Thursday, December 01, 2005
Bentley Rolls Charlton Over
Charlton Athletic 2 Blackburn Rovers 3
In all my years of supporting Charlton, and I still cannot get used to it! I really cannot comment on how many times I've seen Charlton throw away leads - OK, it wasn't the worst; 4-0 up at Burnley and we just about held on for a draw took some beating! But for some reason, maybe because it was the second time at home this season so far, this match left everyone numb.
It's like a death in the family, the stages of grief - Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance - all Charlton fans (plus the players and management) are having to go through them at the moment following this defeat!
Could you believe it? No, nor could I!
Were you happy? No, I was absolutely fuming sat in Floyds afterwards!
Did you appreciate that Rovers played very well, especially in the last 15 minutes? Most blogs are saying that, and trying to come to terms with what a great goal the second (Thompson) goal was.
Did it make you depressed and sad? Of course, we all feel very bad about it and wish that, for once, we could get to (or near) a cup final.
Will you accept it and move on? Yes, of course. We have to. We are Charlton supporters and part of that means being there on Sunday for the next match...
So what went wrong? Why did we throw the two goal lead away? How can we prevent it happening again? Basic troubleshooting stuff Curbs, I hope you are reading this! You, and the team need to learn from this result and get better. It's what everyone strives to do in life and just because some of the team get paid £30 grand a week doesn't mean that they are absolved from this.
Was it Mark Hughes good substitutions that turned the game, or Curbs bad ones? It seems that Luke Young was injured to some extent, so that change was forced on the team. It also happened at a time when Chris Powell was struggling with cramp (or a knock of some sort); Powell struggled on but was poor for the last fifteen minutes. At that stage, Bryan Hughes for Powell would have be more sound in my judgement, with Kish at right back and Spector moving over to the left. If JJ was knackered, Thomas could have come on for him and done as good a job (maybe better, he might have held the ball for a few minutes...). For Rovers, two subs scored, so that looks like brilliant management doesn't it. But all three goals conceded were results of poor defending (everyone knows who the culprits were...) and could and should have been prevented (Blackburn will argue the same about Charlton's goals by the way).
On a positive note, because that's what we need to get from the catastrophe, we played pretty well over the first hour, but once again the possible lack of fitness (Chrissy really is a passenger for most of the last 25 minutes these days, and Smertin goes off the boil too!) took a terrible toll. We really are a 45 mnute team in most matches - check the stats; we either have a good first half or second half, but never both...even when we used to win games. Bent ran tirelessly; Ambrose scored again and, contradicting other views, I thought JJ played reasonably well, staying wide in a defensive mode when Rovers had the ball, but getting in close to Dazza when the goalie kicks were being sent out. Smerts looked back near his best, getting fully involved, Murphy too (great goal - see pic - by the way!), and Kish was the star of the first half. In defence, El Karkouri and Hreidersson started to gel and, apart from the odd moment, handled Bellamy pretty well. The full backs both looked good and got forward in support very well. Deano even made a couple of good saves...but all that was before the last fifteen.
What to do? Should Curbs be sacked? Of course not. But there is more chance of him resigning after last night. How would you feel if the players couldn't be trusted to stick to basics and play as a team? Can he motivate the players once more and get us back on a winning track? He will consider that question quite hard I reckon with a few potential jobs up for grabs (and I include Rangers in this equation now!).
Of course, some fans are calling for heads to roll; either players or coaches, and that may well happen, but not as a knee-jerk reaction I hope, as that never results in anything positive.
We are very lucky to have had Mr Curbishley as our manager for the last fifteen years, through thick and thin. Last night the meat menu was a beef steak followed by carpaccio. One day Charlton will realise that starters come before the main course in upmarket restaurants!
In all my years of supporting Charlton, and I still cannot get used to it! I really cannot comment on how many times I've seen Charlton throw away leads - OK, it wasn't the worst; 4-0 up at Burnley and we just about held on for a draw took some beating! But for some reason, maybe because it was the second time at home this season so far, this match left everyone numb.
It's like a death in the family, the stages of grief - Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance - all Charlton fans (plus the players and management) are having to go through them at the moment following this defeat!
Could you believe it? No, nor could I!
Were you happy? No, I was absolutely fuming sat in Floyds afterwards!
Did you appreciate that Rovers played very well, especially in the last 15 minutes? Most blogs are saying that, and trying to come to terms with what a great goal the second (Thompson) goal was.
Did it make you depressed and sad? Of course, we all feel very bad about it and wish that, for once, we could get to (or near) a cup final.
Will you accept it and move on? Yes, of course. We have to. We are Charlton supporters and part of that means being there on Sunday for the next match...
So what went wrong? Why did we throw the two goal lead away? How can we prevent it happening again? Basic troubleshooting stuff Curbs, I hope you are reading this! You, and the team need to learn from this result and get better. It's what everyone strives to do in life and just because some of the team get paid £30 grand a week doesn't mean that they are absolved from this.
Was it Mark Hughes good substitutions that turned the game, or Curbs bad ones? It seems that Luke Young was injured to some extent, so that change was forced on the team. It also happened at a time when Chris Powell was struggling with cramp (or a knock of some sort); Powell struggled on but was poor for the last fifteen minutes. At that stage, Bryan Hughes for Powell would have be more sound in my judgement, with Kish at right back and Spector moving over to the left. If JJ was knackered, Thomas could have come on for him and done as good a job (maybe better, he might have held the ball for a few minutes...). For Rovers, two subs scored, so that looks like brilliant management doesn't it. But all three goals conceded were results of poor defending (everyone knows who the culprits were...) and could and should have been prevented (Blackburn will argue the same about Charlton's goals by the way).
On a positive note, because that's what we need to get from the catastrophe, we played pretty well over the first hour, but once again the possible lack of fitness (Chrissy really is a passenger for most of the last 25 minutes these days, and Smertin goes off the boil too!) took a terrible toll. We really are a 45 mnute team in most matches - check the stats; we either have a good first half or second half, but never both...even when we used to win games. Bent ran tirelessly; Ambrose scored again and, contradicting other views, I thought JJ played reasonably well, staying wide in a defensive mode when Rovers had the ball, but getting in close to Dazza when the goalie kicks were being sent out. Smerts looked back near his best, getting fully involved, Murphy too (great goal - see pic - by the way!), and Kish was the star of the first half. In defence, El Karkouri and Hreidersson started to gel and, apart from the odd moment, handled Bellamy pretty well. The full backs both looked good and got forward in support very well. Deano even made a couple of good saves...but all that was before the last fifteen.What to do? Should Curbs be sacked? Of course not. But there is more chance of him resigning after last night. How would you feel if the players couldn't be trusted to stick to basics and play as a team? Can he motivate the players once more and get us back on a winning track? He will consider that question quite hard I reckon with a few potential jobs up for grabs (and I include Rangers in this equation now!).
Of course, some fans are calling for heads to roll; either players or coaches, and that may well happen, but not as a knee-jerk reaction I hope, as that never results in anything positive.
We are very lucky to have had Mr Curbishley as our manager for the last fifteen years, through thick and thin. Last night the meat menu was a beef steak followed by carpaccio. One day Charlton will realise that starters come before the main course in upmarket restaurants!
