Charlton Athletic v Brighton & Hove Albion
Saturday 23 April 2016 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
IntroductionLast night shortly before 10pm the inevitably finally happened… Charlton Athletic returned to League One after a four year spell in the Championship… I can’t lie, despite always having the optimism that we’d survive I felt like a criminal standing on a scaffold, I knew the trap door would eventually open but constantly clung to the hope that there would be a reprieve… There will not be a reprieve… Down we go…!!
On a positive spin at least we now know our fate, we have three games left (we can’t finish lower than 23rd) yet all the hard work put down by Chris Powell, Johnnie Jackson, Yann Kermorgant four years ago has gone, it was all for nothing…
Starting with Brighton and Hove Albion this Saturday all we can do is enjoy the match without worrying about whether we’ll need to win to survive… Of course we’ll no doubt have the inevitable protests to look forward to.
The OppositionName: Brighton & Hove Albion |
Manager: Chris Hughton
Ground: The AMEX Stadium |
Nickname: The Seagulls
When the Addicks were relegated from the Championship in 2009, the fixture to be played this Saturday was a regular one for two seasons until Brighton deservedly won League One at a canter... Since that season, the Seagulls have been ever presents in the Championship and appear to be doing things the right way.
Their first season back in the Championship saw Brighton finish 10th, yet the following two seasons saw Brighton narrowly miss out on promotion to the Premier League after falling at the Play-Offs… Last season was certainly wakeup call (avoiding relegation by 6-points) and employing experienced Manager: Chris Hughton
Not only did he help them survive yet this season we’ve seen a dramatic turnaround from Brighton and going into the final three games they sit in joint second place, just two points from top spot and having scored nine goals in the last two games, a match against a relegated side is ideal for a run-in.
Just goes to show what can happen when you do things properly, despite pot holes on the way to success.
Charlton Team NewsIf producing a Match Preview prior to the press conferences was difficult earlier in the season it’s just become even more difficult now… With Relegation confirmed we’ll surely see many first-team players finding new clubs this summer so do we leave out those players (and so avoiding injury) or do we play them to showcase their “talents”.
Nick Pope (if he remains) will surely be our First-Team Goalkeeper for next season so you have to see him finishing the season in goal now whilst
Harry Lennon is our sole Defender to commit to playing for a Charlton side in League One… In midfield
Johnnie Jackson has also committed his future to the Addicks (which is no surprise) whilst we could also see Ahmed Kashi before the end of the season after being named on the substitutes bench last night.
Both Chris Solly (you’d hope will stay) and Johann Gudmundsson (you’d be shocked if he stayed) missed last night’s match so could return whilst as I mentioned in my opening piece for this section, will we see players playing for their futures or will we see a potential U21 side that’ll no doubt be relied upon for next year?
Pope
Solly … Fanni … Teixeira … Fox
Gudmundsson … Cousins … Jackson … Harriott
Lookman … Vetokele
Substitutes Bench: Mitov … Lennon … Charles-Cook … Lapslie … Diarra … Kashi … Makienok
PredictionGood luck to Brighton, have always felt an minor affinity to their club (partly because of their hatred of one our neighbours combined with their ground issues)… Would love to see them in the Premier League next season.
Comments
drink and protest.
won't be throwing anything though as don't want to get banged up.
We seem to have played them both times while they were bang in form, their mid season slump came just after our visit there
It'll be interesting whether we still play our loan players, it might depend on their clauses
They will turn up to the valley thinking about their big game with Derby coming up and still give us a thumping. Will be absolute murder.
Not that it matters, I'm looking far more forward to the protests.
Maybe some of our other loan players have clauses as well, no idea just speculating
It makes you cynical doesn't it?
5.20PM, after the Boris Water Cannon is fired at the mob.
Result is that CAFC are docked points for next season,
but the good news is that many of the wet blanket and thermos brigade
get signed up for the Olympic Synchronised swimming squad.
Fanni hat-trick, the third a bicycle kick. Pope with a long one and JBG with a curler into the top corner from a corner.