Charlton Athletic 1 Bury 1

Mid table here we come..

Or maybe a flirtation with the play-off’s, but automatics? If I look at the table Peterborough, Bradford, Wigan and Scunthorpe all look pretty steady, and each of them have had 9 tougher games than we have. Then there is always a surprise package, and Shrewsbury have carried that torch exceptionally well so far. Even Blackpool are above us, bless ’em. 

It’s early days for sure, but the detail behind the statistics don’t show us in a good light. We’ve played the bottom four and gained only 4 points from 12. We’ve played one of the top 6 and got well and truly thrashed. 

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No protests, no options, no Ajose

CARD issued a statement today which states that there will be no in match protests that could detract from a potentially successful promotion campaign, however other plans are being made.

Possibly the other plans could mean further protests in Duchatelet’s home country and town, which I personally feel at this stage make more of an impact.

I think CARD’s approach is sensible and underscores the mantra of supporting the team (and manager) but not the regime. However everything is still not rosy behind the scenes and I think the inability to bring in another striking option other than an untried Rangers’ reserve shows how much Duchatelet is still stifling ambition at the club. Not for the first time we’ve started well, and possibly have the best looking first XI we’ve seen since Powell left, but again we enter the autumn and winter and the long slog of three games a week with a paper thin squad lacking in experience, depth and options.

RIP Richard Collins

Very sad to hear the news that Richard Collins passed away suddenly on Sunday morning. Richard was 75 and he was still a regular at The Valley, and I’d have thought been planning on attending The Legends game yesterday.

One of the more recognizable and permanent members of the board over many decades, Richard Collins is part of Charlton Athletic’s history. He first joined the club as a director in 1981, and took over as chairman from Mark Huyler in 1983 before becoming a key player in securing the club’s future a year later.

Gillingham 1 Charlton Athletic 0

Is it too early to be cynical?..

Our first defeat at The Priestfield in 88 years. Robinson is big on records, and it doesn’t get much bigger than that. Mind you we haven’t had the misfortune to play our Kent neighbours that many times over the decades but in recent years we have not played well there. Yesterday was no different.

We lost to a 2nd half goal from Tom Eaves, similar to one we conceded at home to Wigan in the week and we had no answer save for loads of balls pumped into the box. We huffed and puffed against a team that specialise in huffing and puffing, and we weren’t good enough. Sure we had hundreds of shots at goal, and apparently their ‘keeper was man of the match, but he hardly put in a Nick Pope type performance. 

Philly

Back on a plane again later and the relative short flight from here to Philadelphia. I’m at a conference but going to take the opportunity to do some other work things whilst I’m in the City of Brotherly Love. It’s all Greek apparently. 

Charlton Athletic 0 Wigan Athletic 3

Put the bunting back..

Our first test against a promotion hopeful ended in an embarrassing defeat tonight as Charlton put in an unsatisfactory and wearisome display and Wigan cantered to an easy victory. Robinson hinted at resting Solly and Kashi. He didn’t, he perhaps should have, but he, you and I know he doesn’t have the personnel or the options to change it about. The bench is unispiring and there’s simply too much reliance on Magennis and Holmes.

With Reeves still way off, I wonder what he will do on Saturday. He should make some changes, but what are his options? Will Aribo and Konsa get a chance? Are Dodoo and KAG up to it? And why are we letting in so many goals? More than any other team in the top half. 

Wigan under lights

Didn’t think I would be calling the visit of Wigan Athletic to The Valley a big game, but the Latics are one of the bigger fish in this division, with one of the largest player budgets, and a sizeable squad, which incidentally they have significantly trimmed following relegation and the end of their 4-year parachute payments that netted them a cool £59m.

The Latics are the first floodlit visitors to SE7 this season, and they surprisingly lost to early league leaders Shrewsbury on the weekend with Terrell Thomas and Will Grigg on the bench. Grigg came on but I’d expect Paul Cook to let him lose on us tomorrow. Grigg has just signed a new contract, which probably means he will move in the window for an even bigger fee than what we supposedly encountered in August.