Glory Be We've Won!

Like Tuesday night, today was all about the result, to the point that another defeat and more Addicks would be wondering if Jones’ time was really would be up. On paper the task was tougher, with Sheffield Utd seeking to get into the play-off places on the back of three wins and a draw in their last four games. And with the team news we learnt of further injuries, which at the time lowered expectations a little.

We needn’t have worried, shouldn’t have doubted. The crowd stood up and played their (crucial) part, the players reacted with increased energy and more intelligent football, getting the ball forward more quickly. And we didn’t fold when Sheffield equalised in the first half. With 15 minutes to go it could still have gone either way, but then Alli, having far and away his best game for us, laid it on and Godden showed Mendonca-like technique to convert at the near post. Thanks to saves from Mannion we saw it through. Victory. Such a relief, an almost forgotten joy. So good that it seemed Jones was overcome and exited quickly. I hope he’s enjoying the time now.

After four changes for Norwich, five for Middlesbrough, six for Bolton, today we were back down to four – but with surprises, seemingly caused by injury. Chalobah and Ramsay we had assumed would be missing, but added to them would be Lloyd Jones, Grant and Leaburn, while Knibbs dropped back to the bench. It looked like 4-2-3-1 again, possibly a 4-3-3, with Mannion retained and a back four of McNamara, Bindon, Koumetio and Bell. In midfield Coventry (who took the captain’s armband) was joined by Mwamba, while Rankin-Costello started, either in the middle of a more forward three, with Campbell and Alli, or in a three with effectively three up front, Kelman flanked by those two. With no Leaburn and Mbick not making the squad, the only outright forward on the bench was Godden. The subs included Nkeng and academy winger Hebert. For a match we needed to win, the news of further unexpected injuries didn’t exactly lift the mood ahead of the start.

Contrary to recent experience we almost went behind early on as an innocuous ball into our box dropped for their guy, only for Mannion to save well. But after a mixed opening spell, just after Rankin-Costello had played in TC very well and his cross nearly found Kelman, we took the lead. There seemed no real threat as Alli picked up the ball on the right, still some way out, but after a touch or two to cut inside he let loose a vicious shot which bounced and skidded off the turf and found the sweet spot just inside the post. Their keeper will be unhappy at being beaten from distance at his near post, but that mattered not at all.

And we came very close to extending that lead. On 16 minutes Bell and Campbell worked it well on the left and the latter sent in a good cross. It beat Kelman and his marker and went on to Mwamba arriving behind. Perhaps he didn’t expect it to reach him, but he failed to make a decent contact and put the ball into the net from close range. Then just after Rankin-Costello turned in the box and appeared to be pulled down by a defender going to ground. He appealed but the ref gave nothing. Merits seeing it again, but you’d say at the least you’ve seen them given.

Instead on 24 minutes it was all square. Alli conceded a foul on their left and the delivery of the free-kick was dangerous. Mannion punched out but didn’t get much distance on the ball. Unluckily for us it went straight to their forward and he nodded it back into an empty net. Truly hard lines and for a little while you felt, oh no, not again.

However, heads didn’t drop and we held our own for the rest of the first half. Mannion did miss a corner but was able to grab the ball from behind him as the header goalwards was weak. And we did pick up a collection of yellow cards, with McNamara quickly followed by Bindon and Mwamba. With a Sheffield player also picking one up, for a pull back on Campbell (who may or may not have been offside) and some of the challenges looking feisty, you doubted both teams would end with a full contingent.

A TC curler went wide and it was level at the break. The stats then showed 53% possession for us, with five attempts on goal, one on target, against five and three for them. We were still very much in the game, playing some decent stuff and competing, but there were concerns that they might get another, probably from a set piece. The nagging doubts were coming back.

There was an unfortunate start to the second half, as Sheffield made a change at full-back and the guy lasted less than two minutes before collapsing and being stretchered off (hopefully not too serious). He was in turn replaced by a centre-back, which suggested TC might be able to beat him for pace but also added to Sheffield’s arial presence from set pieces.

There was nothing much in it. The ref (and his assistants) failed to spot a blatant deliberate Sheffield handball to stop a dangerous through ball. But we were by now struggling to make things happen in their half and Jones made the first changes on 63 minutes. Knibbs and Carey came on for Rankin-Costello and Mwamba (both on yellows) to renew the drive and the game became rather more open. On 74 minutes after a decent spell of Charlton pressure Kelman scuffed a shot and that was his last contribution as he was replaced by Godden.

It took Godden just a few minutes to score the decisive goal. Good play again worked the ball out right to Alli. He took it into the area and wrongfooted his marker, making just enough space to get the cross in from a tight angle. The ball was behind Godden, there were three or four defenders around, but nobody as alert to the situation as him. He hit it on the turn and found the net with their keeper rooted to the spot. Godden again indeed.

Not surprisingly that electrified The Valley, but there were still 12 minutes on the clock and we knew there would be a fair chunk of stoppage time, given the early injury. And not surprisingly the later chances went to Sheffield as they had no option but to pile forward, with us nearly catching them on the break a few times.

Strangely the ref gave them another free-kick outside the box and Phillips curled one around the wall only for Mannion to turn it behind. Another move ended with a shot from the edge of the area that was central enough for Mannion to deal with. Skipp came on for TC to try to tie things up, but Sheffield had enough height and trickery out wide to still cause us problems. And our hearts were nearly broken seven minutes into added time as a ball from their right was played in and met by their guy. He swept it goalward but Mannion managed to get a hand to it to turn it around for a corner. Soon after we had the relief of the final whistle.

Nobody knows how important the win will turn out to be. But there were enough positive messages sent. The players ran their socks off for Jones, we got the win, to end any thoughts of his imminent exit, and the crowd gave it all they could to push us over the line. If it was like that every week football would be a simple game and a source of endless pleasure. But then again the sheer joy of ending such a long winless run will see us through the international break. Jones might be back on what for him serves as an even keel by the time that’s over.

Spirit Of November (2012) Needed For Saturday

If you can have a ‘must-win’ just 13 games into the season this was one. 10-game winless run, three consecutive defeats, 10 goals conceded in four games. And against a newly-promoted team on the same number of points, one which had lost its previous two and themselves averaging letting in two a game. We knew they would be no mugs; they won at Wolves after all. But with no disrespect to them they are among the favourites for the drop and the onus was on us to show greater quality. But if Boro was more about the performance, this one would be about the result, nothing else.

Instead, as against Watford, we committed the sin of letting them score first, in this case putting an end to what had been another quite bright start. That gave Bolton something to hold onto, enabling them to focus on getting everyone behind the ball and denying us space – although in the second half playing on the break as we through caution to the wind they looked more likely to add to their lead than us to score. It was a situation which called for precision and playing to a plan, accepting that we couldn’t play through them. Instead, after Leaburn came on at the break and had a positive impact, we threw on bodies in a strange fashion, creating confusion in our ranks, not theirs, and failed to deliver the ball into good areas (our crossing was appalling). We had a few chances to equalise but they went just wide and, once again, looked a sorry bunch at the final whistle.

Ahead of the game it was anyone’s guess what formation and team/squad Jones would opt for. After all, we had four changes for Norwich then five for Middlesbrough. And the number did keep rising as this time there were six. In goal Mannion came in for Okonkwu, while a reversion to a back four (and the 4-2-3-1 set-up) saw McNamara and Bell as full-back either side of Jones and Koumetio, with Binden and Mesik the defensive subs, with Ramsay presumably not available after his injury on Saturday. In midfield Chalobah came back into start and Coventry returned too, replacing Skipp and Rankin-Costello, with Knibbs in the centre of the three, Campbell and Grant both returning on either side. Along with Rankin-Costello and Skip, Carey and Alli were on the bench. Kelman would be lone striker, with Leaburn on the bench, along with Godden, a very welcome return. It looked like a return to Plan A, but would it prove that way on the pitch?

In the early stages it seemed it might. It was scrappy from both sides, but in the first 15 minutes we had the better of things and might have scored. First Kelman laid it off for Campbell and his cross to the far post found McNamara of all people in space but with not much to aim at. He effort was saved, but it gave us hope. Then Grant played a good through ball for Kelman to run on to, but he was outpaced/outmuscled by the defender. Then a ball was knocked back into the box and Kelman put it in the net, but he was clearly offside.

Then we went behind, to a horrible goal. We had everyone up front for a set piece and when the ball was cleared had Chalobah and Coventry as the last line of defence. All seemed OK as Chalobah won the ball, but he then seemed caught in two minds, whether to tap it back for Coventry or knock it all the way back to Mannion. The end result was in between and Coventry, caught flat-footed, was never going to catch their forward. It was just a matter of whether he would beat Mannion, which he did with ease.

And the whole game changed in that moment (of course we might have gone on to lose anyway). What confidence there was drained away. We made strange choices: TC skinned his opponent for pace and, although nothing came of it, you thought ‘go on, do it again, the guy will be scared’. Instead of that he and Grant switched sides. Knibbs went in late with his studs up and took a yellow (VAR might have interpreted it as meriting a red), Bell and Koumetio had to make desperate tackles as Bolton threatened, and right at the end we almost gave them another gift as we gave the ball away from our goalline.

At the break the stats showed 49% possession for us with five attempts on goal and two on target (the one from McNamara, can’t remember the other) against four and just the one (the goal) from them. We needed something to gee the crowd, attacking the Covered End, to lift the spirits and put Bolton under pressure.

It seemed we got that as Leaburn came on for Chalobah (later confirmed as a repeat of his injury, not tactical, which means that he returned, played 59 minutes, gifted the opposition two goals, and is now back on the treatment table). Of course it was a risk, with Knibbs dropping deeper to cover, making it a sort of 4-4-2 (I guess). And Leaburn started running down everything, putting in challenges and showing the sort of endeavour we would need to break them down.

We did as a result push them back, although they were reasonably content to surrender possession and play on the break – to reasonable effect, they might easily have scored again. They had the lead. Leaburn played in McNamara and his decent low cross was almost converted, then Leaburn was unable to get on the end of a cross but was appealing for a penalty for handball. Kelman was played in on the right and his low cross was cut out. And just before the hour Campbell delivered a good cross from the left and it was met well by Kelman, only for his header to go just wide of the post with their keeper beaten.

That was Kelman’s final contribution as he was withdrawn for Godden in what looked like a planned timing but appeared strange as the guy had just almost scored. No matter. Just after Knibbs played the ball back for Coventry but his decent strike from outside the box went wide. Then on 66 minutes we got a break as Grant’s miscontrol in the box ended with the defender knocking the ball back to their keeper, who opted to pick it up – then try to pretend he hadn’t. An indirect free kick on the edge of the six-yard box. Not easy to score though and predictably Bolton players were almost on Knibbs after Grant touched the ball to him and the shot was blocked.

On 76 minutes, as we seemed to be running out of steam, Jones brought on Rankin-Costello and Alli for Knibbs and McNamara. That meant we had Campbell, Alli, Leaburn and Godden to hopefully provide and finish. Instead the numbers seemed to compress the space in and around the box even more as Bolton sat tight, while set-piece deliveries continued to be poor (corners not clearing the near post, where we had nobody). On 83 minutes Carey replaced Grant, his only material contribution was to put in a corner which went behind for a goal-kick.

There was one final moment, in the six minutes of stoppage time. TC managed to cut inside to good effect and his curler ended up inches beyond the far post. On the night just not to be.

When you look at an account of the game it might read like a succession of Charlton chances which we somehow failed to convert. In truth, we managed no efforts on target in the second half (the Kelman header and Campbell’s shot notwithstanding) and most of the time Bolton were content. They ended up with 11 attempts on goal to our 14 and one more on target than us. The fact that we dominated possession in the second half (from 49% for the first half to 57% for the whole game) counted for nothing.

To say we needed a win last night was an understatement. I don’t know what the level up from that is, but come Saturday the need is immense, to change the atmosphere ahead of the international break, perhaps even to save Jones’ job. My only thought for that one is that we can’t keep making so many changes and expect cohesion – and a lack of cohesion leads to poor/safe passes and an inability to create and exploit space. Jones will have to make at least one for Sheff Utd as presumably Chalobah will be out, along perhaps with Ramsay. Depending on analysis of the opposition I’d be tempted to just replace Chalobah with Skipp, or Mwamba, and just hope that a good start leads to goals for us.

One thing is sure. The fans need to be absolutely behind the team, and Jones, ahead of and during the game. It can change games. Remember Cardiff at The Valley, also in November (2012). 0-2 down in the first 25 mins against a team chasing promotion and the players anticipating groans and boos. Instead ‘Chrissie Powell’s Red and White Army’ started echoing around the ground, inspiring Johnnie Jackson to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Back to 2-2 at half-time and then on to 5-2 up in the second (we’ll gloss over their two late goals to make it 5-4). Jones deserves that backing for the game, the team will have to show they are worthy of it.