Charlton Athletic v Fulham U21
Wednesday 1st November 2017 … 7:45pm Kick-Off
Referee: Craig Hicks
IntroductionWith our next League fixture against Shrewsbury likely to be cancelled, it now appears as though the Addicks wont be playing in League One for a good number weeks… Tomorrow evening sees the Addicks returning to cup action for what could potentially see the first of four cup matches on the trot. Prior to the hosting of Truro City on Sunday; Charlton must get through a Football League Trophy encounter with a Fulham U21 side.
The OppositionName: Fulham U21 |
Manager: Peter Grant
Division: Premier League 2
When changes were made to the Football League Trophy last season there was much fuss when Academy Squads were invited into the competition, a decision which angered many fans further when certain clubs declined the invitation and Championship Academies were forced to be added to increase numbers… When those changes were again reviewed this summer it was a surprise to many that the Academy sides returned, yet here we are, facing the second team in the Group stage.
Last term; Fulham weren’t offered a place in this competition and have no doubt been included this term to replace the likes of Blackburn Rovers our opponents this Wednesday (like other Academies) havent found it the easiest of rides… a 3-3 draw with Portsmouth in their first game saw them win the proceeding penalty shoot out and so gained a bonus point from that win – Victory though for the home side tomorrow evening will see Charlton advancing to the next round leaving Fulham on the brick of being able to return to more serious matters.
Yet who will run out for Fulham I hear you ask? (No?) – Oh well I’ll tell you anyway… Going by their last result; Fulham are likely to field a relatively young squad with Stephen Sessagnon making a potential appearance after winning the U17 World Cup with England on Saturday, likely to be a star of the future, he’ll certainly be one to watch should he have recovered from his adventures in India
Charlton Team NewsThe hardest part when writing the Preview is trying to work out the mind of Karl Robinson and who he’ll pick from his vast squad… thankfully he’s saved me the bother and following our result against AFC Wimbledon on Saturday, all but confirmed who’ll be lining up… With the majority of the squad jetting off for an autumn break, this’ll be another opportunity for our own youngsters to show what they can do.
Phillips
Barnes | Cummings | Dijksteel | Jackson
Lapslie | Aribo
Marshall | Reeves | Ahearne-Grant
Dodoo
Substitutes Bench: Maynard-Brewer | Page | Maloney | Hackett-Fairchild
PredictionMeh!! – It’s a difficult one; with such a small squad at present, these games are providing useful should we need to call on any of our own Youth players so if we can win and advance then all the better – Should we lose though, I doubt there will be too many chants of
"Robbo Out" come the final whistle.
Comments
score line ? .. not a clue .. enjoy it all ye who turn up to watch
I dont remember him saying the bit about Midfield yet do remember him saying that Page wasnt a definite starter - I reckon your right though and ultimately the change will see Jackson in Midfield / Page @ LB and Lapslie on the bench
Even we he tells us the lineup we are unsure.
That would free Dijksteel to play in his best position, DM, where he is also most likely to be needed for first-team action (given that we only have Kashi and JFC).
I cannot see any point in playing Jackson. Hardly the future, is he?
P W D L GD Pts
Portsmouth 2 1 1 0 2 4
Charlton Ath 1 1 0 0 2 3
Fulham 1 0 1 0 0 2
Crawley Town 2 0 0 2 -4 0
Now try to contain your excitement but if we beat Fulham U23s in 90 minutes we go through to the next stage. Yes, I know, calm down.
We play Portsmouth next week but then Crawley don't play Fulham until 29 November so the tension could be stretched out all month. And some people slag this competition off when it gives us this much fun.
::Spends five minutes trying to figure out why there's not link on VP for audio and no mention of it on the Twitter feed.::
::Realizes game is not today::
::Resumes not caring::
Although actually I can be rather unpredictable with getting the Kick-Off time right so dont blame you for questioning it
And my post earlier was just me throwing my toys out of the pram. I actually do enjoy these games as it's a chance to see the youngsters.
Just an FYI you only have four subs. Would expect Page in at LB, Jacko in central midfield, Dijksteel in Central defense with Sarr, then I would guess Bowry instead of Cummings on the bench.
Phillips
Barnes Dijksteel Sarr Page
......... Aribo.... JJ
Marshall... Reeves.... KAG
............. Dodoo
Subs: AMB, Bowry, Lapslie, Maloney, Reeeeeeeeeco
Question to dickplumb and the others who watch the U23s regularly, who do you rate highest amongst Cummings, Yao, and Bowry? And who do you think is rated highest by the club (if different)?
Guess we may have a full bench this time seeing that there has been no U23 game this week
In fact they seem to have airbrushed out any mention of it being Premier youth teams at all. Apart from tonight's scores.
https://www.efl.com/clubs-and-competitions/checkatrade-trophy/fixtures-and-results/fixtures/
Careless and pointless competition in my opinion, really only good for young players to get some form of experience and players coming back from injury some game time.
That said, I can't imagine it's the FA's goal for this competition to be used by lower league clubs to blood youngsters, even though it's a hypocritical view given it's been set up for Premier League clubs to do just that.
In any event, according to the EFL's web site - I guess they should know - the only actual relevant rule for the "invited" clubs is: "Each Invited Club must ensure that in each Match at least 6 of the starting eleven players named on the Team Sheet are players who were aged under 21 as at the 30th June in the year in which the Season concerned commenced."
So there'd be nothing stopping them playing a hefty smattering of regular experienced first teamers if they wanted. With a load more on the bench. But, of course, they won't. Anyway, a weird rule for a weird competition.