Charlton Athletic 2 Crewe Alexandra 2
That was terrible wasn’t it. Massive must-win game and we flunked it. I can’t help but thinking of the Birmingham game at the end of last season.
It was Crewe Alexandra we were playing wasn’t it? They were so much better than us – just like Doncaster, MK Dons, Accrington, Rochdale, Swindon etc. No need to go on.
It was a really slow start once more. We couldn’t get out of our half, what does Adkins say to them? It has been almost every single game since he took over that we have started so sluggish.
Yet we took the lead, first attempt on goal. It was to be our first attempt and last attempt for an hour. Great goal though, sweeping move down the left with Millar instrumental, Gilbey cross and Stockley headed home.
10 minutes. Nerves settled, Pompey losing, the wind knocked out of plucky Crewe Alexandra’s tails. Oh no.
They continued to dominate possession, passed around us at will and had us running backwards and hoofing balls clear to no one. I would take all of their midfield over ours tomorrow.
That brings me to Ben Watson. Is he having a laugh? Is he a Palace plant. Now, this is quite the challenge, but Watson is up there as one of the worst players I have ever seen play for us. Especially bearing in mind his previous career, the fanfare that greeted his signing, and we are in the 3rd Division.
2nd half and if ever there was a goal waiting to happen, then Crewe’s equaliser was it. Before then Pearce was already wasting time but Crewe deservedly equalized and finally Adkins puts two up top.
He really is glued to his 4-3-3, but I’m already growing very tired of the long hopefull balls somewhere in the direction of Stockley hoping for a flick on.
Still Crewe had the majority of the ball, but Chuks was someone at least that knew we needed to win and he was darting into the box and causing his regular havoc.
We win a corner. JFC’s corner was poor, but Aneke followed the corner out to the edge of the box, won the header and Gilbey finished well.
Get out of jail card. I was shocked that we scored, but we were ahead with 7 minutes left. At home to Crewe Alexandra.
Oh no. They were all over us, there’s five minutes of added, and as day follows night, they scored despite us having three centre-halves on the pitch and more apparent leaders than at a TUC Young Workers Conference.
2-2. Sickening, but we didn’t deserve a bean. We don’t deserve to be anywhere near the play-off’s. We are not good enough. Period.
I have so little love for this team. Imposters many of them. We might have our Charlton back, but what the hell happened to the players?
At least we are away on Saturday.
Nigel Adkins: “We look at it and in the 96th minute we’ve got three points and 97th minute we haven’t.”
Photo credit: Paul Edwards
Chicago Addick 
Well said CA. A futile display all afternoon. Simply bad football on Charlton’s part. If by some stretch, they manage to make the playoffs, it will likely be an immediate exit. I think everybody is really, really disappointed and discouraged by the ineptitude. No amount of verbal sugar-coating is going to cover the obvious shortcomings on display today. I totally agree with your observations on Watson, with the only caveat that the equally inept Pratley is seemingly the option. We keep hearing that Chuks Aneke is so fragile and injury prone and yet every time he takes the pitch, the team responds in a positive fashion. So play him! If he gets injured, so be it. I would rather have his positive influence in play from the get go, than bringing him on in the eleventh hour, hoping for a turnaround, when it is often too late. Thomas Sandgaard will have to authorize a major overhaul in the off-season, if the club has any true desire to escape the purgatory of League One football.
Spot on CA.
Absolutely gutted, just wish the season would have ended last night so we can be released from the futile hope and pain it causes and the (major) clear out can begin.
Adkins I’m convinced will get us out of this league (upwards) but no way with this team. Maybe all those harrowing last minute disasters weren’t Bowyer’s fault after all, our players just love bottling it.
Totally concur with the above comments.Along with Oxford, Portsmouth and Sunderland we are too inconsistent and don’t deserve to get to the play-offs.
Let’s forget about getting out of this league this season and hope Thomas and Nigel have the insight for a major clear out of personell during the closed season and bring in some young upcoming players that are hungry for success.
Greg Brown…..A Yorkshire Addick
Totally agree with all the other comments. How Charlton has got so close to the Play-Offs with this squad is beyond me. Everytime they get into a good position to strengthen their league position – games in hand in Jan/Feb and again last night) they bottle it. No doubt some players – one of which was wasting time after 57 mins! – will be queueing up on twitter to say “we go again on Saturday” but that has worn thin. This was the time to deliver!
I am of the opinion that if you stick rigidly to a system of play, that opposition teams’ analysts will pick up on it and enable their team to counteract. Bowyer went to the extreme and changed the system of play too often but maybe NA is too rigid because of the limitations of the squad and individual players. In the present circumstances we cannot risk blooding promising young players but hopefully the squad can be improved by prudent recruiting in the close season and some of the younger players given a chance to show what they can offer.
I note that we are linked with former player Piggott who has had a good season at AFC Wimbledon but I would prefer Michael Smith to return as he a much better all round player .
CA What can I say you and others have said it all, we didn’t even deserve a draw we were completely outplayed, yet again by a team in the lower half of the division.
We are a below average team in a division that has the poorest teams for years for years in League 1, apart from Hull & Peterborough and we are struggling.
A total clear out is needed, apart from a very few players and I especially don’t want see, Watson, Pratley and Pearce given extended contracts for another year!
If we miss out on the playoff it’ll be because of that game. It should’ve been in the bag.
I didn’t watch the game, but it seems that following the Plymouth result, normal service has been resumed. And that is why I stopped buying live streaming match tickets – it was just so painful and frustrating to watch not just one or two, but so many dire performances.