No time to dwell. Things to be done and matches to be won.
Smudge , I believe misses this game having ac***ulated 5 cautions before the 19th game ( 2 match ban if he gets another 5 in the next 13).
One would expect JJ to replace him and freddie to partner him. Freddie , deserves to retain the shirt. He was more hurried, intense and aware than at anytime this season. His hold up play was generally good and his runs one can't argue with.
PW, hinted he planned to play Woody in this one which suggests icky will miss out unless PW plays 4 at the back. That would be very odd.
With lindsay still injured the midfield goes again as of Saturday.
Ferguson did very little wrong and vickers had very little to do . Both should start.
Charlton are a decent side on paper and after getting shut of Mr Happy they now seem to have sorted themselves out with 2 good wins on the bounce.
Without Smudge it will be interesting to see how the team sets up, and what kind of balls are delivered into the box. I suspect PW will be demanding more pressing from the midfield trio and more attempts on goal from direct play.
Perhaps sadlier might start in place of cheio ?
Intriguing?
Keep it simple and just replace one for one , or do a big switcharoo?
-- Edited by ian on Sunday 31st of October 2021 11:37:10 AM
See where you’re coming from Ian it throws up the old conundrum about how well cope when/if Smudge goes he’s so fundamental to how we play I just don’t think JJ has got the physique and obviously the know how to play as the target man whatever you want to call him I think Freddie would be the best bet one thing that he has improved on since joining is his hold up play ( see yesterday) although granted he’s not Smith
One good thing is it will be good to find another way of playing when Smith is suspended and eventually leave us 😢
Grigg although not massive is really good ar taking defenders where they don’t want to go and in doing so makes space for the likes of Wiles
The positive is with Smith missing we’ve still got 3 other good strikers (maybe Sadlier an option) plenty of goal potential there
I think Grigg and Ladapo would work fine. They linked up well at Doncaster albeit against poor opposition. I've no problem with Kayode though. It would have been nice if he could have got on the scoresheet yesterday but the way he was happy to take the team option and set Ladapo up rather than try and score himself says plenty about him and the team ethic we have got going. They will all have parts to play at some point.
Yes, uttis , looking ahead -and I bet we are all starting to think about what we do without Smudge, both when he's suspended and when he leaves- it is difficult to conceive of a plan B aa he has been so dominant at the pinnacle of the style of play PW has committed himself to producing.
I can see that Freddies hold up play has improved, but he's no target man. I think JJ could be. I remember he had a few games with smudge up front and I actually thought they were too similar. That being said, I can imagine Grigg could partner Freddie and as you and smiler pointed out the overall set up of the team might not be too impacted but it would perhaps require the 3 in midfield to take turns supporting the strikers by being even more advanced. The amount of balls crossed into the box would have to be reduced I think.
So, I'm still not sure of he's suspended for this one. Hope not. And if not . I hope he gets a yellow late on in the game along with Rathbone and they can both be rested for the FA cup.
I'm expecting Woody to play if he is fit. Stockley up front for them is the sort of big unit who Woody loves to look after. Any of the three who started at the back at the weekend would be unlucky to miss out, but it is horses for courses.
It's a tough call between Ladapo and Grigg to partner Smith. Neither have done anything wrong. It will probably be something close to 45 minutes each whichever of them starts.
One more big effort, and then it is the best part of a fortnight before we have another league game.
Yes, I think PW said that pre Sunderland. He used the interesting phrase " games my captain can win in.
I'm going to go for freddie because I think it's in keeping with the way the team ethic is. If you get a chance and perform you keep the shirt; and he did with 2 goals and a very good assist .
Yes, one more big effort and a little bit of mental down time will be well earned.
Warne always says 'If you have the shirt and play well in it then you keep it'. I think that means Ladapo will start the Charlton game. The back three is a different matter. Like Smiler i also expect wood to play as well to take care of Stockley. The problem is can you leave one of the back three out who played so well on Saturday. i Would be amazed if he played Harding instead of Ogbene who tormented the Sundeland full back. It will all depend on the fitness of the players. I think this is a very tough game and a point would be a good return.
I understand the reason for Ladapo as a starter and I wouldnt have any problem with it. I'm just thinking that Grigg might be fresher and it isnt as if he was dropped - he was unavailable through no fault of his own. I'm happy either way. I agree it's potentially a very awkward fixture and a point would be very acceptable. I'm just enjoying the way we play and how entertaining we are at the moment and hoping for more of it.
Tight first half. Good professional away performance so far and a great time to score a goal. A bit worried about the ref. I can see perhaps why one of their lads got a yellow card for cynically stopping a breakaway but the one for Stockley was harsh and the one for Smith was a joke. He has just lost the plot a little bit. They seem to think the goal was controversial (it never looked out to me) and this ref has all the hallmarks of one who will level it up with a soft penalty. Hope I'm wrong.
Great away point against a rejuvenated team since they changed managers. Signs of tiredness in our midfield so the upcoming break will be most welcome. I suspect the pressure will be building on Johnson after Sunderland's mauling at Hillsborough!
Well done to everyone for keeping the unbeaten run going!
Weve had to go down there on a Tuesday night to play a team very much on the up. They looked a good side and were well worth the point. No complaints. I'd expect them to move quickly up the table on that showing. I thought there was a push on Reg in the lead up to their goal but then Icky was probably fortunate not to see red. Swings and roundabouts and all in all probably a fair result. A lot of teams would have caved in under that second half pressure and lost the game. Our unbeaten run continues and we move up to a solid third place in the league. A good effort.
We never really got going. We looked tired and thus disjointed. However, Charlton played some decent football. They were a little faster to the second ball it seemed and looked strong in evert challenge. What a difference a change of manager can make.
It will be interesting to see if Charlton maintain that sort of form. Is it a dead cat bounce, in which case we were unlucky to catch them at this moment, or will they climb up the table, in which case it was a really good point?
Watched on ifollow and thought we didn't have the engine in midfield we normally do. It seemed like Wiles and Rathbone kept fading in and out. Good point away against a team that looked better than most opposition lately. Ref was a bit picky.
Watched on ifollow and thought we didn't have the engine in midfield we normally do. It seemed like Wiles and Rathbone kept fading in and out. Good point away against a team that looked better than most opposition lately. Ref was a bit picky.
I thought the ref was awful. It felt like he was capable of doing anything at any time. Smith never touched their centre back. He won that header cleanly without raising his arms, But the Charlton players knew the score, and as they probably hoped the ref booked Smith to balance up the fact that he had booked Stockley minutes before. Ihiekwe was lucky not to go and Warne did the right thing subbing him off. I wonder whether he took Wiles off to protect him against a second yellow or to get fresh legs on, because I agree that Wiles and the other two in central midfield were flagging a bit. Hopefully this break now will be enough to get Jamie Lindsay back fit to give us rotation options in there. Having seen their goal again I think it is a push on Reg for their goal, but I wouldn't deny that overall a draw was about right.
I thought it was an excellent point away from home against a team that were expected to be much higher in the league and clearly have the players but the previous manager was so bad. We didnt play well and in the 2nd half they hammered us, if they could finish we could have easily lost 3-1, Rathbone had a very poor game by his standards, constantly miscontrolling it and giving it away, even REG didn't play well and was at fault for their goal. To play that badly and get a result away from home is wonderful I was very relieved when the final whistle blew. We could have nicked it as well if Fergusan had a right foot, but that would have been robbery. Ref fell for their tricks, I am amazed how professional referees fall for players diving and acting, do they not get any training at all?
I thought the subs were correct yesterday, first two were forced and it was logical to swap one of the midfielders as they were totally outplayed. We are 3rd in the league unbeaten in 11 you can't fault that, so we are prime for getting knocked out of the cup on Saturday lol
p.s. I see Tilt scored the winner for Wigan, with angus out we really are short in that area such a shame he isn't available to us. I think we will have to bring in a couple of players in January I hope we speculate to ac***ulate, at least a little bit
