Birmingham City v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 25th April 2015 - 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Lancashire)
IntroductionAnd so we come to the penultimate game of the season... 44-matches have been played with the Addicks travelling as far south as Brighton and Hove Albion and travelling as far north as Middlesbrough, only two matches remain for Charlton in the 2014/15 Championship season, and then... and then its all over for another three months, though before the players can begin to think of their summer holidays, one final away match remains; against
Birmingham City.
The OppositionOnce again; Charlton find themselves up against mid-table opposition, with nothing to aim for (expect a bit of pride maybe) you could probably expect another lifeless match, similar in that sense to the fixture played out at the Valley in October between these two sides, a 1-1 draw was the result that day with a goal from Igor Vetokele opening the scoring before Birmingham would bounce back early in the second half.
Lee Clark was in the opposing dugout that day and with the result leaving Birmingham in serious relegation trouble, Clark wouldn’t see out the month and would be sacked on the 21st October... The new man in charge is certainly no stranger to the Valley;
Gary Rowett would sign for Charlton as a Defender in 2002 yet despite showing his potential would struggle for appearances due to injury and would move on to Burton in 2004…
Now as the Birmingham Manager he’s caused a bit of a revival in the Midlands, just two home defeats since taking charge mean that taking three points back to South London won’t be an easy task.
Player to WatchLinks between these two sides are strong… For Birmingham; Goalkeeper:
Darren Randolph came through the Charlton Youth Academy whilst
Jonathan Spector spent time on loan at the Valley early in his career whilst for the Addicks:
Roger Johnson will be returning to the side with whom he won the League Cup in 2011.
Of course the fact that one player has been left from the above makes him my player to watch in ex-League One winning Defender:
Michael Morrison.
Starting his career at Cambridge United, Michael would move to Charlton in the summer of 2011 (following spells at Leicester and Sheffield Wednesday), in his first season he’d be part of Charlton history winning the League One title, over the next three years he would make over 130-appearances as vice-captain, a new contract would be signed last summer keeping him at the Valley until 2016, yet with the arrival of Bob Peeters, Morrison would find himself frozen out of the side and would only make two appearances this season.
With Gary Rowett taking over at Birmingham, Morrison would move up to the Midlands where he has made 20-appearances without finding the net, a leader on and off the pitch, his arrival at Birmingham surely cant be coincidence with their good home form… Can it?
Line-UpHenderson
Solly – Gomez – Ben-Haim – Wiggins
Gudmundsson – Buyens – Cousins – Bulot
Watt – Vetokele
PredictionBirmingham City 1-2 Charlton Athletic
Comments
With @StubleyAddick covering the Bournemouth match, this is my last preview of the season... I know I only started doing this early in the season (against Norwich I think it was), I'm not qualified and have no experience in writing (yet is something I've always enjoyed doing) so hope I dont babble on too much at times
Of course I'll be still posting on here on a daily basis throughout the summer but hope everyone has a good break
Basically thanks for reading this year and thanks to @AFKABartram and @StubleyAddick for allowing me to contribute, hopefully I'll be back doing this next season too.
As for tomorrow's game, I reckon 1-1, although to be quite honest I really couldn't care less. Hope Morrison gets a standing ovation from the away end, still bitter that Roland let him go.
Head says 1-0 home win.
Are we playing too?
0-1 to the Addicks!
Would MM still be with us if Luzon had been in charge from the start of the season?
0-2 Charlton. Both teams with nothing to play for but we have better attackers and they have a chubby keeper.
Like your reviews, @ForeverAddickted, thanks.
If we don't lose, bet won.
1-1 for me this one
Money on Igor to finish top scorer (tied with JBG atm)
Money on top half finish too.
Come on Derby
Good to have different voices.
Well done for your first season. Seems longer
Thanks for interesting reviews, @ForeverAddickted.