Post-Match Thread and Ratings Charlton Athletic 2-1 Southend United

Ayrshire Blue said:

We have zero killer instinct at the moment. We had a lot of the ball yesterday, especially first half and did nothing with it. You're not going to win anything without having a sodding shot at goal

I thought we played well yesterday but when we went 1-0 down we might as well have packed up then and gone home as it was effectively game over because we don't shoot

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Been pretty much that for the last couple of seasons. How many times recently have we come from 1 or 2 goals down to get anything out of a game. If we don't score first we rarely win a game.

Southend deserved a goal as they certainly gave us a game. Best side we've come up against in my opinion

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I wouldn't normally comment in this thread since I wasn't at the match. I listened to the radio commentary and was pleased at how positive Paul Clark was - he's usually very critical of any under performance. So I think we played pretty well but have strikers that are unable to score! They received three or four accurate crosses that they failed to capitalise on. John White showed them how. What's happened to Simon Cox? He seems a shadow of the player he was last season. Is it just confidence?

Another Surrey Shrimper said:

Two guys wearing Shrimperzone polo shirts sitting as far from the enterence as you could go - one with a beard, one without - care to identify yourselves?

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Not sure that we sat but Wino and Del (beard) had their TZ Travelzone tops on and match decription. Also there as bar was easier to get served at. :)

Bit of a concern that in all three away games so far, once we have conceded the first goal we immediately concede a second. I thought the old adage was that a team was at its most vulnerable just after they have scored, NOT just after they have conceded.
My main observation from yesterday....we desperately need a fit Wordsworth back more than anything else. It will change the dynamic of the side..in a positive way.

Thought we played ok yesterday. It was a fairly even game up until the 1st goal. If anything, we started to get slightly on top after half time, then they scored.

They had a fit number 9 and a winger prepared to shoot, that was the difference. I hope in time we will have that, Ranger being the number 9 and Macca being the winger. Macca made a huge difference when coming on. Elvis was impressive again, I do hope he doesn't get dropped for our next match. A side note regarding Kightly, thought he was poor to be honest and doesn't have the required engine to play in a Brown team. He looked knackered way before his injury. Compare him to Holmes, he didn't stop running, back towards his own goal and towards ours. Let's see who takes Kightlys place. I'd personally go for Demi on the right and Macca on the left.

My first game for a while. Breaking it down into units:

Defensive unit looked solid enough for most of the game. It was obviously the tactic to try to starve Magennis of service and he ended up working the channels and a bit deeper than he might have hoped for. The last twenty or so though we were all over the shop. McGlashan and Kightly left the two full backs exposed repeatedly and McLaughlin wasn't much better. By that point Holmes and Clarke had done all the damage. It's a good job Fosu had an absolute mare, or the score might've been greater. Quite like the look of Bwomono though, for a young lad he didn't look overawed by Holmes and one of his only mistakes was allowing Holmes to turn so casually on the edge of our box for his goal.

Midfield again started well, and we really should've pressed home some of our better play in the first half. But it was the same story in the second half. Charlton stepped up a gear and we were overran a little. I would've expected far more from Kightly, and Timlin/Leonard hustled and bustled to little effect. Less said about McGlashan the better - a complete off day for him.

Front two were isolated. Ranger spent half the time picking himself up off the deck. He looked like he had the beating of Bauer in the first 10 or 15, but after that Bauer got to trips with him and Ranger looked completely ineffectual after that. Important 90 for him though. Cox looked more frustrated than anything else. Fed off scraps.

The overall set up was quite defensive I thought. We looked desperate to contain Charlton at all costs and there was a lot of high energy pressing, and in numbers, so you could've predicted that we'd have little in response if Charlton stepped it up in the later stages. They did, and we didn't. The only thing I think we picked up quite well on is Charlton's eagerness to play out from the back - Bauer dropped so deep to offer Amos the out ball that he was practically on the touchline, and Amos clearly wasn't completely comfortable. If Ranger was a little sharper, we might've had some joy there.

Charlton look a great side though, and have done for a while to be fair. Billy Clarke was a great addition and with him, Holmes and Magennis operating off a stable back five, they'll go far.

Midtable for us on that showing though. We weren't as poor as some have suggested, but we offered next to nothing going forward and struggled when Charlton had the bit between their teeth. Of greater concern for me is the lack of balance in the side though. Yes, there are injuries, but there are enough fit bodies there to field a consistent XI. Brown's got his work cut out if he's expected to make the play-offs.

Its going to be a long hard season.

southend_aussies said:

Sheffield United did this last season before storming to the top 2. Confident we can do the same and luck will change.

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If you think that team is just a run of luck away from storming to the top two, I rather fear you're in for some major disappointment.

Stuart W said:

Bit of a concern that in all three away games so far, once we have conceded the first goal we immediately concede a second. I thought the old adage was that a team was at its most vulnerable just after they have scored, NOT just after they have conceded.
My main observation from yesterday....we desperately need a fit Wordsworth back more than anything else. It will change the dynamic of the side..in a positive way.

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Indeed. The average time in matches between the many goals we've conceded away from home in the League already this season is just 10 minutes!

Not our worst performance but I can't agree with those who say we deserved a point, even less those who suggest we might have won.

Charlton were slicker, faster and fitter and their team had better balance and shape. I will be surprised if they are not at least in the playoffs.

Wordsworth should add a bit of attacking creativity to the midfield, the lack of which is causing Cox to drop ever deeper leaving, yesterday, Ranger increasingly isolated. Having said that, given his history, once he's back it's more likely to be "when" rather than "if" his next injury occurs.

The main disappointment for me was conceding the second goal so soon after the first. I thought we'd defended reasonably well up to that point but the players lost their heads somewhat for a while after their first goal. At 1-0 you're still in the game, 2-0 leaves a mountain to climb.

Also whilst I've got no problem with playing long to Ranger, it can't be our only tactic as it makes us far too predictable. When we did get the ball down we played some decent football in patches, I'd like to see a bit more of this please.

Oxley 6 - Okay, handling was generally good, I felt he needlessly pushed one shot out towards the penalty spot in the first half which luckily fell to a blue shirt. Too often punted long to Ranger when there were options to play out from the back.

Bwomono 6 - For the most part he played well, sometimes he looked a bit flat footed and got caught out of position a couple of times. Got forward well and put a couple of decent crosses in. Certainly looks a fantastic prospect.
Ferdinand 6 - Did okay, but still looks well short of the commanding, composed Ferdinand from last season.
White 8 MOM - Pick of the defense yet again, and grabbed a goal too.
Hendrie 6 - Defensively he was far better than some of his previous horror shows. Didn't get forward much but at least he was solid enough doing his main job.

McGlashan 4 - Had a mare, every time he had possetion he run straight into the full back and gave the ball away. I've always felt he's more effective from the bench, time to give McLaughlin a start.
Leonard 7 - Decent, protected the back four well and made some good challenges, I particularly enjoyed the one on Holmes in the second half.
Timlin 6 - Better than last week although he still gave the ball away too often.
Kightly 5 - Disappointing for the second game running. Comparing his performance with that of Holmes, who I (begrudgingly) admit was excellent, compounds this. Charlton's match winner turned up, ours didn't.

Cox 6 - I felt he played fairly well, a bit better than last week at least. Desperately needs a goal, hopefully Tuesday will be the day.
Ranger 7 - Pleasantly surprised that he lasted 90 minutes without tiring too badly. Looked our main attacking threat though probably should have done better with that first half chance.

Subs
McLaughlin 5 - Better than McGlashan, but struggled to make any real impact and didn't get back to help Elvis as much as I'd have liked. Odd that he played on the right, I know there's a fad for inverted wingers but personally I don't like it. We've got Ranger in the box begging for a first time cross but have wingers who have to cut inside before they can put a ball in.
Demetriou 6 - Strange sub, I presume Hendrie was injured? Did okay in an unfamiliar position though.
Robinson 6 - Made a couple of good runs and should have won us a free kick late on in a decent position. For some reason the ref gave it the other way.

Missing Rigsbys input in this thread (presumably he was there?)

Can't he be 'let out' on license?

I was not aat the game so i will not comment on mcglashan proformance but he has one bad game in 5 and should be dropped . That do great for his confidence . Loads of players should of been dropped after week two or three if that's was the case we be life with most of the youth team Playing

Totally agree the talent is there! We always start slow

Floval Flyer said:

Missing Rigsbys input in this thread (presumably he was there?)

Can't he be 'let out' on license?

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if some others on here felt the same it would be like a mild form of Stockholm Syndrome.

Floval Flyer said:

Missing Rigsbys input in this thread (presumably he was there?)

Can't he be 'let out' on license?

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I miss him as well, even tho we disagreed on a few occasions. Unfortunately he was stuck in his views and could argue until the cows come home. I think he caused his problems on here mainly in the political threads and suchlike and he would end up going over the top. As for his match analysise, they were normally good.

Floval Flyer said:

Missing Rigsbys input in this thread (presumably he was there?)

Can't he be 'let out' on license?

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Agreed,like some others on here he goes to quiet a few games through out the season and added many excellent round ups, of the matchs,sadly he will be missed by some.:thumbdown:

THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK said:

I miss him as well, even tho we disagreed on a few occasions. Unfortunately he was stuck in his views and could argue until the cows come home. I think he caused his problems on here mainly in the political threads and suchlike and he would end up going over the top. As for his match analysise, they were normally good.

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Shame there's not a way to allow him access only to Chit Chat.

OldBlueLady said:

Shame there's not a way to allow him access only to Chit Chat.

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Just read TSNBs reply and thought the same thing, you beat me to it..:smile:

I try to stay away from the politics forum, as it's far too divisive for my liking. If there was a way to restrict him (Rigsby) to only commenting on football then happy days.

I digress!

Didn't go yesterday, but listened on BBC Essex, thought we held our own in the 1st, the game quickly slipped away in the 2nd.

I just feel as though the team lack the decisiveness, especially in the final 3rd. We need to become more clinical in front of goal, and stop the dithering.

Problem is that I suspect that PB doesn't know his 1st choice line up, with injuries and form prevailing...

That first goal was so soft! Hendrie and Lenny don't do enough to stop the ball getting into the box and it's all to easy after that. McLaughlin gets turned too easy for the 2nd and Micky Tims doesn't do enough for me either!

Prague Blue said:

Tommy Two Holes please read the above...

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Yes I read their forum and you seem to have overlooked the majority which said they deserved the win and we were poor, in favour of the few or solitary post that gives praise.