Phillips Solly, Lockyer, Pearce, Sarr, Purrington; Gallagher, Pratley, Doughty; Leko, Bonne. Pretty defensive for a home game. Can't say that this setup looks inspiring.
Kick off delayed 10 minutes, not sure why. Traffic was rubbish, maybe Huddersfield arrived late? EDIT: Yes, the away team arrived late.
We are fortunate to be 0-0 at half time. Huddersfield have turned up, but aside from Doughty and Solly, Charlton have not. We are not quick enough, they are closing us down and moving well off the ball. No end product from numerous attacks, lucky for us. No decent effort from Charlton, save a solo run and shot, from Leko I think. We need to be much better after the break. A heavy squall on half an hour soaked everyone in the front six rows of the lower north stand...
About 9,000 here tonight. A poor game, Udders the better team, we just can't hold on to the ball. Hopefully he'll take off Sarr or Purrington for Taylor, otherwise I can't see us scoring.
FT 0-1 Sad to say it, but the nucleus of our League One team has been found out at this level. It’s being proven week after week now. Pratley, Purrington, Pearce, Sarr, Solly...not up to it. Major investment is needed in January, or I fear the worst.
Everyone of the home fans should demand a refund! Yet again, we concede in the last minute. Surely the new owners must be thinking of a different course of action before it is too late. Failure to act will mean certain relegation. I can only recall one shot by a home player; and that would not of been out of place at Twickenham! I thought after Middlesborough it could not get any worse. I was wrong.
No lack of effort, just a lack of technical ability. Poor Solly had a good game until his last minute howler. Without Williams and Cullen our midfield lacks Quality, despite Gallagher's lone efforts. A relegation battle looms.
Udders weren't even particularly good, but they had players who could pass the ball. Leko gets a lot of stick for running up blind alleys, but until Taylor is fit he's the only one who can beat a defender. We should have Williams fit soon, but he can't be relied on to play 90 minutes.
Just got home. The first half was poor, we were lucky to go in 0-0 at half time. Second half we had a bit of a go, but just could not finish off a chance. I thought we were going to get the draw. The stoppage time goal was (of course) a kick in the guts. Feel pretty deflated now. I was hoping for something from the Hull game, but now I think Dick plumb was right when he predicted they will take us apart. But I'm not demanding a refund. Fans take the defeats on the chin. Sure it hurts; it's supposed to. But on Friday we go again. And again and again. Until we get those players back from injury, and we get a couple of good January signings. Lee Bowyer's Red Army has lost some battles. But he will never surrender. And after what he achieved last season, I'll never turn on him when he needs our support.
Build the team this January around the following nucleus - Phillips Lockyer Gallagher Cullen Williams Taylor That is the spine of a competitive Championship side. Sadly we are well short in the other 5 positions. Too many sick notes & ‘not good enoughs’. This is where proper investment is required, not cheap loans & freebie crocks.
Agreed. Their passing and movement was much better than ours. As was their pressing of us. Every time we tried to play out from the back they were all over us. But they seemed to have free reign to play out until they were pretty much at the halfway line. Our energy levels seemed to drop before theirs did. And we weren't as energetic in the first place.
Sadly not much to say. When Taylor came on I was dreaming we could Nick this one, but in the end, it was the visitors who snatched a win. Judging by the updates I was following, they had the first half and the best we could claim was to claw our way into it in the second half - not really enough to deserve a win, though the kick in the nuts we recieved was a bit undeserved in my opinión. Really don't understand the rage that seems to be rising here and there, we were all saying in august we were in a relegation battle, and Bowyer said the same even when we were riding high in the play offs. If the squad was lacking then what the fu&% is Bowyer supposed to do with all the injuries we have recieved. Or did he suddenly (and ilegally) dive into the transfer market in october and buy Pearce, Sarr, Purrington et al, all of whom have been on the end of the criticism. To be honest, while the football is poor now, it's pretty sad to see the fans who thought he did so well to get us promoted with a squad that was deemed not good enough last season, now being branded as not up to the job when he has been given the same poison chalice this time out. I didn't bother answering Reams post on ITTV (though that doesn't make me a toady Royston - i have other stuff going on) but it's really rubbish. But I have seen an increase in posters saying we need to remove Bowyer. That is way beyond a short memory, and nearer to some sort of dementia. Until january, there is no possibility of fresh faces, and we are in the same position we have been so many times in the last few years pushing youngsters into games they really aren't ready for. I notice Albie is now being touted as a 'must play' when the reality is he was being described as a headless chicken last time he started. neither is true - we are simply so short of warm bodies we are reduced to shoving anyone with a pulse into a red shirt. And the injuies are still there - the winless streak won't be solved by attacking a manager we were talking up as a genius a few months back. Until we have a squad rather than a starting XI, it's going to continue to be tough, and results Will come by luck, not ability. Last night was horrible, but attacking Bowyer (or other fans) isn't going to get us anywhere. January cannot come soon enough.
Taylor, Williams and I think Phillips- contracts run n out in summer. Gallagher and Cullen- Loanees. I think we'll have Gallagher all season, but with Pellegrini likiely to be sacked soon, a new manager may see a future for Cullen at Spam. We're on thin ice (again).
Anyone seen a replay of Taylor's disallowed goal? Bowyer saying Sarr was wrongly flagged for offside. If that had stood we'd probably have gone home with three points and happy smiling faces all round.
I wonder whether Chris Solly will be retained beyond this season ? His deserved Mr Charlton status might see him take on more of a coaching role. That was a basic error last night which led to their winner, and is indicative of a right back who had struggled this season. Matthews is no world beater either.
Matthews- another disappointment, probably brought in to replace Solly, but with no preseason we shouldn't be surprised. Let's hope these are the last days of scraping the bottom of the barrel.
