can't play against Bolton.
How did Hamer let the second goal in, I'm speechless!
I have tried to stay positive, but I just can't see how we are going to score the goals to stay up, but this is the rollercoaster ride that is supporting Charlton, we'll probably take 6 points from the two Easter games! lol
On the way out of the ground last night, my 7 year old grandson said to me
''Grandad, if we lose again, I'm going to support another team''
Me:- ''well I'll have to find another little boy to use your season ticket next year then''
Grandson:- ''no I mean I'll support the under 21's!''
Seriously, how bad must Parszyszek be if he is not up to the standard of our current strikers? And did he really cost us 700,000 Euros? If that is true, I worry about what kind of players RD is going to bring in next year, in whichever division we're in.
You have the right figure but wrong currency there, Nadou. I'd put in a smiley, but it's not funny, is it? I have also heard there would be further payments, although presumably performance based, which at this time is therefore purely academic.
This is what I mean by pig-headed. I can fully accept the sale of Stephens, on the basis that home grown youngsters were coming through in the centre midfield slots, and a -presumably cheap - creative midfielder was available through the network. Albeit with serious questions about his fitness. Worth doing, when money is short.
But in the case of YK it seems to have been a case of 'sell an old striker for x, replace him with a young striker whose value will increase, hey, we all win'. Except that nobody apparently stopped to get suitable professional evaluations of the relative current capabilities of the two players.
Like I said, I don't propose to heap blame on Riga. If Riga had Yann to select rather than PP, I reckon we would be 3-4 points ahead of where we are now. My problem with a lot of fans, both on here and elsewhere, is that they look for scapegoats, be it the manager or individual players (today it is Callum Harriott's turn). The real problems are rarely focused on one individual and can usually be traced back to decisions made off the pitch or training ground.
I thought Riga took Harriott off just as he had started to improve. Might not have been a brilliant decision
It was also the time he played on the left. I have no idea why Powell and now Riga insist on playing Harriot out of position, he is a limited player who on a good day can cause some problems by beating his man and putting a cross in. He can't do that on the right
Awful management picking Harriotf. Awful management not taking him off on 45 and taking him off to boos. Awful management leaving AA until 77. Awful management putting Wood with Dervite. For me, a manager shuffling the pack and crossing his fingers.
I was told by a bloke at the development squad game on Monday that Piotr was a free transfer, make of that what you will. I have also been told that relegation would mean a £4Mil saving on the price of buying Charlton, don't know if that remains true or not, does mean even if us fans are miserable when we go down, somebody benefits in the short term at least. Piggot went off injured on Monday, and Piotr was nowhere to be seen. Anil Koc makes Danny Green look like John Barnes. I am developing a dangerous obsession regarding Reza, which very much puts me in mind of the old fairy tale 'The Emperors new Clothes'. Last night I found myself thinking these are circumstances made for Yann, but I know I need to move on. I am very very annoyed with myself for buying two season tickets for next season last Tuesday, so now you all know I am a mug it would be best to discount my opinions.
Posting without reading (but I can guess what's been said).
Terrible team selection from Riga. I understand resting Wilson with a view to him coming on in place of Solly. But playing Harriott on the right simply does not work and was obviously still not working within a matter of minutes of the start of the game. And yet it was, what, 55 minutes, before a change was made, putting Harriott on the left where he actually looked decent for the couple of minutes he was allowed to play there before taking him off. Reza looked far, far better on the right than Harriott ever does and I would have liked him to have a chance there with Solly still on the pitch.
Adjarevic being introduced so late when we're losing a must win game is mystifying. Dropping Morrison for Wood was a mistake, although I generally have nothing against Wood.
Losing a game that we dominated and that was vital for us is absolutely sickening. Really worried about us now.
A disappointing selection - were there niggling injuries that we do not know about - and a very disappointing result. To leave out Wilson and Morrison for such a vital game defies belief unless they were injured. I remarked recently on another topic and was poo pooed for my opinions, that the team lacks that little bit of consistent edge and all out effort, their collective bottle and will to win is not what it should be ... how much of this is due to the departure of Powell as well as Stephens and Kermorgant will never be known. What is known is that unless the team and management get stuck in more and find some form and confidence, the prospect of relegation is becoming ever more real.
We were nowhere near as bad as some on here are saying. I guess the disappointment of losing such a big game may be clouding some judgements.
We actually passed the ball into fit to Obika and Sordell. I certainly noticed them getting on the ball more than any previous games. Of course what let us down was their inability to turn that possession into goalscoring opportunities.
Besides from that, I thought everyone played quite well barring Harriott.
Ajdaravic not starting didn't make any sense whatsoever.
Barnsley were dreadful. How on earth they managed to put two past us I will never understand.
Awful management picking Harriotf. Awful management not taking him off on 45 and taking him off to boos. Awful management leaving AA until 77. Awful management putting Wood with Dervite. For me, a manager shuffling the pack and crossing his fingers.
Would you have said this about Powell? We had the chances to win, and they didn't have the chances to win but somehow did. If you take out the 3 goals and showed the other 92 minutes you would've said we'd won comfortably.
We were nowhere near as bad as some on here are saying. I guess the disappointment of losing such a big game may be clouding some judgements.
We actually passed the ball into fit to Obika and Sordell. I certainly noticed them getting on the ball more than any previous games. Of course what let us down was their inability to turn that possession into goalscoring opportunities.
Besides from that, I thought everyone played quite well barring Harriott.
Ajdaravic not starting didn't make any sense whatsoever.
Barnsley were dreadful. How on earth they managed to put two past us I will never understand.
Bizarre team selection. Would have preferred to see this line up against Brighton and then used the Brighton/Yeovil line up for last night. Not sure who's tired etc but management needed to prioritize for last nights game.
Started very well, several golden opportunities wasted. As soon as we concede one goal it all goes to pot (as per), fail to control the game for long periods thereafter. Second goal killed us, I was in North Upper and am yet to see a replay so not really any clue as to whose fault it was or how it went in.
Substitutions were either too late or the wrong ones. Harriott should have been taken off at HT (due to his performance and to protect him from the crowd), AA and Wilson introduced too late.
I was so sure we would win last night giving us a massive chance of survival in the process. Now it's a complete lottery, we simply cannot create or score. By goals scored we have the worst forward line in all four divisions of English football. Barnsley (as noted by others) were one of the most tin pot teams I have seen at the Valley in years and yet they still came away with 3 points. The only saving grace is that Yeovil, Barnsley, Millwall, Charlton and Blackpool are all as useless as each other.
P.s. Ref shocking but don't think he decided the game. Poyet and Wiggins were the two who stood out to me last night, Wiggins will be a big miss. If we go down say goodbye to any chance of Poyet staying.
Read ALL posts...............feel like hanging myself !!!
Can't really add anything else than what has already been said - was quietly confident up until yesterday afternoon when I read on here that we had only beaten them once in about 7 games (and that was the 6-0 thrashing last year) and then the seeds of doubt began to sprout when I saw the team........wtf ?? I have been fairly happy with JR up until now but that was a major rickett leaving AA , MM & Reza on the bench and not playing Wilson in the position we have are been crying out for him to play all season.
Last Wed I was very optimistic we would stay up - now I think we are gone unless a miracle happens and Bolton, Blackburn & Watford all suddenly forget how to score. The really annoying thing is that just 3 or 4 more points could be enough to stay up as Blackpool & Donny may not pick up many more points & I fear that we are really going to rue last night as those 3 points could have made all the difference between staying up & going down.
I think everyone remembers the goals against, one was bad defending the other a fluke, Barnsley were appalling and a tad lucky. They will go down. The first 20 mins we looked good and played some nice football (its all relative remember), but once we conceded we lost our shape and discipline. Jacko came close and Poyet as well right from 2nd half KO. It just got worse and Rigas decision to bring on Reza instead of AA was bad. The game was crying out for someone creative in midfield. It got worse and worse and I have to confess that I left at 85 mins, I couldn't take any more. I have to say, and its the first time I have thought it all season, that we will be relegated. We don't have the skill, strength or luck to stay up.
A few people on here are defending Harriott's performance based on the fact he was played on the wrong wing. I'm sorry, but this cannot be allowed to stand. Harriott's problem wasn't that he was a left footed player being asked to do a right footer's job, it's that he was failing to meet the most basic requirements of his job. Solly played the ball up the line, Callum let it dribble out for a throw. Cousins played the ball across the midfield, Callum let it dribble out of play. A great cross came in for Callum to put away (or at least get on target) a totally free header, Callum glances it off the pitch. Callum gets the chance to play a simple ball, knocks it to their left back, who the Barnsley fan I was with said is a total liability. Harriott's performance was one of the worst I've seen, and I hate digging out our players, but amongst the breathtaking incompetence of that match, his inability to perform basic motor functions was astonishing.
I thought Riga took Harriott off just as he had started to improve. Might not have been a brilliant decision
Think Riga is a waste of time, but by that stage the crowd were all over Harriott. Riga waved to the sub to strip off after yet another feeble effort by Harriott and although he then showed his only two moments where he looked like a professional fooballer but it was way too little too late.
Comments
Except it was Riga who picked Wood ahead of Morro and Harriot ahead of Wilson, which makes it poor judgment IMO.
Boardroom upheaval, managerial upheaval, lack of investment in the first team squad, a dreadful pitch, selling two of our best players, bringing in players who couldn't even make the bench for the Barnsley game (Petrucci, Parszyszek) and a forward line that is the most toothless I've seen in all the time I've been coming.
There are some bright lights: Poyet, Cousins and more to come from the Academy. But we won't be able to keep good prospects if we're in the third tier next season.
Last night was truly awful. Very few redeeming features.
To the manager, please, please put out the best team you can against Bolton. No players out of position and no players "rested". It's getting serious.
Harriot like Church should be nowhere near the team.
When a point would not have been the end of the world we played far to open again, we just do not have the ability upfront to put the ball away.
Can not understand why Wilson did not start in place of Harriott and why Wood was in for Morrison in such a huge game, if players needed a rest this was not the game, if they where dropped then this manager sucks.
Sad to say I struggle to see how we will stay up under Riga, he has had his honeymoon period and looked a man lost last night.
The ref like so many was mugged with constant time wasting, the bloke clearly didn't have a clue, but then again we could have played till Friday & wouldn't have scored again.
Well I'm not 100% but have read Morrison was ill and Wilson has still got the problem with he's eye I guess . Fine margins wood missed a sitter at one end and loses he's man for their goal.
If we are incapable of scoring then we should be trying to keep a clean sheet. When they have a player up for a set piece who looks like something out of 300, why the fuck is he left to get a free header?
We put it behind us and look to the next game, but I hope mistakes have been learned from, as if we play like that for the remaining games it'll be 3rd tier in a few months.
I've enjoyed Riga so far but that was one monumental feck up of a team selection. OK, I don't know what knocks etc people were carrying but if people needed a rest they should have had it on Saturday for a game we were unlikely to get anything out of. I simply cannot understand why we experimented/rested/rotated/generally fucked about with the team for a game that had we won were virtually safe against the worst team I have seen at the valley in several years. Our best 11 in their proper positions would have pissed that last night.
It's all been said, but criticising Harriott for being shite on the right wing is like beating your dog because it cant play the piano. He was dire though (sorry, couldn't resist).
I have only seen Polish Pete for about Ten minutes and have no view. however, can someone please explain by what possible logic or comparative analysis can he be worse than Sordell, Obika or Church? I am 49, a tad on the meaty side with a dodgy ticker and unable to see a foot in front of me without my Gregg's and I could do better that any of those clowns right now!
We lacked nothing in desire. But that teamselection was simply bizarre. It's the stuff that conspiracy theories are made of. And the substitutions just beggared belief. Powell would have been slaughtered for any of that last night.
The really annoying thing is that Barnsley were just awful. I must say I didn't think the ref was anywhere near as bad as others have said. Mind you I didn't see th last ten minutes. We got our fair share of the 50-50s at least until half time and I thought on another day Cousins could have been sent off. I refer to previous comment about my eyesight should others decide that I'm wrong.
It is still in our own hands remarkable though that is. But I fear last night was the turning point. I have felt for several weeks that we would be ok but now I think we are doomed. I have my ST for next year and I'm looking forward to a fresh start whatever that brings. But last night finished me off for this season. At this moment I have no desire to part with another 24 quid on Friday to watch another team selection experiment or a pile of shite from our forwards. I may relent by then, but I haven't woken up this. Morning feeling any better about it than I did last night.
Oh and by the way, Yann doesnt f###### play for us any more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Riga should not have left Morro and Wilson on the bench , this was a massive game and no matter how tired they are, we should have started with our best team available.
We played pretty well for the first half and didn't deserve to go in at half time losing. Harriet was awful, but I felt for the young man when the crowd got on his back. Sordell, well it's all been said, thank god he can't play against Bolton.
How did Hamer let the second goal in, I'm speechless!
I have tried to stay positive, but I just can't see how we are going to score the goals to stay up, but this is the rollercoaster ride that is supporting Charlton, we'll probably take 6 points from the two Easter games! lol
On the way out of the ground last night, my 7 year old grandson said to me
''Grandad, if we lose again, I'm going to support another team''
Me:- ''well I'll have to find another little boy to use your season ticket next year then''
Grandson:- ''no I mean I'll support the under 21's!''
Made me chuckle on a very frustrating night.
This is what I mean by pig-headed. I can fully accept the sale of Stephens, on the basis that home grown youngsters were coming through in the centre midfield slots, and a -presumably cheap - creative midfielder was available through the network. Albeit with serious questions about his fitness. Worth doing, when money is short.
But in the case of YK it seems to have been a case of 'sell an old striker for x, replace him with a young striker whose value will increase, hey, we all win'. Except that nobody apparently stopped to get suitable professional evaluations of the relative current capabilities of the two players.
Like I said, I don't propose to heap blame on Riga. If Riga had Yann to select rather than PP, I reckon we would be 3-4 points ahead of where we are now. My problem with a lot of fans, both on here and elsewhere, is that they look for scapegoats, be it the manager or individual players (today it is Callum Harriott's turn). The real problems are rarely focused on one individual and can usually be traced back to decisions made off the pitch or training ground.
For me, a manager shuffling the pack and crossing his fingers.
Piggot went off injured on Monday, and Piotr was nowhere to be seen. Anil Koc makes Danny Green look like John Barnes.
I am developing a dangerous obsession regarding Reza, which very much puts me in mind of the old fairy tale 'The Emperors new Clothes'.
Last night I found myself thinking these are circumstances made for Yann, but I know I need to move on.
I am very very annoyed with myself for buying two season tickets for next season last Tuesday, so now you all know I am a mug it would be best to discount my opinions.
Terrible team selection from Riga. I understand resting Wilson with a view to him coming on in place of Solly. But playing Harriott on the right simply does not work and was obviously still not working within a matter of minutes of the start of the game. And yet it was, what, 55 minutes, before a change was made, putting Harriott on the left where he actually looked decent for the couple of minutes he was allowed to play there before taking him off. Reza looked far, far better on the right than Harriott ever does and I would have liked him to have a chance there with Solly still on the pitch.
Adjarevic being introduced so late when we're losing a must win game is mystifying. Dropping Morrison for Wood was a mistake, although I generally have nothing against Wood.
Losing a game that we dominated and that was vital for us is absolutely sickening. Really worried about us now.
I remarked recently on another topic and was poo pooed for my opinions, that the team lacks that little bit of consistent edge and all out effort, their collective bottle and will to win is not what it should be ... how much of this is due to the departure of Powell as well as Stephens and Kermorgant will never be known.
What is known is that unless the team and management get stuck in more and find some form and confidence, the prospect of relegation is becoming ever more real.
Lets hope in the summer we have a lot of movement in and out, half of the first eleven are not good enough for the Championship even at their best.
We actually passed the ball into fit to Obika and Sordell. I certainly noticed them getting on the ball more than any previous games. Of course what let us down was their inability to turn that possession into goalscoring opportunities.
Besides from that, I thought everyone played quite well barring Harriott.
Ajdaravic not starting didn't make any sense whatsoever.
Barnsley were dreadful. How on earth they managed to put two past us I will never understand.
Solly Morrison Dervite Wiggins
Cousins Poyet
Wilson Stephens Stewart
Kermorgant
And then I remembered....
Bizarre team selection. Would have preferred to see this line up against Brighton and then used the Brighton/Yeovil line up for last night. Not sure who's tired etc but management needed to prioritize for last nights game.
Started very well, several golden opportunities wasted. As soon as we concede one goal it all goes to pot (as per), fail to control the game for long periods thereafter. Second goal killed us, I was in North Upper and am yet to see a replay so not really any clue as to whose fault it was or how it went in.
Substitutions were either too late or the wrong ones. Harriott should have been taken off at HT (due to his performance and to protect him from the crowd), AA and Wilson introduced too late.
I was so sure we would win last night giving us a massive chance of survival in the process. Now it's a complete lottery, we simply cannot create or score. By goals scored we have the worst forward line in all four divisions of English football. Barnsley (as noted by others) were one of the most tin pot teams I have seen at the Valley in years and yet they still came away with 3 points. The only saving grace is that Yeovil, Barnsley, Millwall, Charlton and Blackpool are all as useless as each other.
P.s. Ref shocking but don't think he decided the game. Poyet and Wiggins were the two who stood out to me last night, Wiggins will be a big miss. If we go down say goodbye to any chance of Poyet staying.
Can't really add anything else than what has already been said - was quietly confident up until yesterday afternoon when I read on here that we had only beaten them once in about 7 games (and that was the 6-0 thrashing last year) and then the seeds of doubt began to sprout when I saw the team........wtf ?? I have been fairly happy with JR up until now but that was a major rickett leaving AA , MM & Reza on the bench and not playing Wilson in the position we have are been crying out for him to play all season.
Last Wed I was very optimistic we would stay up - now I think we are gone unless a miracle happens and Bolton, Blackburn & Watford all suddenly forget how to score. The really annoying thing is that just 3 or 4 more points could be enough to stay up as Blackpool & Donny may not pick up many more points & I fear that we are really going to rue last night as those 3 points could have made all the difference between staying up & going down.
The first 20 mins we looked good and played some nice football (its all relative remember), but once we conceded we lost our shape and discipline. Jacko came close and Poyet as well right from 2nd half KO.
It just got worse and Rigas decision to bring on Reza instead of AA was bad. The game was crying out for someone creative in midfield. It got worse and worse and I have to confess that I left at 85 mins, I couldn't take any more.
I have to say, and its the first time I have thought it all season, that we will be relegated. We don't have the skill, strength or luck to stay up.