Charlton Athletic v Sheffield Wednesday
Saturday 01 November 2014
3pm Kick-Off
After spending the majority of the season in hiding what a match to return for… You could say that there are three types of matches in a season when it comes to importance, the two obvious ones are firstly the standard matches, the games against Blackburn Rovers or Middlesbrough, a match with little importance, the second type is the Derby, these are extremely important especially when you think of Millwall, the third type of match maybe isn’t so obvious yet it’s the fiercely contested game between two sides who have history yet miles apart geographically (Gillingham v Swindon Town for example)… In Charlton’s case one of the most contested fixtures of late has to against our opposition this Saturday: Sheffield Wednesday.
Looking back through the history books you could probably say the feud started in 1999 when the Owls relegated Charlton from the Premier League in our first season back in the top flight, yet it was in our League One title winning year that the main tension has been built from… With the Addicks as run-away Champions one Wednesday Player (Gary Madine) decided to come out saying that Charlton were the most undeserved Champions in England that season (despite no team gaining more points) and since that day war has been declared between the two sets of fans… Of course it didn’t help last season when the Addicks twice returned from Hillsborough with wins under their belts and ultimately blocking a Sheffield Derby in the FA Cup on one of those occasions… Oh well never mind.
Returning to Championship action though and after a glorious unbeaten start to the season, the Addicks have struggled since the last International Break, two defeats out of three (both coming on Weekend Dates), mean that the last time Charlton tasted success on a Saturday was over a month and a half ago against Watford.
THE EX-ADDICK – PAOLO DI CANIO
This week’s link between the two sides is probably a player that most people will forget actually played for Sheffield Wednesday, of course Paolo Di Canio’s most famous moment came in a Wednesday shirt; after being sent off in a game against Arsenal, Di Canio’s furious reaction saw him push Referee: Paul Alcock to the ground earning him an eleven match ban.
DI Canio would only spend two years at Hillsborough, and departing Sheffield in 1999 he would go on to appear for London Rivals: West Ham United in a four year spell, in 2003 he came south of the river on a Free Transfer to Charlton Athletic and although he would spend just one year at the Valley his presence on the pitch almost guided the Addicks into Europe for the first time (Only for someone to move mid-season to Chelsea).
Paolo would spend the last four years of his playing career in Italy before returning to England as a Manager at League Two: Swindon Town, in his first season he took the Robbins back to League One and would ultimately leave the club in 2013 over a dispute (Classic Paolo style), joining Sunderland in late 2013 he would save them from relegation yet only five games into the following season he would be sacked and has been out of work since.
LAST TIME
Picking a match out of random, I have to look no further than last season’s second match at Hillsborough in the Championship between these two sides… with Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 after a matter of minutes, and the Addicks struggling to avoid relegation an inspired comeback which involved Marvin Sordell scoring his first hat-trick for the club meant the Addicks would win the match 3-2 and return to London with three points.
CHARLTON TEAM NEWS
Injuries have become one of the main problems for Charlton over recent weeks, struggling with a small and young squad Bob Peeters has lost; Igor Vetokele… Johann Gudmundsson… Rhoys Wiggins… Stephen Henderson… Chris Solly… Frederic Bulot and Joe Gomez to injury at some point in this campaign.
There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel though… In his weekly press conference, Peeters has confirmed that Vetokele, Gudmundsson and Wiggins could all return this weekend, although the one player most Addicks will have their eyes on this weekend will be Karlan Ahearne-Grant who could be set to make his full home debut for the Addicks after an impressive outing against Fulham last Friday night.
POSSIBLE SIDE TO FACE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Henderson
Solly – Ben-Haim – Bikey – Wiggins
Wilson – Buyens – Jackson – Cousins
Tucudean – Ahearne-Grant
SUBSTITUTES BENCH
Pope.. Fox.. Onyewu.. Harriott.. Moussa.. Gudmundsson... Vetokele
PREDICTION
Charlton Athletic 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Jackson.. Ahearne-Grant)
Saturday 01 November 2014
3pm Kick-Off
After spending the majority of the season in hiding what a match to return for… You could say that there are three types of matches in a season when it comes to importance, the two obvious ones are firstly the standard matches, the games against Blackburn Rovers or Middlesbrough, a match with little importance, the second type is the Derby, these are extremely important especially when you think of Millwall, the third type of match maybe isn’t so obvious yet it’s the fiercely contested game between two sides who have history yet miles apart geographically (Gillingham v Swindon Town for example)… In Charlton’s case one of the most contested fixtures of late has to against our opposition this Saturday: Sheffield Wednesday.
Looking back through the history books you could probably say the feud started in 1999 when the Owls relegated Charlton from the Premier League in our first season back in the top flight, yet it was in our League One title winning year that the main tension has been built from… With the Addicks as run-away Champions one Wednesday Player (Gary Madine) decided to come out saying that Charlton were the most undeserved Champions in England that season (despite no team gaining more points) and since that day war has been declared between the two sets of fans… Of course it didn’t help last season when the Addicks twice returned from Hillsborough with wins under their belts and ultimately blocking a Sheffield Derby in the FA Cup on one of those occasions… Oh well never mind.
Returning to Championship action though and after a glorious unbeaten start to the season, the Addicks have struggled since the last International Break, two defeats out of three (both coming on Weekend Dates), mean that the last time Charlton tasted success on a Saturday was over a month and a half ago against Watford.
THE EX-ADDICK – PAOLO DI CANIO
This week’s link between the two sides is probably a player that most people will forget actually played for Sheffield Wednesday, of course Paolo Di Canio’s most famous moment came in a Wednesday shirt; after being sent off in a game against Arsenal, Di Canio’s furious reaction saw him push Referee: Paul Alcock to the ground earning him an eleven match ban.
DI Canio would only spend two years at Hillsborough, and departing Sheffield in 1999 he would go on to appear for London Rivals: West Ham United in a four year spell, in 2003 he came south of the river on a Free Transfer to Charlton Athletic and although he would spend just one year at the Valley his presence on the pitch almost guided the Addicks into Europe for the first time (Only for someone to move mid-season to Chelsea).
Paolo would spend the last four years of his playing career in Italy before returning to England as a Manager at League Two: Swindon Town, in his first season he took the Robbins back to League One and would ultimately leave the club in 2013 over a dispute (Classic Paolo style), joining Sunderland in late 2013 he would save them from relegation yet only five games into the following season he would be sacked and has been out of work since.
LAST TIME
Picking a match out of random, I have to look no further than last season’s second match at Hillsborough in the Championship between these two sides… with Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 after a matter of minutes, and the Addicks struggling to avoid relegation an inspired comeback which involved Marvin Sordell scoring his first hat-trick for the club meant the Addicks would win the match 3-2 and return to London with three points.
CHARLTON TEAM NEWS
Injuries have become one of the main problems for Charlton over recent weeks, struggling with a small and young squad Bob Peeters has lost; Igor Vetokele… Johann Gudmundsson… Rhoys Wiggins… Stephen Henderson… Chris Solly… Frederic Bulot and Joe Gomez to injury at some point in this campaign.
There does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel though… In his weekly press conference, Peeters has confirmed that Vetokele, Gudmundsson and Wiggins could all return this weekend, although the one player most Addicks will have their eyes on this weekend will be Karlan Ahearne-Grant who could be set to make his full home debut for the Addicks after an impressive outing against Fulham last Friday night.
POSSIBLE SIDE TO FACE SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
Henderson
Solly – Ben-Haim – Bikey – Wiggins
Wilson – Buyens – Jackson – Cousins
Tucudean – Ahearne-Grant
SUBSTITUTES BENCH
Pope.. Fox.. Onyewu.. Harriott.. Moussa.. Gudmundsson... Vetokele
PREDICTION
Charlton Athletic 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday (Jackson.. Ahearne-Grant)
