Sheffield Wednesday v Charlton Athletic Monday 21st April 2014 3pm Kick-Off Referee: Tony Harrington (Cleveland) With a goalless draw played out in Charltonâs last fixture against Bolton Wanderers it is certainly getting more and more vital that they pick up points wherever possible⦠Life will certainly be calmer should the Addicks win their next two fixtures as then safety in the Championship should be guaranteed provided other results go their way, but for now Charlton have to worry about their final Easter fixture with yet another trip up to Sheffield where they face already safe Sheffield Wednesday. Of course this is the third time the Addicks will have faced Sheffield Wednesday this term with a 1-1 result played out in the League at the Valley during the Christmas period and then Charlton also managed a 2-1 victory over the Owls up at Hillsborough in the FA Cup so although Mondayâs opposition will have nothing to play for in terms of promotion / relegation theyâll certainly have something to play for in terms of revenge (especially as the FA Cup victory denied Wednesday a Steel City Derby against fierce rivals Sheffield United). In terms of line-ups there will be more than one or two reunions for both sides⦠For Charlton; Richard Wood will be returning to the side he made his League debut (and over 170 appearances with) whilst fellow centre-back, Michael Morrison will also be up against his old side⦠For Sheffield Wednesday you only need to look to Jose Semedo (2011 Charlton Player of the Year) and Miguel Llera who both spent periods at the Valley. Sheffield Wednesday the Stats Out of the 21 fixtures held in the League at Hillsborough this season; nine of those have been won by the Home side⦠four matches have ended all square whilst eight fixtures have ended in defeat for Wednesday⦠of these results their biggest win was an impressive 6-0 over Leeds United whilst their biggest defeat was 3-0 against Wigan Athletic. In terms of goals the Addicks will need to be at their most wary around the middle of the First-Half with the majority of goals (22%) coming between 15-30 minutes⦠Their top scorer this season is Chris Maguire with 8-goals whilst Atdhe Nuhiu has 7-goals and Leon Best (on loan from Blackburn Rovers) has four goals to his name⦠Chris Kirkland in the Sheffield Wednesday goal has kept 6 clean sheets at home this season. Charlton at Hillsborough When you look at the Head to Head meetings between these two sides at Hillsborough, the Addicks donât have the worst of records⦠In the last seven matches held at this venue, Charlton have won on three occasions whilst two matches have drawn and just one match having ended in defeat. Charlton Team News With Morgan Fox impressing at Left-Back in place of the injured Rhoys Wiggins youâd expect to see him deputising once more⦠Chris Solly was missing against Bolton Wanderers so could return on Monday⦠All other players seemed to come through unscathed in Fridays fixture so there should be no new injury worries whilst Marvin Sordell should once against be available after being ineligible against his parent club. Possible Side to Face Sheffield Wednesday Hamer Solly â Morrison â Dervite â Fox Cousins â Poyet Wilson â Ajdarevic â Jackson Sordell Substitutes Bench Thuram â Nego â Wood â Green â Petrucci â Church â Ghoochanneijad A4Lâs Prediction: 2-1 (Wilson, Ajdarevic) Over to Captain Blackadder for the Match Updates
Agree with Mike, for them that thought Church was bad, Sordell is altogether another league of his own awfulness, sad truth is, its of his own making, unlike Church, who never gives up trying, which is why out of the two Church wins hands down. Rather have Reza or the Pig given our options.
Was speaking to a Bolton fan after the match and they are of the same opinion of sordell lazy disinterested waste of space
Riga seems to see something in Sordell which nobody else can. I can't think of one single positive aspect to his game. He's been here all season and if he was going to come good he'd have done so by now. I don't think I'd start Jacko and Astrid. Jacko looked shattered at the end of Saturday's game, maybe give him an hour, then Astrid is a ready made replacement, 30-35 minutes is about right for him anyway. Is Petrucci up to it? Who knows! Why sign him if not? Have they learned nothing from signing PP, Nego and Koc?
No, Powell was the manager who sanctioned the season long loan for Sordell. The worst value loan deal in history as Sordell is on 20k a week at Bolton. I see 'friends of Powell' are now saying on CL that CP realised that Sordell was a waste of rations after half a dozen games this season.
Simon Church deserves his place on Monday. We played better without Sordell in the team. Think the same line-up as against Bolton.
I hope Bolton are still paying at least 75% of his salary if that's true (ideally 95%). I would have said the same at the start of the season. Regarding your criticism, I think there's something in the fact Sordell and Church were signed very late in the summer. Maybe Powell spent the whole summer negotiating with them. I think more likely the uncertainty around funding for MS & TJ meant he missed out on main targets and didn't have many options left.
Powell got him in, doesn't mean Riga has to play him. TRouble is then you look at the rest of our "fantastic 5" as you call them. I liked the old slimline Obika not the present version, Church doesn't score,and we need goals. I'd try Reza and Pig together, they've both got a shot, why not? Jacko seems to have lost his knack of scoring important goals, Astrid at least is always looking to shoot, but we all know about his stamina. Dervite is a threat at set-pieces and there's no goals anywhere else in our team.
I can see the Massives winning this one 4-0. I really think we are struggling to score and Wednesday are playing well at the moment. Sorry to be a pessimist but I can't see us winning another game this season.
We all said at the beginning of the season we were happy with Sordell, but once he was given the chance we knew what a mistake it was. So slating Powell for giving him a season long loan is meaningless as most of us would have taken that and were excited by his signing.
I don't think I said it either. But I do remember being surprised at how positively many forums took to the news, so there probably is something in saying a majority were happy with the signing. dickplumb, wish I could disagree with you. I said we'd be relegated after the Forest away match. I still think that's how it will be. Will be trying to get to Blackburn & Watford if I can get the time off.
It's totally meaningless, especially when you take into account that we only signed him 2 days before the season started, which hardly suggests he or Church were high on the A list of targets... oohhh I just love our history with owners, and going purely by what Roley has initially done for the team, that really doesn't fill me with much hope for what's to come...
If the rumour turns out to be true that Riga takes over the Academy and his assistant takes over that means that next season we will be relying on our European Scouting Network for the new influx of players.
I second that, I wasn't happy either... then again I was excited about Church and Abbott... so maybe my judgement on strikers is a bit off
Reza and Joe Piggot for me too, I see Piggot as target / hold up payer with Reza playing off him and both capable of a quick turn / shot in the box
Did we not think sordell was good at the time? I remember being happy, it's just a shame he hadn't applied himself!
I hold my hands up when we got him I was well happy thought great signing just what we need I was wrong
