Saturday 16 April 2016

'That about sums up our season'

That was the comment from Steve from Petts Wood after Charlton had a second half goal against Derby County by Jorge Teixeira disallowed for a foul on Carson and Derby went up the other end and scored, inevitably from a corner. That goal settled the match which ended 0-1. According to the programme, we have played 21 times on April 16th and never won, an odd statistic. It was also my father's birthday.

When I got to Coventry Station it was swarming with police and I realised why when Millwall fans got off the train for a fixture at the Ricoh. One Spanner spotted me and said, 'You are going down and we are going up.' Well, we are certainly going down, whether they are going up remains to be seen. They lost 2-1 at Coventry.

When I got to The Valley three camels with accompanied by customers dressed in Arab costume celebrated Katrien's holiday in Dubai. This particular stunt has attracted some criticism from fans.

We played some decent football against Derby, linking up well. However, we lacked a punch up front with Vetokele very subdued. Pope made a brilliant double save in the first half which earned him a standing ovation.

The Rams got a bit frustrated after the break with the score at 0-0 and starting fouling and eventually the referee gave out a couple of yellow cards. Igor Vetokele hit a post.

Jordan Cousins fired wide for the hosts as the Addicks pushed for an equaliser. Makienok had a late chance to connect with his head to a pinpoint long distance pass from Motta, but was unable to do so.

As the Covered End choir sang, 'We're going to Shrews-bury.' And Fleetwood. And Port Fail.

Voice of the Valley reported that Paul Elliott is fronting a new bid for the club. Roland is not totally resistant to selling, but wants £38m, twice what he paid for the club and that doesn't take into account the £7m owed in loans to former directors which they could ask to be repaid if there was a change of control. By way of comparison, Wolves have been on the market all season at £25m without finding a buyer.

I was also told today that Lennie Lawrence may be recruited as general manager of the club which could encompass a director of football role. If José Riga decides not to stay, Roland is prepared to hire an English coach. More about the Lennie Lawrence story here: Lennie Lawrence

Player ratings

Pope couldn't have saved the goal and otherwise was well in command. Interesting that Henderson wasn't even on the bench. (Riga has now said that he had a calf injury). In any event Pope should be able to cope with League One. Teixeira had the pain of seeing his goal disallowed and was generally solid. Fanni made at least one important tackle. He also made a remarkable solo run down the right, ending with a cross met by Vetokele, Carson scrambling the ball away for a corner.

Solly was energetic and competent, but perhaps not at his very best. He was substituted, possibly because he had a knock. Fox managed to pick up a yellow card.

Diarra still shows the quality of a former French captain and was a menace up front. Gudmundsson made some good moves, but sometimes looks uninterested and deflated, understandably enough. Cousins was well ahead in player of the year voting. The Bloke Beside Me who collected votes said that 'it was not an entirely positive experience.' Harriott was a live wire as always, even if his judgment isn't perfect.

Lookman showed some touches of sublime skill. Vetokele looked less than fully fit.

Motta showed some skill and energy when he came on. Makienok drew ironic cheers from the Covered End as he connected with the ball, but he did have some impact. Bergdich had a cameo in time added on, replacing Lookman.

2 comments:

Confidential Rick said...

Don't do it Lennie..keep your reputation intact as the all- time Charlton legend. Don't get involved with this current madness.

Kentish Man said...

According to Wiki, Roland was a participant in the 1968 Student Revolts. He would have felt quite nostalgic at the Valley this season had he bothered to show up.