Millwall charlton relegation double. Won't get great odds after today. We stink of a sinking ship I'm afraid.
Cousins and Church. 2-2. Not as I predicted. Harriott getting tired. Bring on Pigott and go for it while Barnsley are shaken. No, it is Evina for Harriott. I'll settle for that.
Hard to decide whether I'm delighted or angry. Was texting tewkes in the first half, letting him know the first 20 minutes were one of the worst I've ever seen. It wasn't much better until the hour mark, and being 2-0 down I couldn't honestly see us getting a thing. Chris o Grady was a constant nuisance- if he could score more frequently he would be a too championship striker. O Grady bullied DD and morro. Half time came and cousins came on. The difference was all of a sudden we had energy. Was a little nervous at first, but he showed himself for the ball as well as hassling Barnsley (much more disciplined than BP in that sense). A tad fortunate with the goal, but who cares. It rejuvenated us, and once the ball was in their half, church Nd kermo showed signs of a promising partnership. Overall, we were by far the second best team. But like last season, when our backs are against the wall, we seem to perform. Our shape in the first half was a massive concern. Or lack of. Hamer - 7. Solly - 6.5 Morro - 5 DD - 5 Wiggins - 6.5 Wilson - 6 Stephens - 5.5 Grower - 6 Harriott - 6 Kermo - 7 Church - 7 Cousins - 7 Cort - 7 (MOM)
Looks like Green has played his last game for us, and so probably has Stephens now after getting hooked at half time. You could sense pre season that Cousins was a potential get out of jail card, sad we had to go 1-0 down facing our third loss before Cautious Chris had a look. Sounds like Morrison is the latest stalwart to have lost form. Signing a decent midfielder on loan an imperative this week.
Thanks for the report Super - hope overall it was worth the trip 'oop North. I wonder how likely a Cousins start is next Saturday? Past history suggests highly unlikely, but surely this has got to be the way to go - turning successful development squad players into successful first teamers - especially if, as well reported, we have no money to look outside. At Whaddon Road today to see Cheltenham tonked by Argyle - even though it sticks in my craw to say so, one of our favourite hissable pantomime villains, Dominic Blizzard had a tremendous game, sat just in front of the back four and starting almost every significant move. No sign of Dean Parrett or of Benno, who has apparently returned to Swindon. Good game.
We need a midfielder. 100%. And more self belief. It took us being 2-0 down to start playing. Now if you don't mind gentlemen, I have some grovelling to do .
When JJ is back and 100% fit our midfield could be dangerous to the opposition rather than our defence for once. Harriott..Jackson..Cousins..Pritchard - I'd be happy with that At the end of last season seeing Andy Hughes help us be so consistent at the end of the season made me think that we needed to find a younger version of him, hopefully Cousins in that defensive slot could be that person. If so now we just need to find a younger version of Jackson, i.e. not just someone who can assist and score goals yet also his leadership skills are second to none (our best captain in that attribute since Kinsella IMO)
Well, a comeback from two down away from home is great, once you get past the problema that even CP admitted it could have been more than two by half time. All those pointless pre season matches, and only now we're underway do the gaps in the squad start to be noticable. I'm actually mildly happy tonight , but given the conservatism of SCP at times, and our potless situation, seeing the problema (or problems) and finding a remedy, could be two very disparate things. Excellent to see Cousins make an impact, and given our previous two results, I'll be very annoyed if he does'nt start next weekend. Meanwhile, we have the tail end of a long transfer weekend to move a couple of players who are'nt up to it on to pasture's new, and bring in a couple of replacements to fill their boots. It's what happens in life when for one reason or another, you leave everything to the last minute, and I hope it does'nt bite our arses in november and december.
These are the almost identical group of players who finished last season with a flourish. Its hard to believe that the uncertainty over the contract situation is not having an effect on some of them. Wiggins, Morrison and Yann have all been poor so far. Even Hamer and Solly haven't been great in the first three games. Its human nature when you dont feel appreciated or rewarded by your employer to wrap up your tools. The fixture list has been kind to us but we are reaping the consequences of almost zero investment in our squad for 12 months. If you standstill, you go backwards.
PS: without a takeover & new investment, I would settle for finishing 21st right now, and I reckon Powell would too.
It's a view that is flowering everywhere at the momento. We had a silly pre season (in my opinión) but the major diference for the players is all the back room shennanigans, and obviously the lack of a contract from next season on. I can't see the most minimal logic in letting them drift out to other clubs. Even if TJ is selling the club, this act makes no sense whatsoever. As has already been mentioned, simply making an offer to Solly guarantees us a development fee if he moves on. It all smacks of pointless indifference if not a general running down of assets, and may well be an influence on our woefull start to the campaign.
Agree with this, it's going to be the elephant in the room until it's sorted. However you've got to wonder how we've got such an unbalanced squad. The signings of Gower and Wood were unnecessary and we've got so many midfielders that we're approaching the "We need a clear-out"situation that we had before. Yet The Doctor said after signing Sordell and Church that he hoped he would be allowed to add to the squad. Instead of this public pessimism he should take a leaf out of Curbs' book. When he had to operate under more severe financial circumstances he assembled a small squad of committed, versatile players, didn't complain when he had to sell the odd player and embraced the restrictions he had to work under.
There is no logic in it. The sad fact is that our financial backer Kevin Cash has fallen out with his frontman, Tony Jiminez, and withdrawn his financial support. Hence, no money for contract offers. @FHB I agree that Powell does not help himself when he prioritises new signings. Last summer we didn't need to spend a reported £350,000 on a reserve keeper who we ended up not been able to afford to keep. I read today we are interested in taking Aaron Hyghes on loan. Another centre half !
We don't need another centre half. We need to start Cort. Absolute rock- a blocking machine. And we can't expect too much from cousins too soon. People seem to be doing it with harriott, as they did with jonjo.
Yeah, but the players we've been reportedly interested in this summer could fill pages! By no means logical in many cases, buy deffo 'Charlton interested'.
I would start Cort, Cousins, Evina and Piggot v Donny. Send out a message that nobody in undroppable.
