Leeds United v Charlton Athletic Tuesday 1st April 2014 7:45pm Kick-Off Referee: Scott Duncan And so Charlton move on to their second game in hand over the rest of relegation pack as they also move on to the third and final away game on trot as they travel up to face a side struggling on and off the pitch in Leeds United and why is this great traditional English side strugglingâ¦? Well to begin with theyâve only won the single match (thankfully for both Charlton and Leeds it was against Millwall mind) since the middle of November, theyâre third bottom of the form table and following consecutive defeats to AFC Bournemouth (4-1) and Doncaster Rovers (2-1) there doesnât seem to be an end to the trouble at present either, reason being their performances on the pitch are actually the least of their worries Of course Iâm referring to club ownership and as the Football League were confirming Roland Duchataletâs take-over of Charlton Athletic along came a new prospective buyer of a Championship club⦠Massimo Cellino an Italian Businessman looking to purchase Leeds United, as everyone knows the Football League has since turned down Cellinoâs application (due to reports of tax evasion back in Sardinia), now as I write this Thread the decision to overwrite this decision is currently being heard in the courts yet should this appeal fail then Leeds United would once again fall into Administration, be docked up to 20-points and be almost certainly relegated back to League One (giving Charlton a huge lifeline in their bid for Championship survival)⦠So take note there is more than just a simple game of Football at Elland Road this evening. And so returning to the main topic of discussion being the match this evening⦠Should the Addicks gain an important victory then itâll almost certainly be a huge step towards survival as they edge once again three points away from Barnsley and the dreaded trap-door 09.11.2013 â Charlton Athletic 2-4 Leeds United The reverse fixture was rather an interesting day back at the beginning of November⦠With the beginnings of the bad weather that struck England this winter, the match almost didnât go ahead with the kick-off being delayed so the pitch was given more time to try â Of course the match did go ahead and many Addicks fans must have wished it didnât⦠Ross McCormack stole the show and scored all four goals in one of the best individual displays witnessed at the Valley in recent years, goals from Cameron Stewart and Johnnie Jackson briefly brought the game back into reach at 2-2 yet there was no stopping the Leagueâs top goal scorer that day. Leeds United this Season So having already discussed the turmoil on and off the pitch letâs turn our attention to the stats for Leeds United this season⦠Elland Road hasnât been much of a fortress this season with nearly as many defeats (7) as there have been wins (8) with four occasions having been drawn⦠Of those home defeats their biggest was a 5-1 loss at home to Bolton Wanderers in March whilst their biggest win was just a month beforehand when they beat local rivals Huddersfield Town⦠also 5-1. In terms of goals there have been 32 goals scored by Leeds at home this season with 27 goals conceded (with just four clean-sheets kept by Paddy Kenny)⦠their top scorer is of course Ross McCormack with 27-goals to his name this season, keep him quiet and you have you look to towering forward: Matt Smith with 10-goals and then Jamaican captain: Rodolph Austin with just three goals. Charlton should of course be extra wary at certain times during the match to ensure Leeds donât score and the time theyâll need to be extra careful is basically any time within the second half as over 20% of Leedsâ goals have come during this period.   Charlton Team News Of course (Iâve those two words together a lot this Thread) the biggest news for Charlton is that French Loan Goalkeeper: Yohann Thuram has refused to travel citing that heâs not had enough game time (so is off to Danson Park to prove his level of ability)⦠that should mean that U21 âkeeper: Dillon Phillips should deputise on the bench with Ben Hamer starting⦠Callum Harriott returned from injury against Derby County so could be pushing for a start along with Davide Petrucci and Joe Pigott both of whom (according to Jose Riga) made impressive cameos on the Weekend, Simon Church has been missing the last two matches so could return (as may Lord Lucan) and although Harry Lennon appeared for the U21s last night (scoring an impressive strike in the 2-2 draw with Brighton), Leon Cort did not appear in the match last night so he may be handed his first appearance in the match-day squad since Leicester match back at the beginning of the season. Possible Side to Face Leeds United Hamer Wilson â Morrison â Dervite â Wiggins Cousins â Poyet Petrucci â Ajdarevic â Jackson Obika Substitutes Bench Phillips â Fox â Cort â Nego â Green â Ghoochanneijad â Sordell A4Lâs Prediction: 2-1 (Jackson, Obika)
5-0 drubbing... we wait forever for one goal they are all going to come along at once, Even Chuchy scoring
Great work as always, A4L. Jose has got quite a lot to think about. Does he persist with Wiggins whose form is below par, does he rest Poyet, who looked as though he needed a rest on saturday, does he play 2 up front? If Astrid has had the flu he surely can't be up to a tough match like this one? My team: Hamer; Wilson;Morro;Dervite;Wiggins; Cousins; Petrucci;Jackson; Harriott; Obika;Pigott.
CHARLTON: Hamer; Wilson, Wiggins, Morrison, Dervite; Jackson, Poyet, Cousins, Ghoochannejhad, Pigott, Ajdarevic. Phillips, Wood, Nego, Petrucci, Harriott, Sordell, Obika LEEDS: Butland, Wootton, Lees, Pearce, Warnock, Byram, Tonge, Mowatt, White, McCormack, Smith. Cairns, Poleon, Hunt, Pugh, Brown, Murphy, Stewart.
Evening all Charlton: Hamer; Wilson, Wiggins, Morrison, Dervite; Jackson, Poyet, Cousins, Ghoochannejhad, Pigott, Ajdarevic Subs: Phillips, Wood, Nego, Petrucci, Harriott, Sordell, Obika Leeds United: Butland, Wootton, Lees, Pearce, Warnock, Byram, Tonge, Mowatt, White, McCormack, Smith Subs: Cairns, Poleon, Hunt, Pugh, Brown, Murphy, Stewart. Pigott starts and The Asteroid returns. Dervite is back in defence. I imagine we'll be 4-3-3 but we'll see. COYA!
Way way back in time back in the days when we felt part of our club the days of chris Powell happy days
Interesting that Riga has gone with Joe Pigott... Did say on CharltonLife that it'll be interesting if Riga would play the lad seeing that Pigott does prefer to have the ball to feet rather than having it hoofed up to him so the new system could really suit him i.e. against Oxford and Leicester he passed and held the ball up really well
Be interesting to see the last time Mike T posted without mentioning a previous manager. Hope I'm wrong, but it doesn't look a very ambitious formation. My boss was at Leeds-Doncaster and said they were in complete disarray, and that they would lose to any SPL side... I guess there are attacking options available on the bench
Ages ago much like vol slagging him off in every post this year in reverse until his sacking cheered him up . I expected nothing from these 3 away games and we have 3 points so anything tonight a bonus 6 from next 2 an absolute must !
