Ipswich Town v Charlton Athletic
Tuesday 5 April 2016 … 7:45pm Kick-Off
Referee: Oliver Langford (West Midlands)
IntroductionAugust feels a million miles away yet it was only a few months ago that I sat down on a warm Friday night, switched on SkySports and watched Brighton beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 in what was the opening match of the Football League season… Fast forward to April 2016 and there are now just seven matches to go and it really does make you wonder where the season has gone, especially for us Charlton fans as it’s not been the calmest of seasons.
Concentrating on the games to come though; turning from impartial match previewer to another fan with an opinion, I said on a thread a few weeks ago that one tactic of Riga’s would be to concentrate on winning the remaining home games, whilst trying to ensure that we didn’t lose away from home… I may have been correct (I probably wasn’t) yet with just three home games remaining (that’s a possible nine points), that strategy is no longer an option; if Charlton want to remain in the Championship they not only need their rivals to start slipping up… We ourselves need to win away from home, starting tonight at
Ipswich Town.
The OppositionName: Ipswich Town |
Manager: Mick McCarthy
Ground: Portman Road |
Nickname: The Tractor Boys
It’s only a short trip up the road from South East London for those going to Ipswich this evening but sadly that’s as good as it can get… Portman Road is not a very happy stomping ground for the Addicks over recent seasons and our last win there was four years ago in 2012… Since that day we’ve only picked up a solitary point whether it been home or away and our last two results have ended in a 3-0 defeat… Time to break with tradition!!
Thankfully there is a slight glimmer of light… One of the advantages of playing Birmingham City on Saturday was the fact that they needed the three points to remain in the Play-Off hunt, that left gaps for our players to exploit (and for once they did so), Ipswich are no different, their hopes of reaching the Play-Offs look like becoming a distant hope, should they attack, that should leave spaces for our own attempts forward (providing our Defence does its job).
Charlton Team NewsSo on to the group of players who can potentially bring three points back to London… Well in goal it would again be harsh to drop Nick Pope (who couldn’t do much about the goal on Saturday) so Stephen Henderson should remain on the bench rather than face an old side, in defence you can’t really see many changes; Chris Solly was left on the bench and again it would be incredibly harsh to drop
Marco Motta.
It is the Midfield and Attack where we could see the changes, as mentioned by others; Ipswich Defenders are big and strong so will be dangerous from set-pieces yet won’t have the ability to manoeuvre against a quick attack (it was proven in the reverse fixture that they loved playing against the type of Striker like Simon Makienok or Yaya Sanogo who is available once more following his suspension)…
That leaves us with the three Strikers who ended the match on Saturday; there were concerns about Igor Vetokele who got clattered a few times yet with no noises coming out about any injuries you’d expect him to be okay to play a part tonight… The loudest calls will be from the fans as they shout for Ademola Lookman to start once again, an impressive 45mins on Saturday replacing the ineffective
Yun Suk-Young could see him start tonight but we must remember that he is only 18-years old so seeing him starting from the bench won’t be a surprise despite the usual conspiracy theories.
Pope
Motta … Fanni … Teixeira … Fox
Gudmundsson … Cousins … Diarra … Lookman
Harriott … Vetokele
Substitutes Bench: Henderson … Solly … Lennon … Young … Jackson … Makienok … Sanogo
Prediction
Ipswich Town 1-2 Charlton Athletic
Comments
Motta … Fanni … Teixeira … Fox
Gudmundsson … Cousins … Diarra … Harriott
Makienok … Vetokele
Substitutes Bench: Henderson … Solly … Lennon … Young … Jackson … Lookman… Sanogo
Lookman to replace Harriott anywhere from 45-60 and Sanogo just after for Vetokele
Possibly Yun-Suk Young to replace Gudmundsson as he tires.
Prediction
Ipswich Town 1-1 Charlton Athletic
My team -
Pope
Solly
Fox
Teixeira
Fanni
Gudmundsson
Cousins
Diarra
Young
Harriott
Sanogo
Subs: Henderson, Motta, Lennon, Jackson, Lookman, Vetokele, Makienok.
Mr Largo says "We could be a mere 3 points from safety if we turn up tonight. Please, not the pub league again, please!"
Probably yet another pathetic 3-0 defeat, but just maybe Jacko will pop up with a late header or a speculative long range effort with 5 minutes to go and we'll nick a 1-0 win.
I take your point about the big, brutish Ipswich defenders, but I think Sanogo has the mobility about them to both act as a focal point for the attack as well as cause the defense problems with his movement. I'd be tempted to throw him in, with Igor if he can play twice in three days, or Harriott if Igor starts from the bench. That said, the thought of Callum running at the Ipswich backline is intriguing. And there's a part of me that thinks Mak just might have a point to prove (he plays better when he's angry) and I hope he's chomping at the bit. It seems we have a bit of a selection headache.
As good as it sounds like Lookman was on Saturday, I wouldn't necessarily start him tonight. Ipswich have big, experienced Champo defenders, much like Bristol and Preston, and both caused Lookie all kinds of trouble. Bring him on in the second half to run at tiring legs.
Would be lovely if Murphy is out (hope you're not toying with me @Pedro45, but still, Ipswich have enough in attack that I think we need to have one "defensive winger," Yun, in to help provide extra cover.
Worried about being overrun in midfield with us playing a 4-4-2 against their 4-3-3. If Yun is on the left he can tuck in, and Callum will drop deep if he's starting up top, but it remains a concern. I'd be tempted to go 3-5-2 but I'm not convinced Harry Lennon is worth a place over Yun or Fox at the moment.
Decisions, decisions.
Henderson & Solly's "injuries" appear to be easing, based on their bench warming on Saturday.
Add in Riga's acquiescense to whatever malign/insane influence holds sway over team selection and the one thing we can be sure of is the starting XI and subsequent substitutions will not make best use of the available resources. The result of the match will have more to do with Ipswich's performance, that of the officials and dumb luck with Charlton's squad a distant fourth place in deciding the outcome.
I'll have my fingers, toes, eyes, etc crossed in sincere hope for 3 points but best odds 4-1 on an away win tells us all we really need to know.
Keep smilin
HUGE credit to Diarra for playing through that pain if this is indeed the case. Hopefully it's something where re-injuring it isn't a concern as much as pain management.
For that reason I wouldnt be surprised if the team that started against Birmingham also starts today.
I put down Weed Killer yesterday morning (Had the day off as British Gas were coming) and it said on the side that you should put it down if its going to rain within 6-hours, not two hours later the heavens opened for 10mins leaving my work pointless!!
Milton Keynes Dons v Wolverhampton Wanderers
Preston North End v Fulham
Are the other matches we should keep an eye on tonight (the top one being a nuisance yet see loses for Fulham and MK Dons tonight), for those still hopeful; Burnley play at home to Cardiff
Kevin Lisbie is still 17 in Charlton eyes.....