I'll have another crack at starting a thread in the hope it changes our luck - which will probably mean we get a thumping instead of a simple defeat. A chance to meet Albie Morgan again, who according to Blackpool fans, has improved and is a real addition to the team. Personally I'm happy for him - he gave everything and never hid when playing, so nice to see him do well. But if he could avoid playing out of his skin tomorrow..... So after our run of games which we hoped would give us wins, points and a place in the pack chasing promotion, we begin our next run against the better teams in our league.Nothing is impossible, and we are well overdue a win, but our defence is badly in need of an overhaul with a demolition ball, so unless the new managers have a job on their hands to explain how to defend. The good news is th only way must be up, so I'll go for a hard fought draw - 2-2! Over to you.
Blackpool are 15 points ahead of us I think, and have won their last three in the league. A 3-1 home win is the least damaging option as far as I can see. By the way I have a very busy Saturday ahead of me. I'll try to leave the occasional message using my mobile, but I may not be online until after 6pm. (I am not travelling to Blackpool).
It's best being busy, you'll probably enjoy your afternoon better. Although tomorrow night could be a bit frustrating.
So we can do bad stuff on here with lots of four letter words (like 'Elfs') while teacher is away. Yay!!
Two measures of how far the team has deteriorated this season; 1) Even if we won all of our remaining 18 games Charlton cannot reach the average points requirement for automatic promotion (based on the past dozen seasons) which is 85 points. So in effect, we mathematically cannot reach the top 2. After just 28 games. Realistically of course we gave up on an automatic place about three months ago. But knowing in January that even an impossible run of 18 straight wins would not get us there shows how far we are off being competitive. 2) Even a run of three straight wins beginning tomorrow would only restore Charlton to their equal worst performance after 31 games in this league, which was during season 2021-22. If we lose tomorrow we will be nine points adrift of even that very poor season.
I’ve already got money on a home win but unfortunately couldn’t get anything like the 4/1 I got on our last defeat. I can only see a defeat here I’m afraid, unless JP can work some sort of miracle with our colander like defence, but I doubt it very much. I had hoped that our January signings might give us a boost, but having seen many of them for the first time on Tuesday I was completely unimpressed. On what I saw and judging by their records, I don’t think ANY of them are good enough to improve us greatly. I think if Ladapo can get back to anything like his best he would be the only one that gave me some hope, but looking at his fitness level on Tuesday I think he is some way off full match fitness. Didn’t think Coventry looked anything special and I’d prefer Dobbo back as CDM with Coventry further forward. Dobbo is a bit lost once he advances in front of the half way line, but is worth his weight in gold behind it. Edun is suspended, so presumably Thomas will be pushed out to the left again, which is a shame as he was by far our best defender when he played central on Tuesday. I think he’s been unlucky to be utilised on the left when clearly central is his better position. I think he might actually be a better player than he’s looked for most of the season. We’ve lost the attacking threat of CBT and are clearly not going to replace it as that would cost too much money, so SE7 have managed to lower our attacking threat when what was actually needed was to increase it. Apparently we are not now looking for another striker as Chuks is likely to be fit again (for one match) before the end of March. Alfie May remains our one ‘elite level’ player and he is getting increasingly frustrated with the dross around him. It really is impossible to think of anything positive to say. We are in deep trouble and SE7 will not be doing anything to change that.
Maybe a change of goalie would help our leaky defence. AM-B in an average game makes a couple of worldy saves and has a couple of very shaky moments. Tuesday he was lucky not to concede a penalty and get a red card, all his own fault for misjudging a long ball. FRom where I sit it's impossible to tell, but a lot of fans are saying he doesn't shout at his defense at all, which is a failing imo. We are a very poor team, but we're not the only ones, and some common sense management and an injection of team spirit could make a difference. After all most of our games (so far) have been close, and if our defence did not decide to have a nap now and then we'd be mid-table mediocrity instead of relegation candidates.
Tennai Watson and Asiimwe as wing backs, or are they wingers ? Who the f*ck knows ? It’s either brilliant or boll*cks.
Yep. 19th and only 3 points above the drop zone with two of the teams below us having 1 or 2 games in hand. But it’s alright. Our new interim head coach says we’re not in a relegation battle. Sign him up, he’s obviously a loyal yes man for the SMT.
