Friday, February 24, 2006
Rickety Villa playing for three points
Charlton's non-stop February football extravaganza, part 6, is a home meeting with Aston Villa. The good recent form will hopefully continue, and three points could take Charlton back into the top half of the Premiership again.
With games coming thick and fast, it's good that Curbs has a decent sized squad to pick from, and that most of the players are currently fit. Smertin and Powell were rested in midweek, so they could both feature again if required.
This is the side I expect Curbs to put out -
Thomas Myrhe - Still doing a solid job, little pressure at present.
Luke Young - Getting back to his best form; on a concerted push for the World Cup squad and Germany now.
Hermann Hreidersson - Also getting back to reasonable form after a sticky patch. I still miss his marauding runs from left back, but have to make do with the occasional foray from the centre every other match.
Chris Perry - Bouyed by his display against Crouch and Liverpool, only one goal conceded during his last three games is good form. Not always at his best against fast moving forwards (Vassell for instance), will be busy with Luke Moore tomorrow.
Chris Powell - May play instead of Spector but not certain, as Spex did well up at St James. Chrissy is doing the business when called upon though, so I think Curbs will have him back.
Radostan Kishishev - Obviously went through a bad patch mentally, but physically the best we have in midfield. Runs all day; never flinches, and uses his experience to cover others mistakes. A goal would win him Sportsmen of the Year!
Bryan Hughes - Our Scouser seems to play every week, and did very well against Brentford in the last home game. Needs to contribute more in Premiership encounters though.
Matt Holland - Playing against a team he turned down a few years back, so will want to do well. Could be the match winner...
Darren Ambrose - A good game at St James and he should keep his place with Jerome Thomas nursing a training ground knock.
Marcus Bent - Effort, passion, and no little skill. A very good buy; his partnership with Dazza gets better every match.
Darren Bent - Not enough superlatives in my vocabulary - excellent every week. I wish he didn't get caught offside so much, as his pace causes problems anyway. Mellberg and Ridgwell aren't the quickest cente back pairing, and he could cause damage.
Subs will be from Darren Randolph (if Andersen is still injured), Talal El Karkouri, Jon Spector, Jason Euell, Alexei Smertin, Jerome Thomas (if fit), Jay Bothroyd, and Shaun Bartlett.
My one to watch is going to be Matt Holland, as I think that the middle of the park is where this game will be won.
My score forecast is a positive 2-0 victory. Villa are unbeaten in seven on the road, so are due a poor result. Hopefully it will be tomorrow!
I'm going to be missing the match as I'm in transit to a place where the temperature is the same as here (34 degrees), except in centigrade, not fahrenheit! I'll be able to watch the Liverpool match on TV though, and will be back for the Boro game. Come on you reds!
With games coming thick and fast, it's good that Curbs has a decent sized squad to pick from, and that most of the players are currently fit. Smertin and Powell were rested in midweek, so they could both feature again if required.
This is the side I expect Curbs to put out -
Thomas Myrhe - Still doing a solid job, little pressure at present.
Luke Young - Getting back to his best form; on a concerted push for the World Cup squad and Germany now.
Hermann Hreidersson - Also getting back to reasonable form after a sticky patch. I still miss his marauding runs from left back, but have to make do with the occasional foray from the centre every other match.
Chris Perry - Bouyed by his display against Crouch and Liverpool, only one goal conceded during his last three games is good form. Not always at his best against fast moving forwards (Vassell for instance), will be busy with Luke Moore tomorrow.
Chris Powell - May play instead of Spector but not certain, as Spex did well up at St James. Chrissy is doing the business when called upon though, so I think Curbs will have him back.
Radostan Kishishev - Obviously went through a bad patch mentally, but physically the best we have in midfield. Runs all day; never flinches, and uses his experience to cover others mistakes. A goal would win him Sportsmen of the Year!
Bryan Hughes - Our Scouser seems to play every week, and did very well against Brentford in the last home game. Needs to contribute more in Premiership encounters though.
Matt Holland - Playing against a team he turned down a few years back, so will want to do well. Could be the match winner...
Darren Ambrose - A good game at St James and he should keep his place with Jerome Thomas nursing a training ground knock.
Marcus Bent - Effort, passion, and no little skill. A very good buy; his partnership with Dazza gets better every match.
Darren Bent - Not enough superlatives in my vocabulary - excellent every week. I wish he didn't get caught offside so much, as his pace causes problems anyway. Mellberg and Ridgwell aren't the quickest cente back pairing, and he could cause damage.
Subs will be from Darren Randolph (if Andersen is still injured), Talal El Karkouri, Jon Spector, Jason Euell, Alexei Smertin, Jerome Thomas (if fit), Jay Bothroyd, and Shaun Bartlett.
My one to watch is going to be Matt Holland, as I think that the middle of the park is where this game will be won.
My score forecast is a positive 2-0 victory. Villa are unbeaten in seven on the road, so are due a poor result. Hopefully it will be tomorrow!
I'm going to be missing the match as I'm in transit to a place where the temperature is the same as here (34 degrees), except in centigrade, not fahrenheit! I'll be able to watch the Liverpool match on TV though, and will be back for the Boro game. Come on you reds!
