Team for tonight. Charlton starting XI: Pope; Solly, Fox, Bauer, Diarra; Charles-Cook, Ba, Gudmundsson; Ahearne-Grant, Watt, Makienok. #cafc #CAFCLive Flag Quote · Like LOL Charlton Athletic FC @CAFCofficial 9s9 seconds ago Subs: Dmitrovic, Nego, Lennon, Thomas, Holmes-Dennis, Konsa, Sinclair, Sho-Silva, Pigott, Kennedy, Obileye, Umerah, Barnes. #cafc #CAFCLive Jackson, Cousins, Vetokele, Henderson, Wiggins all injured. No Harriott and a bit early for the new signing. Surprised to see Loic Nego on the bench. Polish Pete and Reza both trained at Sparrows Lane today.
His still contracted to us for a further two whole seasons! I suppose no-one wants to take him off our payroll. Played nearly every match last season for Újpest, though I do not know if they were all starts. (However FIFA ranks the Hungarian league as only the 29th strongest in Europe. Puskas and Hidegkuti must be turning in their graves.) Looking at his history he should be OK. Perhaps they will give him another try now we have a different manager? With Wilson gone we have no senior cover for the dodgy Solly. I thought he was too lightweight. Looked and played like an u-18. Anyway. he is on now for the second half, so we shall see. All change for the second half (bar Pope) and looks a very unbalanced side. Four strikers, one winger, and only one midfielder. Not sure what can be learned from that.
Stephen Kelly ex Spurs and Reading was supposed to play tonight on trial. He was delayed due to traffic problems. He is an experienced right back.
Whats happened to Muldoon? He got loaned to a League 1 team but hasn't featured in any pre season matches?
He played the second half v Welling. Would give us a better balance second half tonight instead of one of the strikers. I assume he is on now on trial with another club, presumably Div 2 or non-league as I don't think he impressed at Gillingham. He is signed with us until 2017, so another one hard to get off the payroll.
I was twice late for job interviews for that reason. In each case my prospective employer concluded that I didn't really want the job. They were right.
Not a bad evening all told, though I actually enjoyed watching the youngsters in the second half (despite not knowing who half of them were) more than I did the 'first' team. Of the new boys I was most impressed by Ba, who looks a gritty little player who can do the donkey work. Bauer was OK, one misjudged long ball aside, but I didn't think much of Makienok's performance - he struggled to get into the game and wasn't as dominant in the air as he should be given his stature. JBG roved around looking menacing and KAG was dangerous too. The own goal came after am extended spell of possession and a good cross in from the right. In the second half I liked the look of Kennedy (I think) in centre midfield and whoever 19 was up front was strong enough to rattle the defenders, even if he miss a golden 1-on-1 by sidefooting tamely at the keeper. Holmes-Dennis scored a wonderful free kick but was exposed a couple of times down his side through committing unnecessarily. Pigott was poor.
Thanks, Captain. Interesting you write that. From clips I thought he was shortish, but Wiki gives his height as 6ft Is that incorrect? Anyway, that is what we need. Apparently Kashi is another "gritty little player". Won't hurt to have two so Cousins (if he stays) can rampage forward. With JPG, that completes the midfleld with no wingers. Lovely! Brandan Hanlan Yesterday Luzon said we have "four good strikers", who he would rotate. Obviously Watts, Vetokele and Makienok, but who is the fourth? I assume Ahearne-Grant. If so, that is a dismissal of Pigott? (My own opinion, which I guess most of you share, is that, yes, all teams need four first-line strikers, but A-H is still a work in progress, Makienok is an unknown, and Vetokele needs to get 100% fit quickly. If he is writing off Pigott (possibly justifiably) we need at least one more first-choice striker. (Sho-Silva has another year in the u-21s to get his act together after his bad injury).
I was there last night. An hour on the District line to Dagenham East. Hard to read too much into it given the quality of the opposition. Suffice to say we look well short in central defence if Bauer and Diarra are starting v the likes of QPR, Derby and Forest. KAG was our best player IMO. Makieniok looks a real lightweight based on what I have seen of him to date, he is not physically imposing for someone nine foot tall. Investment quickly needed.
Yet to read a good report on Makieniok, and given what my Danish journo friend said, it looks like watt and vetokele will be the pairing come September 1st.
I went to see Canvey Island lose 4-0 at home to a strong Southend side. David Mooney was on the bench for Southend and stayed there for the entirety. Very impressed with Ben Coker; he'd make a useful deputy for Solly.
I'm currently visiting Ducker and we made the decision to pop along. It was a good night and a lovely atmosphere. Plenty of banter with Phil Brown. The other side on Canvey, Concord Rangers, are hosting Cambridge United on Friday night. May take a walk down to Thames Road. You got any matches coming up, AllHell?
I'm going to go. Only because quite a few of my friends are West Ham supporters. They play tonight and they're not confident in them beating us. Safe to say the team that Luzon-Saturday puts out, will be the one Luzon-Following-Saturday will field.
