Saturday 16 October 2010

Abject performance

Charlton's performance in the 0-4 defeat at home to Brighton was the worst I have seen for a very long time. That is to take nothing away from the Seagulls who played very well and were deservedly applauded at the end of the game by many Charlton fans.

The defending was woeful, the midfield once again failed to do its job and though we did have some chances, we were unable to take advantage of them. No wonder that there were chants of 'Parky Out!' in the East Stand and no doubt elsewhere in the ground as well. One fan from the West Stand managed to approach the dugout, no doubt to remonstrate with the manager, before he was escorted away by stewards.

I am not going to produce a detailed match report as there are no real positives to take from the game. The Silver Bone has been awarded to Radostin Kishishev as no Charlton player deserved it. Kish was warmly applauded at the beginning of the game and deserves thanks for his efforts for the Addicks which were not always appreciated at the time.

When I saw how low the tide was in Deptford Creek on my way to the ground, I should have known what was coming!

One point that has been already made in the comments but is worth reiterating is how we dealt with the corner that led to the first Brighton goal. Bennett was left unmarked and was able to play the ball back in for Calderon to score.

But then shortly afterwards they used the same routine: the ball played along the touchline and out to the unmarked Bennett. It seems that no football intelligence was being applied and that is down to the players.

As for the Seagulls' chant, 'We hate Palace more than you do'. Well, maybe.

Player ratings

I wouldn't particularly blame Elliot for the four goals as he was let down by his defence, but he is inclined to flap and hesitate. Doherty was at fault for at least one of the goals. Fortune seems to have lost pace and was eventually substituted. Dailly did his best, mounting some good attacks on the touchline, but I am not convinced that he is comfortable in the right back position. Jackson was off the pace, although the foul for which he was booked was no worse than some committed by Brighton players in the first half. Semedo did manage to clear up some potentially dangerous situations.
Racon did relatively little. Once he was advancing on goal and failed to shoot. Why not have a go? As it was, the move broke down. Martin was lightweight and seems unable to tackle. Reid did put in some decent crosses, but many of his balls were poor and in particular were over hit. Nevertheless, it was a worry to see him stretchered off. Abbott has been classified by the Bloke Beside Me (Paul from Bexleyheath) as the 'nearly man' and that just about sums it up. He doesn't have the pace to connect with promising balls. Benson still looks as if he is uncertain how to play in this team. Francis
has attracted a lot of criticism, but he looked reasonably good to me when he came on, even if he did send one free kick straight to the keeper. But he had one shot which the keeper had to tip over. Wagstaff made relatively little impact when he came on. Anyinsah did look lively, but it was too late to make a difference.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

up the Deptford Creek without a paddle sums up todays performance.
I thought Brighton's first goal was extremely well executed. A joy to watch.
Why Parky couldn't see how poor we were in the middle of the park beggars belief. Elliott Bennett (their No7)ran the show. Did Kish actually break sweat? (it was so easy for him)
The Play offs look beyond us.

Anonymous said...

What was equally depressing was that minutes after going ahead with that well worked corner, they went and did the same again. Our lot stood there like traffic cones watching them.
Off you go Parky, there is no future for us or for you as thing stand.

Hilltothevalley said...

No one saw Lua Lua's goallast week on The Championship,or if they had they guessed he could not repeat it.

As I said on Hill to The Valley the players are the most culpable today, however there is a fair slice of responsibility on Parkies shoulders.

Anonymous said...

I felt we lost it in midfield, every time we had it there, we had three or four Brighton players buzzing around, when breaking Brighton had all the time and space they need - in different ways all the goals had something to do with not closing down players outside the area; Brighton were very good, a well drilled counter attacking side, how well they well do when other times sit back I don’t know but that I guess will be what they are up against from now on,
the most depressing thing was the good work done on the wings by Reid and despite your comments Martin in getting past players but all this led to crosses which landed on a Brighton head, same with corners, I agree I thought the lad who come on at the end looked lively and it was sad seeing Fortune who looked bereaved more than anything else

Mick

Anonymous said...

Of all the players to single out, Martin seems an odd choice. He made our two best chances, both missed by Abbott, and nearly scored a JJ Style volley at the end of the first half. In the second half he was being called 'short' by Dailly and Racon, as part of our masterplan to play in front of the defence.

Oh, and MckEnzie scored a hat-trick. Lucky we decided he wasn't good enough.

Geoff said...

The players have to take responsibility as you say, but PP has to take responsibility for putting the players on the park, and for coaching them before he does so. Only he can explain why he pairs in central defence a couple - Doherty and Fortune - who would be badly placed in a grandmothers' race. Fry may be inexperienced, but he has some pace and he reads situations better than either of yesterday's pairing.

"They surprised us by playing a diamond..." was the first Parky comment I read yesterday. Well, then, Mr Parkinson, DO something about it. How could you let your midfield continue to stumble and allow Kishi - good performance - to look like Danny Blanchflower?

Some coaches turn teams round rapidly, eg Coyle at Burnley, Poyet at Brighton; PP has had two years, and if there are financial constraints, they are certainly no greater than Brighton's. Having stabilised the club financially very recently Richard Murray won't want to pick up an enormous bill for replacing a non-performing coach or coaches, but he will have an enormous mountain to climb out of League 2 if he does not act. At least we'd play AFC Wimbledon rather than Franchise Dons.

Wyn Grant said...

Just because the team gets turned over by the top team doesn't mean they can't escape relegation. The team is good enough for mid-table League 1. Parkinson has to take his share of the responsibility, but so do the other members of the coaching staff.

aitchyaddict said...

Wyn, escaping relegation or finishing mid table is not success. Murray has said we need to be promoted or the club could go under.

Wyn Grant said...

I think it's a realistic expectation. Why should the club go under if it doesn't get promoted? There are plenty of clubs that manage to survive in League 1 without going under and with much smaller attendances. I am advised that infrastructure costs are not that great, although it is true that the Academy is a cost that may not be sustainable.

Jack said...

Wyn,
I thought for a while in the first half we played reasonably well, but were undone by a defensive error, so was fairly optimistic we could snatch a goal back and hang on for a draw against a well balanced passing team, only to be undone by another defensive error.
As the game went on we looked less and less likely to score.

What worried me was not this result in isolation but added to the fact we lost to a bottom three side in Brentford, drew against other lowly placed teams Dagenham and Plymouth.

We are again a misfiring engine.
Semedo and Racon don't create enough going forward.

PP needs an urgent rethink, why not try Semedo at his favoured position alongside Dailly, Fry at left back and Jackson alongside McCormack in midfield.

He needs a shuffle and a team that has shape going forward and defensively which seems to be lacking at present.

Wyn Grant said...

These are interesting suggestions and I would have thought it would be well worth starting Fry at left back. Johnson has disappointed to some extent this season and when he was tried in the midfield position, apparently he did not do very well.

Anonymous said...

Sell the club quickly Murray.You have already pinched the supporters shares so do the decent thing before this club dies

Anonymous said...

Wyn,
survival should not be the point. Last saturday the club had an attendance of nearly 19000. That is exceptional in this division, only Leeds, Man CIty and Leicester have got close in recent years.

If they cannot use this to deliver at least a campaign flirting with promotion, then the club have to accept it will drop back, in two years we will be seeing gates of 7-9k, and that simply will not sustain the current infrstructure.
An immediate change is needed, to a results-oriented approach. For the club, promotion is worth millions, why are the team and management not incentivised based on this?
If Benson (for exmaple) is in a squad that wins promotion, he gets 500k, if he isn't, he gets 30k. Simple.
The same for management and directors. And if they won't accept it, then why not? Ok, change it. If Parky wins promotion he gets 2m, if he fails, 50k. Sanme for players. Anyone who refuses that - the doors over there.

Wyn Grant said...

The attendance last Saturday was heavily boosted by the Seagulls. The infrastructure can be modified, e.g., you can close the upper west. No player or manager is going to accept a contract on that basis. It's a team game and whether we get promoted is not down to Benson alone, so it's not reasonable to reward or penalise him on that basis.

Jack said...

Wyn,
Although hoping for the best re PP as he comes across as a nice guy trying to do his best in difficult circumstances and I've hoping that he would do well and still do. Some of the vitriolic abuse that was being hurled at him on Saturday was well over the top and more deserving of someone who'd committed a heinous crime rather than someone trying ot build a decent team with limited resources.

Perhaps PP's problem is that he is too nice...I got the impression with Curbs that he had a bit of a Fergie streak in him.

Hoping for better on Saturday.

Wyn Grant said...

It may be that PP is a bit too nice. I'm not too optimistic about Saturday, particularly with Reid out.

Luv Robin said...

Interesting point about PP being "too nice." Didn't Curbs say that one of the factors in our first relegation from the Premiership was that he had been "too loyal" to good second-rate players who were exposed as not good enough for the top level? PP inherited a train wreck and his options have been very restricted.