Monday 1 November 2010

Off to the magic roundabout

Games follow one another fast and furious in League 1 and it's off to Swindon for Charlton tomorrow night. The Robins are not exactly rocking after their Wembley appearance last year and are currently 16th in the table.

Three sloppy goals conceded in the 3-3 draw at Yeovil on Saturday exemplified their defensive problems. However, they fought back from 1-3 down to score two late goals and claim a point. They have scored six more goals than Charlton, but also conceded four more. That ten places separates the two clubs says something about League 1.

The Robins have a central midfield problem just as the relationship between Racon and Semedo seems to be working at last. Simon Ferry is not available after what was described as a 'horror tackle' inflicted by the Glovers. This leaves the home side with only one natural central midfielder so Michael Timlin may be recalled from a loan spell at Southend.

The narrative coming out of Swindon is that the Robins are gearing up for a pre-Christmas run, although they don't seem to be brimming with confidence about the Charlton game.

Indeed, manager Danny Wilson looks set to make some changes while Phil Parkinson is likely to settle for an unchanged side. Wilson commented, 'We can't keep protecting people when mistakes are made as frequently as they are. In the last few weeks we haven't dealt with certain situations as well as we should do, so we have to make decisions and we will do that for the next game. We need to know that people are going into games full of confidence and not having any doubts in themselves.'

This sounds like a team that is rocking in the wrong sort of way, but whether the Addicks have enough consistency to generate a mini-run is an interesting question and one that will debate by the pro- and anti-Parkinson forces. I am going for a 3-2 win.

Having just got back from Spain, I have a meeting in London tomorrow and then have to go to York for a meeting on Wednesday so I may be behind with the news from the County Ground.

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