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POST-MATCH THREAD: Charlton Athletic vs Cambridge Utd: Saturday 9th December 2023 | KO 3.00PM
Comments
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thanks .. thing is the mask surely restricts his peripheral vision and encourages opposition attackers to fire speculative shots at him as well as to intimidate him .. still, big pity that he has an ongoing issue with his noseDazzler21 said:
Because he's been told if he breaks his nose again it'll be a permanent issue for him.Lincsaddick said:2 good goals squandered .. it was not a penalty .. and apropos of nothing, why is Maynard Brewer still disguised as Zorro? .. his nose was injured almost a year ago3 -
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In the lead up to the penalty, is that Scott Fraser falling to the ground when he's in a position to challenge for the ball?1
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Have only seen these highlights but wanted to point out that both our goals don't happen without Hector, hope he's hitting some form. Considering how over the top the criticism is of Thomas I'm amazed there's been so little talk of how bad his defending is for that first Cambridge goal. That should be his ball all dayclive said:4 -
But sometimes our players don't fancy challenging for the ball, especially at set pieces. They're allowed a break every now and again. Stop being so harsh mate.6
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Nine points is still quite a big gap even when you’re playing well. The chances are the clubs above you are also playing well. And we don’t have the squad to go on a long unbeaten run.blackpool72 said:
You are correct in saying 9 points is nothing.RonnieMoore said:
We are still very much in the play off race .. 9 points is nothing in this league has we saw with Palace few years back and who remembers Oxford who was in bottom 8 in November and still pipped us for 6th spot under Nigel Atkins ….swordfish said:
We may not be on the fringes of the play offs, but his record isn't delusional. It's unarguable and results are key, not performances. You've deluded if you think losing matches but playing well buys you time. Not here it doesn't if anywhere.paulsturgess said:
This is delusional. 9 points adrift is not being on the fringes of the play offs. And the key thing is even though we have only managed to lose 2 of 13, the performances are still shite and barely a hint of anything vaguely resembling a top 6 side. The defending is atrocious and competent coaching should have been able to drastically improve this.EveshamAddick said:Was it Curbs who said don’t get too low with the defeats and don’t get too high with the wins? It wasn’t long ago many on here were quite happy with “Mickey Apples” - don’t forget that’s still only 2 league defeats in 13 under Appleton.Those calling for Louis Watson to have come on yesterday - didn’t he play against Reading midweek and folk on here were saying he was shit?
Some on here are saying that CBT will leave in January which will be a disaster for our season and others are saying he is shit and lazy and doesn’t do anything. That’s our second top scorer and highest assister.
Appleton gets criticised for playing a weakened side in the FA cup, and then for playing a full strength side in the League Cup. These players are not his players and people talk about the loans being frozen out - but they could well be leaving in January in any case.
Those criticising AMB - Isted would probably be first choice but he’s injured. I don’t think any of us want to see Walker again if it can be avoided.
Appleton has steadied the ship. At the end of August we were 19th, with 3 points from 5 games. With only 2 defeats since then, we’ve suffered injuries to key players (Chuks, Miles, Fraser, Camara to name but 4) and we’re still on the fringes of the play offs. May is on fire and even some of those who folk have decided are shit, like Thomas and Hector, have started to play better. We finally have a fit left back. The owners are talking about strengthening in January, with hopefully Appleton getting players in that are endorsed by him.
This is a key part of the season now, lots of games coming up and the January window. Let’s see where we are come 1st February before we write off the season, Appleton and the owners.
But
It's only nothing if you are playing really well.
We are playing rubbish most of the time.
9 points looks a huge gap when you are not playing well.The 10/1 the bookies are offering on promotion seems a little ungenerous to me.1 -
fenaddick said:
Have only seen these highlights but wanted to point out that both our goals don't happen without Hector, hope he's hitting some form. Considering how over the top the criticism is of Thomas I'm amazed there's been so little talk of how bad his defending is for that first Cambridge goal. That should be his ball all dayclive said:Thomas had one of his best games for us yesterday and him and Hector were the few that could hold their heads up high at halftime.
For Cambridge’s first goal Brownie pointed out that we were zonal marking and that Thomas was the one to try and challenge the ball in the air. Having said that Campbell was marking the scorer and hardly attempted to prevent his opponents run at the ball which was exactly what Apples was banging on about post match. Gary Neville not the tallest of players, was brilliant at blocking / impeding a clear run at a set piece cross into the box.
I’ve never been a fan of zonal marking, as attacking the ball will always have an advantage over a static jump
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It’s really bizarre how some people on forums brazenly adapt/ alter comments that have been made to create some kind of argument that wasn’t there which they can try and win!swordfish said:
We may not be on the fringes of the play offs, but his record isn't delusional. It's unarguable and results are key, not performances. You've deluded if you think losing matches but playing well buys you time. Not here it doesn't if anywhere.paulsturgess said:
This is delusional. 9 points adrift is not being on the fringes of the play offs. And the key thing is even though we have only managed to lose 2 of 13, the performances are still shite and barely a hint of anything vaguely resembling a top 6 side. The defending is atrocious and competent coaching should have been able to drastically improve this.EveshamAddick said:Was it Curbs who said don’t get too low with the defeats and don’t get too high with the wins? It wasn’t long ago many on here were quite happy with “Mickey Apples” - don’t forget that’s still only 2 league defeats in 13 under Appleton.Those calling for Louis Watson to have come on yesterday - didn’t he play against Reading midweek and folk on here were saying he was shit?
Some on here are saying that CBT will leave in January which will be a disaster for our season and others are saying he is shit and lazy and doesn’t do anything. That’s our second top scorer and highest assister.
Appleton gets criticised for playing a weakened side in the FA cup, and then for playing a full strength side in the League Cup. These players are not his players and people talk about the loans being frozen out - but they could well be leaving in January in any case.
Those criticising AMB - Isted would probably be first choice but he’s injured. I don’t think any of us want to see Walker again if it can be avoided.
Appleton has steadied the ship. At the end of August we were 19th, with 3 points from 5 games. With only 2 defeats since then, we’ve suffered injuries to key players (Chuks, Miles, Fraser, Camara to name but 4) and we’re still on the fringes of the play offs. May is on fire and even some of those who folk have decided are shit, like Thomas and Hector, have started to play better. We finally have a fit left back. The owners are talking about strengthening in January, with hopefully Appleton getting players in that are endorsed by him.
This is a key part of the season now, lots of games coming up and the January window. Let’s see where we are come 1st February before we write off the season, Appleton and the owners.At no point in my post do I suggest that playing well and losing games buys time or is helpful.People are attempting to justify the inadequate results with the limited number of defeats. The results are not awful but they’re not good enough. How do you judge where you actually sit/ what your prospects of an upturn might be? The performances. Our performances are really poor and not suggestive of a good side and/or management that is likely to or capable of going on a proper run.When Phil Parkinson was sacked at the turn of 2010/11 , I believe we sat 4th in the table and some argued that it was incredibly harsh because results had been pretty good. Performances had been abysmal though and the results were masking the reality.That side finished 13th. We may have only 2 defeats in 13, but 13th is about where we’re headed for at the minute.4 -
Probably, and thanks for pointing it out, but the negativity gets me down. That penalty cost us two points (whether we had a lucky penalty earlier this season or not) and messed up my mood for the rest of weekend. The second half display had me thinking our season might not be dead after all, and the mood was changing for the better, but now I’m pretty convinced that the season’s over, without even a cup competition to look forward to.Croydon said:
What a stupid post.JamesSeed said:It’s almost like some are glad we didn’t win, and are annoyed that the ref’s mistake took the gloss off surrendering a 2-0 lead. Bizarre. Points are everything right now, and the mistake cost us two. End of.1 -
rose coloured glasses time .. a point is a point and we are one of five L1 outfits with the longest unbeaten run, the other four being Bolton, Derby, Stevenage and Wigan .. still, too many draws and how galling to see little Stevenage (with the large manager) sailing away near the top of the table0
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Cambridge showed how to take a corner, not just the goal but throughout the match. Our set pieces are abysmal: corners, free kicks go nowhere (except in the first half where Fraser just passed the ball to the Cambridge player), free kicks in our own half mainly go to the keeper, who then hoofs it upfield and when they do try something different it usually ends up as a total mess. Throw-ins as well go to the opposition more than to our own players.
I haven't a clue who's in charge of this in training but whoever it is is doing an extremely poor job.
Positives from yesterday: May scored again, Kanu can play the Leaburn/Aneke role in the short term, Hector was excellent and, as Fenaddick rightly pointed out, his work created both the build-ups for our goals.8 -
@paulsturgess Apologies. I've edited my original post.
I only wanted to stress that for me wins are all that matters and I couldn't care less how we we play in order to get them if it helps us out of this God awful league. Good performances night help I agree, but with what we have available it's a make shift effort and Apples stopped us losing, for which he gets credit with me. I fear a return to a losing mentality is a distinct possibility as we head up to Barnsley after yesterday's capitulation though.
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That short corner of theirs at the start of the highlights shows how easy it can be to causeBangkokaddick said:Cambridge showed how to take a corner, not just the goal but throughout the match. Our set pieces are abysmal: corners, free kicks go nowhere (except in the first half where Fraser just passed the ball to the Cambridge player), free kicks in our own half mainly go to the keeper, who then hoofs it upfield and when they do try something different it usually ends up as a total mess. Throw-ins as well go to the opposition more than to our own players.
I haven't a clue who's in charge of this in training but whoever it is is doing an extremely poor job.
Positives from yesterday: May scored again, Kanu can play the Leaburn/Aneke role in the short term, Hector was excellent and, as Fenaddick rightly pointed out, his work created both the build-ups for our goals.
mayhem.
I’m pretty sure someone allegedly in the know on here posted last season that at training they don’t practice anything like corners/free kicks. I get the feeling it’s all analysis these days of how much distance is covered by players, heat maps and whatever else they can monitor in training and games as if that’s the only yardstick of performance.
May also showed how easy it is score. Hit it first time and get it on target.
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First why the fuck isn’t l Watson starting.second leave the side alone when 2-0 up third no playoffs we’ll end up between 8th -10th and fuck all coming in January. Season over so let’s all get real.0
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Kevin Nolan's post-mortem: https://greenwichwire.co.uk/2023/12/10/kevin-nolans-valley-view-charlton-athletic-2-2-cambridge-united/3
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While I don't think it was Apples best match, to blame him for the 2 late subs is just wrong. CBT was subbed one minute after the 1st Cambridge goal and May was subbed 3 minutes before the penalty, please explain to me how those two substitutions lead to the two goals.5
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Lincs, do those stats suggest that we are not far away from a squad that can compete ? I stress can compete, not piss the league.Lincsaddick said:rose coloured glasses time .. a point is a point and we are one of five L1 outfits with the longest unbeaten run, the other four being Bolton, Derby, Stevenage and Wigan .. still, too many draws and how galling to see little Stevenage (with the large manager) sailing away near the top of the table
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The last 10 mins, Cambridge were pushing. However we had the game won. Oh no, Appleton brings on a centre half (Elewere). Takes off the 2 players that would threaten Cambridge and keep the ball. We lost all shape and invited pressure. He should have brought Louis Watson on. Chem Cambell was knackered in the last 20 mins, understandably. A Sunday league manager would not have done what Appleton did. Then in the press conference there is some nonsense about shorter players not defending corners. He blames all, but himself. He's a dud and most of us knew it when he was appointedlancashire lad said:While I don't think it was Apples best match, to blame him for the 2 late subs is just wrong. CBT was subbed one minute after the 1st Cambridge goal and May was subbed 3 minutes before the penalty, please explain to me how those two substitutions lead to the two goals.6 -
Great support from the Cambridge fans, impressive turnout.3
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Name your preferred choice of Manager please Brazilance.Braziliance said:I can't believe people are even trying to justify or give reasoning to Appletons sub choices, giving him far too much credit.
Who takes off their best player who causes issues all over the pitch? Especially at 90+ mins when the game isn't out of sight. If he was doing it to protect May from being booked, then he's even dumber than I was giving him credit for.
As for all the talk of giving him a transfer window?? Do me a favour 😂
You want this bloke, who gets us playing this level of football, making these kind of subs, making these kind of excuses having a transfer window? Jesus fkn wept.
Write the season off, get a proper manager in now, build for next season with May as the main man and find the right players up to it, would be a far better solution. You give this bloke a transfer window (which is a Myth anyway btw) he will genuinely damage our club long term.3 - Sponsored links:
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I agree with Melrose The substitutes didn't help us see out the game. He brought on TC to replace CBT in the 82nd minute when Cambridge were starting to come at us. TC seems really out of touch and with his lack of tackling was not going to help defend from the front. Then, after we conceded the first goal to Cambridge in the 87th minute, he brought on Mbick to replace Ched Campbell. He left Watson, his most experienced (albeit by only by 2-3 years!) midfield sub on the bench and then took May off in the 93rd minute to accommodate bringing on Elerewe to stiffen up the defence. I think May and Kanu together would have done a better job in trying to keep Cambridge's defence occupied.Melrose said:
The last 10 mins, Cambridge were pushing. However we had the game won. Oh no, Appleton brings on a centre half (Elewere). Takes off the 2 players that would threaten Cambridge and keep the ball. We lost all shape and invited pressure. He should have brought Louis Watson on. Chem Cambell was knackered in the last 20 mins, understandably. A Sunday league manager would not have done what Appleton did. Then in the press conference there is some nonsense about shorter players not defending corners. He blames all, but himself. He's a dud and most of us knew it when he was appointedlancashire lad said:While I don't think it was Apples best match, to blame him for the 2 late subs is just wrong. CBT was subbed one minute after the 1st Cambridge goal and May was subbed 3 minutes before the penalty, please explain to me how those two substitutions lead to the two goals.
It's easy to say with hindsight but I would preferred to have seen Watson and May on the pitch instead of TC and Mbick and I think Elerewe could have replaced Fraser, rather than May. I appreciate the majority of the players on the bench were young, but May isn't playing again until next Saturday and was not injured as far as I could see when he came off and Watson should have been brought on.
You could of course pinpoint the blame for the first goal down to Thomas's poor marking at the corner and the second on Eden's foul but we cannot accommodate 4-5 very or relatively inexperienced players on the pitch when we are trying to see out a game. It just invites more pressure likely to lead to errors, corners, misjudged tackles etc etc.5 -
Your reply is a load of rubbish. Elewere came on AFTER the 1st goal so that substitution had no effect on that goal and the second goal was due to poor refereeing on the players on the pitch - do try and get you fact right please.Melrose said:
The last 10 mins, Cambridge were pushing. However we had the game won. Oh no, Appleton brings on a centre half (Elewere). Takes off the 2 players that would threaten Cambridge and keep the ball. We lost all shape and invited pressure. He should have brought Louis Watson on. Chem Cambell was knackered in the last 20 mins, understandably. A Sunday league manager would not have done what Appleton did. Then in the press conference there is some nonsense about shorter players not defending corners. He blames all, but himself. He's a dud and most of us knew it when he was appointedlancashire lad said:While I don't think it was Apples best match, to blame him for the 2 late subs is just wrong. CBT was subbed one minute after the 1st Cambridge goal and May was subbed 3 minutes before the penalty, please explain to me how those two substitutions lead to the two goals.3 -
Yep, I think u made a good atmosphere. I have to say that our (Charlton) atmosphere is getting worse and worse every game. I wonder whyEr_Be_Ab_Pl_Wo_Wo_Ch said:Great support from the Cambridge fans, impressive turnout.
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Because Louie Watson had his chance to claim a shirt and was shite against Gillingham and Reading.DOUCHER said:
so why drop Louis Watson who was fit, energetic, mobile, sharp etc etc and play fraser who, lets be honest has some attributes but physicality and mobility are woefully lacking - physically he is a bit he is a bit of a 'weed', as is mgrandles yet apples has dropped Louis Watson and tried to shoe horn these 2 in - bits of what he says are true but he ain't managing the situation well - far from it.MuttleyCAFC said:
I think he is spot on in his assessment in all honesty. I am glad he knows the softness in the side and hope he can address it in January. Meanwhile he has to find a way to get as many points as possible in December. It was a mistake playing Rylah and he has to start Kanu from now on. It was a mistake making the subs he did but I think there were sound reasons for it. However, the mistake was that we are not a team that can sit on anything. That would be my main criticism. If we are thinking of next Saturday, those two points dropped were more accesable to us than any at Barnsley. Not to say we can't get a point or three there but it is going to be very tough.Braziliance said:
This bloke should never have been given the job, blames everything but himself. Can't wait to see his next excuse.
It's your job to play to our strengths mate? Why take the job if you think there's this many issues.
I wonder who the next cheap option will be when Appleton inevitably gets the cut.
I think it may be linked to our soft underbelly, but our performance both attacking and defending set pieces is incredibly poor.2 -
You can make that go both ways to suit whatever narrative you’d like. Birmingham got rid of Eustace this season when they were 6th and flying. Now they’re 16th under Rooney. What is the reality there?paulsturgess said:
It’s really bizarre how some people on forums brazenly adapt/ alter comments that have been made to create some kind of argument that wasn’t there which they can try and win!swordfish said:
We may not be on the fringes of the play offs, but his record isn't delusional. It's unarguable and results are key, not performances. You've deluded if you think losing matches but playing well buys you time. Not here it doesn't if anywhere.paulsturgess said:
This is delusional. 9 points adrift is not being on the fringes of the play offs. And the key thing is even though we have only managed to lose 2 of 13, the performances are still shite and barely a hint of anything vaguely resembling a top 6 side. The defending is atrocious and competent coaching should have been able to drastically improve this.EveshamAddick said:Was it Curbs who said don’t get too low with the defeats and don’t get too high with the wins? It wasn’t long ago many on here were quite happy with “Mickey Apples” - don’t forget that’s still only 2 league defeats in 13 under Appleton.Those calling for Louis Watson to have come on yesterday - didn’t he play against Reading midweek and folk on here were saying he was shit?
Some on here are saying that CBT will leave in January which will be a disaster for our season and others are saying he is shit and lazy and doesn’t do anything. That’s our second top scorer and highest assister.
Appleton gets criticised for playing a weakened side in the FA cup, and then for playing a full strength side in the League Cup. These players are not his players and people talk about the loans being frozen out - but they could well be leaving in January in any case.
Those criticising AMB - Isted would probably be first choice but he’s injured. I don’t think any of us want to see Walker again if it can be avoided.
Appleton has steadied the ship. At the end of August we were 19th, with 3 points from 5 games. With only 2 defeats since then, we’ve suffered injuries to key players (Chuks, Miles, Fraser, Camara to name but 4) and we’re still on the fringes of the play offs. May is on fire and even some of those who folk have decided are shit, like Thomas and Hector, have started to play better. We finally have a fit left back. The owners are talking about strengthening in January, with hopefully Appleton getting players in that are endorsed by him.
This is a key part of the season now, lots of games coming up and the January window. Let’s see where we are come 1st February before we write off the season, Appleton and the owners.At no point in my post do I suggest that playing well and losing games buys time or is helpful.People are attempting to justify the inadequate results with the limited number of defeats. The results are not awful but they’re not good enough. How do you judge where you actually sit/ what your prospects of an upturn might be? The performances. Our performances are really poor and not suggestive of a good side and/or management that is likely to or capable of going on a proper run.When Phil Parkinson was sacked at the turn of 2010/11 , I believe we sat 4th in the table and some argued that it was incredibly harsh because results had been pretty good. Performances had been abysmal though and the results were masking the reality.That side finished 13th. We may have only 2 defeats in 13, but 13th is about where we’re headed for at the minute.
The reality at CAFC is that under the previous bloke we’d lost four in five games. We were proper dire. We are not bad now because of Appleton.
We are still dire but we’re not losing games anymore. Sack Appleton and it could definitely get worse than 13th this season.4 -
We said the same. The only time AMB has saved a penalty was the Brighton cup game.MuttleyCAFC said:I was thinking for that pen, stay on your line in the middle, there was a lot of pressure on that for their taker, but we can't be too critical.
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We do have more senior players though, who are unavailable for one reason or another.
We have Kirk and Tedic, both completely out of favour.
Plus we chose to loan out DJ and Payne. While neither are "good enough" how much stronger would our bench have looked with them there instead of kids.0 -
Payne certainly would offer more than Kirk, Tedic, Rylah.2
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I would ask just 1 question, to those who are saying MA should go....who do they think, realistically, will come in and do a better job with the CURRENT squad? Any manager who comes in, will need time to evaluate what they have at their disposal, before going to the 'board' and telling them who they need! We have 3 weeks until the window opens, that is not long enough for any new manager to evaluate, plan and build a list of new players. My thoughts are, we give MA this window, see, providing the board back him, who he wants to bring in, (I'm assuming here that targets have been identified and spoken to) and what affect that has on the squad and results. Starting again with 3 weeks until the window, would be madness, and does not guarantee any better outcomes!
Finally I would add, if you were a manager would you come to a club that regularly keeps sacking managers without giving them the time required? Why would any good manager do that?10 -
Apples dropped watson when he was playing really well to try and shoe horn fraser and mgrandles in - okay they are our players rather than loanees so try and give them some game time in the silly bollox cup whatever its called now but don't drop one of your best players in the league or fa cup - its poor management - if you are playing really well what should your reaction be when you are then dropped for 2 below par lightweights? Don't get injured, sit out the next month and the get out of there is the realistic reaction.Callumcafc said:
Because Louie Watson had his chance to claim a shirt and was shite against Gillingham and Reading.DOUCHER said:
so why drop Louis Watson who was fit, energetic, mobile, sharp etc etc and play fraser who, lets be honest has some attributes but physicality and mobility are woefully lacking - physically he is a bit he is a bit of a 'weed', as is mgrandles yet apples has dropped Louis Watson and tried to shoe horn these 2 in - bits of what he says are true but he ain't managing the situation well - far from it.MuttleyCAFC said:
I think he is spot on in his assessment in all honesty. I am glad he knows the softness in the side and hope he can address it in January. Meanwhile he has to find a way to get as many points as possible in December. It was a mistake playing Rylah and he has to start Kanu from now on. It was a mistake making the subs he did but I think there were sound reasons for it. However, the mistake was that we are not a team that can sit on anything. That would be my main criticism. If we are thinking of next Saturday, those two points dropped were more accesable to us than any at Barnsley. Not to say we can't get a point or three there but it is going to be very tough.Braziliance said:
This bloke should never have been given the job, blames everything but himself. Can't wait to see his next excuse.
It's your job to play to our strengths mate? Why take the job if you think there's this many issues.
I wonder who the next cheap option will be when Appleton inevitably gets the cut.
I think it may be linked to our soft underbelly, but our performance both attacking and defending set pieces is incredibly poor.3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3OXltseAP8
