Charlton Athletic 2 Wycombe Wanderers 1
Wycombe lost their first two games of the season 2-3 to both Wrexham and Birmingham but had not lost since in the league and are easily the division’s top scorers.
That is what the Addicks faced today, but I think we even surpised ourselves with what we saw this lunchtime.
It really was a terrific performance and showed a little bit of everything that we are hoping for from a Nathan Jones’ team.
We were organized, tenacious, energetic and creative. We should have added a third, but it did end up being a nervy finish although in hindsight despite pressure and dangerous set-piece opportunities for Wycombe we saw the 90 and 7 added minutes out very well.
The spine of the side suddenly looks promising. Lloyd Jones has been pivotal, and the mark of a real leader is that he makes others around him better. Mitchell was excellent, but praise for Gillesphey, who played exceptionally well today. Maynard-Brewer also benefits from what he has in front of him.
You can throw all the tactical jargon at me you want, but width and pace are essential characteristics, in my mind, of a good team. Small and TC both lack composure sometimes, but their work rate and desire to make things happen has been the single biggest differentiator from where we were to where we find ourselves now. Edwards too showed some of that early promise before he unfortunately got injured.
The midfield three was off all season for me, but all of a sudden a sitting, a box-to box, and an attacking midfielder has made us so much more dynamic. Coventry, Docherty and Berry all had excellent games, and for the third game running it was impossible to pick a best player.
Yet, if I had to pick one, it’ll would be the young man up top. Got to love it when his name rings out around The Valley. It brings back memories of much better times, but his old-man never finished like that.
This has been another desperate year being an Addick, but you have to soak it in when you can, and today’s final game of the year was absolutely one of those.
🎙️“I keep saying that this is a tough place to play, at times. You come here because the expectation is we were Premier League and should be Premier League – all the history that comes with this wonderful football club – and sometimes that is a lot to live up to. We are a work in progress trying to do that.” – Nathan Jones
⭐️ Miles Leaburn
🏟️ 15,544 (1,457 from Wycombe)
📸 Paul Edwards
A Christmas miracle, three wins on the bounce !!
Okay I’ll soak it up and enjoy the nine points which have moved us up to seventh (until the later games are played)
One has to ask, how has this happened?
Perhaps the Welsh Messiah finally realised after 19 games. Lumping the ball forward to no one was unlikely to win games.
Perhaps he finally realised using the width of the pitch creates a better style of attacking play.
Perhaps he’s woken up to constantly chopping and changing the starting eleven was and is a sign of desperation.
If the first choice eleven come through a game unscathed, start them in the next game. It ain’t rocket science.
I don’t know how much longer this run of form will last and I still doubt we’re good enough for a Play-off position.
More than anything I still despise N Jones and wish he had been sacked by now.
The window is about to open. What will NJ do with that opportunity. I’m rather nervous to think about it. Expecting a few out and doubting any of worthwhile quality will come in.
Credit where it’s due. Charlton were excellent today. The players and manager nailed it. A settled team is helping to create a better understanding within the team and that breeds consistency. Well done!
Take a bow Nathan, the team and fans !!
That’s good progress and it’s clear that at last we are progressing and playing sensible and tactical football that gets results.
The letter I wrote to Santa has been fulfilled and thank you Santa !!!!
A tactical and strategic win for NJ today – we thoroughly disrupted Wycombe fighting for every ball and stopping any flow and having got under their skin we scored two goals when they lost concentration.
This is how we started the season – defending well and getting numbers behind the ball, it does make it difficult to get forward but with Small and TC providing the pace we can quickly break.
The key thing is to take chances when they come – we scored two today but maybe left a couple more goals out there.
I admit I was a bit worried when we named the same starting XI and bench as the last two games but we had the energy and nous to see the game out.
A great win today and well deserved. Though don’t agree CA with the midfield being excellent, until about the 30 minute when he put in hard tackle and gave away a free kick, we didn’t even know Docherty was playing and to be honest he didn’t do much in the second half apart from giving away a few loose balls, currently as per the game show he is the weakest link and definatly shouldn’t be the Captain as that title should belong to Jones!
The biggest two worries going forward are first, without Jones in central defence we have looked poor at the back and have no real cover for him if he is out injured. The second is our subs, we really only had Anderson and Godden with any note on the bench. Ahadme again was dreadful when he came on for Leaburn, running around like a headless chicken and only touched the ball at the end of the game as it went off for a throw in, plus Alan Campbell, Hylton and Reg also complete waste of spaces on the bench, they are no game changers! Why has he suddenly dropped Taylor, Kanu out of the picture and also won’t put Dixon on the bench who has excelled currently for the under 21’s, rather than his old Luton mates! As according to Jones apart from Aneke, Ramsey and also Mitchell there are no other injuries!
He needs to get shot of these three Luton part timers, Campbell, Hylton and Potts when their temp contracts run out 31/12/2024, as they are a real drain on resources or will he be looking to retain them for the rest of the season, as a New Year gesture of good will to his old mates? Obviously we couldn’t offload Adhadme, who I think has a three year contract, even if we tried!
Also currently, simlar to Dobson debarkle, Charlton will leave it until the last minute to offer Jones (The Player) 🙂 a decent new contract, which then leaves Wycombe and maybe others to come in for him in the January transfer window, along with Leaburn who will also be out of contract in 2025! Which like previous seasons, if the offers are good enough, they will be accepted.
well at last 3 games no change in players or hoffing the ball up the pitch we used our wingers to our advantage and if Leaburn 2nd goal doesn’t get goal of the season the panel should be sacked
as I’ve said before I don’t like Nathan jones but I’m hoping he has learnt from the past games if it’s going good don’t mess around with it just keep going until injuries cause issues I don’t want him sacked as who would come in to take over and after reading charlies crap about turning the oil tanker around no new players are coming in and what has happened to our training ground has it shrunk I’m no coach or manager but we can only fit 22 players on it did we sell part of the ground to Hyde housing
it was a great performance today but once again like against Cambridge we looked like conceding a goal I hope Lloyd Jones stays he has shored up that back line I would love to see chucks go as he is just in the physio room doing nothing and I’d like to keep Dan Potts and the defender tagbo look like they could be useful
the rest of Luton town vets can go
I don’t get my hopes up for a good transfer window but if we keep playing like that we might finish maybe in the top 10
Fantastic performance to close a dismal year.
24 games to go, probably need to win at least 15 for top 6.
There’s collective passion, energy and commitment so let’s see.
The sack NJ thing is laughable really, apart from more dosh in the bin on compensation, a squad half-assembled in his image and, oh, let’s see, who better!?!?, there’s one thing he’s not and that’s a yes man. And a yes man to our board/shareholders is 100% NOT what we need.