Charlton Athletic Online

For some, a game against Millwall is a war to be won; for others, it is a chance to gloat at close friends expense if we win, and hide if we don’t. They are Charlton’s local-est rivals, and therefore the most important derby match, despite other teams being more hated by Addicks. I have several friends and acquaintances who support the Lions, including one of my best mates who has been a season ticket holder for years and years. I even changed another friend from a Lion to an Addick when he needed to take his son to a football match without the worry and risk of injury (or more likely that his son would get into trouble when he was older and wanted to go on his own). That was 13 years ago, and now my converted mate comes with me to nearly every match while his son dislikes watching football and is happier with a girl on his arm and a camera in his hand.

This game should, therefore, be a friendly derby, but the image that Millwall have is not a nice one, and their fans have (deservedly) had a reputation for years of causing trouble just when you least expect it, and often when you do. For this reason, Charlton have had to take a lot of precautionary measures to prevent trouble and maintain segregation at a possibly snow-bound Valley on Saturday. Gone are the days when the Millwall fans could walk around the ground and inhabit the Covered End looking for a fight, and gone are the days when Addicks like myself could stand on the halfway line at The Den and know that provided we didn’t act stupidly we would be left alone to cheer inwardly if, shock horror, we scored (though that didn’t happen all too often at that ground). One Millwall acquaintance asked me a couple of weeks ago if I could provide him (and his son and daughter) with tickets for the Valley game this weekend; of course I said no, and I reminded him of the reason why and the repercussions if I did. Despite this, he will be in the ground courtesy of, according to him, the provision of six match tickets for him and his family and friends by a local police inspector! If he was telling the truth, and he is in the posh seats and the away team score, I wonder who will ban the copper who got him the tickets from the Valley?!?

Enough about the fans – it may be important to those from both sides, but it is also a vitally important game for both teams and their managers.

While Millwall sit just outside the play-off places after a very stop-start season, they will be hoping to get back into some sort of form that might move them up the league table over the next few months. They have had many injuries this year so far, and after a promising start, dropped back down the table when their squad was at its most stretched. They do have match winners, and an undeniable will to get results, with evidence of such from the many late goals they have scored that secured vital wins or draws – five goals in the 89th minute or later which have yielded an extra five points. Charlton must therefore be on guard if the game is level or close going into the last few minutes, as Millwall do tend to shoot from anywhere when they are behind. A lot will depend on who plays in the visiting team, as injuries are still rife, but if they play, Neil Harris is a threat, and James Henry needs to be watched. The guy with the mop hair is Jason Price, who used to go out with a work colleague of mine while with Hull, but it is just coincidence that when she moved to London he followed. Strangely, the Lions have no ex-Addicks in their ranks, and it is some time since a former Charlton player plied their trade at The New Den – Jamie Stuart and Kim Grant are the last couple I can think of…

For Charlton, the match is another important one from which to keep the pressure on Leeds who sit just two points above them, and Norwich and Colchester who sit directly below them in the league table albeit six points behind. Manager Phil Parkinson will have had a week to ponder his best side for this match, and also time to get some of our injured player’s fitter. The first choice full backs – Frazer Richardson and Kelly Youga – have both been out for the last few weeks (bar Richardson’s 45 minute abortive return at The Valley a couple of weeks ago), but there is a chance that one or both may be available for this game. Youga was apparently close last week, while Richardson cannot be too far away either unless he has had another problem; if either is fit then I expect them to play, with Elliot Omozusi likely to make way ahead of Grant Basey.

The rest of Charlton’s squad are fit, although Izale McLeod is unlikely to be risked against his former employers after a recent thigh problem, and the fact that they don’t like him. Centre backs Christian Dailly and Sam Sodje have looked very solid over recent matches, while the midfield is picking itself at present, with Jose Semedo, Nicky Bailey, Lloyd Sam, and Scott Wagstaff all putting in decent displays.

In attack, Parky actually has a choice this week, with Leon McKenzie and Akpo Sodje now fully fit and pushing Deon Burton and Dave Mooney for starting positions. Last week at Stockport, top scorer Burton got bogged down on the heavy pitch, while Mooney was fantastic bar his finishing, which could have netted him a bagful of goals had it been better. He doesn’t deserve to be dropped after that performance, but a quiet word about the need to take his chances would go down well.

Labels: Charlton, Millwall, Rob Elliott

I do think that every one of us fans would have taken a start to the season that read -

P 10, W 7, D 2, L 1

- leaving Charlton sitting in second position in the table behind Leeds, but as usual, with the last game being that single defeat, its panic stations on the Ethernet. Should we drop Miguel Llera after his poor performance on Tuesday night in Essex? Is Jonjo Shelvey looking too tired? Do we need to be more adventurous and play 4-4-2, and if so, do we have the personnel to do so?

We will all have our own opinion, and that is half the fun of being a football fan after all, but the reality is that it is down to manager Phil Parkinson to call the shots, and he has done pretty well so far this season. Sure, we can all say that this substitution should have come earlier, or that player should have started, but we don’t have that choice; only Parky does.

So how will Parky play things in th etop of the table clash with Leeds after the 3-0 thumping in midweek? His hands may actually be tied somewhat more than most fans would like...

Rob Elliot, the only other starting Charlton first team player to be a Facebook friend to Lloyd Sam incidentally, had a very average (and that’s being kind) game at Colchester. Elliot’s problem is that he is first and foremost a Charlton fan, and I do think he gets a little bit carried away sometimes because he wants the team to do well. Hence his rushes of blood to the head that see him charge out and want to take control of situations when others around him are sometimes better placed. I don’t think the first goal on Tuesday was his fault any more than it was Llera’s, but only one player was to blame for the third, and killing, goal after an hour of that match. What we need Rob to do is try to squash his enthusiasm a little (but not too much!), and take in what is happening around him better. This will come with experience, and he is in a good division to gain that knowledge and progress. He is not under any pressure, it seems, from Darren Randolph, but we have all seen in the past that when a favoured goalkeeper starts making blunders that lead to goals, the crowd can turn as quickly as you can say Nicky Weaver.

In the defence, I think that Fraser Richardson, Kelly Youga, and Christian Dailly have all had pretty good seasons so far. Sure, they could all do better (a goal from a full back would be nice, and deserved…), and Dailly’s experience has prevented more goals being conceded, but it is alongside him that we still have an issue. It’s bad enough having to worry about where the defensive cover will come from in the event of injury (as we have had to in the past two seasons), but now we have a solid centre half, he seems to have lost the plot a little, and the back-up may not be available this week either! Llera (left) did have a shocker, and the average of his Charlton Life fans player rating will be the lowest ever, but was this a blip, or is it something that we will just need to get used to and persevere with? I do think Llera has some very good attributes; he is decent in the air, and has a sweet left foot, but the problems come when he is out-muscled (as he has been on a couple of occasions now this season) and when he has to turn quickly (which is not his forte to be honest!). He has also seemingly lost some confidence, and we have watched as various stand roofs have been tested by a Llera clearance recently, when he just hoofs the ball as hard as he can in the direction he is facing. Maybe the pressure of having Sam Sodje waiting for his chance is hurting his play, and most fans would favour a return to the starting eleven for Sodje now he has had some match practice. The danger for the game on Saturday at Leeds though, is that Sodje’s knee (or hamstring) complaint which flared up a few minutes after he entered the field at Colchester is something more problematic and will keep him out of this weekends fixture. Sodje then flies off to a Nigeria training camp, so he will miss the next two home games anyway. If he is fit, I would play him, and hope that Llera can cope in the two matches that Sodje will definitely miss, by which time Llera may well have to serve a suspension thereby letting Sodje back into the side easily.

The forward line is the next area where fans are getting restless; while 4-5-1 with Shelvey in the hole works when you are confident and playing well, it doesn’t look so good when you are two-nil down at half-time. Shelvey has so much talent, but he is still learning the game and, on occasions, not being given much help by more experienced opponents (and why should they?). As a seventeen year old, he has the game at his feet, but I am getting to the point where I think that he may need a rest, but if we do that, can we still play 4-5-1, or do we have to switch back to 4-4-2. Well, I do think that Parky missed a trick with Shelvey early in the season, as I think that for the last 10-20 minutes of a game, Tamer Tuna would run his heart out and do a very good covering job if he had been brought on to replace Shelvey. This only happened the once, and now the forward who gets on first is Izale McLeod. Izzy has worked his socks off when on the pitch, but he doesn’t cover back as well as Tuna might, and Shelvey does. We therefore seem to have the only option going forwards of playing as we are, or with McLeod and Burton.

In midfield, we have seen for the past two season how disrupting the loss of Jose Semedo has been to the team and, sadly, Matt Spring cannot offer the same sort of protection to our defence that the Portugeeser can. It was disappointing that Semedo missed the midweek game, especially as he was mooted as expected to be fit enough to play by Tim Breacker. The worrying aspect is that Semedo’s groin/pelvic injury has turned into a pelvic one, and that it could be more longer term than at first thought. Should this be the case, it may be that Parky is mindful that Chris Solly can do a similar holding role in midfield and put in the tackles that Spring finds difficult. Spring is a decent enough player, but when he has played, the possession levels have been much lower than when Semedo has been in to win the ball back.

The other possibly less contentious area in midfield is with the wingers, and particularly Lloyd Sam. What this blog wants to know is why isn’t Lloyd Facebook mates with any of the rest of the first team other than Elliot? Is this why the League One Player of the Month for August is sometime starved of the ball during games? How come that he is friends with some of the substitutes – McLeod and Scott Wagstaff – and also with squad players Yads “Prestige” Mambo, Alex Stav, and Jack Clark, but none of the other normal starting nine? Lloyd also has plenty of other footballing mates to chat about his lifestyle with – ex-Addicks Hameur Bouazza, Yassin Moutaouakil, Josh Wright, Carlton Cole, Leroy Lita, Martin Crainie, Myles Weston, Mark McCammon, Matt Svennson, Nathan Ashton, Scott Sinclair and Toks Yossuff – and I’m sure that if they still played at The Valley then they would pass to him, and be his friend!

And while we are talking about Facebook – what’s with the “Grime Town” Izzy?

Plenty of thought for Parky this week then, and he has stated that now is not the time to press any panic buttons, but would making the odd change for this top of the table clash be a negative move? We will have to wait and see.

This is the team I think Parky will send out at Elland Road:

Rob Elliot
Fraser Richardson
Kelly Youga
Christian Dailly
Sam Sodje
Jose Semedo
Terry Racon
Nicky Bailey
Lloyd Sam
Jonjo Shelvey
Deon Burton

Subs from Randolph, Solly, Clark, Basey, Llera, Spring, Stavrinou, Holden, Wagstaff, Tuna, McLeod.

Leeds currently sit top of the table, and the crowd will relish the chance to put a bigger gap between them and the chasers, whom Charlton lead. The fact is though, that they also have problems, and have struggled to win games recently. On Saturday, only a very late header by winger Robert Snodgrass won the game against 10-man MK Dons, and in midweek, they could only draw at home against Carlisle. Snodgrass, who is undoubtedly one of the better players in this division, also took a heavy knock, and he may not be fit to start the game against the Addicks. Leeds also have other injury worries too, but it is likely that top-scorer Jermaine Beckford will play, as will other old hands like Leigh Bromby, David Prutton, and Richard Naylor.

Pedro45 thinks that this may just be the point in the season when realities come home to roost; this league is not going to be a cake-walk, and anything gained from it will have to be earnt. I forecast another defeat, this time by 2-0, although I very much hope that we get the win that would take us back to top spot ourselves. With consecutive losses, Parky may feel he needs to make changes which could strengthen the side over the coming months, and give some of the other squad players a chance to shine.

My one-to-watch in this game is going to be Rob Elliot (left). This Charlton fan has a chance to do something to help the club much more than any other fans can, and that is stop Charlton conceding goals. Elliot will be keen to put the memory of Tuesday night behind him, but should not be over-keen as that is what caused the problems in the first place. If he simply concentrates on making saves, dealing with crosses confidently, clearing his lines cleanly, and getting the ball forward as quickly as possible, he will be back to his best.

I know that forecasting a loss is hard to fathom, but one does sometimes bring two (as Colchester found in their goals for column on Tuesday), and I do think that maybe there has been some overconfidence in recent matches that we will score more than them and not have to worry about things too much. It’s fine being confident, but we need to have the work ethic and skill to back up that confidence. It will not be panic stations should we lose either, just a slight re-organisation so that the team put out is the best for each fixture, and the most able to win all the points.

Up the Addicks!

Labels: Charlton, Leeds United, Rob Elliott

A shorter than usual preview for tonight’s game between Charlton and Reading, due to family commitments. Suffice to say that after two home defeats in a week, which have cemented Charton’s place at the foot of the division for the all time, there is little confidence going into the game. Reading are searching for the points that will bring them Premiership millions again, and I cannot see the Addicks being allowed to gain anything more than a bloody nose in his encounter.

Phil Parkinson is getting a lot of stick at the moment, even though his hands have been tied by the lot he was dealt with, bar a few loan deals. It was never going to be pretty, but the facts are that it is downright repulsive at this stage. Parky is, we are told, being judged on his whole managerial career by how he performs in these few months at Charlton’s helm, so to steam in to him now would be like kicking a man when down. I just hope that the remaining few games leave us with something to look forward to next year; some faint hope – is that too much?

His team for tonight will be pretty much the same I expect with just the odd change; he did say that maybe some youngsters will get a chance during the remainder of the season, and maybe Jonjo Shelvey will get another run tonight, but I cannot see any place for Josh Wright, or any of the youth set up. It’s possible I suppose that Grant Basey will replace Kelly Youga, especially after Youga’s 90 minute "holiday" on Saturday, but he’s hardly a youngster these days.

Another change could see the return of Chris Dickson to the squad, even if just to replace the equally redundant Youga-esqe-ish Svetislav Todorov on the bench. Apart from that, I’m sure it will be much of the same.

This is who I suspect Parky may pick –

Rob Elliott
Danny Butterfield
Mark Hudson
Darren Ward
Grant Basey
Tom Soares
Matt Spring
Therry Racon
Nicky Bailey
Tresor Kandol
Deon Burton

Subs from Randolph, Weaver, Moutaouakil, Youga, Holland, Wright, Shelvey, Ambrose, Zhi, Sam, Todorov, Dickson.

My one-to-watch is going to be Rob Elliott – this young keeper needs to be at his very best if Reading are not to run in a cricket score tonight (a five, or four, or six maybe?). He looks good, but is too often left exposed by a very shaky defence. I’m not sure how other past Charlton keepers would have fared with this bunch of players in front of them, but I do have a sneak feeling that some would have made more saves, even in losing teams. Still, he’s young, needs the experience, and we have nothing left to lose, so please play a blinder tonight Rob!

Pedro45 thinks that we are on a beating at the Mad-Stad; in the good ‘ole Premiership days, when we played any of Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal, I used a prediction barometer of taking a 4-0 beating in all the games as the norm, and we would either do better (which was a positive result) or worse (which was rare and negative). I have a similar feeling about this game, so I’m predicting a 4-0 reverse. If we get away with anything better, then I’ll be happy, but any worse, and Parky will not have had the helping hand from his old club that he wanted.

For those that are going or listening to CAFC TV, I hope you can enjoy some of the match; I’m tempted to get the head down, put on the flak jacket and helmet, and bury myself deep in a bunker somewhere (even at the in-laws...), ‘cos it could be messy.

Up the Addicks!

Labels: Charlton, Reading, Rob Elliott