Very enjoyable and a well deserved point. Aribo outstanding, Tex good, rest OK apart from Ajose who was garbage - we need to get rid. Good away support.
Thought we played pretty poorly and southend will be gutted not to have won it. Robinson persisted with a totally ineffective formation for far too long. Ajose pointless on the wing, and Magennis can't do much up front on his own with no support, though not for lack of trying. We brought umerah on to make it 4-4-2 and equalised a few minutes later.
Elsewhere on the pitch, Aribo impressed, and Botaka showed what a difference playing an actual winger on the wing can make. I honestly have nothing against Fox personally, but he was really poor again today imo. Out of position so many times- Chicksen did a lot of cleaning up after him - and awful eyes-closed lump passing when he got the ball. Did nearly score a right-footed screamer though. On the other flank, Konsa did okay but his positioning and decision-making at times really show his unfamiliarity with the position and his lack of experience. Our defending was totally chaotic the majority of the time and especially at set pieces. Where are the leaders telling people who their man is? Was sitting behind the goal in the first half as cox stood totally unmarked time after time, including in the build up to the goal.
Our squad is thin on numbers and on quality. Robinson has won 1 game in 7. Basically I'm not optimistic. Happy new year all!
Came away very encouraged. We have some great youngsters. Aribo is some player. Haven't seen defenders put so easily on their backsides since the days of Paul Mortimer, and he did it twice today, first time he hit the bar, second time put it on a plate for Crofts to fire home. Great energy, skill, and composure in midfield for such a young inexperienced player. Konsa, fast and skilful down the right. KHG full of confidence and running. Botaka, great determination in the build up to the goal. Uneventful first half, but we really went for it in the second, and but for a couple of great saves from their keeper, we'd have come away with three points.
Thirdly, Ahearne-Grant looked really confident when he came on and gave us some forward momentum. Hopefully his career is back on track after last season
Thought ok first 15 minutes and last 15, other than that poor at times, Ajose is nicking a living. Game changed when Botaka came on. Aribo in midfield was a breath of fresh air, but how long can we hang on to him?
Also the people who booed fox after he made a mistake and then when he went off are an absolute joke. He's awful but I feel sorry for the kid
He'll probably end up having the last laugh if he does move Clubs - tends to end up that way and he'll be the stronger for it.
One thing you can say about the lad is that he's a trier and God loves a trier.
He's got balls and if Wednesday are still out to sign him (I'm a bit out of touch so apologies if I'm not up to date) then they must have good reason and likely see that when he has cover and is well supported then he can whip some decent crosses in.
I'm not a huge fan personally but I do remember Simon Francis being mocked at some time or other when at CAFC and look at him now.
We are still only playing with ten men with ajose on the pitch. We equalised because he was taken off and Botaka was brought on and through his efforts the goal came. When will Robinson learn that Ajose has no hunger to chase anything, fight for anything or even keep the ball. He is an irrelevance on the pitch and Botaka changed the game simply by being an eleventh man. Everyone else including Fox had a half decent game; its just that Fox has a habit of playing the ball in the wrong direction (ie out of play at seriously crucial moments) I really like Aribo and I thought their goal was a good one and it was not lack of effort on our part that enabled it. We had plenty of chances to score but when you have only Magennis up front (discount ajose) it is hard unless you have someone with him working as hard as he obviously did. It is STILL encouraging and given Southend's form I would have taken a draw before the game. I seriously hope Robinson changes his thought on personnel up front before Monday. Could have got three points today.
One way of understanding today would be by comparison with Gillingham away. Another 1-1 which looks like being the trademark score of the season, and another 0-1 at half time saved by a late, yet probably deserved equaliser. On this theme, we weren't as bad as we were at the Priestfield, but Southend were better than Gillingham. The referee was another poor one, our fans were more restrained in the vile stuff, and better (under that roof) at being raucous. We didn't deal with a Southend corner after a good opening spell, and Cox just squeezed it in (fnarr fnarr) on the turn, a 'fair enough' goal and difficult to blame anybody. We dipped for a spell after that, into the second half even, where we upped our game, forced their keeper into some spectacular flying saves, and were doing OK, but still looking vulnerable, indeed Southend hit the bar and that would have killed us off. For all his guff and bluster Karl Robinson handled a thin squad well, and his timing and use of substitutions was good. Botaka came on and the dimensions changed, as it did with KAG, and even the Umerah cameo was a good one, there were times when i could almost believe I was at an U23 game from last season seeing the number of our home growners on at the end. Crofts needed to score because I thought he had an awful game, in stark contrast to our stand out player and full league debutant Joe Aribo who was very good to excellent today, most especially in the first half an hour, but his contribution all game was really really good. However Joe is not the finished article who needs to be exposed and held accountable for everything, I would hate to see him get the Morgan Fox treatment from our fans. Everybody was a decent average except dear old Morgan and Ajose who I thought were poor along with Crofts. It was great not to lose, but disappointing not to win.
we've found a midfielder, Aribo .. and possibly a manager .. Robinson was right on target with his initial selection and his subs .. all out attack for the last quarter of the game .. we should have won this against a very decent team .. we are getting a reputation like that old TV Series .. 'The Equaliser' .. keep right on to the end of the road .. BUT we really must start converting chances into GOALS Brovers next then Millwall after a rest and (possibly) some new blood .. be interesting when/if da Silva comes on .. he, Chicksen, Botaka will give the team much needed pace .. Aribo has a touch of class and aggression .. we got stuck in well today and will need that and more against Millwall .. not a world beating performance, just a very encouraging one and a good end to 2016 .. I am very optimistic for 2017 .. hope that Ajose is not destined for the exit .. I am still convinced that he will come good
Don't agree that no one was to blame for the goal. Cox was unmarked at the corner and no one bothered to pick him up after. Also if we'd have cleared our lines properly, he'd have been caught offside when the ball came back in. Lack of leadership and discipline in defence to blame in both cases (not helped by playing people out of position).
A deserved point, but no idea why Ajose is playing out wide, as he's hopeless in that position Aribo mom, KEY when he came on looked fit and aggressive which is a good sign.
If Robinson persists with this formation (4-2-3-1) then I genuinely worry that our season will fade out, we need to pick the best formation for the players we have, not the other way round. Ajose's only quality is (possibly) scoring goals, if we aren't going to play him through the middle then we just shouldn't play him and start with Botaka instead.
The beginning of the end for Slade was the supporters chanting "4-4-2" at Oxford away, if Robinson doesn't drop this ridiculous formation he'll find himself in similar circumstances.
Shout outs to Aribo & Chickeson who had great games and look like exciting prospects. Phillips is starting to look very assured at this level and I doubt a centre back in this league will play as well as Tex this entire Christmas period.
Just got home. Some of my Southend friends are relieved after a draw because they still see us a bigger club.
We weren't much in the first half. Some individual skill but very disjointed and I didn't think that we looked that committed to challenges. Too many balls just punted forward without looking to see who was there.
I think KR is a charlatan. He talks a good game but watching him today it looks like he doesn't really watch the match or take decisions. Lots of displacement activity from him e.g. constantly talking to the subs and actually anyone on the bench rather than what was going on on the pitch - which makes him look busy but not necessarily effective . In the first half we looked like a bunch of individuals (some of whom are quite good).
In the second half we did up our game I think we showed some good individual skill, but it didn't really look properly joined up. This is what happens when you have constant changes to managers, rely on inexperienced players and have no leaders on the pitch.
I have supported our club for over 40 years, through thick and very thin. To paraphrase Kipling, I can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same.
Today, I saw the true ambition of our club under Roland and it's so retrograde.
Came away very encouraged. We have some great youngsters. Aribo is some player. Haven't seen defenders put so easily on their backsides since the days of Paul Mortimer, and he did it twice today, first time he hit the bar, second time put it on a plate for Crofts to fire home. Great energy, skill, and composure in midfield for such a young inexperienced player. Konsa, fast and skilful down the right. KHG full of confidence and running. Botaka, great determination in the build up to the goal. Uneventful first half, but we really went for it in the second, and but for a couple of great saves from their keeper, we'd have come away with three points.
I can just see Douchbag sitting in that restaurant tonight, ordering another bottle of champagne and thinking to himself that's next season's losses catered for.
Game changed after Ajose went off. He was useless. I've never seen a player put in less effort. No excuse for that. The team seemed to start giving it a go when he went off. As bad as Fox can be and he wasn't great today, at least he never stops trying. Thought that some of the criticism that came his way today was unjustified. Other than scoring the goal I thought that Crofts was terrible. Not going to home games so it might just be how he is, but he was so pedestrian. The kids looked good, especially Aribo and in a cameo role Ahearne-Grant. Roland will be rubbing his hands at the thought of future transfer windows (if he's still around). Cox should never have been allowed to get the shot in for their goal.
Maybe it's because I was in the Southend crowd at the other end so had a better view, but the two chances they had to finish us off were absolutely golden. Especially the second one, where the striker had two or three touches to ready himself. Their keeper made a couple of saves, sure, but they absolutely should have won this game comfortably.
I don't mean to be negative, but a good finish can't gloss over that we were fortunate to be in with a chance of taking a point. We did well to get it when we went for it, the substitutions especially worked. But there were long stints of this game where we were shockingly poor, and Southend must be kicking themselves.
Came away very encouraged. We have some great youngsters. Aribo is some player. Haven't seen defenders put so easily on their backsides since the days of Paul Mortimer, and he did it twice today, first time he hit the bar, second time put it on a plate for Crofts to fire home. Great energy, skill, and composure in midfield for such a young inexperienced player. Konsa, fast and skilful down the right. KHG full of confidence and running. Botaka, great determination in the build up to the goal. Uneventful first half, but we really went for it in the second, and but for a couple of great saves from their keeper, we'd have come away with three points.
I can just see Douchbag sitting in that restaurant tonight, ordering another bottle of champagne and thinking to himself that's next season's losses catered for.
Unless he's planning on getting about £12m for Joe Aribo he'd better think again !
Wasn't there but sounds like a decent perfomance by all accounts. Can't help but think where we would be were it not for the academy players who have made the step up. I mean, if dresden and Meire had not come to a club with such a strong youth system, it is a tad scary to think what/who they would fill those positions with.
Really hope my goal celebration doesn't make it on to Channel 5. If so Mrs Otto won't allow my boys to attend another away game.
Not a great performance (apart from the last 25) Comedy moment was their physio - he must have weighed 25 stone. When treating a player, he got up and the fat on his legs must have cut the blood supply off to the lower part of his legs (top half were red and the bottom white). @Clem_Snide made a comment and Konsa was in hysterics.
Aribo was immense - hes played 4 or 5 games, but looked a seasoned pro today - he's got a big future ahead of him.
If we were to get 50p for Fox then I'd be over the moon. As soon as Ajose....as soon as he went off, we seemed a different proposition. He just skulks around thinking he's Charlie big potatoes. Admittedly We don't give him a great deal of service, but f@ck me, he's just not interested.
if you take in to consideration the team we were forced to put out today I thought we where fantastic, I know the defending for the goal was not great and they also had one or two opportunities in the second half but we also created some great chances of our own, their keeper was named man of the match by the way. When Robinson has a full squad to pick from I think things could get rather exciting for us charlton fans. I also thought the following today was good, 1800 crammed in behind the goal was a decent turn out.
Comments
Elsewhere on the pitch, Aribo impressed, and Botaka showed what a difference playing an actual winger on the wing can make. I honestly have nothing against Fox personally, but he was really poor again today imo. Out of position so many times- Chicksen did a lot of cleaning up after him - and awful eyes-closed lump passing when he got the ball. Did nearly score a right-footed screamer though. On the other flank, Konsa did okay but his positioning and decision-making at times really show his unfamiliarity with the position and his lack of experience. Our defending was totally chaotic the majority of the time and especially at set pieces. Where are the leaders telling people who their man is? Was sitting behind the goal in the first half as cox stood totally unmarked time after time, including in the build up to the goal.
Our squad is thin on numbers and on quality. Robinson has won 1 game in 7. Basically I'm not optimistic. Happy new year all!
Any second now...
And HNY to you too.
Thought ok first 15 minutes and last 15, other than that poor at times, Ajose is nicking a living. Game changed when Botaka came on. Aribo in midfield was a breath of fresh air, but how long can we hang on to him?
One thing you can say about the lad is that he's a trier and God loves a trier.
He's got balls and if Wednesday are still out to sign him (I'm a bit out of touch so apologies if I'm not up to date) then they must have good reason and likely see that when he has cover and is well supported then he can whip some decent crosses in.
I'm not a huge fan personally but I do remember Simon Francis being mocked at some time or other when at CAFC and look at him now.
Just back.
One way of understanding today would be by comparison with Gillingham away. Another 1-1 which looks like being the trademark score of the season, and another 0-1 at half time saved by a late, yet probably deserved equaliser.
On this theme, we weren't as bad as we were at the Priestfield, but Southend were better than Gillingham. The referee was another poor one, our fans were more restrained in the vile stuff, and better (under that roof) at being raucous.
We didn't deal with a Southend corner after a good opening spell, and Cox just squeezed it in (fnarr fnarr) on the turn, a 'fair enough' goal and difficult to blame anybody.
We dipped for a spell after that, into the second half even, where we upped our game, forced their keeper into some spectacular flying saves, and were doing OK, but still looking vulnerable, indeed Southend hit the bar and that would have killed us off.
For all his guff and bluster Karl Robinson handled a thin squad well, and his timing and use of substitutions was good.
Botaka came on and the dimensions changed, as it did with KAG, and even the Umerah cameo was a good one, there were times when i could almost believe I was at an U23 game from last season seeing the number of our home growners on at the end.
Crofts needed to score because I thought he had an awful game, in stark contrast to our stand out player and full league debutant Joe Aribo who was very good to excellent today, most especially in the first half an hour, but his contribution all game was really really good.
However Joe is not the finished article who needs to be exposed and held accountable for everything, I would hate to see him get the Morgan Fox treatment from our fans.
Everybody was a decent average except dear old Morgan and Ajose who I thought were poor along with Crofts.
It was great not to lose, but disappointing not to win.
we are getting a reputation like that old TV Series .. 'The Equaliser' .. keep right on to the end of the road .. BUT we really must start converting chances into GOALS
Brovers next then Millwall after a rest and (possibly) some new blood ..
be interesting when/if da Silva comes on .. he, Chicksen, Botaka will give the team much needed pace .. Aribo has a touch of class and aggression .. we got stuck in well today and will need that and more against Millwall .. not a world beating performance, just a very encouraging one and a good end to 2016 .. I am very optimistic for 2017 .. hope that Ajose is not destined for the exit .. I am still convinced that he will come good
Aribo mom, KEY when he came on looked fit and aggressive which is a good sign.
The beginning of the end for Slade was the supporters chanting "4-4-2" at Oxford away, if Robinson doesn't drop this ridiculous formation he'll find himself in similar circumstances.
Shout outs to Aribo & Chickeson who had great games and look like exciting prospects. Phillips is starting to look very assured at this level and I doubt a centre back in this league will play as well as Tex this entire Christmas period.
We weren't much in the first half. Some individual skill but very disjointed and I didn't think that we looked that committed to challenges. Too many balls just punted forward without looking to see who was there.
I think KR is a charlatan. He talks a good game but watching him today it looks like he doesn't really watch the match or take decisions. Lots of displacement activity from him e.g. constantly talking to the subs and actually anyone on the bench rather than what was going on on the pitch - which makes him look busy but not necessarily effective . In the first half we looked like a bunch of individuals (some of whom are quite good).
In the second half we did up our game I think we showed some good individual skill, but it didn't really look properly joined up. This is what happens when you have constant changes to managers, rely on inexperienced players and have no leaders on the pitch.
I have supported our club for over 40 years, through thick and very thin. To paraphrase Kipling, I can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same.
Today, I saw the true ambition of our club under Roland and it's so retrograde.
As bad as Fox can be and he wasn't great today, at least he never stops trying. Thought that some of the criticism that came his way today was unjustified.
Other than scoring the goal I thought that Crofts was terrible. Not going to home games so it might just be how he is, but he was so pedestrian.
The kids looked good, especially Aribo and in a cameo role Ahearne-Grant. Roland will be rubbing his hands at the thought of future transfer windows (if he's still around).
Cox should never have been allowed to get the shot in for their goal.
I don't mean to be negative, but a good finish can't gloss over that we were fortunate to be in with a chance of taking a point. We did well to get it when we went for it, the substitutions especially worked. But there were long stints of this game where we were shockingly poor, and Southend must be kicking themselves.
Can't help but think where we would be were it not for the academy players who have made the step up.
I mean, if dresden and Meire had not come to a club with such a strong youth system, it is a tad scary to think what/who they would fill those positions with.
Not a great performance (apart from the last 25) Comedy moment was their physio - he must have weighed 25 stone. When treating a player, he got up and the fat on his legs must have cut the blood supply off to the lower part of his legs (top half were red and the bottom white). @Clem_Snide made a comment and Konsa was in hysterics.
Aribo was immense - hes played 4 or 5 games, but looked a seasoned pro today - he's got a big future ahead of him.
If we were to get 50p for Fox then I'd be over the moon. As soon as Ajose....as soon as he went off, we seemed a different proposition. He just skulks around thinking he's Charlie big potatoes. Admittedly We don't give him a great deal of service, but f@ck me, he's just not interested.
Def a point gained.