I'm off to Reading Festival tomorrow so will get the match thread up now! VS It's the first weekend back at the Valley this weekend with Charlton Athletic taking on Hull City. Both teams played in mid week and whilst Charlton beat early promotion favourites Leicester 2-1 at the Valley, Hull went down 1-0 to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Hull have a new manager for this season in Steve Bruce and have also brought in 5 new players in Eldin Jakupovic, Nick Proschwitz, Abdoulaye Faye, Sone Aluko, Alex Bruce. To me the two biggest concerns for us from that list would be Faye and Aluko. Faye won promotion to the premier league last season with West Ham whilst Aluko was arguably the only shining light in a dismal season for Rangers putting in some impressive performances and scoring 12 goals. Previous Meetings 22/12/2007 Charlton Athletic 1-1 Hull City 02/10/2007 Hull City 1-2 Charlton Athletic 01/04/1991 Hull City 2-2 Charlton Athletic 22/12/1990 Charlton Athletic 2-1 Hull City 19/04/1986 Hull City 1-1 Charlton Athletic My team to play against Hull - Hamer Solly Morrison Cort Wiggins Green Stephens Hollands Jackson Wright-Phillips Kermogant Subs Sullivan Taylor Wilson Pritchard Kerkar Cook Fuller I have gone for Danny Green on the right as i feel he has more quality than Wagstaff or Pritchard who Powell seems to be favouring for that spot of late. Hopefully if we are winning with 20 mins or so we will see a cameo appearance from Ricardo Fuller who I am genuienly excited to see! I am more confident about us beating Hull than I was against Leicester on Tuesday night and I reckon maybe 2-0 to us Wright-Phillips and Kermogant again while we get our first clean sheet of the season.
It seems rude to say, but the way we have started we should be winning this one. I don't take them for granted though, hopefully a good performance that leads to three points regardless of expectations
I will give you my Hull team for you Amos Rosenoir Chester Faye Dudgeon Stewart Evans Koren Aluko Proschwitz Simpson TBH - I dont think you will score against our defence with Chester and Faye in it. The only reason Blackburn scored is because Alex Bruce messed up just like he always does. I also think we may find it hard to score against you but we will just by the skin of our teeth do it. Score Prediction - Charlton 0 - 1 Hull City Robert Koren to score
I think Pritchard has to retain again in order to support Solly with Aluko and Dudgeon. I think we'll find this to be the case for a lot of the season. We have some incredibly gifted full backs who need support in order for them to be at their best. Hull have a strong midfield on paper, with Koren, Cairney, Olofinjana (who I'm sceptical about personally), and the former United youngsters Stewart and Evans. Not to sound cliched but I think this is where the match will be won - if our midfield gets on top of them then I fancy BWP and Kermo against players like Faye and Mcshane. I'll go for a 2-1 win. Morro and BWP.
Charlie, that is what Leicester said about their defence but they highlighted Wes Morgan We put two past them
With all due respect to Leicester they conceded 55 goals last season, whilst we only conceded 44. This isn't to say you won't score. I won't attempt to predict anything before I've seen the side Bruce picks.
I am just hoping for a better game than the last one. If I remember correctly it was a scrappy horrible affair with Danny Mills getting sent off. I do think both teams have obviously changed considerably since then so lets hope for a more fluent game. I think Aluko is the main threat we have to face, will be a good test for Solly. I would be inclined to put Wilson on the wing to aid Solly. But I do think that we will come out on top. I reckon another close affair, but we will pip it 1-0, Fuller to get a goal on his home debut.
Excellent thread Belvedere - enjoy your festival. Sounds like Hull should have got something out of their game with Blackburn last night. Proschwitz cost an eye-watering £2.6m but for me, the danger man is Koren. I think this one's going to be tight as a duck's you-know-what. 1-0 to us - BWP.
A win would make this a start dreams are made of. Just 1 goal in 2 games fo Hull, can't see them scoring.
I have to say I'm more confident about this match knowing we can beat the likes of Leicester. But then again I have no idea how good Hull are. Personally I'd be inclined to rest Jacko and give Cook a run out on the left, Jacko looked out of it by about 70 minutes on Tuesday. 1-0 Charlton, with Cort getting a header from a corner.
I agree Jacko looked shattered and that Cook should be given a run, but Wiggins wouldn't be able to go on his storming runs as much I don't think. Jacko is a capable LB in his own right (Sir Parky signed him on loan as LB afterall) and he drops back and covers while Wiggins goes up. I don't see Cook doing that much I'm afraid, even though he did do it every now and then for Evina against Orient. Oh and Charlton to win 2-0 Morrison and Stephens to score, Morro from a first half corner around 24 mins and Stephens in 70th minute first time shot of a loose ball on edge of the box
I haven't seen anything of Hull this season, other than the Football League Show on Saturday night, which obviously tells one very little. I think I would be tempted to rest Jackson, as he did look very jaded on Tuesday night. However, after consideration, he did go into two very rough fifty-fifty challenges in the first-half, and took a ball to the face. It may just be that those early challenges had fazed him a little and caused the below par performance. If he is tired, then I would consider resting him. I don't know how dangerous Stewart is though, on Hull's right-hand side. If he is a tricky player, Wiggins may need Jackson's protection down the left side. If he isn't much to be worried about, it could be worth giving either Cook or Kerkar a game on the left. On the right hand side, I might be tempted to give Lawrie Wilson a run out, in place of Bradley Pritchard. Although I thought Bradley had a good game on Tuesday, Wilson might just give Solly that extra protection against Aluko, like TrickyCharlton pointed out. Wilson didn't give the best of performances in those last ten minutes against Leicester, but did come on at a very difficult moment in the game, coming up against some real quality players who were desperate for an equaliser. Needless to say, I would keep the back five the same, and the forwards. It sounds as though Fuller is quite a way off match fitness from Chris Powell's press conference today, so I won't expect him to be on the bench.
I like Wilson, despite his penalty miss and giving one away against Orient I thought he looked assured and I am more then happy with our RB back up and possible RM if needed. I'd give him a run around too, I like prichard but I'm not quite sure what position he is suited for, he's just not quick enough for RM in my opinion and I can't recall any crosses he did against Leicester. If Green is on form Greeny any day but other wise we should mix it up (i know that can affect chemistry) but mix it up and find a winning solution
I agree, and the team must be a little bit tired after playing two (three for some) games in quick succession, having had the summer off and only a few friendlies.
Put your money on Cort to score and Fuller for a second if he gets on the field. For the Tigers to score........pray for a miracle.
Olofinjana who you're sceptical about? He's played in three league games in the past two years, none of them this season, no wonder you're sceptical, we can't even remember what the f****r looks like. Ditto McShane. I think perhaps your info on us is a little out of date, with the injuries we have they will probably both be on the bench but I wouldn't expect either to get onto the pitch. I have no idea how we'll do on Saturday, Bruce's team selections are a bit bizarre and our best striker is out injured, but there's a lot of quality in our team and we can beat anyone on our day.
Who is your best striker? I only know bits and pieces of hull. I see your midfield as being the strength (on paper). Is that fair to assume? Im confident we'll score, nothing against hulls defence, but purely because we have kermo and BWP who are looking sharp.
