Gillingham v Charlton Athletic
Saturday 22nd October 2016 … 3pm Kick-Off
Referee: Mark Haywood (West Yorkshire)
IntroductionOn a wet Tuesday night just outside the Peak District, Charlton once again continued to sum up their season… Travelling to a club who have won all their home games (losing just once), they dominated from start to finish; Freddie Ulvestad grabbed his first goal for the club in what has been an impressive week for him yet with the clock ticking down it clearly should have been more than just 1-0. At the same time it was clear that the match wasn’t finishing 1-0 and it wouldn’t be Charlton scoring the next goal, just like against Oldham, Port Vale would get a penalty with five minutes remaining and ultimately would earn a share of the spoils… Following on from our result against Coventry and following on from the end of my last preview, it’s clearly two steps back.
This Saturday we stay on the road but this Saturday it’s a relatively short trip down the A2 and into the dark depths of Kent and the Medway Towns… In a Footballing world in which SKY will try and claim it’s a derby match between Portsmouth and Newcastle, this Saturday we’ll face our South East rivals: Gillingham
The OppositionName: Gillingham |
Manager: Justin Edinburgh
Ground: Priestfields
In 2011, both Charlton Athletic and Gillingham decided it would be right to re-join the Kent Senior Cup and so give their U23 players a chance of playing against seasoned players (despite those players being from the Non-League system)… It would be agreed that both sides would avoid playing senior players yet when the two sides faced each other in the Final three years ago; Gillingham decided to throw that out the window and so played half their first team, that result saw Charlton winning 1-0 yet the match that day proved one thing, Gillingham see themselves as Kent’s only League side and beating a side who now fall inside the London borders will surely be one of the highlights of their season.
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Back to this season though and all three clubs from the South East (Milwall the other) have struggled, with one side coming down from the Championship and the other two narrowly missing out on promotion you could easily say that all three sides are under-achieving and with goal difference the only factor separating the two sides facing up against each other on Saturday... three points will be oh so important.
Charlton Team NewsFollowing the result against Port Vale, Russell Slade defended himself against the chants that have been coming from the stands, stating that it’s not his fault when penalties are given away as he’s not telling his players to do this… Regardless results need to improve as we’re closer to relegation than we are to the Play-Offs so team selection this Saturday will be pivotal.
In terms of selection; Jason Pearce missed the match on Tuesday night with yet another niggle so we’ll wait and see if he is fit to return whilst Ademola Lookman was substituted with a small issue yet should hopefully be fit for our clash against Gillingham… It was rumoured that Jorge Teixeira travelled to Staffordshire yet with Roger Johnson on the bench ahead of the Portuguese Defender, I doubt we’ll be seeing him again.
Rudd
Solly | Bauer | Lennon | Fox
Holmes | Crofts | Ulvestad | Jackson | Lookman
Magennis
Substitutes Bench: Phillips | Konsa | Johnson | Foley | Novak | Hanlan | Ajose
PredictionAs already mentioned, tomorrow is as much a derby as Portsmouth v Newcastle yet with these two clubs a bit closer together, form will go out of the window… Charlton actually have the third best defence in the league but with yet another defensive formation, I can’t see past a draw!!
Comments
Gillingham are not in good form though and this is an opportune time to attack them, get them down and then keep them down .. alas, I doubt this will happen .. we will see ..
For me ? .. Johnson in for Lennon and Ajose for Jackson .. and plastic pigs might turn into bacon
Gillingham 0 v CAFC 0
Rudd
Solly | Bauer | Pearce / Teixeira | Fox
Holmes | Crofts | Ulvestad | Lookman
Ajose | Magennis
People might not like Crofts but I cant see someone better than him occupying his slot (Kashi maybe)
in tough away games, Johnson is the man for me .. Lennon has looked very flaky this season and anyway, I prefer him at left back .. Konsa is still to be filed under 'promising but not quite ready' .. I agree about Crofts .. something of a (wait for it) fans' whipping boy (not scapegoat) so far this season
IF the team can repeat that first half performance and convert even half the chances created it's going to be a comfortable away win but this is a Charlton team under Brussel we are talking about. Furthermore the Gills aren't going to roll over with 'local' pride at stake. Once again I don't want a draw, although preferable to defeat, I'll take a point now.
Sit back and let their fans get behind them should they win a few corners or create the odd chance and we could be heading be for yet another draw.
A draw or loss could see the end of Slade as we are now starting to be cut adrift from the top 4, and with statements at the start of the season with reference to one of the top budgets in the league and the goal was to get promotion first time around the clock is now ticking, and the strain is starting to show.
Solly | Bauer | Lennon | Fox
Holmes | Crofts | Ulvestad | Jackson | Lookman
Magennis
Prediction
Lose or Draw
Solly | Bauer | Lennon | Fox
Holmes | Crofts | Ulvestad | Lookman
Magennis | Ajose
Prediction
Win
As work with plenty of gills fans so we realy need to give them a 3 or 4 nill stuffing
Come on reds otherwise i will get slaughtered next week
2 - 0 to Gillingham, goals from Wagstaff and Josh Wright.
Most eagerly anticipated game of the season for the Gills so they'll be well up for it. On and off the pitch, we're not sure whether it's a derby or not, and will be punished for not showing the required urgency.
Yet more pressure on Slade - he gets zero sympathy from me, must have known what he was walking into when he signed the contract, but calling for his head is ignoring the main issue. I reckon Slade will be gone by the end of November, we'll have a dead cat bounce under Nobby Vinegar and then back to playing badly and not winning matches by March. Keep up the pressure on the idiots at the top.
1) I will be watching York City v Chester tomorrow with my father-in-law
2) The promotion-chasing bit
3) They will get a late goal.
Er....
'Another draw is clearly the most obvious outcome, but I'm feeling genuinely optimistsic we can buck that trend.'
2-0 to Gillingham.
Classic
No, another 1-1 draw
I know that we don't play to his strengths, but I think we need to bring Ajose back into the side with two wingers against a mediocre team in poor form. I don't think that solves all of our problems, and we risk getting overrun with a central midfield two, along with risking "playing with ten men" when Ajose doesn't work off the ball. But I think we need to find a way to dominate games, and while it sounds like we did it against Vale, it didn't result in the goals needed to put the game out of sight.
Also, any word on Botaka? I don't think Slade rates him given that he's been injured for a week now and I don't think he's come up in a press conference yet.
....................Rudd
Solly.....Konsa.....Bauer.....Fox
Holmes....Ulvestad....Crofts....Lookman
,,,,,,,,,Ajose.....Mcgennis
Konsa gets in the team ahead of Lennon and RoJo (if Pearce is unfit) for me. He has a bit of pace which we desperately lack back there, and he can pass the ball, allowing us to potentially build from the back.
All that said, wouldn't be surprised if it was an unchanged team apart from Konsa or Pearce coming in in central defense.