Saturday 13 September 2014

One is enough - after 100 minutes

The Watford fan on the train complained, 'We conceded a penalty in the first two minutes, we bossed it for the next 88, but we couldn't score.' Part of the problem for Watford was that some chances were thrown away through wayward shots, but credit must also go to the Addicks for resolute defending. The Hornets complained that they were denied a penalty of their own, but it was difficult to get a clear view from where I sit. Having looked at it on television from behind, there was contact, although not a lot so it was easily missed.

After Buyens had dispatched the penalty, Watford came back into the game, but increasingly resorted to blatant fouls as their efforts got them nowhere. The referee was keen to dish out yellow cards, although the Addicks got their share in the second half.

The Hornets came out of the traps determined to score in the second half and for a while we lost our shape and composure. Deeney did score, but it was rightly ruled offside. However, I thought that we recovered somewhat towards the end of the game. Even so, possession was 62-38 in Watford's favour. But then last season we would have capitulated to such an onslaught.

On the way into the ground, a long-standing fan expressed the view that the David Whyte commemoration had gone over the top, albeit it with the best of intentions. However, I thought that the applause on the 10th minute was very appropriate and went well.

I don't know what went wrong at Charlton Station, but there was a long wait for trains and I was lucky to get on one at 5.30. My train from Marylebone had a noisy group on it who turned out to be dentists who had been to a course on botox which they had found 'very draining'. I found the match quite draining in an edge of the seat way, but it was absorbing and in no way like drawing teeth.

Charlton remain unbeaten and are 5th in a table that is tightly packed at the top. Wolves on Tuesday will be a crucial test. Home games are juts like buses: you don't get one for a month and then they come along in pairs.

As Steve Claridge said on The Football League Show, 'The sign of a good manager is doing the best with what you've got and there's no doubt that Bob Peeters is doing that.'

Derek from Dymchurch writes, 'That Belgian geezer can't go on riding his luck. As I've said before, the wheels are coming off. And, no, Acworth is not my long lost cousin.'

Match analysis

Stephen Henderson was my Man of the Match, not just for his saves, but also for his command of his area. One save in the first half required him to spot the ball through a crowd of players. In the second half he made two outstanding saves to keep us in the game. Bikey made a few errors in distribution, but I wouldn't like to face him if I was on the pitch. Ben Haim came close to giving away a penalty, but he also stood up to the onslaught. Solly had a good game, some nice skill and touches. Wiggins foraged forward a few times, but is perhaps not up to the standard of last season.

Buyens took the penalty very well. He made some errors going forward. Cousins didn't seem that involved a lot of the time and some of his corners were poor. Jackson looks a bit off the pace a lot of the time. Playing Gudmundsson when he had picked up an injury on international duty was probably a mistake. It must have been a disappointment for the two Iceland supporters in front of me to see so little of him. Tucudean has a good work rate, but got muscled off the ball too easily. Vetokele didn't seem to be too affected by his recent return from Africa, although he did have a chance to score in the second half.

I am a great fan of Wilson and he did managed to get forward when others didn't, but it wasn't the best performance by the player described in the programme as 12th on the head coach's list. Dyer managed to get round him to create a goal scoring opportunity, but fortunately his shot was dire. Moussa has energy and enthusiasm, but he squandered opportunities a couple of times by failing to pass the ball when he forged forward. Harriott couldn't score and he couldn't help anyone else to score.

If I was still doing Hiss of the Match I would give it to charm merchant Troy Deeney who seemed to think that his role as captain was to try and intimidate the referee.

19 comments:

Unknown said...

What a difference in a year makes powell lost i see in his first game at home ring any bells?we should have dumped powell a lot earlier than we did big mistake keeping him ss now in peeters who using wingers yes wingers powell and a striker in ventokle the players seem up for it but time for jackson and tunchadean to be dropped i think when we play at home next and play gomez in place of jj and perhaps play silva when he comes back from welling loan as he has bags of pace ,pace wins matches.......cant wait to play powell at the valley easy 3 points.....

Anonymous said...

We defended well for sure. But midfield and forward line were poor.
Three more points but we won't get away with that sort of performance much longer.

Daggs

Dan Briordy said...

There is not one element of what Acworth has said that I agree with. We were up against a strong team today and everyone played their part. We won't have to face many team like Watford this year and I would not say "we got away with it" despite the apparent balance of play stats. We could have done better a times on the break but we were a threat and our team spirit is there for everyone to see.

Brian G said...

A great result against one of the really strong teams in the Championship. Sure, Watford bossed the game for long periods but we didn't give them many chances and, on another day, Watford could have gone in at half time with 9 men. Their fouls on Igor in the last few minutes probably prevented at least one goal.

Anonymous said...

Another game with 3 points (attributable to a penalty) and no posession - I can't see us being so lucky for a whole season.

Anonymous said...

We were somewhat lucky and won despite the balance of play. We have grass. We're fifth and the football is better than the dross of the last few seasons. Personally, I'm enjoying the moment.

This is a mid-table squad and eventually time and luck will even out and we'll drop down the table. However, we're still much better off than last year. I don't understand the negativity of some.

Valleymick

Anonymous said...

its 20 years since i first encountered crap from Ackworth online. Its got worse year on year. The notion that a young kid sent out to Welling should be brought back and into the first team is just beyond belief. Gomez to play in midfield instead of JJ - er he is a right sided defender .. and the disrespect for Powell is the cherry on top … muppet pure and simple

Geoff said...

South Eastern ensured I didn't get to the game, so no surprises about your wait at the station, Wyn. BBC London wanted the ref banned from further officiating, citing the penalty not given to Watford and Cousins's booking as the worst example of reffing the correspondent had witnessed.

The Watford non-pen, as you say, might have been given on the view from behind. Claridge thought so on FL Show, but also commented that it was a pretty light touch. Possibly Deeley did his own chances harm by theatrical falling. Claridge unusually objective about a Charlton game. I wondered if BBC had given him some truth serum, but then checked and found that he and Bob were at Millwall at the same time. So he knows how big RP is!!

Unknown said...

jacksons legs have gone simple

Unknown said...

Im very impressed so far with gomez i would love him to start with solly in the team and drop jackson to the bench.Harriott was all over the place when he came on so i m hoping peeters makes a few changes for tuesdays game with wolves

Wyn Grant said...

Why doesn't Acworth start his own blog? It can be done on Google or Wordpress. It could be called 'Acworthian', 'Acworth Speaks' or, if one wants a French language angle, 'Merde'.

Brian G said...

I am surprised that there are any negative comments at the moment but then my confidence is riding high on the recent results and the general style and standard of our play. We'll win 2-1 tomorrow night and could even be top for a short while.

Unknown said...

good idea wyn! i might do that ive only just got a new computer so im in the process of figuring how the dam thing works!.The negative comments is constructive coments jackson legs have gone fans around me where saying this saturday and unfortunetly the game passed him by.Harriott was all over the place when he came on and tunchadean and moussa need i think perhaps a couple of matches for the u21s to get much better than they are curently doing,in all im very pleased how well we are doing but we do need to make changes to some of the starting eleven for wolves tomorrow night i start with solly and gomez ,gomez hasreally impressed me and i think hes versitile enough to fit into jacksons position,but maybe jacksons carear is comming to an end its such a shame for a top player but im sure im not the only one who has noticed that jj is not the same player he once was.

Sciurus Carolinensis Nemesis said...

engineering works east of plumstead gave southeastern the opportunity to run a minimal service thru charlton all day despite the expected demand around match time
arrangements around the consequent rail replacement service were negligible to the point of negligent
southeastern find new unfathomable depths of disservice to plumb every time

Anonymous said...

thee standad off spilling in theses cammants is terriball.

Unknown said...

Levy was at charlton in talks possibly over spurs sharing the valley

Anonymous said...

Yes, I saw Levy at the Valley too, Joseph Levy that well known Greengrocer from Whitechapel

Unknown said...

Now ive just heard a little bit of jucy gossip someone told me this morning that levy is selling spurs for 1 billion hense why he was at the ground saturday i wouldnt be to suprised see him bid for rd stake at the club makes sense why hes attending charlton games of late

Wyn Grant said...

Levy wants to sell Spurs for nearly £1bn, whether he will get it is another matter. See www.footballeconomy.com for more on this. Even if he did sell, I cannot see him having any interest in Charlton.