Apologies to all those who hang on my every word from away day reports ( yeah, right!) but, albeit belatedly, this one's going to be short but not very sweet.
Fanny is feeling distinctly fragile today & that's NOT a good look. And the consumption of wine did NOT play a part in her demise!
The heavy cold that accompanied me north on Friday has had the last laugh and my appearance at Bromley Addicks' meeting on Thursday evening is in doubt....Sorry to disappoint you, Lyle.
Whilst I would not wish to blame my decline on the 90+ minutes witnessed on the pitch yesterday afternoon, it is clear that the grey cloud hovering above my head at 3pm had darkened considerably 2 hours later.....
So, a few words will have to suffice to describe the debacle that the faithful away travellers witnessed - scant reward or indeed encouragement for the many miles travelled in hope...
It was a depressing performance IMO with very little to applaud throughout the game from those in the unfamiliar yellow shirts.
Of course, it was never going to be a stroll in the park with our 2 main protagonists MIA , a crowded midfield of less than robust if willing members ( most failing the CL height test to boot!) and a usually defiant back 4 that appeared to lack their usual composure.
Far be it for me to criticise the gaffer on his starting 11, but the sight of Reeco , alone up front, did not fill most of those around me with confidence from the off. This was a huge burden to place on young shoulders & I would have liked to see either our Parker Mark 2 or Igor alongside him, to give the Cod soldiers something to think about for even a limited period. But, with the departure of Karlan, I guess options were limited.
The overriding memory I took away from the afternoon was of a disjointed, untidy & careless performance from our lads - one that I hope not to witness again this season from what is an honest, hard working group. Others may not agree, but yet again, we drew the short straw from the clutch of referees available....say no more.
The many wayward passes, the crab like tapping of the ball for which Keith Jones was often criticised, the poor headers that failed to clear the lines when they WERE won ( not very often) and the seeming lack of fight for much of the time - not a picture to cherish of a top 6 team but one to consign to the file entitled " For urgent attention ".
I KNOW we can't win every game. I KNOW that the Rat's pockets are bulging with euros that SHOULD have made their way from Huddersfield directly to Bow. I KNOW we are punching above our weight after 5 years of austerity and abuse thanks to the Belgian ****er. I KNOW that, without the indisputable passion & hard work of our management team, we could be in a far, far worse place. And deep down I KNOW that we shall weather this blip in our progress and come back stronger & more determined.
But the next 5 days at SL will possibly be the most important of the season as Bow & JJ define what shape their team will take from now on with the options available going forward, both with & without the presence of Lyle.
And the first test against SCP's Essex boys will a clear indication whether we should start stock piling either the bubbles or the anti depressants in readiness for May.
It is possible Vetokele will be decent when fit, but we do have evidence to suggest not to expect too much. We can get lucky though and we need Fosu. Give him three games to stake his place Bowyer! It is a no brainer. If we can get something resembling a striker out of Igor and Fosu back to where he was, we will be stronger than where we were, even before we lost Grant. I don't want to be hard on RHF but he has a lot of learning to do and this is not the time we can accomodate that!
But it is very much fingers crossed on our part when it needn't have been.
Out of curiosity, do we know the identity of the striker Bowyer was keen to borrow, but blocked at the last? Oztumer has been mentioned, though he's more a midfielder. Was he Mo Eisa?
Just after Reeves had his air shot ..... watch the defender bodycheck Reeves in the penalty area with the ball not in playing distance of either player.
It was probably intended to be a shoulder charge but the ball wasn't in playing distance of either player. Incredibly Reeves stayed on his feet but the defender played the man.
Just after Reeves had his air shot ..... watch the defender bodycheck Reeves in the penalty area with the ball not in playing distance of either player.
It was probably intended to be a shoulder charge but the ball wasn't in playing distance of either player. Incredibly Reeves stayed on his feet but the defender played the man.
Anywhere on the pitch, that's a foul.
Looks more like the other way around...
Reeves to me throws his arm out to stop that player from joining a counter attack
Just after Reeves had his air shot ..... watch the defender bodycheck Reeves in the penalty area with the ball not in playing distance of either player.
It was probably intended to be a shoulder charge but the ball wasn't in playing distance of either player. Incredibly Reeves stayed on his feet but the defender played the man.
Anywhere on the pitch, that's a foul.
Looks more like the other way around...
Reeves to me throws his arm out to stop that player from joining a counter attack
Ref agreed with you FA and gave a free kick to them
Just after Reeves had his air shot ..... watch the defender bodycheck Reeves in the penalty area with the ball not in playing distance of either player.
It was probably intended to be a shoulder charge but the ball wasn't in playing distance of either player. Incredibly Reeves stayed on his feet but the defender played the man.
Anywhere on the pitch, that's a foul.
Looks more like the other way around...
Reeves to me throws his arm out to stop that player from joining a counter attack
Agreed, not sure what Oggy is looking at, as Reeves shoves him over.
The good news is this is all a bad dream. I have just watched Gemma Collins get voted through on Dancing on Ice despite just standing up like one of those plastic penguins you find on ice rinks for toddlers, which proves this all can't be real!!!
Won't be watching that show again if it isn't a dream!
When you see it coming, it always makes you angrier. To be fair, I am mostly angry with Roland for obvious reasons but a bit with Bowyer. We were told we had five or six options so don't leave it to the last day, take the option that you can with a day of the window to go. Might not be perfect, but better than missing out! Also, when you look at the goal to game ratios of the players on the pitch, try to improve that. I know it isn't easy or perfect, but Fosu should have been on 5 minutes before the goal at least.
BTW - If Hacket Fairchild is the answer, you are asking the wrong question. Positives. I thought Parker didn't look too bad. nothing special but went in the right direction. Whilst clearly not fully fit, Vetokele looked trim. We need to get him to full fitness quickly and maybe something can be salvaged. Please Bowyer - play Fosu. We have too many blank firers and he is somebody who can potentially score goals.
Get Aribo and Fosu in the side and pick your defensive midfielders around them reasonably quickly and it isn't all over!
This last sentence is 100% spot on regarding our midfield. I'dd add williams to that and put cullen back in as holding mid and maybe rotate with belik for way games - get vetokole up to speed with taylor up top with marshall and parker providing impact pace as subs. Bowyer has done very well and he must have his reasons but for me, fosu has to be played and played - he was our best player by a country mile last year and was amazed we didn't lose him in the summer. Use him whilst we still have him, he will come good again.
i think he has issues with fosu - probably over trying to get a move - i don't know that just assuming but he needs to put that to one side if you ask me. I'd agree he doesn't seem to rate marshall but whenever i've seen him play this season and back end of last, he's looked vastly improved.
First half I don't think we were THAT bad. But second half admittedly we way below the perfomance level we can do. But it's how you respond to moments like that.
This is going to divide so many people but we have always put ourselves up as different fans and a different club. Well fuck me let’s drive this team on for promotion, if it doesn’t happen then we as fans go again and see what we can do, but Bowyer and the team deserves us to suppport them at least until the season finishes
Out of curiosity, do we know the identity of the striker Bowyer was keen to borrow, but blocked at the last? Oztumer has been mentioned, though he's more a midfielder. Was he Mo Eisa?
Well according to Bowyer us getting a striker in was down to Evans moving to Club A then Club A allowing a striker to come to us. As Evans was strongly linked with Bolton on deadline day I assume it was Oztumer. Also a quick google search confirms Bolton were close to signing him.
Regarding Fosu didnt management have a problem with the injuries he was picking up and his attitude to warming up. I think they even went to the lengths of filming his warm up at one of the away games last season.
Out of curiosity, do we know the identity of the striker Bowyer was keen to borrow, but blocked at the last? Oztumer has been mentioned, though he's more a midfielder. Was he Mo Eisa?
Well according to Bowyer us getting a striker in was down to Evans moving to Club A then Club A allowing a striker to come to us. As Evans was strongly linked with Bolton on deadline day I assume it was Oztumer. Also a quick google search confirms Bolton were close to signing him.
Regarding Fosu didnt management have a problem with the injuries he was picking up and his attitude to warming up. I think they even went to the lengths of filming his warm up at one of the away games last season.
Just spoken to a Bolton fan at my office. We were after Oztumer as Ched Evans was going to Bolton. All the paperwork had been signed including by Evans but Fleetwood in the end wouldn't sign, something to do with a 24 hour release clause, so Barton didnt agree to it, so make of that what you will.
Out of curiosity, do we know the identity of the striker Bowyer was keen to borrow, but blocked at the last? Oztumer has been mentioned, though he's more a midfielder. Was he Mo Eisa?
Well according to Bowyer us getting a striker in was down to Evans moving to Club A then Club A allowing a striker to come to us. As Evans was strongly linked with Bolton on deadline day I assume it was Oztumer. Also a quick google search confirms Bolton were close to signing him.
Regarding Fosu didnt management have a problem with the injuries he was picking up and his attitude to warming up. I think they even went to the lengths of filming his warm up at one of the away games last season.
Just spoken to a Bolton fan at my office. We were after Oztumer as Ched Evans was going to Bolton. All the paperwork had been signed including by Evans but Fleetwood in the end wouldn't sign, something to do with a 24 hour release clause, so Barton didnt agree to it, so make of that what you will.
I don’t think you can have 24-hour release clauses in loans. Perhaps that was the issue.
Doesnt surprise me in a way as I looked into Bristol City's news to see if they had missed out on a Striker (i.e. they were heavily linked with Assombalonga) but there was nothing about them being unhappy in that regard so guess they just didnt want to part with Eisa
Probably a good thing in the end as dont think Oztumer would have made any improvement to Saturday
Comments
Fanny is feeling distinctly fragile today & that's NOT a good look. And the consumption of wine did NOT play a part in her demise!
The heavy cold that accompanied me north on Friday has had the last laugh and my appearance at Bromley Addicks' meeting on Thursday evening is in doubt....Sorry to disappoint you, Lyle.
Whilst I would not wish to blame my decline on the 90+ minutes witnessed on the pitch yesterday afternoon, it is clear that the grey cloud hovering above my head at 3pm had darkened considerably 2 hours later.....
So, a few words will have to suffice to describe the debacle that the faithful away travellers witnessed - scant reward or indeed encouragement for the many miles travelled in hope...
It was a depressing performance IMO with very little to applaud throughout the game from those in the unfamiliar yellow shirts.
Of course, it was never going to be a stroll in the park with our 2 main protagonists MIA , a crowded midfield of less than robust if willing members ( most failing the CL height test to boot!) and a usually defiant back 4 that appeared to lack their usual composure.
Far be it for me to criticise the gaffer on his starting 11, but the sight of Reeco , alone up front, did not fill most of those around me with confidence from the off. This was a huge burden to place on young shoulders & I would have liked to see either our Parker Mark 2 or Igor alongside him, to give the Cod soldiers something to think about for even a limited period. But, with the departure of Karlan, I guess options were limited.
The overriding memory I took away from the afternoon was of a disjointed, untidy & careless performance from our lads - one that I hope not to witness again this season from what is an honest, hard working group. Others may not agree, but yet again, we drew the short straw from the clutch of referees available....say no more.
The many wayward passes, the crab like tapping of the ball for which Keith Jones was often criticised, the poor headers that failed to clear the lines when they WERE won ( not very often) and the seeming lack of fight for much of the time - not a picture to cherish of a top 6 team but one to consign to the file entitled " For urgent attention ".
I KNOW we can't win every game. I KNOW that the Rat's pockets are bulging with euros that SHOULD have made their way from Huddersfield directly to Bow. I KNOW we are punching above our weight after 5 years of austerity and abuse thanks to the Belgian ****er. I KNOW that, without the indisputable passion & hard work of our management team, we could be in a far, far worse place. And deep down I KNOW that we shall weather this blip in our progress and come back stronger & more determined.
But the next 5 days at SL will possibly be the most important of the season as Bow & JJ define what shape their team will take from now on with the options available going forward, both with & without the presence of Lyle.
And the first test against SCP's Essex boys will a clear indication whether we should start stock piling either the bubbles or the anti depressants in readiness for May.
Now, where did I put those ibuprofen ?
Yes I am a financial adviser (great whoosh there) & I obviously give shit advice.
But it is very much fingers crossed on our part when it needn't have been.
It was probably intended to be a shoulder charge but the ball wasn't in playing distance of either player. Incredibly Reeves stayed on his feet but the defender played the man.
Anywhere on the pitch, that's a foul.
Reeves to me throws his arm out to stop that player from joining a counter attack
C is for Carrie.
Won't be watching that show again if it isn't a dream!
Just flagged you
It’s all over with flagging ( is that a word??) so I might be a collectors piece in the Museum for the last flag
Bet you are glad they have been abolished.
Who has the record amount of flags??
Regarding Fosu didnt management have a problem with the injuries he was picking up and his attitude to warming up.
I think they even went to the lengths of filming his warm up at one of the away games last season.
https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-striker-igor-vetokele-pleased-to-be-back-in-the-thick-of-it-after-long-injury-lay-off/
Probably a good thing in the end as dont think Oztumer would have made any improvement to Saturday