We just don't go anymore, we won't renew either. It just sticks in the gullet that a multi millionaire wants to turn a profit by wrecking our Charlton and making us thoroughly miserable. We listen to every game and that's about all we can cope with. Sorry, but our feeling is that giving RD your money will only encourage him.
Not for the first time this season we managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory but you would have to say that on the balance of play Rotherham deserved at least a draw. What is more worrying is that this was again mostly a lacklustre and lifeless display with most of our players showing that they are either out of sorts, not good enough or both. With Millwall getting a late win at Forest and now only 6 points behind we are undoubtably now in a relegation battle, if we weren't already. Can't understand why Watt didn't start as I thought again he had an impact when he came on, lets just hope we can get enough points to stay out of trouble, but I am far from confident.
One of the (many) problems is the lack of width. We always play through the centre, looking for the killer through ball and it's soooo predictable. Cousins and JBG are on the "wrong" sides so they always move inside and it seems the full backs aren't encouraged to get forward.
Agree with you about the lack of width! You only really see the benefit of inverted wingers if the full backs are given the freedom to get forward and overlap. Dor most of this season the reason they havent is the lack of a decent CDM and the failure to play cousins in this role even if ita not his best position. A CDM can drop in and cover for the fullbacks when they get forward as Poyet did so well! Hopefully the spurs lad can do this role! Part of the problem at the moment is confidence.. If slash when that returns they will be more likely to get forward! I hope!
When will we ever learn? A nothingness of a 1st half that they shaded, then we step it up 2nd half, play the game in their half and get a goal out of nothing with 10 to go. So what do we do? Carry on doing what has served us well in the 2nd half and stay on the front foot. No. We drop back, allow them to have the ball and regain the initiative. Thereafter they create several good chances and get a deserved equaliser in injury time. Pathetic. How many fucking dropped points will it take for them to realise that defending a 1 goal lead in this manner is a fucking recipe for disaster. Shufflers.
Just a mostly dull game between two poorish teams, only Rotherham are actually a 'team' unlike us. We are a group of individuals, not a team, and that's why I'm really finding it difficult to care anymore. I just don't feel any sense of loyalty towards nearly all these players.
Vetakele needs a rest. Dunno if he's still not fully fit but he has no confidence and everything he tried to do today failed. He was woeful and the idiots who thought he shouldn't have been subbed clearly don't know what they're doing themselves. Yes Harriott was also pants but he was slightly less pants than vetakale.
Bikey needs to sort his head out. He's clearly p'd off and becoming a liability. Twice in the first half he blatantly shoved over a Rotherham player in the box. Another day and he would have cost us at least one penalty.
Ah well, only 'Boro, Norwich and Brentford over the coming week. Should be fun.
Disagree that Rotherham were the worst team at The Valley this season.
Blackpool, Brighton & Millwall were far worse.
Rotherham were pretty direct but they got the ball into our box a lot more than they should have. This is exactly what Charlton should be doing at the opposition end - we are simply not getting the ball into the oppo box enough.
Gudmundsson & Solly our best two.
Watt looks promising and hope he can get up to the required fitness level soon.
Thought we might have snatched a victory but as soon as Harriot went off, to be replaced by Gomez, I instinctively knew we were inviting trouble.
Heard that 2 Newcastle scouts have watched our last few games and my money's on them having JBG as a target - he is a very good footballer.
My big, big issue with this team is what the fook are we doing with our defending of set pieces and aerial balls in general? We have two of the best CB's in the division but as soon as the ball comes in from the flanks - and usually deep crosses, we are buggered. The full backs MUST play a role in defending these - it happens so often that the coaching staff must be either blind or daft - or both.
My lad reckons I'm wrong on the Newcastle scouts' target being JBG - he reckons it's more likely to be Gomez - may be a good call?
Lost for words. There's only one way we're heading and that's down. Luzon says he wants two more players. On that performance we need about 10 ... Just not good enough
We don't play like a proper team. The first half was utterly dire, again: the same sad litany of misplaced passes - straight out of play - miscontrolled balls, and 50-50 challenges that in our case has been a misnomer for the last three years: with our physical weakness we win about one in five.
The midfielders of decent teams buzz around the opposition when they have the ball: one will make a challenge and the others scrap and support. No-one expects the whole team to be in synch for 90 minutes, but we are technically unable to make patterns of play along one wing or the other, either by rehearsed moves or by intuition. Vetokele and Harriott are miles apart, strangers misunderstood by themselves.
Tony Watt's late cameo against Brighton suggested that he has quick control and an eye for goal; why not play him right from the start? Like Peeters before him, our new manager is miles below the level of experience, intelligence and authority we demand for Charlton. Luzon, jumping up and down on the touchline in his anorak, looks like a teenage tourist, unable to speak the language and overawed by a day-out in London.
We were playing poor lowly Rotherham, and we haven't won at home for three-and-a-half months. In the second half we upped the tempo a notch, yet were ragged and unthreatening, still. Time to throw the kitchen sink at the opposition - a solid enamel farmhouse trough might work, but all we could muster was a pink plastic washing-up bowl, half-price from Poundland.
We were bloody lucky to escape with a point. This is piss-poor.
Whenever gud or cousins get the ball they can't take their man on, they come back inside allowing their defender to get set. We NEVER get behind teams it's all played in front. It's so basic and boring to watch.
How can no one on our coaching staff/Roland see this. Gud has a trick and a lovely left foot, let him dazzle their right back, get to the bye line and pull one back for watt/Igor, get their centre backs running backwards rather than sipping up the easy shitty weak balls through the centre.
Also a centre midfielder needs to get further up the pitch than the centre circle. The one time they did this (our new belgian hero) we scored.
250ish mile round trip to see that horrific excuse for a performance. It gets harder and harder to stay motivated. The entire team looks completely unsettled and I'm struggling to see how Luzon is going to turn that around. Poor results are one thing, but it's the lack of performance that is the most worrying. Four of our next five matches are against teams inside the top eight and whilst usually I would feel comfortable that we would pick up a shock result or two (we often play better against the better teams), I have no confidence in the team right now. Credit to Rotherham, they at least had a go. They might not be the best technically but you can see them out there working for each other. They just lack the quality.
there was totally no desire --- none--all 50/50 balls were lost ,assuming there was any attempt to win in the first place !
in all the years i have been going to hear a new manager greeted with " you dont know what your doing " when he subbed Igor was stunning but i didnt disagree !
If Jackson`s legs have gone the Lepont`s went 5 years ago--- dear lord the mis control and time lapse photo of him "running" after it was truly toe curling awful
far to many of "our" players dont give a shit--and sorry Roland there you have it they DONT GIVE A SHIT about MY football club.
feed people shit and they wont go. game after game where players dont give a f--k and they will stop going---you can actually FEEL people thinking "why did i bother" the crowds will not be there and only mugs like me will wander down there to remember when we had a TEAM a fecking team all be it a shit TEAM
Whenever gud or cousins get the ball they can't take their man on, they come back inside allowing their defender to get set. We NEVER get behind teams it's all played in front. It's so basic and boring to watch.
How can no one on our coaching staff/Roland see this. Gud has a trick and a lovely left foot, let him dazzle their right back, get to the bye line and pull one back for watt/Igor, get their centre backs running backwards rather than sipping up the easy shitty weak balls through the centre.
Also a centre midfielder needs to get further up the pitch than the centre circle. The one time they did this (our new belgian hero) we scored.
Oh and they need to give a shit
Have thought on the same lines for some time but I've come to the conclusion that the game at this level and above has moved on so much that full backs have now become coached to deal with the ball down the line - even Gareth Bale struggled in the Prem when playing on his natural left side. All it takes is for the full back to sit tight to the line and it naturally forces the winger inside. Much of this is due to the removal of the obstruction law and development of Blocking - a part of the game which I find totally cynical - but it's here to stay.
It would take an overlapping full back or a midfielder to play the diagonal ball between the CB and full back onto the runner. This is something we should be doing much more but we risk losing possession and having a full back out of position and we also underestimate the pace of defending full backs these days - it is becoming increasingly rare to find a super fast winger who can skin a full back for pace.
So, the left footed wide man plays from the right and the right footed from the left.
What we should probably see more of is the full back making the run down the line when the wide man is coming inside - that way he's creating width, drawing a defender or two wide and encouraging either the diagonal ball wide from the midfield to the flank or, a dummy to do so, allowing a quick, short forward pass behind the centre backs to a fast striker who's been sitting on the shoulder of the CB.
First game since November for me and, once I'd run the fairly predictable gauntlet of the guys around me offering to show me to my seat in case I didn't know where it was, they told me I hadn't missed much.
On the evidence of today I can well believe them. On and off the pitch there seemed no oomph or desire. A guy near me is prone to the occasional loud rant and if ever one was justified today was the day. He said to me on the way out "I came with no expectations at all so I wouldn't be disappointed yet Charlton still manage to piss me off."
I think that sums up my feelings admirably. The overriding impression from the virtually empty directors' box, sparsely populated stands (14,448 my arse!) and the lethargy on the pitch is that nobody really gives a toss any more.
We are fast freefalling into a relegation scrap and with the attitude we showed today we will go down.
Too many players didn't want the ball and there was absolutely no urgency to push forward and put Rotherham's defence under pressure. If one didn't know who the home team was it would have been difficult to guess.
Very few bright spots for me. Dimitrovic got over his defeat by Andy Murray to make a couple of decent saves and Jordan Cousins got a well deserved goal for his persistence despite not being at his best. Harriott worked hard but to little effect.
Just so depressing. We don't create enough chances and we're not good at taking the ones we do create. Players don't look confident, the atmosphere isn't good. It's looking like a relegation season in that we kind of compete but in the end the squad just isn't good enough.
Why can't Watt play an hour then come off? Why are we continuing with Harriott as a striker? Why wasn't Church on the bench? He's not the answer when it comes to goals but there's no need to have Onyewu, Fox, Wilson and Gomez all on the bench. If not Church then why not KAG? If Igor isn't fit why continue to start him?
Stupid substitution at the end. Watt had no chance of winning and keeping the ball on his own against their back four. Sometimes it can work if you can get the ball into a player that can hold it up and then support him, but not the way we tried to do it.
I don't think it's a lack of effort, the team even with some individual players isn't up to it. Dmitrovic did well enough, barely tested, can remember one good save. Bit frustrated at his kicking, a number that he got so much distance on we literally gave it straight back to Rotherham. The back four do their defensive job most of the time but because of the weaknesses ahead of them they're under more pressure than than they should be which leads to us conceding.
In midfield we're not creative enough, but we also seem to lack a bit of strength and aggression. I don't see them either playing or working their way out of this, we're missing something in there, the balance doesn't feel right. JBG never seems too involved in games. Buyens tidy enough on the ball but not great at winning the ball, but neither is he much of a threat going forwards. Veljkovic did his job fairly well and is clearly not there to create. Cousins out of position, has all been said before.
To be fair the midfield is affected by the problems up front. Harriott could barely control the ball at times. Vetokele seems to have gone the same way, poor touches and decisions mean we lose the ball or don't create a chance when we should. The lack of a physical presence up front is causing problems for the whole team.
Had to put £10 on us to go down after that. It wasn't the worst performance I've seen but today had the feel of a team that just won't quite have enough to stay up. Hopefully betting on relegation will be enough to force those potential signings to go through and actually be players that improve the team. We desperately need that target man and ideally something extra in midfield (and if no one comes in we need Bulot or Moussa to step up and give us something once available). The way things are going I expect both move will fall through.
Even if we do get players in, my concern is there's a lot less focus on good characters, how players fit together, all which is part of building confidence and team spirit. Instead we're sent Liege's bad signings and players from Hungary that someone thinks can do a job. While I think Watt could well for us there's a reason Celtic were willing to sell him to Liege relatively cheaply.
I've written more enough now but it's just so depressing. I suppose we've just got to accept it though, haven't we Katrien.
Just so depressing. We don't create enough chances and we're not good at taking the ones we do create. Players don't look confident, the atmosphere isn't good. It's looking like a relegation season in that we kind of compete but in the end the squad just isn't good enough.
Why can't Watt play an hour then come off? Why are we continuing with Harriott as a striker? Why wasn't Church on the bench? He's not the answer when it comes to goals but there's no need to have Onyewu, Fox, Wilson and Gomez all on the bench. If not Church then why not KAG? If Igor isn't fit why continue to start him?
Stupid substitution at the end. Watt had no chance of winning and keeping the ball on his own against their back four. Sometimes it can work if you can get the ball into a player that can hold it up and then support him, but not the way we tried to do it.
I don't think it's a lack of effort, the team even with some individual players isn't up to it. Dmitrovic did well enough, barely tested, can remember one good save. Bit frustrated at his kicking, a number that he got so much distance on we literally gave it straight back to Rotherham. The back four do their defensive job most of the time but because of the weaknesses ahead of them they're under more pressure than than they should be which leads to us conceding.
In midfield we're not creative enough, but we also seem to lack a bit of strength and aggression. I don't see them either playing or working their way out of this, we're missing something in there, the balance doesn't feel right. JBG never seems too involved in games. Buyens tidy enough on the ball but not great at winning the ball, but neither is he much of a threat going forwards. Veljkovic did his job fairly well and is clearly not there to create. Cousins out of position, has all been said before.
To be fair the midfield is affected by the problems up front. Harriott could barely control the ball at times. Vetokele seems to have gone the same way, poor touches and decisions mean we lose the ball or don't create a chance when we should. The lack of a physical presence up front is causing problems for the whole team.
Had to put £10 on us to go down after that. It wasn't the worst performance I've seen but today had the feel of a team that just won't quite have enough to stay up. Hopefully betting on relegation will be enough to force those potential signings to go through and actually be players that improve the team. We desperately need that target man and ideally something extra in midfield (and if no one comes in we need Bulot or Moussa to step up and give us something once available). The way things are going I expect both move will fall through.
Even if we do get players in, my concern is there's a lot less focus on good characters, how players fit together, all which is part of building confidence and team spirit. Instead we're sent Liege's bad signings and players from Hungary that someone thinks can do a job. While I think Watt could well for us there's a reason Celtic were willing to sell him to Liege relatively cheaply.
I've written more enough now but it's just so depressing. I suppose we've just got to accept it though, haven't we Katrien.<</b>/blockquote>
Excellent post as ever Scoham.
All I'd dispute is your last two sentences. We may have a Stepford CEO but we do not have to be Stepford supporters.<
Wasn't there today and am truly thankful for that, based on these comments. Sounds a bit like Luzon again played not to lose, rather than to win. The optimist in me thinks that maybe he will be more adventurous if he manages to bring in another striker.
But the realist in me thinks the optimist in me is a wanker.
Just watched MOTD and Everton just cheered me up. Our head coach was probably happy with the point ....he certainly set the team up for a draw today . Four across the back, four across the middle and two small men running around to no avail up front. As the game went on the penny dropped that Rotherham weren't up to much. Swopped it around up front, get goal through our best player. Sit back and give it away at the death. Same old, same old.
First 10 minutes Rotherham battered us, then the team got back into shape but never looked like they were going to score. Thought this would end 0-0, so was surprised when Cousins scored. And not really surprised when they equalised. Wondered why I came today apart from having a s/t and living locally. I was the only person sitting on my row. The row behind was sparser than normal as we compared the reasons that our kids had come up with not to come. Our next home games are Brentford and Norwich, preceded by MIddlesbrough away, then Wigan away, and then Football for a fiver (which we usually lose) against Huddersfield. Only Wigan looks like it might give us any points on current performances. No spirit or fight or team in this team. Does not bode well
I don't really see why RD is different from any other owner who isn't a club supporter. They almost always make changes that fans don't like, some worse than others. Is it a European thing? Is it his claimed socialism (laughable for a multimillionaire businessman to claim to be socialist IMO, but there you go, he didn't ask me)? I really don't think we are in a unique position.
But really, the boring boring determination to be so f****ng mediocre which has been going on for as long as I can remember, owners come and go, managers come and go, "star players" come and go, but Charlton seem to have the ability to remain f****ng dull underachievers apart from the very very occasional high point. And I don't want any more dull underachievement in my life than I have to have. If I'm lucky I've maybe got another 30 years. That is the most precious thing, and it will be over soon enough. Unless you go with Catvch 22's Dunbar who believes that his life last longer the more boring it is and so avoids excitement. Sorry if this is a whinge, but I'm actually starting to think that I'm out.
Watt is absolutely useless missed an easy chance at Wolves last week and was crap this week. The north stand singing his name cause it rhymes, really... Vetokele and Harriot are much better players. Cousins should be player of the season. We are not that bad we will be safe.
I don't really see why RD is different from any other owner who isn't a club supporter. They almost always make changes that fans don't like, some worse than others. Is it a European thing? Is it his claimed socialism (laughable for a multimillionaire businessman to claim to be socialist IMO, but there you go, he didn't ask me)? I really don't think we are in a unique position.
But really, the boring boring determination to be so f****ng mediocre which has been going on for as long as I can remember, owners come and go, managers come and go, "star players" come and go, but Charlton seem to have the ability to remain f****ng dull underachievers apart from the very very occasional high point. And I don't want any more dull underachievement in my life than I have to have. If I'm lucky I've maybe got another 30 years. That is the most precious thing, and it will be over soon enough. Unless you go with Catvch 22's Dunbar who believes that his life last longer the more boring it is and so avoids excitement. Sorry if this is a whinge, but I'm actually starting to think that I'm out.
Roland is different because he wants to choose who plays. That's why he has to have a puppet as head coach, and if they don't take his orders he will move them on.
Are you really sure of that? It is not what seemed to happen at the end of last season and under Peeters would he really have told him to play Solly in midfield.
Someone needs to get in Roland's ear and let him know how much he has, and continues to, underestimate the Championship. The players and coaches brought in under his reign have largely been inadequate.
The Gent fan on here recently said how confident he was that Gent would beat us. That seems to be the prevailing attitude in Belgium, that we are a two bob club, and leads to inadequate players coming in because on paper they are up to the job. May be unfair to judge LePoint at this stage, but AGAIN he looks like another player shocked by the pace and the reality of English/Championship football and he looks too slow to make up for it. I can accept a player needing to adapt, but spending money on another player who struggles to control a football is not acceptable.
Roland and Guy need to realise that the Championship is far more competitive than what second rate disinterested Belgian players can provide us. And they need to realise that we're not some second rate second division European club. IMHO these guys don't know what they've invested in - we are a big club by European second division standards and we are a club that demands more than what we are being given.
Another point - if any other club failed to make any mention of a new coach on their first appearance for fear of boos, and if another club had a head coach sung "you don't know what you're doing" at on their first home game we would be pissing ourselves. This is the position WE'RE in.
God speed Jordan Cousins, Chris Solly and Johnnie Jackson. Because those three will do far more for the future of our club from now until the end of the season than any of the jokers in the dugout upwards.
I agree with most of that what other European country has upwards of 100 professional clubs. Leige average 24,500 and we would currently be 6th in their premier league.
Bikey = for 5 or 6 games he looked a decent player. Now I am honestly struggling to believe he hasn't got a massive bet on us getting relegated. \despite dis general play being appalling, his handball was quite ridiculous, no attempt to jump either on the header that Dimitrovic made that great save or their goal. And that's not mentioning his obvious disruptive influence in the team. It's quite obvious he hates most of our team and they hate him . F**K BikEY you are an utter disgrace
If you care about our club then I would suggest that maybe we should be despondent. And then work out what you can do about it. Some would say not much right now except wait for the wheels to fall off!
I don't need to wait ten games nor until August as the writing is on the wall.
1) We are playing the return half of the season and we've been completely found out. No number 9. Gudmundsson doesn't get to cut in and shoot or pass anymore because he is our only attacking threat and is marked / closed down every time. Nothing down the left. And Lepoint - why?!
2) It is clear now that there is no one in charge with the requisite football knowledge. Duchatelet either thinks he knows enough and/or is scared to get someone with influence and knowledge to direct things here and at Liege.
3) Nothing against players coming and going from the network but someone should have identified what we needed to start winning games and then go out and sign them FFS.
Sorry to break the news but every one of our opponents is going to think we are a soft touch from now on in. I'm not saying we have a divine right to beat Rotherham but that was poor and, as plenty have stated, devoid of any inspiration. We've now failed to beat them, Blackpool and Millwall at home. There was nothing today that we haven't seen throughout the last few months. Nothing there!
It's starting to look like Jiminez and Slater knew more about how to run the football side of the club than Duchatelet. These random signings and complete failure to improve the attacking threat after a year in charge makes Duchatelet's decision to buy the club look more weird every week.
Why sink in £20m+ to end up with this outcome one year down the road? We are 18th again which is where Riga left us in May.
But I would maintain we are in a much worse place because of the direction of travel. And last season we were able to beat clubs at the bottom. This season we are a known entity with a board who are "trying to do something a little different". That appears to ignore the fundamentals in that you need attacking threat to make chances, chances to make goals and goals win games.
And to build that takes cash, an experienced talented coach plus leadership at the club. What some have known for a while but was cruelly exposed by the Luzon appointment and the "interview on the train" is that we have no leadership at the club. Just an administrative puppet who executes the actions requested by someone playing championship manager with us in another country.
Sure this is a shift change for my commentary. But until November 2014 I could see rational decisions and progress. Now I just see an owner out of his depth who is either too arrogant and/or lacks insight to appoint a director of football / head coach who has the technical ability, gravitas and experience to make something happen.
Riga delivered and was shown the door - says it all!
Comments
So what do we do? Carry on doing what has served us well in the 2nd half and stay on the front foot. No. We drop back, allow them to have the ball and regain the initiative. Thereafter they create several good chances and get a deserved equaliser in injury time. Pathetic.
How many fucking dropped points will it take for them to realise that defending a 1 goal lead in this manner is a fucking recipe for disaster. Shufflers.
We are a group of individuals, not a team, and that's why I'm really finding it difficult to care anymore. I just don't feel any sense of loyalty towards nearly all these players.
Vetakele needs a rest. Dunno if he's still not fully fit but he has no confidence and everything he tried to do today failed. He was woeful and the idiots who thought he shouldn't have been subbed clearly don't know what they're doing themselves. Yes Harriott was also pants but he was slightly less pants than vetakale.
Bikey needs to sort his head out. He's clearly p'd off and becoming a liability. Twice in the first half he blatantly shoved over a Rotherham player in the box. Another day and he would have cost us at least one penalty.
Ah well, only 'Boro, Norwich and Brentford over the coming week. Should be fun.
The midfielders of decent teams buzz around the opposition when they have the ball: one will make a challenge and the others scrap and support. No-one expects the whole team to be in synch for 90 minutes, but we are technically unable to make patterns of play along one wing or the other, either by rehearsed moves or by intuition. Vetokele and Harriott are miles apart, strangers misunderstood by themselves.
Tony Watt's late cameo against Brighton suggested that he has quick control and an eye for goal; why not play him right from the start? Like Peeters before him, our new manager is miles below the level of experience, intelligence and authority we demand for Charlton. Luzon, jumping up and down on the touchline in his anorak, looks like a teenage tourist, unable to speak the language and overawed by a day-out in London.
We were playing poor lowly Rotherham, and we haven't won at home for three-and-a-half months. In the second half we upped the tempo a notch, yet were ragged and unthreatening, still. Time to throw the kitchen sink at the opposition - a solid enamel farmhouse trough might work, but all we could muster was a pink plastic washing-up bowl, half-price from Poundland.
We were bloody lucky to escape with a point. This is piss-poor.
Whenever gud or cousins get the ball they can't take their man on, they come back inside allowing their defender to get set. We NEVER get behind teams it's all played in front. It's so basic and boring to watch.
How can no one on our coaching staff/Roland see this. Gud has a trick and a lovely left foot, let him dazzle their right back, get to the bye line and pull one back for watt/Igor, get their centre backs running backwards rather than sipping up the easy shitty weak balls through the centre.
Also a centre midfielder needs to get further up the pitch than the centre circle. The one time they did this (our new belgian hero) we scored.
Oh and they need to give a shit
in all the years i have been going to hear a new manager greeted with " you dont know what your doing " when he subbed Igor was stunning but i didnt disagree !
If Jackson`s legs have gone the Lepont`s went 5 years ago--- dear lord the mis control and time lapse photo of him "running" after it was truly toe curling awful
far to many of "our" players dont give a shit--and sorry Roland there you have it they DONT GIVE A SHIT about MY football club.
feed people shit and they wont go. game after game where players dont give a f--k and they will stop going---you can actually FEEL people thinking "why did i bother" the crowds will not be there and only mugs like me will wander down there to remember when we had a TEAM a fecking team all be it a shit TEAM
All it takes is for the full back to sit tight to the line and it naturally forces the winger inside. Much of this is due to the removal of the obstruction law and development of Blocking - a part of the game which I find totally cynical - but it's here to stay.
It would take an overlapping full back or a midfielder to play the diagonal ball between the CB and full back onto the runner. This is something we should be doing much more but we risk losing possession and having a full back out of position and we also underestimate the pace of defending full backs these days - it is becoming increasingly rare to find a super fast winger who can skin a full back for pace.
So, the left footed wide man plays from the right and the right footed from the left.
What we should probably see more of is the full back making the run down the line when the wide man is coming inside - that way he's creating width, drawing a defender or two wide and encouraging either the diagonal ball wide from the midfield to the flank or, a dummy to do so, allowing a quick, short forward pass behind the centre backs to a fast striker who's been sitting on the shoulder of the CB.
First game since November for me and, once I'd run the fairly predictable gauntlet of the guys around me offering to show me to my seat in case I didn't know where it was, they told me I hadn't missed much.
On the evidence of today I can well believe them. On and off the pitch there seemed no oomph or desire. A guy near me is prone to the occasional loud rant and if ever one was justified today was the day. He said to me on the way out "I came with no expectations at all so I wouldn't be disappointed yet Charlton still manage to piss me off."
I think that sums up my feelings admirably. The overriding impression from the virtually empty directors' box, sparsely populated stands (14,448 my arse!) and the lethargy on the pitch is that nobody really gives a toss any more.
We are fast freefalling into a relegation scrap and with the attitude we showed today we will go down.
Too many players didn't want the ball and there was absolutely no urgency to push forward and put Rotherham's defence under pressure. If one didn't know who the home team was it would have been difficult to guess.
Very few bright spots for me. Dimitrovic got over his defeat by Andy Murray to make a couple of decent saves and Jordan Cousins got a well deserved goal for his persistence despite not being at his best. Harriott worked hard but to little effect.
That's about it.
Why can't Watt play an hour then come off? Why are we continuing with Harriott as a striker? Why wasn't Church on the bench? He's not the answer when it comes to goals but there's no need to have Onyewu, Fox, Wilson and Gomez all on the bench. If not Church then why not KAG? If Igor isn't fit why continue to start him?
Stupid substitution at the end. Watt had no chance of winning and keeping the ball on his own against their back four. Sometimes it can work if you can get the ball into a player that can hold it up and then support him, but not the way we tried to do it.
I don't think it's a lack of effort, the team even with some individual players isn't up to it. Dmitrovic did well enough, barely tested, can remember one good save. Bit frustrated at his kicking, a number that he got so much distance on we literally gave it straight back to Rotherham. The back four do their defensive job most of the time but because of the weaknesses ahead of them they're under more pressure than than they should be which leads to us conceding.
In midfield we're not creative enough, but we also seem to lack a bit of strength and aggression. I don't see them either playing or working their way out of this, we're missing something in there, the balance doesn't feel right. JBG never seems too involved in games. Buyens tidy enough on the ball but not great at winning the ball, but neither is he much of a threat going forwards. Veljkovic did his job fairly well and is clearly not there to create. Cousins out of position, has all been said before.
To be fair the midfield is affected by the problems up front. Harriott could barely control the ball at times. Vetokele seems to have gone the same way, poor touches and decisions mean we lose the ball or don't create a chance when we should. The lack of a physical presence up front is causing problems for the whole team.
Had to put £10 on us to go down after that. It wasn't the worst performance I've seen but today had the feel of a team that just won't quite have enough to stay up. Hopefully betting on relegation will be enough to force those potential signings to go through and actually be players that improve the team. We desperately need that target man and ideally something extra in midfield (and if no one comes in we need Bulot or Moussa to step up and give us something once available). The way things are going I expect both move will fall through.
Even if we do get players in, my concern is there's a lot less focus on good characters, how players fit together, all which is part of building confidence and team spirit. Instead we're sent Liege's bad signings and players from Hungary that someone thinks can do a job. While I think Watt could well for us there's a reason Celtic were willing to sell him to Liege relatively cheaply.
I've written more enough now but it's just so depressing. I suppose we've just got to accept it though, haven't we Katrien.
But the realist in me thinks the optimist in me is a wanker.
Wondered why I came today apart from having a s/t and living locally. I was the only person sitting on my row. The row behind was sparser than normal as we compared the reasons that our kids had come up with not to come. Our next home games are Brentford and Norwich, preceded by MIddlesbrough away, then Wigan away, and then Football for a fiver (which we usually lose) against Huddersfield. Only Wigan looks like it might give us any points on current performances.
No spirit or fight or team in this team. Does not bode well
But really, the boring boring determination to be so f****ng mediocre which has been going on for as long as I can remember, owners come and go, managers come and go, "star players" come and go, but Charlton seem to have the ability to remain f****ng dull underachievers apart from the very very occasional high point. And I don't want any more dull underachievement in my life than I have to have. If I'm lucky I've maybe got another 30 years. That is the most precious thing, and it will be over soon enough. Unless you go with Catvch 22's Dunbar who believes that his life last longer the more boring it is and so avoids excitement.
Sorry if this is a whinge, but I'm actually starting to think that I'm out.
The north stand singing his name cause it rhymes, really...
Vetokele and Harriot are much better players. Cousins should be player of the season.
We are not that bad we will be safe.
The Gent fan on here recently said how confident he was that Gent would beat us. That seems to be the prevailing attitude in Belgium, that we are a two bob club, and leads to inadequate players coming in because on paper they are up to the job. May be unfair to judge LePoint at this stage, but AGAIN he looks like another player shocked by the pace and the reality of English/Championship football and he looks too slow to make up for it. I can accept a player needing to adapt, but spending money on another player who struggles to control a football is not acceptable.
Roland and Guy need to realise that the Championship is far more competitive than what second rate disinterested Belgian players can provide us. And they need to realise that we're not some second rate second division European club. IMHO these guys don't know what they've invested in - we are a big club by European second division standards and we are a club that demands more than what we are being given.
Another point - if any other club failed to make any mention of a new coach on their first appearance for fear of boos, and if another club had a head coach sung "you don't know what you're doing" at on their first home game we would be pissing ourselves. This is the position WE'RE in.
God speed Jordan Cousins, Chris Solly and Johnnie Jackson. Because those three will do far more for the future of our club from now until the end of the season than any of the jokers in the dugout upwards.
And that's not mentioning his obvious disruptive influence in the team. It's quite obvious he hates most of our team and they hate him .
F**K BikEY you are an utter disgrace
If we can't hold onto a slender lead against Rotherham for 10 minutes, then we have big trouble ahead.
As for Guy,........I can't understand a word he says.
I don't need to wait ten games nor until August as the writing is on the wall.
1) We are playing the return half of the season and we've been completely found out.
No number 9. Gudmundsson doesn't get to cut in and shoot or pass anymore because he is our only attacking threat and is marked / closed down every time. Nothing down the left. And Lepoint - why?!
2) It is clear now that there is no one in charge with the requisite football knowledge. Duchatelet either thinks he knows enough and/or is scared to get someone with influence and knowledge to direct things here and at Liege.
3) Nothing against players coming and going from the network but someone should have identified what we needed to start winning games and then go out and sign them FFS.
Sorry to break the news but every one of our opponents is going to think we are a soft touch from now on in. I'm not saying we have a divine right to beat Rotherham but that was poor and, as plenty have stated, devoid of any inspiration. We've now failed to beat them, Blackpool and Millwall at home. There was nothing today that we haven't seen throughout the last few months. Nothing there!
It's starting to look like Jiminez and Slater knew more about how to run the football side of the club than Duchatelet. These random signings and complete failure to improve the attacking threat after a year in charge makes Duchatelet's decision to buy the club look more weird every week.
Why sink in £20m+ to end up with this outcome one year down the road? We are 18th again which is where Riga left us in May.
But I would maintain we are in a much worse place because of the direction of travel. And last season we were able to beat clubs at the bottom. This season we are a known entity with a board who are "trying to do something a little different". That appears to ignore the fundamentals in that you need attacking threat to make chances, chances to make goals and goals win games.
And to build that takes cash, an experienced talented coach plus leadership at the club. What some have known for a while but was cruelly exposed by the Luzon appointment and the "interview on the train" is that we have no leadership at the club. Just an administrative puppet who executes the actions requested by someone playing championship manager with us in another country.
Sure this is a shift change for my commentary. But until November 2014 I could see rational decisions and progress. Now I just see an owner out of his depth who is either too arrogant and/or lacks insight to appoint a director of football / head coach who has the technical ability, gravitas and experience to make something happen.
Riga delivered and was shown the door - says it all!