Birmingham City v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 21 November 2015 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire)
IntroductionUsually a Match Preview will only be released on a Thursday or two days prior to the match, in the week since our last performance against Sheffield Wednesday, a lot has happened in the world, people have unnecessarily died in Paris after the latest terrorist attacks and yesterday at Wembley, as England and France fans came together to remember those who had perished, we reminded those who commit these atrocities that their attempts have once again failed and that their attempts to once again generate fear in the world has failed, once the moments of remembrance were observed, we almost returned to normality in England as a game of Football broke out, the only reason normality did not return was because England won that game of Football (although who really cared about the result?)
Anyway we must go on with our lives, and I now write this match preview early, to save many CharltonLifers from descending into starting very strange threads which are so often seen when there is a lull In league action, because it is time for the Football League to return, the Addicks have finally won a match since August and it’s time to see if we were up against a poor Sheffield Wednesday side, or were they themselves up against a rejuvenated Charlton side. Of course a single match won’t confirm whether the Addicks are back, the same as a defeat won’t state that we’re back to normal ourselves again, either way a win against
Birmingham City this Saturday would be a start.
The OppositionName: Birmingham City |
Manager: Gary Rowett
Ground: St. Andrews |
Nickname: The Blues
In the beginning there was light, we’ll call this light; London and Charlton Athletic, those that created London decided that around 1875 it shouldn’t be a City alone on the British Isles so they created a second City, the strange place created neither in the South nor the North was called Birmingham and from this City sprung a side:
Small Heath, now I know you’re thinking: “How can Charlton have come first if we were created in 1905 and so many years later” but this is my preview so I can write what I want…
Just like with the Premier League and Football League these days, when the latter was originally created there was naturally a rival called: the
Football Alliance (best thing about these previews as I didn’t even know this myself), Small Heath played in this for three years (1889-1892), in the end, the two rival leagues had a chat, they made up and the Football Alliance became what is now League One (or back then when things were simple; the Second Division)
Remaining in 1892 at the there was another club entitled:
Birmingham St. George, they folded and Small Heath became the only major side in the City, so naturally they changed their names to Birmingham (it wasn’t until 1943 that the name: Birmingham City FC came into existence), these days and Birmingham like many sleeping giants occupy the final Play-Off spot, they are managed by an ex-Charlton player in
Gary Rowett (How else are they so high in the Divisions), things are looking up for the side named after England’s second City, and with their rivals: Aston Villa struggling in the Premier League, could we see a shift in power within the Midlands?
Charlton Team NewsNow I’ve said this before, but the difficulties with writing a preview on the Wednesday (rather than on a Thursday Afternoon) result in me being unware of any possible injuries that have occurred in training (or maybe on sun-loungers if our German; Patrick Bauer has got near any) so note that the below line-up may be so far from the truth that Reza Ghoochanniejad has left it in Guam it’s so far away…
Stephen Henderson seems to have returned from Republic of Ireland duty without concern (as confirmed on CharltonLife) so as our number one, he should remain in goal… With Chris Solly due to appear at a Supporters meeting this Thursday, we should learn the extent of the injury that forced him off against Sheffield Wednesday, although if there is a concern, expect to see
Tarieq Holmes-Dennis deputise.
It is in Midfield and Attack where you’d expect to see the biggest changes;
El-Hadji Ba will be serving a suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season, whilst thankfully there has been no mention of Alou Diarra having family caught up in the Paris attacks, he too could be rested, if either player is missing, it’ll be interesting to see how the midfield looks, especially if
Jordan Cousins is still injured… Finally in attack we may well see new signing;
Ricardo Vaz Te making his Charlton debut, Karel Fraeye may be loath to change a squad that performed so well last time out, yet may be forced to if Reza Ghoochanniejad is suffering from Jetlag with him adding to his frequent flier miles after what appear to have been pointless trips to Iran and Guam.
Henderson
Holmes-Dennis … Bauer … Sarr … Fox
Cousins … Diarra … Jackson
Vaz Te … Makienok … Gudmundsson
Substitutes Bench: Pope … Bergdich … Charles-Cook … Moussa … Lookman … Ahearne-Grant … Ghoochanniejad
Prediction
Birmingham City 1-1 Charlton Athletic (Lookman)
Comments
We need Cousins back or else the midfield will look a bit thin. Your starting line-up looks about right.
I expect a decent performance and 1-1 draw, with Karel to be confirmed on a 18 month contract
Things become distinctly grey
Reckon we'll get back to reality and get beat.
KF still gets the job till the end of the season.
Henderson
Solly/Bauer/Sarr/Fox
Diarra
Cousins/Jackson
JBG
Mak/Reza
Subs: Pope/THD/Bergdich/Moussa/Vaz Te/Lookman/KAG
I know I have left out Watt, but I believe we need players who will put in 100% and I think Lookman and KAG will do that, no doubting Watt's skill, just needs to put in more effort in my opinion
2-2 the score
Wonder if he's been told by Fraeye to come back a bit late so that he misses this Saturday yet arrives back in England refreshed and ready to go for training ready for the Ipswich game next Saturday
Wonder if he's been told by Fraeye to come back a bit late so that he misses this Saturday yet arrives back in England refreshed and ready to go for training ready for the Ipswich game next Saturday
Or if it was a video he took, but forgot to upload?
I've not got a sound card at work so no idea what he said at the start, but he could also have been mourning his last morning there as it appears it could be the location where Iran played last?
I've not got a sound card at work so no idea what he said at the start, but he could also have been mourning his last morning there as it appears it could be the location where Iran played last?
He did not say anything, others talking in the background with music. I would not expect him back for training until tomorrow and for all we know could be travelling back home know, just decided to release the video. After he played so well against Weds, I cannot see the club letting him come back late.
2-1 to the Peaky Blinders!