Described by the commentator as a couple of free headers by Dunk. Bikey had a similar chance 5 minutes ago and put it well wide.
Great away point, if barely deserved. Well, Bikey and the defence deserved it, but the attack couldn't hold the ball and it always came straight back.
Igor is papering over the cracks. He really is some player. As much as I dislike him, TBH was a mountain today. Can't argue with the fact we're unbeaten and against some of the best sides but thats 3 games in a row now where we've been poor. JJ and Cousins on the left seems to be the weak point, JJ was a shadow for the first 30mins and Cousins no better and was eventually substituted. I imagine Bullot (sp) will come in on the left. It will be interesting to see if he replaces JJ or Cousins though. Also though Peeters had it wrong with Fox on the bench over Gomez. He would have been a better option than Fox to bring on when defending a lead. Oh well - time for a few beers before hitting the clubs. Have a good evening all
I'm well chuffed with a point away from hone against a side that will be there or there abouts come the shakeup at the business end of the season. However, I'm bitterly disappointed to concede so late and with two goals from corners.
As the Cap'n says, looking forward to hearing from those who were there, especially their observations on our midfield.
Just got back. Bitter pill to swallow at the end, but got what we deserved. Pushed too deep and too many players off their games today. Ben Haim and the beast Bikey joint MOM. Absolute class. The rest bar Igor poor IMO. Fantastic support all afternoon. Punch.ups in the car park after. We took 1992
Just read Supers comments and he sums it ip well. Vetekole is papering over the cracks with his brilliance. We have been poor the last 2 games. Today was like the alamo at times. My brief ratings Henderson 6 - one world class save in opening mins Solly - 6 Wiggins - 6 Ben Haim - 9 MOM Bikey - 8.5 Jacko - 5 oh dear Cousins 3 - awful Buyens 5 - anonymous Gudmond - ditto Igor -9 class Tucadean - ****e
The good thing about the situation is that it is crystal clear where the problem is and what should be done. IF RD wants to spend a fairly modest amount of cash, he can fix it. With many teams, including many past Charlton teams, you can be a player or two short of having a good team, but it is hard to tell which players. One week your right-back lets you down, next week it is your centre-forward. I think the consensus is very clear as to where we need strengthening. As to today's match, I think Jackson is no longer capable of playing three games in eight days and should not be asked to do so. Nor should Cousins be asked to play on the left, but the signing of Bulot has presumably put an end to that. I was listening to the Brighton commentators and they were confident that Brighton would score at least one more because, according to them, Bikey and ben Haim were "shattered" with 15 minutes to go. If Dunk was given free headers then maybe there was something in that. Maybe we should have brought on Morrison as a third CB after all. Most teams pull back a tall striker to mark the opposing CBs at corners and free-kicks (like Kermit used to do) but I don't think Church or Tucudean would be much help. We may not see the whole picture for a few weeks after the break, say early/mid October. We need Vetokele and Bulot to come back in one piece from Africa, and by then we should know if Moussa and Gudmundsson are ever going to be fit enough to play for 90 minutes at a high standard.
I did have to ask a steward as to where to get my ticket, and they were sold from the main ticket office along with all the Brighton fans, but I didn't have any trouble getting hold of one. I feel a bit more positive after this game than others, but maybe I'm giving Brighton too much credit. Certainly we were on the defensive for most of the game, but we were better than we were against Huddersfield IMO, and we mostly managed to stop Brighton before they got too many clear-cut chances... apart from the two goals obviously. Fair play to Dunk, both his headers were perfectly placed, the first just too high for Solly on the line (well it had to happen to him at some point) and the second in off the underside of the bar. The defending for the latter goal was typically tired, last-minute stuff, leaving Dunk completely unmarked from the second ball in to the box. A draw was the least Brighton deserved, but I would say we earned our point too. The plus points were that Solly and Wiggins were both better than at Huddersfield. Solly did make one mistake in the first half, letting his man in behind him, but he recovered to concede a corner. Igor was class, and, defensively at least, Jackson and Buyens fought hard. Church did well, particularly in creating Igor's second. TBH and Bikey were both very good, although it does seem that Andre The Giant has at least one massive error in him each game. Henderson was fine, and made one fantastic stop just after we opened the scoring. The negatives were mostly Jordan Cousins. Even allowing for being out of position, almost nothing he tried came off, and I think he needs to be dropped. Bob made the right call in bringing Wilson on for him and moving Gudmundsson to the left. Speaking of Gudmundsson, he was peripheral, and in one of our few breaks in the second half played a very poor pass when well-placed, meaning the chance went begging. Jackson and Buyens offered little offensively, both being more likely to pass sideways or backwards than forwards. Henderson: 7 - cracking save in the first half, kicking OK, nothing he could do about either goal. Solly: 7 - more like his usual self. TBH: 8 - he is a very classy defender. Admonished Henderson in the first half for lack of communication after Andre The Giant had put it out for a corner. Bikey: 7 - solid enough, his headed chance from the corner near the end was difficult and didn't go too far wide. Wiggins: 7 - not helped by Cousins struggling, but did OK JBG: 5 - more or less anonymous. If we're defending most of the time he has little to contribute. Buyens: 6 - defensively strong but little forward momentum. Jackson: 6 - similar, I wonder if he and Buyens are too similar to play together effectively. Cousins: 3 - awful. Needs time out of the side, and desperately needs to play in the middle when he does come back. Tucudean: 5 - didn't contribute much, but I still think he's our best foil for Igor. Don't see why he was subbed. Igor: 8 - deadly in the box, a livewire outside it. 2 very good finishes. Subs: Church: 7 - much better than I've come to expect from him. Won a few knock-downs and did superbly for our second goal. Wilson: 5 - didn't see much of the ball. Fox: 5 - likewise. Strange sub to make, giving us two left backs. If we're going to try and withstand a siege, why not Morrison or Gomez? Overall I'm not too downhearted. Goals shouldn't be a problem and we are much stronger defensively than last season. The midfield is the area that needs tinkering, and I hope Bulot will help. It was good to see Bob come over to the fans after the game, even if he looked annoyed at conceding so late. He also appeared to be having strong words with Henderson, but I may be misinterpreting what I saw. The Amex is a lovely stadium on the inside, if a little bland on the outside. The Brighton fans didn't sing much until they scored, but when they did they made one hell of a noise. Our fans were good.
I think we could be mid table this season if Igor stays fit. Today wasnt great, but IV nicked us a point. The thought of a Tucadean/ Church combo up from is worrying. There is something about our midfield that is not working at the moment. JJ lacks pace, & Cousins touch and confidence seems to have gone.
Just managed to catch us on the football league show, I didn't realise that was church for the 2nd goal. I assumed it was gudmundson at the time, brilliant bit of skill. The midfield needs to be addressed. There is no balance and it tells because of our last 3 games we've failed to hold on to the ball. We can't expect TBH and Bikey to play like that every week, especially at their age.
Watching the highlights again, Bob may have to consider changing his zonal marking system. On the first goal Dunk starts with Wilson, but he can't move with him as he has an area to defend and it gave their man the run up to power the header in. It's disappointing especially when Bob said they'd spoken about his threat from set pieces before the game.
And Minala is 18 But seriously, I thought he was in his 30's. His movement/pace has abandoned him. Fortunately his positioning is brilliant and must be in the top 5 strongest centre backs in the league.
Maybe. Many Third World children, especially in Africa, have no documentation and no idea how old they are. Look at Kanu.
Trucudean, Gudmunsson and Moussa can't last 90 minutes which means the three can't start as we could then not make any injury or tactical substitutions.
