About Me

Old Coulsdon, United Kingdom
An acquired refugee from the days of exile at Selhurst Park, my first game being a dreary 1-1 draw with Millwall. I followed the team back to The Valley, and have now been with them for over twenty years. You will find me in the Rose of Denmark or in the Lower West. Follow me on Twitter @DeepestDarkest1

Sunday 26 September 2010

Charlton 2 Dagenham & Redbridge 2

Right, let's start with a positive shall we? If Charlton can play as they did in the first half an hour of this game, as they apparently did in the first half of the Tranmere game, then I can see where Parkinson is going, and that this group of players can indeed become a team to fight for promotion from the third division. So one sided was the first thirty minutes, that after Llera's towering header put us ahead, it seemed like only a matter of time before the floodgates opened. Dagenham were poor, very poor, and were there for the taking. Once again though our profligacy in front of goal came back to haunt us.

The game for me turned on the penalty incident. I know I am in a minority here, but for me it definitely was a penalty. You cannot shove a striker in the back while he is in the air and expect to get away with it. A very soft penalty for sure, but a penalty nevertheless. The ramifications of that action changed the match. First, Parkinson lost it, and got himself sent to the stands for the second half, but more telling for me was what he said, or indeed, did not say during the half time team talk.

The perceived wrong of the referee's decision should have given Parkinson the opportunity to fire up his troops for an all action, "injustice" fuelled second half. The fact that it did not, and that Charlton were second best throughout the second period says more to me about the manager's lack of ability to motivate, and instill discipline, even in himself, never mind his team, than anything else. The player to show that lack of discipline more than any other was the hapless Llera.

Momentarily a hero in the first half, Llera made three mistakes in the second half, any one of which could have ended in a goal. The first two came with the team pushed up, and with Llera just inside his own half. Bad decision making on both occasions resulted in an opposing player scampering away from him, fortunately to be thwarted by a combination of a scrambling Doherty and Worner. The third incident saw him being turned on the edge of his own eighteen yard line and found wanting for pace, this time Worner on his own coming to the rescue.

What of Fortune? If he is fit enough to make the bench, surely he must be fit enough to appear on the pitch? Llera needs a spell on the sidelines, and for me it needs to happen before Dailly is fit to return. Even if Fortune is not the answer yet, why not put Fry back there? I don't go with the argument that he cannot handle big strikers; after all he is a Wet Spam academy graduate, one that they believe will make it, and put faith in that judgement by giving him a new contract at the end of last season. I am sure he has dealt with big strikers before, and will again, whether in a Charlton shirt or not.

The team only began to look threatening again when Reid came off with a leg problem, the result of which saw Jackson pushed up into left midfield with Fry slotting in at left back. Leaving aside the well taken goal, the quality of crossing and dead ball delivery from Jackson was infinitely superior to that of the injured Reid, although in fairness to him, he was only on the pitch for about ten minutes. In a midfield that isn't providing the ammunition to our misfiring strikeforce, I believe Jackson should be given a chance on the left side of midfield. Perhaps then, Benson will get a quality of service to allow him to threaten defences again. Yesterday he was anonymous throughout, and most of that was down to a lack of quality ball to him.

So, where are we? Two games played against bottom four teams, and only two points gained from the six on offer. This is not promotion seeking form or capability, and just isn't good enough, it really isn't.

4 comments:

  1. Thankyou for giving us some credit in your report. I was very impressed with yourselves in the first half an hour and you could have been 2 or 3 ahead. An early goal really set us back and we don't seem to be able to play well in the first half of matches.

    The penalty took the wind out of your sails a bit and we played really well in the 2nd half. I felt it was a bit soft as you say, but he did catch the man. Would've been a shame for us if all our work in the 2nd period came to nothing - we missed 2 great chances to take the lead - and it was probably about right in the end.

    All the best, hope to see you at Victoria Road.

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  2. Great piece DD & agree entirely, a definite penalty with questions to be asked of the manager.

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  3. Good read Bruce, as a strong supporter of Parkie this game is a real blow to my confidence in him. Traditionally, Charlton have always screwed up the easy games and comeback when we have most expected to be beaten, lets hope we can revert to type for Tuesday, I don't really want to see us lose the pack at the top of the division.

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  4. A very well balanced overall view of which I totally agree with. I don't think you are in the minority regarding the peno: it was a very clumsy and obvious push, which was very typical of numerous pointless, needless fouls we give away regularly to put ourselves under pressure. A weak peno it was, but a peno none the less.

    It is true that in the first half an hour we played some decent flowing football, but as long as it went on I became more convinced it was going nowhere. As chance after chance went by against a very poor team) I couldn't help but get the feeling it was going to be one of those days. Sadly I was right.

    Parky might have been pleased with the first half performance, but questions need to be asked as to why we can't turn that dominancce in to goals (as Norwich did so well last year).

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