Monday, September 19, 2005
Monkeys arrive in The Valley
League Cup time once more. This year, we have been drawn against Division one side Hartlepool United, a team that Pedro45 has never seen Charlton play before, which is quite unusual! An away fixture would have had Pedro45 checking train times, and calling old friends to see if they fancied a beer or ten in return for a place to sleep that night, before trundling back to the Old Smoke again the next day. But no, we have (yet again) been drawn at home (official club preview here).
It does seem amazing the way our luck has gone when pulling out lower league opposition in cup competitions. I know the draw is seeded at this stage but, maybe, with our record against top drawer teams being so bad we should be grateful. But we aren't, as our cup record overall against anyone is pretty abysmal!
So Hartlepool. The Monkey Hangers. The team of Jeff Stelling of Sky's Soccer Saturday. That's about as far as my knowledge of them goes... They will come to The Valley on the back of a good league draw with high-flying Swansea, and with good overall away form (at home, they have been poor). I expect they will have about 100 supporters cheering them on, most of whom will have come down by coach (I am not being patronising here; It;s a long way on a Tuesday! I welcome them all, but hope they go home a lot quieter than they arrived!). They will have, as with every lower league team we play it seems, nothing to lose. Signal panic stations for every Charlton fan!
But what about us? A good pre-season, four wins on the bounce, and a sole defeat to everybody's Champions Chelsea at the weekend. Good form, and a few of the injured or unavailable are back too.
Holland and Spector played sub roles on Saturday, as did Ambrose who was back from suspension. Smertin is also available again but he may get another night off. El Karkouri, Sorondo, Sam, Bothroyd, JJ, and Fortune have yet to feature much this season. So what team will Curbs pick? He usually says that he doesn't want to fiddle before cup games, but he has once or twice on the past - playing the odd player in need of a game, and resting others. This time round, I don't think he has a choice - he has to give some players a run out. Will it weaken our chances? No, not if they play anywhere near potential, and if they want to get into the first team then they will have to!
So let's see who's going to play?
Andersen in goal? Yes, probably; can't see any point in giving Myrhe a go, and Deano isn't fit yet. Curbs has a history of maintaining the first choice keeper, even when he has had a chance in the past to swap things about.
Young at right back? Yep, team captain, will defo play.
Centre backs? Well, Sorondo needs a game, and it may be a case of who plays alongside him - I'll go for El Karkouri, with Perry rested, and Fortune as sub.
Left back I'll have Spector; Curbs may switch it with Spector in the middle (in place of Elk or Sorondo) and Hermann at full back, and I don't see any problem with that. Chrissy needs a blow, and I doubt Youga will play.
Midfield: Holland is a definite, as is Murphy I think, though he may need recovery time (in which case I'd put Smerts back in). Ambrose will fill one wide slot, with a winger on the other (I'm suggesting 4-4-2 here). I think Dennis will be given a night off (we shouldn't need his pace and heads may drop if he has "one of those games") so it's Thomas or Sam. I'm a fan of both, but feel that we should get as much experience into Sam as we can, and I'd play him here.
Up front I'll give Bartlett 90 minutes, plus Bent, with Bothroyd as sub.
So my guess at the team is:
Andersen
Young
Sorondo
El Karkouri
Spector
Sam
Holland
Murphy
Ambrose
Bartlett
Bent
Subs:
Bothroyd
Thomas
Hermann
Myrhe
JJ
This side should be strong, eager, and experienced enough to do the job (it's eight full internationals plus three more on the bench!). I know we may have said that before previous games against Luton, Walsall, Dagenham, Leicester, Exeter, Yeovil, Rochdale, Blackpool, etc etc, (the list seems endless!) all of whom gave us some (or many!) very dodgy moments, but we seem to be playing at a new level now. I do not expect to see us struggle under the lights in the cup this year. Pedro45's prediction is a 3-0 home win - come on you reds!
It does seem amazing the way our luck has gone when pulling out lower league opposition in cup competitions. I know the draw is seeded at this stage but, maybe, with our record against top drawer teams being so bad we should be grateful. But we aren't, as our cup record overall against anyone is pretty abysmal!
So Hartlepool. The Monkey Hangers. The team of Jeff Stelling of Sky's Soccer Saturday. That's about as far as my knowledge of them goes... They will come to The Valley on the back of a good league draw with high-flying Swansea, and with good overall away form (at home, they have been poor). I expect they will have about 100 supporters cheering them on, most of whom will have come down by coach (I am not being patronising here; It;s a long way on a Tuesday! I welcome them all, but hope they go home a lot quieter than they arrived!). They will have, as with every lower league team we play it seems, nothing to lose. Signal panic stations for every Charlton fan!
But what about us? A good pre-season, four wins on the bounce, and a sole defeat to everybody's Champions Chelsea at the weekend. Good form, and a few of the injured or unavailable are back too.
Holland and Spector played sub roles on Saturday, as did Ambrose who was back from suspension. Smertin is also available again but he may get another night off. El Karkouri, Sorondo, Sam, Bothroyd, JJ, and Fortune have yet to feature much this season. So what team will Curbs pick? He usually says that he doesn't want to fiddle before cup games, but he has once or twice on the past - playing the odd player in need of a game, and resting others. This time round, I don't think he has a choice - he has to give some players a run out. Will it weaken our chances? No, not if they play anywhere near potential, and if they want to get into the first team then they will have to!
So let's see who's going to play?
Andersen in goal? Yes, probably; can't see any point in giving Myrhe a go, and Deano isn't fit yet. Curbs has a history of maintaining the first choice keeper, even when he has had a chance in the past to swap things about.
Young at right back? Yep, team captain, will defo play.
Centre backs? Well, Sorondo needs a game, and it may be a case of who plays alongside him - I'll go for El Karkouri, with Perry rested, and Fortune as sub.
Left back I'll have Spector; Curbs may switch it with Spector in the middle (in place of Elk or Sorondo) and Hermann at full back, and I don't see any problem with that. Chrissy needs a blow, and I doubt Youga will play.
Midfield: Holland is a definite, as is Murphy I think, though he may need recovery time (in which case I'd put Smerts back in). Ambrose will fill one wide slot, with a winger on the other (I'm suggesting 4-4-2 here). I think Dennis will be given a night off (we shouldn't need his pace and heads may drop if he has "one of those games") so it's Thomas or Sam. I'm a fan of both, but feel that we should get as much experience into Sam as we can, and I'd play him here.
Up front I'll give Bartlett 90 minutes, plus Bent, with Bothroyd as sub.
So my guess at the team is:
Andersen
Young
Sorondo
El Karkouri
Spector
Sam
Holland
Murphy
Ambrose
Bartlett
Bent
Subs:
Bothroyd
Thomas
Hermann
Myrhe
JJ
This side should be strong, eager, and experienced enough to do the job (it's eight full internationals plus three more on the bench!). I know we may have said that before previous games against Luton, Walsall, Dagenham, Leicester, Exeter, Yeovil, Rochdale, Blackpool, etc etc, (the list seems endless!) all of whom gave us some (or many!) very dodgy moments, but we seem to be playing at a new level now. I do not expect to see us struggle under the lights in the cup this year. Pedro45's prediction is a 3-0 home win - come on you reds!
