At least we were beaten by a very good team tonight. FRanchise simply had better players, and were superior all over the pitch. We didn't throw in the towel, and the booing at the end was pointless (like us).
I thought we started brightly enough, and for quite a while we were snapping at them, closing down quickly, playing with high (and admittedly unsustainable) energy. Until they scored I would have said we were edging it by sheer willpower, albeit they had a couple of gilt edged chances to bag a goal before they actually did. After the goal our confidence drained away. We were still putting in considerable effort, but to less and less effect as time passed. We had to score one or two during that first 40 minutes. But nobody could finish the chances we created. MK had players who could score, and we didn't. And - as others have said - they are well drilled, well organised. After 20 minutes or so in the first half they had done almost nothing. I was wondering if MK were going to have a bad day and we could defeat them. Now I think they were being patient more than anything else, and we were going at them in a manner we could not sustain forever. Not sure we would have wo even if we had gone a goal or two up. I got the impression that MK had another gear they could have gone up to if needed. It would have been nice to have really tested them, and find that out. Hey ho. It's done now. We'll have to wait until we play another struggling team for a decent chance to gain more points.
Not much to say. We looked the better of the two up to their goal, but at one stage, they set one of their forwards free in our box, and a slight miscontrol allowed McGeavrey to smother it, but it showed we were by no means tight at the back. Another about three minutes before their first had us scrambling too. When you have no forwards, getting goals is going to be a big ask. Second half they controlled - we brightened up a bit when Lee came on, which was nice, as I was reading a book after the second goal - but there was no end product, and apart from the scoreline, a telling statistic was that we had no shots on target at all. Saturday promises more of the same. The forwards are still all out, and Burstow may have a hamstring niggle. We are hoping the forwards are back for the games against the bottom teams, but god knows where our confidence will be by then.
I don't think our home support is covering itself in glory with the booing and sarcastic chants. They haven't turned on Jackson.......yet.
No. It's a horrible situation, but getting on top of the players is only going to make things worse. Having all the forwards out and playing four of the top in form teams. How many points would everyone have expected from these games given that scenario? The perfoemances have been pretty bad, but thangs are what they are. Is it leko's fault that Aneke and Stockley are out? A lot of people who say they are Charlton Til I Die should have a look at themselves. Charlton till we lose a few may not have quite the same ring, bit that's where some of the fanbase are.
From where I was, the chanting (though unhelpful) was far from the worst I've ever heard. A few choruses of "We've had a shot" after one went over the crossbar. "Johnnie Jackson's red army" was still sung a reasonable number of times, though naturally frustration got the better of some as time ran out. The MK Franchise fans singing "since I was young..." made me smile. Anybody over 35 in their little crowd were probably Hatters or Cobblers fans when they were young. If they had any interest in football at all. I assume MK have one of the youngest (on average) fan bases in the EFL
