Football League Championship â Round Seven Charlton Athletic v Wolverhampton Wanderers Tuesday 16th September 2014 7:45pm Kick-Off Referee â Patrick Miller (Bedfordshire) With the fixtures coming thick and fast we swiftly move on the next round of Championship fixtures (and following my impromptu break for two weeks following the Brighton fixture the return of the match previewsâ¦) When the fixture list is released any permutation can happen any bit of back luck can happen as a team could be anywhere in the league when itâs the turn of Charlton to face them, of course if luck decided (and it would be strange luck) a side could go a whole season playing sides in the bottom half of the table and visa versa, well so far the latter has most certainly happened to Charlton especially when you look at the current league table and notice that following the first seven fixtures, the Addicks will not only have to face five teams in the top half (three of those currently in the PlayOffs) yet by next Saturday will have faced the three beaten PlayOff sides from last seasonsâ Championship yet also the three promoted sides from League One (ironically it seems from those eight teams, Charlton have made harder work of the two teams not in those two categories⦠Watford and Huddersfield), this Tuesday evening and itâs the turn of the League One Champions and the side that currently occupy 3rd place: Wolverhampton Wanderers⦠Of course being a league the above is meaningless as everyone must play each other twice throughout the season so bring it on!! Charlton Athletic when they won League One back in 2011/12 equalled a points record in Englandâs third tier which was first set by Fulham back in 1998/99 (Of course that points total would be 101 points)⦠Based on the performances set by the Addicks that year, many would think that the above points total wouldnât be beaten (at least for a few years), well I suppose a few years was all it took⦠When Wolverhampton Wanderers were relegated in successive seasons many thought theyâd follow the same route as the likes of Charlton, Southampton, Leeds in struggling to get back into the 2nd tier, Wolves on the other hand had no concerns and under ex-Millwall Manager: Kenny Jackett they would set a new League One record by winning the Division last year with 103-points (Not bad I s'pose)⦠Fast forward to this season and another promotion push could well be on the cards, after six games Wolves sit a point ahead of the Addicks having just lost the single game (Rotherham United) yet winning one additional game more to leave them a point ahead in the fight for the Premier League. The Addicks though come into Tuesday with a 100% record at the Valley so far this season and are the only team with such a home fortress in the league so far, and following a gutsy clean-sheet against Watford on Saturday; Charlton will be eager to keep all three points in South East London once again⦠The Ex-Addick In terms of reunions between the clubs this weeknight there are only two players that could line-up against their former clubs which actually involve Wolvesâ players⦠Firstly striker: Leon Clarke (Who spent time with the Addicks on their way to the League One title), who isnât this weekâs feature and secondly is the man charged with keeping Charlton from yet another victory and who is this weekâs feature: Carl Ikeme Signed by Phil Parkinson in October 2009, Carl Ikeme would join the ranks of the not-so-successful loanees to have spent time at the Valley in recent years⦠Signed as cover for an injured Rob Elliot making just five appearances for the club⦠Upon his return to Molineux after the short spell Ikeme would go on to spent time on loan at five other clubs (Sheffield United, Queens Park Rangers, Leicester City, Middlesbrough and Doncaster Rovers), following the relegation of Wolves to League One (and the subsequent departure of Wayne Hennessey), Ikeme would be given the first choice jersey guiding Wolves back to the Championship at the first attempt. Wolves⦠the Stats Total Points: 13 â Third Place Points on the Road: 4 - Blackpool (D)⦠Fulham (W) Biggest Win: 3-1 Blackburn Rovers - Biggest Defeat: 0-1 Rotherham United Top Goalscorers: Bakary Sako (3-Goals) 2nd Place: David Edwards â 3rd Place: Nouha Dicko (1-Goal each) Number of Team Goals Scored: 6 (5-Home / 1-Away) Clean-Sheets: Carl Ikeme (2-Home / 2-Away) Number of Team Goals Conceded: 2 (1-Home / 1-Away) Expect Wolves to be most dangerous in the 15mins leading up to Half-Time whilst they could be at their weakest midway through the 2nd Half. Charlton Team News The obvious change that should come out of the Valley tomorrow night will be the resting of Chris Solly who will be doubtful for any midweek match this season, Joe Gomez should of course come into cover⦠the only injury worry at the moment will be to midfielder: Johann Gudmundsson who only just passed a medical prior to the Watford match yet failed to make it to half-time before being replaced by Lawrie Wilson (Of course should Gudmundsson once again fail to be fit then Wilson would be expected to step up to the Right of Midfield)⦠Frederic Bulot, our newest Addick is the only other player with a question mark above him, with Peeters admitting he wouldnât be rushed into playing Bulot (wanting him to learn the Charlton way) we could well see a position on the bench should there be space. One other story to come out of Saturdays performance against Watford was the inclusion of young Striker: Karl Aherne-Grant in the MatchDay squad, although surely only there for experience it certainly shows that Bob Peeters has one eye on the continuous conveyor belt of young players coming through our Academy. Possible side to face Wolverhampton Wanderers Henderson Gomez â Bikey â Ben Haim â Wiggins Wilson â Buyens â Jackson â Cousins Tucudean â Vetokele Substitutes Bench Pope â Fox â Morrison â Moussa â Harriott â Bulot â Church A4Lâs Prediction: 1-0 (Jackson)
That's more like it A4L, great stuff Kenny Jackett has done a superb job at Wolves in not just arresting their slump but turning them around completely. At this early stage it's very risky to tell how good a side actually is from its league position, so I'm buggered if I know how the game will pan out. I would assume Wilson would start instead of JBG along with Gomez in for Solly. Our good start means Bob will probably see little reason for further changes. My prediction: 1-2, Cousins for us.
2-1 to the Addicks. Jackson and Igor with the goals. Despite the dwindling crowds, The Valley is to be a fortress this season. COYA.
1-0 Big man Bikey Certain he will score this season, he dominates in the air in our final 3rd, surely at a Corner he will himself.
If memory serves I've predicted a 2-1 loss in the last 2 games. So will follow suit in hope that I don't jinx it Wolves have looked decent, the game against Blackburn in particular stands out. However, a poor result against Blackpool and a loss to Rotherham gives me hope. The momentum they've carried in to the Championship will start to drop and I think they will be leaving the Valley with 0 points.
First league game with the possible exception of Udders that on paper and on form we probably should win. So a bit of an acid test. Expect to see some changes as I'd be surprised to see Solly twice in three days and Gudmunson is probably crocked after aggravating his injury and taking one square in the knackers during the warm up in Saturday that had him flat out for at least two minutes. I expect to see Gomez, Wilson and possible Moussa starting. Will be interesting to see how we cope with the changes and having to play a style of pressing rather than sitting back. Wouldn't be surprised if we didn't win.
Great stuff,A4L, and I appreciate your effort. But is there any reason you have chosen a centred text layout? As a former (but only half-trained) typographer and part-time university press copy-editor I know that there is a reason continuous text has usually been printed (and before that handwritten) flush left for 2000 years. Centred text is fine for wedding invitations and short public notices, but bloody hard work to read once you get past 10 lines max. Seems a pity for you to go to all that trouble compiling and copy-writing only to deter readers with your format.
Great stuff as usual, A4L. Surely there will be a bit of tinkering with the line-up. For Bob to say that Tucudean was finished with more than a third of the game to go (and I didn't see him contribute a lot before that BTW) may mean he gets dropped. In the case of Astrid I could see the point of playing a half-fit player because he was pretty good until he expired, but I thing Tuc will be replaced, most likely by The Harriotts, because Moussa isn't fit either. This would enable Cousins to go in the middle, and Jacko to play further forward. 1-0 (Jackson)
If we start another tucudean thread maybe he will score again? But honestly, still don't see it working out here for him.
The idea of Jackson playing as a forward does have a nostalgic appeal to those of us old enough to have watched football before substitutes were allowed. In the good old days an injured player would soldier on gamely unless he was out cold or had practically had his leg amputated (typically by a Bolton centre-half). (Not a typo, youngsters, centre-backs were called "centre-halves" back in the day, and you were only allowed one of them). Typically the injured player would be stationed on the left-wing unless the team had a genuine and influential left-footed left-winger, as rare in those days as today. In the 'sixties the trend was for the cripple to play at centre-forward, which made more sense as he still had to be marked, occupying a defender's attention, whereas on the left-wing he could be more or less ignored. Jackson doddering towards a booted clearance from Bikey and losing out, although he had ten yards start on the defender, would elicit the same sympathetic cheers and derisive jeers as in the good old days. I am all for it.
Just watched the match and by gum we should have lost by a hearty amount. Bob Peeters luck of the Belgian carries on. Shocking performance, but plucky all the same and bar set pieces, look very solid. Unfortunately we couldn't string 5 passes together and had very little attacking flair going forward. Having said that; We should have earned a blatant penalty for handball, Tucadean should have scored with his chance and so should of Jackson. Bikey was nearly faultless and the goal, however lucky seemed well taken. Happy to see some flips in the celebration too! Who was the last to do that at the Valley? Special mention to how god awful Wiggins was today. He hasn't done too much wrong so far this year, but he'll want to forget that performance! Also to Gomez, who had a shocker of an opening 45, but grew into the game and played well. Lightning pace too! Night all
Just got back That was an absolutely shocking performance, we should have lost that by miles. Henderson - 6 did some good saves, couldn't tell about their goal but nothing outstanding by him. Gomez - 5 - Poor game, I'm sorry Joe, want him to do well but he was poor gave the ball away countless times. Ben Haim - 6 - Sometimes was solid, confident and good on a run but just not as solid as he has been. Bikey - 7 - Just a 7, nearly a 6, he was solid in the air as usual and a good powerful presence, got his goal (and won me 20 quid) BUT sometimes just needed to put his foot through it and thump it clear. Wiggins - 5 - Was poor, full of mistakes, but other times he was brilliant, battled and did a match saving tackle blocking Clarke in the 2nd half, but too many mistakes to get a 6. Wilson - 5 - Love the lad but he just seemed totally out of it, shattered and not his usual self, he still put effort in but he just wasn't getting anything. Jacko - 5 - Lack of pace has always been clear but today he was annoymous, noticed the odd tackle and his miss in the 2nd half but that was it. Buyens - 6 - Was an ok performance, again gave the ball away too often. Cousins - 5 - Didn't seem to do much, or give Wiggins any protection at all, needs to run down the line rather than cut inside every time. Tucudean - 5 - See the odd flash of a player in there, but not enough. Vetokele - 7 - Ran and ran and ran with very little help all night, his chance at the end, if it had been in the 1st half he'd have taken it, he was just too shattered and pulled back. Moussa - 5 - Same as Tucudean, shows some glimpses of quality just not enough. Bulot - 5 - Looked a bit pacy but looks about as one footed as long John Silver. We got lucky today, even more so than Watford. We missed Gudmundsson he would have been calm on the ball. We need to drop Jacko for Harriot and put Cousins in the centre, maybe give Wiggins as rest, as I said, he showed some class but was still full of mistakes. Controversial decision here.... play Church... yes Simon 'spongebob' Church, can't be any worse than Tucudean AND he can be someone to chase a loose ball allowing Igor to concentrate on scoring, or least not have to do it all himself.
Pretty much what Ted said except I thought Jackson played quite well and Tucudean was even worse than terrible. Absolutely no cohesion whatsoever and Buyens was shocking. Saves us getting carried away I suppose but luck has to run out sometime. Oh and Bob, just so's y'know, Jordan cousins is not a left winger!!!!
Just a few points from me, I thought Wiggins actually had a good game. Tucudean missed 4 good chances just shows what we are missing, and Jackson I thought had a good game too. Gomez and Cousins were the two disappointing players for me, Gomez didn't look good enough in first half and was much worse today then is debut, Cousins kept misplacing passes back to Wiggins which I think made Wiggins looked worse then he played, and Cousins always cuts in. Jackett got his tactics spot on, every time the wingers and fullbacks stood on the touchline and spread the play across, but again game could have gone either way as we could have been 3 - 0 up but Tucudean's missed chances, but overall Wolves had the balance on possession but the quality of chances created was probably about equal, but we are lucky to come home with a point.
It has to be said- Gomez is playing out of position. He's taking a lot of unfair flak. All through his career he's played CB, and now he's being asked to take a big step up to Championship level- out of position. It was the same when Solly made his debut against Millwall- out of position, and got slated for his performance. Cousins we all know about anyway so I won't labour the point. If Gomez can't be accommodated at CB he should be loaned out to a L1 or L2 club rather than be played at RB, where Wilson is a ready-made replacement for Solly.
I didn't think we were that bad. A draw was just about a fair result, even though I agree Wolves were the better side. We should have been 2-0 up before we scored, Jackson made a great run through the middle and was picked out by a lovely chip, but before he could sort his legs out to get a shot away the ball had run through to the keeper. Then, from a brilliant Cousins cross, Tucudean attacked the ball well but didn't get enough on his glancing header to send the ball inside the post. Tucudean had another glorious opportunity just after Bikey's goal but rolled it wide when clean through, and he missed another chance when the ball was knocked back to him in the penalty area and he clean missed the ball. Meanwhile, Wolves had had their fair share of attempts on goal. The closest came from a low, curling effort Henderson tipped (at least I think he got something on it) onto the inside of the post, although there were other chances. More than once we failed to close down quickly enough, affording the Wolves midfield the chance to shoot from long range. Two such efforts were only inches wide of the far post. They were also nearly in when Gomez was caught daydreaming and Ben Haim had to cover and clear into the side netting. A common theme was that the Wolves midfield, lead by the magnificent Kevin McDonald, was better in possession than ours was. They continued to thread dangerous balls through to the strikers in the second half and on more than a few occasions a late recovering tackle was necessary. Wolves fully deserved their goal, even if it was a tad messy, Henderson being impeded by both his own player and a Wolves man in palming Batth's downward header it into the corner. The game was stretched; Jackson ran on to a brilliant flick-on from Vetokele but put his shot wide, while both Vetokele and Moussa both ran too far with the ball when bearing down on goal. At the other end a superb sliding tackle from Gomez blocked a close-range effort. Henderson also had to tip a daisycutter around the post. At the end both sets of fans seemed happy enough with the draw. Henderson: 6 - kicking was often poor, and I dislike his time-wasting. Made a couple of great saves. Gomez: 7 - unwilling to cross when getting forward, and made one or two dodgy passes, but otherwise didn't look out of place. Ben Haim: 7 - one attempt to be clever in the first half backfired and let Wolves in, but apart from that looked a class above at calmly clearing up a dangerous situation and starting attacks. Bikey: 7 - well-taken goal, once or twice made a great tackle but then waited too long and was caught, giving away a free-kick. Wiggins: 6 - struggled at times but made some important tackles. Not his worst game IMO. Wilson: 5 - contributed very little. Jackson: 7 - two brilliant bursts forward lead to chances he could/should have taken. Tired as the Wolves midfield increasingly dominated. Buyens: 6 - his natural instinct when receiving the ball is to play it backwards rather than turn. Kept possession well but didn't get forward enough in the way the McDonald was able to. Cousins: 7 - one great cross and a rasping effort on goal that wasn't fair wide. Tucudean: 5 - slightly better link-up play than v Watford but missed 3 golden opportunities. Vetokele: 7 - fluffed his one great chance near the end but was his usual busy self. He goes back to defend for corners when I would have thought he would be better waiting upfield for a potential counter-attack. Subs: Moussa: 7 - some very skilful play. He seems to work better when the game is getting stretched. Bulot: 6 - did nothing wrong, looked eager. Overall I'm not too downhearted. We certainly didn't play particularly well and could just as easily have lost it as won it, but we looked dangerous going forward, even with Tucudean never looking like scoring. I wouldn't be too averse to seeing Church in for him either. I assume JBG will be back on Saturday for Wilson.
Wiggins had a good game?.?? CC you must have been at a different game to me. He constantly passed the ball backwards into trouble and failed to win headers. He was saved by Bikey on several occasions having played him into difficulty. I agree Jacko had a better game but the central midfield bert has to go to Cousins. Buyens had a poor match. But did not have his normal foil in gudmondson and struggled with Wilson and Jackson as a result. Igor deserved more praise than he got and i hope the injury to his arm, which saw him being helped off the field after the final whistle with it being held in position, is not as bad as it looked. The fourth official lost it with Bob and started harranguing him in his own technical area, very unprofessional. What are any one's thoughts on the refereeing performance this evening.?
I thought the ref was superb to be honest. We were the better team in the first half but were under the cosh for the entire second half give or take the odd breakaway. Loved Bikey's goal his lack of pace is frightening but he recovered well he really is a beast. Vetekele run his socks off tackled back harried and hassled them my MOTM. Wolves look a decent team maybe undeserved but happy with the point.
