I think the crowd staying behind the team has more of an effect than a lot of people imagine, especially on days like yesterday when you have to dig deep.
I'd give those players Monday and Tuesday off to recover because the effort was immense.
Absolutely superb - as proud of our team as l can remember in a long time. Great 2nd half atmosphere, and apologies to the other guys in the North Lower for the massive stranger-group hug when JBG scored.
Haven't checked stats but considering how injury-ravaged we were, with only 2 or 3 players with more than 30 league starts for us in the starting XI, players playing out of position then switching because of more injuries on a stinking hot day in an early season game that was over 100 minutes long - making knackeredness inevitable - up against a team of internationals and experienced Premier League performers who equalised in the 90th minute...well, words fail me. Huge credit to the players and coaching staff for putting together a squad of character. When l think back to how l felt at Vicarage Rd last January having witnessed a shameful performance in losing 5-0, it has been some turnaround.
Presumably that was the least Charlton-experienced side we've ever put out?
I suspect the one we put out for our first ever game was our least experienced team.
I think the crowd staying behind the team has more of an effect than a lot of people imagine, especially on days like yesterday when you have to dig deep.
I'd give those players Monday and Tuesday off to recover because the effort was immense.
Might need some of them for the cup tie at Peterborough on Tuesday night !
I think the thing for me was the standard of the tackling. From the first minutes, Kashi, Ba and Diarra were straight in. Put Solly in there too and we will be wining the ball back in some pretty dangerous areas.
First game of the season for me and was seriously impressed. Guy said in the Standard Friday that he fears no team in the division. I'll make him right.
Fantastic spirit, there seems to be a great togetherness. You just had to be so proud of them, considering the adjustments that had to be made. How good is Diarra! My cousin's son is over from Oz and absolutely loved the whole day. He is be going back to his homeland with a Charlton shirt.
Most seasons in the Championship, everyone can beat everyone. The relegated teams may have expensive squads and parachute payments, but it's hard to keep team spirit when players are leaving or rumoured to be leaving. I'd be surprised if Hull don't lose 2 or 3 out of today's team
Who though all looked average, we dominated in all positions, Tom Huddleston had to come off because he looked poor against our solid team
But as we all know, you may have better players, but if they don't put in as much effort...
Taken directly from Hull forum about 7 minutes into injury time:
We're playing shite but.., Win your home games, draw your away games...Is usually a good ingredient for success. Looking forward to seeing us hit some form. Those 1-1 draws will be turning into 1-0 wins every week.....
It's Bruces tried and trusted way.
All hail Steve Bruce = legend
15 seconds later...
I knew I should have waited 10 seconds more before hitting the button!
Well. Given myself a sleep to mull over it. I'd like to apologise in advance for my natural realism/cynicism, but it's always good to temper things and not get carried away. After all, we're only four games in.
We looked decent today: not quite as good as we did against QPR, the other match I've been to this season, but still good. Contrastingly, Hull were really quite poor; we deserved the win overall and the manner of it of course makes it all the sweeter. There were a couple of concerns for me, but absolutely some really good things too.
Pope - like I said in my QPR post match views, he's got a definite technical flaw when gathering low shots with his whole body in front of him. Thankfully, that didn't cost us today, but I think over time he's a goalkeeper who could lose us as many points as he gains us with his otherwise awesome shot-stopping. He was solid aerially as well, and distribution looked a bit improved.
Cousins - played really well. For some reason it's swum back into my mind that he smashed the club 1500m record on the first day of training, and his fitness shone through today. I can't really pinpoint anything he did in particular, but he was solid in a position he's not played in competitively for a while.
Diarra - right. I may have to eat my previous words on this man. (Maybe not just yet, but soon.) He smashed it. Won lots aerially, decent initiative when passing, tackling alright. Him and Bauer work very well together. But, he still can take too long to make some decisions, and there were a couple of moments where he lost the ball and sort of won it back but then sort of lost it. So I suppose my inherent bias is holding me back a bit.
Bauer - he's a very, very good player. Mad props for the finger relocation (that was nasty). Didn't do much wrong all game, if anything. Good with positioning, aerially and in making sure the attacker is going into cul-de-sacs.
Fox - so he played absolutely solid. Good passing, good tackling, good all round basically: I don't really see why he's had his naysayers, because when the first choice was injured what was he meant to do, not play? He made I think two noticeable bad passing decisions but again - he's my age. Which is pretty scary. So there's only room to improve.
Ceballos - obviously great technically, and he's not afraid to take someone on. Excited to see him get better hopefully, or have one or two ridiculous through balls come off. Shame about the injury. But he does look a bit scrawny: jury out on whether that's a good or bad thing but I'm leaning towards the latter.
Kashi - probably the best summer signing. He was absolutely everywhere. Passing was done quickly and generally well, tackling and tracking back was beastly... He's just, um, a good player. But, he has a couple of technical things (first touch I noticed maybe twice); hopefully they'll never cost us.
Ba - much improved on QPR. Looked quicker, and made some very innovative passes. Still prone to being caught in possession, but made some good challenges. He, alongside most of us, looked like he wanted it. Jury still out though.
Bergdich - like Harriott. Not great in my opinion, a couple times he dribbled it straight off, many times he tried to dribble and got tackled easy, but then he has some pace and made a couple of good attacking runs. I think the jury again is still out but I'm leaning towards him being used sparingly mainly as an impact sub.
Gudmundsson - this man is very much our best technician, which is what I tend to judge footballers on. Beats a man, cuts in, makes good passes, can shoot, can ping it, can dribble, got the goal at the end, lovely. He's just different gravy even if he had a relative off day today. Couple of wayward passes, shots a bit meh on occasion, some of his runs didn't come off. But still.
Ahearne-Grant - he's 17 and sometimes it's hard to remember that given the authority he seems to be exuding in his manner, which then gives us the conception that he's a poor player. He's not afraid which I like, and decent on the ball. Spurned a chance or two today. He will come through in time.
Makienok - Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Right. Righty right ho ho. Right. Damn, where do I start? ... Got a goal and an assist. So on that, he's miles better than he has been. His layoffs, when they work, are gorgeous, and I like his thoughts to dummy. But, his link-up play works so infrequently... I would love to love him right now, cos he obviously cares, but... Ah man. Definitely got better as the game went on, and I'm certain defenders hate playing him. He's not as good aerially as he should be, but... I think you can all see my confusion over this man. My friend says he could improve vastly after his first goal and I'd like that. Let's see.
Harriott and Charles-Cook looked alright. Can't really judge though. Maybe Charles-Cook should've come straight on at right back.
--------
As a team, we looked good. Passing and movement alright, but fitness seems to still be a bit of an issue - of course it could be the heat. I think we look a bit, um, anonymous(?) to other teams but that perception helps us no end. If we keep not losing, then excellent. I'm quietly encouraged, but our squad depth looks thin and that needs to be addressed immediately whether via loans or permanent deals. Bodies necessary.
TL;DR played alright, good aspects, I'm encouraged but tempering my thoughts so I don't get carried away, Hull looked quite shite.
Cried off and we looked stronger when he went off too lightweight
Always one.
Remember when someone said Wiggins didn't fancy it against Zaha so cried off with a fake injury, and it turned out he'd broken his foot? Always chuckle at that one
Hull must have had an off day, either that or they are really quite poor. We were well on top despite being weakened by injuries and a lot of our moves not quite coming off. I think Makienok needed that goal, once he got his confidence he was a nightmare for the Hull defenders. I thought Pope's distribution improved, shame about the spill. Bauer was incredible, and I love how he just took the pain when his finger came out, barely seemed to bother him afterwards. Ahearne-Grant is improving, would love to see him get a league goal for us.
It's tough on Pope but goalkeeper is a brutal position. One laps of concentration and you've cost your team a win. I don't think he's a bad keeper, in fact much improved from last year but he should of collected that shot all day long. I've watched the replay 5/6 times and it's a routine save. Something he will practice in training everyday.
Big Mak as we've seen can cause problems. Yes his 1st half link up play wasn't spot on and there's a lot of work to do there but his sheer size worries the life out of the oppo defenders. Look at our winning goal, Dawson a decent centre half in my opinion leaves his central position to challenge for the header with Big Mak, this leave the room for JBG to make his run and be in the position to score the goal. That small bit of movement from Big Mak has created acres of space in the middle of there defence because they're worried about him.
Get TWWW FULLY fit (I don't know if we've ever seen that) Get me some right back and centre back cover and we will have a go. COYR
Had a good quality stream... A very impressive performance all round! Team selection was about right, I would have started KAG but I saw the logic in wanting a striker on the bench! Didn't really matter after ceballos got injured. We worked hard pressed as a team and created problems for an experienced team with a lot of quality! Guy has put together one gell of a team! Solid and organised in defense a midfield that battles well but has an equal measure of creativity! And more than one quality option up front! This is the best team we have had since the premier league! Luck with injuries (which were not getting at the moment) and two more players to add real depth, and we will he at the right end of the table come may...
Pope for me was absolutely outstanding came out and collected well and dealt with anything thrown his way! Will get pelters for the goal! But I said at the time and from the highlights I still think this... The goal was not his fault we allowed the same man too much time and space twice to gets shots away.. The two CBs and Kashi all stood still and looked at each other deciding who's man it was (on replays it looks like kashis man) and then all made a late half attempt to close him down.. It was a difficult shot.. Low down and moving away from Pope, he had a lot of players in his eye line so probably saw it late! He did well to keep it out. Sure he could have done better or maybe an experienced keeper may have done better but he was not at fault in my view! And it shouldn't mar what was a very good all round performance from him!
From what I saw cousins looked absolutely class at rb. Time Out wide has helped him develop as a footballer and he overlapped well linked up with Johann and the two of them looked a ferocious partnership down the right (dare I say it more ferocious than Solly and Johann) and was solid in defense! He had one shot where he cut inside onto his left and forced the keeper into a good save.. Whilst I would rather he played all his games in the middle and we should bring in a back up RB, if we fail to do so I am confident that he can deputise for solly when needed!
Cbs were generally very good although the moment of confusion for their goal was poor.. respect to bauer for playing on through the pain... and Diarra led well. As I said on another thread it was him in the moments after we conceded that went around rallying the troops and keeping everyones heads up! And that run into midfield with the ball started got momentum back for us! Was a quality moment! It's that sort of thing that I can't see solly ever doing. Not the run with the ball but the way that he got everyone back up for the fight!
Fox continued his good form and Bergdich troubled them with his pace!
In the middle Ba and Kashi were a formidable partnership! Lots of bite and not afraid of a tackle but plenty of capabilities on the ball as well! That's what impressed me most about Kashi, he plays like a proper CDM in that he drops in as the third CB at times and covers for the full backs when they get forward and he loves a tackle but on top of that he has a great range of passing and can make things happen! The ball to find Mak's head for the winner was sublime! Very impressed with Ba too... A similar type of player to cousins, in fact I'd say there is very little to choose between them! Ba maybe has slightly better passing range and may be slightly more creative whereas cousins has a little more bite and gets everywhere. I am happy with which ever one partners Kashi in CM. The ball he played over the top to Karlan just before half time was great! We lost control of midfield when he went off!
JBG was class throughout made things happen and their defense were scared silly every time he shaped to go onto his left foot! Maybe could have done better for that one on one but I'd put that down to good keeping as the shot was pretty well placed! (Would have been nice to go two up though!) Took his goal well good to see him get off the mark!
Karlan scared them with his pace but lacked the final product slightly! Still I think he will score a few we for us this year.. He is a good player!
Big Mak was unbelievable won lots in the air in both boxes! Made tackles in midfield when we were under pressure at the end! Played really well with the ball at his feet too! Topped it off with a goal and an assist! Clearly meant a lot to him!
Harriot looked good when he came on, kept it simple used his pace to try and beat his man. Didn't always come off but he tried hard! If we fail to bring in another winger he could do a job as back up or from the bench.
Regan was thrown in at the deep end but worked hard and will be better for the experience! This is where all those Jackson haters need to realise he still has a role! I bet guy was wishing he was on the bench to bring on at that point! In hind sight it may have been better to bring on Sarr and move Diarra into midfield.. I dunno..
A word for guy Luzon as I said on his thread I think he's caught Charlton a little bit! He's clearly loving it here!
Fantastic spirit, there seems to be a great togetherness. You just had to be so proud of them, considering the adjustments that had to be made. How good is Diarra! My cousin's son is over from Oz and absolutely loved the whole day. He is be going back to his homeland with a Charlton shirt.
It'll be lovely to have another addick fan down under mate!
Would have posted after the match...but went and got pi$$ed instead! I hope as many of you as possible did exactly the same
Glad it was only the couple of minutes at the start that we missed - waiting on platform at Woolwich for the train due in when it was suddenly cancelled! It was only freakin' coming from Plumstead!!! Note to self...remember to post rant on Notwork SouthEastern thread!!
You've all said it already, so just a couple of comments. Cebalos took one hell of a whack on the ankle for his injury. Happened just in front of us and the sound was awful. Surprised he managed the few more minutes he did.
Bauer's finger...just what we got the new big screen in for! Well done big fella. Your brother, Jack, had worse than that in every 24 episode though!!
Finally, to see the unbridled delight on my 74 year old dad's face as he's jumping up and down, as much of a mad loon as me, was priceless! Thank you Charlton...you do amazing things to us all
Bobby Charlton always says about Nobby Stiles that "he sniffed out danger and dealt with it before anything happened". Kashi has got that. He reads the game brilliantly and can tackle. On top of that he can play a bit as well. His opening fifteen minutes yesterday was Champions League standard. I was tempted to give him a 10 on the ratings, but thought it would be detrimental to Bauer, Diarra, Big Mak & JBG, who were equally impressive.
I'm mid fifties, but just watching that again has brought a little tear to the eye. God (like all of us) I f...ing love our club. Kashi and Baeur are outstanding additions to our team. So proud.
Comments
I'd give those players Monday and Tuesday off to recover because the effort was immense.
PB 'Meine Hand ist gebrochen'
Kashi 'No worries mate I can still gesticulate to the away fans for you'
How good is Diarra!
My cousin's son is over from Oz and absolutely loved the whole day. He is be going back to his homeland with a Charlton shirt.
We looked decent today: not quite as good as we did against QPR, the other match I've been to this season, but still good. Contrastingly, Hull were really quite poor; we deserved the win overall and the manner of it of course makes it all the sweeter. There were a couple of concerns for me, but absolutely some really good things too.
Pope - like I said in my QPR post match views, he's got a definite technical flaw when gathering low shots with his whole body in front of him. Thankfully, that didn't cost us today, but I think over time he's a goalkeeper who could lose us as many points as he gains us with his otherwise awesome shot-stopping. He was solid aerially as well, and distribution looked a bit improved.
Cousins - played really well. For some reason it's swum back into my mind that he smashed the club 1500m record on the first day of training, and his fitness shone through today. I can't really pinpoint anything he did in particular, but he was solid in a position he's not played in competitively for a while.
Diarra - right. I may have to eat my previous words on this man. (Maybe not just yet, but soon.) He smashed it. Won lots aerially, decent initiative when passing, tackling alright. Him and Bauer work very well together. But, he still can take too long to make some decisions, and there were a couple of moments where he lost the ball and sort of won it back but then sort of lost it. So I suppose my inherent bias is holding me back a bit.
Bauer - he's a very, very good player. Mad props for the finger relocation (that was nasty). Didn't do much wrong all game, if anything. Good with positioning, aerially and in making sure the attacker is going into cul-de-sacs.
Fox - so he played absolutely solid. Good passing, good tackling, good all round basically: I don't really see why he's had his naysayers, because when the first choice was injured what was he meant to do, not play? He made I think two noticeable bad passing decisions but again - he's my age. Which is pretty scary. So there's only room to improve.
Ceballos - obviously great technically, and he's not afraid to take someone on. Excited to see him get better hopefully, or have one or two ridiculous through balls come off. Shame about the injury. But he does look a bit scrawny: jury out on whether that's a good or bad thing but I'm leaning towards the latter.
Kashi - probably the best summer signing. He was absolutely everywhere. Passing was done quickly and generally well, tackling and tracking back was beastly... He's just, um, a good player. But, he has a couple of technical things (first touch I noticed maybe twice); hopefully they'll never cost us.
Ba - much improved on QPR. Looked quicker, and made some very innovative passes. Still prone to being caught in possession, but made some good challenges. He, alongside most of us, looked like he wanted it. Jury still out though.
Bergdich - like Harriott. Not great in my opinion, a couple times he dribbled it straight off, many times he tried to dribble and got tackled easy, but then he has some pace and made a couple of good attacking runs. I think the jury again is still out but I'm leaning towards him being used sparingly mainly as an impact sub.
Gudmundsson - this man is very much our best technician, which is what I tend to judge footballers on. Beats a man, cuts in, makes good passes, can shoot, can ping it, can dribble, got the goal at the end, lovely. He's just different gravy even if he had a relative off day today. Couple of wayward passes, shots a bit meh on occasion, some of his runs didn't come off. But still.
Ahearne-Grant - he's 17 and sometimes it's hard to remember that given the authority he seems to be exuding in his manner, which then gives us the conception that he's a poor player. He's not afraid which I like, and decent on the ball. Spurned a chance or two today. He will come through in time.
Makienok - Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Right. Righty right ho ho. Right. Damn, where do I start? ... Got a goal and an assist. So on that, he's miles better than he has been. His layoffs, when they work, are gorgeous, and I like his thoughts to dummy. But, his link-up play works so infrequently... I would love to love him right now, cos he obviously cares, but... Ah man. Definitely got better as the game went on, and I'm certain defenders hate playing him. He's not as good aerially as he should be, but... I think you can all see my confusion over this man. My friend says he could improve vastly after his first goal and I'd like that. Let's see.
Harriott and Charles-Cook looked alright. Can't really judge though. Maybe Charles-Cook should've come straight on at right back.
--------
As a team, we looked good. Passing and movement alright, but fitness seems to still be a bit of an issue - of course it could be the heat. I think we look a bit, um, anonymous(?) to other teams but that perception helps us no end. If we keep not losing, then excellent. I'm quietly encouraged, but our squad depth looks thin and that needs to be addressed immediately whether via loans or permanent deals. Bodies necessary.
TL;DR played alright, good aspects, I'm encouraged but tempering my thoughts so I don't get carried away, Hull looked quite shite.
Really encouraging start. A win at Wolves and I'll begin to think that the top 6 is a serious possibility.
Sadly missed the last 10 mins as had to go to work at 7. But its either that or dont go at all.
I don't think he's a bad keeper, in fact much improved from last year but he should of collected that shot all day long. I've watched the replay 5/6 times and it's a routine save. Something he will practice in training everyday.
Big Mak as we've seen can cause problems. Yes his 1st half link up play wasn't spot on and there's a lot of work to do there but his sheer size worries the life out of the oppo defenders. Look at our winning goal, Dawson a decent centre half in my opinion leaves his central position to challenge for the header with Big Mak, this leave the room for JBG to make his run and be in the position to score the goal. That small bit of movement from Big Mak has created acres of space in the middle of there defence because they're worried about him.
Get TWWW FULLY fit (I don't know if we've ever seen that) Get me some right back and centre back cover and we will have a go. COYR
We worked hard pressed as a team and created problems for an experienced team with a lot of quality! Guy has put together one gell of a team! Solid and organised in defense a midfield that battles well but has an equal measure of creativity! And more than one quality option up front! This is the best team we have had since the premier league! Luck with injuries (which were not getting at the moment) and two more players to add real depth, and we will he at the right end of the table come may...
Pope for me was absolutely outstanding came out and collected well and dealt with anything thrown his way! Will get pelters for the goal! But I said at the time and from the highlights I still think this... The goal was not his fault we allowed the same man too much time and space twice to gets shots away.. The two CBs and Kashi all stood still and looked at each other deciding who's man it was (on replays it looks like kashis man) and then all made a late half attempt to close him down.. It was a difficult shot.. Low down and moving away from Pope, he had a lot of players in his eye line so probably saw it late! He did well to keep it out. Sure he could have done better or maybe an experienced keeper may have done better but he was not at fault in my view! And it shouldn't mar what was a very good all round performance from him!
From what I saw cousins looked absolutely class at rb. Time Out wide has helped him develop as a footballer and he overlapped well linked up with Johann and the two of them looked a ferocious partnership down the right (dare I say it more ferocious than Solly and Johann) and was solid in defense! He had one shot where he cut inside onto his left and forced the keeper into a good save..
Whilst I would rather he played all his games in the middle and we should bring in a back up RB, if we fail to do so I am confident that he can deputise for solly when needed!
Cbs were generally very good although the moment of confusion for their goal was poor.. respect to bauer for playing on through the pain... and Diarra led well. As I said on another thread it was him in the moments after we conceded that went around rallying the troops and keeping everyones heads up! And that run into midfield with the ball started got momentum back for us! Was a quality moment! It's that sort of thing that I can't see solly ever doing. Not the run with the ball but the way that he got everyone back up for the fight!
Fox continued his good form and Bergdich troubled them with his pace!
In the middle Ba and Kashi were a formidable partnership! Lots of bite and not afraid of a tackle but plenty of capabilities on the ball as well! That's what impressed me most about Kashi, he plays like a proper CDM in that he drops in as the third CB at times and covers for the full backs when they get forward and he loves a tackle but on top of that he has a great range of passing and can make things happen! The ball to find Mak's head for the winner was sublime!
Very impressed with Ba too... A similar type of player to cousins, in fact I'd say there is very little to choose between them! Ba maybe has slightly better passing range and may be slightly more creative whereas cousins has a little more bite and gets everywhere. I am happy with which ever one partners Kashi in CM. The ball he played over the top to Karlan just before half time was great! We lost control of midfield when he went off!
JBG was class throughout made things happen and their defense were scared silly every time he shaped to go onto his left foot! Maybe could have done better for that one on one but I'd put that down to good keeping as the shot was pretty well placed! (Would have been nice to go two up though!) Took his goal well good to see him get off the mark!
Karlan scared them with his pace but lacked the final product slightly! Still I think he will score a few we for us this year.. He is a good player!
Big Mak was unbelievable won lots in the air in both boxes! Made tackles in midfield when we were under pressure at the end! Played really well with the ball at his feet too! Topped it off with a goal and an assist! Clearly meant a lot to him!
Harriot looked good when he came on, kept it simple used his pace to try and beat his man. Didn't always come off but he tried hard! If we fail to bring in another winger he could do a job as back up or from the bench.
Regan was thrown in at the deep end but worked hard and will be better for the experience! This is where all those Jackson haters need to realise he still has a role! I bet guy was wishing he was on the bench to bring on at that point! In hind sight it may have been better to bring on Sarr and move Diarra into midfield.. I dunno..
A word for guy Luzon as I said on his thread I think he's caught Charlton a little bit! He's clearly loving it here!
I have nothing to add.
Glad it was only the couple of minutes at the start that we missed - waiting on platform at Woolwich for the train due in when it was suddenly cancelled! It was only freakin' coming from Plumstead!!! Note to self...remember to post rant on Notwork SouthEastern thread!!
You've all said it already, so just a couple of comments. Cebalos took one hell of a whack on the ankle for his injury. Happened just in front of us and the sound was awful. Surprised he managed the few more minutes he did.
Bauer's finger...just what we got the new big screen in for! Well done big fella. Your brother, Jack, had worse than that in every 24 episode though!!
Finally, to see the unbridled delight on my 74 year old dad's face as he's jumping up and down, as much of a mad loon as me, was priceless! Thank you Charlton...you do amazing things to us all
The Algerian Nobby Stiles.
Well done Charlton, cracking team performance by all accounts
I'm still drunk.
Watched the Football League Show's coverage time after time but this one gave me goosebumps all over in places I didn't know I had !!!
Will always remember Guddy's winner and the first words that popped into my head....
"There IS a God !"