Charlton v Portsmouth | Sat 09 Dec | 3pm KO | Match Preview, Predictions, News & Views

Two sides who should not be as low as League 1. Only there because of poor owners. Pompey a good side but think another nervy stoppage time unless we get a less second winner. 2-1 home win.

Heart says 0-0
Head says 0-0

So sad that 25 years on we are worse off than back then? Hope for a win but those injuries...small squad...1-0 Portsmouth and we all go home feeling very flat.

letthegoodtimesroll said:

BansteadAddick said:

So sad that 25 years on we are worse off than back then? Hope for a win but those injuries...small squad...1-0 Portsmouth and we all go home feeling very flat.

Why are we worse off than back then ?
We’ve got a bigger and better stadium than we had back then
We’ve got more fans than we had back then
Back then we’d just sold our best player (and the one that would have meant we would have probably got promotion that season) in order to get back to the Valley (who knows, but we cane close the to the playoffs the season before and back at the Valley could have made a huge difference) . We haven’t sold our best player in this squad.

It's not January yet.

blackpool72 said:

letthegoodtimesroll said:

BansteadAddick said:

So sad that 25 years on we are worse off than back then? Hope for a win but those injuries...small squad...1-0 Portsmouth and we all go home feeling very flat.

Why are we worse off than back then ?
We’ve got a bigger and better stadium than we had back then
We’ve got more fans than we had back then
Back then we’d just sold our best player (and the one that would have meant we would have probably got promotion that season) in order to get back to the Valley (who knows, but we cane close the to the playoffs the season before and back at the Valley could have made a huge difference) . We haven’t sold our best player in this squad.

It's not January yet.

It wasn’t january back then either

JamesSeed said:

cantersaddick said:

Southbank said:

If either Clarke or Reeves is fit they should play. For the past few games we have had a gaping hole in central midfield, forcing us to either play back or down the wings. Even Aribo would be an option if the other two are not fit.

Except Karl will probably stick one of them on the right and Holmes down the middle.

Possibly, and part of the rationale might be that the runs down the left haven't produced much joy recently.
Personally I'd keep him on the left, but get him to cut back inside more often, or vary the crosses a bit. A lot of teams seems to have sussed us out.

I think last game they had identified a weakness down the left. The attacks down that side produced the highest number of crosses I think I have ever witnessed to the point I was bored by the tactic. Unfortunately they were crap crosses.
However, they were doubling up on Homes and blocked off the option of cutting in. When KAG came on he exploited the gaps and changed the game.

If Billy is back in the centre it would give us a better balance and in theory a team would not be able to spare three men to cover DaSilva and Homes which would give more space, and if they did, Billy is equipped to exploit it.

That was them though. I have no idea where or if Portsmouth have weaknesses.

brief SKY video on today and 25th anniversary

http://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/charlton-athletic/11162683/charlton-mark-valley-return-25-years-on

Our supporters did a great thing by getting back to the Valley. Those of us who were around at the time know how great the feeling was of being all together behind a succesful enterprise and how that energy helped to take the club to the Premier League.
If we succeed in driving Duchatelet out, we could harness the energy again to create a similar impetus for the club in 2018. I hope we get a chance today to remind Duchatelet that he is not wanted here.

letthegoodtimesroll said:

BansteadAddick said:

So sad that 25 years on we are worse off than back then? Hope for a win but those injuries...small squad...1-0 Portsmouth and we all go home feeling very flat.

Why are we worse off than back then ?
We’ve got a bigger and better stadium than we had back then
We’ve got more fans than we had back then
Back then we’d just sold our best player (and the one that would have meant we would have probably got promotion that season) in order to get back to the Valley (who knows, but we cane close the to the playoffs the season before and back at the Valley could have made a huge difference) . We haven’t sold our best player in this squad.

Despite everything that had gone on we were 2nd tier then. Now we are 3rd and likely to stay 3rd tier.

.

redman said:

letthegoodtimesroll said:

BansteadAddick said:

So sad that 25 years on we are worse off than back then? Hope for a win but those injuries...small squad...1-0 Portsmouth and we all go home feeling very flat.

Why are we worse off than back then ?
We’ve got a bigger and better stadium than we had back then
We’ve got more fans than we had back then
Back then we’d just sold our best player (and the one that would have meant we would have probably got promotion that season) in order to get back to the Valley (who knows, but we cane close the to the playoffs the season before and back at the Valley could have made a huge difference) . We haven’t sold our best player in this squad.

Despite everything that had gone on we were 2nd tier then. Now we are 3rd and likely to stay 3rd tier.

If we are a bigger club overall now than we were 25 years ago despite being in a division below then we must be in a comparatively better shape...onwards and upwards

Be interesting to see who does Kashi's role. Will they do the triangle passes or will they be more like Andy Hughes was in the games he sat in front of the back four a few years ago. Looking forward to this game. Bit of atmosphere, early Charlton goal and it could be a cracker.

se9addick said:

Flash Scores has just said that the match is postponed - I assume that's a mistake ?

Same, it gave me a little scare but yes, it must be a mistake.

Nothing on the OS or Twitter, must be a mistake - Flash scores does that sort of stuff from time to time.

Club say 100% on. No postponement

Thought we hadn't turned those bloody heaters on again !