Arriving at the Valley last night on a cold, damp, freezing night I thought to myself, if ever there was an opportunity for us to kick-start our season and get a result, then surely Coventry City are the team we should be playing. At the moment it feels as though we are playing the roulette table and covering every number bar one and guess what that number comes up. We are hitting the wire on the dart board to miss the treble twenty- two out of three throws. We back the favourite only for the horse to fall at the last jump.
Coventry were poor, but unfortunately we were poorer. The bad luck I'm talking about occurred in the second half, when after we equalised from the penalty spot(Burton ) , which not only raised the spirit of the crowd , the players seem to have an extra spring in their step. Unfortunately a minute later, a silly foul gave Coventry a free-kick from 35 yards, which was hit well by Fox, but I thought Weaver was slow to react and of course it hit the post and flew into the other corner. I'm trying to be optimistic but in all honesty, this is the most difficult time in more than twenty years being a Charlton supporter.
In the first half an injury to McEveley after 13 minutes upset the balance of the team and his replacement Semedo who in my opinion, is far better as a holding midfield player. Coventry really had to do very little to hold a very stagnant and tepid Charlton side clearly lacking in confidence, never more evident, than by watching Nicky Bailey who is shadow of the fresh faced enthusiastic player he first was when we signed him. Weaver hardly touched the ball but unfortunately the Coventry keeper (Westwood) also had nothing to do . Of course we could see it coming, instead of taking the game to Coventry we sat back almost in a trance and the only worth while attack resulted in a goal for Coventry after 40 minutes . A great cross from Fox was put away neatly by Simpson and the home crowd went as quite as I have ever known . Not one player out of the 22 deserved any more than a four star rating. In the second half, apart from the first 5 minutes it was very much a repeat of the first.
As I left the Valley along the Woolwich Road, past the empty buses from Medway Kent I wondered how long before our new found supporters tire of the long journey to see a depressing inept performance. I didn't boo, I didn't scream and shout but I got behind the team when I saw effort and passion, unfortunately last night there was very little evidence of it.
Sad times for a club that 36 months ago was holding its own in the Premiership. We need a break and something to go our way, surely our luck will turn.
Come on you Reds.
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2 comments:
Good to see you last night.
I'm finding it quite depressing to think about how far CAFC has plummeted over the last 2 years.
I really thought a year in the Championship wouldn't be too much of a hardship. We were supposed to return to the Premiership at a canter and have a chance to play our youngsters while doing it, in a less pressurised environment.
Unfortunately, we are filled to the gills with loan players, our youngsters still aren't getting a chance and instead of looking towards the Premiership we are skirting with a second relegation and all the good work of the last ten years being lost.
I really want to keep the faith but witnessing the debacle at Blackpool and the toothless display last night have sent me into a deep Charlton apathy. I walk to home games- if I had to travel up from Kent I'm not sure I would bother on Monday, especially as I could watch the game in the warmth on TV.
We need something to cheer and we need it fast.
Marco
Great to meet you Marco and Frankie and the crew, to be honest the beer and meeting a few poor souls suffering like me was the highlight. All the best in this depressing times.
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