Crazy how quickly expectations rise. Even Bowyer complaining we didn’t play that well. 12 months ago we’d have been purring at a performance like that. Controlled the game, opened them up several times, and easily could have had 4 more goals with slightly better control at the key moment. Yes we misplaced a couple of passes, but we looked a clear level above Gills who are not having a particularly poor season.
Great to see Fosu looking sharper. His decision making was much better today and he released his passes and shots much earlier. When on form him and Aribo link very well - they’re both street footballers who can operate in tight spaces and with quick passes and movement. Taylor is of a similar ilk too, but with more muscle and needle. Both goals were excellent in their own way, but such a shame their keeper managed to stretch out one his ridiculously long legs to keep that Reeves effort our - the way we passed and moved through them to create that clear sight of goal was wonderful.
Genuinely cannot remember the last time I enjoyed watching us attack as much as I do right now. We have so much invention and quality. We probably had much the same last season, but whereas Robinson sought to control their creativity to fit his inflexible tactics, thus stifling it, Bowyers tactics give them a freedom to express themselves and they look like they are loving it.
There have been a few times down the years when other sides have come to us and their freedom of movement us just left our lot looking like statues. Poyet’s Brighton would be one. Jean Tigana’s Fulham was another. We are that team this season, and I fancy us to score against anyone in this league. If we keep this up, it’s all going to click at some point, every first touch in the box will be crisp, every shot will find a corner, and we are going to stick 6, 7, or 8 past someone.
Very competitive derby game. We won and deserved to, but it wasn't that outstanding a performance. Bowyer is right about that. Still: every win counts and its a sign a character and generally high morale in the squad that we got the points.
A good time for Fosu and Reeves to get off the mark too. Fosu had a slowish start last season too, although not this slow. Once he scored though, he couldn’t stop. Hopefully we’ll get a repeat this season.
Thought Reeves and Dijksteel were very good today, two less obvious choices, both looked to have a lot more confidence in what they were doing, long may it continue.
A good time for Fosu and Reeves to get off the mark too. Fosu had a slowish start last season too, although not this slow. Once he scored though, he couldn’t stop. Hopefully we’ll get a repeat this season.
Not as I remember it, but hopefully he's like a river where the locke has opened and the flow will return.
Nice comfortable performance , Bauer was my Mom , just solid all round game .
Thought numbers wise the crowd was good , unlike everyone else I thought the atmosphere was ok at best when you consider the run we are on and the fact we were winning from the 6th minute against a localish chav rival that isn't the scum
Taylor is just brilliant , love his cheekyness .
Think we are certs for the playoffs and there's a minuscule chance of autos , although saying that it's a piss shit league and we could fucking walk it e-i-e-i-e-i-o
A good time for Fosu and Reeves to get off the mark too. Fosu had a slowish start last season too, although not this slow. Once he scored though, he couldn’t stop. Hopefully we’ll get a repeat this season.
Not as I remember it, but hopefully he's like a river where the locke has opened and the flow will return.
I was forgetting he already scored this season vs Luton. To be fair he scored his first goal last season on 2nd September, and got his second goal 5 games later, but that was the first of a run of 6 goals in 4 games.
Very controlled performance. Dominated for most of the game playing some very good football. Could have had one or two more. They couldn't handle Fosu up the middle with Taylor and Ajose splitting.
A good time for Fosu and Reeves to get off the mark too. Fosu had a slowish start last season too, although not this slow. Once he scored though, he couldn’t stop. Hopefully we’ll get a repeat this season.
Good understanding between the two of them as well.
I thought it was a game which we largely controlled and won comfortably, with a couple of moments of real class from Tariqe Fosu. Not our best performance by any means but we got the job done and 6 points and two clean sheets against two hitherto bogey teams is an excellent return and one that sets us up nicely for the three festive games. Good to bookend the year at the Valley with three points against our friends from the Medway, especially after the seeing to they gave us last New Year’s Day.
An odd first half, where we allowed Gillingham to push us back territorially and conceded a lot of cheap free kicks, although they did bugger all with it, save for Jed Steer’s fumbled cross, when they poked a close range shot against the outside of the post. At the other end, the four best moments of the half came from Fosu, two of which put us into a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break.
Gillingham, predictably, had a go at the start of the second half but Brandon Hanlon (who had troubled Jason Pearce once or twice with his pace) headed their best chance wide from a corner early in the second half. They never came as close again and their lack of quality in terms of the final ball meant that we saw the game out relatively untroubled. Indeed, some nice combination play of our own threatened a third goal but we never quite managed it and there was clearly no point in blowing a gasket with four important games looming in the next two weeks.
I thought that Fosu’s first half performance was sublime, while Taylor, Solly and Reeves also did very well. A few of our players were a little under par but we did enough collectively. Let’s hope Joe Aribo is ok, as the very last thing we need is another injury, especially in central midfield.
Fourth place and 43 points at the halfway stage of the season is one hell of an achievement, given the lack of squad depth, the number of injuries we’ve suffered and where we were at the end of August. If we can keep the squad together and Duchatelet can resist what comes most naturally to him, we have a real chance.
A better home attendance than I expected and kudos to the North Upper, who created a very decent atmosphere throughout.
Think we are certs for the playoffs and there's a minuscule chance of autos , although saying that it's a piss shit league and we could fucking walk it e-i-e-i-e-i-o
Sorry - too vague. Can you express that numerically?
The real attendance was comfortably the best of the season. I thought there may have been about 12,000 there. Definitely about 3,000 more home fans than usual. We're starting to look strong and professional. I think we could make the top 2 and definitely the play offs. It definitely feels like proper Charlton. Really enjoyable.
Fair play to the ref who held his hand up when he realised his mistake when not playing advantage early in the 2nd half. He admitted his error and apologised by putting his hand in the air. That is when refs will get more respect because they can't get everyting right when he has a split second to make a judgement and decision.
I like Bielik's attitude. He doesn't 'put in a shift', he plays like he is at the school yard. Fearless show off who wants the ball and wants to be everywhere for some imaginary girlfriend in the crowd. A bit like another Pole show off - the famous concert pianist and part time prime minister Jan Paderewski. No doubt an icon of all north standers.
Ground looked fuller for me than I can remember recently. I thought gills numbers looked good but they didn’t get much going, think we kept them under control much as Charlton kept control most of the time on the pitch.
Fosu was my MOM for a fantastic 30 minutes where he cane into the game, created Reeve’s goal and scored with a bullet. Looked dead on his feet at the end and I’d have had Marshall on a bit earlier, he looked quick and was trying hard for the 2 minutes he had.
We did lose possession a bit more than we should and it’s just good that Eaves wasn’t playing and Bauer and Pearce together are so difficult to break down.
Thought Solly had a great game. Good blocks, up and down, right place which given that he was again on the opposite side is a top effort for me.
@Len\'s_little_girl is back for Christmas so the fact that she was with me at the match made it a good day whatever.
There seemed to be a few more people around the home areas than for most of the season which is a surprise given it's the last Saturday shopping day before Christmas.
The game started with Gillingham pressing us and they could have scored in the time Nabby Sarr spends on the pitch of late but fortunately for us Ogilvie struck the outside of the post having been given a free hit following a weak misdirected punch by Steer who today seemed to be haunted by the ghost of Deano with his distribution into either the West or the East stands!
Shortly after Gillingham's narrow miss Reeves gave the ball away twice in quick succession and I was warming up nicely in telling @Len\'s_little_girl how poor he often is when he fastened onto a pass from Fosu (I think) into the right side of the box and clinically slid the ball into the net with his right (wrong) foot to put us 1-0 up. That seemed to settle any nerves and we started to play some good stuff with everyone contributing and looked decent. Fosu was instrumental in much of this good spell and produced a goal of the season contender with a wonderful strike into the top corner which left Holy in the Gillingham goal grasping at fresh air. We continued to dominate the remainder of the first half without being able to add to the score although we did hit the woodwork.
Second half Gillingham came at us as you'd expect from a team 2-0 down but I felt unusually relaxed as the defence did not unduly troubled even though it had plenty to do. We had the occasional foray upfield in the second half. Taylor will be disappointed he scuffed a shot he would normally bury and Reeves hit the crossbar from a corner.
The encouraging thing for me though is that even though Gillingham had most of the ball and pressure in the second half they created little and the impression I formed was that we were managing the game and were quite happy to let them have the ball as they didn't do much with it.
4th at Christmas is something we'd all have taken in August. We just have to pray that the Belgian Sociopath doesn't sell key players in January to destroy what look like encouraging green shoots for a credible promotion challenge.
Comments
Great to see Fosu looking sharper. His decision making was much better today and he released his passes and shots much earlier. When on form him and Aribo link very well - they’re both street footballers who can operate in tight spaces and with quick passes and movement. Taylor is of a similar ilk too, but with more muscle and needle. Both goals were excellent in their own way, but such a shame their keeper managed to stretch out one his ridiculously long legs to keep that Reeves effort our - the way we passed and moved through them to create that clear sight of goal was wonderful.
Genuinely cannot remember the last time I enjoyed watching us attack as much as I do right now. We have so much invention and quality. We probably had much the same last season, but whereas Robinson sought to control their creativity to fit his inflexible tactics, thus stifling it, Bowyers tactics give them a freedom to express themselves and they look like they are loving it.
There have been a few times down the years when other sides have come to us and their freedom of movement us just left our lot looking like statues. Poyet’s Brighton would be one. Jean Tigana’s Fulham was another. We are that team this season, and I fancy us to score against anyone in this league. If we keep this up, it’s all going to click at some point, every first touch in the box will be crisp, every shot will find a corner, and we are going to stick 6, 7, or 8 past someone.
Thought numbers wise the crowd was good , unlike everyone else I thought the atmosphere was ok at best when you consider the run we are on and the fact we were winning from the 6th minute against a localish chav rival that isn't the scum
Taylor is just brilliant , love his cheekyness .
Think we are certs for the playoffs and there's a minuscule chance of autos , although saying that it's a piss shit league and we could fucking walk it e-i-e-i-e-i-o
But 3 points against the Gills was kinda what I was expecting, win the next 3 games and I will be buzzing.
I’ve missed the good in Reeves’ display today- interested to read the contradictory views to that on here.
I though Bauer was terrific today, especially second half . No frills- just defends really well
An odd first half, where we allowed Gillingham to push us back territorially and conceded a lot of cheap free kicks, although they did bugger all with it, save for Jed Steer’s fumbled cross, when they poked a close range shot against the outside of the post. At the other end, the four best moments of the half came from Fosu, two of which put us into a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break.
Gillingham, predictably, had a go at the start of the second half but Brandon Hanlon (who had troubled Jason Pearce once or twice with his pace) headed their best chance wide from a corner early in the second half. They never came as close again and their lack of quality in terms of the final ball meant that we saw the game out relatively untroubled. Indeed, some nice combination play of our own threatened a third goal but we never quite managed it and there was clearly no point in blowing a gasket with four important games looming in the next two weeks.
I thought that Fosu’s first half performance was sublime, while Taylor, Solly and Reeves also did very well. A few of our players were a little under par but we did enough collectively. Let’s hope Joe Aribo is ok, as the very last thing we need is another injury, especially in central midfield.
Fourth place and 43 points at the halfway stage of the season is one hell of an achievement, given the lack of squad depth, the number of injuries we’ve suffered and where we were at the end of August. If we can keep the squad together and Duchatelet can resist what comes most naturally to him, we have a real chance.
A better home attendance than I expected and kudos to the North Upper, who created a very decent atmosphere throughout.
Mentioned last week twats who know nothing about football.
Well done the team, Nicky, great shift as well today
A bit like another Pole show off - the famous concert pianist and part time prime minister Jan Paderewski.
No doubt an icon of all north standers.
Fosu was my MOM for a fantastic 30 minutes where he cane into the game, created Reeve’s goal and scored with a bullet. Looked dead on his feet at the end and I’d have had Marshall on a bit earlier, he looked quick and was trying hard for the 2 minutes he had.
We did lose possession a bit more than we should and it’s just good that Eaves wasn’t playing and Bauer and Pearce together are so difficult to break down.
Thought Solly had a great game. Good blocks, up and down, right place which given that he was again on the opposite side is a top effort for me.
@Len\'s_little_girl is back for Christmas so the fact that she was with me at the match made it a good day whatever.
There seemed to be a few more people around the home areas than for most of the season which is a surprise given it's the last Saturday shopping day before Christmas.
The game started with Gillingham pressing us and they could have scored in the time Nabby Sarr spends on the pitch of late but fortunately for us Ogilvie struck the outside of the post having been given a free hit following a weak misdirected punch by Steer who today seemed to be haunted by the ghost of Deano with his distribution into either the West or the East stands!
Shortly after Gillingham's narrow miss Reeves gave the ball away twice in quick succession and I was warming up nicely in telling @Len\'s_little_girl how poor he often is when he fastened onto a pass from Fosu (I think) into the right side of the box and clinically slid the ball into the net with his right (wrong) foot to put us 1-0 up. That seemed to settle any nerves and we started to play some good stuff with everyone contributing and looked decent. Fosu was instrumental in much of this good spell and produced a goal of the season contender with a wonderful strike into the top corner which left Holy in the Gillingham goal grasping at fresh air. We continued to dominate the remainder of the first half without being able to add to the score although we did hit the woodwork.
Second half Gillingham came at us as you'd expect from a team 2-0 down but I felt unusually relaxed as the defence did not unduly troubled even though it had plenty to do. We had the occasional foray upfield in the second half. Taylor will be disappointed he scuffed a shot he would normally bury and Reeves hit the crossbar from a corner.
The encouraging thing for me though is that even though Gillingham had most of the ball and pressure in the second half they created little and the impression I formed was that we were managing the game and were quite happy to let them have the ball as they didn't do much with it.
4th at Christmas is something we'd all have taken in August. We just have to pray that the Belgian Sociopath doesn't sell key players in January to destroy what look like encouraging green shoots for a credible promotion challenge.
COYR
Tainted by some cringey songs from the N upper.