Welling United v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 9th July 2016 … 3pm Kick-Off
Pre-Season Friendly
IntroductionExactly two months ago the Charlton season ended with a very flat referee’s full-time whistle… The curtains came down (the sofa was destroyed) and when the dust had settled our ex-Ticket Office Manager will still unsure whether we’d been relegated, yet relegated we were and a season ahead in League One beckons.
Still it’s not been a boring two months, in that time; our two rivals have lost at Wembley (Shame) and we’ve had the bi-annual event of watching England being hyped up and failing at a major tournament… Within Sparrows Lane there have been changes yet feeling amongst the fans is still the same, the majority feel that for any real change there must be resignations at the top.
Usually I don’t cover the pre-season friendlies yet thought I’d give the annual curtain raiser a go… This Saturday it’s a chance to get down to Park View Road and see the reign of Russell Slade begin.
The OppositionName: Welling United |
Ground: Park View Road
Manager: Mark Goldberg
A Charlton season would never be the same if we didn’t start against our local neighbours… A friendly that seems to exist purely to aid the finances of a Non-League side (£15 a ticket will surely help) and to add much needed match fitness ahead of a gruelling season for both sides.
Welling themselves didn’t have the best of season’s last time out… Having made a long awaited return to the National League (the Conference for us purists) in 2013, Welling were relegated back to the Conference South having finished bottom of the league last time out.
Yet changes are afoot in the Bexley Borough… Welling have new ownership in ex-Crystal Palace / Bromley owner: Mark Goldberg, who’s management team includes our very own Damien Matthew and despite a rivalry with Ebbsfleet United and instant return to the Non-League top flight may not be beyond the Wings.
Charlton Team NewsPredicting a squad for a league game is difficult so am not even going to try for a Pre-Season Friendly which usually sees two different squads being played in each half, although even after all these years there will still be those who moan that they’ve not seen the First-Team playing…
Of course with a second pre-season friendly planned in a few days against Bromley there will be those who will be kept fresh for the “other” Kent derby.
Goalkeepers: Do we have three or do we have four ‘keepers… Nick Pope should be the first choice next season yet will face competition from Dillon Phillips fresh (yet possibly still injured) from his success at Cheltenham, Saturday could also see Marko Dmitrovic or Dimitar Mitov make an appearance whilst it doesn’t seem as though Stephen Henderson has reported for training.
Defence: With the only out goings having been loans we could still potentially see the likes of Jorge Teixeira line up, no doubt the squads will be a mixture of experience and youth so expect to see the likes of Terrell Thomas or Ezra Konsa appearing… Patrick Bauer injured at the end of last season would be a surprise to see.
Midfield: Following his exploits at the Euros for Iceland one player we definitely won’t see is Johann Gudmundsson, indeed it’s doubtful we’ll ever see him again as it looks like he’ll be joining Burnley, whilst Saturday should be the first chance we’ll get to see new signing: Ricky Holmes
Strikers: Another player injured at the end of last season was Tony Watt so again it may be a surprise to see him play whilst we should get to see new signings: Lee Novak and Nicky Ajose… It would be a surprise if there wasn’t constant rumour around Ademola Lookman’s future this summer, he will be another absentee (no doubt sending the conspiracy theories wild) yet he will be on England U19 duty for a few weeks.
PredictionSome say I went slightly mad last season in terms of the predictions so this is a feature you’ll rarely have to put up with in the season ahead… Charlton will be favourites for the tie having won previous encounters 9-0 yet Welling have been known to win the match themselves.
Will there be another Ahearne-Grant / Pigott for this fixture... Or will we see the beginning of our own resurrection...
CharltonLife, it’s over to you… See you for the Bury game
Comments
They talk about the price of a game these days but any Pre-Season Friendly where your charged more than £10 is an absolute joke
best excuse I have for a few pints with the lads in the sun
Tony Watt @32watto 13h13 hours ago
Tony Watt Retweeted samc
Not yet mate taking it slow to be sure
---------Pope
Solly---Tex---Konsa---Fox
Johann---Kashi---Harriott
Holmes---Ajose---Novak
...........Pope
Solly....Diarra....Konsa....Fox
Callum.....Kashi....JJ.......Holmes
..........Ajose.......Nowak
Also hoping to see RCC, Ceballos, and Umerah and/or Hanlan.
Olly Groome on Twitter just said there will be CAFCPlayer commentary on the match
I'm far more excited for this than I should be...
I think Edwards was injured toward the end of last season, any word on if he's fit yet?
I know there was a lengthy thread on what the appropriate number for a squad was, 22-25, and to me a lot of that boils down to who is defined as a 'squad player" (e.g. is Umerah? RCC? THD?). But putting that to one side, it would be nice if we had a solid enough squad that we could start to ease a couple of the youngsters in, in much the same way we did with Gomez. I know there was talk of RCC being linked back to Arsenal (and maybe one other PL club) from SLP. Konsa seems a very gifted player. Given we're in League One, I would hope that we see 2-3 really break through and make themselves a part of the first team.
That game finished 1-0 to Welling, thanks to a Simon Walton own goal. On my drive to the ground, I was approaching the stadium along Park View Road and stopped to allow some pedestrians to cross. As they were crossing the road, I realised that I recognised the pedestrians - one was our fat, new Australian coach, John Harbin and the other one was the mirrorbreaker himself, Iain Dowie. I was furious that we had appointed Dowie from the Sad bastards from Surrey, and had to concentrate every ounce of my willpower into preventing myself from driving at them at full speed. However, I managed to control myself, worried about the damage that Iain's face could inflict on my car.
I often wonder how things might have been different if I'd brutally slaughtered Iain and his mate that fateful evening. We could have appointed Billy Davies, or even persuaded Curbs to come back, we'd probably still be in the Premier League, we'd surely have qualified for the Europa League at least once, we'd never have heard of Roland and Katrien and most of us would probably still think of Richard Murray as a nice, old man, rather than a senile lunatic. Real Sliding Doors moment.
Anyway, I predict a 3-0 victory, and more opportunity for the easily-bought amongst us to convince themselves that everything's fine and there's no need to protest anymore.
Warm weather, beers on the terrace and catching up with some friends.
Interested to see if the likes of Johnson, Ba, bergidch will be included for this one.
Will never forget one time when we drew 1-1, all through the game was telling my mate that it was just a friendly and that the result didnt matter etc. Welling took the lead and shortly after Steve Bennett (Referee) denied us a clear penalty and I went ballistic, for the rest of the game I treated it like a League match praying we'd win.
"Just a game was it" is the constant reminder I get from my mate of that day
Nego Sarr Llera Bergdich
Ceballos Ba LePoint
Makienok Tucudean Piotr
2-1 Welling