Charlton v Millwall...updates & post match comments

Simon Church deserves a bloody medal...!!

He absolutely worked his arse off today in spite of receiving nothing by way of supply from our midfield. A truly tremendous signing for us imo...!!

Piggot was hopeless today. Seemed incapable of staying on his feet, one paced and not strong enough. However, in spite of the fact he played poorly he never once hid and continued to work hard.

He's a young man who will hopefully learn from today. I just hope his confidence hasn't been too badly knocked.

I may be in the minority but I liked the 3-5-2 formation. I felt it enabled us to retain possession better than usual. However, for it to work going forward we must find a better blend for our CM trio.

Jackson and Stephens are not dynamic enough and after today Pritchard should be dropped. That is without shadow of a doubt one of the worst performances I've ever seen from a Charlton player... absolutely pathetic...!!

£30 down the ****ter to watch two very poor teams. Charlton & Millwall relegation double could make you a few quid.

 

It looked to me as though Joe Pigott froze today, I've never, ever seen him play as badly as that. He really is much better than that, and I thought that for the last few minutes before he came off he was starting to relax and put himself about a bit more. Pritchard had a nightmare, but the midfield didn't function, and it wasn't all Pritchard's fault. Without Solly and Kermit we don't have anyone who can cope with tight marking- the ball goes backwards and sideways until eventually it gets launched skywards. We have to start from scratch again with the midfield. Andy Hughes disappeared after being on the losing side for the first time,and IMO Cousins and Poyet are both capable of doing a better job than what we saw today.

 

Utter cack. Not a single player played above themselves, not even a whiff of passion. Poor directionless football.

 

For me, Stephens should even be allowed near the team bus. The man has absolutely no point in being on the pitch. He cant pass, he cant tackle, he never knows where he is supposed to be, and bottles it every challenge. Pritchard was awful but was made to look worse by having to try and do Stephens job for him as well. Jacko has not got the legs to be alongside such a weak midfield so we do not get his best anymore. I would play the developmental team next week, and drop everyone involved in todays excuse for a game. I am in such a foul mood and once again it is purely down to being a Charlton fan.

We deserve so much better than that bunch, the quality is nowhere near acceptable and the commitment levels have made me want to go into the dressing room with boxing gloves and a cricket bat

 

I could try and put a positive spin on today's result and argue we were unlucky, given that Millwall's goal was deflected and they created very little, but we were awful and deserved nothing from the game.

I hope what you say about Pigott is true FHB, as he was completely ineffective. He wins almost nothing in the air despite his height, and his passing is poor. Of course he's young and I know he'll improve (plus it can't be easy being given your full home league debut in an SE London derby), but we need better than that while Kermorgant is out. Sordell did OK when he came on, his pass through to Church was sublime and Church should have done so much better with it.

I love Pritchard to bits, but today he did more harm than good, most obviously when he lost the ball for their goal. I'm a little confused as to why Powell gave Cousins one start (Doncaster) in which he did more than OK, yet has since been dropped. Jacko hasn't been on it either, I wonder if his powers are on the wane. Which is worrying, given how many goals he has scored for us.

The three Charlton players who touched the ball the most today were Wood, Dervite and Morrison, who passed the ball amongst themselves an awful lot. To give them (and Powell) credit, it is clear they are trying to build from the back, but when the midfield offers so little that doesn't work. Wiggins' crossing still needs improving.

Harriot and Stewart gave us more of a threat, and I'd say both can consider themselves unfortunate if they don't get starts sometime soon.

I'm not panicking yet.

 

Utter ****e. Sack Powell and his clueless backroom staff. Drop half the team.

Hamer 4 - Poor kicking, positioning and parrying.
Wiggins 6 - Tried hard to push on, but kept running into a brick wall.
Wilson 6 - Same as Wiggins.
Wood 6 - The better of the three CBs.
Dervite 5 - Needs to play in Pritchard's role.
Morro 6 - Committed and tried to play the ball intelligently.
Pritchard 1 - F***ing w***.
Stephens 2 - Pansy.
Jackson 3 - Put him out to pasture.
Church 5 - Worked hard, but needed support.
Piggott 2 - Send him back to Paul Hart.

Stewart 6 - Should have started.
Sordell 5 - One nice pass.
Harriott 5 - Should have started.

For the next match, I would play -

4-3-3

Alnwick
Solly/Wilson
Wood
Morro
Wiggins
Cousins
Dervite
Gower
Stewart
Harriott
Church/Kermit

 

pritch had a 'mare. worst game i've seen him have, his bad pass cost us that goal. piggott did freeze, but we cant get on his back, even at welling we had no idea he'd be in the first team this year. we cant let it destroy him and it was probably bad man management to chuck him in against them today. sordell wouldve got under the skin of their fans and players and that couldve helped regardless of the fact he's cack.

stephens was ok, but didnt have the support he needed. he was always bypassed too - too much hoofball.

i think it every week, but our throw ins are dire. they might as well be the nod to pass it back to the other team.

bloody awful today, we have no plan A, B or C.

 

Pigott had a nightmare, and clearly was not mentally ready for getting his first league start in this particular game. At times he looked as though he'd never kicked a ball before. But... having followed his career through the Academy I could see from the middle of the NW quad that he wasn't himself. Did any of the senior players go over to give him some encouragement? If they did I missed it, especially the skipper. The sort of encouragement Llera gave Harriott when he first came into the team would have been nice.

 

Very rarely in the last 40 years have I left the Valley with the hump. Today I did. It wasn't just the defeat, it was the sheer mindless mediocrity of the football we played.

A few points to add;

1. Sitting directly behind Ben Hamer, you quickly appreciate how bad his distribution is. His poor kicking and throwing puts our players under immediate pressure, leading to "hot brick" football. This can be improved on with coaching.

2. You cannot play a 3-5-2 at home with two wing backs ( Wilson and Wiggins) who cannot cross the ball. Both were woeful in possession today. This can be improved with coaching.

3. You need a striker who can hold the ball up, otherwise it just pings straight back like a bagatelle. Piggott is way, way out of his depth at the moment. Church tries hard, but is not that type of striker. We need a striker who can trap a ball and play teammates in. This can be improved with coaching.

4. Pritchard gave a performance today which some of us had been predicting for weeks. It was noticeable that as soon as the ball came towards him, Bailey and Abbou quickly pressured him. The Millwall scouts had clearly notice.d that he has a poor touch.He gave the ball away at least six times in the first half. Some may love the old "duracell bunny" but a footballers basic competence has got to be...guess what...a bit of skill on the football... and Pritchard has next to none.

5. Dale Stephens lacks the bottle and heart ever to have a decent career.

Finally, I am sick of the glib platitudes that Powell produces post match. The bloke is a busted flush, great for two years, but now further past his sell by date than a pint of week old milk. Anyone doubting that cannot have been watching the same game today.

 

I give up with Charlton at the moment. The only thing annoying me more than the state of the club is those who continually blame it on the wrong people.

We could have played every single player on our books today and still not have put more than 4 passes together, the team is poor and needed investement in the summer, sorry but that is how it is. Powell still getting blamed for the mistakes of the board was getting old a week ago, the man only has a selection of poor or poorer to choose from, but yeah, lets blame his tactics, if Stewart had started and we slighty changed the formation we would have won 9-0...................................................................................................

 

It was only last week that I was defending CP, but I really don't think I can now.

His record in South London derbies is abysmal. Can he not galvanise the players for such big occasions? If not, why not?

The odd win against better opposition seems to cloud his deficiencies as a tactician. His backroom staff are clueless, too.

Sordell should have started. He would have been up for it.

Change it after 20 minutes if it is so bad. To begin the second-half with the same eleven was beyond weak.

I know we are skint and can't afford to make a change, but we'll be in League One next season if things stay the same.

The crowds are dwindling. Less than 16k for a derby match is worrying.

Jimmy, we have a better squad than results have shown. The trouble is the tactics, team selection and man-management.

 

Well it really is up to the manager to make some changes to this midfield. Our best def-mid is Andy Hughes, and he is just the type to bring on players like Cousins and Poyet, although to be fair Cousins did pay tribute to Gower for the way he talked him through his debut. Not JJ, Gower. I was frankly disappointed with the way Pig was left to stew when he was clearly suffering stage-fright. One thing we have always given The Doctor credit for is the team spirit, but after today I wonder. Judging by his answer about wanting the players' contracts sorted before he sorted his own I also wonder about his commitment.

 

While I don't necessarily think that a knee jerk manager sacking is anything other than idiocy, tonight the theme is very much the por starting line up, and when things began to go awry, the reaction did'nt occur. The point was also well made that if Piggott had a bad game, where were the proffessionals in our team to come and give him a bit of encouragement. Very very por all round, and Rafter two years, CP needs to start showing signs of learning the lessons he's being served up with. The subs can be used whenever, not just after a mínimum sixty minutes.

 

Completely disagree that the results are down to anything other than us simply not being good enough. Are we under performing? Yes, but would we be in a drastically different position if all the players played to the best of their abilities? No.

Saying SCP has a poor record in derby games is odd as well, yeah he has but we always seem to do badly in derby games anyway since long before he was manager

 

@ FHB - Did Jackson play against Barnsley in that fixture where Cousins made his debut and was helped by Gower?... Havent checked any match reports but I thought he was still out injured then

 

He got it completely wrong. We've finally got a squad with natural wingers (Green, Harriott, Stewart and the other Harriott) and then he decides to ditch wingers completely. With Kermorgant out there was no need to chuck Pigott into such an 'intense' game - he should have just played 451 and put Millwall on the backfoot from the off.

 

We beat Leicester - a far better side than Millwall - so when the players get the basics right, we can be a match for any team.

Today was all wrong. CP has to take responsibility for the side he puts out. The buck stops with him.

And if he is to stay, he needs to get a new right-man hand. Dyer is woefully out of his depth.

 

Having chosen the live experience to the sky experience I made my way to the Valley, more in hope than expectation. My hope for the season has I feared died. Millwall were poor & have little reason to cheer, they will be scrapping at the foot of the table, as we may be. What worries me is that we seemed to have no idea. Church tried, Pigott froze, the whole team forgot how to keep the ball & move forward. As a tactical novice, I read the views of others. On every single player I can find polar opposites of views. The same goes for the formation. I don't know the answers, they are I suspect being dictated by what we don't know re hard cash or lack of it. What I would say is that them that shout & moan the most are not always right (& not always paying towards the clubs survival, by season ticket or valley Gold), indeed my experience has shown they are normally totally wrong. We have the studious understated Chris Powell, if the option is the Di canio style, doing wonders at Sunderland then I for one will not be happy. There is no reason to replace Powell, there is a need for HIM to re-evaluate his tactics & plans for the season in view of the lack of cash & knowledge of the squad he has. If he does that, it could be he decides to leave our very vocal moaning fans to it and move on. Be careful what you wish for. From this point, the only way is up.

 

You're right, JJ was out injured.

 

May i point out Millwall beat Blackpool, a far better team than us. Results can sometimes be unexpected. The fact is we are not good enough. Implying the buck stops with Powell is wrong. The buck stopped when the bucks stopped. No money to make a decent team, means no decent team. Does anyone honestly really think the squad we have is even remotely up to par? And if you do, what are you smoking?

We need to face facts. We are all angry, and so we should be. But it is getting really, really annoying seeing Powell get blamed for everything he so clearly has no real choice over. Do you think if we had players who were good enough he wouldn't pick them instead? It is honestly laughable we have Slater and Jimenez sat there and some fans are moaning about Powell, makes no sense at all