Charlton 0-1 LCFC, post-match thread

[Super_horns]

1 hour ago, Spudulike said:

 

Nathan Jones says...

 

On the disallowed goal: "It's a fairytale, a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, an absolute fairytale. We caused them so many problems from set plays and that was another one.

 

They were released from jail by an individual that I just can't comment on."

 

Oh dear 

I am surprised he even knew who they were !

 

He is Mr angry but in an odd way - not like a Warnock who just lost it but goes on weird rants .

 

They basically did the same v us but got away with it .

[Jimmy]

to think Ryan Mason got sent off today in the WBA game but Nathan Jones got to act the **** with total freedom, notice he didn't mention his defenders booting through our attackers all game and getting away with it...

[Spudulike]

So Ipswich must be feeling the same embarrassment today as we were in losing last week. Perhaps Preston aren't that easy to beat after all especially as it's been decided that Ipswich are far better than us in every way imaginable. 

[Jimmy]

1 minute ago, Spudulike said:

So Ipswich must be feeling the same embarrassment today as we were in losing last week. Perhaps Preston aren't that easy to beat after all especially as it's been decided that Ipswich are far better than us in every way imaginable. 

yeah they are so much better than us aren't they... For all the media wankfest over them they have 2 points to our 6 and spent £12m on our 4th choice winger.

 

We aren't playing great right now for sure but it does seem for these media tosspots if we are 17-0 up inside the first 30 seconds they decide we're struggling

[trooky]

I thought Thomas was very weak in the tackle today and was a defensive liability.

 

Jacob, Okoli had good games and Choudhury adds a bit of bite.

 

Vesty is just too slow for such a high line and not keen on him. 

 

The whole back 4 and 2 defensive midfielders are very negative on the ball, always take the safe option. 

 

The only time in the whole match they were able to pass forward thru the press was for the goal. 

 

Page and Monga are learning all the time, Fatawu is very inconsistent but along with Monga and Mavididi the only players capable of a bit of magic. 

 

Ayew is infuriating,

 

We look like an average mid-table championship team who will struggle to score goals. 

[JayT - Always A Fox!]

6 minutes ago, trooky said:

I thought Thomas was very weak in the tackle today and was a defensive liability.

 

Jacob, Okoli had good games and Choudhury adds a bit of bite.

 

Vesty is just too slow for such a high line and not keen on him. 

 

The whole back 4 and 2 defensive midfielders are very negative on the ball, always take the safe option. 

 

The only time in the whole match they were able to pass forward thru the press was for the goal. 

 

Page and Monga are learning all the time, Fatawu is very inconsistent but along with Monga and Mavididi the only players capable of a bit of magic. 

 

Ayew is infuriating,

 

We look like an average mid-table championship team who will struggle to score goals. 

When you say ‘take the safe option’, I think that’s pretty much what most possession based teams do? We did this in abundance under Enzo, however under Marti it’s a bit of a mix between the two. 

What would you prefer them to do if the pass wasn’t on?

 

I also dont agree with us being an ‘average mid-table’ team. We’ve clearly got enough quality, we’re just unsettled still and everything will take a bit of patience and support. 

[Leeds Fox]

19 minutes ago, trooky said:

I thought Thomas was very weak in the tackle today and was a defensive liability.

 

Jacob, Okoli had good games and Choudhury adds a bit of bite.

 

Vesty is just too slow for such a high line and not keen on him. 

 

The whole back 4 and 2 defensive midfielders are very negative on the ball, always take the safe option. 

 

The only time in the whole match they were able to pass forward thru the press was for the goal. 

 

Page and Monga are learning all the time, Fatawu is very inconsistent but along with Monga and Mavididi the only players capable of a bit of magic. 

 

Ayew is infuriating,

 

We look like an average mid-table championship team who will struggle to score goals. 

We will struggle to score goals. We can’t rely on moments of individual brilliance every week, at both ends of the pitch.

 

*edit - and the opposition being incompetent 

Edited 23 August 2025 by Leeds Fox

[Pliskin]

1 hour ago, trooky said:

I thought Thomas was very weak in the tackle today and was a defensive liability.

 

Jacob, Okoli had good games and Choudhury adds a bit of bite.

 

Vesty is just too slow for such a high line and not keen on him. 

 

The whole back 4 and 2 defensive midfielders are very negative on the ball, always take the safe option. 

 

The only time in the whole match they were able to pass forward thru the press was for the goal. 

 

Page and Monga are learning all the time, Fatawu is very inconsistent but along with Monga and Mavididi the only players capable of a bit of magic. 

 

Ayew is infuriating,

 

We look like an average mid-table championship team who will struggle to score goals. 

Agree with all of this. 

[Wymsey]

Where's @Lamby..

[Lambert09]

4 hours ago, DJ Barry Hammond said:

The context for this was to make their commentary easier by not having two Thomas’ on the pitch at the same time.

 

It wasn’t an endorsement (or criticism) of Luke Thomas’ performance.

That makes more sense 

[Cadno'r Cymoedd]

2 hours ago, Jimmy said:

to think Ryan Mason got sent off today in the WBA game but Nathan Jones got to act the **** with total freedom, notice he didn't mention his defenders booting through our attackers all game and getting away with it...

We need to deal with it, not the referee in the right way. Harder and more aggressive.. 

[chuck'em]

2 hours ago, Jimmy said:

to think Ryan Mason got sent off today in the WBA game but Nathan Jones got to act the **** with total freedom, notice he didn't mention his defenders booting through our attackers all game and getting away with it...

Yeah but Ryan Mason being **** is a bit out of character. Jones is just a ****, he can't help it. It would be unfair if they sent him off for it every week

[Fightforever]

3 hours ago, FOXSE said:

You could say you threw £10 in the bin?

Depends on signings. Currently we’re linked to no one but selling anyone who could take us up and the rest of the squad is woeful. We’ll finish around 19th as it stands.

[The Quick Brown Fox]

2 hours ago, Leeds Fox said:

We will struggle to score goals. We can’t rely on moments of individual brilliance every week, at both ends of the pitch.

 

*edit - and the opposition being incompetent 

Weren't we saying the same a couple of years ago? 

 

If the strikers took their chances we'd be screwed. 

 

When we get to the premier league the strikers will finish these chances and we will get relegated. 

 

All came true 

[ozleicester]

 

[Sooper Steve's shin]

Always good to snaffle three points, but I think it will be obvious to the manager (and, hopefully, the Board) that this doesn’t so much paper over the cracks as highlight some serious shortcomings we need to address:

 

1. We are getting light on first-team strength players. Yes, we needed to sell and get some wages off the books. Yes, ideally we want to get rid of some more deadwood (Faes, please). And yes, this is an opportunity to use youth players fairly heavily in a way that we haven’t done for a long time. But we are not going to be able to rely on 16/17/18 year olds extensively in the Championship. It’s a big man’s league, they will get roughed up. I love Page and Monga, they are great prospects but they looked like boys today - and they will face harder tests. Monga at least has tricks, pace and some body strength to keep going, but I thought Page got bulllied throughout. It might be nerves for his debut and I’m sure he’ll learn from it, but there’s a reason that young players learn from coming on in certain game situations rather than being immediate starters. 
 

2. Regardless of starting XI, we are struggling with the lack of mobility in central midfield. When his head’s in the game, Soumare can drive forward with the ball. But none of him, Page or Skipp were pushing up to support either Ayew or the wingers. It made those players look worse as they were isolated and had to hold onto the ball too long. I’m sure Marti will address that - in Enzo’s season, he even got Wilfred Ndidi making those runs to support Fatawu and the strikers so it shouldn’t be beyond the ask for any of our current midfield (or, if it is, we need to fix that fast). 
 

3. On that midfield, I’ve tried to hold off criticising Skipp but really - what does he do?? He doesn’t seem to have either quick accurate passes or searching long balls in his locker; his positioning is terrible to make tackles and he gets turned very easily; he doesn’t run through and support the attack. I struggle to see the actual point of him and anything we spent on him north of £1m would have been a travesty. That signing needs to be investigated. 
 

4. Winks is clearly our most talented and best suited CM at this level. Why is he not starting? Is it a hangover from last year’s issues, has he already fallen out with Marti or is he off? Either get him playing or get him gone. 
 

5. We need a striker. I think Ayew has some qualities that can help us out through the season, but not as a starting number 9. Poor Patson has obvious limitations, but I’d be giving him the run of games at the moment over Ayew as at least his pace and running will give defenders something to think about. It’s too easy for the opposition at the moment, I think opposing centre-halves are barely breaking sweat at the lack of central striker or midfield runners causing goal threats. We are only (sporadically) troubling their full-backs, and then teams just resort to doubling or trebling up on our wingers. 
 

6. Let’s not be totally pessimistic - we kept the better goalkeeper over the summer! I liked Mads but he did concede more than the odd soft goal for us. His lack of height/reach has been shown up in West Ham’s first two games - Jakub’s making saves (like today) that I think Mads wouldn’t. Time will tell, but if he stays fit then it’s one position we have covered. 

[Jakemoore]

I was at a wedding all day yesterday so this is being posted without the context of listening to or watching the game - infuriatingly bad timing as Charlton is pretty local to me and I’d have definitely gone. 
 

But anyway, as I lie here with an early morning hangover, I became aware of the results yesterday. Sheffield United are yet to get a single point. Ipswich are yet to get a single win and Southampton’s only win came against Wrexham who are managed by a guy with a win ratio at this level which is under 35%. 
 

Fair to say we’ve not started the season well at all. We looked great against Fiorentina and I think we all got carried away. HMS piss the league posts for days. But aside from 45 minutes of hammering the door down against Sheffield Wednesday, and a 10 minute spell last week at Preston, it doesn’t sound to me like we’ve had any sustained attacking football in 270 minutes of football so far. 
 

But we have won 2 out of 3 and the table doesn’t lie. We’re ahead of all of the promotion favourites. It gives us something to build on ‘cause this is not an easy league to get out of. Ask Stoke. Who ironically have been incredible so far. 
 

We need to improve on Friday as Brum will come down thinking they can beat us and I suspect they will if we don’t massively step it up. Context is important too. We’ve beaten a club in absolute turmoil and one who has just come up.
 

Birmingham will be a stern test.

 

That’s all I have to say about that. I need a paracetamol!

[LCFCJohn]

I do think people are being overly negative here.

 

It was not a good performance, Charlton were the better side but they were at home and are still on a high from promotion whereas we have the hangover from last season. They have also added to their squad. I think the transfer window is causing a lot of uncertainty and it is a case of navigating through this period and hopefully, we might just have a fresh face or two by the end and see where we are after the international break. Getting the points whilst playing poorly might be the best of both worlds if it could show the higher ups what we need (not holding my breath though).

 

The positives

Jakub put last week behind him and he is a very good keeper. They put us under a lot of pressure from set pieces that were handled well. A couple of good saves also, particularly the one down quickly which he held on to. Other than that he wasn’t really troubled. Also started the move for the goal for those who said he couldn’t.

 

The goal of course and the move for it.
 

I actually felt that there was more effort and desire from some yesterday. Given that we know most of these players should have the quality for this league, I wondered if it is a case of confidence being on the floor and uncertainty around the window. Examples being when Fatawu gave the ball away and they had the chance where Okoli blocked it, Vestergaard yelling was a positive for me as it showed some fight from him. At the same time, Okoli roared in satisfaction about his block. The latter is the sort of small thing I said recently can make a difference as to how these players can be perceived. I am fed up with the culture of the squad but if I see things like a defender putting a crunching tackle in or getting pumped about putting their body on the line, these are positive signs.

 

Negatives 

Still don’t look creative enough although there was a graphic that showed we were 1st in many attacking measures and only 2 we weren’t were 5th and 7th. I think 7th was goals scored which was wrong anyway as it said 3 and we have scored 4.

 

Centre midfield is still a frustration as it the striker position. I genuinely think the rest would be ok, if we could bring 2 new faces in for these positions (I mean I really I’d like 2 new centre mids and bin Soumare, Skipp and Winks but that is unlikely).

 

We do need to give Marti time. This is not his mess and you can’t expect everything to click within a couple of weeks.

 

Good protests as well with the banners and chants.

[trooky]

8 hours ago, JayT - Always A Fox! said:

When you say ‘take the safe option’, I think that’s pretty much what most possession based teams do? We did this in abundance under Enzo, however under Marti it’s a bit of a mix between the two. 

What would you prefer them to do if the pass wasn’t on?

 

I also dont agree with us being an ‘average mid-table’ team. We’ve clearly got enough quality, we’re just unsettled still and everything will take a bit of patience and support. 

Its early days but yesterday the starting line up found it very difficult to play forward thru the press, they only managed once from memory, so I would like them to do this more than once in a game entire. 

 

We might have quality, we'll see on Friday, but the current squad will struggle to score goals IMO

[SemperEadem]

Was a very boring watch from us.

[CosbehFox]

11 hours ago, trooky said:

I thought Thomas was very weak in the tackle today and was a defensive liability.

Poor bastard yesterday was sold one. 

 

To his right, he has Vestergaard, so he has to be careful about opening the channel between them - hence twice he had up being double up. 

In front of him, he has Monga at 16 who didn't provide much help. 

Centrally to him, he has Skipp who was about twenty yards away from his man. 

 

There's a whole space on the left hand side of our pitch which is Bermuda Triangle. 

[CosbehFox]

59 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

Was a very boring watch from us.

Yeah was crap. 

 

Keep playing Ayew upfront and we will keep playing with half of a pitch. Piss of piece to defend against us. 

[coolhandfox]

11 hours ago, trooky said:

Vesty is just too slow for such a high line and not keen on him. 

Actually thought he had a pretty good game and like Okoli won lots of aerial duels, and showed a lot of leadership.

Edited 24 August 2025 by coolhandfox

[foxfanazer]

It was bliss not watching us yesterday. In my head I can just chalk it off as a comfortable 1-0 away win

[coolhandfox]

4 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

Poor bastard yesterday was sold one. 

 

To his right, he has Vestergaard, so he has to be careful about opening the channel between them - hence twice he had up being double up. 

In front of him, he has Monga at 16 who didn't provide much help. 

Centrally to him, he has Skipp who was about twenty yards away from his man. 

 

There's a whole space on the left hand side of our pitch which is Bermuda Triangle. 

I was pretty critical of him in the match thread, but they are good points.