Charlton v Millwall...updates & post match comments

I thought Stephens was one of the better players - but that wasn't hard, was it? JJ I thought battled well but couldn't make a mark to lack of possession. Church was a warrior. Wiggins tried, constantly doubled up on when near there box, but had not support.

Other than that- crap. Don't think sacking Powell will change anything. Cue the insults - but he still stays. Today doesn't change my opinion.

 

This is the Championship after all... Its a division that is impossible to predict even on a weekly basis let alone try and pick promotion / relegation candidates.

I am wondering as well though if we're suffering from second season syndrome a little bit - We certainly wouldnt be the first especially if you look @ Reading in the Premiership with a strike force of Kitson, Lita and Doyle in their heydays

 

@ Jimmy

We all I think accept that Powell has been dealt a bum hand by the Board. The results of a complete lack of investment were shown for all to see today, courtesy of Sky TV.

What I can't begin to fathom are Powell's tactics. We are trying to play it through the Millwall defence....so we play long balls to two strikers who can't hold the ball up. We are trying to get round the back of the Wall defence....nope...can't be that one either....no wingers, no width, and full backs pushed up who can't cross a ball.

So...what were the tactics today ?

 

Really becoming a problem for me this topic, i am all for everyone having their own opinion but i have read some absolute tosh in the last few weeks and not one valid point raised as to why this is Powells fault. All of the evidence stares at nothing but the fact we needed to get better players in and didn't. If we had a Championship team we would be ok, this side is made up of League One players with a bunch of youngsters not quite ready yet, so of course we are struggling.

Keeping us up would be an achievement with this squad, but i suppose Powell is an easier target for those who would rather pretend this is just a results based problem, and not an "oh dear, the club appears to be completely Rogered" type problem.

Also really annoys me that we are all miserable while Slater and Jimenez will not give a toss, they have the money that should have gone into the team lining their pockets

 

I doubt that. I was at the match today.

He got some things wrong today, like playing Pigott. But as rubbish as we were, we lost thanks to one mistake and one cruel deflection.

Let's not forget we are without our most effective player, the one through whom most of our creativity originates. And our first-choice right back. And one of our first-choice centre backs. Most teams would struggle in that situation.

Powell has shown he can turn a poor run of form around before. I think he can do it again.

 

Back from pub, been there since like 12 so might have a bit hazed vision but we were both shockingly poor sides in my opinion just they got the break and to be honest were simply the best of a shockingly bad bunch. Not calling for Powell to go in Powell I trust but we missed Kermit a lot today.

 

If 3-5-2 is our formation going forward have we been able to play it with our strongest squad yet or has someone always been missing because of injury or suspension - From my POV we havent been able to as that squad is:

Hamer
Morrison - Dervite - Cort
Solly - Pritchard - Stephens - Jackson - Wiggins
Kermorgant - Church

 

The long ball is not what we were set up to play. With the wing backs it was pretty apparant the lads had been told he wanted balls coming in from Wiggins and Wilson, whilst at the same time having numbers at the back when we were not in possession of the ball. Sadly, when you have players like Dale Stephens on the pitch, passing the ball around and building play is simply not an option available.

How many times today did we see 2 or 3 passes in the middle, all played sideways or backwards, for someone to then get jumpy and just lump it because there were no options in the middle of the pitch? I single Stephens out particularly for this, but the sad fact is although i think he is the worst player we have, the other options are hardly amazing either. We need a midfielder with a bit of a brain on him. I can see Kermo ending up playing in midfield when he gets a bit older because he has that footballing brain and the vision to pull it off.

If we had a midfield capable of keeping the ball for longer than 20 seconds before panicking and making a mistake, we could build from there. The midfield we have today not only gave the ball away, but they always make the job of our defenders much harder and the job of our strikers impossible. How are you supposed to win games when your front men get no service and the boys at the back are constantly under pressure due to mistakes made by our central players.

Widemen cant run into the middle of the pitch, make a wonder tackle, get up, run out wide past everyone again and then put a perfect cross in. The fault here is simply, we have no creativity and not enough quality elsewhere to make up for it. Put a player like Scott Parker in that midfield and every other player immediately has the chance to stick to their own job, and start to perform accordingly.

Powell knows this, but has no option to do it. The board should know this, and should have got it sorted. This is the Championship, not a pub league

 

I think a little it of Pritchard's problem today was the fact that the referee was Durso who sent him off for a full blooded challenge against Bournemouth only a month ago. It certainly affected his commitment today. I would have preferred to have seen the wise head of Andy Hughes in the centre today because off his better distribution and the fact that he wouldn't have run in fear of the Nicky Bailey challenge. It would have been wise to have Cousins in their as well but, with the exception of Piggot, CP didn't have trust in the youngsters either.

This match was always going to be a disaster with Kermit out, live on sky, dursole as ref, and then Palace Beagrie commentating for Sky (smirked all the way from the tunnel to the sky box), it had the omens against it from the off. We went down to a deflected goal but that cannot cover the fact that we put the wrong team out to start off with and they played very poorly.


I am not going to call for anyone's head but I hope that the dressing room had a few broken tea cups to be swept up afterwards.

As an aside I thought the league tried not to have repeat refereeing appearances so soon after dursoles starring appearance at Bournemeouth.

Finally I note that Sky also appear to have dictated when we can play the red red robin since it didn't appear until after the teams had run out, not that it mattered since those in the covered end appear to have lost the ability to respect that tradition some years ago.

 

We can't seriously be saying that Pritchard is pony because a ref gave him a red card before, can we ?? Pritchard is pony, week in week out, because he is playing in a Championship standard league with Hackney Marshes skills. Get the DVD and look at how quickly Millwall harried him in possssion today. The game is up. The ploy is rumbled. BP is a wrong 'un at this level. Taxi to Barnet for Pritchard.

Jimmy- there's only a certain amount of times you can blame the Owners mate. I want them gone yesterday, but who coached that mob on the training field all week ?

 

I'm sorry mate, that is completely wrong.

He was rubbish today, no question. But to say he's rubbish every week is so wrong it beggars belief. He played 36 games in a team that finished 9th last season. It's simply not possible for a player to be 'pony' and play so often in a team that did well.

 

Sorry Captain, but we really didn't. We lost today because we are a team , coached and managed by a great player but poor manager IMO who needs to recognise his own limitations, and walk. We lost today because after 80 mins, behind at home to our bitter rivals, our midfielders were STILL passing the ball back to Hamer. We lost because under Powell we are incapable of stringing three passes together. One goal from open play since April under CP. why is that.

Injuries are the latest Walter Mitty red herring.

 

He gets picked every week because Hughes is injured, Gower is cack, and his manager hasn't got a Danny La Rue.

 

Do you really not think Kermorgant would have made a difference today? Not necessarily enough to win, but he is a big loss to the team.

Apart from the goal, Millwall created 1 chance that they put wide late on. So yes, I think it is fair to say that's why we lost. If there had been no deflection, we would have drawn IMO.

Even if your stat were correct (and it's not, we scored from open play against Bristol City, Bournemouth, Oxford, Huddersfield (both trips), Barnsley, and Doncaster - how can you get a stat that wrong??) it's misleading as we had no league games between the beginning of May and August.

 

Gower has only been here since March. Hughes physically can't play 46 games a season at his age anyway.

Pritchard still has to put the performances in. And he has. Funny how a manager who hasn't got a clue can win a league in his first full season as manager and then finish 9th the year after.

 

Have to say that that was a poor performance. From the crowd to the players, good luck this season, I think your need it.

 

Vol, how is it Powells fault that a professional footballer cannot pass a ball? Is this FIFA 13 and Powell has the controller? No, it isn't. Why do i constantly see things brought up that actually prove my point further? If Powell gives a pep talk to Stephen Hawking, would you be outraged if he somehow still couldn't manage to walk? Seriously, what am i reading here?

 

And get one of the highest number of assists in the division last season too

 

I look forward to Powell getting it right, as I am sure he will, not just because its what all Charlton fans should want. But to see what the constant negative moaning posters will say. Criticism is not a problem, but it should be constructive. This is real life not football manager.

 

Did you go to Watford last week ? For 60 min with Yann leading the line, we looked like a decent side. When he went off for Piggot, we collapsed. I attach zero lame to Piggot, he has been thrown in too early. A key part of the forwards job is to hold the ball up, without Yann we have nobody to do it. So the ball just constantly comes straight back, putting pressure on our defence.

We must be watching a different game, can't you see how inept we are technically ( the players) and tactically ( the manager) ?

We have just lost at home to Millwall for Gods sake !