Rochdale 1 Charlton Athletic 0
Mission accomplished…
But, it still peeved me a little that we played crappy on the telly again, and very disappointing for the 1,611 Addicks who made the long journey and whilst they made a lot of noise deep down they will feel a little cheated.
Sure, our play-off spot was pretty much sealed early in the game with what was going on at Priestfield, but we didn’t really get out of first gear and to use a ‘Bow-ism,’ they wanted it more, and the points meant more to them.
I’m pleased for Dale and the inspirational Joe Thompson. For a month or two they looked like they had it in them to survive and they used their games in hand well. Meanwhile Oldham only have themselves to blame as they slipped into the 4th tier for the first time since 1971.
Back to us then. Bowyer made changes, took JFC off after an hour, played Reeves deep when he came on, and even introduced Jacko for his 499th career appearance. However we lacked creativity and produced very few chances. Zyro and Kaikai really should be nowhere near the first XI on Thursday.
Form and momentum are critical, and we had that, and now Bowyer, as he did last time we faced Shrewsbury, has to bottle the previous 90 minutes, and get them up for a monumental performance. We need to be a lot better, but we can be.
I felt as if leading up the game Bowyer suspected he knew how the today’s game would turn out, although no one could legislate for how Plymouth would be taken apart by nothing-to-play-for Gills.
We’ve made it, and absolute credit to Bowyer and Jacko for that, but the nail biting has only just begun.
Quote: “I just said to the players when I took charge I said we would make the play-offs, we will make the play-offs, believe in yourself and we will. You’ll have to fight for 10 games and prove everybody wrong.”
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Great that we are in the playoffs, but the sub-par performance today does not auger well for advancement. No scoring punch against a club struggling to remain up means trouble ahead as far as I am concerned.
The play-offs were and always are a lottery Bob. 25% chance of winning as it stands today.
Agree with your sentinments on Zyro and Kaikai, their decision making was awful and the amount of times Zyro was caught off-side tedious. Let’s hope Josh and Nicky stay fit for the next few weeks.
Like you, CA, we suspected Bowyer might take a punt on results elsewhere and rest his upfront “guns” for the tougher playoff matches and when he saw the scoreline at Priestfield realised he didn’t need to risk getting them injured… hence Jacko’s 499th appearance in the 89th minute (odds on a playoff cameo for his 500th?).
I hate it when we lose but was also pleased for Rochdale. The TV coverage showed a couple of our players watching the telly with their players in the tunnel as the the final whistle was blown at Six Fields and offering their congratulations. I like to think of that as “sporting gesture”, but being the cynical person I am, that just underlined for me that a different agenda was being played out.
As you say though, mission accomplished and on we go!
As I said last week the lack of creativity is worrying and although Zyro and Kaikai were poor he has replacements in Magennis Mavididi Ajose and Ahearne Grant, more worrying to me is the lack of a right back, Konsa had a poor game and is sure to be targetted next week.
We have struggled with goals and creativity all season. Holmes and Fosu have weighed in with fair share of worldlies, but Bowyer has addressed this much better than Robinson ever was able to.
Do you think KAG will play a part?
Konsa is a better option against bigger sides. Over Djiksteel rierti?
KAG could play a part, his loan spell at Crawley has given him a run of games and he has scored goals to boost his confidence. It’s what he needed .If he comes back with the right attitude he is at least worth a place on the subs bench. Although Ajose scored at Portsmouth 1 goal in 9 games
is a poor return for a striker. If Mavididi has regained fitness he should start.
Both Konsa and Diksteel are not in their optimum positions at right back but alternatives are limited. Shame Page is injured because DaSilva can play on the right as he showed for part of an England U19 international in the 2018 summer.I think we have to stay with Konsa but if he has a bad game Bowyer
must replace him. Another alternative is Regan Charles Cook who has returned from loan spell at Woking. RCC is similar in size to DaSilva and I don’t like playing 2 small full backs because it limits defensive options at set plays.
Correction :- Sorry U19 match in Summer 2017