Friday, December 09, 2005
Smacking the Mackems
Well, hopefully! Charlton take on Sunderland tomorrow in the battle of teams with the most consecutive losses - Sunderland thankfully edge this one eight to five!
Everyone involved with the whole club is still shell-shocked after conceding eight home goals in a little over 100 minutes of football recently, so a win is being talked of as imperative. Everyone, Curbs, the players, and the fans is desperate for the right result. Let's hope it comes along tomorrow.
The team have taken it upon themselves to have a heart to heart, clearing up any confusion about what is required to play for Charlton, and hopefully, we will see a marked improvement since last Sunday.
Who plays is still anyone's guess, except the managers I suppose, but it seems fairly certain that Kishishev (left) will return to midfield after a one match ban. This is an area of the park that will be crucial to how Charlton play - Murphy (one of three instigators of the players get-together) should retain his place, and so should Smertin. The three of them (Kish, Smerts and Danny) are the best option we have and played superbly together earlier in the season. But if they all play centrally, it means that the team lines up 4-5-1, something that Curbs may not want to do at home against the Premierships bottom team. Murphy may therefore be asked to play wide, on the opposite side to Ambrose and our flying wingers (Rommedahl and Thomas) may have to settle for the sidelines. It's fairly safe to assume that Matt Holland and Bryan Hughes will not be amongst the starters this week.
Up front, Darren Bent will obviously continue, but he may well have a partner alongside him. Johansson and Bothroyd both tried forward positions last weekend, and the single Jay is the better option here. In fact, JJ was so inept that he may be lucky to even get on the bench.
In goal, Deano has let in eight goals in two games; Andersen is the better long term option, but was to blame for a few of the previous goals conceded earlier in the season. Thomas Myrhe continues to bench-warm at every opportunity, but I'd like him to get a start tomorrow against one of his former teams.
The defence, which has taken most of the blame recently, is where Curbs has tinkered recently, and tomorrow may be another chance to change things around a little in the hope of finding the right solution. The one thing Curbs hasn't changed is big Herman at centre half. With everyuone confirming that left back is a problem position - Spector not good enough and Powell too slow after an hour - I'd like to see our Icelander moved back to his previous stamping ground at full back. This leaves (or maybe just maintains) a gap in the middle, and after a weeks R&R I would bring back El Karkouri. I doubt if Sorondo or Fortune are yet fit enough to challenge, but we could see the Uruguayan on the bench.
Here's my team for tomorrow -
Myrhe, Young, El Karkouri, Perry, Hreidersson, Smertin, Kishishev, Murphy, Ambrose, Bent, Bothroyd. Subs - Andersen, Hughes, Euell (or Lisbie), Thomas, Sorondo.
For Sunderland, Jonathan Stead will be trying to prove he joined the right club last summer (would he work alongside Dazza?), and the rest of the team will give it a go, as they have little to lose nowadays.
My one to watch tomorrow is Alan Curbishley (left). He has had plenty of stick this week - slow substitutions, can't take the team any further, etc etc - so it will be interesting to see his reaction, especially if (god forbid) we fall behind early on.
Pedro45's score prediction is a draw - 1-1. That way both sides ditch the losing tag, but nobody goes home happy. For Charlton, a point is better than nothing, though three would be a lovely early Christmas present!
Everyone involved with the whole club is still shell-shocked after conceding eight home goals in a little over 100 minutes of football recently, so a win is being talked of as imperative. Everyone, Curbs, the players, and the fans is desperate for the right result. Let's hope it comes along tomorrow.
The team have taken it upon themselves to have a heart to heart, clearing up any confusion about what is required to play for Charlton, and hopefully, we will see a marked improvement since last Sunday.
Who plays is still anyone's guess, except the managers I suppose, but it seems fairly certain that Kishishev (left) will return to midfield after a one match ban. This is an area of the park that will be crucial to how Charlton play - Murphy (one of three instigators of the players get-together) should retain his place, and so should Smertin. The three of them (Kish, Smerts and Danny) are the best option we have and played superbly together earlier in the season. But if they all play centrally, it means that the team lines up 4-5-1, something that Curbs may not want to do at home against the Premierships bottom team. Murphy may therefore be asked to play wide, on the opposite side to Ambrose and our flying wingers (Rommedahl and Thomas) may have to settle for the sidelines. It's fairly safe to assume that Matt Holland and Bryan Hughes will not be amongst the starters this week.Up front, Darren Bent will obviously continue, but he may well have a partner alongside him. Johansson and Bothroyd both tried forward positions last weekend, and the single Jay is the better option here. In fact, JJ was so inept that he may be lucky to even get on the bench.
In goal, Deano has let in eight goals in two games; Andersen is the better long term option, but was to blame for a few of the previous goals conceded earlier in the season. Thomas Myrhe continues to bench-warm at every opportunity, but I'd like him to get a start tomorrow against one of his former teams.
The defence, which has taken most of the blame recently, is where Curbs has tinkered recently, and tomorrow may be another chance to change things around a little in the hope of finding the right solution. The one thing Curbs hasn't changed is big Herman at centre half. With everyuone confirming that left back is a problem position - Spector not good enough and Powell too slow after an hour - I'd like to see our Icelander moved back to his previous stamping ground at full back. This leaves (or maybe just maintains) a gap in the middle, and after a weeks R&R I would bring back El Karkouri. I doubt if Sorondo or Fortune are yet fit enough to challenge, but we could see the Uruguayan on the bench.
Here's my team for tomorrow -
Myrhe, Young, El Karkouri, Perry, Hreidersson, Smertin, Kishishev, Murphy, Ambrose, Bent, Bothroyd. Subs - Andersen, Hughes, Euell (or Lisbie), Thomas, Sorondo.
For Sunderland, Jonathan Stead will be trying to prove he joined the right club last summer (would he work alongside Dazza?), and the rest of the team will give it a go, as they have little to lose nowadays.
My one to watch tomorrow is Alan Curbishley (left). He has had plenty of stick this week - slow substitutions, can't take the team any further, etc etc - so it will be interesting to see his reaction, especially if (god forbid) we fall behind early on.Pedro45's score prediction is a draw - 1-1. That way both sides ditch the losing tag, but nobody goes home happy. For Charlton, a point is better than nothing, though three would be a lovely early Christmas present!
