v Charlton Athletic (H) Match Day Thread

[tinman]

23 minutes ago, angieram said:

Well, we did have a ball juggler at half time to entertain us. 

Trapped the ball better than most of our players! 

Genuinely one thing that gets me angry is how many times the players ’first touch sends in the air to head height when they’re trying to control a pass. 

[MadAmster]

1 hour ago, Ellafella said:

It feels to me that the momentum we had has been sacrificed all for keeping Sonney Bradley at CH in a starting position. It took a new level last night when our best player /prospect was played at left-back.

The style of football is Sunday Morning Burton & District FA circa 1989 (picture of Terry Whyman pops into my mind’s eye) - smash the ball forward/wide quickly and then “lump it” into the box. 
 

I am even considering not renewing my season ticket after over 10 consecutive seasons, it’s that dire. 

I've seen this comment a lot and it doesn't make sense to me. About as much sense as the folk on social media last night and this morning slating PW for playing a back 3 which was actually a back 4 of Nyambe (Wilson after Nyambe got injured), Nelson, Bradley and Cashin at left back.

Who else was going to play LB in a back 4 with Elder and Foz unavailable?

Made perfect sense to me. Criticise by all means, however, critique without offering an alternative is negativity for negativity's sake.

PW is getting stick for going with the back 4 most fans want. How else would YOU have structured a back 4 last night, one better than the choice he made?

The only alternative for a back 4 would have been Bradley on the bench, Nels and Cash in the middle and Sibley at left back... IMO, the  choice made was the best one.

He could have gone back 3 but that would have seen 90% of the fanbase on his back.

[nottingram]

1 hour ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

That was awful last night and more akin to a ping pong game between two blind men than a game of football.

I don't mind being direct,I don't mind constantly knocking it in from the wings but this game had neither and was basically tedious and boring.

A glimmer of hope was Gayle who showed some of those deft touches and lay offs not seen since Martin left...they were pointless however as none of our other players had the nous to actually put themselves in the region of where one of these lovely lay offs might actually be.

Amongst the others,Smith showed promise and looks far more championship than league 1 and Wilson put a shift in as,bizarrely,he was the main recipient of every pass to the wings instead of Mendez who had a very q game.

I'm a fan of warne,I like him and would still have him over the oft referenced manager who never was the manager Rosenior (whose football was equally tedious,just in a different way)but he needs to sort this out sharpish or we will be dropping like a stone before we know it.

Hard to believe we are second but still talking like this,we should be on a high not dreading the next game against port vale....we need a outstanding result there to put the confidence back into the team and the fans.

Rosenior is only “oft mentioned” these days by people who want to tell everyone how bad his football apparently was over and over again.

[nottingram]

7 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

I've seen this comment a lot and it doesn't make sense to me. About as much sense as the folk on social media last night and this morning slating PW for playing a back 3 which was actually a back 4 of Nyambe (Wilson after Nyambe got injured), Nelson, Bradley and Cashin at left back.

Who else was going to play LB in a back 4 with Elder and Foz unavailable?

Made perfect sense to me. Criticise by all means, however, critique without offering an alternative is negativity for negativity's sake.

PW is getting stick for going with the back 4 most fans want. How else would YOU have structured a back 4 last night, one better than the choice he made?

The only alternative for a back 4 would have been Bradley on the bench, Nels and Cash in the middle and Sibley at left back... IMO, the  choice made was the best one.

He could have gone back 3 but that would have seen 90% of the fanbase on his back.

Sibley played LB regularly in a defence last season that barely conceded a chance never mind a goal.

But it’s not necessarily about him, can stick anyone who offers any sort of attacking threat there for all I care but breaking up the Nelson and Cashin partnership firstly for 3 at the back and now to shoehorn Bradley in so he doesn’t have to drop his marquee signing again, is crazy. Just no need. The back 4 last night was baffling.

[LeedsCityRam]

1 hour ago, Ellafella said:

It feels to me that the momentum we had has been sacrificed all for keeping Sonney Bradley at CH in a starting position. It took a new level last night when our best player /prospect was played at left-back.

The style of football is Sunday Morning Burton & District FA circa 1989 (picture of Terry Whyman pops into my mind’s eye) - smash the ball forward/wide quickly and then “lump it” into the box. 
 

I am even considering not renewing my season ticket after over 10 consecutive seasons, it’s that dire. 

Yes, this is infuriating me also - Warne seems utterly determined to keep Bradley in the side & to make our best CB move way is unfathomable. I get the sense he has a pre-determined agenda irrespective of the evidence on the park & the evidence thus far is that Bradley has at best been a disappointing signing & is lacking in a couple of key areas (technically & pace/movement). My guess is Warne seems him as his answer to Richard Wood - a relatively prolific big CB that scored plenty for Warne's Rotherham & as Warne has relatively few other tactical ploys, he is hammering this one until it works.

There are other highly questionable selections - Kane Wilson seems to be getting a free pass in this team but Barkhuizen (despite having far the superior goals/assists record) is constantly benched. I also can't understand why Liam Thompson is being underused - his form pre-injury was fantastic & even away at Oxford, he changed the game. Instead Warne seems hell bent on keeping more pedestrian midfielders in the team & then we all wonder why we're getting overrun in there. I'm also concerned about the start Blackett-Taylor has made at the club - a negligible impact so far for a marquee signing & although some may cite injury, I feel there's something going on there.

Re season ticket - I'm in a similar place. The quality of football is so far removed from what I enjoy watching, there seems little sign of progression/evolution & even the victories are so devoid of joy, it feels like a box tickling exercise. Granted I'm still fuming from last night but am increasingly questioning the wisdom of committing to 150 mile round trips every other week if this continues.

[Ellafella]

17 minutes ago, MadAmster said:

I've seen this comment a lot and it doesn't make sense to me. About as much sense as the folk on social media last night and this morning slating PW for playing a back 3 which was actually a back 4 of Nyambe (Wilson after Nyambe got injured), Nelson, Bradley and Cashin at left back.

Who else was going to play LB in a back 4 with Elder and Foz unavailable?

Made perfect sense to me. Criticise by all means, however, critique without offering an alternative is negativity for negativity's sake.

PW is getting stick for going with the back 4 most fans want. How else would YOU have structured a back 4 last night, one better than the choice he made?

The only alternative for a back 4 would have been Bradley on the bench, Nels and Cash in the middle and Sibley at left back... IMO, the  choice made was the best one.

He could have gone back 3 but that would have seen 90% of the fanbase on his back.

Louie Sibley. 

[duncanjwitham]

6 minutes ago, nottingram said:

Sibley played LB regularly in a defence last season that barely conceded a chance never mind a goal.

But it’s not necessarily about him, can stick anyone who offers any sort of attacking threat there for all I care but breaking up the Nelson and Cashin partnership firstly for 3 at the back and now to shoehorn Bradley in so he doesn’t have to drop his marquee signing again, is crazy. Just no need. The back 4 last night was baffling.

The thing with Sibley at left back is, he's good going forwards, but less good when he has to do some proper defending.  Last night, against a pretty poor, out of form team, at home, should have been an obvious game to use Sibley there.  They didn't really get at Cashin all that often, certainly not to the extent where you're thinking Sibley would have struggled.

[ap04]

2 hours ago, DavesaRam said:

we have overcome the match officials virtually every single match

We have had all of the blatant errors in our favour recently (Nelson hand ball Stevenage Sibley swipe Cheltenham), as well as a couple of debatable ones (Hourihane tackle Shrewsbury Sibley hand ball 76' Cheltenham). The only possible one against -not seen it again- was the alleged stamp on Adams.

[Ram-Alf]

1 hour ago, ap04 said:

This has been the most remarkable stat, almost unheard of. Season overall, hardly any home advantage (home +30.5 chances away +27). Last 19 games, similar opponents, an actual hindrance (home +7.5 away +22.5)! Pressure, pitch, opposition setup or what?

Those are some change of stats there @ap04 it makes one wonder if the pressure at home may have a negative effect 🤷‍♂️ 

[MadAmster]

21 minutes ago, Ellafella said:

Louie Sibley. 

... and, of course, nobody would have slated PW for that... of course they would. PW can't win with many fans.

[Sparkle]

4 hours ago, Crewton said:

"can" but "hasn't" - it's not hard to understand.

Wasn’t playing at left back either 

[LittleEatonRam]

Only just seen the goals from last night as I listened on the radio.

The second one was an abomination - about 5 different players made mistakes in that one phase of play.

[RoyMac5]

57 minutes ago, duncanjwitham said:

The thing with Sibley at left back is, he's good going forwards, but less good when he has to do some proper defending.  Last night, against a pretty poor, out of form team, at home, should have been an obvious game to use Sibley there.  They didn't really get at Cashin all that often, certainly not to the extent where you're thinking Sibley would have struggled.

What do you base that on, not last season. Plus they got to get at our centrebacks instead! 😄

[duncanjwitham]

1 minute ago, RoyMac5 said:

What do you base that on, not last season. Plus they got to get at our centrebacks instead! 😄

I thought that towards the end of his run at LB last season, teams were starting to target him a little bit - stick your best winger on him and force the ball there because you know he's going to get caught out sooner or later.  Overall he did a decent enough job and all that, and I can't fault him for effort or anything, but he's just not experienced enough at the position to deal with a top winger at this level.  You wouldn't want him up against someone like NML for example.  But like I said, Charlton didn't seem to have one of those, so I think he'd have been fine.

[Barney1991]

14 hours ago, sage said:

Why is Wilson being picked ahead of Barkhuizen in an attacking role?

Barkhuizen's goals and assists rate is much better. 

Sadly he appears to have his favourites.

 

 

Maybe Wilson is a better human? 

[DavesaRam]

5 hours ago, Ellafella said:

It feels to me that the momentum we had has been sacrificed all for keeping Sonney Bradley at CH in a starting position. It took a new level last night when our best player /prospect was played at left-back.

The style of football is Sunday Morning Burton & District FA circa 1989 (picture of Terry Whyman pops into my mind’s eye) - smash the ball forward/wide quickly and then “lump it” into the box. 
 

I am even considering not renewing my season ticket after over 10 consecutive seasons, it’s that dire. 

My sentiments exactly, Ella! Because the half-season ticket counts towards it, I got the 10 years in this time, but I too am wondering about adding any more to it.

[Anag Ram]

9 hours ago, Caerphilly Ram said:

What an odd way to phrase a question, essentially loading the question….if I can be so bold as to rephrase it to “how did Gayle do on his first start?” then my answer would be….

Gayle showed his movement and know how from playing at a higher level, I was surprised by some of his link up play in the first 20 mins or so as he occasionally dropped deep and played back to goal, popping one touch passes around with the likes of Bird and NML, he also then played a bit more on the shoulder of the defence and kept moving between their cbs. My thoughts during the game were that with more time alongside his teammates we could have a very potent attacking option. Ultimately the teams inability to find the killer final ball meant a lot of the positives Gayle showed weren’t utilised and there was a couple of times when he seemed to lose flight of the ball and it bounced off him as he was making his run.

In summary, some good, some bad, and it’s early days. 

He’s lost pace for sure and there were a couple of balls into the box which he might have gotten on the end of a few years back.

Just wonder if he and Collins could play together? He looks like he needs a second person to help him create space in the box. With NML freed up to supply them from the wing I reckon they could be a potent force.

[DavesaRam]

3 hours ago, MadAmster said:

I've seen this comment a lot and it doesn't make sense to me. About as much sense as the folk on social media last night and this morning slating PW for playing a back 3 which was actually a back 4 of Nyambe (Wilson after Nyambe got injured), Nelson, Bradley and Cashin at left back.

Who else was going to play LB in a back 4 with Elder and Foz unavailable?

Made perfect sense to me. Criticise by all means, however, critique without offering an alternative is negativity for negativity's sake.

PW is getting stick for going with the back 4 most fans want. How else would YOU have structured a back 4 last night, one better than the choice he made?

The only alternative for a back 4 would have been Bradley on the bench, Nels and Cash in the middle and Sibley at left back... IMO, the  choice made was the best one.

He could have gone back 3 but that would have seen 90% of the fanbase on his back.

The criticism isn't so much for going for a back 4, it was when he switched to a back 3 - again - and it all fell apart. The concern over a back 4 was having to put Cashin out at left back.

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

3 hours ago, nottingram said:

Rosenior is only “oft mentioned” these days by people who want to tell everyone how bad his football apparently was over and over again.

Nah,mostly those who still haven't let him go,why would the rest of us be interested?

If we want to lament a manager who actually was both our manager and a bloody good one,let's talk about Stevie Mac,not someone who had a very poor record here both as an assistant and as temporary gaffer.

Edited February 28 by kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong

[Barney1991]

2 minutes ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Nah,mostly those who still haven't let him go,why would the rest of us be interested?

If we want to lament a manager who actually was both our manager and a bloody good one,let's talk about Stevie Mac,not someone who had a very poor record here both as an assistant and as temporary gaffer.

Stevie Mac Paul Simpson and Eric Steele were the dream team. Getting them back in league 1 with a reset would be a dream