Charlton season stats 2017-18

Two additional notes:

1) It's interesting to see that on table 3 Charlton's position is shown as several points inside the automatic promotion zone, yet we are still 5 points behind the top two places in the actual table. This can partly be explained by our games in hand, but also it's worth remembering that the target of 85 points for automatic promotion on table 3 is based on the average requirement over the last twelve League One seasons.
This could mean that this particular season 85 points may not be enough for a top 2 finish.

2) I know midweek home attendances are traditionally lower than those on a Saturday afternoon, but the attendance of 8,801 yesterday has now dragged Charlton's average home attendances this season (so far) below the average for the 2016-17 season - if only by a handful.
Those 'new fans' our beloved CEO and her apologists are trying to grow... it's not going too well so far.

 

How anyone can laugh off the pitiful attendances is beyond me.

 

Ignorance is bliss for some.

 

The apologists on ITTV have adopted the callous and disinterested attitude of the Regime; that dissatisfied, disillusioned or protesting supporters have no value and are not actually wanted anymore. Only fans who are loyal to the RD regime (what they call the Club) are welcome inside the Valley.

Rather than address what has driven away 5,000+ supporters (most of them life-long) and treating fans with a little respect, the Regime tinkers around with tinsel and marketing gimmicks trying to attract some new customers. Their devoted followers are of course heartily proud of this, and enjoy accusing the missing Charlton fans of not being fans at all.
This is an insult they sling around lightly at every opportunity, and it shows them up for the kind of people they really are.

In my view even the most craven or bullying apologist is still a Charlton fan in his/her own way, even if their behaviour is out of order.
But this is a basic acknowledgment that some apologists are eager to deny, because it allows them to insult other Charlton fans without pricking their slumbering consciences.

 

25th November update;

Scunthorpe United are one of the stronger teams in this division, so an away defeat to them is no disgrace. But it is a disappointment, and one which exposes again the weaknesses in our squad which every Charlton fan has been aware of since the summer.
It's possible the first of Josh Morris' goals was just bad luck - a confused situation. I don't know, I have not seen it. And the second goal was a terrific strike I have heard. Aside from closing Morris down better, perhaps nothing could have been done.

But our failure to get onto the score sheet, and equally importantly our inability to bring anybody off the substitutes' bench who could change the game, are not just examples of bad luck that aren't anybody's fault.

Fortunately it seems likely we will be able to bounce back from this defeat on Tuesday evening when Peterborough come to the Valley. Their away form is very poor, which should allow us the opportunity to return to winning ways. But the underlying problems will not be solved by a victory over Posh.
January is our only opportunity to put things right.

Positives:

• No new injuries that I have heard of yet. Not much, but just about all I can think of.

Negatives:

• As mentioned earlier, no game-changing options on the bench. Granted we have some players out injured, but not enough to justify such weakness.

 

29th November update;

A cold evening and a lukewarm performance that almost led to our second home defeat of the season, but a late revival and two late goals spared the worst of our blushes. At least the team never gave up, and the crowd (very quiet for long periods of the first half) drove them on to keep applying pressure right to the very end.
Only Ricky Holmes and Mark Marshall played well for most of the evening in my opinion, but credit to Karlan Ahearne-Grant for scoring at last -- only our second goal from a substitute this season -- to save us a point and some face.

Positives:

• A point saved at the death from a two goal deficit losing position - something to take encouragement from.
• Karlan Ahearne-Grant finally gets his goal, and it makes a difference.

Negatives:

• A pretty awful performance, particularly in the first half. Defence regularly by-passed, attacking movement off the ball non-existent at times.
• Ezri Konsa
• Ahmed Kashi
• Patrick Bauer off injured - did not look superficial either to me.
• Another very low attendance; below 6,000 again I would estimate.

I took a look at our position in the league at this point, and compared it to our position after 19 games in all our previous Post-War 3rd division seasons.
(see table 2 at the beginning of the thread).
This is the 9th season we have spent in the third tier since 1971. In five of the other eight seasons Charlton were higher than 6th place at this stage.
Those five seasons included all three of our promotion seasons;

1974-75 ... 4th ... (promoted)
1980-81 ... 1st ... (promoted)
2009-10 ... 2nd
2010-11 ... 3rd
2011-12 ... 1st ... (promoted)

Only in three other third tier seasons have Charlton been lower than 6th place after 19 league matches played;

1972-73 ... 10th
1973-74 ... 8th
2016-17 ... 11th

 

10th December update;

Mixed feelings after this game.

The 25th anniversary of Charlton's return to the Valley was an occasion for fans to celebrate and commemorate the years of hard work put in by a previous generation of Charlton supporters who refused to accept that their team would never play at the Valley again, and that (in effect) the Club was finished.

It was fantastic that we won that very first game 1-0 and that victory is rightly part of the legend now, but even if our team had drawn or lost the match on that December day in 1992, the return to our true and only home would still have been worth celebrating every bit as much.

So from that point of view yesterday was an emotional occasion and something every Charlton fan can be proud of.
Twenty five years of good times and bad, Premiership years and third division struggles. But all possible because of all the volunteers, the fans and the Valley Party.
That is the most important thing to me. That we still have a Club, and we still have our home. So I was very proud to be there yesterday.

The window-dressing was neither here nor there as far as I am concerned.
'Superficial', 'insincere' and 'hollow' are at the charitable end of the spectrum of terms I could use to sum up the Duchatelet administration. To be fair to them, I suppose at least they phoned it in yesterday and minimal effort is marginally better than no effort at all (their usual bench mark).
It was nice to see some of our legendary ex-players take a bow at half time. But I can't help wondering how much more of an uplifting occasion it could have been if the Valley itself was not still half empty.
10,000 home supporters for a once-in-a-generation anniversary event - that is the saddest legacy of the last four years.

Finally, to the football itself.
I thought we started brightly, and for most of the first half Charlton were pushing forward more and Portsmouth (after the first few minutes) were largely confined to hitting us on the break. But despite good work from Mark Marshall and others going forward the final connection never looked very likely. Too often as well, attacks broke down because of a stray pass or disjointed movement off the ball.
We shaved the post just before half time, and I thought the first half as a whole was quite entertaining. The Pompey fans made plenty of noise of course, which befitted the occasion and helped to make the day feel a bit more special than an average home game.

The Portsmouth goal just after the break was a shocker. Just as the free-kick was being taken a bunch of blokes were walking along the row in front of me returning to their seats, and my view was blocked for those few seconds. Annoying, but I would have been more irked (with them) had they blocked my view of a Charlton goal.
Of course the away supporters then really came to life, and for a while the North stand seemed pretty subdued. Then things seemed to go from bad to worse with he award of a penalty to Portsmouth.
It was a pull-back, not much argument about it. But Ben Amos pulled off a terrific save (albeit the penalty was not the best ever; into the corner but low enough to give the keeper a chance). A penalty saved comes second only to a goal scored for lifting the hearts of a crowd, and I was certain this would be a turning point in the game. For the next ten minutes or so we piled on pressure, and now it was the home fans chanting loudest. An equaliser seemed almost inevitable, and then with the added momentum of that we surely had a chance to score a second.
But the equaliser never came.
Eventually time ran out - 3 minutes only of stoppage because Pompey made no substitutions during play. Of course the result was a big downer, and there were reasons for it beyond just bad luck. But for me the occasion was not too badly spoiled by the defeat on the pitch.
Twenty Five years of extra life and extra history that Charlton Athletic might never have enjoyed - and more to look forward to in the future - meant much more to me at that moment than the result when the full time whistle blew.

Positives:

• 25 years of history we almost never had. And still a future to look forward to despite our current troubles.
• Despite the defeat, it was clear to me that the players are giving everything they can for Karl Robinson. Heads have not gone down yet.
• Ben Amos - that penalty save really lifted the fans. He could not have done any more.
• Mark Marshall and Ricky Holmes. Embodied the spirit of the team as it should be.

Negatives:

• Josh Magennis is looking tired and off form.
• Chances are still coming but no longer many goals. Fosu injured, Forster-Caskey not scoring, nobody else chipping in.
• 5 of our last 6 league games were played at the Valley, but we have taken only 8 points from a possible 18.
• Portsmouth (7th) play Bury next weekend. If they win by 2 or 3 goals and we lose away at Blackburn, Charlton will drop out of the top 6.

 

17th December update;

I see from the official website that Charlton deserved more from the Blackburn game, and that we were arguably the better team.
Sorry, but I'm getting a little bit tired of hearing that line.
Charlton fans have been saying since the summer that we don't have enough goal scoring ability in the squad.
It does not matter how well we play. If we cannot score goals we are not getting out of this league.

Positives:

• none that I can think of.

Negatives:

• Billy Clarke injured again, and apparently it's a bad one. When he was on form Clarke was a vital part of our early success.
• They say winning when you don't play well is a sign of potential champions or promotion teams. Losing when you apparently do play well therefore must be a sign of failings within the team. We cannot convert chances into goals. Until that is corrected we will not compete properly.

Here are the points stats for the top 8 in League 1 over the last five games;

• 12/15 (80%) Wigan
• 07/15 (47%) Shrewsbury
• 15/15 (100%) Blackburn
• 12/15 (80%) Bradford
• 10/15 (67%) Scunthorpe
• 04/15 (27%) Charlton
• 12/15 (80%) Portsmouth
• 08/15 (53%) Oxford

The average points haul from the last 5 league games in the top 8 is 9 out of 15 (60%).
If you take Charlton out of those figures, the average points haul for the other 7 teams is 11 out of 15 (73%).

Taking less than a point per game won't keep Charlton in the top 6 any longer.
Granted other teams have wobbled as well, but they have recovered. We must now do the same.

 

24th December update;

Nobody was expecting a classic performance yesterday, as our long term injury problem has now bloomed into a full fledged crisis. But I was hopeful after 25 minutes that Charlton could do enough even in second gear to see off Blackpool.
The visitors showed very little in the first half apart from effort, although even that alone was enough to give them more chances than they should have had. But despite shaky moments at the back, we looked capable of building on Joe Aribo's excellent goal and extending our lead.
The scoreline at half time should have been 2-0 or 3-0.

But in the second half Blackpool rallied and put themselves about rather more. The crowd tried to lift the home team but only at times - the atmosphere inside the Valley was often more low-key than the opposition, and the fewer than 200 Blackpool fans were not rowdy at all.
The warning signs came with a couple of very scary moments in the mouth of Ben Amos' goal, and eventually the ongoing inability of Best and Magennis to score at the right end came back to hurt us. The Blackpool equaliser in the 90th minute took what scant wind there still was right out of Charlton's sails.
Nothing was really created in the 5 minutes of stoppage time, aside from chances for the Seasiders to grab a winning goal.
And once again our substitutions were completely ineffective. I felt for poor George Lapslie, and Karlan Ahearne-Grant made only a fleeting difference.

All in all a very disappointing afternoon.
The home fans were winding themselves up for a huge cheer of victory (and relief) during those final minutes of regular time, only to have their long awaited prize snatched away. Instead there were boos at full time and several Charlton players sank down in despair.

There are two kinds of draws in my experience;
The kind where you come from behind to equalise - and the later you do it, the more the draw feels like a win.
Then there's the kind where you lose a lead. And the later you lose it, the more the draw feels like a defeat. Yesterday sure felt like a defeat to me.

Positives:

• Joe Aribo - played in a very positive manner, full of energy and scored a cracking goal. Potential bidders take note.
• Mark Marshall - one of our better defenders on the day.

Negatives:

• Two huge points lost because we could not defend against persistent but not exactly skillful attacking play.
• Missed chances in the first half cost us dear for the nth time.
• The atmosphere was patchy at best, funereal at times. Still no protesting, but sour at the end. Another very low attendance.
• Another injury - Best is out for several weeks apparently.

 

26th December update;

Indeed Charlton's appalling run of December form continues.
We are now bottom of the League One form table (last 6 games) and only one chance remains for a first December league victory since 2013;
a visit to League Leaders Wigan Athletic on Friday.

Karl Robinson is not even bothering to defend the performance of his team in the Southend Boxing Day match.
Apart from a 20 minute spell at the beginning of the second half - during which Ben Reeves scored our goal - Charlton seem to have been outplayed and were well beaten. And this is not well beaten by a serious promotion rival.
Well beaten by Southend United - Absolutely solid certified mid-table third tier.

Positives:

• A league goal for Ben Reeves (at last).
• No new serious injuries that I am aware of yet (fingers crossed).

Negatives:

• Four defeats in six games saw Charlton crash out of the top 6 for the first time since September. We are now down to 9th and deservedly so.
• Two goals down in 11 minutes, and to simple moves at that. Our injury ravaged defence has disintegrated.
• Absolutely no depth in our squad (been saying it all season) - even Robinson only named 6 substitutes.
• We really are heading for another wasted season unless something radical happens in January. We cannot afford to just wait for injured players to recover, then wait again for them to regain fitness and form.

The last thing we need to do is sell our best young players.
But of course we know that has already been arranged.
Without serious reinforcements - NOT cheap/free injury-prone match-unfit loanees and more kids - Charlton will struggle to finish higher in the table than we did last season.
And if Ricky Holmes has not already left in January, surely he will chuck it in come the summer.

 

30th December update;

Credit to our team for soaking up all the pressure Wigan could muster at the DW stadium, and for not cracking.
Charlton have a habit of raising their game to meet a challenge they know is coming - it doesn't always work, but considering the number of injuries the squad is currently suffering from, an away draw against the League Leaders was a decent result.

However, Charlton have now gone 7 league games without a win, taking only 3 points from a possible 21.
We currently sit 8th in the table, just 1 point (and some goal difference) from a play-off place.
But even a draw for Rotherham this afternoon will drop us back to 9th, and if they win they'll open up a 2 point gap on us as well.
And if Peterborough or Portsmouth win today, the last play-off place will be 4 points above us, not just 1.

A win against Gillingham on New Year's Day is now essential, and we really need to beat Oldham next weekend as well, just to stay in touch with the top 6.
A draw last night was good in itself and a morale booster, but anything less than victories in January will see us slip further down into mid table.
The superb start to our 2017-18 season will have been for nothing.

Positives:

• A clean sheet away at Wigan; few of us were expecting that. Well done to Ben Amos and our defence.
• A display of determination and no silly mistakes. The team can feel proud of the resistance they put up.

Negatives:

• Another injury I understand; Harry Lennon. I don't know how bad it is, but we can ill-afford to lose him so soon after his return.
• We did well, but the team knew in advance how tough this game would be. We must stop throwing away matches against 'lesser' sides, when our team has not mentally prepared itself for a hard game.

 

Now its time is coming to an end, it is worth remembering that Charlton's league win percentage under the Roland Duchatelet regime is pretty much bang on 30%.
55 league win from 184 league matches.
Under the richest owner the Club has ever had.

We played 44 fewer league games under Slater & Jimenez, but won 3 more (58 wins from 140 matches) or over 41%.

And before they took over, since our relegation from the Premiership Charlton won 57 matches out of 160 played. A little less than 36%.

Never mind all the lies and the managerial chaos and the useless players and the war with the fans. On that statistic alone - 30% win rate over four seasons, Duchatelet and Meire and their ill-conceived football experiment are exposed as an abject failure.
The sooner this sorry chapter in our history is brought to a close the better.

 

2nd January update;

A disgraceful first half performance.
A double substitution and switching to 4-4-2 brought a reaction after the break, but we cannot turn even sustained pressure into enough goals.
Another humiliating home defeat, and Gillingham celebrating the Double over us this season.
A million miles from promotion form.
At this rate we will be looking over our shoulder at the relegation places a few weeks from now.

Positives:

• Possibly a realisation that 4-4-2 is the way forward? Frankly however I doubt it.

Negatives:

• Ben Reeves, a disgrace to the shirt.
• Mark Marshall, the poorest I have seen him play.
• Our entire defence. Gone to pieces. Gillingham's goals were embarrassingly simple.
• More injuries.
• Our promotion hopes now hanging by a thread. Nothing left to aim for but 6th place in the first week of January. Pitiful.

 

7th January update;

It's always good to get a win.
On the day I think Charlton did enough to deserve it, being marginally the better team over the whole 90 minutes despite having to cope with a fair amount of pressure from Oldham after half-time. The visitors were up for the fight, but they lacked quality.
Charlton's performance was pretty basic as well, but young Stephy Mavididi produced a moment of skill and composure to home in on goal and finish with an excellent strike. He was the difference.
Credit too to Ben Amos, who stood strong and made two vital saves to keep the clean sheet and save us vital points.

With our squad in a tattered state and little prospect of any more help from the board in the January transfer window, the best Charlton can now hope for is to keep pace if we can with 6th position, and hope for a return to better form as currently injured players gradually return.
Bury away next weekend should provide us the opportunity to keep that last play-off place within touching distance.

Positives:

• Stephy Mavididi - quality goal, great to see. Yellow card aside, he adapted well to being dropped straight into League One action.
• Ben Amos - Was busier than he should have been, but came through well to save at least 2 of our 3 points.
• Ben Reeves not being on the pitch.
• A morale boosting win after so long. Should put us in good heart to take on Bury next weekend.

Negatives:

• Charlton did enough to get the win, but they were only just better than the willing but low quality Oldham. Relief at full time.
• The attendance was poor again. Even officially under 10,000 - there were no more than 7,000 home supporters inside the Valley.

 

14th January update;

A win against bottom club Bury puts Charlton back into the top 6.
We can only beat who is in front of us, but I am not going to read anything into this. I'm far too tired of Duchatelet's machinations to get carried away with positive platitudes and nonsense about turning corners. Two wins against a couple of the poorest teams in League One does not equal a revival of Charlton's promotion hopes in my book.
We have not scored more than 1 goal per game in eleven league matches now. We could not even fill our boots against Bury.
Now Karl Robinson says there will be a statement from the Club next week about the takeover.
Oooh, I can't wait to be lied to again.

Positives:

• We won.
• A Clean sheet.
• We're back in the last play-off place.
• Nobody else got injured that I know of.
• A few minutes of game time late on for Jake Forster-Caskey.

Negatives:

• A bag of dead ferrets would beat Bury at the moment.
• Having to play Ben Reeves. Yes, we got away with it against the mighty Shakers, but most times it will cost us.