Charlton Athletic 1 Rotherham United 1
That was a pretty ugly watch with a share of the spoils a fair outcome.
One cannot deny the team’s hard graft, and just to be clear I am not knocking the playing style as I remember Ben Garner. However, without sparks of creativity or balls pinging into the opposing box fashioning chances then games can be a real grind.
And, this was one such game.
Defensively we have come on leaps and bounds. Sometimes the back five were careless with the ball, but they are disciplined and organized, and I’ll forego the hoofs forward if there were midfielders who can collect balls or second balls and then get us up the pitch quickly either with pace with the ball at their feet, or are able to play a killer pass.
The three midfielders, none of them terrible, are a bit samey, and whereas I see what Coventry and Berry bring, I am finding it hard to fathom what Docherty’s real ability is. The skipper doesn’t impose himself on games enough for me.
If Ahadme had finished the glorious chance that fell to him on 7 minutes, then the game may have been different as we did start stronger, but he almost expectedly fired into the top tier of the JS Stand.
If we score first then I think we have proper resilience and infallibility, but this team as it stands doesn’t inspire me to come from behind as we just don’t create enough chances.
We conceded another goal from outside the box. I don’t think Mannion had any chance, but possibly the three red shirts that came out to their player to close him could’ve done better.
Jones immediately threw on Aneke and the two Campbell’s and they each improved us. TC did give us an extra edge in our top third, but it was Chuks who grabbed the equalizer with a beauty.
Created by the two Campbell’s, it was our only shot on target. Our crossing and set plays still need a lot of work. A lot.
The annoying thing was that I’d hope we would really take the game to them after we scored. Our tails were up and their away record is appalling, but in fairness to them they managed out the game very well.
A word again on Kayne Ramsey, he was excellent and looks a real find.
🎙️”At times it was brutal – in terms of the tempo of the game. Everything is a restart, so it’s difficult to create a really good fluency in the game” – Nathan Jones
⭐️ Kanye Ramsey
🏟️ 13,569 (616 Millers)
📸 Keith Gillard
We are still a work in progress is my take away from yesterday and the season to date. We’re getting there, but there’s much work to do, bear in mind that we have a new midfield with Conor Coventry being the longest serving player in it and he’s been at the club since January.
I’m impressed with the fitness levels and that we didn’t allow a physical Rotherham side to bully us or smash their way through our defence. Their two strikers, Sam Nombe and Jonson Clarke-Harris were kept quiet, Nombe had a couple of half chances and that was it and their goal was a worldie, but the third worldie this season. I don’t know whether that’s coincidence or a pattern, maybe clubs seeing no way through a deep-lying defence will take shots from distance?
NJ has made us hard to beat and score goals against and that is an important first step, but the way we are set up we aren’t going to create that many chances, so when we do we have to take them. Gassan Ahadme’s early chance/miss could have cost us. We aren’t using him very well – he wins lots of headers but he needs a goal poacher alongside him and neither TC or Matty Godden are yet on his wavelength. We also have to focus on delivering a few more quality crosses in the final third.
We had a goal poacher mate. His name was Alfie May. But the messiah drove him out of the club………….
These Worldie references are to incidences where players are not closed down and shots blocked and the ball ending up in the back of the net. Not every league one side has a player capable of a big hit, but there are enough. I am sure I am not the only one looking at Gassam Ahadme’s finishing and wee little Alfie May. Sorry I’m on the blunder party when it comes to transfers. Yes not as bad as MA’s run last year, but not the overwhelming performances I was expecting. 5/10/24 worries me.
Well I don’t know about you Chig. But scraping a draw at home to the mighty Rotherham, shows how far we’ve come under the tutelage of the Messiah. Whoop-e-doo.
I have no doubt we’d have lost that game in any of the past 4 seasons.
Really!
Whatever! do you think NJ and his self-opinionated big-headed dogma is going to get us promoted?
Do you think Ahadme will get 23 goals this season?
Do you think NJ is the messiah?
You may have noticed, I despise the bloke.
I had started to notice, Daggs. Did he upset you in a previous life?
Ha, I’ve never met him. I wasn’t particularly keen on him getting the job, but he got it. I was prepared to give him a chance. He inherited basically a shit team and under him we limped on, just remaining in League 1.
Sadly he then decided building his own team could be done best by driving Alfie May out of the club. The player who scored 23 goals which kept us up. The most idiotic decision I can remember for many a year. At that point he lost me.
I’ve supported CAFC since 1968. At times it ain’t been easy. Getting kicked out of the Valley was the lowest point ever. Yet somehow we managed to bounce back from that and for a while things were good.
Sadly the last four or five years have been awful. League 1 football, a succession of idiot owners and incompetent managers.
This season I was hoping for an all out promotion push to get back the the Championship (second division) which is where I believe our club belongs. I don’t believe It will happen under NJ. I don’t believe he’s as good as he and many others think.
If we aren’t in the top six January, his position will become difficult. If we fail to get promoted, I think he’ll be sacked and will deserve it.
Nearly sixty years supporting this football club. At times being one of four or five thousand standing on the terraces, perhaps I’ve just become tired of it? I never thought I would…………….