Charlton Athletic v Oldham Athletic
Tuesday 27th September 2016 … 7:45pm Kick-Off
Referee: Nick Kinseley (Essex)
IntroductionFresh from our match against Oxford on the weekend which saw us battling to win a glorious point we return to Football action at the Valley this Tuesday night with the dust having barely settled from the previous fixture, and coming to the end of September we’re now at a stage where the League table is taking shape so for those sides who have made slow starts its time to get a move on, no one wants to be in mid-table obscurity or a relegation fight at this early stage.
Every summer though the same arguments crop up… Why aren’t Charlton signing anyone, why are England so awful etc. also questioned is the release of the Football fixtures!! Come June we all hunt to see who our first match is against yet at the same time we also look to see who our midweek opponents will be and how far we’ll have to travel on a Tuesday night, once again the sanity of the computer has to be called into question as our opponents this Tuesday night are forced to travel four hours down from Greater Manchester as we play host to Oldham Athletic.
The OppositionName: Oldham Athletic |
Manager: Steve Robinson
Ground: Boundary Park
When Steve Robinson took over at Oldham in the summer he was taking his first steps on what he hopes will be a successful managerial career… To be honest when I did my research I’d never heard of him, yet like any Football League Manager these days though he’s come from having played over four hundred times as a midfielder for the likes of Bournemouth and Luton achieving seven caps for Northern Ireland in the process.
Now as Manager of Oldham he’s the latest man tasked with trying to get his side back to the Championship a level they’ve not been in since 1997 and the fact they were one of the founders of the Premier League, now a distant memory!!... Yet that task hasn’t begun too successfully, there have just been one victory for the Latics (coming on the road at rivals: Bury) and with only Southend and Coventry below them in the Division, a first spell in the fourth tier of English Football since 1971 could beckon.
Charlton Team NewsHaving achieved a point (seems to be the target each match) at Scunthorpe you’d have thought there would have been no changes to the squad yet changes there were… Jason Pearce missed out with concussion yet should return tomorrow with Harry Lennon now suspended having picked up our first red card of the season.
Also missing recently have been attacking forces: Ricky Holmes and Lee Novak, both returned to the bench after missing Scunthorpe and having made appearances from the bench on Saturday, they should be in contention to start tomorrow evening.
Rudd
Solly | Bauer | Pearce | Fox
Holmes | Ulvestad | Jackson | Lookman
Novak | Magennis
Substitutes Bench: Phillips | Konsa | Johnson | Crofts | Foley | Botaka | Ajose
PredictionDespite having a top six budget, the Addicks seem terrified to take a game to the opposition… Draws are all well and good yet we need more both home and away from the Valley if we want to challenge for promotion.
We now face a side who have struggled for goals (Oldham have only scored in three games) this season so should the club be happy with anything other than victory will surely show that we’re not to be the promotion challengers that we hoped we would be!!
Comments
Lookman
Novak
Magennis
Johnson
Ajose
Johnson shown a straight red for biting the head off of a pigeon while celebrating his goal.
They're the only teams in the Division that I dont see as winnable games (i.e. would be happy with anything other than defeat), every other team we should certainly be looking to beat as no other team (Bolton included actually) would impress in the Championship
0-0
Brainwashed young orphans wave flags to salute our illustrious supreme leader and great helmsman.
Cheering happy fans (on a second hand CD) praise our glorious chief executive (even though she is busy on Tuesdays planning yet more famous victories (and draws).
Even the former Premiership might of Oldham cannot slow our steam train of glory.
0.0
1-0 to The Addicks
Slade tells us all that he had already told us we'd turn the draws into wins.
Solly | Bauer | Pearce | Fox
Holmes | Ulvestad | Jackson | Botaka
Lookman | Magennis
Substitutes Bench: Phillips | Konsa | Texeira | Crofts | Foley | Novak | Ajose
With Slade having drawn our way into a frustrating start, to keep the natives happy, we need to win. Forever's preview says Oldham struggle for goals. This has got 1-0 to Oldham written all over it.
Oldham score in the 30th minute or something, from a set a piece. Fox loses his man, ball bundled in. The 6000 charlton fans are angry and frustrated at half time, questioning why Crofts and Foley are so slow in the middle of the park. The second half doesn't really yield any sustained pressure as Oldham shut up shop and the frustrations eek out into chants of 'just sell the club'.
Sue Parkes looks fetching in a lovely summer dress in the directors box, but the chilly winds of autumn are closing in.
Boos ring out at the final whistle and Russell trots off toward the tunnel, aware we don't want any clapping of any sort. All that remains his for him to be prickly with @LouisMend in the post match press conference.......
No not really
Any thing less than a victory by a two goal margin and it will be yet more confirmation that we are an extreamly average side
Never heard before that Oldham's nickname is the Owls.
Locals up there always said " Oop Latics", certainly when I used to go away frequently in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
The problem is, I'm just not convinced that Slade can get them supplied with the ball by working it up the pitch and through some key passing from the back and midfield to make it work. The three of them feeding off of knock downs from long balls to Macgennis won't work.
I think this is a desperately overused phrase, but I think tomorrow night, and Saturday, are must wins. Anything short of six points from six and I think our start to the season is a drastic disappointment, and if I were Slade, if I failed to win the next two I'd be looking over my shoulder.
Usually spot on with club nicknames so dont know why I thought they were called the Owls... Probably because of their badge
Foley 4 / 10 first half, but 6 /10 second half, after having his spineboard stretcher taken off (this is the only excuse I can find for him running so upright)
I think he will play 4-4-2, but Croft will play and not Bottsie. He needs a plan for a change at half time and with 30 to go if still 0-0 at those points.
On Saturday, Magennis up top on his own clearly didn't work - at least not with the midfield we played. He tried hard, but not much he can do with long lumped balls out of defence when there are always three defenders around him and no red shirt within 30 yards. While Ajose's finishing has not always been great, when he's played he has at least provided an option there.
I'd play Magennis and Ajose up front with Lookman and Holmes on the wings from the beginning, and hope the mix of attacking options compensates for the utter lack of dynamism in the middle (whatever combination of Jackson, Ulvestad, Crofts and Foley that happens to be). Might be wrong, but don't think those four attacking players have all started a game together this season?