The start was awful. Bamford got a free header from a corner and without a man on the far post it dropped in, showing that the set piece marking problems that have plagued us all season have not been resolved. Boro continued to dominate without playing at their best and might have had a couple more, before Watt and Church combined to set up Gudmunsson to score with a terrific left-foot drive into the roof of the net. The goal rattled Boro and we played our best stuff between then and half time. Not that we looked like scoring even then, you understand.
Another defensive lapse saw us fall behind even earlier in the second half than we had in the first. Onyewu's clearance from a cross was woeful and fell to Lee 'Dennis Bergkamp' Tomlin. His shot was charged down but two defenders but he nonetheless emerged with the ball and squared for Vossen to tap in. Once again we seldom threatened, one long-range effort apiece from Jackson and Solly being more or less all we could muster. Boro's defence dealt comfortably with what little threat we posed and their midfield is streets ahead of ours, commanded by Leadbitter and orchestrated by Tomlin. He scored their third with a superb volley from a corner played to the edge of the penalty area, and that was that.
Solly and Gudmunsson were pretty good, whilst everyone else was outplayed by their Middlesbrough counterpart. Fox in particular played some very poor passes and Buyens showed as much stomach for a fight as we have come to know him for. Church did OK and might still have something to offer (how far have we sunk that I'm saying that), whilst I'm still figuring out what kind of player Watt is. He has no real pace and relies on jinking past his opponents, with only partial success. Nor has he a hope in hell of winning any long balls on which we are increasingly reliant. There is a player in there, but this team probably isn't the best place for it to show.
So another game without a win, stretching our run to three months without one. I can't see one coming soon either. It says so much that I came away from today without feeling particularly disappointed. That's how low my expectations have become.
Alas, support for the majority of the game had been decent. Just attending in the circumstances worthy of appreciation. So it was a shame that only a very persistent effort from Jackson to call his players over convinced more than half of his side to acknowledge the visiting support. Luzon, Ben Haim and Onyewu among those who saw it fit to head straight down the tunnel lies.
And that, for me, is a symptom of Charlton’s most serious problem. It seems easy to say after a thirteenth game without victory, but the attitude that has engulfed this side over that run means that there can be no realistic hope of it coming to an end.
It really is an unfair accusation on those who evidently attempt to give their all each week, but a combination of a lack of unity within the squad, a lack of effort from a handful of individuals and a lack of confidence from all means that there is no collective spirit.
Alas, support for the majority of the game had been decent. Just attending in the circumstances worthy of appreciation. So it was a shame that only a very persistent effort from Jackson to call his players over convinced more than half of his side to acknowledge the visiting support. Luzon, Ben Haim and Onyewu among those who saw it fit to head straight down the tunnel lies.
And that, for me, is a symptom of Charlton’s most serious problem. It seems easy to say after a thirteenth game without victory, but the attitude that has engulfed this side over that run means that there can be no realistic hope of it coming to an end.
It really is an unfair accusation on those who evidently attempt to give their all each week, but a combination of a lack of unity within the squad, a lack of effort from a handful of individuals and a lack of confidence from all means that there is no collective spirit.
I look at that starting X1 and when you see that only two of them have scored in open play this season you know, from a statistical perspective, that we are in trouble. And the fact that Aston Nilla are the only one of the 92 sides to score less than us since August.
The real issue, though, is far more basic than that. Where are the influences driving us forward? Who are the ones, when the going gets tough, who are going to roll up their sleeves and actually make a difference? In fact, put simply, where are the leaders on the pitch?
In the last couple of seasons it would have been Morro, JJ and Yann and we don't need to go over the reasons for their absence. But are players who have no affinity with the Club or, who are so preoccupied with their own lack of form, really going to be capable of leading from the front?
Solly will, and TBH might but we need more than that. It's the ones who play with real passion - the likes of the three mentioned above and Kish, Scot Parker, Billy Bonds, Steve Brown, Bob Curtis, PDC, Mark Kinsella, Johnny Robinson etc etc etc. The one thing that all these players had in common is that, even when they weren't playing well, they refused to hide.
All the time we have an ever revolving door of players from the network we won't have that type of player. Even the home grown ones, with just a modicum of that commodity, will be off a la Poyet. What reason do they have to stay? It won't be for money that's for sure or experience for that matter - they can get more of the former from a PL club and plenty of the latter by being loaned out to a Championship Club going places.
Passion - something that the businessman that is RD almost certainly doesn't understand.
Alas, support for the majority of the game had been decent. Just attending in the circumstances worthy of appreciation. So it was a shame that only a very persistent effort from Jackson to call his players over convinced more than half of his side to acknowledge the visiting support. Luzon, Ben Haim and Onyewu among those who saw it fit to head straight down the tunnel lies.
And that, for me, is a symptom of Charlton’s most serious problem. It seems easy to say after a thirteenth game without victory, but the attitude that has engulfed this side over that run means that there can be no realistic hope of it coming to an end.
It really is an unfair accusation on those who evidently attempt to give their all each week, but a combination of a lack of unity within the squad, a lack of effort from a handful of individuals and a lack of confidence from all means that there is no collective spirit.
Have read it a few times about Buyens recently, but who else is lacking effort?
Alas, support for the majority of the game had been decent. Just attending in the circumstances worthy of appreciation. So it was a shame that only a very persistent effort from Jackson to call his players over convinced more than half of his side to acknowledge the visiting support. Luzon, Ben Haim and Onyewu among those who saw it fit to head straight down the tunnel lies.
And that, for me, is a symptom of Charlton’s most serious problem. It seems easy to say after a thirteenth game without victory, but the attitude that has engulfed this side over that run means that there can be no realistic hope of it coming to an end.
It really is an unfair accusation on those who evidently attempt to give their all each week, but a combination of a lack of unity within the squad, a lack of effort from a handful of individuals and a lack of confidence from all means that there is no collective spirit.
Have read it a few times about Buyens recently, but who else is lacking effort?
Just back in less than 5 hours inc a pit stop for a coffee. Well done, Mr F .
Thanks to Epsom Addick and Dan's quotes from the link, I have little to post- pretty much what they saw, I saw. And I've binned those rose coloured specs.
Totally agree re Solly & Guddy but feel it's unfair to leave Cousins out of that small band of heroes. As usual, he worked his socks off & didn't give up the fight...thank the lawd , but sadly, to no avail.
I'm assuming that Bikey was "rested" & heard that both Wiggins & Harriott picked up injuries on Friday, hence depleting the squad even more. I'm beginning to wonder whether knocks may be exaggerated in order to gain some degree of breathing space from the problems on the pitch. I don't mean to disrespect or throw accusations at our players but the way things are at the minute, I think I'd hide in the showers !
Listened to 606 on the way back and heard a Boro' fan singing the praises of Bamford & hailing him as the next Shearer. He and his colleagues were impressive , especially in the 2nd half and their confidence is obviously high. The fan also commented that his team are " a unit" & play for each other which brought back what now seems a distant memory of when we could say the same. For me, we have now a fragmented group of players almost totally bereft of the "c" word who start each game, inwardly feeling they're unlikely to get anything from it. From what I've heard, there are few laughs around SL these days and sadly our lads look as though they have the weight of the world on their shoulders...or maybe that should be, the Championship.
So, no shame in a defeat to a very good team, away from home . But more pressure to perform in those games we SHOULD be winning ....so something has to change very quickly, especially around set pieces. Resignation seems etched on the faces of our lads, and on the faces of the faithful - SO sad.
Before kick off, I spoke with Betty Hutchins, stalwart & coach steward since the year dot ( only kidding, Betty!) We talked of the upcoming meeting on 18th February and how our Club, and this season in particular, is falling apart before our very eyes. And it summed up the feeling today & brought a lump to my throat when this loyal supporter said " It's breaking my heart".
Lost as I expected us to. The trouble is I also expect us to lose most of the rest of our games. Many of our players have no commitment to the club, many are not good enough.
If RD thinks he is going to make money by bringing through players in League Ome and selling he is a fool. We lose £5M in the Champ, drop another £3M Sky money on relegation and tiny crowds and he will need to find £8M + of sales a year just to break even. The best of our Youth will leave in droves before signing contracts and we will get nothing for them, like they did last time we went down.
Not such a great businessman after all.
Who would you say has no commitment AC?
I wasn't there today so more generally on last few games. The biggest culprit is Buyens. I have previously given my view on him more than once on this board. Nicking a living, disgrace of a professional and if I was in charges would have one of Munns or Muldoon ahead (not saying they are the answer but at least they would put a shift in).
TBH knows he will not be here next season as I suspect does Bulot.
Bikey has also looked disinterested recently and Vet looks like he is coasting and not really putting in the effort to turn his form around.
None of the above are the sort of warriors you need to drag you from relegation. Hopefully Johnson will be.
No Championship game IMO is a 'free hit' as people are insinuating, home or away against top or bottom you're not going to get an easy game. Had we played any side with decent set pieces we may have concdeded the same today and with just two goals from open play in todays starting XI, we're not outscoring 3 anytime soon.
There's a lot of off the pitch problems and we're heading for a LOT of changes after this season whether we stay up or go down.
Just back in less than 5 hours inc a pit stop for a coffee. Well done, Mr F .
Thanks to Epsom Addick and Dan's quotes from the link, I have little to post- pretty much what they saw, I saw. And I've binned those rose coloured specs.
Totally agree re Solly & Guddy but feel it's unfair to leave Cousins out of that small band of heroes. As usual, he worked his socks off & didn't give up the fight...thank the lawd , but sadly, to no avail.
I'm assuming that Bikey was "rested" & heard that both Wiggins & Harriott picked up injuries on Friday, hence depleting the squad even more. I'm beginning to wonder whether knocks may be exaggerated in order to gain some degree of breathing space from the problems on the pitch. I don't mean to disrespect or throw accusations at our players but the way things are at the minute, I think I'd hide in the showers !
Listened to 606 on the way back and heard a Boro' fan singing the praises of Bamford & hailing him as the next Shearer. He and his colleagues were impressive , especially in the 2nd half and their confidence is obviously high. The fan also commented that his team are " a unit" & play for each other which brought back what now seems a distant memory of when we could say the same. For me, we have now a fragmented group of players almost totally bereft of the "c" word who start each game, inwardly feeling they're unlikely to get anything from it. From what I've heard, there are few laughs around SL these days and sadly our lads look as though they have the weight of the world on their shoulders...or maybe that should be, the Championship.
So, no shame in a defeat to a very good team, away from home . But more pressure to perform in those games we SHOULD be winning ....so something has to change very quickly, especially around set pieces. Resignation seems etched on the faces of our lads, and on the faces of the faithful - SO sad.
Before kick off, I spoke with Betty Hutchins, stalwart & coach steward since the year dot ( only kidding, Betty!) We talked of the upcoming meeting on 18th February and how our Club, and this season in particular, is falling apart before our very eyes. And it summed up the feeling today & brought a lump to my throat when this loyal supporter said " It's breaking my heart".
indeed it is....... There was no fight, no determination, and no desire. The ones that wanted to battle left frustrated by the complete lack of structure in the side and those who didn’t share the attitude they did. Simply gutless.
We are gone in my opinion. Millwall may be crap as well but they will at least have some fight in them and as others have correctly stated, three points of that gap will go at their place.
Just as worrying with us is that as well as being a bunch of useless bastards, comments such as the players heading off straight down the tunnel show that something is seriously rotten in the state of SE7.
It is all combining to leave me the least interested in Charlton at any point in my 35 years of life.
Can't believe Luzon and most of the players went straight down the tunnel after the match, how disrespectful to those who made the really long trip to give their support. That's the way to win fans over Luzon! Sooner he's gone the better. Didn't expect anything from this game, and apart from feeling sorry for the fans who did make the long trip, don't feel anything for the club, which proves to me that after very close to 45 years of unconditional support they are just not my club anymore.
Wigan get Tom Ince. We get Lepoint. Rather illustrates our plight.
As does the situation post first goal, when no less than eight players are staring at each other and not actually knowing who to blame. If it's zonal marking it's probably Oneywu but if it's "man to man" it's Church.
For the second Oneywu shows the composure of a Sunday League player and the third results from no one picking up the man on the edge of the box. JJ is seen to berate whoever is up top but surely someone could have spotted the fact that all nine of our defenders are actually defending the penalty box and nothing else. We actually had two extra defenders!
And that's what I mean about the "leadership" mentioned previously. Some are natural born leaders and others aren't. For whatever reason we just don't have enough of them at the moment.
That blog match report sums it all up perfectly for me. I have been going since 1975 and since then there have been a few seasons where I had realised that there was no fight, no passion, no heart or collective spirit for the cause within the club.
Each time this has happened we have been relegated or survived by luck more than judgement. Sadly, we are going through it again now and it seems worse this time than ever before.
Can we turn this around? Well, the saving grace is the amount of games we have left to save ourselves. In my opinion we certainly are capable of doing it, the ability is there, hiding somewhere at the moment. Whether we have the bottle and the guts to turn it around is another question altogether. Only time will tell!
Also, I can only remember very few occasions when the players have not acknowledged the travelling fans. I didn't go yesterday. Credit to those that did. If I was there and had to watch the players just disappear and hide like cowards I would be f-ing pissed off. That for me is the biggest insult of all of this and it must never happen again.
We are gone in my opinion. Millwall may be crap as well but they will at least have some fight in them and as others have correctly stated, three points of that gap will go at their place.
Just as worrying with us is that as well as being a bunch of useless bastards, comments such as the players heading off straight down the tunnel show that something is seriously rotten in the state of SE7.
It is all combining to leave me the least interested in Charlton at any point in my 35 years of life.
Agree that it's hard to see us staying up at the minute. We're caught in a vicious circle of poor results, lack of confidence, low player morale, fan disillusionment and so on. Relegation feels likely.
I do believe that a decent manager, one that can unify the club, could save us. Luzon probably is a competent coach but by himself can't paper over the cracks. A knowledgeable owner with decent advisers would have known this and done something different in January.
Unless the owner changes his approach I can't see Roland's network working, on any level. Does anyone think that a squad full of 'young guns', lower grade network loans and poundland players on short term contracts will get us out of League 1? And if we're in L1, how on earth will this be the shop window through which enough player value can be created to offset the running losses?
Comments
The start was awful. Bamford got a free header from a corner and without a man on the far post it dropped in, showing that the set piece marking problems that have plagued us all season have not been resolved. Boro continued to dominate without playing at their best and might have had a couple more, before Watt and Church combined to set up Gudmunsson to score with a terrific left-foot drive into the roof of the net. The goal rattled Boro and we played our best stuff between then and half time. Not that we looked like scoring even then, you understand.
Another defensive lapse saw us fall behind even earlier in the second half than we had in the first. Onyewu's clearance from a cross was woeful and fell to Lee 'Dennis Bergkamp' Tomlin. His shot was charged down but two defenders but he nonetheless emerged with the ball and squared for Vossen to tap in. Once again we seldom threatened, one long-range effort apiece from Jackson and Solly being more or less all we could muster. Boro's defence dealt comfortably with what little threat we posed and their midfield is streets ahead of ours, commanded by Leadbitter and orchestrated by Tomlin. He scored their third with a superb volley from a corner played to the edge of the penalty area, and that was that.
Solly and Gudmunsson were pretty good, whilst everyone else was outplayed by their Middlesbrough counterpart. Fox in particular played some very poor passes and Buyens showed as much stomach for a fight as we have come to know him for. Church did OK and might still have something to offer (how far have we sunk that I'm saying that), whilst I'm still figuring out what kind of player Watt is. He has no real pace and relies on jinking past his opponents, with only partial success. Nor has he a hope in hell of winning any long balls on which we are increasingly reliant. There is a player in there, but this team probably isn't the best place for it to show.
So another game without a win, stretching our run to three months without one. I can't see one coming soon either. It says so much that I came away from today without feeling particularly disappointed. That's how low my expectations have become.
http://chrispowellsflatcap.com/2015/02/07/riverside-defeat-leaves-charlton-up-the-creek-without-a-paddle/
Alas, support for the majority of the game had been decent. Just attending in the circumstances worthy of appreciation. So it was a shame that only a very persistent effort from Jackson to call his players over convinced more than half of his side to acknowledge the visiting support. Luzon, Ben Haim and Onyewu among those who saw it fit to head straight down the tunnel lies.
And that, for me, is a symptom of Charlton’s most serious problem. It seems easy to say after a thirteenth game without victory, but the attitude that has engulfed this side over that run means that there can be no realistic hope of it coming to an end.
It really is an unfair accusation on those who evidently attempt to give their all each week, but a combination of a lack of unity within the squad, a lack of effort from a handful of individuals and a lack of confidence from all means that there is no collective spirit.
The real issue, though, is far more basic than that. Where are the influences driving us forward? Who are the ones, when the going gets tough, who are going to roll up their sleeves and actually make a difference? In fact, put simply, where are the leaders on the pitch?
In the last couple of seasons it would have been Morro, JJ and Yann and we don't need to go over the reasons for their absence. But are players who have no affinity with the Club or, who are so preoccupied with their own lack of form, really going to be capable of leading from the front?
Solly will, and TBH might but we need more than that. It's the ones who play with real passion - the likes of the three mentioned above and Kish, Scot Parker, Billy Bonds, Steve Brown, Bob Curtis, PDC, Mark Kinsella, Johnny Robinson etc etc etc. The one thing that all these players had in common is that, even when they weren't playing well, they refused to hide.
All the time we have an ever revolving door of players from the network we won't have that type of player. Even the home grown ones, with just a modicum of that commodity, will be off a la Poyet. What reason do they have to stay? It won't be for money that's for sure or experience for that matter - they can get more of the former from a PL club and plenty of the latter by being loaned out to a Championship Club going places.
Passion - something that the businessman that is RD almost certainly doesn't understand.
Thanks to Epsom Addick and Dan's quotes from the link, I have little to post- pretty much what they saw, I saw. And I've binned those rose coloured specs.
Totally agree re Solly & Guddy but feel it's unfair to leave Cousins out of that small band of heroes. As usual, he worked his socks off & didn't give up the fight...thank the lawd , but sadly, to no avail.
I'm assuming that Bikey was "rested" & heard that both Wiggins & Harriott picked up injuries on Friday, hence depleting the squad even more. I'm beginning to wonder whether knocks may be exaggerated in order to gain some degree of breathing space from the problems on the pitch. I don't mean to disrespect or throw accusations at our players but the way things are at the minute, I think I'd hide in the showers !
Listened to 606 on the way back and heard a Boro' fan singing the praises of Bamford & hailing him as the next Shearer. He and his colleagues were impressive , especially in the 2nd half and their confidence is obviously high. The fan also commented that his team are " a unit" & play for each other which brought back what now seems a distant memory of when we could say the same. For me, we have now a fragmented group of players almost totally bereft of the "c" word who start each game, inwardly feeling they're unlikely to get anything from it. From what I've heard, there are few laughs around SL these days and sadly our lads look as though they have the weight of the world on their shoulders...or maybe that should be, the Championship.
So, no shame in a defeat to a very good team, away from home . But more pressure to perform in those games we SHOULD be winning ....so something has to change very quickly, especially around set pieces. Resignation seems etched on the faces of our lads, and on the faces of the faithful - SO sad.
Before kick off, I spoke with Betty Hutchins, stalwart & coach steward since the year dot ( only kidding, Betty!) We talked of the upcoming meeting on 18th February and how our Club, and this season in particular, is falling apart before our very eyes. And it summed up the feeling today & brought a lump to my throat when this loyal supporter said " It's breaking my heart".
And so say all of us, Betty.
TBH knows he will not be here next season as I suspect does Bulot.
Bikey has also looked disinterested recently and Vet looks like he is coasting and not really putting in the effort to turn his form around.
None of the above are the sort of warriors you need to drag you from relegation. Hopefully Johnson will be.
Great goal from JBG but we're asking a lot for him to come up with something special every game.
There's a lot of off the pitch problems and we're heading for a LOT of changes after this season whether we stay up or go down.
There was no fight, no determination, and no desire. The ones that wanted to battle left frustrated by the complete lack of structure in the side and those who didn’t share the attitude they did. Simply gutless.
I give him a month.
Just as worrying with us is that as well as being a bunch of useless bastards, comments such as the players heading off straight down the tunnel show that something is seriously rotten in the state of SE7.
It is all combining to leave me the least interested in Charlton at any point in my 35 years of life.
As does the situation post first goal, when no less than eight players are staring at each other and not actually knowing who to blame. If it's zonal marking it's probably Oneywu but if it's "man to man" it's Church.
For the second Oneywu shows the composure of a Sunday League player and the third results from no one picking up the man on the edge of the box. JJ is seen to berate whoever is up top but surely someone could have spotted the fact that all nine of our defenders are actually defending the penalty box and nothing else. We actually had two extra defenders!
And that's what I mean about the "leadership" mentioned previously. Some are natural born leaders and others aren't. For whatever reason we just don't have enough of them at the moment.
Each time this has happened we have been relegated or survived by luck more than judgement. Sadly, we are going through it again now and it seems worse this time than ever before.
Can we turn this around? Well, the saving grace is the amount of games we have left to save ourselves. In my opinion we certainly are capable of doing it, the ability is there, hiding somewhere at the moment. Whether we have the bottle and the guts to turn it around is another question altogether. Only time will tell!
Also, I can only remember very few occasions when the players have not acknowledged the travelling fans. I didn't go yesterday. Credit to those that did. If I was there and had to watch the players just disappear and hide like cowards I would be f-ing pissed off. That for me is the biggest insult of all of this and it must never happen again.
I do believe that a decent manager, one that can unify the club, could save us. Luzon probably is a competent coach but by himself can't paper over the cracks. A knowledgeable owner with decent advisers would have known this and done something different in January.
Unless the owner changes his approach I can't see Roland's network working, on any level. Does anyone think that a squad full of 'young guns', lower grade network loans and poundland players on short term contracts will get us out of League 1? And if we're in L1, how on earth will this be the shop window through which enough player value can be created to offset the running losses?