Good To Be Back

To say it was a pleasure to be back at The Valley on Saturday would be an understatement. Most enjoyable pre-match drinks with fellow Addicks followed by an entertaining first half, a win and the three points, and more fun after the game. There were only two downsides. First, the forwards once again didn’t manage to find the back of the net, and there were chances; second, a subdued second-half performance, one not revitalised by the subs, gave the Covered End nothing to cheer about (until the final minute) and enabled Sheff Wed to get a foothold back in the game and the chance of a point when at the break it appeared all was set up for us to go on and win the game handsomely, even allowing for their recent record for comebacks.

The game really was remarkably simple: play it in the Wednesday half and we would score goals, with their back line looking highly vulnerable and all at sea for second balls, in front of what seemed a flaky keeper; play it in our half and they had decent enough players to cause problems, even nick a goal, as they did. The first half was a fairly even affair in terms of possession and where the game was played and we won it 2-0; in the second we barely mustered an attack and ended up with a 2-1 win despite having just 40% possession for a home game.

For that it’s fair to give Wednesday some credit – although none should go to their 29, whose main contribution to the game was trying to wrap his arm(s) around Kaminski at every set piece. We all know and sympathise with their problems and wish them well. Like us when we were suffering with Duchatelet, the priority is getting a change of owner and then start the rebuilding process, in whatever division.

We have to focus on our own issues – which are of course entirely relative, we are all delighted with where we stand in the Championship. As I’m writing this back in Givry, having flown back from London on Sunday, there’s no point in a formal match report, just thoughts on the game.

First, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the best chance of the game before we scored went to them, a guy who should have buried a header from close range – after he’d shoved Coventry aside - instead of putting it straight at Kaminski. So the first half was not some walkover, we might have gone behind before scoring.

Second, we might easily have scored more than two in the first half. The first came curtesy of Campbell, who for the one and only time received the ball in space. He opted to draw defenders and play it inside for Carey, who netted the rebound after his first effort had been saved. The second was down to Burke timing his run better than his marker to get on the end of a very inviting Bree set piece delivery. In addition, Kelman might have notched a couple. He failed to get on the end of a very inviting ball into the box, then managed to get goalside of his marker and seemed to be through on the keeper, only for that defender to get back in time and block his shot. Got to give the crowd some credit here as they sang his name when he was substituted; he will come good in front of goal, just needs to get off the mark. More generally, although Wednesday had the height in defence to usually win the first ball up to forwards or into the box (especially when Iorfa was still on the pitch), they seemed to panic very easily when it came to the second, looking very uncoordinated.

Third, what exactly did go wrong in the second half? Their manager said they made small changes at the break, perhaps the substitutions improved them, perhaps it was just a case of nothing to lose and them raising their game. However, watching the game you couldn’t avoid concluding that we really fell off the pace, perhaps thinking that the game was won, or to be more kind that sooner or later we would score a third without having to do too much. The absence of action in their half kept the Covered End pretty muted and all the initiative was with Wednesday. We were taking it to the corner flag with some time left to play.

Our substitutions – Olaofe and Leaburn for Kelman and Campbell, then Knibbs and Ramsay for Carey and Burke, finally Rankin-Costello for Bree – failed to change the balance of play, although Leaburn may well have won us a free-kick on the edge of the box, the ref waving play on (I hope he’s not getting a reputation among officials for going to ground a little too easily), and Olaofe did ensure the game ended with a flourish as he was taken out by their keeper after nudging the ball past him – even if it did take intervention by the linesman to persuade the ref that a foul had been committed, quite absurdly he was playing on. There was no doubt at the time and the replays just underline the point.

On substitutions, I thought at 2-0 there was a case for getting Apter and/or Hernandez on the pitch. We were causing them no problems and needed a spark. But that, and Jones’ more understandable reluctance to risk opening things up more at 2-1, only underlines how difficult it is at the moment to get either onto the pitch. Apter has to be for Bree and once Olaofe has replaced Campbell that’s the other side taken care of. I think – with the full benefit of hindsight – that there was a case for replacing Campbell with Hernandez (assuming he’s been good in training) and going just for Olaofe to replace Kelman.

But what does it matter? We won. Perhaps the players had one eye on another tough game tomorrow night at Ipswich. If the second-half display left us with more in the tank for that one, so be it. We will find out. 

Possible Options For Saturday

Like London bloody buses. I’ve not managed a trip to The Valley for a while now (last one I saw live was Wembley) and now events/circumstances dictate/allow me to get in two in three weeks, starting with Sheff Wed on Saturday. Can’t wait. I see the club has even decided to mark the event by installing a new screen. As long as we still get to shout ‘Fiiiiish’ at it.

No game at this stage of the season is ‘must win’, and nobody’s imagining that Sheff Wed are going to be anything other than a tough nut to crack, despite their problems (arguably to some extent because of them, given the team spirit they have engendered). But we really could use the three points, to put us back into ‘positive territory’ for the season and to encourage us to be looking up not down. And after two on the road and the international break we really want the warm glow of a win, plus hopefully a good performance, back home.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Jones the Boss does face some selection issues for Saturday. It would not be surprising were he to name an unchanged starting XI, but he must be thinking about options – which is positive in the sense that he has them.

The loss of Edwards is a big blow, which is no reflection on the capabilities of Bell and Gillesphey. He slotted in from the start and is well versed in working on the left side with Campbell going forward. Bell as we’ve seen can play the wing-back role, but not as yet with the same drive going forward. The choice of Ramsay in the role at Preston may have been dictated by the desire to nullify Small (which very nearly worked) but it has to be in Jones’ mind to keep him there, this time more for attacking potential.

Assuming we stick with a back three/five, that all bar Edwards are fit and available, and given that Jones the Player is barring injury a shoo-in, as is Bree as right-side wing-back, the choices are either Ramsay or Burke to his right and Bell or Gillesphey to his left, both influenced by the choice to fill Edwards’ slot. I don’t know enough about Sheff Wed’s attacking strengths to say if they might influence the choice; but given that we are at home and looking at their defensive record – by a distance the worst in the league so far – the decision will surely be as much about attacking as defensive capabilities.

The other issue – which does potentially affect even the formation – is up front. We’re nine games into the season and have registered one goal to date from a recognised forward, one that hasn’t yet made a start. At the same time our player of the month for August, who has scored, isn’t getting either a start or a kick at the moment. It is blindingly obvious that Campbell, Kelman and Leaburn are all very much in need of a goal, of any description. Kelman’s play outside the box is much improved from the start of the campaign, Campbell always looks a threat as a provider or by cutting inside. But nobody as yet has demonstrated the poaching instincts of Godden or the bulldozing impact of Aneke.

It is for me telling that in recent games we have seen some really inviting balls into the box just evade a forward or find nobody. It’s not that the forwards are guilty of glaring misses, rather that we don’t create many clear-cut chances for them in open play while the half-chances and possible openings have not been converted. Barring Olaofe’s one, the goals have instead come from the attack-minded central midfielder, the No.10 if you like (two for Carey and one for Knibbs), a wing-back (a brace for Bree and one for Apter playing in that position), and a central defender (Gillesphey). It has to be a cause for concern, irrespective of chances created and work outside the box.

So what makes sense in terms of options? I’d say we may have options but no obvious solutions. Kelman has been handed a thankless task, usually up against two fresh central defenders, before the ‘impact players’ come on to face a tiring defence. In that context Campbell offers little direct support, doing his good work out wide – but not yet scoring goals. Leaburn has struggled so far this season, with some exceptional touches but not the kind of impact from the bench that we would hope for. Again, Jones may conclude that the system is working, that Kelman and Campbell tire the opposition and create the conditions for others to benefit from later in the game. But on Saturday we are up against what on paper is the worst defense in the league.

Jones could opt simply to start with Leaburn and look to either Olaofe or Kelman to replace him in the second half, or indeed Olaofe. If he starts, as and when Campbell tires we now have Hernandez as well as Olaofe to replace him, but that leaves out Apter. We could go with a front three, of Campbell, Kelman (or another) and Apter, but then you would have to sacrifice Carey/Knibbs and their goals contribution. The same applies if we went for 4-4-2.

The conclusion? Without wishing to appear to be sitting on the fence, I trust that Jones and his team have taken a good look at Sheff Wed’s defensive frailties and worked out how we might best exploit them. That could mean selection changes. His preference may well be to focus on just us and what we do best, but the status quo has not yet delivered goals from the forwards, so at the least there is a case to be made for changes. What we really want from Saturday, in addition to the points, is goals from the forwards, whoever they are.

Came Up Short This Time

After a tough one away at Derby along came in all likelihood a tougher one today at Preston, sitting just above us in the league and having lost just one game to date. With another international break coming up you wanted to just get something out of the game, to keep the unbeaten run going. But we didn’t manage that, it looked like a game too far at this stage of the season. We didn’t play especially badly, just lacked a little zip – and fundamentally carried virtually no goal threat throughout, being restricted to some decent passing at times outside the box and a couple of good balls into the box just evading the forward. We had no efforts on target and for long spells it looked as though if Preston got one – and they did cause us problems at the back - it would probably be enough.

They got one, albeit a fortuitous one as Small’s shot was deflected just over a diving Kaminski, and for good measure scored a second which at first sight looked for all the world offside, but Steve Brown said replays showed it was OK, so we have to live with that. It meant for us a game to forget, as quickly as possible, although Jones has to be concerned that in nine games none of the starting forwards has scored – and all told the tally is just one, the Olaofe goal to beat Sheff Utd. It’s not that their fluffing chances, just that we’re not creating many for them and they seem unable to be in the right place at the right time (unlike Godden of course).

The team showed one change to the starting XI from Derby, with Burke – who was given a rest for that one – returning and Bell taking a break, named among the subs. That left a central defensive three of Burke, Jones and Gillesphey, with Bree and Ramsay named as the wing-backs given the continued unavailability of Edwards – with the very unwelcome news on that front that he will be out for ‘more than a few weeks’. Which one would take the left side and probably be given the task of stopping Small was unclear before the game, but it proved to be Ramsay, which looked like a decision based around stopping Small. No change in midfield or up front, but on the bench new signing Hernandez was included, with Anderson missing out.

The first half was nip and tuck throughout, but they had the edge as going forward they looked the more likely, even if we managed to prevent any clear openings and what half-chances they engineered lacked a good finish. For us I can only remember Kelman getting free down the right side, his cross in being half-cleared then laid on for Bree but his curled effort going wide, then later Kelman again getting free and sending in a good ball which Campbell was unable to convert, getting crowded out.

At the break all the plaudits went to both defences. No effort on target from either side. And it stayed that way until the hour mark. We did have one moment as Burke delivered an excellent ball into the box, but this one too just evaded Campbell at the far post. It was Campbell’s last meaningful involvement as he was replaced by Leaburn shortly after. Then Preston really should have taken the lead on 60 minutes as a cross from their left for once caught out our back line and their guy was left with a header from close range unchallenged, the ball bouncing up nicely for him. Like at Derby Kaminski read the effort well and pulled off a good save, but if he’d placed the header either side of him there would have been nothing he could have done.

That let-off failed to galvanise us and instead gave Preston renewed impetus. After Leaburn had failed to hold off the defender to get on the end of a Ramsay through ball Small, who had been very well marshalled by Ramsay, got his moment. We failed to deal with a ball in from their left and eventually it was laid to the right side of the box for Small. Whether his shot was going wide or would have been saved by Kaminiski we’ll never know as it deflected off Ramsay and went over Kaminski’s outstretched arm into the net.

Jones responded with a triple substitution, with Bell, Olaofe and Knibbs coming on for Burkey, Kelman and Casey, with Ramsay switching back to the left side of central defence. We continued to struggle to create anything in the final third, Bree firing off one effort but not a repeat of last week’s wonder strike. We almost went two down on 72 minutes as we lost the ball down our left and Preston moved forward quickly, but their guy chipped wastefully over.

On 75 minutes Bree did get clear down the right and played a good ball in, this time it was Leaburn who arrived just too late to convert. And after Berry came on for Coventry, Jones clearly gambling now, on 79 minutes we were two down. A ball down their left side to a guy who we all thought was yards offside, no flag, he played it into the box – and unlike all of our such balls this one found a forward who converted. That was it. Five minutes of stoppage time produced nothing for us. And it was one of those afternoons when you felt we could have played all day and not scored.

The result really does square things up – played nine, won three, drawn three, lost three, scored eight, conceded eight. It will serve as something of a reality check after a good run. Preston were decent but far from world-beaters and this time a tight game went against us. On the day we weren’t good enough. Jones will have time to ponder why.

Ultimately No Complaints, Decent Point

Aside from the issues of team selection facing Jones – assuming Edwards would be ruled out would he stick to the Gillesphey/Bell solution or look for an alternative, would there be any change(s) up front, would new signing Hernandez feature, and/or would there be a need to give some tired legs a break? – the real (partially related) question was just ‘can we do it again’? A repeat of Saturday’s performance would be entirely welcome, against a side which has made a poor start to the season, conceding 13 goals in seven games. But we all know football’s not that simple, or predictable.

At half-time last night we were feeling pretty good about things. A goal to the good, home fans clearly restless, a fair chance that we would either see out the game or get a second and take the points. But Derby, while not having a first-half effort on target, had caused problems for our back line, largely as we were unable to dominate physically, with Agyemang giving as good as he got. And in the second half, with nothing to lose they threw bodies forward and pinned us back, unable to exploit space on the break as it was all hands on deck to keep them out. We didn’t manage that and, although we might have nicked a second late on, had to settle for a point. Not a bad point, can’t say it wasn’t a fair outcome, but when you are ahead going into the final 10 minutes you can’t help feeling a little disappointed (especially if like me you took a sneak preview of where a win would have left us in the league).

For the team there were two changes from Saturday, with the first being confirmation of Edwards’ unavailability and the retention of Gillesphey, with Bell in the wing-back role, while Ramsay came back in to replace Burke, the suspicion being that he might struggle at this point to do three games in seven days. The rest were ‘as you were’, with Berry returning to the squad for the first time this season, taking the vacant spot on the bench – which was welcome but did seem odd to have all three of Carey, Knibbs and Berry in competition for one place.

The opening exchanges were rather too open for comfort. Derby shouts for an early penalty were over-optimistic, but Ramsay was beaten on the inside, the danger snuffed out by Bell, while at the other end Kelman almost profited from a fizzed back pass and poor touch from their keeper. Derby looked wobbly at the back and likely to cough up chances, if we could keep it tight at the other end.

The game settled down into a more familiar scrappy affair of no real chances, a curled effort from Campbell being the closest we came. Then on 36 minutes, somewhat out of the blue, we fashioned a very, very good goal. Kaminski’s long ball out was superbly taken down by Kelman, enabling him to play it wide to Campbell. He advanced down the left and cut back, but instead of crossing or looking for another curler played the ball low in to Carey. He played it first time to Docherty, who saw that Bree had advanced unmarked on the right side (he couldn’t really miss him with his arms in the air) and chipped it back across to him. It was falling at a difficult height, but Bree controlled the shot with excellent technique and sent it flying into the far corner of the net.

That put us very much on the front foot and we played out the rest of the half fairly comfortably, although Derby had spells of pressure and plenty of the ball outside our box. And the half-time stats had a familiar ring to them. Derby had enjoyed 58% possession but managed five shots, none on target, against five and two for us, including the important one. More of the same in the second and the points would be ours.

However, the second half began much like the first, with Kaminski almost caught out by a mishit cross, Kelman having a decent effort saved, then Derby having a couple of threatening breaks, one finding their guy on the left only for him to shoot well over from a good position. More Derby pressure and with perhaps the three games in seven days in mind persuaded Jones the Boss to make changes slightly earlier than usual, opting for a triple substitution. Leaburn, Burke and Knibbs came on for Kelman, Corey and Bree, with Ramsay moving to wing-back.

Despite fresh legs we were struggling to either retain the ball or spring effective counter-attacks. On the hour we did have a shot from Bell inside the box, which struck their defender on the elbow. The Blackburn manager might like to take a look at that one as it was similar to the one on Saturday which struck Jones’ arm. If he considered that a certain penalty he’d presumably back our case for one last night. Nothing was given, rightly so.

On 76 minutes Olaofe came on for Campbell, who was getting no joy in the second half, and just after we all held our breath as it seemed Derby would equalise. A decent break, good passing and their guy was free from Burke and in on goal around the edge of the area. He had time to pick his spot and hit it well enough, but Kaminski gambled on reading his intentions correctly, diving to his right to turn away the effort. Superb save. But it did us little good. The resulting corner was turned away but only to their guy on the other side. His dinked cross went towards a mass of players and it was one of theirs who rose highest and the header went just inside the post.

With a little over 10 minutes plus stoppage time left, the game was there for either side to snatch a winner. And we came closest. A scramble from a corner fell to Knibbs, but he wasn’t well set and snatched at the shot, sending it over the bar, then in the six minutes of added time the ball ran to Docherty inside the box. His effort took a deflection and went wide, the replays suggesting it was Olaofe getting the touch (a goalkick was given, to our surprise at the time). Derby did have a final break and forced a decent save from Kaminiski at his near post, but there was to be no late drama.

It is a decent point, even if ultimately we were unable to fully exploit Derby’s problems at the back and take all three. Was that because we were confident in seeing it out? Perhaps, but give Derby some credit for pushing us back and keeping us pinned down, at least until their equaliser. Were Jones’ substitutions ill-timed? Possibly, but the need for fresh legs was evident.

Fact is we’re quibbling about not beating Derby on their home turf and not sitting third in the league. We turned in another decent performance, just one not as compelling as against Blackburn as unlike them Derby didn’t wilt. We’re not getting the credit we deserve – just read comments from Derby fans about how poor they were – because I guess it’s credit for making the opposition play badly by continually harassing them and working so hard to defend the box. People will see a pattern sooner or later.

We move on to another tough fixture, at Preston, which as things stand will mean that we will have played five out of the top 11 in our first nine games. It was always going to be a hard start to the campaign and we’ve risen to the challenge. Of course Saturday will bring us up against a certain Small, who seems to have hit the ground running with them, like us Preston playing him on the right side. We know what he can do and Edwards (if fit), Bell and Gillesphey will know what to expect – and I guess would like us breathe a sigh of relief if a slight niggle rules him out.