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100 up for Burke – Charlton Preview
Lee Clark has to rouse his battle weary troops for the visit of Chris Powell’s Charlton Athletic after a tough defeat on penalties in midweek. For the Addicks it’s a chance for them to pick up a handy away point or three against a team who is also struggling in the bottom half of the Championship.
Charlton Athletic
Charlton come into this game one place above Blues in the table, albeit on the same points but having played one fewer game and with a one goal better goal difference tally. Charlton are unbeaten in their last four games but have only won one of those and indeed have only won one game in their last eight.
Striker Yann Kermorgant is a doubt having turned his ankle in the game against Wigan whilst defender Richard Wood could also miss the game as he is struggling with a dead leg.
Blues
Blues come into the game having played an exhilarating but potentially exhausting cup tie in midweek. David Murphy misses the game through injury after his knee has become swollen, along with Jesse Lingard but Chris Burke is fit and could make his 100th league appearance for the team. Wade Elliott will serve the first of his three match ban for his sending off against Stoke and Dariusz Dudka will require building his match fitness before he can be considered.
I suspect Clark will keep the 4-2-3-1 formation in place, with Mitch Hancox retaining his place for the injured David Murphy and Lee Novak potentially playing behind Nikola Zigic although the big man did feel sore after the game on Tuesday. Burke will slot in for the suspended Elliott and whilst both Olly Lee and Peter Lovenkrands did well off the bench I suspect both with have to be content with remaining as subs for this one.
After Tuesday there is no doubt going to be some tired legs but this is the kind of game we need to target three points from; Charlton are struggling too and if we are to keep our place in mid table we need to pick off teams like this at home. The key for me is how we go up front; we need to be able to link up as well as we did for the goals against Stoke whilst cutting out some of the silly errors at the back that have pervaded recent performances.
Tags: Charlton Athletic, Chris Burke, Lee Novak, Mitchell Hancox
81 Responses to “100 up for Burke – Charlton Preview”
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need to play 4 at the back – blues to win 1-0 in a scrappy affair, 4 4 2 – zig and novak up front
every match is tough for blues as this is a learning curb for some of our younger players, glad burke fit again…………..Hancox should have no problems filling in for murph,,,,,,,,,,,,,,maybe novak and ziggy combination first off, then bring on gray and lovenkrands for the last 20 or 30 mins………….maybe…..2-0 home win for me and a………..clean sheet…………if they were gutted about the cup game hopefully they want to win today at all cost……………………..our season starts now imo
Retain 4231? Tuesday was 442 till elliott got send off and then we went kinda a 441
I think 4-2-3-1 is the preferred formation atm, it’s working for us. My only worry, is that we’ll be a bit leggy after Tuesday, especially the older players. I’m glad Hancox is staying in, he gives us a lot of energy down the left with Fergie. It’s worth giving Novak and Zigic another chance together, that’s if the big man is fit enough. I’m glad Kermorgant will be out. He’s big, strong and has a good shot.. good in the air too. We’ll have to look after Church though.
As I said yesterday.. I’ll go with 3-1 Blues, but we need to be at it from the start.
Lovenkrands did enough on Tuesday to start today. Who said ” It’s not about formations it’s about players”? No? Neither do I.
At the moment, we’re having to play 2 in the hole, to try to strengthen the middle of the team. Hopefully, when Dudka is fit, we’ll be able to play with a little more freedom in midfield. Until then, 4-2-3-1 will do us. The players seem to like it. As for Lovenkrands, he may come in for Zigic, as Lee Clark says his back and and groins had tightened, so maybe Zigic will start on the bench and come on for the last 20-25. We’ll have to wait until 2pm to find out.
2-1 blues…..it will be the lovenkrands & Novak show today.
Kro sotv
Djue lay ore carson
The difference to Tuesday will be keeping 11 players on the pitch, that should keep our shape and tightness.
Burke will give us some extra width and Novak to play just behind Ziggy for any knock downs, Lovenkraands can be fresh legs in the 2nd half.
Another Millwall performance to burst Charltons mini bubble and 2-0 win for me.
KRO+DNM
Robbo as LB? Gray instead of fergie? burke on the right? :S
See yall soon. Must win today!
And forgot to add… No hancox or arthur!
Hancox taken ill this morning apparently.
Tom Ross just announced that St Andrews HAS been listed as a ACV. :-)
Not that IS good news if true ..
Heres an interesting question would you take relegation if it meant Carson finally decided to sell up?
It looks as though Chris Hughon might soon get what he so richly deserves!
I’d have him back in a heartbeat!
Why does he so richly deserve the sack ? He didn’t do anything wrong, he was open and honest all the way through.
We brought him back from the scrapheap and gave him a second chance – I for one felt he owed us at least another season for that instead of bailing at the first opportunity – but what price loyalty these days? Anyway, by the by now…
Really windy so we play long ball to the tallest man on the pitch who can’t be arsed to jump for a header.
We play wingers……. But long ball so they are cut out of the game for most of it.
Start Gray which was nice but he doesn’t get enough of the ball so eventually gets taken off.
Tactics ….. Wrong
Zigic ….. Waste of space
The game was appalling and we got what we deserved… Nothing.
Zigic won most of the ball 2nd half but was being constantly fouled.
CH was a brilliant manger but unfortunately the happy clappers will never forgive him for being ambitious.
They much prefer LC who once again has proved he’s completely out of his depth and to those who still think his capable of saving us from relegation-wake up!
He deserted us when we needed him…its ok to desert us if hes honest about it then? He had a much stronger squad than Lee Clark has, he bottled it when we should have got to Wembley against a mddiocre Blackpool and then he came back to try and take wharever he could for nothing! Is that enough!
Sorry Steve but you are being very silly. He improved himself, good luck to him.
Do you think Clark will remain loyal if he was made an offer?
Of course not !
Apparently Clark would have gone to Blackpool if we could have agreed on the compo.At this moment i would have Hughton back tomorrow.
Happy clapper….insulting! Brilliant manager….. spent 30million and look where he has taken them. I won’t judge LC until the whole CY mess is sorted but it’s not looking great for him either!
Steve, don’t worry Art is allowed to insult the manager, the supporters or anyone that doesn’t share his poisonous blinkered opinion. But insult him and he calls you immature, and goes off in a hissy fit. Don’t worry he’ll come back all mock offended and suck up to the blog owner like he normally does.
He may not remain loyal and if he didn’t I would treat him in the same way.
Steve,
No offence intended but I fear you are in for a long wait as the team spirals towards Division 1.
As for judging LC look at his record since joining the club then try and justify why he shouldn’t be sacked…his record is appalling.
I am not defending LC and the only problem in sacking him would be paying him off. Ive also asked numerous times who we could realistically replace him with… there is always a deafening silence at this point. No offence taken by the way.
comment edited – I just now saw this. I grew a pair and deleted a ridiculous comment. ;)
Unfair to accuse Al of sitting on the fence. He gives his opinion, and just becuase you may not agree with it, does not mean he’s sitting on the fence – unlike Colin Tattum of the Mail, who does. BTW I actually like Colin’s writing, but wish he’d be more investigative and forthright in his views.
Steve.I think Almajir has said it how it is.Clearly he can’t include all the information he has for legal reasons.Just to recap-administration.
Bigman steve, why dont YOU grow a pair and start your own Blog then you can insult anyone and everyone you want.
Chas actually I’ve got a nice big pair &unlike you I don’t feel I have to suck up to almajir to get my point across , I don’t intend to insult any one on here, but do intend for a damn good debate even if host thinks because it’s his site he will only allow what he likes..?Kro sotv
I am not sucking up to anyone, just cant see why you feel the need to be so insulting . If you don’t like the way he runs HIS blog, write your own, Simples.
there’s a problem with that Steve. It’s my site… not yours. Either you can the insults, or you don’t post. Capisce?
Almajir same old same old with you, isn’t this just another case of you saying ” it’s my party & you can only dance to my records” typical….just bloody typical….almajir is always right & nobody else can have an opinion ….go on remove this as well! Because you don’t agree with it
Steve
Opinions are fine. However, insulting the site owner isn’t. You don’t like it, feel free to post elsewhere, it’s a big old internet.
Very eloquent. You think Chris Hughton would come back here??? You need a reality check.
Where in my statement did I say “I think he would come back” ?
I would like him back but I also understand you would not like him back so that’s fine
I know for a fact that he loved it at Blues.Do you remember Pannu telling us that he told Hughton that a take over and investment was imminent?Obviously Chris saw straight through him.
I was gutted when he left & could fully understand why he left, let’s get us sorted with some good £££ backing then we’ll go & get him back
As per usual no one can come up with a realistic and viable replacement for Lee Clark. Clamouring for his head is fine but then what?
With respect Steve no one can give you the names of any replacement because Clark is still the manager but I’m sure there would be some quality candidates that would do a far better job than Clark.
He’s had his day and it’s time to move on quickly before it’s too late.
Even you would be an improvement.
hi all….just back very cold…wind swept..depressed….probably our worst ever performance…!!! burke did not do anything,is he still injured or has he fell out with clark?….can not say a good word about any player…
we have no tactics …all the away teams boss us from the first minute and then the manager has no ideas of how to change anything….it is so embarassing to see most of our passes go backwards and to the goalie and always putting the next player under pressure….no clue at all…clark must go !!! we would be better with the youth team coach in charge…!!!!!!
If Burke did his hamstring last week,surely you don’t fully recover in a week.
I understand your sentiment but your replacement for LC is not a viable option and one that will not happen. Where will the money come from to pay off his contract?
With relegation a real threat can we afford not to sack him?
We can’t afford to sack LC, he does need to stop tinkering & changing formation though. He isn’t impressing any of us really but then who else would take us on in the mess we are in.
The sad thing is that we do have players that can do a decent job in this division but they just aren’t performing & keep making pathetic errors that I’d expect from a pub team.
It’s not just Clark’s fault, the players have to have more desire, more ideas, more sense (long ball in windy conditions!?!?! & no plan B).
When Zigic plays we only play route 1, without him we actually try to pass the ball.
Disappointing. Cold. Boring.
Zig looking uninterested again and what the hell was up with Burke? Fair play to Gray but changes should have come sooner. Both Robbo and Reilly looked knackared towards the end but 3rd sub not used? Will be a long season feel sorry for those who started the season with high expectations hah
I think the 3rd sub wasn’t used, because of the Robbo injury. Brown was about to come on when Robbo went down. I’m sure Clark didn’t want to have to play with 10 men again.
Rubbish.we were losing anyway.We weren’t gonna score if we had 15 on the pitch.The bloke is an embarrassment.F8ck him off. Whoever comes in couldn’t be any worse.
I have always given LC my support but there comes a time when questions need to be asked. On paper this squad should be in the top half of the league but I think we might be misssing a point, they are going to work every day unsure of what is happening and how it will affect their futures. Before everyone says how they wish they could play football for what they earn the simple answer is you can’t or you would be doing it. They are privileged to be able to earn their living playing football but they are human and its bound to have an effect on the whole working environment. I personally think LC seems like a nice honest bloke but I think he might need to think about resigning and handing the day to day running of the team back to the owners….it would certainly make for an interesting situation.
Really, that wasn’t a bad team out there today… they just didn’t turn up (again.) Murphy and Hancox both out.. Ferguson not pulling up any trees so far this season, so Robinson was the obvious choice. Randolph replacing Doyle and Burke in for Elliott was obvious too. Other than Gray, I think the rest of the team picked itself after Tuesday. No one this side of the touchline can be blamed for players turning in bad performances. They need to look at themselves for the reason why we’re struggling. Defenders not doing basic defending properly.. midfielders not creating… wingers who couldn’t cross a puddle, let alone a ball. A manager can only prepare a side… he can’t play for them.
I like Lee Clark as a man and as a manager… and I truly believe, that with the proper backing, by real (not ghost) owners, he would do a cracking job. But, I said at the start of the season, that if we were in the bottom 3 around Xmas, then it might be time to change things. I stick by that… although I’d be sad to see this manager go under the present regime.
you congratulate him on a win.Accept he is a lot to blame for today.
You can if you wish.
If you can Staffs,go and watch some of the games and your opinion will change.
I have, and it hasn’t. But, if a change of manager brings a change of fortunes, then I’ll support him the same as I do every manager. But it won’t change my opinion of Clark… no more than you will.
Obviously not enough.
Yeah, obviously.
They just looked knackered today – I think we paid the price for Tuesday’s heroics.
Burke didn’t look fit, and I agree – playing long ball in high winds, not the cleverest.
Ref did us no favours again today, why was Burn’s goal disallowed?
Clark, not the best, we know that, but daft blaming him for trying to do the best with the hand he’s got, and who in their right minds would come to St Andrews to replace him?
I feel sick to the bottom of my stomach. I didn’t go to the game so fair play to everyone who did. Is this as low as it’s gonna go? Please say yes.
If i wasn’t a STH Doc,i wouldn’t be going either. I’ve got a ticket for next week but i,m not going.I normally have a few beers after the game,but i came straight home this week. When it starts ruining my weekend it’s time to think about going the game. Today was the worst for a long time and i can’t see things improvinfg any time soon.
I’m afraid we are where we belong… relegation zone. As many have said before me, if this is what it takes to get BCFC back on track and into the hands of some proper owners then I am more than willing to accept the worse.
X Home
N
W E
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Can someone confirm or am the only one if
Am wrong I need new glasses but did we kick
Off the first half and the second
I couldn’t help wondering after LC’s comments following the Stoke game that he was resigned to a below par performance due to player fatigue. And unwittingly he set his players up for this, both physically and mentally. He should have told them that they are highly conditioned professional sportmen, which they should be, who should have the capability to recover by the weekend after a tough midweek game. Maybe just give them the Wednesday off, then back to serious training at full pelt for the next two days so that they would be up to speed come Saturday. But no, he harped on and on about whether they’d have enough time to recover and put them on a half pace course of training for three days. Is it any wonder they carried on off the pace this afternoon?
Sorry LC, I have to say you called it wrong this time.
He could have played Matt Green.Lovenkrands only played 40 minutes. He could have played those two. but the bollox excuse he uses that they don’t train hard enough mean’t he wouldn’t play Green.I don’t give a f*ck how they train,it’s Saturday that counts.
Bad day all round, players had no passion and think we will accept that because they played well on Tuesday, the same LC made his excuses Wednesday in the event of a poor result today.
Charlton were as bad as we were but they scored and we didn’t, 0-0 would have been a fair result.
I use to play Saturday and mid week AND do a full-time job, I didn’t have the hi-tech training that modern day footballers have but I did have passion for the sport I loved and every time I put on my boots I played with enthusiasm and passion, there was none of that today, by either team, both would have been beaten by an average pub team.
Those calling for LC’s head might be forgetting, Mick McCarthy, Roy Keane and Alan Curbishley all turned Blues down before LC came forward, Mcleish and Hughton both thought the grass was greener, Mcleish is out of work and Hughton is clinging on…just.
Who is out their that would do a decent job at the moment and desperate enough to take the job under the present terms…. Di Canio…. No Thanks…. Better the Devil you know….
I still believe we have a squad of players more than capable of staying in this league and LC is the man to lead them.
Cut out the basic errors and stop making excuses, keep it simple and tight, we need a result at Huddersfield now to put things right.
KRO+DNM
everything about our club at the moment is depressing and awful. The only positive is that we still have a good away following. good to see a lot of blues fans dressed up as seats for Halloween.
We need to replace Clark with a short term(6 month contract) experienced manager who can steer us away from relegation.
There are enough ex-managers (who are now Sky pundits)out there who I’m sure would welcome the opportunity to take on the challenge .
with all teams around us improving and only sales jan no signings this team will be in league 1 nxt season and don’t expect to do a wolves or peterboro either ,so good try lee clark you must be the only manager whos soft enough to work for these idiots,and thank you yeung for ruining my football club,very angry blues fan here
Im a very angry Bluenose, I never boo my team and I never will but I cant see any change until these clowns have gone.
One thing I know is THREE at the back does not work, when you have one cb puts the ball out when no one is around him the other lets the ball bounce then panic when the other team gets on to it or he heads to the other team and the other one is showing his age we need Packwood to have some games at the back, when he comes back from is loan, we cant do any worse.
Time to give Doyle a go in goal Randolph made another two mistakes got away with one but not the other.
Zigic doesn’t look interest at all cant wait till his gone
Burke bad day at the office and didn’t look fit
Caddis, Robinson, Reilly, Adeyemi all looked very tired that what happens when you have a small squad that hasn’t played at this level.
Gray was my mom and I would of took Burke off and put Gray in his place.
we got what we deserved yesterday and Charlton wasn’t brill either KRO
DNM
A narrow defeat and all the ‘sillies’ are out again.
Suppose Charlton should have ‘rolled over’ and let us win really, bit rude of them to come to our ground and ‘try’ isn’t it.
Frankie you must have balls of steel, or a neck so long it’s buried 20 feet below the surface. At what point do you start to think “Hmm….this isn’t going so well is it???”
Perhaps your the silly one-have you seen our league position and home record?
Shame the opportunity was there for blues players to take bull by the horns…………players are the ones that lets themselves down……….its all about consistency……..clark gives every player the opportunity to rise to the top……maybe he does use training as his yard stick so what………once you have drilled 11 players they have to be man enough……do you blame clark for wade sending off…….absolutely not….. 11 players who were out there against charlton failed……imo but in our case the margin of errors have been small, we always had the opportunity to win matches….
Points raised by tracey- when half your team is not at the races, the other team regardless of you status will pick you off………….
*your