Thanks to those that went for posting, it really cheered me up, my son was in a car crash yesterday and it left me numb, would have loved to have been there last night.
Hope your son is recovering well MIA. Wish you well.
Thanks to those that went for posting, it really cheered me up, my son was in a car crash yesterday and it left me numb, would have loved to have been there last night.
Hope your son is recovering well MIA. Wish you well.
The same MIA
Yep, I hope he is being looked after well and recovering.
I think we saw one of the eventual relegation sides yesterday and am very pleased to report that it wasn't us. It didn't start brilliantly though, in the first ten minutes it looked like we might be in for a battering. All we offered was a defensive game of head-tennis which Fortune looked like he might have won for them. We scored not once, but twice, against the run of play. If the first goal made their heads drop, the second one put their heads on the chopping block with no return. If you want to see the psyche of a loser in action, then Wigan last night would give you no better example.
As for us, we again looked a lot more solid with Johnson than with Bikey. Henderson was good all round and pulled off, what looked from my slightly obscured view, like a worldy at the end. I was worried with the amount of times that Oje beat Fox, but if he ever put in a decent cross I missed it - as did the Wigan forwards. Solly was magnificent in defence, though not so going forward. In midfield we did look a bit sluggish and uninspired most of the time. We let them have far more possession (perhaps that was deliberate), but we really hurt them when we broke at speed. Vetokele, Watt and Bulot all looking very dangerous; all combining well whilst their defence froze like a wonky row of snowmen in a blizzard. I don't think we created that many chances; certainly not as many as the scoreline suggests we might have, but those we did create all looked very good. It may sound curious for someone who described our midfield as sluggish and uninspired, but with a little bit more composure we could easily have had five goals. Nice little cameo from our new man at the end, though it did feel more than a little weird chanting, "Eagles, Eagles...". All in all a good night.
PS @cabbles, I too visited Wigan 'Pier'. What a waste of time that was, there was nothing of it. It's not very often in life that I have a sense of being spoilt because I come from Southend.
Having henderson back and Johnson refresh things in defence has given the other 6 in front of them the confidence to do what they are supposed to do. Attack.
I felt positive on hearing last weeks team and the same on hearing this weeks team. Players playing in there strongest positions. Watt coming into the team which takes the weight off of Igors shoulders. We have now got a great striker in watt and igor back to his old form, fingers crossed.
Bulot sounds a completely different player and took his goal very well last night and great to see eagles score on his debut.
Credit to every single player, the coaching staff, the manager and all the fans that went last night. Coya.
The fact that Bulot was so decisive - took the ball from Watt, charged past 2 defenders to the line before picking out Igor.
A winger getting behind the defence and crossing from the line puts defenders wrong-footed, facing their own goalmouth - and the forward facing the goal, charging in to attack the ball.
It's a nightmare to defend.
Something we've not had all season with a right-footed player on the left and vice versa.
Thanks to those that went for posting, it really cheered me up, my son was in a car crash yesterday and it left me numb, would have loved to have been there last night.
Wigan started very much the better side. Their number 18 caused Fox problems and put in quite a few dangerous crosses - one of which Fortuné should have buried. We did look a bit shakey at the back until we scored.
The goal came against the run of play and was started by Watt totally doing Wigan's CB. He danced past him, put in Igor who messed up. The ball landed at Bulot's feet and he hit a bloody hard shot past Al-Habsi.
Leon Clarke then suffered a serious injury and I wish him well. I was a bit concerned that Leon's incident might take away our momentum that we would otherwise have had from scoring but nope, Bulot crossed a superb cross and Igor beat 3 men to head it home.
Understandably Wigan came out the stronger side. For about 15 minutes we were under the cosh a bit. I do think that Wigan got the feeling that they were just not going to score. I'd say that from the 60th minute onwards we looked to be in control. Igor and Tony both missed one on ones which would have put us out of sight and Johann hit a brilliant shot which narrowly went wide.
Great unselfish play at the end by Johann who capped off an excellent display. Were we brilliant? Not exactly. Wigan's defending was laughable. Not sure I've ever seen a pair of Charlton strikers have so much space up front. Igor and Tony will cause you problems anyway, let alone with yards to run at you with.
My MOTM goes to Vetokele. I know he's always the easy one to opt for as a striker as those who score take a lot of the credit but he was excellent. He'd hold the ball up, turn and get away from a crowd of Wigan defenders. He rarely lost the ball and he and Tony always seemed to be on the same wavelength.
Exiled_Addick It was hard to believe it at the time, but the seeds for this seem to have been laid in the Norwich game. Bikey making it an easy decision to drop him for Johnson, Watt getting match fit and showing he has to start with Igor, Cousons being moved inside and showing Luzon that's his best position and Igor and finally breaking that goal drought.
You also have to ask, why the hell Bulot hasn't played more?
A lor of people panned Bulot after that Norwich game
Good to hear that Igor has been working well with Watt in training, they seem to gel really well as a partnership, despite neither being what you'd call a traditional target man.
In three weeks we have introduced or re-introduced five players who are of Championship quality - Henderson, Johnson, Bulot, Watt and Eagles. And together with a change in shape it has made all the difference.
What will be interesting is to see at the end of the season what steps RD takes to keep these and the other ten or so players of that standard (and I don't mean Liege) and to add say another five or six of a similar calibre.
Stability, continuity and growth are the keys to success but I'm not sure whether the network is the right vehicle to achieve this. Time will tell.
This was a classic away-team 442 performance. We pressed high up the pitch and when Wigan advanced we met them with two disciplined lines of four, with space kept tight between them. When attacking we showed more penetration than I’ve seen for a long time. There were short-comings too. We found it hard to keep possession in tight situations and this put us under pressure, particularly during the first 25 minutes when we were fortunate to emerge unscathed. Also, in the second half, when we had more space to play, we were careless with our passing; I think Wigan’s inadequacy throughout the second half made us casual and over-confident.
The most important impression I was left with was that GL seems to be having a beneficial influence. From the point of view of commitment and organisation the team was unrecognisable from the one I last saw (away to Blackburn). He also seems to have found a system which suits the players we have. I don’t think we have sufficient technical skill to play with patient build-up and intricate passing. The more direct, faster pace of play adopted last night seems to fit us better.
If we had Coq in this team, we would of had a chance of glory.
That is now the missing link.
Shame Milos got injured as the defensive mid fielder, the other week.
Despite the problems we have with the owner off the field, A very strange thing happened against Brentford, we were the side who played as a team, and the same last night,
until we can find a mid fielder that can play balls to JBG and Bulot quicker and with aplomb we will still take the odd beating for the rest of the season, As long as we have a more Pro-active way of playing instead of the passive way of the last 3 coaches( is it in our DNA or just the lack of the right players?)
To be fair To Riga we had so many matches in a short time he did fine.
We won't become a Bournemouth Overnight. but other than Cardiff 2nd half, and Brentford all game, fans were getting bored ? now that is a crime if your in the entertainment business.
Right. Let's cut everyone connected with the club at all levels some slack to get on and do their respective jobs; without the constant sniping and accusational bickering that is in danger of poisoning everything!!! Let's make the Huddesfield match a gala of excellence!!
Comments
Neagtives: no idea what I'm going to do with my Saturday now
36% possession and three shots on target though?
As for us, we again looked a lot more solid with Johnson than with Bikey. Henderson was good all round and pulled off, what looked from my slightly obscured view, like a worldy at the end. I was worried with the amount of times that Oje beat Fox, but if he ever put in a decent cross I missed it - as did the Wigan forwards. Solly was magnificent in defence, though not so going forward. In midfield we did look a bit sluggish and uninspired most of the time. We let them have far more possession (perhaps that was deliberate), but we really hurt them when we broke at speed. Vetokele, Watt and Bulot all looking very dangerous; all combining well whilst their defence froze like a wonky row of snowmen in a blizzard. I don't think we created that many chances; certainly not as many as the scoreline suggests we might have, but those we did create all looked very good. It may sound curious for someone who described our midfield as sluggish and uninspired, but with a little bit more composure we could easily have had five goals. Nice little cameo from our new man at the end, though it did feel more than a little weird chanting, "Eagles, Eagles...". All in all a good night.
PS @cabbles, I too visited Wigan 'Pier'. What a waste of time that was, there was nothing of it. It's not very often in life that I have a sense of being spoilt because I come from Southend.
I felt positive on hearing last weeks team and the same on hearing this weeks team. Players playing in there strongest positions. Watt coming into the team which takes the weight off of Igors shoulders. We have now got a great striker in watt and igor back to his old form, fingers crossed.
Bulot sounds a completely different player and took his goal very well last night and great to see eagles score on his debut.
Credit to every single player, the coaching staff, the manager and all the fans that went last night. Coya.
Chrissy-Gulls.
All one word.
Sing that one, sounds better.
;o)
Not working, check Jim Lang tweet last night.
The goal came against the run of play and was started by Watt totally doing Wigan's CB. He danced past him, put in Igor who messed up. The ball landed at Bulot's feet and he hit a bloody hard shot past Al-Habsi.
Leon Clarke then suffered a serious injury and I wish him well. I was a bit concerned that Leon's incident might take away our momentum that we would otherwise have had from scoring but nope, Bulot crossed a superb cross and Igor beat 3 men to head it home.
Understandably Wigan came out the stronger side. For about 15 minutes we were under the cosh a bit. I do think that Wigan got the feeling that they were just not going to score. I'd say that from the 60th minute onwards we looked to be in control. Igor and Tony both missed one on ones which would have put us out of sight and Johann hit a brilliant shot which narrowly went wide.
Great unselfish play at the end by Johann who capped off an excellent display. Were we brilliant? Not exactly. Wigan's defending was laughable. Not sure I've ever seen a pair of Charlton strikers have so much space up front. Igor and Tony will cause you problems anyway, let alone with yards to run at you with.
My MOTM goes to Vetokele. I know he's always the easy one to opt for as a striker as those who score take a lot of the credit but he was excellent. He'd hold the ball up, turn and get away from a crowd of Wigan defenders. He rarely lost the ball and he and Tony always seemed to be on the same wavelength.
It was hard to believe it at the time, but the seeds for this seem to have been laid in the Norwich game. Bikey making it an easy decision to drop him for Johnson, Watt getting match fit and showing he has to start with Igor, Cousons being moved inside and showing Luzon that's his best position and Igor and finally breaking that goal drought.
You also have to ask, why the hell Bulot hasn't played more?
A lor of people panned Bulot after that Norwich game
What will be interesting is to see at the end of the season what steps RD takes to keep these and the other ten or so players of that standard (and I don't mean Liege) and to add say another five or six of a similar calibre.
Stability, continuity and growth are the keys to success but I'm not sure whether the network is the right vehicle to achieve this. Time will tell.
The most important impression I was left with was that GL seems to be having a beneficial influence. From the point of view of commitment and organisation the team was unrecognisable from the one I last saw (away to Blackburn). He also seems to have found a system which suits the players we have. I don’t think we have sufficient technical skill to play with patient build-up and intricate passing. The more direct, faster pace of play adopted last night seems to fit us better.
If we had Coq in this team, we would of had a chance of glory.
That is now the missing link.
Shame Milos got injured as the defensive mid fielder, the other week.
Despite the problems we have with the owner off the field,
A very strange thing happened against Brentford, we were the side who
played as a team, and the same last night,
until we can find a mid fielder that can play balls to JBG and Bulot quicker and
with aplomb we will still take the odd beating for the rest of the season,
As long as we have a more Pro-active way of playing instead of the passive way of the last 3 coaches( is it in our DNA or just the lack of the right players?)
To be fair To Riga we had so many matches in a short time he did fine.
We won't become a Bournemouth Overnight. but other than Cardiff 2nd half, and Brentford all game, fans were getting bored ? now that is a crime if your in the
entertainment business.
and his wife Crystal confirmed this !