Well that was a sobering experience, went with my two sons, who were not impressed, either with the team performance, the atmosphere ( moon aside) and the very sad entertainment value. My sons are going to the Millwall match and stated that if they put in a shift like that, they will get crucified. God knows how many times Adjose got 'knocked' off the ball, and there No 10 seemed to be able to stroll about at will first half, almost without challlenge.? Two poor teams, a game for the diehards. So sad to see the Valley like this, highlight of the day was the 'discussion' I had with the fan outside the carpark, about the 'regime' beforehand. He was telling me that he thought Roland was 'turning it around'!..... at least he showed some passion, which was more than I could see at the Valley this afternoon.
What are people thoughts on Hanlan? Honestly and i know he's young but he doesn't look ready yet. Would rather Ahearne Grant or even Aribo came on instead.
I've personally not seen much of Hanlon but the little I have seen makes me think he has potential. Made an immediate impact yesterday in his ridiculously short substitute appearance. Looks raw but up for it. Last few games I saw KAG he looked completely out of his depth.
Given that Hanlon has overtaken KAG in the pecking order I presume the coaches think the same as me.
What are people thoughts on Hanlan? Honestly and i know he's young but he doesn't look ready yet. Would rather Ahearne Grant or even Aribo came on instead.
I've personally not seen much of Hanlon but the little I have seen makes me think he has potential. Made an immediate impact yesterday in his ridiculously short substitute appearance. Looks raw but up for it. Last few games I saw KAG he looked completely out of his depth.
Given that Hanlon has overtaken KAG in the pecking order I presume the coaches think the same as me.
Why has Chicksen been left out of the pecking order?
Highlight of the day was the 'discussion' I had with the fan outside the carpark, about the 'regime' beforehand. He was telling me that he thought Roland was 'turning it around'!..... at least he showed some passion, which was more than I could see at the Valley this afternoon.
What I found amusing from yesterday's game was Karl covering his mouth a lot of the time when talking to his staff and the 4th official must have been glad at full time with the amount of stick he was getting from Karl. Poor game overall with very few chances ( and excitement ) produced on a cold saturday afternoon. Reeves for them looked lively and Phillips and Mag were our best players with Lookman getting lumps kicked out of him again. Good to see Tex back and was as effective on the attack as he was in defense ( almost scored with a looping shot ).
The atmosphere was dire. The streets were empty outside and the lower West was full of mannequins, or were they all listening to Robbo's John Bishop routine. He gave a nice little wave to the Franchise fans during the first half, who made all the noise.
The atmosphere at the Oval on 20-20 nights is much better than the Valley on FA Cup days. Who would have thought that, the singing at cricket matches is outdoing FA Cup matches?
The familiar shortcomings surfaced again, as did the familiar strengths, with the two strong CB's ably assisted by a third when he came on at RB. Phillips is growing in stature, looking confident and calm, with some very good distribution. Strange to leave the two attacking subs until added time but perhaps Robinson wanted to get a good look at how his first team managed all aspects of the situation. That said, he must surely have drawn one or two conclusions by then - I had!!
WIngers that tracked back? I sat in the Lower North behind Fox for the first half. He was left continually exposed by Lookman and was turned inside out by Reeves, supported by the overlapping Baldock, who exposed his usual weakness of not being able to defend against opponents cutting inside to attack his right foot.
He's one of the most one-footed players I've ever seen.
Andy Reid, Jerome Thomas, Carl Leaburn, Garry Nelson, Chris Waddle, Alan Shearer, David Beckham, and so on ad infinitum. Most footballers are one-footed.
Maradona is the most one-footed player I've ever seen. And the best.
We were appalling yesterday. Utterly, stunningly bad. I have watched Charlton for 51 years, and for the occasional Cup game I like to move from the Covered End to the West Stand for a balanced view. I had perfect vision of Charlton – watching us fail both in defence and attack.
First half, at home to a side below us in the league. Outplayed by quick, accurate passes. We were skinned repeatedly down our left side, Fox turned inside and out, MK Dons searching and probing in acres of space: another cross – that was close! Then same move again, swivelling, and a shot.
In the entire 45 minutes, at home at The Valley, all we could do was was set Ajose free once – who curved a wimpy little balloon in to the stands.
Half-time. A four-year-old child is SHOUTED at by a fat man in an anorak. It is patronising and silly. Toddler beats Valiant. Our new manager gives 'em a rocket.
We zip around for ten minutes, brighter, sharper – exactly like every team that kicks off from Cray Wanderers to Man City. Yet, here comes Crofts, our captain, in oceans of space, ball at feet – and passes to our opponent. That is inexplicable.
We have a free-kick 25 yards out. Stadium falls silent. Yann Kermorgant taught our players how to hit the top-left corner. Wait! Lookman steps up – and fluffs the ball at the two-man wall. That is simply unforgivable.
We miss Ricky Holmes. Magennis is our best player: tough, athletic and skilful, nods down for Ajose – who is miles away, mentally and physically.
Look carefully at our opponents, sprinting away. They are fluent, instinctive and rehearsed – and planets above us. We clump and hoof, and the ball is slightly behind our rushing winger: so he has to check to control. In that instant, four opponents ambush him and we lose possession.
There was a lovely vignette against Sheffield United last week. A long ball was sent to our box, a specific arrow received by his toe. He controlled it instantly.
Later, Ulvestad crashed in to the six-yard-box and we could see his cogs whirring: shall I shoot or pass? We in the the Covered End knew he would miss.
Look at our players: it bobbles up, uncontrolled from the foot, a hospital pass without a nurse, out of play, then the eternal shuffling around in defensive triangles that would make even the Gods weep.
No one is going to argue with that. But we are in league 1. By the standard of this rubbish league, we have good players. Someone just needs to motivate them and get them playing. Question is can anyone do this under this rotten regime? I fear the answer is no.
Undefeated in 4 games. goals for 8. goals against 2. And for all the vignettes and pirouettes that Sheff United pulled out of its box of tricks they still fucking couldn't beat us.
League 1 is not a rubbish league. It's the best third division in the world by a country mile.
Bang on there mate. If you look at the size of some of the clubs, crowds, away followings and money in our third tier we are head and shoulders above any others. Third tiers on the continent are like our non league football. Tiny crowds, zero away followings and top flight B teams allowed to compete in them. Two bob.
We were appalling yesterday. Utterly, stunningly bad. I have watched Charlton for 51 years, and for the occasional Cup game I like to move from the Covered End to the West Stand for a balanced view. I had perfect vision of Charlton – watching us fail both in defence and attack.
First half, at home to a side below us in the league. Outplayed by quick, accurate passes. We were skinned repeatedly down our left side, Fox turned inside and out, MK Dons searching and probing in acres of space: another cross – that was close! Then same move again, swivelling, and a shot.
In the entire 45 minutes, at home at The Valley, all we could do was was set Ajose free once – who curved a wimpy little balloon in to the stands.
Half-time. A four-year-old child is SHOUTED at by a fat man in an anorak. It is patronising and silly. Toddler beats Valiant. Our new manager gives 'em a rocket.
We zip around for ten minutes, brighter, sharper – exactly like every team that kicks off from Cray Wanderers to Man City. Yet, here comes Crofts, our captain, in oceans of space, ball at feet – and passes to our opponent. That is inexplicable.
We have a free-kick 25 yards out. Stadium falls silent. Yann Kermorgant taught our players how to hit the top-left corner. Wait! Lookman steps up – and fluffs the ball at the two-man wall. That is simply unforgivable.
We miss Ricky Holmes. Magennis is our best player: tough, athletic and skilful, nods down for Ajose – who is miles away, mentally and physically.
Look carefully at our opponents, sprinting away. They are fluent, instinctive and rehearsed – and planets above us. We clump and hoof, and the ball is slightly behind our rushing winger: so he has to check to control. In that instant, four opponents ambush him and we lose possession.
There was a lovely vignette against Sheffield United last week. A long ball was sent to our box, a specific arrow received by his toe. He controlled it instantly.
Later, Ulvestad crashed in to the six-yard-box and we could see his cogs whirring: shall I shoot or pass? We in the the Covered End knew he would miss.
Look at our players: it bobbles up, uncontrolled from the foot, a hospital pass without a nurse, out of play, then the eternal shuffling around in defensive triangles that would make even the Gods weep.
We need better players.
I'm glad Roland pledged that we would only now have "quality" players...
MKD are only 6 or 7 points below us in the table, and I expected them to be a top 6 team this season, so it's unfair to put them as minnows that we would expect to beat easily.
As for the crowd and atmosphere, have we had decent crowds for ANY early FA cup matches in L1 in the 4 seasons we've recently played at this level?
What are people thoughts on Hanlan? Honestly and i know he's young but he doesn't look ready yet. Would rather Ahearne Grant or even Aribo came on instead.
Why Ahearne-Grant? Looked promising when he first came in a few years ago but seemed to lack confidence.
Hanlan's more physical and again found himself through on goal, in time could develop into a similar player to Magennis.
Aribo's a midfielder, would have liked to have seen him come on. It's not as if we're strong in CM.
Hard to believe Aherne-Grant has not long turned 19. A sad case of over-playing a youngster in a losing team. He seems to have lost all confidence and belief. I wonder whether he will ever get his career back at Charlton.
First visit to the Valley for a long time, and it was a really depressing experience. 7 hours driving for an awful game, and a very low key atmosphere (I don't think the home fans sang one song) Really sad to see the East Stand shut, I went to the first game back at the Valley, and remember all the excitement and happiness. What have they done to our great club? My lad, who is keen to go to away games, said he didn't want to go back to the Valley again. Says it all really.
I thought the East Stand (Terrace?) was shut for our first game back.
First visit to the Valley for a long time, and it was a really depressing experience. 7 hours driving for an awful game, and a very low key atmosphere (I don't think the home fans sang one song) Really sad to see the East Stand shut, I went to the first game back at the Valley, and remember all the excitement and happiness. What have they done to our great club? My lad, who is keen to go to away games, said he didn't want to go back to the Valley again. Says it all really.
I thought the East Stand (Terrace?) was shut for our first game back.
The East Stand didn't exist for a season or so. There was a walkway across it which was the way of getting to the Jimmy Seed Stand.
Comments
God knows how many times Adjose got 'knocked' off the ball, and there No 10 seemed to be able to stroll about at will first half, almost without challlenge.? Two poor teams, a game for the diehards. So sad to see the Valley like this, highlight of the day was the 'discussion' I had with the fan outside the carpark, about the 'regime' beforehand. He was telling me that he thought Roland was 'turning it around'!..... at least he showed some passion, which was more than I could see at the Valley this afternoon.
Given that Hanlon has overtaken KAG in the pecking order I presume the coaches think the same as me.
Turning it round?
The atmosphere at the Oval on 20-20 nights is much better than the Valley on FA Cup days. Who would have thought that, the singing at cricket matches is outdoing FA Cup matches?
First half, at home to a side below us in the league. Outplayed by quick, accurate passes. We were skinned repeatedly down our left side, Fox turned inside and out, MK Dons searching and probing in acres of space: another cross – that was close! Then same move again, swivelling, and a shot.
In the entire 45 minutes, at home at The Valley, all we could do was was set Ajose free once – who curved a wimpy little balloon in to the stands.
Half-time. A four-year-old child is SHOUTED at by a fat man in an anorak. It is patronising and silly. Toddler beats Valiant. Our new manager gives 'em a rocket.
We zip around for ten minutes, brighter, sharper – exactly like every team that kicks off from Cray Wanderers to Man City. Yet, here comes Crofts, our captain, in oceans of space, ball at feet – and passes to our opponent. That is inexplicable.
We have a free-kick 25 yards out. Stadium falls silent. Yann Kermorgant taught our players how to hit the top-left corner. Wait! Lookman steps up – and fluffs the ball at the two-man wall. That is simply unforgivable.
We miss Ricky Holmes. Magennis is our best player: tough, athletic and skilful, nods down for Ajose – who is miles away, mentally and physically.
Look carefully at our opponents, sprinting away. They are fluent, instinctive and rehearsed – and planets above us. We clump and hoof, and the ball is slightly behind our rushing winger: so he has to check to control. In that instant, four opponents ambush him and we lose possession.
There was a lovely vignette against Sheffield United last week. A long ball was sent to our box, a specific arrow received by his toe. He controlled it instantly.
Later, Ulvestad crashed in to the six-yard-box and we could see his cogs whirring: shall I shoot or pass? We in the the Covered End knew he would miss.
Look at our players: it bobbles up, uncontrolled from the foot, a hospital pass without a nurse, out of play, then the eternal shuffling around in defensive triangles that would make even the Gods weep.
We need better players.
We need better players
No one is going to argue with that. But we are in league 1. By the standard of this rubbish league, we have good players. Someone just needs to motivate them and get them playing. Question is can anyone do this under this rotten regime? I fear the answer is no.
As for the crowd and atmosphere, have we had decent crowds for ANY early FA cup matches in L1 in the 4 seasons we've recently played at this level?
Upon reflection it was actually fucking freezing and fucking shit.
Cheers.
A sad case of over-playing a youngster in a losing team.
He seems to have lost all confidence and belief.
I wonder whether he will ever get his career back at Charlton.