Derby County v Charlton Athletic Saturday 29th March 2014 3pm Kick-Off Referee: Mark Haywood When Jose Riga was appointed Head Coach of Charlton Athletic there were plenty of raised eyebrows not just around the club itself but on the stands and especially in the media… Here was a guy who wasn’t even well known on the Continent being brought in at a struggling club in perhaps the hardest league in Europe, plenty of experts in the Football world have certainly ear-marked the Addicks as certainties for relegation this season yet following the unpredictability of Football… things aren’t quite turning out as people thought. By that I mean in the five games that Jose Riga has taken charge, the Addicks have won twice (against AFC Bournemouth and now Nottingham Forest), they’ve also drawn twice (against Huddersfield Town and Millwall) whilst they’ve only been defeated the once so far (last Weekend’s 3-0 defeat at home to Burnley which is the only game the Addicks have conceded since the new regime began)… Indeed if you look at the form table you’ll see that Charlton currently sit comfortably in 12th position (over the last six matches) with Nottingham Forest and Leeds United in the bottom three (with our dear friends Millwall)… As per usual with Charlton Athletic it appears someone at the club has forgotten to read the script. And so on to the match this Weekend where they continue the theme of playing a side pressing for promotion, a side from the East Midlands once more and a side (Don’t worry we’ve got a hectic schedule but we’re not playing three games in one day) certainly there for the taking, partly because… Derby County currently sit in 20th in the form guide with just one home win (albeit a 5-0 win against Nottingham Forest) since entering March… Of course though this is the Championship and you’d be silly to pay attention to any kind of form!! 14.12.2014 – Charlton Athletic 0-2 Derby County A bit of a drab affair was played out at the Valley back in December between these two sides… the Addicks never really got going and goals from Jamie Ward (yet another deflection) and Craig Bryson settled the tie Derby County this Season And so on to the statistics (something else the Championship can make a mockery of in the simple flick of a coin)… Of the nineteen matches played at the iPro Stadium this season 10 of those matches have been won by Derby County with defeat coming on five occasions (against Leicester City, Burnley, Reading, Wigan Athletic and Millwall)… 34 goals have been scored with 21 conceded whilst Lee Grant in the Derby goal has kept 6 clean-sheets. In terms of their biggest victory you only need to look back to last Saturday and their win against Nottingham Forest (5-0) whilst their biggest Home defeat came against Burnley (3-0)… Goals this season have come from Chris Martin and Craig Bryson both scoring 15 each with Jamie Ward third on the list having 7-goals… The Addicks will certainly need to be on their guard in the 15-minutes after Half-Time as over 30% of goals scored by Derby County come in this period. Charlton Team News U21 friendlies are rarely announced too far in advance so with Brighton as the next scheduled one (next Monday) it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing Leon Cort or Chris Solly in this match-day squad… Although Dorien Dervite was substituted at half-time against Nottingham Forest so should that be due to injury you may see Cort or more likely Harry Lennon on the substitutes bench. Seeing that goals are difficult to come by at the moment (and with games coming thick and fast) you might expect to see changes in Attack again with Simon Church possibly returning to the side after being rested on Tuesday night… Marcus Tudgay is allowed to play again after being ineligible against Nottingham Forest so Joe Pigott who made the bench on Tuesday night would be expected to drop out of the squad… With Callum Harriott missing for a second match it’ll remain to be seen again if he is fit enough for this Saturday’s tie whilst it’ll be interesting to see if new signing Davide Petrucci (signed on loan yesterday from Manchester United) will have any involvement on the Weekend’s fixture. Possible Team to Face Derby County Hamer Wilson – Morrison – Wood – Wiggins Cousins – Poyet Obika – Ajdarevic – Jackson Church Substitutes Bench Thuram – Fox – Nego – Petrucci – Green – Ghoochanneijad – Sordell A4L’s Prediction: 1-0 (Church)
Going to make the trip up for this myself - an easy enough journey to make there. Like our season, this is going to go one of two ways. We will either make a fight of it and give it a go, possibly picking up a point or 3, or we will fold and find ourselves on the other end of a 0-3 scoreline with calls of it being the worst display seen in 10,20,30 years of supporting Charlton. I personally think with Derby's indifferent form we may well pick up a point. Poyet and Cousins will need to make sure they prevent Derby from moving the ball around quickly, taking more of a man marking stance rather than following the play. If we can do that, I think we will get a goal on the counter. 1-1 (Jackson)
Good preview A4L Only thing is that Tudgay has gone back to Forest, so he definitely won't be featuring. I can see Obika coming in for Sordell after the positive impact he had on Tuesday. I think we can get a draw from this. 1-1
Church having a busy day, starting, and being on the bench and scoring the winner Sorry, but yeah, good thread as usual, I am never going to predict a Charlton result as we are consistently inconsistent so ya know, but lets hope for the best. COYR
I'd play Sordell on the right and Obika up front. Other than that change, I fully endorse your selection, A4L. I'm heading up in the morning and would have happily taken a few of you guys in the car, but now all the family want to join the rollercoaster. So if you see me with the wife and three nippers, do pop over to say hello. I'll be wearing my Nirvana smiley shirt; we're having a week-long Kurt tribute in our household. And if Dick P is reading, I am rolling over the £50 charity donation to this game. A loss for us will mean £50 to charity. A draw means £25. A win means I have a curry on Saturday night. Anyway, I reckon a 2-1 Addicks win. Jackson and Obika with the goals. COYR!
Afternoon all Charlton: Hamer, Wilson, Wiggins, Morrison, Wood; Poyet, Cousins, Jackson; Ghoochannejhad, Sordell, Obika Subs: Thuram-Ulien, Hughes, Nego, Lennon, Harriott, Petrucci, Pigott Derby County: Grant; Wisdom, Keogh, Buxton, Forsyth; Thorne, Bryson, Hendrick; Russell, Bamford, Martin Subs: Legzdins, Naylor, O’Brien, Sammon, Bailey, Whitbread, Eustace So we start with 3 strikers as Riga goes for it in a 4-3-3 formation. The Asteroid misses out with flu, according to his tweet, as does Dervite, presumably through injury, with Wood continuing in defence. New loan arrival Petrucci is on the bench. COYA!
Derby on the attack and Chris Martin shoots wide. Clearly he's having trouble moving on from that 'Conscious Uncoupling'.
Good move from Charlton, Reza crosses for Sordell who lays it off for Jackson, whose shot is turned wide by Grant.
Poyet is robbed of the ball and it leads to a chance for George Thorne, and it's a corner for Derby. From it, the header goes over the bar.
Jackson has a free-kick in dangerous territory and gets it over the wall, but it's an easy save for Grant.
