Match Day Thread Charlton Athletic

That L**ds ****s bottom lip was going.
Praise the lady interviewer at the end for cutting it short.
Off air, it will be 'Come 'ere Lee, let's have a hug. Ah, bless you.'

 

Is Keith Andrews hair real? It looks syrup to me.

 

Highlights

 

KLP had no right to win that ball.

Desire, vision, determination. Great to see a young player come in and play like this.

 

KLP....for such a short arse he definitely has a spring !!

 

We have now thrown away 10 points with abysmal performances (two losses and two draws) away to relegation prospects Huddersfield (0-3), Middlesboro (2-2), Barnsley (1-3) and Charlton 2-2).

If we had played against these bottom-dwellers the way we played and won against promotion candidates Fulham (3-0), Preston (4-0), and Notts Forest, or in losing in tight games against probably Perm-Bound Leeds and West Brom, we would now be in 3rd place with 40 points.

What the hell is going on ??? Both Bielsa and Bilic have said we are the best team they have played. The same players, more or less, have been our starting eleven against both sets of teams. How come we can look great against promotion candidates and clueless against crap teams ??? Our defense, solid as a rock against the Top-6, looks awful against the bottom-6. Barnsley and Huddersfield ran rings round us. We dominated Preston and Fulham.

Is it the coaching staffs lack of adequate preparation, the players lack of energy, or what ??? Thoughts ???

 

Brilliant KLP to go and win that header.

 

It sounds a pretty poor performance particularly in the first half again. Still playing 3 games in 6 days is really going to take its toll. Great to hear KLP starting to have an impact, he is becoming a super sub and coming up with a goal at the right time. The weakness in the depth of the squad is starting to show, and by the end of Xmas/NY holidays, here's hoping for a minimal injury month.

 

CanadaTiger, may I introduce you to the annoying and persistent 'Typical City' . We could have Klopp as manager and Typical City would still rear its ugly head. The one redeeming thing from that quartet of games is that all 4 were away and at grounds we seldom do well at. Need to be looking at 12 points, minimum 10 from the return games at home.

 

Will gladly take the point which we snatched from the game, but it's evidence of why we'll likely be hanging around midtable rather than making a firm promotion challenge. On our day we're a match for anyone but unless we iron out these below par performances we won't have the consistency to challenge. The Fulham, Forest and Preston results are proof that we're good enough but it continues to feel like we won't string 5, 6 or 7 really good results together. Think we needed to freshen things up last night in the starting line up; it showed with how lethargic we looked at times. Goes to show our lack of real depth though in comparison to the likes of Leeds, WBA, Fulham and Forest. At least there's a full week now to the next game where there's a bit of a breather before the busy Christmas period. Also, kudos to those who went to the game last night. A Friday night trip to London just before Christmas isn't an easy one to make.

 

JEX.... they played 3 games in 6 days. They couldn't even fill a subs bench and yet, we made them look good.

 

It's called the ****ing Championship mate

 

Our style isore suited to stronger teams who look to dominate, sit back take the pressure hit on the break. Against lower teams who do the same we seem to lack ideas or the set up, this needs addressing

 

Quite agree.

 

I'm taking that point. It's will to survive and it's good. But overall it's unacceptable! Proper Hull City should win such games without any troubles.

 

Need a bit of a reality check here. This is not a promotion side. Terry gets the best he can out of them but if we were to sneak into the playoffs it would be a great achievement. People who talk about selling Bowen and investing the money are in cloud cuckoo land. It won’t happen. There is enough here to sit in mid table and that’s about what we will get. We have invested at a level that means we are in a better financial position than many teams. Even some of those now in the Premier League are destined to come crashing down. We should be looking for a midfield captain which has been missing for a long time. Ashbee spoiled us rotten in that department and we need at least one more striker. Maybe this season we will have to enjoy the wins where we can and be philosophical about the season. At least there are some bright lights like KLP. The kid plays his heart out and I like to watch players like that so maybe a couple more like him and we will be ok.

 

Agree.
In some respects, unlucky with ongoing injuries, thinking particularly Toral, Stewart, Magennis, Balogh (if he proves to be any good). Of course, other sides have injuries too, but they are important misses for us with our thin squad. On the other hand, luck continues with Bowen and others staying fit and injury free.
Maybe, just maybe, Stewart could still be our 'Ashbee'. Of course nobody will ever come close, and I mean that, but he could be a missing version of Ash as he matures. And Magennis up front regularly would be making a big difference too.
If things really aligned for us, maybe we could have sneaked into play-offs. Just don't see it happening though.

 

Do we have a thin squad ? same size as everyone else’s isn’t it?

 

Size isn't everything...