So Pratley needs to avoid getting another 5 bookings in 7 games? Uh-oh.
Lockyer is the bigger concern as a lot of his cards have been for silly things rather than bad / late tackles
Pratley is more experienced and knows when not to get himself booked
Plus I reckon we'll see Field starting in his place when we get to the midweek fixtures next week
I think you're right. I think we're going to see a huge amount of rotation as we get into it. I wouldn't be surprised if there's some games where we change the shape just because we have to stick Lapslie at RWB because Matthews can't play another game and Oshi is being used for something else. It's going to be interesting; I wouldn't be shocked if Bowyer is looking at other teams' fixture lists and trying to work out when a team might play a rotated lesser line-up against us. That worked in our favour against Forest so it might be that he is gambling on teams choosing to play their hitters against promotion rivals rather than us.
Yeah for one I notice that Brentford are away at Derby after facing us (probably the one team who'll potentially rotate against us)
Be interesting to see how close Derby are to the Play-Offs by that stage
You'd expect Brentford to be cemented in the top six, especially after their win yesterday but bet they'll be rotating as they'll have two more games to play compared to us - Reckon we're definitely going to see a return to Bowyer rotating like what saw at the start of the season though, especially as he's spent a lot of the season bemoaning its something he's been unable to do. Its another reason why I think we'll be fine as we are going to go into games a lot more fresher with more players available now
Woke up really happy this morning. Don’t think I realised how much I missed Charlton, getting German football back was fine and then then the Premier League coming back last week helped but watching Charlton is such a big part of my (and presumably most people here) life - even watching the game on TV, in an empty stadium, felt like getting a bit of my life back.
Battling performance,scrappy,but job done. Sadly,this will be Josh Cullens last season for us,I wish this young man everything he hopes for in his career to come true,the effort he has put in over the last 2 seasons has been an inspiration ,and if we are to survive in this division,his efforts will have been pivotal.I hope clubs (West Ham included) are watching.
Absolutely agree.
In the two years with us he has been a model professional and has shown without doubt what a fantastic player he is.
Sadly it is very unlikely to be us, but whatever club he plays for next they will be getting an absolute jewel of a player.
the starting line up was much more attacking than what bowyer had been going with before the lockdown - long may i t continue
Was it ? 3 central midfielders and a blocker at left back, with 2 defensive midfielders? 2 strikers, yes . Don’t get me wrong, I am delighted we won and it clearly worked but to call that an attacking line up is false.
yes - 2 strikers with mageady and morgan in midfield is more attacking than i can remember from bowyer - certainly away from home - than any other time this season - its the way to go
Green, Taylor, McGeady and Oztumer all started against Hudds just before lockdown.
Apart from Bonne who was way off the pace this was a good all round showing against a very poor Hull side.Morgan was a revelation and it was certainly Hemed’s best game. Agree with the comments about Josh Cullen, he could have gone back to West Ham but decided to play out the season with us.The comparison with Lyle Taylor is unavoidable
To everyone who wished me well... thank you. Mom passed 30 minutes after the match ended. Watching the thread and getting a crucial win was a great diversion from a long week.
Dad passed much the same, 6 years ago. I am glad we brought her home the last week, as no visitors are allowed in hospitals right now due to Covid. Her two brothers were also in town. It’s been quite a year.
Didn’t get to watch it so will try and grab the highlights on quest or the player, so have enjoyed reading the various posts on here.
Massively pleased. Didn’t have a clue what to expect to be honest given everything that’s happened since the defeat to Boro.
The only thing I thought that might be a sign is when I was following on LiveScore, and I kept seeing the injury time creep up, I just prayed we didn’t concede. Too many times this season we saw it happen and as I’m the sort of person that looks for signs, had we conceded again, I’d have thought, great, nothing has changed. However, maybe us hanging on and not starting this run of games conceding late on is a sign that we will have enough to stay up.
still a lot of football to play and I think we’re going to have to have everyone playing to the best of their abilities to stay up, but a huge win
I'm not getting carried away with yesterday's great result because these things have a habit of evening themselves up pretty quickly when you're near the bottom (remember when we thrashed West ham but they stayed up and we went down).
But, it's pretty much a new season. A fit again Aneke and Field plus rejuvenated Morgan, Hemed and hopefully McGeady are the equivalent of fresh new signings. Others like Oztumer, Williams Doughty, Sarr and Purrington will also be champing at the bit to get in the team.
Without Taylor, it's going to be down to proper organisation, clean sheets and perhaps someone unexpected (like Pearce) nicking a goal. If we go a goal down, it will be very hard but that's when we need to stay in the game and just do enough to nick a draw.
It's a great start (crucial really) but there are so many games still to play.
the starting line up was much more attacking than what bowyer had been going with before the lockdown - long may i t continue
Was it ? 3 central midfielders and a blocker at left back, with 2 defensive midfielders? 2 strikers, yes . Don’t get me wrong, I am delighted we won and it clearly worked but to call that an attacking line up is false.
yes - 2 strikers with mageady and morgan in midfield is more attacking than i can remember from bowyer - certainly away from home - than any other time this season - its the way to go
Green, Taylor, McGeady and Oztumer all started against Hudds just before lockdown.
if we ever manage to sign josh cullen permanently, then we will know the club ownership has been properly sorted out - we are perfect for him and he is perfect for us - unfortunately we are not ourselves at the moment!!!!!!!! - here's hoping
Great result. Didn't watch the game, but it sounds like a few players (Deji, Morgan and Hemed) stepped up. Just what we need and with a nearly fully fit squad we finally have some options. Would be nice to get two of three wins in a row to ease the immediate threat, but maybe that's being greedy. This is a fantastic start. COYA!
I actually think it helps our players at present by not having any fans from either club in a stadium while a game plays.
The club has gone through a strange crazy period and the players need to just solely focus on the football itself.
Fans being present is an extra piece of pressure.
Most of the time, the fans will help and give everyone a boost.
Just a particular time period like this, it is one less thing for them to think about.
They can just solely concentrate on the football and let manager and coaches organise them 👍
They know we love em
Great observation. I can remember the relegation death-spiral in previous campaigns. When you are in a dogfight, the pressure is immense and the crowd is not relaxed, but tense and nervous. How often have we seen this transferred to the players and a good start turn into a nightmare as players, terrified to make mistakes, go into their collective shell and all creativity and attacking verve is lost?
Fans can be their own worst enemy in a relegation battle. You know that sound that comes from the crowd when a mistake is made.....normally most players have the confidence to shake it off, but when the pressure is really on, it can kill the chances of success on the pitch.
If we can be 4-5 points clear of the bottom 3 in the last two games and Wigan are the same, I think that game would become a kickabout! Both teams taking it easy and playing out a 0-0 draw.
Agree, playing without the anxiety of our own fans, or the pressure of a home crowd, will definitely help us. We've crumbled late in so many games this season due to being on the back foot and panicking
Probably unpopular but I am going to say it anyway. I can't see how anyone thinks McGeady had a good game today. He may have been better than previous performances but that doesn't take much. He wasted our first two set pieces when we needed to exert some pressure on Hull. Both pointless short balls from free kicks when a direct flighted ball from the whistle would have given us goal-mouth chances. He put one straight into the seats and lost possession with the other. He did manage a decent shot after pulling down Hemed's deep cross but I didn't see much else. A big disappointment since arriving. By contrast, I thought Oshilaja was ok today. left back isn't his best possession and Bowler got at him early on but he stuck at it. Much better second-half when he shut them out on that side (Bowler was subbed) and added more defensively. I agree with most that Hemed had a better game for us but he's never going to command a striker's shirt unless we have nothing better. Strikers have to score goals and he hasn't. Lyle Taylor would have managed a goal from the couple of good chances he had. I thought Hull were very poor and clearly missing Bowen and Grosicki. We shouldn't get carried away with this win because we are very much still in the mix and a couple of defeats will have us right back in trouble. We have three London derbies which I don't expect to give us much. The good news is that we play six middle-of-the-table sides in the last eight...
Bowler was a threat with the new ball but Oshilaja stood firm and eventually saw off Bowler forcing Hull into making a change to the attack
Agree, playing without the anxiety of our own fans, or the pressure of a home crowd, will definitely help us. We've crumbled late in so many games this season due to being on the back foot and panicking
I also think it’s the reason Hemed and Mcgeady had better games. Fans have been so quick to get on their back this season, not having anyone at the games will definitely help their confidence.
First ten mins or so plenty of that time it looked like a park match with some of the passing of the ball straight off the pitch appalling . If Johnny Williams played for palace and was called Zaha the crying on here For his diving would flood the world , I loved it you just knew he was going over every time they came near him !
Is McGeady only playing the 3 and going or did I misread someone saying he’s not extending it further somewhere else ?
Both Williams & Cullen fall down as soon as anyone gets close to them and nearly always get a free kick.
@NapaAddick I wish you the very best in these very worst circumstances. I am sure all of us Addicks this side of the pond would like to give you a virtual hug. RIP to your mum.
Great result, huge relief. Had we lost to Hull, we would truly in the mire. Not out of it by any means but yesterday's performance gives grounds for optimism. Pearce just the man to put his head in where it hurts to get the goal but I wish he would stop wrestling opposing attackers in the penalty area. He has given away at least one penalty this season doing that and was lucky the ref did not see him do that at least once yesterday. Can't afford to give away soft penalties. Moan over and time to concentrate on the good. Thought Cullen, Pratley, Hemed and Matthews were superb.
I should imagine Pearce would say that he's done it a hundred times to his advantage and been penalised on very few occasions.
Great result, huge relief. Had we lost to Hull, we would truly in the mire. Not out of it by any means but yesterday's performance gives grounds for optimism. Pearce just the man to put his head in where it hurts to get the goal but I wish he would stop wrestling opposing attackers in the penalty area. He has given away at least one penalty this season doing that and was lucky the ref did not see him do that at least once yesterday. Can't afford to give away soft penalties. Moan over and time to concentrate on the good. Thought Cullen, Pratley, Hemed and Matthews were superb.
I should imagine Pearce would say that he's done it a hundred times to his advantage and been penalised on very few occasions.
A lot of defenders are very clever with their nudges but Pearce might have been a very good wrestler.
I'll say this about Pearce, if I was going over a trench into battle, I would want him beside me. And a relegation battle is not called that by accident.
I'm surprised how critical people are of Hull as I thought they played well, and were certainly better than us. I thought we just defended our box effectively to deny them clear cut chances. Virtually every other team in the Championship has better quality players than us, but Bowyer just gets us to lift our game and keep competitive in every match. He really is an extraordinary manager for when your back is against the wall, and his organisation, tactics and game management have come on leaps and bounds.
Quite well? We restricted them to long punts into the middle and one chance. We scored 1 and had 4 other chances. Possession means nothing if no end product.
I thought they were quite good at the back, but clueless in midfield and inadequate up front. Up there with the worst team we have played all season. Look relegation fodder.
Possession was only one of the stats they dominated. We played longball most of the game; they only resorted to it towards the end. We scored from a keeper error. What 4 chances did we have that troubled their keeper so?
We had the next two best chances after our goal. There was the great move that just needed a touch and the free header that Bonne should have scored from.
But their keeper didn't have to save them did he.
We had to beat the team in front of us today, which we did. 3 points is all that matters. We will play differently each game. Enjoy the win and cheer up ffs!
if you read my original post I merely expressed a different opinion to others in saying that I thought Hull played well and that we defended our box well to deny them many chances, praising the ability of our manager to lift the team beyond the sum of their parts. When the final whistle went I danced and sang and couldn't be happier.
Great result, huge relief. Had we lost to Hull, we would truly in the mire. Not out of it by any means but yesterday's performance gives grounds for optimism. Pearce just the man to put his head in where it hurts to get the goal but I wish he would stop wrestling opposing attackers in the penalty area. He has given away at least one penalty this season doing that and was lucky the ref did not see him do that at least once yesterday. Can't afford to give away soft penalties. Moan over and time to concentrate on the good. Thought Cullen, Pratley, Hemed and Matthews were superb.
I should imagine Pearce would say that he's done it a hundred times to his advantage and been penalised on very few occasions.
I agree. At times, it doesn't look too subtle but Pearce has an element of animal cunning and gets away with a lot. He also likes to assert himself psychologically over his opponent, which is an important part of the game - as to which, who can forget Eddie Youds' merciless bullying of Pierre van Hooijdonk back in 1998 on Eddie's debut.
Thankfully, we don't have VAR outside the Premier League.
Great result, huge relief. Had we lost to Hull, we would truly in the mire. Not out of it by any means but yesterday's performance gives grounds for optimism. Pearce just the man to put his head in where it hurts to get the goal but I wish he would stop wrestling opposing attackers in the penalty area. He has given away at least one penalty this season doing that and was lucky the ref did not see him do that at least once yesterday. Can't afford to give away soft penalties. Moan over and time to concentrate on the good. Thought Cullen, Pratley, Hemed and Matthews were superb.
I should imagine Pearce would say that he's done it a hundred times to his advantage and been penalised on very few occasions.
A lot of defenders are very clever with their nudges but Pearce might have been a very good wrestler.
I've mentioned it before on here, that I asked him why he does it and he replied along the lines of because he loves it.
Comments
May she RIP.
Sending you much love.
Be interesting to see how close Derby are to the Play-Offs by that stage
You'd expect Brentford to be cemented in the top six, especially after their win yesterday but bet they'll be rotating as they'll have two more games to play compared to us - Reckon we're definitely going to see a return to Bowyer rotating like what saw at the start of the season though, especially as he's spent a lot of the season bemoaning its something he's been unable to do. Its another reason why I think we'll be fine as we are going to go into games a lot more fresher with more players available now
Massively pleased. Didn’t have a clue what to expect to be honest given everything that’s happened since the defeat to Boro.
still a lot of football to play and I think we’re going to have to have everyone playing to the best of their abilities to stay up, but a huge win
But, it's pretty much a new season. A fit again Aneke and Field plus rejuvenated Morgan, Hemed and hopefully McGeady are the equivalent of fresh new signings. Others like Oztumer, Williams Doughty, Sarr and Purrington will also be champing at the bit to get in the team.
Without Taylor, it's going to be down to proper organisation, clean sheets and perhaps someone unexpected (like Pearce) nicking a goal. If we go a goal down, it will be very hard but that's when we need to stay in the game and just do enough to nick a draw.
It's a great start (crucial really) but there are so many games still to play.
@NapaAddick sorry to hear of your loss
Fans can be their own worst enemy in a relegation battle. You know that sound that comes from the crowd when a mistake is made.....normally most players have the confidence to shake it off, but when the pressure is really on, it can kill the chances of success on the pitch.
I am sure all of us Addicks this side of the pond would like to give you a virtual hug.
RIP to your mum.
So don't make assumptions ffs!!!
Thankfully, we don't have VAR outside the Premier League.