Was this their blond fella just in front of the defence? If so, completely agree, MOTM for me, followed closely by Reid. Our MOTM was Morrison for me. I think it was an OG, not Fuller, as it bounced off the post.
OK, let's concentrate on the positives first. It's our first poor performance of the season, after two outstanding ones and one battling one. Forest are going to be a leading team in this division throughout the season, they have money and have made some very astute transfer deals and are going to destroy many sides. We are not going to come up against many midfield players as good as Andy Reid, or any, on his performance today. Leon Cort was immense throughout - absolutely faultless performance. When Fuller and Kirkar came on it was like someone threw a switch, the lights went on, and we suddenly remembered why we were there. This needs to be remembered by the management. Chris Solly's cross for the goal was exquisite, as was Ricardo Fuller's finish. Own goal? Rubbish. The staff at Forest were extremely polite and very helpful and our safety steward was very cute. Now let's look at the negatives. JJ had his worst game I've ever seen - ponderous beyond belief and lacking any influence at all. Bradley Pritchard had his worst game I've ever seen. Heading and tackling well up to scratch - distribution was terrible. Danny Hollands misplaced so many passes, I lost count. Cook was dreadful. Where exactly was he supposed to be playing? Actually, it doesn't matter because wherever he turned up on the pitch, his play was uniformly ghastly. BWP did nothing, and when the ball wasn't coming through to him, didn't exactly go looking for it. Greg Halford, who I remember as a slightly ponderous centre back with us was allowed to roam, virtually unchallenged on the left wing - how? Chris Solly dealt with him well, but he must have received fifteen unchallenged passes in the first half which meant that Solly's attacking play was virtually snuffed out. When he reverted to CB in the second half, Forest didn't look half as threatening. We had no shots, on or off target, in the first half. The substitutions came fifteen minutes too late to make a difference. The referee was absolute s***e - as bad as the worst we saw in League 1 last season - he penalised Chris Solly for the foul that led to the first goal, when it was Solly that was fouled and failed to see the push in the build-up to the second goal, which is what Morrison was booked for protesting about. I'm not going to make any comment about Hamer's performance today, because I'm going to sound like a stuck record. We need to get this game out of our system, get Stephens back and have a damned good think about whether the loyalties we're showing to players who got us to the Championship are now going to be holding us back and whether it's time to let the new players break through and show what they can do. Oh, and I got lost on my way back to the car...
Did you hear how quickly the chant of "You fat b*****d" fizzled out? He looks like an 'After' picture in a Herbalife advert.
Aswell as being disapointed at a pretty rubbish charlton performance, we have to remeber that Nottingham forrest are going to be aiming for playoffs/promotion and we only lost by one goal when supposedly one of their goals should not of counted.
Just seen the highlights and I'm convinced that the referee got it wrong for both their goals. The push in the build-up to the second goal was so blatant, it's unbelievable he missed it.
Possibly nothing CP could have done would have salvaged us a point, and maybe after that first half we wouldn't have deserved one. But once again his substitutions were too timid. Cook, whom I like as a player, was totally lost as to his role. There was nothing to be gained keeping him on the pitch as an experience like that could only undermine his confidence. Pritchard is an intelligent player and did understand his role. He stuck to it manfully but unfortunately just was not good enough. Too lightweight and too inexperienced. I would have put Kerkar on at LM ten minutes after the break and moved Jackson inside. I would have replaced Pritchard with Wilson ten minutes later, and given Fuller at least 15 minutes plus extra-time. We are looking dreadfully thin in midfield. I hope we can pick up a good loan or free agent. I wasn't impressed at our spending serious money on Button, but looks as if CP might have known what he was doing after all. Congratulations to Forest. They played superbly for the first 30 minutes and didn't need to do much more afterwards. All on the ground starting from the keeper, while our sole tactic was to lump it up to Kermorgant, who is confronted with a much better class of CB in this division.
Congratulations to Forest. They played superbly for the first 30 minutes and didn't need to do much more afterwards. All on the ground starting from the keeper, while our sole tactic was to lump it up to Kermorgant, who is confronted with a much better class of CB in this division.[/QUOTE] Nail on head. We have a catch 22 situation. If we cannot get fullbacks forward we have no width and can therefore only play hoofball. I then refer to Eddies point above re Kermit. How many goals did we score last year as a result of Wiggins and to a lesser extent Solly piling forward? Lots! Yesterday's goal was the first time I've seen Solly attack this season. But we could d that last year at will because we were playing teams who were either defending with eleven men or crap or both. This league is a different proposition. Our one attacking option other than hoof it would leave us totally exposed. I know it's heresy but could Kermit be part if the problem?
I can't honestly tell you were cook played after the first 20 minutes. The midfield lost shape (not that there were much to start). Pritchard follows the ball, cook doesn't convince me on the wing, and JJ is off form. Back to the training ground. By CP's comments, it looks like Stephens will be off sooner than later. I wonder if he will bring someone in as soon as the loan window opens to replace him.
That's a fair point - the running off the ball yesterday and in the match against Hull City was pretty much absent.
It's a very interesting and frank interview, this. I have no idea why this bid, or rather series of bids, fell through although the fact that we don't really have another player of his type in the squad may have had a large part to do with it. It certainly wasn't the money on offer. Seeing as we paid around £300k for him and he's only played 30 games for us, the final bid, which I am (un)reliably informed - sorry mate - was £2.1m with two-thirds of that up front, should have been enough to see him off. If he does subsequently go fairly shortly, I very much doubt whether we'll be offered that sort of money again and after Lambert's graceless comments, I sincerely hope it won't be to Villa.
Here you go - http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/20120901-powell-on-stephens-347259.aspx?pageView=full#anchored
I did say last year, when we noticeably started to play long ball from about February, that perhaps we could afford to move Yann into a midfield role, possibly on the left of a 5 man midfield where he has an affectively free role. In turn this would have pushed Jacko into a role where he is noticeable. I'm sure with his vision/creativity we could get a more traditional number 10 role from him, perhaps like Paolo for example.
My match report: http://addicktedcharlton.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/nottingham-forest-2-1-charlton-athletic.html
Heard forest fans say it was their best performance for many seasons they will be up there or there abouts you just have to accept it and move on I think green or wiggy need to come in for the palace game They will be the worst side we've faced so far so so no need to face them with any fear they have zaha and...that's it
Cant believe people would think to drop kermo, his runs and set ups are vital for our most decorated striker in the squad bwp, without him i dont believ we would create enough chances that said i would like to bring in a proper winger like waggy or green
