"Lucky to have a fully fit squad" - first, we are seven games in. Second, we aren't lucky that this is the case. Will Abbott clearly laid some foundations to ensure some brilliant levels of fitness, and that has been apparent for the last 12-18 months.
"As Nathan Jones doesn't actually believe in playing football..." cool you haven't watched the way we play. It is direct, intense, and yeah we don't have a "playmaker" really but we can be really hard to cope with. Ask Blackburn.
"And the better teams start to settle..." we started six new players on Saturday fella, with two more off the bench
"Ignore the table. Ignore current form" - okay these are sentiments I can get behind; you're only as good as the 90 minutes in a vacuum and it's good to not get complacent. But I don't think that's how this guy means it
"At the business end of the season... relegation rival" you Nostradamus mate?! Naaaaaahhhhhhhhhh do one
Genuinely think the refs in L1 were better than at this level. Ironically, I thought the only good ref we’ve had was at Millwall which I never thought would be the case
I find the comments about us and NJ consistently entertaining. Long may we continue to be underestimated and meme'd on by opposing fans until they get slapped in the face by a fitter, stronger and faster squad that has beaten teams sometimes almost purely from wanting it more - both this season and last. Pretty sure that no other Championship managers will be expecting an easy game against us, home or away, and know what we are about. Since that dire night vs. Crawley last year, we've been on a continual run that delivers both clean sheets and results. Fans and pundits may not have learned it yet, but they'll soon learn to not expect getting easy points against us. Genuinely amusing to see the comments of other fans thinking we're just another tinpot L1 playoff side that they are obliged to roll over. We have one of the best defences in the league and, as of the weekend, just started scoring more goals too. Anything but easy getting points from us atm.
No, joking apart, does anyone have news of him? There's more chance of his constant prediction coming true these days.
From previous searches i deduced that he didn't make it through the covid era. Like a lot of us, he possibly lived alone and didn't have any close friends/relatives ready, able and willing to update the forum. I would love to be proved wrong @happyvalley
"Think a few of our fans are licking their lips at the prospect of this one.
I don’t look at their squad and think it’s better than ours but win, lose or draw Tuesday is going to be a battle of attrition."
"Charlton are another like ourselves Preston & Wrexham who will be in the bottom third of the league. We need to get points, plural, in this one"
"Nice mix in the lineup needed here of balance + freshness for fitness. Charlton will line up with a 5-3-2, with a compact frustrating approach. They rank 24th in the league for accurate passes p90 and 21st in the league for possesion (we rank 24th for context). As we are home we will be encouraged both by charlton and Eustace to get on the ball more which will mean we should get better technical players on the pitch to help break them down and move them around with the ball at our feet. For me id go with a 4-4-2 approach.
Hopefully one or both of Brewster or CBT will be on the bench to come on for 10/15 minutes aswell.
In possession if we get Elder and Johnston high with Morris holding up the ball and Agyemang being allowed to free roam and as he naturally likes to move out left it will also allow Diaz to find space in that half space to shoot on his right foot from the left.
With Agyemang and Brereton Diaz interchanging in attack. In defence id back us to have enough mobility in that side also to react to charltons counter attack approach.
An advantage for us is one of their biggest outlets in Edwards at Left wing back should be missing for this game which means one of Bell or Gillesphey will play left wing back who want give us at much problems in defence (even though he scored a header on the weekend off a set peice).
Im not as panicked as some people but definitely not as content as others, it is a must win for me and no excuses not to win to be honest, if we get 4-6 points out of the next 2 we can really kick start the season after the international break with a slightly easier run aswell as Beck, Langas, Brewster, Tommo and CBT back involved"
No surprise we rank 24th for accurate passing. Jones is not interested in the beautiful game. He loves to see a defender hoof it to no one in particular.
I suspect we tippy-tap pass around at the back or work the ball backwards a lot less than the other 23 teams in the league and probably more likely to try and quickly give our front runners something to chase. Those are the passes that will more likely be 50/50 between the attacker and defender as to who gets to the ball first if they dont go out iof play. I prefer our approach.
Maybe NJ is thinking ahead of time. For instance, many of the Premier League clubs are playing far more direct football this season than in previous ones. The dreadfully boring tiki taka shite Pep introduced has been found out and busted open by direct, often long balls. City ain't all that nowadays, all the same.
Would have no complaints at all if Tanto started, he has definitely earnt it. Still don't think we should overlook the work the two strikers do to tire out defenders before the two sub strikers come on though. Worth remembering the most lively Kelman has looked this season is when he came on at QPR. I personally like the dynamic of TC starting and Tanto coming on with 20/25 minutes to go to cause chaos. No reason to say he can't do that from the start of games though
Would have no complaints at all if Tanto started, he has definitely earnt it. Still don't think we should overlook the work the two strikers do to tire out defenders before the two sub strikers come on though. Worth remembering the most lively Kelman has looked this season is when he came on at QPR. I personally like the dynamic of TC starting and Tanto coming on with 20/25 minutes to go to cause chaos. No reason to say he can't do that from the start of games though
It has worked pretty well! I think I'm just curious to see if the big man could do it from start and see how TC would perform against a tired defense.
Hopeful of a win, rather than expectant. They have several injuries, which will weaken them, with CBT out. We will miss Edwards but Bree should be good cover. If Gillesphey is as solid as he was against Blackburn, we will be fine. COYR!
Context of the season and that we haven't really played any of the top teams in the league yet (bar Leicester) it's probably the sort of game we need to be winning. But in the context of where we are and how we've done over the start of the season a draw would be decent and help us consolidate our position.
I think we will edge it. 1-2. Jones and Leaburn to score.
7 games in and we have played 4 of the top 10 and one the top 10 are us (millwall, bristol, leicester, QPR, Us). 50% of the top 10 can't be construed as 'haven't really played any of the top teams' unless you know where the teams are going to finish.
Top teams probably the wrong wording. Big players on this league probably better. Clubs with Premier league money and Premier league players and set ups.
Another big club, big ground and a big crowd. Lots to look forward to. A point would be perfect and if we score the first goal we might just nick it. That said I think Derby might do that to us with an early goal and a sneaky 1-0 win.
No, joking apart, does anyone have news of him? There's more chance of his constant prediction coming true these days.
From previous searches i deduced that he didn't make it through the covid era. Like a lot of us, he possibly lived alone and didn't have any close friends/relatives ready, able and willing to update the forum. I would love to be proved wrong @happyvalley
Here's hoping he just drifted away from the forum/social media in general in that period rather than anything else. Always a great poster!
Would have no complaints at all if Tanto started, he has definitely earnt it. Still don't think we should overlook the work the two strikers do to tire out defenders before the two sub strikers come on though. Worth remembering the most lively Kelman has looked this season is when he came on at QPR. I personally like the dynamic of TC starting and Tanto coming on with 20/25 minutes to go to cause chaos. No reason to say he can't do that from the start of games though
IF it's much easier to be a striker in our team coming on after an hour, after the starters have done the hard work, then logically Kelman should WANT to be on the bench, as coming on as a sub he'll have a much better chance of scoring.
Would have no complaints at all if Tanto started, he has definitely earnt it. Still don't think we should overlook the work the two strikers do to tire out defenders before the two sub strikers come on though. Worth remembering the most lively Kelman has looked this season is when he came on at QPR. I personally like the dynamic of TC starting and Tanto coming on with 20/25 minutes to go to cause chaos. No reason to say he can't do that from the start of games though
IF it's much easier to be a striker in our team coming on after an hour, after the starters have done the hard work, then logically Kelman should WANT to be on the bench, as coming on as a sub he'll have a much better chance of scoring.
Well he may do, we’ll never know unless he states it publicly. My point is that the most dangerous he’s looked in a game this season was QPR when he came on. On the other hand, Tanto had a mare when he started at Cambridge. I’d definitely be interested to see how it works and think he does deserve a start but if it’s not broken don’t fix it imo
Comments
"Lucky to have a fully fit squad" - first, we are seven games in. Second, we aren't lucky that this is the case. Will Abbott clearly laid some foundations to ensure some brilliant levels of fitness, and that has been apparent for the last 12-18 months.
"As Nathan Jones doesn't actually believe in playing football..." cool you haven't watched the way we play. It is direct, intense, and yeah we don't have a "playmaker" really but we can be really hard to cope with. Ask Blackburn.
"And the better teams start to settle..." we started six new players on Saturday fella, with two more off the bench
"Ignore the table. Ignore current form" - okay these are sentiments I can get behind; you're only as good as the 90 minutes in a vacuum and it's good to not get complacent. But I don't think that's how this guy means it
"At the business end of the season... relegation rival" you Nostradamus mate?! Naaaaaahhhhhhhhhh do one
What a wally
I find the comments about us and NJ consistently entertaining. Long may we continue to be underestimated and meme'd on by opposing fans until they get slapped in the face by a fitter, stronger and faster squad that has beaten teams sometimes almost purely from wanting it more - both this season and last.
Pretty sure that no other Championship managers will be expecting an easy game against us, home or away, and know what we are about. Since that dire night vs. Crawley last year, we've been on a continual run that delivers both clean sheets and results. Fans and pundits may not have learned it yet, but they'll soon learn to not expect getting easy points against us.
Genuinely amusing to see the comments of other fans thinking we're just another tinpot L1 playoff side that they are obliged to roll over. We have one of the best defences in the league and, as of the weekend, just started scoring more goals too. Anything but easy getting points from us atm.
Hoping Kelman gets the goal he desperately needs.
Heart says 0-1, head say 1-1.