Didn't expect anything out of this game with such an inexperienced and untried set of players out there.
Started brightly and Byrne in-particular had a very good opening 15-20 minutes. Page and Chicksen looked good going down the left wing. We seemed to cope with Magennis going off, although a big loss, we continued to have the better of Millwall without creating much. When Page went off we seemed to lose our way. For the rest of the match we were okay, nowhere near as bad as we were the last time I saw us against Peterborough. Dasilva took a while to settle and initially made some poor decisions and gave away the ball too easily.
I thought Tex and Bauer were not up to their usual standard today, athough people's views on these two seem to vary quite a lot, they both missed some seemingly easy clearances which could and should have been punished. Rudd looked solid on his return and made a good save down to his left in the first half. Solly looked very solid and was really up for the game.
Konsa and Aribo played okay in the middle of the park, and Crofts played the best I have seen him play, breaking things up when needed to and not scared of putting a tackle in. The game plan clearly suffered a lot with Magennis going off and our play up the left wing was nowhere near as good once Page went off. We, like all season from what I have witnessed, just didn't have a connection between midfield and the striker (although Watt was clearly not up-to-speed). We need someone else in that midfield to create chances, which we have been saying for a long time.
Watt looked exciting for the first 10-15 minutes after he came on and had some nice touches, but other than that I felt he didn't get much of a chance to show what he can do, be that down to fitness or not seeing enough of the ball. I'm not sure if KR alluded to Ajose being off or it was just another made up rumour but although he has been poor surely we can't afford to let a Striker go and just be left with Watt and Novak (If Mag is out for a while)?
I thought Bauers' goal should have stood but we were lucky Millwall weren't more accurate with their shots. A draw a fair result. Stroud was awful, how did he get manage to get in the way so many times?? He made no effort to get out of the way of Konsa, so much so that Konsa had to push him out of the way, with Stroud seemingly getting his own back by breaking up a Charlton break later in the second half.
Unless we add a couple before the window is out I really can't see us making a push for the pay-offs.
Havent had a chance to read all the posts but wasn't the second disallowed goal a ridiculous decision? I think it was verging on the outrageous.I don't think we deserved three points but it was a mistake by their keeper surely.
More generally,the injuries unsettled us I thought - Watt was clearly not match fit. Millwall very well organised and play one type of ball that tries to get behind you and it did cause us problems to be fair. They do get numbers up but always prioritise numbers back. Reminded me of Sheff Utd - well drilled League one side with absolutely no flair. We play football - or at least we try to play it. We have to play it better to beat these sort of well drilled physical sides though.
I thought we needed to break a bit quicker, but the crowd have a part to play there by being more patient. Sometimes you have to play risky quick forward balls against a team like Millwall. The positive is that they are probably as good as they can be - as are Sheff Utd, but we can improve a lot more. The negative, is that we have to improve a lot more.
Would just like to say there are some Footballers who shouldn't have hair!! (Paul Konchesky is one of those for example)
Another one is Steve Morrison... He looks a proper prat and looks like he's pinched the wig from a mannequin in the Grandad section @ Marks and Spencer!!... Your 33, you shouldnt be bloody Grey!!
Once Magennis was off we lost any attacking threat - Watt contributes very little. Crofts, Solly and Rudd our best players. DaSilva was poor and Bauer continues to look nervous. Some of our defending was very careless. Bauer's 'goal' should have stood.....
I was a bit unhappy with the Tony Watt chants as soon as Magennis went down, that came over to me as disrespectful, an outsider would have assumed Magennis was useless and not as good as Watt when Magennis is our player of the season. Watt proved why he can't play the No 9 role in that formation, as he wanders too much. 4-2-3-1 needs the guy top to be a target man, someone always on their CBs, not wandering all over the place. Watt is much more of a No 10 type of player Our CBs were poor today, so many times they were caught flat by simple balls over the top, Pearce is one of those players who rise in your estimation when he's not playing... After having a midfield of old, slow players, we seem to have gone the other way, with a team of inexperienced and lightweight players. Crofts was MOTM for keeping it all together
I would have thrown the ball at him to distract him then take a running punt at his bollocks, then stamped on his stupid fucking face once he went down, but then I am a drunk and angry charlton fan and not a professional footballer
Would just like to say there are some Footballers who shouldn't have hair!! (Paul Konchesky is one of those for example)
Another one is Steve Morrison... He looks a proper prat and looks like he's pinched the wig from a mannequin in the Grandad section @ Marks and Spencer!!... Your 33, you shouldnt be bloody Grey!!
I'm literally 33 and grey
Bit of snow on the roof don't mean a thing @ValleyGary as long as the boiler is still working
Usual curse. Millwall at full strength. We are disjointed at the mo. Big Josh injured, no fit striker on the bench. Then Page injured on debut. Da silva makes his league debut in this difficult fixture. Goal disallowed but should have stood and so on. We tried really hard in the first half and Millwall played within themselves. We lost our shape second half, I think we got tired and they kept their shape and missed several chances. We did not look likely to score. Quite pleased with the point. Thought Page looked promising and Rudd was excellent apart from kicking high balls to Dasilva! As someone else wrote, Aribo and Konsa will learn from games like this. Crofts was our best midfielder today and fought hard. For Millwall Thompson and Williams did well and Morison won most headers unless he was fouled. Overall a hard fought scrappy game.
I think the pitch was a bit slippery - hence our injuries and why the keeper lost his footing a bit as he was about to kick - Stroud probably counts the pitch as a Charlton player!!!!! What a prick that man is!
You lot can all knock Morison but how many of you would want him in your team!?
And I thought the goal was not given due to offside NOT a foul against Archer?
honestly no. I felt he looked slow and lumbering. Used all his experience well to goad Tex and did well physically and in the air, but if Millwall had a bit more mobility up top I think we would've been in trouble.
I think he's probably in a similar position to JJ. Been a good servant, useful and will still add a role to the team, but would I want him running the line for us, no way
Well we didn't lose but that is about the only good thing looking forward as well as at today.
Other than that Stroud (the referee not the Gloucestershire town) was as awful as ever. When he wasn't tackling Byrne and Crofts (as if Millwall need anymore help against us) he disallowed two goals which, admittedly from the Covered End, seemed ok to me particularly Watt's where it seemed that Archer simply dropped the ball. There was pushing and shoving going on in the box when Bauer scored but no more than happens normally. Given his record against us had the roles been reversed and Millwall scored I'd put a few quid on him giving it! His final act was to book Tex after the whistle a second time so he misses Scunthorpe next week.
Talking of missing Scunthorpe next week the whole match for me today was overshadowed by Big Josh's injury. I hope to God it isn't as serious as it looked because he is probably the hardest bloke to replace in our team.
Back to the game. Robinson's hands were tied re substitutions to some extent by events. Namely the first half injuries to Magennis and Page so I don't think we can be too critical of his tactics given the fact we avoided defeat. He picked two potential match winners on the bench in Watt and Holmes, even though neither are fully match fit for varying reasons, and introduced them both (one change enforced) in an attempt to win it.
The new players showed signs of being useful whilst also making the odd mistake. As Joe Pigott would probably confirm not the easiest theatre to make your Charlton debut.
We need Big Josh back ASAP. That is the real message from today.
Well, for what it's worth, the sky highlights make it look like we had most of the chances, but weirdly don't include our second disallowed effort and the bad miss by Millwall.
Some random, disjointed thoughts about today's strange game ...
Charlton seemed the better side, passed the ball around OK (although a bit slow at times) but Millwall always seemed as though they were more likely to create goal-scoring chances with the long balls up to the front two.
Tex and the BFG looked shaky in the middle of defence and a couple of times Rudd came out to play sweeper to get them out of jail. Rudd didn't have to make too many saves though as the Spanners were wayward with their shots. Bizarrely their keeper seemed the busier of the two. Solly played well.
Crofts had a good game, was underwhelmed with Byrne and Dasilva.
TWWW wasn't disciplined enough to play in Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation, he kept coming too deep to look for the ball meaning that there was no-one in the box for crosses. Watt seems more suited as free-roaming inside forward instead of a lone striker.
The ref? Words fail me. If he ever takes charge of another Charlton game it'll be too soon. He almost went through his full repetoire - disallowed goal, giving corner when kicked out by striker, tackling our players, red carding our player, baffling awarding (and non-awarding in some cases) of free kicks. The only thing missing was a dubious penalty against us. I'm surprised Robbo didn't twat him when the ref went over to give him a talking to in the second half.
Not aware what happened with Tex at the end, can anybody enlighten me? I do know that getting Tex out of the building will save a lot on wages...just sayin'!
Morison clearly said something to him at the final whistle and he threw the ball at the back of his head. Morison then went whinging to Stroud who as we all know doesn't need an excuse to get his red card out.
Morison was again Texeira's face after the red card.
I've felt since day 1 in August that this squad would struggle to score goals & today's injury to Big Josh emphasised that.
I was pleased to see TWWW on the bench but not introduced onto the pitch as early as was necessary.
But, I fear that Karl will be forced to "make do and mend" with what he has at this moment in time with, allegedly, more "important" targets for the Lookie/Fox cash.....
Regarding Josh's knock, Seb Lewis has posted on Facebook that he spoke to the striker as he left the ground tonight and was told it is just a strain - he was wearing an airboot but not using crutches.
Next Saturday will be another huge test for the gaffer and his new look squad, players possibly carrying knocks and a gap in the back 4 ( maybe 2 if Paddy exiting the pitch with assistance is anything to go by)
You lot can all knock Morison but how many of you would want him in your team!?
And I thought the goal was not given due to offside NOT a foul against Archer?
Lino flagged for a foul not an offside.
The Lino flagged across the pitch indicating offside.
There was no offside. Nobody interfering with play. Just too clueless goons making a fucking tragedy of a decision. They clearly missed it and guessed!!
Too many diddy men on the pitch. Lost count of the amount of long diagonal ball in the direction of Dasilva.
Ref had a mare. Tex was an accident waiting to happen all game long.
Really disapointed that we didn't get after their left back, he's an absolute carthorse, yet we failed to exploit that.
The only real positives were Solly's crunching tackle on Morison (almost kicked him back to his caravan) and we didn't lose.
best summary so far .. + bad selection from the start .. Magennis up front alone .. NO-ONE else in the side was/is a goal scorer, no-one and now he's injured .. we're back to Slade tactics .. no Ajose in the 18, is he going ? .. we should have lost this .. beaten in the air far too often, they wasted at least three good header chances .. still an improvement in attitude from the Toolbox hammering
Agree that Tex has gone backwards this season and Bauer is not in good form either .. he seems to have hurt his back .. Call for Johnson .. Da Silva was good when he came on but was then replaced .. why ? ... good to see Holmes back after injury ... Konsa was good in midfield, Watt tried hard alone up front but got no service .. Chicksen was ok .. in fact most of the team were 'OK' .. and that is the issue, OK aint gonna win any prizes .. get a grip on selection Robinson
Yes, CEJ reckons Ajose may go back to Swindon. I think it's plain that Robinson doesn't rate him (nor do I).
Bring on Johnson ? I presume you're just being a WUM.
DaSilva was poor (first senior game so fair enough) & Robinson was correct to take him off the left wing to bring on the left winger Holmes.
Comments
Started brightly and Byrne in-particular had a very good opening 15-20 minutes. Page and Chicksen looked good going down the left wing. We seemed to cope with Magennis going off, although a big loss, we continued to have the better of Millwall without creating much. When Page went off we seemed to lose our way. For the rest of the match we were okay, nowhere near as bad as we were the last time I saw us against Peterborough. Dasilva took a while to settle and initially made some poor decisions and gave away the ball too easily.
I thought Tex and Bauer were not up to their usual standard today, athough people's views on these two seem to vary quite a lot, they both missed some seemingly easy clearances which could and should have been punished. Rudd looked solid on his return and made a good save down to his left in the first half. Solly looked very solid and was really up for the game.
Konsa and Aribo played okay in the middle of the park, and Crofts played the best I have seen him play, breaking things up when needed to and not scared of putting a tackle in. The game plan clearly suffered a lot with Magennis going off and our play up the left wing was nowhere near as good once Page went off. We, like all season from what I have witnessed, just didn't have a connection between midfield and the striker (although Watt was clearly not up-to-speed). We need someone else in that midfield to create chances, which we have been saying for a long time.
Watt looked exciting for the first 10-15 minutes after he came on and had some nice touches, but other than that I felt he didn't get much of a chance to show what he can do, be that down to fitness or not seeing enough of the ball. I'm not sure if KR alluded to Ajose being off or it was just another made up rumour but although he has been poor surely we can't afford to let a Striker go and just be left with Watt and Novak (If Mag is out for a while)?
I thought Bauers' goal should have stood but we were lucky Millwall weren't more accurate with their shots. A draw a fair result. Stroud was awful, how did he get manage to get in the way so many times?? He made no effort to get out of the way of Konsa, so much so that Konsa had to push him out of the way, with Stroud seemingly getting his own back by breaking up a Charlton break later in the second half.
Unless we add a couple before the window is out I really can't see us making a push for the pay-offs.
More generally,the injuries unsettled us I thought - Watt was clearly not match fit. Millwall very well organised and play one type of ball that tries to get behind you and it did cause us problems to be fair. They do get numbers up but always prioritise numbers back. Reminded me of Sheff Utd - well drilled League one side with absolutely no flair. We play football - or at least we try to play it. We have to play it better to beat these sort of well drilled physical sides though.
I thought we needed to break a bit quicker, but the crowd have a part to play there by being more patient. Sometimes you have to play risky quick forward balls against a team like Millwall. The positive is that they are probably as good as they can be - as are Sheff Utd, but we can improve a lot more. The negative, is that we have to improve a lot more.
DaSilva was poor and Bauer continues to look nervous. Some of our defending was very careless.
Bauer's 'goal' should have stood.....
A few comments
I was a bit unhappy with the Tony Watt chants as soon as Magennis went down, that came over to me as disrespectful, an outsider would have assumed Magennis was useless and not as good as Watt when Magennis is our player of the season.
Watt proved why he can't play the No 9 role in that formation, as he wanders too much. 4-2-3-1 needs the guy top to be a target man, someone always on their CBs, not wandering all over the place. Watt is much more of a No 10 type of player
Our CBs were poor today, so many times they were caught flat by simple balls over the top, Pearce is one of those players who rise in your estimation when he's not playing...
After having a midfield of old, slow players, we seem to have gone the other way, with a team of inexperienced and lightweight players. Crofts was MOTM for keeping it all together
We tried really hard in the first half and Millwall played within themselves. We lost our shape second half, I think we got tired and they kept their shape and missed several chances. We did not look likely to score. Quite pleased with the point.
Thought Page looked promising and Rudd was excellent apart from kicking high balls to Dasilva! As someone else wrote, Aribo and Konsa will learn from games like this. Crofts was our best midfielder today and fought hard.
For Millwall Thompson and Williams did well and Morison won most headers unless he was fouled.
Overall a hard fought scrappy game.
.I think he's probably in a similar position to JJ. Been a good servant, useful and will still add a role to the team, but would I want him running the line for us, no way
Well we didn't lose but that is about the only good thing looking forward as well as at today.
Other than that Stroud (the referee not the Gloucestershire town) was as awful as ever. When he wasn't tackling Byrne and Crofts (as if Millwall need anymore help against us) he disallowed two goals which, admittedly from the Covered End, seemed ok to me particularly Watt's where it seemed that Archer simply dropped the ball. There was pushing and shoving going on in the box when Bauer scored but no more than happens normally. Given his record against us had the roles been reversed and Millwall scored I'd put a few quid on him giving it! His final act was to book Tex after the whistle a second time so he misses Scunthorpe next week.
Talking of missing Scunthorpe next week the whole match for me today was overshadowed by Big Josh's injury. I hope to God it isn't as serious as it looked because he is probably the hardest bloke to replace in our team.
Back to the game. Robinson's hands were tied re substitutions to some extent by events. Namely the first half injuries to Magennis and Page so I don't think we can be too critical of his tactics given the fact we avoided defeat. He picked two potential match winners on the bench in Watt and Holmes, even though neither are fully match fit for varying reasons, and introduced them both (one change enforced) in an attempt to win it.
The new players showed signs of being useful whilst also making the odd mistake. As Joe Pigott would probably confirm not the easiest theatre to make your Charlton debut.
We need Big Josh back ASAP. That is the real message from today.
Charlton seemed the better side, passed the ball around OK (although a bit slow at times) but Millwall always seemed as though they were more likely to create goal-scoring chances with the long balls up to the front two.
Tex and the BFG looked shaky in the middle of defence and a couple of times Rudd came out to play sweeper to get them out of jail. Rudd didn't have to make too many saves though as the Spanners were wayward with their shots. Bizarrely their keeper seemed the busier of the two. Solly played well.
Crofts had a good game, was underwhelmed with Byrne and Dasilva.
TWWW wasn't disciplined enough to play in Robbo's 4-2-3-1 formation, he kept coming too deep to look for the ball meaning that there was no-one in the box for crosses. Watt seems more suited as free-roaming inside forward instead of a lone striker.
The ref? Words fail me. If he ever takes charge of another Charlton game it'll be too soon. He almost went through his full repetoire - disallowed goal, giving corner when kicked out by striker, tackling our players, red carding our player, baffling awarding (and non-awarding in some cases) of free kicks. The only thing missing was a dubious penalty against us. I'm surprised Robbo didn't twat him when the ref went over to give him a talking to in the second half.
I've felt since day 1 in August that this squad would struggle to score goals & today's injury to Big Josh emphasised that.
I was pleased to see TWWW on the bench but not introduced onto the pitch as early as was necessary.
But, I fear that Karl will be forced to "make do and mend" with what he has at this moment in time with, allegedly, more "important" targets for the Lookie/Fox cash.....
Regarding Josh's knock, Seb Lewis has posted on Facebook that he spoke to the striker as he left the ground tonight and was told it is just a strain - he was wearing an airboot but not using crutches.
Next Saturday will be another huge test for the gaffer and his new look squad, players possibly carrying knocks and a gap in the back 4 ( maybe 2 if Paddy exiting the pitch with assistance is anything to go by)
Have to admit, I'm not feeling too hopeful....
Bring on Johnson ? I presume you're just being a WUM.
DaSilva was poor (first senior game so fair enough) & Robinson was correct to take him off the left wing to bring on the left winger Holmes.
Lennon could start at LB as well if Page sidelined. Robbo has not had the best of luck so far.