1. Despite a stable, full pre season, we consistently don’t look fit enough to last 90 mins 2. We played some lovely stuff, attacking with verve and intent, until we scored. And then we changed. 3. Dasilva is getting better and looked a class above anything else in our team. We will miss him next year 4. On the other side, Solly is worryingly looking a shadow of the stand out player he was a few seasons ago 5. Took much attacking play is now on Fosu’s shoulders. He’s a real box of tricks and he will make wrong decisions and frustrate, but he’s an exciting player and will be getting special attention from opposition. 6. Pleased for Magennis, I’d still rather see him with a partner playing off him in a two 7. I’d pick one from Kashi / Forster-Caskey. If Jake is not getting in the box and chipping in with shots / goals, there is not enough variation there. 8. Kaikai looked decent, and seemed to link well with Fosu. We need End product with this inter-play stuff though 9. I’m happier with Bauer in the back four. I’d be even happier with Pearce there 10. RobInson needs the team to finish the season strongly to stand a chance of saving his job. We are not currently a team getting better, and we need to be.
All true & KR could attempt to resolve many but chooses not to. Change the effing formation KR. You're not Guardiola and Charlton aren't Man C !
No Killer instinct! First 30 mins this evening we must have had 80% possession. One up but bar that just one other shot on target and hitting the post.
Half time and it does not take a trained chimp to work out how to play against us. One sub and Bradford are in the match.
More pretty tippy tappy up until the 18 yard box and we fall apart. Bradford hit the bar, and after their goal should have won it.
The formation we play has no minerals about it, and that comes down to the current incumbent in charge.
You only have to be a scout to watch us play just once, because it's the same predictable nonsense game in game out
For those of a certain age, remember how once a year the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team came to 'Blighty?' Now I'm not into basketball but as a kid watching those highly skilled athletes slaughter their obliging opponents made for great TV entertainment. Similar to watching Charlton really;highly talented footballers able to run rings round the 'oppo' but unlike the boys from Harlem, they miss out on the 'slam dunks'. In other words we play as a team of individuals instead of a team. Why beat a player once when you can beat him three times? By all means embark on a fast-paced run and take on defenders - just get your head up and see where your teammates are. Same thing week after week, game after game - like bloody Groundhog Day!
Said it before and i'll say it again, we have a much better squad than Shrewsbury. But we have a manager who has 1 formation, no clue on how to adjust things depending on how the game is developing and who doesn't appear to know how to get the best out of his players.
If we'd swapped managers back in August then i'd bet every last penny that the Shrewsbury manager would have us higher in the table than 7th, and that Robinson would have Shrewsbury nowhere near the play offs.
Exactly the Shrewsbury have fight strength and they know this league better an any of our players and a better manager!
Said it before and i'll say it again, we have a much better squad than Shrewsbury. But we have a manager who has 1 formation, no clue on how to adjust things depending on how the game is developing and who doesn't appear to know how to get the best out of his players.
If we'd swapped managers back in August then i'd bet every last penny that the Shrewsbury manager would have us higher in the table than 7th, and that Robinson would have Shrewsbury nowhere near the play offs.
Why? Where's your evidence.
I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if we have roughly similar squads. Your comments about the Shrewsbury manager are all speculation. I'm guessing you don't even know his name.
Criticise Robbo by all means, and I did in my match review, but leave Shrewsbury and their squad of legends out of it.
He's been a success and won promotion at every club he's been at. Then took over a Shrewsbury side who were BOTTOM of league one less than 18 months ago. Kept them up, and now has them TOP of league one.
Tell me what Robinson has done. One successful season with MK Dons when he was fortunate enough to get Will Grigg and Benik Afobe in on loan and have a kid called Dele Alli come out of the youth team.
Hurst took over Shrewsbury in October 2016 and took them from bottom to 18th. Robinson took over in November 2016 when we were 11th and 3 points off the play offs. We finished 13th, and were 13 points off the play offs.
Hurst now has Shrewsbury top of the league. Robinson has us treading water and actually closer to the relegation zone (14 points) than the promotion places (15 points).
So i stand by my opinion that if we'd swapped managers we'd be doing better under Hurst and Shrewsbury would be worse off under Robinson.
You've just looked him up lol
You accused Chris of using results to push his anti-Robinson agenda a couple of days ago. As a manager, that’s exactly what he should be judged on. And our recent loss of points is down to Robinson.
You’ve not only been provided with opinion, but fact as welll.
It appears you’re the only person with an ‘agenda’.
Chill. Read my match review. I'm critical of Robinson. Increasingly so. Based on what I see on the pitch though. I just don't agree that we have one of the top three squads in the league. Under Duchatelet? Are you sure about that @Chris_from_Sidcup and @ValleyGary ?! Absolutely no chance.
If Chris was a journalist his editor would be telling him he can't make such sweeping statements about squads without some sort of evidence. I thought initially he might have a point, but I was surprised to find when I looked up their squad that they have three players transferred from the Prem and about eight from the Champs. I'd say if anything theirs may be stronger. But you haven't convinced me that ours 'is much stronger'.
Ok @JamesSeed , I’ll have a go at this, and bare in mind I’m not a Robbo-hater.
Coming from the Premier league / higher league should not be any form of indicator, just because someone is at another club does not in any way mean they can do it for you (Doodoo, Sanogo etc)
I’m convinced if you had asked all league One managers at the start of the season to look at the squads, most would have had us top three, possibly top two.
If you go through our squad this season
Keeper – Amos is not Gordon Banks but is very secure for this level, there are few better in this league
Defence – Solly, Pearce and Bauer all have considerable higher level experience. Dasilva is the stand out left back in this division, a class above. Konsa is worth millions and attracting top level interest.
Def / Midfield – Kashi also impressed at a higher league than this. Foster-Caskey is no thrills, but not a clear weak link, Aribo impresses when he plays, Jackson is a more than efficient 4th choice to have in your locker.
Mid / Attack – Holmes was wanted by the league above, Magennis has international pedigree and is wanted in the league above. Fosu could arguably make the league team of the season. Marshall is solid and provides a team role. Pretty sure most teams in this league would have taken Billy Clarke this summer. Kaikai and Malvididi (certainly the latter) look more than enough at this level.
Only mitigating argument imo is we don't have a real goal scorer in our team, but with the Magennis up top on his own approach, we don't play a style of play that would be a fit for a natural goal scorer anyway.
No need to go into the merits of each player. The only point I was making is that our squad isn’t necessarily ‘much better than Shrewsbury’s’.
We have quite a decent squad, but on paper so have Shrewsbury. Three from the Premier league, about eight from the Championship. We’ve got a few players from League One, not just higher league players. I expect a Shrewsbury fan might be able to state a case for the players in their squad.
And that’s it really.
Hold up @JamesSeed you can't have it both ways squire. You can't on one hand accuse people of making 'sweeping statements about squads without some sort of evidence' and then on the other hand dismiss a breakdown of the key components of the squad as not needed. Squads are made up of individuals, its the first place you look for evidence' !!
You want to defend this point about your retrospective study of the Shrewsbury squad, fair enough. My point is I don't think any people who work in the game and know it a hell of a lot better than me and you would have looked at our respective squads at the start of the season and backed Shrewsbury to finish above us. And I am 100% convinced that not one person would have seen them finishing 25 points ahead of us (as it currently looks like they will).
Do you, even with your retrospective look, genuinely believe Shrewsbury's squad (particularly based on their resources) should be 25 points ahead of ours?
Along with their outperformance there is undoubtedly a degree of underperformance on our part. No one would convince me otherwise of that.
shrewsbury sqaud still havent got a better sqaud than us, look rolands a twat but recent results are the fault of a manager who doesnt have tactics and is trying to win fans over by challenging referees.
Shrewsbury = Leicester City ! We all know that story
Blimey Covered end you couldn't get enough of Robinson at the Bromley meeting
He was on a roll then. There were 100+ there and not one critical question from the shrinking violet antis ;-)
I think most fans generally agree on KR. He seems to be able to motivate players at times, but not enough to make them a consistently winning team.
He stubbornly refuses to play any other system than 4-2-3-1 and everyone can see it is not working.
He appears to be tactically redundant and gets outwitted by the majority of other coaches.
He's recruited a squad of talented but short light weight players and then complains every game, when they are "roughed up". Well it was your choice KR and if you don't know L1 by now you should.
Blimey Covered end you couldn't get enough of Robinson at the Bromley meeting
He was on a roll then. There were 100+ there and not one critical question from the shrinking violet antis ;-)
I think most fans generally agree on KR. He seems to be able to motivate players at times, but not enough to make them a consistently winning team.
He stubbornly refuses to play any other system than 4-2-3-1 and everyone can see it is not working.
He appears to be tactically redundant and gets outwitted by the majority of other coaches.
He's recruited a squad of talented but short light weight players and then complains every game, when they are "roughed up". Well it was your choice KR and if you don't know L1 by now you should.
And to cap it all he won’t play Aribo, and tells the team to slow the pace of the game down when we’re winning. I’m not impressed at all.
But my point was, where were all the knockers at the meetings? If they were there they were sitting on their hands.
Don't forget, according to our manager, Shrewsbury are not going to last the pace.
Tbf I think most people thought that.
Yes, this is the time of year (crap winter weather, heavy pitches etc) when you expect the smaller side to start struggling
Instead it's Wigan who are having a mini blip
It's no coincidence that their form has suffered since they drew Man City in the FA Cup. Players have perhaps taken their eye off the ball and are thinking about their big game.
Thanks for clarifying you were posting without reading. Without that crucial context setting at the outset I would have been struggling through what would have otherwise been the nonsensical remainder of the post.
Blimey Covered end you couldn't get enough of Robinson at the Bromley meeting
He was on a roll then. There were 100+ there and not one critical question from the shrinking violet antis ;-)
I think most fans generally agree on KR. He seems to be able to motivate players at times, but not enough to make them a consistently winning team.
He stubbornly refuses to play any other system than 4-2-3-1 and everyone can see it is not working.
He appears to be tactically redundant and gets outwitted by the majority of other coaches.
He's recruited a squad of talented but short light weight players and then complains every game, when they are "roughed up". Well it was your choice KR and if you don't know L1 by now you should.
And to cap it all he won’t play Aribo, and tells the team to slow the pace of the game down when we’re winning. I’m not impressed at all.
But my point was, where were all the knockers at the meetings? If they were there they were sitting on their hands.
I was there James and i did ask a couple of questions at the meeting.
Don't forget, according to our manager, Shrewsbury are not going to last the pace.
Tbf I think most people thought that.
How many other managers felt the need to come out and say it though?
Classless and talentless, not a good combo, IMO.
Another stick. Well done, very good.
You think I like things to be this way? I'd much prefer to have a manager who could actually get the most out of his squad and make a real push for promotion. The last thing I want is to be stuck in league one, but that's the only thing that is going to happen with KR in charge.
Blimey Covered end you couldn't get enough of Robinson at the Bromley meeting
He was on a roll then. There were 100+ there and not one critical question from the shrinking violet antis ;-)
I think most fans generally agree on KR. He seems to be able to motivate players at times, but not enough to make them a consistently winning team.
He stubbornly refuses to play any other system than 4-2-3-1 and everyone can see it is not working.
He appears to be tactically redundant and gets outwitted by the majority of other coaches.
He's recruited a squad of talented but short light weight players and then complains every game, when they are "roughed up". Well it was your choice KR and if you don't know L1 by now you should.
And to cap it all he won’t play Aribo, and tells the team to slow the pace of the game down when we’re winning. I’m not impressed at all.
But my point was, where were all the knockers at the meetings? If they were there they were sitting on their hands.
I was there James and i did ask a couple of questions at the meeting.
I don’t really remember any negative questions, although I remember him talking about the 4231 formation. Defending it from your vicious questioning maybe? ;-) My comment about Sarr certainly has him on the ropes.
But you remember the mood was very positive as we were playing well and winning matches. The mood would be very different if he was a guest today. It shows how things have gone so badly wrong since then’ which is a shame for us, Karl and the club generally.
I get singled out as a Karl defender, but I’ve been critical for some time. Increasingly so at the moment for his tactical naivety and intransigence. And I wish he’d hold his hand up when he gets things wrong. But no doubt a few wins and a tactical switch up and I’ll be more positive.
Some of the comments on the forum are over the top and overly personal. Gobby scouser, Fat Controller. It’s all pretty embarrassing isn’t it? Or perhaps we’ve been watching too much Arsenal Fan TV? Maybe I’m just out of touch. It just lacks class to me. Especially as he’s always so complimentary about Charlton fans.
When Pearce is fully fit and ready to return to the team should we be dropping Solly and playing Konsa at RB?
Read a few comments over the season that he now seems to be off the pace and clearly not the player he once was. Konsa can play there and gives us the extra height and pace in the back line.
When Pearce is fully fit and ready to return to the team should we be dropping Solly and playing Konsa at RB?
Read a few comments over the season that he now seems to be off the pace and clearly not the player he once was. Konsa can play there and gives us the extra height and pace in the back line.
Konsa - Bauer - Pearce (as captain) - Da Silva
Yes and we should swop aribo for jfc and work out an attacking strategy where we can put some fresh pace on up top in the second half once things open up a bit
I'm still very cautious about dropping Solly... Yes Konsa did well against Fleetwood when he played RB yet was torn to pieces by Maddison when we played Peterborough
I don't have an issue with the 4231. It can work as shown by the periods when we dominate teams. Besides the squad has been built to play that system, I don't think it would be getting the most out of the squad to regularly okay a different formation. I do wish though that Robbo would be more willing to change when needed for individual games. During out bad run it was calling out for a 433 with Jacko in the middle to add some leadership and fight. Some games we needed to go with Mag and Kag (or Best) up top especially when KAG hit form. But as our main system I don't have a problem with it.
Our problem is making the most of periods when we are on top and our mentality.
I think what need a to change is our play within that system. We need to be more fast paced and direct. Direct doesn't have to be long ball we just need more urgency in getting the ball up the pitch and getting bodies in the box. We have pacy players who are more than capable of doing this and causing these problems. Infact it's baffling that we have a squad made up of pacy wingers and attackers and yet we are so slow and ponderous in our play. Possession means nothing if you don't score.
For all his faults (and there were many -not least that stupid crouching) the one thing Luzon got right when we had that little run under him was the directness of our play. Players with pace getting forward quickly and bodies getting in the box.
Comments
Change the effing formation KR. You're not Guardiola and Charlton aren't Man C !
So was KR talking bollocks ? I think we all know he was/is/does.
Similar to watching Charlton really;highly talented footballers able to run rings round the 'oppo' but unlike the boys from Harlem, they miss out on the 'slam dunks'.
In other words we play as a team of individuals instead of a team. Why beat a player once when you can beat him three times? By all means embark on a fast-paced run and take on defenders - just get your head up and see where your teammates are.
Same thing week after week, game after game - like bloody Groundhog Day!
Classless and talentless, not a good combo, IMO.
He stubbornly refuses to play any other system than 4-2-3-1 and everyone can see it is not working.
He appears to be tactically redundant and gets outwitted by the majority of other coaches.
He's recruited a squad of talented but short light weight players and then complains every game, when they are "roughed up". Well it was your choice KR and if you don't know L1 by now you should.
Better here than out in the world.
We worry. It's what humans do.
But my point was, where were all the knockers at the meetings? If they were there they were sitting on their hands.
;-)
I don’t really remember any negative questions, although I remember him talking about the 4231 formation. Defending it from your vicious questioning maybe? ;-) My comment about Sarr certainly has him on the ropes.
But you remember the mood was very positive as we were playing well and winning matches. The mood would be very different if he was a guest today. It shows how things have gone so badly wrong since then’ which is a shame for us, Karl and the club generally.
I get singled out as a Karl defender, but I’ve been critical for some time. Increasingly so at the moment for his tactical naivety and intransigence. And I wish he’d hold his hand up when he gets things wrong. But no doubt a few wins and a tactical switch up and I’ll be more positive.
Some of the comments on the forum are over the top and overly personal. Gobby scouser, Fat Controller. It’s all pretty embarrassing isn’t it? Or perhaps we’ve been watching too much Arsenal Fan TV? Maybe I’m just out of touch. It just lacks class to me. Especially as he’s always so complimentary about Charlton fans.
Read a few comments over the season that he now seems to be off the pace and clearly not the player he once was. Konsa can play there and gives us the extra height and pace in the back line.
Konsa - Bauer - Pearce (as captain) - Da Silva
Our problem is making the most of periods when we are on top and our mentality.
I think what need a to change is our play within that system. We need to be more fast paced and direct. Direct doesn't have to be long ball we just need more urgency in getting the ball up the pitch and getting bodies in the box. We have pacy players who are more than capable of doing this and causing these problems. Infact it's baffling that we have a squad made up of pacy wingers and attackers and yet we are so slow and ponderous in our play. Possession means nothing if you don't score.
For all his faults (and there were many -not least that stupid crouching) the one thing Luzon got right when we had that little run under him was the directness of our play. Players with pace getting forward quickly and bodies getting in the box.