Can't see anything other than a defeat on Thursday. But by sheer effort, we will hopefully avoid a drubbing. Losing is painful, but getting battered by 3,4 or more goals is worse. Thankfully we have not had to endure that yet. There is no quick fix for this situation. Sacking the manager will achieve absolutely nothing I will just reintroduce instability to an already bad situation, and throw away a potential future where LB could become as great a manager as any we have ever had. Only our two best players (Williams and Cullen) returning from injury and regaining match sharpness will bring better performances and results. That, and two or three real quality signings in January - loans or otherwise. Neither of these things is likely much before the end of January. Frustrating though this poor run is, we must try to be patient and not listen to the handful of voices calling for LB to be sacked.
I can’t believe the new owners have spent over £50m buying Charlton, only to see us meekly slip back into League One. Which is where we are heading as things stand. You would hope that Matt Southall - who has been at the majority of our games - is having some very frank conversations with our new financial backers.
It does rankle that Roland has got nearly all his money back, effectively making the new owners pay for his six years of bungling. But if that's the price of getting rid of the mean old scrote, I'm glad the new guys were willing to pay it. There is no way CAFC is worth more now than Roland payed for it (about £18m I think) But if the Club is now debt-free then I guess that adds to its value. Still, £50m seems like a lot, but if £32m of that is purely RD getting his badly spent money back then so be it. Soon we can move on, and Duchatelet will be nothing more than a sour memory.
@lardiman We have 12 players out injured, of which 4 are hamstring injuries. That suggests to me that there is something fundamentally wrong, either with our Medical Dept or our training regime, or most likely a combination of both. There is also the undeniable fact that we have been forced to shop for cheap and injury prone players. I felt for Conor Gallagher last night. The lad is 19, has 8 bookings this season, and was bloodied by some brutal tacking and deliberate fouling. Anyone criticising these lads needs a smack in the mouth.
Medical department - unfit for purpose. Budget - unfit for purpose. Training - must be questioned. Team backing for manager - still solid. The more our squad is eroded by injuries, the more the few remaining players are exposed to batterings in games they should not have to be involved in. We are just a couple of players away from a total collapse now. Bonne out, Gallagher walking wounded, games coming every three or four days. It's not impossible that by the end of next week, we could be left with nothing but 7 or 8 academy kids and a couple of die-hards like Pratley. And Naby of course (God help us). Our subs bench could be pretty much empty.
An FA Cup game to follow- that's all we need. Normally you'd expect LB to rest some senior players to give the kids and subs a chance, but now the kids are in the first team, and will have to play both games.
@lardiman Do you know what the rules are on clubs seeking the postponement of a fixture ? It occurred to me that we might ask for one on Thursday night.
Huddersfield aside, all the teams around us are away. Hopefully the results will go for us to perk us up for the game. On the run we are on at the moment I do not expect much from any game.
I don't know the actual rules, but I know we would only receive a slap on the wrist if we call the game off. The EFL are utterly spineless. Personally I'd prefer to see us have a go on Thursday with the best team we can muster (for the sake of stalwart away fans like Clb74), then just throw the Cup game on Sunday. LB did that before against Doncaster of course. All he has to do is put out 8 or 9 kids, including some real also-rans from the youth backwater, and let WBA reserves smash us 8-0 or something like that. It would be good of him to let the fans know in advance, so anybody buying a ticket is under no illusions what he/she will see. One or two fans will protest, but in a few days it'll all be forgotten. Chucking the Cup game is better than giving up on Thursday I think, even though we are about 98% likely to lose to Swansea. Last season I was annoyed by the Doncaster debacle. But at that time I was not a big fan of Bowyer, since he had not yet delivered the promotion. This time he can do what he likes, it won't bother me. In my eyes any humiliation will be down to RD, not him.
We will have to play 4-5-1 tonight out of necessity Keeper- Dillon Back 3 - Pearce, Lockyer, Sarr Wing backs () - Matthews & Purrington Midfield - Pratley, Morgan, Gallagher Striker - Taylor I worry for Conor Gallagher. The lad has been a star so far this season, and busted his balls for this club. Opposition teams are now clearly targeting him. Let’s see if tonight is any different- if he is even fit enough to play.
