Charlton Athletic v Cardiff City Friday 26 December 2014⦠1pm Kick-Off Referee: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire) INTRODUCTION Starting my Match Preview for the annual Boxing Day clash Iâd just like to once again wish everyone on here a very Merry Christmas , due to commitments this season my duties have seen me miss a number of matches (in terms of the previews)⦠Hopefully from 2015 I should return to normal, and with new material because the match on Friday marks the half-way point in the Championship season 2014/1, come the full time whilst on Friday, the Addicks will have faced all twenty three teams, the three teams up from League One have all been faced once and two of the three relegated teams from the Premier League will have been faced, yet Charlton now reach the half-way stage with one more ex-Premier League side to face in Cardiff City. LAST TIME OUT Last Saturday saw defeats for both Charlton and Cardiff City with both teams sitting on thirty points and both sides sharing the same Goal Difference (-1)⦠Charlton would head to Lancashire where they faced fellow Play-Off hopefuls: Blackburn Rovers yet they would come away from Ewood Park without a point to their name⦠A slow start from Charlton meant they were never really in with a shout of the three points with hot-shot Striker: Jordan Rhodes scoring twice within 18-minutes to settle the tie, Igor Vetokele would go close in the second half yet young âkeeper: Nick Pope would ensure that the score remained respectful⦠Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Charlton Athletic (Jordan Rhodes x2) With the Addicks coming off the back of two matches against Lancashire opposition (home and away), Cardiff have found themselves twice up against London opposition (home and away), hosting one of the surprises of the season in Brentford; the Bluebirds would struggle to contain another of the promotion hopefuls and would find themselves 3-0 down within just thirty minutes (causing some home fans to walk out), despite a comeback in the second half, Cardiff would be made to pay for their poor start and Russell Slade would lose his first match at home since becoming Cardiff Manager. Cardiff City 2-3 Brentford (Noone, Jones; Pritchard, Gray, Peleteiro Ramallo). THE OPPOSITION Cardiff City under Malky Mackay in 2012/13 would pretty much run away with the League Title finishing almost 10-points ahead of 2nd place; Hull City (promotion being confirmed following a 0-0 draw with Charlton Athletic)⦠Promotion to the Premier League for the first time would begin well for the side from South Wales⦠despite losing their first game at West Ham, Cardiff would go on to beat Champions: Manchester City in a 3-2 thriller, sadly that was as good as it would get, a win would be assured against fierce rivals Swansea City yet Manager: Malky Mackay would be sacked come December and would be replaced by Norwegian: Ole Gunner Solskjaer⦠Sadly the ex-Manchester United Striker would fail to keep Cardiff in the top flight and they would return to the Championship after just one season⦠So far this year Cardiff have struggled⦠Solskjaer was sacked in the middle of September after just two wins and was eventually replaced by Russell Slade The Manager (Russell Slade): As per the likes of Roy Hodgson or Jose Mourinho, Slade never came from a Footballing background; he didnât play professionally or at a semi-pro level either⦠His career began as a PE teacher before entering the world of Football in 1994 as Assistant Manager at Notts County, his Management career itself would begin at now defunct Scarborough before going on to Grimsby and Yeovil, he would go on to manage Brighton and Hove Albion in 2009 successfully helping them to avoid relegation back to League Two (remarkable seeing Brightonâs rise since then)⦠It was with Leyton Orient that Slade would make a name for himself though, joining in 2010, Slade would take Leyton Orient to the League One Play-Off final last season narrowly losing to Rotherham United, a poor start to this season where Slade was almost given his marching orders in East London only to see his luck turn in October with Cardiff City appointing him as Manager meaning Russell Slade would be managing at the highest level in his career to date. Key Player (David Marshall): Its not often that a Goalkeeper can be seen as a key player in a side and if he is the oppositionâs danger man then you would have to question the effect that the other 10-players could have on a side, yet for Charlton in 2007 that would certainly be the case with Scott Carson (on loan from Liverpool) picking up the Player of the Year award whilst at the Valley â Its for that reason that David Marshall is the player we need to watch out for if we want to ensure that three points stay at the Valley this Boxing Day⦠Included in the Sky Sports team of the season last year, Marshall would go on to make several crucial saves per match ensuring that Cardiff were always within a shout of three points, despite having only kept four clean-sheet, the likes of Igor Vetokele will need to be at their best to get past Marshall. BOXING DAY CLASHES Usually Iâd use this section to go over the head to head meetings between Charlton and Cardiff yet as mentioned in the Match Preview on Saturday Iâm getting quite fed up of seeing Charlton having won fewer matches than the opposition and constantly having to mention said fact⦠Instead with Boxing Day being a pivotal part of the season I thought Iâd cover the fortunes of both Charlton and Cardiff and how they recover after a good helping of Christmas Turkey, Pudding and a few shandies⦠Going back to 2007/08 for Charlton the record doesnât look too bad at all⦠six matches have been played on Boxing Day with two matches having been won on both occasions 3-2 (last season against Brighton and Hove Albion and two years ago on our march to the League One title, away at Yeovil Town)⦠Just the one match has ended in defeat (1-0 against Ipswich two years ago) whilst there have been three draws including the 2-2 match against Swindon Town which saw the Addicks down to 9-men before half-time. Cardiff on the other hand have also played six matches in the above period and starting from 2008 have drawn twice on the trot (against Watford and Reading), they then suffered a 1-0 defeat against Plymouth Argyle before two victories against Coventry City (2-0) and Crystal Palace (2-1), their match last season against Southampton was their most recent defeat on Boxing Day having lost 3-0 so hopefully their pattern of drawing twice on the trot and winning twice on the trot will result in them losing twice on the trot this time out⦠Oh and the Head2Head record between Charlton Athletic and Cardiff City⦠Charlton have won a total of 29 matches against the Bluebirds whilst Cardiff City have only won on 19 occasions⦠the Addicksâ last victory over their opposition on Friday came on a Tuesday night, losing 2-0 early on, Charlton would rally and would end up winning a thriller of a match 5-4, you have to go back to March 1985 when Cardiff last won this fixture (a 4-1 win). CHARLTON TEAM NEWS Once again with Christmas on the horizon there has been a lack of activity from the Press Conferences so the team news will have to be all guess work this week⦠Stephen Henderson had returned to training prior to Blackburn but that match came soon, should Henderson still be recovering though; Nick Pope should once again be between the goal posts⦠Chris Solly with his knee problems may well be rested for this tie, yet at the same time could continue in Midfield or slot into the Left-Back position as per the Blackburn match, should he be rested or put out of position then Lawrie Wilson should come into the starting eleven with Johann Gudmundsson continuing to operate behind Igor Vetokele and his fellow Striker partner, that partner could be Joe Pigott who apparently held the ball up well after coming off the bench at Half-Time on Saturday or Bob Peeters could continue with Callum Harriott. LINE-UP Pope Gomez â Ben-Haim â Bikey â Solly Wilson â Gudmundsson â Buyens â Cousins Vetokele â Pigott Substitutes Bench: Etheridge â Fox â Onyewu â Harriott â Bulot â Tucudean - Ahearne-Grant... PREDICTION Charlton Athletic 3-2 Cardiff City
I like the look of your team, A4L, it would be mine as well. However I expect Bulot to be ahead of Wilson and Tucudean to be ahead of Pigott, so that's who I expect Bob to pick.
I reckon Bulot has fallen out of favour a bit... When Solly was converted to Left-Back it was Wilson who came on... Bulot only seems to be used sparingly a bit at the moment coming on for Gudmundsson in injury time
Horrible line up...thinner than a bowl of Oliver Twist's porridge. A rookie keeper who is making howlers galore A centre half partnership showing signs of age/loss of form A midfield that is so anonymous it couldn't get a gig at a meeting of Anonymous' Anonymous One decent striker to select- who has also lost form & looks half fit Have I missed anyone ?
What would your line up be Nick? Mine would be. Etheridge Gomez, Bikey, Ben Haim, Solly( because there is no one else), Wilson, Buyens, Cousins, Harriott Gudmundsson, Vetokele Subs Pope, Fox, Onyewu, Bulot, Jackson, Pigott, Church(if fit)
Kiely Solly - onyewu - bikey - Powell Gudmundson - buyens - cousins - harriott Vetokele bent Reckon we would win with that. But considering it will be pope, fox and Tucudean probably coming in, I still think we can pull off a Christmas miracle and win - possibly by 2 goals. 2-0
To paraphrase the American general "I don't know what they'll do to Cardiff, but by God they scare the Hell out of me"
The Ghosts of recent Boxing Day football in sight Di Canio and Llera, and Johannsson from the right Cold meat and leftovers; that's the squad this year But I have every faith of some more festive cheer Buyens in the middle, Gudmundsson on the wing Vetokele up front will make the fans sing And even though I'm worried that I got Football Manager for Christmas and I've already led Charlton to 22nd after 12 matches I'm fairly certain that this will be the game where Nick Pope catches So Happy Christmas to all Charlton fans Enjoy the game today; whatever your plans
22nd and you haven't been sacked yet? Pull your finger out RD! I've held off the temptation to get it this year - but curious to know what money we start with and if we have a decent squad this year?
Chipping in with a last-minute prediction to give the lads every chance. 0-2 defeat. Front line of Tucudean and Harriott? You're 'avin a larf!
Would I ever lie to my brothers on the board? Slip of the mind by Peter Finch. I don't know if he immediately picked up on it because I had to open the door to my nephew. I had specifically told him not to arrive when I am listening to football.
If we can keep it 1-0 until the 80th minute then we can shove Bikey up top and you never know what'll happen. Couldn't make it today, maybe a good thing
It sounds a lot better - hitting the post twice and a chance of the line. However, the gambling side to me is thinking 2-0, le fondre on the counter. COYR
