Monday, November 28, 2005
Rovers return
An early post about the Blackburn cup tie on Wednesday as I'm out tomorrow night and won't get another chance beforehand.
The fall-out over our fourth consecutive Premiership loss (to Villa on Saturday) has not yet subdued, but the team and fans need a quick turnaround. Curbs rang a few changes at the weekend, not to the fans or his satisfaction ultimately, and I expect there to be more glum faces in the Charlton player ranks this midweek.
The time has surely come to change the keeper; whether Stephan Andersen is rested and returns at the weekend or dropped is open to question, but I can see no purpose in playing him in this match. If Dean Kiely is out of favour, as has been suggested by his omission from the substitutes role for the last couple of games, or just doesn't like being on the bench, I don't know, but the goalkeeper choice for me is between him and Thomas Myrhe. I'd pick Myrhe personally, a man who has done absolutely no wrong in a Charlton (or Norway) shirt all season.
The defence is also in a little bit of turmoil. Nearly every blog is now calling for Curbs to make the obvious switch that is needed at left back - Hermann Hreidersson must play there! That means that Chris Perry (left) and Talal El Karkouri can be accomodated at centre backs and the team will line up as they finished on Saturday at Villa Park, with Luke Young at right back.
The best midfield option that the club has is for Smertin, Kishishev, and Murphy to get back to what they did early in the season - create and destroy. This threesome didn't all play together at Ewood Park a month ago and needs to be brought together again after the midfield tinkering of the last few weeks.
Out wide, our best options are slightly less obvious; Ambrose, Thomas, and Rommedahl have all had great moments this season, with Dennis and Ambie scoring excellent goals. This is a tough call for Curbs, but with the solidity of the defence if it lines up as hoped for, I'd go for Rommedahl (rested at the weekend) and Thomas, with Ambrose as sub should he be needed.
Up front, without a decent partner for Darren Bent, it is pointless playing 4-4-2 as some fans have called for. Lisbie, Bothroyd, Johansson, and Bartlett are either just not good enough, or cannot apparently be bothered when they get the call, so let's just leave them out of the starting equation. It's got to be 4-5-1, or 4-3-3 if you look at the defensive worth of Rommedahl and Thomas!
My team would therefore be:
Myrhe, Young, Perry, El Karkouri, Hreidersson, Smertin, Kishishev, Murphy, Rommedahl, Thomas, Bent.
Subs could be garnered from Spector, Powell, Ambrose, Hughes, Holland, a forward and a keeper.
Blackburn will be tough, but with the team shown above I think we can turn them over and reverse the league result of a few weeks back. Bellamy is quick and on form, and the Rovers defence and midfield (including no doubt one Andy Todd and one Robbie Savage!) solid and uncompromising, but if we are positive, play our best team option, and get stuck in, we can create history and not waste the memory of that fabulous night at Stamford Bridge (left) back in October.
My one to watch in this game is Danny Murphy - rested at the weekend, he must return to the starting eleven, and a positive response from Danny Boy is imperative if we are to have a chance and he is to add to his impressive medal collection!
Pedro45's score prediction mantra of always getting it wrong, and therefore predicting a defeat when we need a win, is over. I want a positive result in this match and think we can scrape through 2-1, maybe after extra time.
This game is crucial, not only for Charlton's season, but also for the fans mental health. We need a win. A good win isn't necessary, just any old sort of win; penalties will do! If Curbs picks a positive team, if Charlton play in a positive manner, and if the fans get the right feeling and react and make noise in a positive manner then we can be victorious. Anything less, and the doom merchants will come to the fore and make it increasingly difficult to get anything beneficial from this season at all. Should Charlton crash out of the cup, it will be the League cup bogey once more - we have never got to the fifth round in over forty years of trying! History awaits this team - come on lads, you can do it! For us, for you, for Curbs, give us the win we need!
The fall-out over our fourth consecutive Premiership loss (to Villa on Saturday) has not yet subdued, but the team and fans need a quick turnaround. Curbs rang a few changes at the weekend, not to the fans or his satisfaction ultimately, and I expect there to be more glum faces in the Charlton player ranks this midweek.
The time has surely come to change the keeper; whether Stephan Andersen is rested and returns at the weekend or dropped is open to question, but I can see no purpose in playing him in this match. If Dean Kiely is out of favour, as has been suggested by his omission from the substitutes role for the last couple of games, or just doesn't like being on the bench, I don't know, but the goalkeeper choice for me is between him and Thomas Myrhe. I'd pick Myrhe personally, a man who has done absolutely no wrong in a Charlton (or Norway) shirt all season.
The defence is also in a little bit of turmoil. Nearly every blog is now calling for Curbs to make the obvious switch that is needed at left back - Hermann Hreidersson must play there! That means that Chris Perry (left) and Talal El Karkouri can be accomodated at centre backs and the team will line up as they finished on Saturday at Villa Park, with Luke Young at right back.The best midfield option that the club has is for Smertin, Kishishev, and Murphy to get back to what they did early in the season - create and destroy. This threesome didn't all play together at Ewood Park a month ago and needs to be brought together again after the midfield tinkering of the last few weeks.
Out wide, our best options are slightly less obvious; Ambrose, Thomas, and Rommedahl have all had great moments this season, with Dennis and Ambie scoring excellent goals. This is a tough call for Curbs, but with the solidity of the defence if it lines up as hoped for, I'd go for Rommedahl (rested at the weekend) and Thomas, with Ambrose as sub should he be needed.
Up front, without a decent partner for Darren Bent, it is pointless playing 4-4-2 as some fans have called for. Lisbie, Bothroyd, Johansson, and Bartlett are either just not good enough, or cannot apparently be bothered when they get the call, so let's just leave them out of the starting equation. It's got to be 4-5-1, or 4-3-3 if you look at the defensive worth of Rommedahl and Thomas!
My team would therefore be:
Myrhe, Young, Perry, El Karkouri, Hreidersson, Smertin, Kishishev, Murphy, Rommedahl, Thomas, Bent.
Subs could be garnered from Spector, Powell, Ambrose, Hughes, Holland, a forward and a keeper.
Blackburn will be tough, but with the team shown above I think we can turn them over and reverse the league result of a few weeks back. Bellamy is quick and on form, and the Rovers defence and midfield (including no doubt one Andy Todd and one Robbie Savage!) solid and uncompromising, but if we are positive, play our best team option, and get stuck in, we can create history and not waste the memory of that fabulous night at Stamford Bridge (left) back in October.
My one to watch in this game is Danny Murphy - rested at the weekend, he must return to the starting eleven, and a positive response from Danny Boy is imperative if we are to have a chance and he is to add to his impressive medal collection!Pedro45's score prediction mantra of always getting it wrong, and therefore predicting a defeat when we need a win, is over. I want a positive result in this match and think we can scrape through 2-1, maybe after extra time.
This game is crucial, not only for Charlton's season, but also for the fans mental health. We need a win. A good win isn't necessary, just any old sort of win; penalties will do! If Curbs picks a positive team, if Charlton play in a positive manner, and if the fans get the right feeling and react and make noise in a positive manner then we can be victorious. Anything less, and the doom merchants will come to the fore and make it increasingly difficult to get anything beneficial from this season at all. Should Charlton crash out of the cup, it will be the League cup bogey once more - we have never got to the fifth round in over forty years of trying! History awaits this team - come on lads, you can do it! For us, for you, for Curbs, give us the win we need!
