Back from the game ..... charlton

[P!ssed Off]

Close your eyes and that could have been any performance from the McDermott era. Couldn't keep the ball, outplayed, yet we got a win - you can't complain. Longer term you have to wonder about that team/squad if it went up it would need huge surgery. There was absolutely no pace throughout the performance and you have to wonder if they are leaving their fitness on the training field. Main problem tonight was that Guthrie had a poor game and was completely knackered with about 25 minutes to go. At some point you have to realize that you can't keep playing fanny football round the back four and keeper that results in an aimless punt that gives the ball back to the opposition you have to actually move the ball up the field. To be fair to NA he was constantly asking for tempo and movement from the sideline and not getting it. MOTM McCarthy save against Church right on half time got us the 3 points.

Close your eyes and that could have been anything tbf.
You wouldn't know what was going on.

[NewCorkSeth]

Close your eyes and that could have been any performance from the McDermott era. Couldn't keep the ball, outplayed, yet we got a win - you can't complain. Longer term you have to wonder about that team/squad if it went up it would need huge surgery. There was absolutely no pace throughout the performance and you have to wonder if they are leaving their fitness on the training field. Main problem tonight was that Guthrie had a poor game and was completely knackered with about 25 minutes to go. At some point you have to realize that you can't keep playing fanny football round the back four and keeper that results in an aimless punt that gives the ball back to the opposition you have to actually move the ball up the field. To be fair to NA he was constantly asking for tempo and movement from the sideline and not getting it. MOTM McCarthy save against Church right on half time got us the 3 points.

Close your eyes and that could have been anything tbf.
You wouldn't know what was going on.

Open your mouth and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise.

It's my penis. But because your eyes are closed it could be any penis from the mcDermott era!


But it isn't. It's mine.

[Cureton's Volley]

Totally off subject but did anyone see the glen little goal the other day??

Yes. It was incredible!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2517031/Glen-Little-scores-brilliant-solo-goal-Wealdstone-best-non-league-goal-ever.html?ico=sport%5Eheadlines

[Royal Ginger]

Three points; a clean sheet - what's not to like? Well - plenty really. In the second half we were the worst I've seen us so far this season. Simple passes going astray; no energy; too timid to shoot when in a position to; still crap at throw-ins! Very frustrating particularly after such a good result at Forest.

Williams did well (he made the first goal with his persistence to win the ball back after we lost it) until he was subbed but, as has already been said, two 90-minute games in a few days coming off an injury was asking too much.

Cummings was MOTM for me. He was solid defensively and showed some skill in attack too.

Sharp took his goal well but didn't do much else (a la AF).

Pog was OK but he falls far too easily so when he is genuinely fouled the ref doesn't give it.

Guthrie had an off-game and was responsible for some dire passing at times.

We missed Gunter. Yes - really - we did! He is a better attacking option on the right than Kelly imho.

I wouldn't have complained if Charlton had got a draw. They didn't really deserve it but we didn't deserve to win! We have to make allowances for the fact that we have been beset by injuries and so have not been able to keep a settled team but the fare served up in second half particularly was very poor.

Just got in. I'll agree with this especially the point about Sharp.

I thought Guthrie was the worst he's been this season. Same criticism i've heard about Karacan before, he's always looking for the "killer ball" and seems completely unable to make a simple pass. Earlier in the season he was digging the ball out of defense and getting it up the field to the running players. Age old problem of thinking he's better than he is. I noted on several occasions he actually stepped in front of Williams to snatch the ball off of him when the pass is coming.

Gorkss had passing issues no doubt, but i was fairly convinced with him defensively.

I've always advocated starting Kelly over Gunter, but i've been swayed and would now rather see Gunter start ahead of him.

Fitness is our biggest problem at the moment. Williams was understandably blowing out of his arse when he came off, but 10 minutes into the second half we couldn't keep up and almost everyone was barely jogging. This needs sorting.

[P!ssed Off]

Also, not sure who was listening to BBC Berks post-match but pretty pathetic from the unidentified player who told Dellor that he was disappointed in the fans.
If you're going to have a pop at the fans, at least have the guts to put your name to it.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

MmmMonsterMunch wrote: Same as tonight. Cummings did a much better job than at LB than Kelly has so far. He was very good tonight considering the lack of match fitness. Glad he's taken his chance & I'd like to see him get a run in the team now.

Agreed, Cummings was by far the highlight of the night.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Royal Ginger wrote: I thought Guthrie was the worst he's been this season. Same criticism i've heard about Karacan before, he's always looking for the "killer ball" and seems completely unable to make a simple pass. Earlier in the season he was digging the ball out of defense and getting it up the field to the running players. Age old problem of thinking he's better than he is. I noted on several occasions he actually stepped in front of Williams to snatch the ball off of him when the pass is coming.

Gutherie's performance was awful I lost count of the number of passes that he gave away.

One cross field 45 yard ball early in the game was his contribution to a woeful team performance.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

Ian Royal wrote:
McCarthy 8 nothing too challenging but kept a clean sheet.
Kelly 7 needed to get tighter late on
Cummings 7 saved our ass a couple of times
Gorkss 5 hoof merchant who lost it in the last 10 or so
Pearce 9 rock MOTM
Guthrie 7 tidy but went missing late I n. Not convinced thats his fault
Williams 8 e tra mark for the difference when he went off.
McCleary 7 usual flair and usual going missing
McAnuff 6 not his best but decent. Stop shooting
Sharp 7 good goal
Pog 8 worked his arse off. Candidate for MOTM but we barely touched it for 20 at the end

Akpan -7563 absolutely terrible
Hrk 6 ok ish
Blackman did he touch the ball?

Where do those ratings come from were you watching a different game???/

Shaun Cummings was the highlight of the night and should get a 7 at best along with Sharp and the Pog for the shift they put put in up front. The rest, 6's and 5's bar Guthrie (4) who was extremely poor on the night as he continually gave the ball away when under no pressure.

A special mention for Akpan's cameo for the 20 -25 minutes on the pitch if that is what it was. A three and that's being generous.

As a team we picked up three points and should be grateful for this as it was a very poor inept team performance.

[bobby1413]

Also, not sure who was listening to BBC Berks post-match but pretty pathetic from the unidentified player who told Dellor that he was disappointed in the fans.
If you're going to have a pop at the fans, at least have the guts to put your name to it.

I caught some bits - the players interviews and Adkins. But I didn't hear anything about the fans being crap.

Well, Tim Dellor kept askin people about the atmosphere.

Thing is, it's a cold Tuesday night at home. The atmosphere always suffers in that situation.

If the player did say that I'm disgusted by it. Especially the amount of time and money I've spent on home games and more significantly the away ones too.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

P!ssed Off wrote: Also, not sure who was listening to BBC Berks post-match but pretty pathetic from the unidentified player who told Dellor that he was disappointed in the fans. If you're going to have a pop at the fans, at least have the guts to put your name to it.

bobby1413 wrote: Thing is, it's a cold Tuesday night at home. The atmosphere always suffers in that situation.

Footballs an entertainment sport... If the players on the pitch do their job and entertain the fans join in.

Tonight was Reading's night they picked up the three points with a dire team performance that lacked entertainment hence the poor stadium atmosphere.

[sandman]

It was a borderline yellowcard dive, Pearce touched him slightly so he got away with it.
Poor from McCarthy though, if he'd came and collected he would have got there 10 minutes before Church.

Thought Kelly was the defender? Incident was right in front of me in the North Stand and it looked pretty clear cut penalty to me. Kelly was nowhere near the ball. Church did no more than any other striker does - ie look for the pen. Agreed on McCarthy though. Poor decision not to come for it and put it into the stands.

Yep exactly, Church went across him and Kelly took him out. Worth noting Kelly was booked for a similar foul later in the first half, difference being it was outside the box so the ref didn't have to make a tough decision like the first one..

[Pepe the Horseman]

Lol @ people finally realising how bad Akpan is. The hype around him on the back of one pass last season was embarrassing.

[floyd__streete]

Jesus That was dreadful.

The positives last night were: Pog, fantastic yet again – I wish him well wherever he decides to go in January. Cummings, very solid performance at left back and a goal saving far post header – keep him in for Saturday and Kelly at right back. Sharp – added more to our game than ALF ever would starting a match. Williams – broke up play and drove forward effectively.....before predictably getting injured and leaving the game. Williams, Drenthe and Bridge have all shown varying degrees of real quality at times but they are no bloody use to us if they’re injured every other week or can’t last 90.

I understand that some of the players were upset about the crowd getting stroppy. Well, when you’ve got Hopeless Akpan coming on and smashing the ball into the crowd under no real pressure you can understand there will be groans. We all know that a stadium full of middle-class jester-hat wearing simpletons is never going to be a particularly atmospheric place but the atmosphere is as poor as it has ever been, certainly since Rodgers – another manager who talked a good game and delivered precious little - was in charge.

What happened to the so-called possession football we were promised. Charlton were utterly abysmal for an hour and gave the ball away at will (see our goal). You’d think we could impose a style we have allegedly practiced since March, April time on them. Nothing doing. In fact – ironically, given some of the snobbery displayed on these pages – we actually looked more effective at times where we banged the ball into the channels, playing percentage football. The last half hour was as desperate as I’ve seen in years; at times HRK broke with pace to ease the pressure yet few of his colleagues had made a run to support him. Charlton - like other poor sides Millwall, Barnsley - had us hanging on desperately at the end and if they'd equalised no-one could have said we'd deserved better. In fact, with a rather obvious looking penalty and anyone other than Simon Church running through one-on-one with McCarthy they'd have gone into half time at least level.

Really not very good, once again. The only true barometer of progress is league position I guess, but I think that masks truly forgettable performances in this first third of the season and a continued inability to kill off games when we take the lead. You could argue ‘watch us when we play well’.....but there has been very little evidence to suggest a flowing 90 minute performance is around the corner and conversely I fully expect us to get another Sheffield Wednesday-esque slap around the face sooner rather than later rather as opposed dishing out a spanking of our own.

[westendgirl]

Also, not sure who was listening to BBC Berks post-match but pretty pathetic from the unidentified player who told Dellor that he was disappointed in the fans.
If you're going to have a pop at the fans, at least have the guts to put your name to it.

I trust this is ironic on the board where no-one puts their name to their opinions

[bigmike]

Thank god Charlton have Simon Church playing upfront a Half decent striker would have had a Hat trick. Good to see that hes still the same couldnt score if he was the only player on the pitch

[wingnut]

What happened to the so-called possession football we were promised. Charlton were utterly abysmal for an hour and gave the ball away at will (see our goal). You’d think we could impose a style we have allegedly practiced since March, April time on them. Nothing doing. In fact – ironically, given some of the snobbery displayed on these pages – we actually looked more effective at times where we banged the ball into the channels, playing percentage football. The last half hour was as desperate as I’ve seen in years; at times HRK broke with pace to ease the pressure yet few of his colleagues had made a run to support him. Charlton - like other poor sides Millwall, Barnsley - had us hanging on desperately at the end and if they'd equalised no-one could have said we'd deserved better. In fact, with a rather obvious looking penalty and anyone other than Simon Church running through one-on-one with McCarthy they'd have gone into half time at least level.

Absolutely spot on.

We were garbage apart from the first 15 minutes and Charlton should've at least equalised. Guthrie was, for me, our worst player last night - even considering the poor shift Akpan put in when he came on - and is rapidly undoing the good work he put in earlier in the season. He didn't look remotely interested, was lazy and gave the ball away with metronomic regularity.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

Still have that fcking song in my head

CAFC . . . . the team for me . . . . then random noise

I know what you mean! Think I went to sleep with it stuck in my head!

[YateleyRoyal]

Close your eyes and that could have been any performance from the McDermott era. Couldn't keep the ball, outplayed, yet we got a win - you can't complain. Longer term you have to wonder about that team/squad if it went up it would need huge surgery. There was absolutely no pace throughout the performance and you have to wonder if they are leaving their fitness on the training field. Main problem tonight was that Guthrie had a poor game and was completely knackered with about 25 minutes to go. At some point you have to realize that you can't keep playing fanny football round the back four and keeper that results in an aimless punt that gives the ball back to the opposition you have to actually move the ball up the field. To be fair to NA he was constantly asking for tempo and movement from the sideline and not getting it. MOTM McCarthy save against Church right on half time got us the 3 points.

Close your eyes and that could have been anything tbf.
You wouldn't know what was going on.

Open your mouth and close your eyes and you will get a big surprise.

It's my penis. But because your eyes are closed it could be any penis from the mcDermott era!


But it isn't. It's mine.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

Not the greatest game. Another good start but so frustrating that we can't sustain the good periods of palsy.

Thought that they should of had a nailed on penalty.

Akpan and Blackman are league one players but jeering and cheering him sarcastically is not a smart move.


Thought the bloke who did the half time quiz was an absolute legend.

From where I sat, I thought Church looked for it & the ref got it spot on. Not seen the replay though...

Surprise, surprise Church felt that he was more likely to get a pen than score on his left foot from a tightish angle.
It was a borderline yellowcard dive, Pearce touched him slightly so he got away with it.
Poor from McCarthy though, if he'd came and collected he would have got there 10 minutes before Church.

Sorry, have I misunderstood you? It was Kelly that took Church out for the "Penalty" and tbh, it looked nailed on. I thought Kelly was just playing poorly recently as he was at LB, but given he was back on his stronger right foot last night, he gave us more than a few nervy moments.

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

We all know that a stadium full of middle-class jester-hat wearing simpletons is never going to be a particularly atmospheric place.