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GAMEDAY – Charlton at Home
Blues return to domestic action following the final international break of the year against Charlton Athletic at St Andrews.
Charlton
Ricardo Vaz Te could make his debut for Charlton having signed in the international break but he is unlikely to start due to a lack of fitness and match practice. Scotland u21 forward Tony Watt is a doubt with injury while defender Chris Solly is touch and go. Defender Harry Lennon has been recalled from a loan spell at Gillingham.
Blues
Blues are still without David Cotterill but everyone else is fit for the game. Clayton Donaldson returned home with no issues after making a goalscoring starting debut for Jamaica on the plastic pitch in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Jon Toral could continue in attacking midfield after a very successful match against Fulham.
Ref
Darren Drysdale is in the middle for this game. He’s taken charge of 13 games so far this season, showing 35 yellow cards and sending off one player. His last Blues game was the 1-1 draw with Ipswich back in August 2013 when he booked two players, including Paul Robinson.
Suspension Watch
4 Yellow Cards: David Davis
3 Yellow Cards: Maikel Kieftenbeld, Jonathan Grounds, Paul Caddis and David Cotterill
2 Yellow Cards: Jon Toral and Stephen Gleeson.
1 Yellow Card: Tomasz Kuszczak, Michael Morrison, Paul Robinson, Clayton Donaldson, Jonathan Spector, Andy Shinnie and Demarai Gray.
The cutoff date for 5 yellow cards to attract a suspension is November 30, 2015
The cutoff date for 10 yellow cards to attract a suspension is April 9, 2016
Pre-Match
Often Partisan is working in partnership with Bordesley Labour Club this season. They are based ten minutes away from St Andrew’s on Whitmore Road in Small Heath and have welcomed Blues fans over a number of years on match days.
Today, there is a deal of Pie and pint for £4. You can come back and get warm after the match and watch Liverpool v Man City live on sky. There will be a disco in the Lounge from 8:00 till late with DJ Wynkladon. Next week in concert room Sat 28th Nov Reggae Night, wIth UB40 Tribute act Mitchell Joseph Thompson for 8:00 pm admission £4 – all welcome.
Tags: Charlton Athletic
48 Responses to “GAMEDAY – Charlton at Home”
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Looking forward to it , great to be a blue nose looking forward again . 2 nil blues will do ., just watch graham norton show and even Tom hanks choosing his words carefully about being a ville lol kro come on you blues !!!!
I have a sneaky feeling Donaldson might play tomorrow. He’ll be like a dog with 2 tails after scoring the winner for Jamaica. I’d be surprised to see much difference to this squad. Blues 3-1 Charlton
Kusczcak
Caddis Morrison Spector Grounds
Gleeson Davis
Gray Toral Maghoma
Donaldson
Subs: Legzdins, Lowry, Kieftenbeld, Brown, Shinnie, Solomon-Otabor, Brock-Madsen
Kieftenbeld for Davis will be the only change
Davis gives us more steel in the middle than Kieftenbeld imo.
Same team as Fulham yes. Kro
If you look at it sensibly Dave, you’ll see that there aren’t many more options. We’re down to the bare bones basically. There are only about 18 players available with Cotterill and Robbo out. We can add Reece Brown to that, but there’s not much room for manoeuvre now.
I’ve no problem with that team , that’s the team I would play regardless of what we have . Kro
I cannot remember a time when we had so many attacking wingers as of now. I just want to enjoy them whilst we have got them- so today against a very lower club- attack is the only word. Only possession I want to see is the amount of time our wingers get the ball. If we need Gray to move up along Don.with VSO and Maghoma wide then fine. Just keep Charlton mesmerised into conceding a couple of penalties. I see a lively game with Don on the end of two and Caddis pen. If all goes wrong then I shall need keys to Dave Mann’s caravan.
It’s all locked up till march now Mitchell , anyway it will all go fine today no problems . Kro
I think you said the same thing prior to the Rotherham game.
I’m hoping for a high tempo game today to keep us warm!!, my betting is their goalie will have most possession today……..picking the ball out of the net!. KRO
Dan, Think you will find Robinson is also out for four weeks, according to Rowett. I hate these type of games that we look on as a formality, or should win type, Just hope we can carry on as we left off before this useless international break. If we can get a good start I wouldn`t be surprised to see us hand out another hammering to another cockney club lol. but hay this is still the Blues and would be just as happy for any type of win, maybe 2-0 hopefully.
I saw after I wrote the piece. In my defence zxcv, I’m on holiday right now in Canada and I’m not quite up to speed with Blues…
Lucky you Dan, wonderful place to visit Canada, enjoy yourself mate, only mentioned it for your info. Hope you will be blogging us on how you found Canada and what you got up to.
Brock-Madsen plays up front. Donaldson not in the squad. Should be interesting.
Donaldson coming back with “no issues” wasn’t exactly correct according to the club today. Apparently, he’s out with an injury.
Well it had to happen didn’t it.Donaldson isn’t a robot and getting called up by Jamaica on top of his workload with us has tipped the scales.Over to you then and your big chance Mr Brock-Marsden.
So it’s 6 weeks out for Donaldson and it sounds like Jamaica have made him play the whole game when he should have come off after 10 mins.It clearly didn’t matter to them as they probably won’t see him again for months and it’s us that have to pick up the pieces.So much for international call-ups and Donaldson should tell them to shove it when they come knocking next time.Absolute disgrace.
There is no jynx at home ,for some reàsoñ blues are ñot gettiñg enough shots on target ,you can change that blues , feel the passion , feel the power ,feel the glory , super blues. Kro
Home form getting dire now.Great shame when away form good. No analysing required-we simply cannot craft home wins.
Donaldson out for 6 weeks apparently. Beaten at home by 4 out of the bottom 6 isn’t good enough.
The striker situation is now in dire straits… but then we all knew it was coming these past weeks. But, there’s no point moaning about it. It is what it is. It’s up to Mr Rowett now to get his finger out and sort it. I expect at least one striker St Andrews bound in the next week.
He can’t do much without the help of Panos Staffs. We need somebody in before the Christmas programme.With 3 home games over Xmas,it could be a miserable Xmas for us.
Unfortunately, it’s looking like we could be in for a bit of a dip… but, you never know with this side. They could just as easily go to Brighton and tear em a new one.
The striker situation is now desperate though.. with only one recognised striker and a rookie in the Championship at that. No team could cope through the festive season with just one striker.. so Messrs Rowett and Panos need to pull a rabbit out of the hat next week.
It was deja vu all over again at St Andrews’ today.
Grounds had the nightmare of all nightmare games, but that isn’t why we lost.
We lost because we had too little creativity in midfield and no goalscorer.
34crosses not a goal , 21 attempts at goal not a goal , loads more than Charlton, but the most important stat blues 6 attempts on target , charlon 4 on target., the difference not really enough to get a clear idea on a winner on the attempts on target , but on all the stats we should have easily won this game , keep plugging away blues,
It’s more or less what I was saying last week.. we need to learn to shoot straight. It’s sounds simplistic, but scoring goals is just that. 21 shots, but only 6 on target says I’m not far wrong. Do we even practice shooting? Oh, for a Kevin Phillips.
We are a squad of good,honest players who are at our club because of their talents. No more and no less. If they were creative,lethal individuals who could craft home wins and outthink the opposition then they would be earning more money elsewhere. Away from home they are fine- simply because they are not expected to create other than tear away breakouts by darting wingers. Teams like Rotherham and Charlton don’t have to do much except park the bus. No current blues squad is likely to counter this. No criticism just plain facts. Donaldson situation is not a surprise- only that the injury hasn’t come sooner. Don’t blame Jamaica-this guy has overrun for blues all season and groin tear was probably just around the corner.Still feeling comfortable with no relegation umbrella hanging over us.
It’s like watching two different teams home and away … At home were nervous , lack ideas , can’t keep the ball, can’t shoot straight like you say staffs and the fans get on the players backs which I can understand but still doesent help matters …. Away we’re confident , full of ideas, keep hold of the ball and score goals because we shoot on target and the fans never stop singing and supporting the players … Home supporters must wonder how were 6th in the league , away supporters must wonder why we’re only 6th in the league !!! ….,Plan B didn’t work and loosing Donaldson is a huge blow, ah well there’s Brighton away next Saturday so at least I will see us play well there , I wish we could play away every game because at home over the last few games as been torturous . Kro
I keep hearing the players are tense at home ,get over it they are paid well to play football we’ve just beat Fulham away convincingly so should have been full of confidence ,I’m fed up of hearing its a different game home and away as most sides at st Andrews have more possession than us anyway ,it’s been an excellent start points wise but after the next 2 away games I think we’ll be in a more befitting position in the league ,the teams that have beat us at home have been poor poor sides ,and reply to Dave Mann your right bud about home fans must wonder how we are 6th ,I’ve missed one home game Bristol city and I’ve been to one away game and that was hull city ,so from what I’ve seen we should right down the bottom of the table
Like you edd77 Ime fed up with this difference in home and away form , your right that we get less possession than most teams home or away so why do we have these problems at St Andrews ? If Rowetts finding it difficult to work out and us as fans have or the answers then why is he manager and we’re not !! .. Seriously though it’s letting us down big times so a striker and centre half are needed NOW to stop this continuing , with Donsldson and cotterill out for a while we need to act fast but as I say they need to be ready to walk in to the team or else don’t bother . Kro
So right mate.We need them to be right and we need them now.
Mr Rowett keeps saying that we don’t have the players to play 4-4-2. Ok, fair enough. But if I was picky, I’d say go out and get players to be able to play 4-4-2 then (maybe not every game.) I think a year is long enough to have changed our style of play. Not every decent player costs a million. Luckily, I know it’s not that easy. Is it?
As Dave and edd77 have said, why such a stark contrast between our home and away form? Away, we’ve dropped only 7 points… but at home, we’ve given away 16 points. 16. Imagine where we’d be now, if we hadn’t been so benevolent. Just 8 more home points and we’d be sitting top now. Fine margins.
After saying all that, I’m not meaning to be ultra critical… I’m just a bit bemused by it all tbh.
If only we matched our total points away 17 with our Home points we would be 2nd .. It is baffling staffs and it’s getting dare I say it a bit Lee clarkish going to home games now , expecting to not win and throw points away , I keep blarting on about it but looking forward to away games but not home games … If Klopp was our manager he would have nightmares about how many home fans leave the ground well before the end no matter what the score is , it also irritates me how many fans seem to be walking round the stadium during the game itself , I know it’s toilets and drinks and food but we seem to do it more than any other ground I’ve been to and that’s quite a few to be honest , just a thought ! Kro
The main thing that worries me about our home form, is that we have a lot of the same players who went on that unbelievably bad home run last year. Could this poor run affect those same players as it did before? It must still be fresh in their minds.
‘Shooting straight’ isn’t why we lost. I’ve watched Grounds a few times this season and he’s a confidence player. He made a couple of stray passes and the crowd started to get onto his back; once the crowd start doing that, it’s a self fulfilling prophecy that he’ll play poorly for the rest of the game. BM worked hard but lacked confidence to shoot. Toral had a few free headers and should’ve scored. Overall, team worked hard and played ok but our home support is crap and players seemed to lack confidence.
Sorry Matt, but have you seen some of our shooting? When you’re shooting from distance, it’s a bit of a lottery admitted, but when you’re between the posts, you’d at least expect to get a shot on target. A lot of our shooting is high, wide and handsome to say the least.
Was sat in row 3 behind the Tilton goal yesterday. We did have a lot of shots. Rowett’s post match comments reflected that there were a few that would have gone in if they were an inch in the other direction; I don’t think his comments were an exaggeration.
It doesn’t help when our own fans are shouting profanities at players who are close enough to hear. 3 players that finished the match were 19; maybe we expect too much. Maybe a Kevin Philip’s type of experience juxtaposed with clinical finishing is all we’re missing. All I’m saying is it doesn’t help if our own fans are calling players c****, d******** etc during a match. Constructive criticism on message boards is more constructive.
I know you’re a regular on here and assume that you’ve been to recent home and away games. When we lost 2-0 against Hull, who are a far more superior side in terms of individual attributres, experience and wages, fans were singing and encouraging players throughout. When we won 4-2 at home against Bristol City, a woman behind me was intent on giving Spector and Donaldson abuse all match. Donaldson scored 3 goals!! These types of fans need to take a look at themselves and question why they bother going to matches.
mattblue, your bang on with home fans over the top criticism of individual players , there suppose to be there supporting the team and yet turn up now and again and just throw abuse .. They won’t do it by me because I react but that’s the way I am .. They pay there money so are entitled to there opinion but sometimes they need to sit back take stock and realise what embarrassment to themselves there doing more so than the player themselves , were 6th in the league for gods sake not 6th from bottom … With so many kids these now it’s not needed especially when it’s fully grown adults swearing and being bloody idiots but again that’s my opinion and no one ain’t gonna change it . Kro
I’ve never booed or harrassed a Blues player in my life and I don’t intend to start now. Singling out players for abuse isn’t supporting your team imo.
As always staffs were in agreement .. Well most the time ! Kro
Dave, we can all be disappointed when a player cocks up, or has a poor game.. or the team continues to misplace passes. It’s only natural for the crowd to groan at times. But personal abuse is not on. No excuses.
What does Gary do now?
He said he had a Plan B, but still played Plan A at home!
Does he get a striker on loan?
Does he recall Johnstone or Novak or Thomas?
Does he switch Grounds to centre back in place of Spector and get a left back who can support the winger in attack like Caddis does on the other flank?
Richard I think you will find that there are no immediate recall clauses in the players loan agreements. If I remember correctly Novak and Johnstone are on season long loans and Thomas until January. Jones, who is inexperienced anyway, has only just gone to Grimsby so be at least mid December before he can return. We’ve needed a striker all season so GR should have got one in months ago. There’s nothing in the U21’s
Shane Lowry can play either CH or left back so I’d give him a chance, at least he’s powerful and looks more of a CH than Spector.
With a lot of loans, there’s a no recall in the first 28 days of the loan claus. I can’t remember if that’s the case with Novak and Thomas.
That’s the problem he has Richard , I think playing Grounds at centre half and bringing back Hancox at left back is an option , Brock worked hard but looks out of sorts , Thomas recalled is an option but I would get someone new in up front , maybe plan C got our next home game vs Huddersfield , plan A don’t work and plan B was put to bed so why not ! Kro
We create more than enough chances to win any game, the problem we have (other than v Fulham) is sticking the chances away. At the moment, getting rid of Novak, Thomas and Jones is looking a very rash decision. Regardless of what some people think of them, at least we’d have options if we’d kept them, which at the moment, we don’t have. So Mr Rowett has two options, bring back Novak and/or Thomas.. or bring in a new striker. I can’t think of a 3rd option.
As I said in our “Possession” discussion, too content to watch some of the worst teams in the league take the initiative at home. A manager of a poor away team recently stated that he could not believe the amount of respect that Blues paid his team. We all know what he is saying. Its all right playing counter attacking football, but you must remember to counter attack! After Saturday, GR must realise what a liability Grounds has become. He doesn’t track back, he doesn’t keep his position, he doesn’t tackle and his passing is woeful. I still believe that we are in a fantastic position for the time of the season, but the signs are that we are about to hit a dip and will slide down the table unless the club find funds to support GR. You cannot last a season with positive energy, great coaching and self belief making up for lack of quality.