Football League Championship â Round Two Charlton Athletic v Wigan Athletic Saturday 16th August 2014 3pm Kick-Off Referee â Andy DâUrso (Essex) Following the brief break due to the first round of the League Cup on Tuesday night we see a quick return to League action as Championship Football kicks off at the Valley for the first time this season with the visit of fellow Athletic side⦠Wigan Athletic Now managed by Uwe Rosler (German: ex-Manchester City Striker and previously manager of Lillestrom (Norway) and Brentford (League One)) theyâve had an indifferent start to this season, a 2-2 draw at home to Reading on the first day of the season that saw Wigan only snatch a point in the last minute (goals from Callum McManaman and James McArthur) before being involved in one of the shocks of the League Cup this season by losing 2-1 away at League Two side: Burton Albion (Marc-Antoine Fortune the scorer for Wigan). Charlton on the other hand had a relatively simple task on Tuesday night as they came up against League One opposition: Colchester United⦠After an bright start from both sides, the advantage fell to the Addicks when they received a penalty for a handball against Colchester Captain: Magnus Okuonghae (Who was subsequently sent off for his actions) mid way through the first half , up stepped Yoni Buyens to take the spot kick who with his first goal for the club put the Addicks 1-0 up, from then on the man advantage clearly showed in Charltonâs favour and a tie at Derby County in the second round was confirmed with two goals from Lawrie Wilson before Simon Church grabbed a late fourth⦠The Ex-Addick Where possible this season Iâll be concentrating on finding one random player from the opposition that has links with a return to Charlton⦠this weekâs player is none other than Goalkeeper: Scott Carson. Signed on loan from Liverpool in August 2006 (our final Premier League season) by Iain Dowie, Carson will have to go down (with Andy Reid) as one of Dowieâs only successes at the club, playing 36 League games for the Addicks (Was unable to play twice because of the Loan-Agreement with Liverpool), it was possible that the Addicks would have been relegated long before they actually were had he not been between the sticks, a Player of the Year trophy would follow (making him the clubâs first and so far only Loanee to be given the award). After returning to Liverpool, Carson would go on to have another Loan season (this time at Aston Villa) before finally leaving Merseyside for West Bromwich Albion, he would spend three years at the Hawthorns before making the surprise move out to Turkey (Bursaspor) in 2011 before finally returning to England and Wigan Athletic at the start of last season, injuries though would limit him to just 18-appearances last season. ) Wigan Athletic at the Valley For those of the superstitious nature youâll be pleased to know that Wigan have only played at the Valley three times in their entire history⦠of those three matches only one match has ended all square (the match at the Valley last season ending 0-0) with the other two matches ending in a Charlton victory (1-0 the same score line in both March 2007 and August 2005). Charlton Team News With some impressive performances on Tuesday night, Bob Peeters has admitted that heâll have a bit of a selection headache this Saturday⦠Lawrie Wilson scorer of two goals could come into the side along with youngster Joe Gomez who impressed on his debut⦠Frank Moussa making his first start midweek is fast returning to full fitness following his back injury, the only current concern is with Rhoys Wiggins who is currently carrying a slight knock yet should injury stop him from playing the Morgan Fox should step up into the Left Back position.   Possible side to face Wigan Athletic Henderson Solly â Bikey â Ben-Haim â Fox Wilson â Buyens â Jackson â Cousins â Gudmundsson Vetokele Substitutes Bench Pope â Morrison â Gomez â Moussa â Harriott â Tucudean â Church A4Lâs Prediction: 1-0 (Wilson)
Will be surprised if he doesn't opt for 4-4-2 again, so think we'll see Tucudean. I reckon it'll be Wilson who'll miss out as well, but pretty sure we'll see him at some point in the game. I can't imagine Ben Haim is much ahead of Morrison in the pecking order at CB, though, he's the one I think a lot of critical eyes will be on for this game. Obviously goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) I'll be hoping that the bench doesn't include Simon Church after his sarky 'celebration' on Tuesday.
Yeah am really struggling with trying to predict the team cos there are so many options and quite a bit of depth for once. Wilson / Ben-Haim / Morrison / Tucudean are definitely the players I'll be interested to see where they are on the team sheet tomorrow. Either way its gonna be a borefest with D'Urso in charge... Heart dropped the moment I read that on the Football League website
Could be worse... dull isn't always the worst thing for a referee... at least it's not the return of Rob Styles.
Love the line up, but would put Morro ahead of Ben Haim. Understand Fox ahead of Wiggins to prevent further injury. Mousa to come on for Jacko if we're trailing towards the end and Harriott could be a good impact sub. Little confident for this 3-1 to us, Vetokele, Jacko and Bikey
i have a spare ticket for this game if anyone wants it for free. NW quad somewhere. i think row EE. they sent the missus one as she hadnt renewed but i'd already gone and got her one
I won't unfortunately won't be attending our first home game of the season as I'm sat at home in Wales... I mean I'm on holiday in the south of France. I will try and bring Delort back with me when I return. As for the game, Wigan are a bit of a conundrum for me this season. They didn't make my top 6 in the prediction thread, and despite every newspaper/magazine touting rosler as the best manager in the league I don't think it will be as plain sailing for them. My bet for tomorrow would be BYTS and draw. I don't think a win is beyond us if we play as we did during the second half last week. 1-1.
Agree with Ted and A4L re the line-up, but I doubt Bob will go for it. Absolutely no idea how the game will go - I'm a tad sceptical about Rösler, but the lad Huws in particular looks a real talent and will give our midfield a huge test. I'm at a party tomorrow afternoon so I won't be doing updates again... I know this is dereliction of duty.
After dropping two points at Brentford, the question is, how much does RD interfere in team selection? We know that Powell left because he couldn't accept RD picking the team to suit the network's interest rather than Charlton's. And there is a strong inference that Riga left for much the same reasons. It therefore follows that Peeters only got the job because he would let RD dictate team matters. I actually like Peeters and suspect he is a good coach. (He might be ideal for our under-21s). I don't think Peeters left to his own devices would have: 1) Left out Wilson, our best player last season (and who is clearly maintaining that form). 2) Left out Morrison who is effectively now captain and also one of our few consistent players last season. Ben Haim may not be much inferior, but why play a 32-y-o who career is on the slide instead of a still improving 26-y-o? 3) Play Cousins, one of our top three players last season, on the left? These decisions all smack of a pig-headed insistence by RD in wiping away all traces of the previous regime, the good along with the bad, and trying to justify his own decisions. Enough to have probably cost us two points. This would be my team against Wigan: Henderson Solly (if fit, otherwise Gomez) ; Morrison ; Bikey ; Wiggins (if fit, otherwise Fox) Wilson, Cousins, Buyens, Harriott (assuming Moussa unfit) Gudmondsson Vetokele That team might earn a point. But if Peeters plays silly buggers again trying to justify the RD signings we will lose by a couple of goals. Wigan have Carson in goal. He won't gift us goals like that hapless kid in goal for Colchester. And with Bikey and Buyens in the side there is more danger of our going down to 10 men than the opposition.
Good post. But as the season progresses I expect Bob to do what any other manager does, and pick the team which he thinks will win, after all it's his job on the line. However, that's in the future. I don't expect any changes from last saturday yet.
Nothing better than winning in stoppage time, especially with a deflected goal. I reckon we're due one or two of them. My first game of the season, first look at our new signings, they seem a mixed bag. Buyens was the most impressive of them, looked real quality. Vetekole put in a good shift, always looking for space, although his finishing wasn't top notch. Gudmundsson worked very hard although I'm not sure he's better than the Harriotts. Bikey was solid at the back, but seemed to tire at the end. TBH was OK, and Moussa made a difference when he came on for Tucudean, who was completely useless. Henderson was poor, I thought. Surprise of the day was Andy d'Urso, who I thought had a decent game.
i thought buyens was immense today. it's a rarity that we have a midfielder who has composure. i lost my voice today. and, after running the BHF 10k this morning, my knees packed in too. good day!
This is a game we would have lost last season. Noticeable how Peeters has eschewed Powellite hoofball and encourages the keeper and defenders to play it out. Well done to him for that. His subs today were also good. Very impressed with Ben Haim and Bikey but less so with Wiggins who had an absolute nightmare afternoon. Henderson looks a little on the porky side and the Wigan dans chant of "you fat bastard" had a ring of truth to them. Gudmondsen and Buyens will improve but still not impressee with Tucadean. A word for the blond lad in the front row who spat on Carson as he lay in the net. His face was contorted with hatred and rage for some reason. Has he forgotten that he was gobbing.over our ex POTY ? A life ban and public flogging for this sub human is too good for him.
Winning in injury time is by far the best way to win a football match, thought our chance had gone after Ventokele missed the one on one but we kept going. Not many negatives for me, although Wiggins should have done better for their goal and Henderson's kicking was as bad as Hamer's. Great to see us in the playoff places.
I thought ben haim was massively important for us today and from my perspective was the stand out player. Cousins goal was well taken and you could feel the confidence it gave him. Bikey was a little slow but is a little bit of the "presence" that we lacked at the back last season. Between the two central defenders we had the confidence to play the ball out but the second phase frequently went wrong with the midfield not always pacing the passes correctly. Andy D'Urso was his usual incompetent and biased self, awarding a foul against us but ignoring worse play by the opposition seconds later. I am not certain what he has against us but he becomes inordinately biased when he officiates at the Valley. there are many poor quality refs out there but d'Urso seems to save his fallability for his visit to SE7. All in all i am more hopeful than after pre season but not yet optimistic.
Great feeling. Henderson shocking distribution, and some of you guys moaned about Hamer's last year. Wiggins had a mare, Bikey is a tank, Ben Haim a lot more solid than I thought. Solly is class, lets keep him fit. Buyens was great, Gudmundson was class and calm, can only get better in my opinion, we could have a star there. Igor, worked hard just didnt have the luck, Jacko didnt notice, Cousins, apart form goal didnt notice. Tucedean is crap. Moussa, wasn't tooo impressed but if he does that when im not impressed can't wait for him to impress me. Pope, well FHB was right, kid is confident and looks to have ability what little we saw. Wilson, added something I thought. And yeah... the muggy tw*t who spat at Carson is scum and fully deserves to be disciplined and deserved Carson b*llocking him, show some class you scummy tosser. Carson was class, even applauding the covered end at full time. Nothing more satifsying than a last minute win. COYR
