Doncaster Rovers v Charlton Athletic Tuesday 28th January 2014 7:45pm Kick-Off Referee: Paul Tierney You have to believe that Charlton’s season is starting to splutter in to gear at the moment… Following a narrow defeat against in-form Middlesbrough in our last League fixture, the Addicks have gone on to win their next two fixtures, and although one of those teams currently sit in League Two (Oxford United), Charlton managed scored four goals whilst failing to concede a once, which boils down to the fact that since the beginning of December, Charlton have only actually lost on three occasions (against Reading, Derby and Middlesbrough) I wonât lie though I have been cruel to all Charlton fans in writing this Match Thread as I’ve given many that nasty word “Hope” and here I offer words of caution… Just like my battered (nearly 20-year old) Volkswagen Golf has so often spluttered (like our own season) and then died (just like our own season), the fact does remain that since the beginning of December, Charlton have only managed one League win with the rest (five matches) ending all square. So what with the way Cup draws have been made this season Charlton will have played two teams on three separate occasions this season those being Oxford United and Sheffield Wednesday, one of those teams Charlton will have faced one team four times, of course our old friends Huddersfield Town yet there is one side with the strange occurrence where we’ll have faced them on two and a half occasions… that side being our next League opposition: Doncaster Rovers. Charlton Athletic (1)2-0(3) Doncaster Rovers Am sure all Charlton fans will remember the two Doncaster matches held at the Valley this term… the first saw the match postponed following a waterlogged pitch, this happening after Doncaster completely outplaying the Addicks and taking a 3-1 half-time lead before the Referee cancelled proceedings. The re-arranged match was much more to the home fans liking and the moment the match started it was clear there would be only one winner and a spectacular goal from Dale Stephens and second half finish from Simon Church saw the Addicks finally pick up all three points. Doncaster since Then… Credit to the Doncaster Manager, Paul Dickov didn’t hide after 2-0 defeat and nor did he bemoan the cancelled match yet confirmed Charlton deserved the win and that Doncaster didn’t turn up that day, am sure Chris Powell will be hoping for more of the same yet since the defeat in November, Doncaster have kept sliding backwards and although they’ve won at home against Queens Park Rangers and Wigan Athletic they’ve not won since and with only three other matches drawn find themselves in relegation trouble and could easily be dragged back under the dotted line once Charlton have completed their two games in hand. Head to Head Meetings Since covering the Head2Heads the opposition have always come out on top in terms of victories… Not this time though… Charlton have beaten Doncaster on 5 occasions only losing twice (only one of those defeats having been in Doncaster back in 1935), whilst there has yet to be a draw between either sides (so put your bets on a 0-0) Charlton Team News Following many a conspiracy theory that Yohann Thuram was brought in to play, Chris Powell has instead kept faith with Ben Alnwick over the last couple of matches and will be interesting to see if that remains for the League fixtures… Yann Kermorgant was rested for the Huddersfield tie yet is expected to play on Tuesday night whilst it remains to be seen who starts at Left-Back… Cedric Evina should claim the position yet did suffer a slight knock on the Weekend, should he not be fit or should Powell fancy something different, Harry Lennon could make his senior debut after playing for just under an hour on Saturday…. Rhoys Wiggins will once again be missing after he serves the final match of his suspension. Possible Team to face Doncaster Alnwick Wilson – Morrison – Dervite – Lennon Stephens – Cousins – Jackson Church – Kermorgant – Sordell Substitutes Bench Thuram – Evina – Wood – Green – Ajdarevic – Harriott – Pigott The Referee Travelling From: Lancashire Matches This Season: 18 (9 in the Championship) Yellow / Red Cards: 58 / 5 Penalties: 6 Last Charlton Match: 10.08.2013 (Charlton 0-1 Middlesbrough) A4Ls Prediction: 2-0 (Kermorgant, Sordell)
We lost at Boro. Apart from that, top notch as always I think we can win this one, though I doubt it will be pretty. 1-0 to us, Jackson with the goal.
Great stuff, A4L, and a bold 4-3-3 prediction. No way will SCP be so bold, Sordell returning to the bench. Will Asteroid keep Cousins out? My predicted team: Alnwick; Wilson; Morrison; Dervite; Lennon; Green;Cousins; Stephens; Jackson; Church; Kermit. Subs: Thuram, Wood, Fox, Astrid, Harriott, Pritchard, Sordell, Alnwick looks a formidable barrier in goal now, which gives me confidence to predict a win, whatever the team.
Sorry Captain didnt set this Thread out that great... I covered the three defeats at the bottom of the top paragraph Cheers for the spot there on the line-up FHB completely forgot about Cousins... Have now re-jigged with him replacing Ajdarevic with the latter dropping to the bench.
Squeaky bum time. We need 4 points this week from our eminently winnable fixtures v Donny and Wigan. Lets not forget we currently have 24 points, and teams have recently been relegated from the Championship with 52 points. I am going to try something different this week, and before making my score prediction will don my Captain Blackaddick mask. Hold on....ooooph...just pulling it over now......thats it....ok...here goes..... Blimey...everything I can see now is rose tinted Who is that colossus on the poster on my bedroom wall....why...its England's Greatest Ever Full Back- Sir Chris Powell (pauses...for a quick ) Prediction 4-0 to the Addicks. Simon Church hat trick.
I shall therefore put on my Volly mask, and predict that, as we are led by a man who lost the plot some months ago, we will start of with at least two players playing out of position, the substitutions will all happen after the 85th minute, and we will lose 2-0.
Wood was in the pecking order above Dervite. I think he took a knock or was rested, so could be back if looking sharp (by his standards!) in training. I would play Fox at LB if Evina is unfit. He is older than Lennon, tougher, and has had a run of Div One matches lately. He must have done OK in them because he was a regular pick and always completed 90 mins. I agree Lennon may be the better long-term prospect, but this is not the match to worry about that. Or to put it another way, if Fox is not good enough to come in as third choice specialist left-back, why are we even paying his wages? Alnwick Wilson â Morrison â Wood/Dervite â Fox Stephens â Cousins â Jackson - Ajdarevic (or Harriott, or Green, or Poyet, or anyone except Sordell) Church â Kermorgant No way will he play two strikers in front of Kermit. No reason to. Doncaster need the points even more than us and have home advantage. We have no reason to chase the game. (That does not mean parking outside our own penalty area though!). I would never allow Sordell to kick another ball in a competitive match. If a player stole 1000 quid from a team-mate or from the club offices he would immediately have his contract cancelled. Sordell has swindled the club out of tens of thousands by impersonating a professional footballer. His footballing credentials are undoubted, at this level at least, but his professionality is totally absent. Putting that smirking layabout in the team or even on the bench ahead of our young players like Harriott or Pigott sends them the worst possible message. No wonder Smith wanted to move on!
How good is Astrid? Good enough for SCP to be persuaded to play without a winger? I'd play Fox, Eddie, but SCP doesn't like to change a winning team unless he has to, and Lennon played well, albeit out of position. What is the position on Sordell, anyone? Have we really got a situation whereby Bolton can call him back but we can't send him back? On the striker front it's also strange that Cook has overtaken Pigott in the pecking order. Surely it's time to forget about the Millwall game. It was a long time ago and all the nice things that SCP said about Pigott before the game were valid.
If love to see that team, A4L. Sadly agree with billy that I don't think CP will be that bold. Too much to lose if it didn't come off. I'd also prefer wood to duhhhvite. If we are going to win this, I think we have to go and play a bit dirty and get stuck in. Throw them off there game plan, stifle them in midfield. Forget billy sharp, make sure the ball doesn't reach him. If we do that then I think we can get a 2 goal lead and see it out 2-1.
Given Doncaster's relative pick-up in form, a draw would be a satisfactory result, but it would be suicide to play for one from the kick-off. It is not a true "six-pointer" because it is quite possible that both Doncaster and ourselves will escape relegation, in which case the points margin between us becomes irrelevant. Instead, I think that other old cliche is applicable: "our most important match of the season so far".
At least Ajdarevic is a natural left-footer. You know my views on wingers in the modern game. I would always reverse Billy's comment and ask "Is winger X so good that we cannot leave him out of the team?" (A small handful are, but we have none such at Charlton). If not, play without one, especially in away matches. Admittedly, my argument was stronger when we had Solly and Wiggins doing a winger's job as well as their defending duties.
I doubt one of us will avoid relegation. In fact I would bet the money I have set aside for the trust that one of us will go down. But now we have signed Louic Nego I feel more confident. I have a mate who worked in Hungary for 6 months and I asked him if he knew Loic he said no, in fact he has never heard of the team that he even played for!
Then your mate knows F-all about football. They are one of only three "two-star" clubs in Hungary (clubs which have won 20 or more major trophies) and in two different decades were the top club for long periods, including European Cup semi-finalists.
Hungarians like basketball, athletics, and pickpocketing and modern budapestians are not that into football. Just check out the attendances, they got 150 last season.
