I also don't want to sound like a broken record- but as you all know: I LOVE dale stephens. Clarke and kermo scared me from KO. Haynes made a(the?) difference. Most "fluid" we have played in a wge(not g king to say best) but a point is a pony. Avoided defeat so woooooooooooiii
Clarke is the worst player I have seen in a Charlton shirt since David Campbell (for those who do not remember David Campbell he was utter ****e) how Clark managed 25 minutes in the second half is a mystery to me I do not know what we have done to Green but he is not the same player from last year PLEASE GOD (or Chris) can we play a proper winger for a change? I am sure that oil is good for Hammer's gloves but can he stop oiling them just before games please? Then again the Bury keeper was doing the same thing!
Agree with the sentiment of both points. If Clarke is the answer then I'm not sure what the question was! I have however, sadly, seen much worse in a charlton shirt - think McClown, Abbott Gray, Svennson etc. but i suspect after last night CP must be wondering what he's done! I can't fathom Green. He really excites me (in a completely hetro way of course) but he badly needs a good game. Showing disturbing chicken tendencies when it comes to 50/50 balls. But we have no alternative. Waggy is not up to it. Sorry but he just isn't. Haynes is all speed and is our fall back to BWP. Pritchard? Not sure. So I think we need to get a rocket up green's Jackie! Oh yeah and the transfer window just closed!
Harriott seems to be doing the same for the U18's, he was all about getting past his full back and crossing it but this season he wants to spend far too much time defending? If Benson had started last night's game rather than Clarke we would have won by 2, PDC must have thought he had won the lottery when we offered to swap Benson for Clarke
Incidentally McLeod has got 20 goals already this season for barnet, he has had a very up and down career. Haynes looked much better than Clarke, it wasn't just the pace, he had good control and directness, but Clarke scored a lot of goals for Chesterfield in this Division earlier this season so we need more than 1 game to judge him by. Haynes is an established Championship level player, but not the prolific goalscorer BWP is
For me morrison man of the match. Sorry but I like to be different and he was ever present, always making sure our back line was formed well and not scared to get in. He is our kompany! I wouldn't have said the crowd was poor, 13k on the coldest night of the season and to be fair when we did get noisy the team were pushing on. Plus don't think I have ever seen more cups of bovril bought than pints at the bar! Ha For me clarke and green should have been subbed earlier. Green just wasn't connecting any of his crosses and his corners were off. It was unusual but players all have off days. Haynes was a lot more threatening and would like to see a full 90 with him. Jackson was nowhere to be seen at times, his magical free kicks that we have come to expect were more like rugby kicks. But he was popping up now and again when needed I guess. Hamer had some very bad kicks but there were also the usual good calls. I recall a bury corner where he got above everyone else and punched clear which in the circumstances was well done. There were a few times were great balls were played but nobody on the receiving end, sometimes two players (usually green was one of them) would see the ball go between them and just look at each other, no drive to chase the ball down. One example, and i believe it was clarke, had a shot blockedit ran towards the corner and the bury defender chased it down to make it a throw. Clarke chased it half way and gave up. Ok it wasnt crime of the century but this was 8 minutes in, should have bags of energy. But just seemed to "not be bothered". As for bury, to be fair the only one who stuck out for me was their goalkeeper. Made some decent saves when we did manage to test him. Also thought their number 7 looked lively, although maybe that was because everyone else was tired when he came on. He was also comedian of the game and the reason we got a draw, well him and the goalkeeper. Basically some VeRY long drawn out goal kicks and then a bizarre injury. The number 7 goes down injured in our build up, we carry on and waste another chance. Whistle goes, physio on for their man. He's walked off. Very slowly. we continue. He then comes back on the pitch takes two steps then falls down, he got a load of abuse and then just stands there before being subbed. The referee was a bit miffed with all the towing and throing was quite comical how they kept wasting time, but that 5 minutes added time was justice served. The ref was pretty lame at times as well, and if this was come dine with me I would be holding up a board with the number 4 on it and saying "he was rubbish company , with very bias views, liked the combination of yellow and red but didn't fancy combining yellow with the black and blues." All in all, a fair result for a Charlton team that could have provided so much more, and should have.
The morning after I have to agree with SarfLondoner, Morrison was in retrospect the man of the match but there were occasions when he had the time to bring the ball down and control it when he just put his head in the way. The bouts of head tennis meant nothing more than wasted time for me. Clarke should have been subbed by the beginning of the second half. Much fitter than on his first outing for us but very little desire for the match. Haynes was a breath of fresh air and seemed to anticipate Kermo's flick ons much better. Green was frustrating me and I would have liked to see waggy on the bench. He has a natural understanding of Solly's play and the link up is better. Yes he does run into dead ends but at least he chases the ball down. Without him on the bench the option was to put play pritchard or hayes in thatrole which didn't seem logical. The ref was Andy D'Urso so what did anyone expect. I was surprised he didn't try and cancel the game for a frozen tunnel. He made the usual poor decisions at this level but overall was better than many I have seen this season. The overall impression I was left with last night was one of a little bit of over confidence when we started out, a little bit to cocky and then we were caught out. cue panic for the second half when we were faced with a team that were playing above themselves in defence. Had the game been 100 minutes with overtime we would have got three because their fitness level (cramp etc) showed and they were out on their feet by the time the equaliser went in. Overall however a fair but annoying result.
I hated Paul Benson, and now I hate Leon Clarke. He is complete and utter dross. He had his chance to impress and completely blew it. Wiggins was superb, our best player by a million miles. Haynes should have started up front with Kermit. Green is wasteful and showing his League Two capabilities. Bring back Waggy, I say!
Leon Clarke was awful. Might of sounded good on radio because he had the ball so much but he didnt do anything with it other then play it backwards or lose it. No pace and doesnt want to run - no wonder he had the spat with PDC about running the next day. Hamer should of done A LOT better for the goal. It was always going to be a goal when he was through but he gave Hamer the best chance possible of saving it yet he fluffed it! Wiggins and Solly superb. Dale Stephens was never anonymous imo. Always on the ball - sure his pass completion rate was near enough 100% plus his goal was unbelievable, I normally opt for the "SHOOOOOOOOOT!!" but the one time I shouted "DONT SHOOT!" and he done that. HAYNES is very good. Took the ball past 3 players on more then one occasion.
yeah, i must admit that i'm going off green. his crossing is not as good as he thinks it is. he struts up to it like he's beckham and then delivers only 1 in 10. i wish someone would show him the danger areas and tell him to cross to their rather than the keepers arms everytime. hollands didnt play too good. was a match where we might have been able to break them down easier if we had 5 in midfied and 1 up front. wiggins was excellent again. glad january is over and no one noticed him
I went to the game and might as well share my thoughts. Hamer (6) - Should have done better with the goal (from my angle), and did have to have a second grab at a couple of crosses but otherwise ok. Lucky not to be booked after shoving one of thier players for time wasting. (Im a GK and will never give a GK less than 6 ) Solly (8) - We all know the deal here Morrison (8) - Solid, with decent attacking composure Taylor (7) - Solid, odd long ball to nowhere, but that will be explained later. Wiggins (9) - MOM, cut through thier defence 3/4 times, our best attacking player by miles and miles. Green (4) - Poor game all round Hollands (5) - Annonamous and lacked a first touch and played simple passes with a bounce, slowing attacking play. Stephens (6) - What a goal (and the previous 2 shots werent bad either) but I just dont rate him as much as others seem too. I thought he was ok at best. Some will point out this is his first game back, and fiar enough, but I didnt see that much before his injury to warrant that excuse in my opinion. Jackson (6) - Solid, but needed some leadership out there. Kermo (7) - Usuall standard of perfromance, but flickign the ball on to another target-man will never penetrate defences. Not at fault for performance. Clarke (5) - Horses for courses as they say, and this was not his course. Needs to be used as an alternative to Kermo, not a partner, and even then i'd prefer Hayes. Haynes (6) - Looked a bright spark Prtichard - No time for impact So overall there is a negative tint to my post, and I am aware it is easy to complain when we dont win, but I do have questions about our midfield that just keep niggling at me. I want to convert, but I just cant fully come round to either Hollands or Stephens. I hope to be proved wrong, and there have been moments when Ive eaten my words, but the niggle remains. As for Green, he needs to improve and fast, moments of quality are not enough. Consistancy between matches is one thing, but at least be consistant for 45mins! By god i hope Clarke is just off the pace, didnt look up to much, but not as hopless as some make out. Credit to Bury for playing thier game, nowhere near as bad as the Tranmere, Oldham and Wednesdays of this world and hope they do well. Hope to see this team next week, Hamer Solly-Morrison-Taylor-Wiggins Green-Stephens-Pritchard-Jackson Kermo-Haynes Sullivan Cort Hollands Hayes BWP Im sure people will think Im being a bit harsh, but thats my honest opinion! COYR
Green is getting better at going past his man and giving a genuine option on the right when we're in possession but I agree with the above comments. Plus he shoots too much. The man behind me kept shouting '****ing drill it son!' every chance he got. He looked like a carpenter and I just hope he didn't have an apprentice. At the end and from the deep south's lower west it sounded like an aggressive 'Bradley what's the score' chant, so I really thought he must have been leaving. Can anyone explain this please?
In fairness i can see why Powell started Clarke over haynes, he wanted to have someone with bags of pace to run at a tired defence, and he caused all kinds of problems when he came on. Despite starting well clarke didn't look any better next too kermit then hayes would have if he had started, seemed to lose the ball allot in the second half and not chase the ball. Also as much as i like green (when he plays well he is great to have, but thats becoming a rare thing now) i think we should have waggy back for a game or two, show him if he doesn't pull his finger out there are other options, though i do think waggy is better off the bench then starting. IMO on saturday if BWP isn't fit we should start Haynes up front with Waggy on the bench with hayes, unfortunatly i don't think there is a place for clarke in this team, he can't work in the bwp role so you can only swap him for kermit, and i'd rather have hayes taking that role if need be. Wiggins was awesome last night, and solly...and stephens
It wa fathead not Bradley! Aimed at their keeper, as there was a fair bit of banter between him and the covered end
Last time Green was wrote off he came back and delivered some top performances. Might not have been a good game but (once again) are we doubting his ability?
I don't think there is any issue with fitness. CP said on the OS that BWP was simply rested and that he is "fine". I agree with resting him, and I think we can afford to leave him out on Saturday too. I cannot believe no-one came in for Wiggins during the window (unless those pesky russkies want him. Their window closes three weeks later). Not losing any of our best players made it a great window for the Addicks.
Don't doubt his ability in the least. When he's on form he's our number one threat. I am very disappointed when he is not in the team. But I'm beginning to doubt his heart and and I've doubted for some time his decision taking. And he's better than Waggy!
