Blackburn Rovers v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 19 September 2015 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Carl Boyeson (East Yorkshire)
IntroductionIn terms of how weeks go, the last one hasn’t really been the best for Charlton and I’m sure the fans when remembering this season come May won’t be in a rush to look back on the home fixtures against Rotherham and Huddersfield… This time last week I mentioned the importance of an International Break and how it can either be an hindrance or a help, in some ways it most certainly was a hindrance to Charlton, yet at the same time you have to give plaudits to our last two opponents for coming to the Valley and being the first clubs to take points back home with them (they too were disrupted by the break).
But now we must look forward… The week ahead sees us play another three matches, with Wednesday being the first time we’ve been in the League Cup Third Round for some years, our opponents on that day will be our fierce rivals Crystal Palace and even though I’m sure everyone is looking forward to that match, we must put it behind us, it needs to be forgotten, because first we must deal with the more important league fixture as we travel to Lancashire and
Blackburn Rovers.
The OppositionOver the last nine months, the Financial Fair Play rules have been a bit of a roller coaster of decisions… The most recent low being that Queens Park Rangers have somehow avoided a hefty ban / fine, following their heavy transfer activities over recent years, the high came some months ago… With three Championship clubs spending outside of their means, deserved transfer bans were handed out and with Blackburn struggling at the wrong end of the table because of this, you have to hope that the Football League stay firm and continue in this manner.
Last Season: Blackburn have become a bit of a bogey side for the Addicks of late, despite having won at Ewood Park in 2013, it is also the last match we managed to pick up a result against our opponents this weekend… Three defeats came last season against Blackburn with the extra match coming in the FA Cup, like Charlton though, they would fail to hang on to the Play-Off pack and would end the season with mid-table obscurity coming early in 2015.
Pre-Season: Despite their transfer ban, Blackburn had a pretty impressive run of friendlies, just the one defeat came against Rochdale (2-1) with just the one draw against Bury (1-1), all other matches were won as Blackburn would remain in England facing local sides such as Accrington Stanley (2-0) and Wigan Athletic (3-0)… Many have left the club though with dangermen: Rudy Gestede joined Aston Villa whilst Joshua King left for Bournemouth which means Blackburn aren’t the greatest up front at the moment.
This Season: A good pre-season doesn’t instantly mean that your going to have a great season, and despite winning all but two friendlies, Blackburn have yet to win this season (maybe an ideal time to play the charitable Charlton then) , there have only been four draws this season, yet Blackburn have only lost the one match at home (the first game against Wolves) so despite now being second bottom, it wont be easy bringing three points back to the Valley.
The Championship Race to the World CupWith qualification for Euro 2016 all but completed and as per my Huddersfield preview, my aim this season is to cover players from outside Europe) who are already aiming to reach the Russian World Cup in 2018 (Which may not be as easy as first thought)… On Tuesday I covered the fortunes of
Bermuda and how (unsurprisingly) they’ve failed to make the next round of CONCACAF Qualifying and it is in North America that I stay.
In 1998, the World Cup was held in France and all eyes were on the Caribbean nation of
Jamaica who had made the finals for the first time, they didn’t embarrass themselves either, picking up a goal against third place; Croatia whilst beating Japan 3-1, since then though, they’ve failed on all attempts to reach another World Cup but maybe 20-years on its their time again.
Blackburn Midfielder:
Lee Williamson will certainly be trying to help his country reach the finals and will be hoping to add to his solitary cap for a nation that surprised everyone by reaching the finals of the Gold Cup this summer, a narrow aggregate win (4-3) over Nicaragua has put them through to a first group stage which includes; Haiti, Panama and the surprise package from last years World Cup: Costa Rica.
Charlton Team NewsConstantly playing Alou Diarra, every Saturday and Tuesday would surely take a toll on the aging World Cup Finalist so to see him given a break against Huddersfield on Tuesday was no surprise, his replacement: Naby Sarr didn’t really set the world alight with his league debut (despite netting his first goal for the club) so you’d expect changes to be made there… In addition Morgan Fox picked up a knock last Saturday and failed to finish the last game so you could see Zakarya Bergdich also come into the Defence.
Should that be the case, you’d expect Connor McAleny to slot in at Left-Midfield, the other option will be to once again play Jordan Cousins out wide depending on whether Guy Luzon wants to be tighter in Midfield, from the treatment table, Stephen Henderson is still some weeks from return so despite some doubters, Nick Pope should continue to get our full support, should negativity begin from the stands (like what Callum Harriott received) that surely wont help his confidence, whilst Franck Moussa is still surely some way from the first team squad, following another 75-minute run out for the U21s in midweek.
Pope
Solly – Bauer – Diarra – Bergdich
Gudmundsson – Kashi – Ba – Cousins
Watt – Makienok
PredictionWe’ve not got a bad record at Ewood Park but I think we should be happy with a point this week… As Guy Luzon said, we need to get back to basics.
Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Charlton AthleticThanks for reading
Comments
how fit are our 'strikers' ? .. Makienok, Watt and Vetokele all look to be carrying either injuries or too much weight .. Right now there is not much alternative to Watt and BigMak
I would drop Pope and give Mitov a go .. I've lost all faith in Pope and many/most of the hardened away fans feel the same .. we need to know if Mitov is up to it before the season is much older. I would keep Fox, his attacking is woeful but he's still decent in defence, and we'll need plenty of good defence tomorrow
My team: Mitov .. Solly – Diarra – Bauer – Fox .. Gudmundsson – Kashi – Cousins - McAleney ..
Watt – Makienok
I don't give predictions but SO hope that the faithful making the trip see a hugely improved performance than the one on Tuesday evening.
Please make some noise for me.
and hubby and close family over the coming months and years.
I send my love and condolences to you.
Blackburn 2 - Charlton 0
Sorry to hear of your loss Fanny
Can't see anything other than us completing our inglorious-slam against the bottom 3 with at most a point, unfortunately. Would love to be proved wrong. Would especially love to see Pope and Watt have blinders after the stick they got (not entirely unfairly) after Tuesday... Is Palace not on Wednesday?
And the Boring Belgian footballing experiment will need some tender love at some point to make sure we finish in the coveted spots of 12th or 13th
Zzzzzzzz
Pope; Solly, Diarra, Baur, Berg; JBG, Cuz, Kashi, McAleny; Watt, Big Mack.
Subs Mitov, JJ, Ba, KAG, Igor, Fox, Sarr.
Think giving Bergditch a try at LB might be worth a punt.
I hope I'm wrong about the loss, and will be keeping my fingers crossed for a positive result and the team getting back on track.
I'm unable to do the match thread on Saturday as I'm away. I'll be back for the Palarse game though.
@FannyFanackapan - sorry to hear of your loss, my condolences to you and your family.
Can't call the result but I'm hopeful we can win and get our season back on track.
Diarra will be back, and we'll be much tighter in defence. Thus I predict 0-0
I want us to be positive tomorrow. None of this timid shit based on 2 bad results. If anything, I think Blackburn are better than both Rotherham and H'field and they are in a bit of a false position, but them coming at us desperate for their first win, could be better than two teams who have sat back and made us play.
This division is open. No team should be feared. We have the talent to take the game to them. I believe in GL's abilities and his positivity as a coach. I'm confident he's pulled the team up on their shortcomings over the last two. I believe Watt has recognised he was average to poor last 2 games given his instagram account status earlier this week.
I want
Pope
Solly Bauer Diarra Fox
JBG Cousins Kashi McAvelny
Watt Mak
We can get a result there, I believe we can step up. Let's get that win. Good luck to all going up there 2mo, you deserve a good performance.
2-0 to us (Watt double) COYR!!!!!!
Only one logical result: Blackburn 0 Charlton 2.
Blackburn are desperate for a win, we look crap, it's up North, there'll only be 20 people in the away end. Routine 2-0 win for Blackburn.