[Archived] Charlton Preview!

[tomphil]

Hull should show if we've had a lucky break with three relatively disinterested teams or we have genuinely turned a corner.

The result will obviously be part of it, but just as important will be the midfield showing they can keep up an effective passing and pressing game against probably a better and more motivated side.

I do fear we'll revert to type again next week and start slow, sit off and tap it sideways and long. Hope we continue in the same vein as the last week but we've seen it before several times a season. The foot comes off the gas the caution returns and we turn full circle again.

Listening to his after match comments which I don't usually do he sounded the most relieved man on the planet and came across quite genuine I thought. Then he started urging the caution about Hull next week as if they are Man U. They should be beating it into the players this week that they've set the standard now, this is what we are about so let's go there and get something.

Sadly I reckon it'll be the don't get beat mindset again.

[Neal]

I do fear we'll revert to type again next week and start slow, sit off and tap it sideways and long. Hope we continue in the same vein as the last week but we've seen it before several times a season. The foot comes off the gas the caution returns and we turn full circle again.

Listening to his after match comments which I don't usually do he sounded the most relieved man on the planet and came across quite genuine I thought. Then he started urging the caution about Hull next week as if they are Man U. They should be beating it into the players this week that they've set the standard now, this is what we are about so let's go there and get something.

Sadly I reckon it'll be the don't get beat mindset again.

Exactly, bloke obviously has no self confidence of himself or his players. Was listening to Bilic after their win yesterday saying how they intend to win every game even if they don't. Would love to have a manager to talk like that rather than constant expectation levelling and uninspiring nonsense every week.

[Neil Weaver]

Thought Lawrence provided just what we've been missing for ages - someone who's first instinct is to run directly at defenders. We haven't had that for quite a while, I remember Dunny did it years ago. Good to see us boss midfield too, something else that hasn't happened for ages. Good efforts by Guthrie and Evans, especially Evans (!).

[Damien]

I'm not going to dwell on negatives - Charlton are the worst side I've seen at ewood in years, and couldve scored a couple-

We created bag fulls of chances.

Rhodes could've had 6.

Lawrence looked class, did more than Koita.

Evans had his best game in a rovers shirt.

I'm just enjoying the win. Forgotten what it feels like.

Koita is brilliant fodder for Rhodes, he pulls defenders out of position and opens up space.

Isn't going to be a goal machine from what I have seen so far, but I am happy with what he contributes!

[danger19_80]

Thought Lawrence provided just what we've been missing for ages - someone who's first instinct is to run directly at defenders. We haven't had that for quite a while,

Conway's pretty good at this, no?

[grizfoot]

Good to see we followed on from our good performances in the previous two away games. Think the team out on the pitch from the start is our best, or very close to it. Steele should be No.1, Olsson should be at left-back, Evans & Guthrie make for a dynamic central midfield and Koita/Rhodes look our best striking partnership. Lawrence was obvioulsy impressive when he came on and makes me wonder why he wasn't brought on earlier in our previous two games when we needed a goal!

[Neil Weaver]

Conway's pretty good at this, no?

No, not in the same way. Conway has got trific delivery but he seems to need space/time to whip a cross in. Look how many times he'll cut inside or pass inside first, and delivery from a dead ball is second to none. On the evidence of yesterday Lawrence seems more of a 'head down and take em on for pace' type.

[TBTF]

Koita is brilliant fodder for Rhodes, he pulls defenders out of position and opens up space.

Isn't going to be a goal machine from what I have seen so far, but I am happy with what he contributes!

he does a job up to a point. Clearly taking a lot of weight off Rhodes probably because he is a handful and unknown quantity at this stage.

Two big issues with him for me:

1)Goal out put for a striker is unlikely to be enough to share the load with Jordan

2) when will he ever play a full 90 minutes. The bloke is goosed after an hour and if he aint dealing with it at the end of September , it doesn't bode well.

I think Lawrence might be the longer term accomplice for Rhodes;direct, pacey and an eye for goal. Liked what I saw albeit only for the last 15 mins against a bag of sh1te team .

[joey_big_nose]

he does a job up to a point. Clearly taking a lot of weight off Rhodes probably because he is a handful and unknown quantity at this stage.

Two big issues with him for me:

1)Goal out put for a striker is unlikely to be enough to share the load with Jordan

2) when will he ever play a full 90 minutes. The bloke is goosed after an hour and if he aint dealing with it at the end of September , it doesn't bode well.

I think Lawrence might be the longer term accomplice for Rhodes;direct, pacey and an eye for goal. Liked what I saw albeit only for the last 15 mins against a bag of sh1te team .

I'd be suprised if Koita loses his place because he's such a good out ball when we are under pressure. It keeps the opposition guessing. Take him out of the team and we lose the long option which we need.

Be interesting tussle between Koita and Laurence who will get the striking role. But if I was a betting man my money would be if Laurence is starting it will be on the right wing in place of Marshall.

[Proudtobeblue&white]

We needed a win, got one, Charlton seem to be our go to team when we need it! First half was surreal, ground was silent, JR had missed two guilt edged chances, couple of the usual defensive lapses that they messed up. The goal came at the best time. Second half was bossed, and could have scored 3/4, but JR did his stuff, Lawrence finish guilt edged.

Gary's subs were good. Is he starting to read the board?

All means nothing if we lose Saturday.

Gaz is finding his best team by default.

[JBiz]

Gaz is finding his best team by default.

I wouldn't have believed anyone who put Evans in there first choice team by default after last season. Good to hear and see that he is improving, along with Hanley.

Hopefully we can see others like Henley and Marshall improving because we need them to up their game.

[joey_big_nose]

Gaz is finding his best team by default.

This isnt actually true. Delfy, Akpan, Kilgallion, Williamson and Raya are all fit and available and have played under Bowyer. However he chose the side that's been performing well leaving them on the bench. There are a significant number of different permutations he could play. But he chose the current one.

The only players who are out injured are Lowe, Spurr, Taylor and Brown. You can argue that Lowe and Spurr were only replaced because of injury, but come on. That's two players out of eleven.

Credit where its due.

[Tom]

I think the point is this season has proven he was determined to stick with Lowe and Spurr, two of our worst performing players.

It's taken injuries to both of them to see them out of the team and no surprises we've been better as a result of each slice of fortune / misfortune.

Fair to say Bowyer is getting some decisions right but he's got hugely lucky with those knocks to Lowe and Spurr, hopefully he doesn't try to bring them back in.

[JBiz]

I still can't see how the mindset of "injuries made us better" works.

People could've said the same about Marshall being injured and replaced by Lawrence or Mahoney, especially if either of them went on to have a cracker.

Football is about taking chances and after last season Evans deserved the bench. It just so happens that Lowe played badly, got injured (allegedly) and was replaced. It's also critical to mention that Evans form has made the difference more than injury.

As for Spurr, despite looking one paced and rusty, he came in to replace Olsson who'd looked distinctly dodgy in 3 games. I still haven't seen a reply to the post I made about Spurr getting more crosses into the box and to players in the Fulham game than Henley and Marshall combined.

Injury to Olsson now would be a critical blow if Spurr is out for a long time, not a blessing in disguise.

When our fanbase stop assuming that they are essentially better managers than actual professionals, discussions may go away from "he picks his best by accident" or "he scores despite his tactics" etc

Nothing wrong with having a personal opinion on a player but to take that opinion as fact and shape it into a stick?

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I think the point is this season has proven he was determined to stick with Lowe and Spurr, two of our worst performing players.

It's taken injuries to both of them to see them out of the team and no surprises we've been better as a result of each slice of fortune / misfortune.

Fair to say Bowyer is getting some decisions right but he's got hugely lucky with those knocks to Lowe and Spurr, hopefully he doesn't try to bring them back in.

Spurr - I found it strange he got back in - but in truth Olsson hadn't started that well - Spurr offers a little more defensively and that damned long throw. Wouldnt have been my choice - but there is some rationale. Lowe - prior to injury - dont remember Guthrie being fully fit and Akpan had only just joined. Were there not some fitness concerns over Williamson (though I don't rate Williamson anyway). Lets see what happens when Lowe is fit again - of course assuming all other midfield players are fit and playing well. I will say one thing about centre midfield - though they played well on Saturday - the tracking back wasn't the best at times.

[Kamy100]

Good win for Rovers.

Charlton were desperately poor but then you can only beat what is infront of you, with some sharper finishing we could have easily won 6-0. The pleasing aspects are that we are now getting Rhodes into the box and trying to when possible get the ball into dangerous areas so that he can do what he is good at. I thought that the midfield pairing of Evans and Gutherie worked well, they seem to have a very good understanding and play as a unit. Akpan and Lawrence looked very promising when they came on.

The defence continues to worry me. despite how poor Charlton were on the couple of times they got forward they did manage to create clear cut opportunities.

I am going to mention the atmosphere at the ground on Saturday, for the majority of the match it felt like I was at the first hour of a test match, it was so quiet. There is a onus on the team to lift the crowd but sometimes we as fans (and I include myself in this criticism) have to take matters into our own hands and create some sort of atmosphere.

I will enjoy the three points but the next 2 games Hull (away) and Ipswich (home) will give us a better indication of where we are going.

[JAL]

Hear the actual attendance on Saturday was just over eight thousand. Good result though but a little to late into the seasonfor everyone's liking.

[Mike E]

Nah 12k seemed about right. I'd expected the club to add a bit on but thought it was nearer correct this time.

[JAL]

Nah 12k seemed about right. I'd expected the club to add a bit on but thought it was nearer correct this time.

Unfortunately just over eight thousand was what was inside the ground on Saturday Mike.

[tomphil]

I've actually thought that they are a bit nearer the mark this season with crowds announced. I'd say about 10k max aon Sat and allowing for ST's swerving it that sounds about right.

Still very worrying that we are now officially only getting 11,700 home fans accounting for tickets. Any alarm bells yet I wonder ??? nah..........

[Mike Graham]

Hear the actual attendance on Saturday was just over eight thousand. Good result though but a little to late into the seasonfor everyone's liking.

I made it to the game on Saturday and would say it was deffo well <10K.

At 12K it would have been 40% full which as everyone could see was a fallacy. I was in the JW Upper which was probably 10-15% full. The Bburn End Lower was well under 50% (probably 35%). As for the Darren End it would have been easy to have counted them given it was so poorly attended.

[The Gull]

It was the my first game for a long time as my previous returns home have coincided with either Rovers playing away down south or during the off season.

I was frustrated in the first half hour or so, seemed to lack urgency and quality, the defensive "organisation" was appalling, however the goal on half time changed the mood on and off the pitch and Rovers IMO dominated the second half, playing some good football.

I thought Guthrie and Evans played well together and rarely gave the ball away whilst being always available to take the ball off the defence. The impact of Lawrence when he came on was brilliant, and also thought Akpam was extremely mobile and just what we needed at that point to keep the advantage.

My Dad was trying to find my flight ticket to stop me from travelling!

[A cup of beans]

Unfortunately just over eight thousand was what was inside the ground on Saturday Mike.

I agree with Mike, the attendance looked accurate, for once.

What information do you have on the 8000 ?

[Mattyblue]

As Tom says we now have under 12000 home tickets sold each week.

It was usually around 13k home fans last season, so another 1000 fans lost. Where is the floor attendance wise as we don't seem to have hit it yet?

[A cup of beans]

As Tom says we now have under 12000 home tickets sold each week.

It was usually around 13k home fans last season, so another 1000 fans lost. Where is the floor attendance wise as we don't seem to have hit it yet?

The ceiling could be much lower.

There are a lot of factors to consider. All will relate to the clubs' performance and ambitions, on and off the pitch