League 1 - Charlton Athletic vs Ipswich Town Preview & Matchday Thread

[Frosty]

Charlton Athletic v Ipswich Town



Saturday 29th October 2022 – 15:00

The Valley










Pre-Match Thoughts – Mike



Tuesday's visit to Vale park made it Six of the best for Town on the road, that's how many wins we have chalked up away from Portman Road already this campaign. While most Town fans felt before the game this was one we could and maybe should win it was also recognised that Vale are no mugs and that is exactly how it proved to be on the night.

It was a game that swung from terrible to comfortable, from stressful to exciting and back again and yet by the close Town had ground out yet another vital win and with it Three more massive points to keep ourselves well on track for the league One title. On a night when our regular Two Central Midfielders were missing for differing reasons Town looked all at sea in the opening Twenty Five minutes or so with our hosts on top having come out of the dressing room fired up and intent on taking the physical side of the game to us, debutant Cameron Humphreys was put on his arse following a robust challenge within a minute, maybe a ploy to intimidate the kid from the off, that was a scenario which was going to fail come the close of play.

Just after the half hour mark Town were now showing a few signs that they were getting to grips with the task in hand but the big and bumpy pitch was making it difficult. moments of magic change games and we were blessed with two of them in a matter of minutes, firstly the move from right to left that culminated in the excellent Leif Davis delivering a peach of a cross for the much maligned Freddie Ladapo to slide in and prod home to give us an undeserved lead, it was a super move and One which probably merited a goal and boy did the players celebrate.

it was a blow to Vale and it seemed to throw them off their game for a while. If the opener was special what came next was world class. A star is born if cam Humphreys debut is anything to go by, having dusted himself down from that opening minute the young lad had grown in confidence and had been enjoying a few neat touches but the strike from which he doubled town's lead would have graced any pitch in the world, it was that sweet a strike. Dom ball had laid off a deft pass from which the wonderkid smashed a sweet left foot strike through a ruck of players and passed the stranded keeper, it was hit with such venom that it was hard to actually see the flight of the ball until it rippled the net, cue more wild celebrations, the boy had arrived.

With the Six minutes of injury time virtually up Town somehow contrived to let the home side back into a game that had suddenly looked all over and comfortable. You could probably name Four or Five Town players who should most definitely have done better before the striker fired home under the body of Christian Walton, it really was incredibly bad defending by the team and in an instant had changed the whole complexion of the game.

The second was now promising to be intense and so it proved as vale somehow got themselves level with a strike that to be fair was pretty decent too, again though woeful defending by Woolfenden to play Donacien in trouble the catalyst for the error and once again we get punished for it. It really was game on now with vale having their tails well and truly up it could well have spelled disaster. Town however were not to be denied and the Valiants were not level for long. Another crisp move involving Edwards, Davis and Humphreys, who along with Ladapo were the Four best Town players on the night carved the Port vale defence open and with the aid of a kind deflection Freddie was on hand to grab his Sixth (yes Six) of the season and in doing so restored Town's lead.

The remainder of the game saw both sides trying to add to their tally and their were openings at both ends, thankfully though there was to be no more addition to the scoreline as town edged over the line to wrap up a very hard fought win at a very tricky place. To a man the Town players mobbed young Humphreys who's debut could not have gone much better with a stunning goal and an assist for the winner, it really was his special night and he would surely have been MOTM but for the superb display by Leif Davis who just oozes class the more he plays, those opening two or Three games at the start of the season are a distant memory.

I had said that Four points from Two away games at tricky places would represent a good return but once you win the first one you kind of want more and a point at Charlton barely seems enough now, especially as struggling MK Dons managed to come away with the points Tuesday evening. The Addicks sit in Eight place and just Four points off the play off picture so they must be doing fairly well and as such this will be another tough away day for Town, however we are surely c*ck a hoop right now and that is half the battle, with the inspirational Sam Morsy returning we must fancy our chances of at least getting that point, but let's get all Three and make it a real sign of intent. Lee Evans is definitely out, having been confirmed he will miss a few weeks so we can expect more starts for Ball, Panutche and dare I say it Cameron Humphreys.

A certain Scott Fraser could well be in the opposition ranks Saturday and whilst I wish him well I also hope he turns in the type of display that he did so often in Town's colours, ineffectual. The one we do need to watch is striker Jayden Stockley who has caused us problems in the past, our defence cannot gift him the type of chances we gifted Port vale, or we will be punished. I will go for another nailbiting narrow Town win. COYB'S.



The Opposition – Charlton Athletic Honours



League


Football League First Division

Runners-up – 1936–37

Football League Second Division / Football League First Division

Champions – 1999–2000
Runners-up – 1935–36, 1985–86
Play-off winners – 1986–87, 1997–98

Football League Third Division / Football League One

Champions – 2011–12
Promoted (old Division 3) – 1974–75, 1980–81
Play-off winners – 2018–19

Football League Third Division South

Champions – 1928–29, 1934–35


Cups


FA Cup

Winners – 1946–47
Runners-up – 1945–46

Full Members Cup

Runners-up – 1986–87

Football League War Cup

Joint winners – 1943–44

Kent Senior Cup

Winners – 1994–95, 2012–13, 2014–15
Runners-up – 2015–16



The Manager – Ben Garner







League Table






Form Guide




Charlton FC


8 Oct Lincoln City 0 - 0 Charlton

11 Oct Charlton 4 - 2 Exeter City

17 Oct Charlton 3 - 0 Portsmouth

22 Oct Shrewsbury 0 - 1 Charlton

25 Oct Charlton 0 - 2 Milton Keynes





Ipswich Town



4 Oct Ipswich Town 3 - 0 Cambridge Utd

8 Oct Morecambe 1 - 2 Ipswich Town

15 Oct Ipswich Town 0 - 1 Lincoln City

21 Oct Ipswich Town 1 - 0 Derby County

25 Oct Port Vale 2 - 3 Ipswich Town




Head to Head






THE DON CUP

Have a pop at this. We'll have a league table organised after week 3. Cheers.





Match Referee – Josh Smith







CHARLTON ATHLETIC 1 IPSWICH TOWN 2

[number 9]

Caption:
JM:”So you see Kieran if you want to be the special one you have to have a special one.”
KM:”Have to say Jose, I’m feeling a bit uncomfortable right now.”
JM: “Tut tut tut, close those lips you Irish banshee…perhaps you’d like some wine with me after the match?”
KM: “I think I’m gonna stay late and work on tactics with the lads.”
JM: “OK. That’s good. Call me later you little leprechaun.”
KM: “OK boss I’m probably gonna be tired after practice. No offense, but I’ll probably go home and have some Irish stew.”
JM: “Oh you stinky little shamrock don’t tease with your…how do you say…Irish stew.”

[marko69]

Nice preview and very true......, saying 4 from 6 initially is good......., but with 3 in the bag...... 6 MUCH better. And with Wednesday slipping up @ home tonight, all the better. All this seems to be going very well so far. Keep it going, guys.

Ref caption:
4th official: "Josh? We need an answer. Foul or what?"
Ref: "Shine a torch over here. Look. An Alsatian."

Jose & Kieron:

Jose: "Forget eet. I do not care what you see. Thees watch is sheet. You go see my jeweler at a half time, ok?"

[JohnnyB]

Kez: but boss, I’ve got the salmon jacket with my initials, I’ve got the messy hair do. Why won’t the lads take me seriously?
Jose: it’s the watch, son. It looks like a 12 year old’s birthday present.
Kez: you’re so special and so right.

[Bluemike]

Caption......
"That was very good effort, but I'm sure that hand goes on top when you do the Gangnam style"

[Blue Wilf]

Jose Mourinho prepares to commit his superglue coated index finger to Kieran McKenna's foolish 'just stop oil' protest

Need to consolidate on Tuesdays win - 0-1 Town

[rossi]

I expect the front 3 to be completely rotated once again.
I see in his latest interview KM is saying that it is good to keep opponents guessing as to his front 3 but the main reason he rotates the front 3 every game is we need different players for different games. I don't buy that at all - it's complete bollox as it intimates that the need for different situations goes consistently back and forwards on a game-by-game basis which is utter tosh.

0-0 draw for me.

[valleyroad]

I expect the front 3 to be completely rotated once again.
I see in his latest interview KM is saying that it is good to keep opponents guessing as to his front 3 but the main reason he rotates the front 3 every game is we need different players for different games. I don't buy that at all - it's complete bollox as it intimates that the need for different situations goes consistently back and forwards on a game-by-game basis which is utter tosh.

0-0 draw for me.

Maybe KM is light years ahead in his thinking on football than yourself ??
The guy has Ipswich in a great position given the shambles since MM left, maybe a good idea to appreciate him and his tactics ?
1-2 to Town for me.

[marko69]

5 points clear in the promotion zone....... keep serving up the utter tosh, Kieron.

[shabba]

Lineup likely to be

Walton

JD
Wolfie
Edmundson
Davies

Ball
Morsy

Burns
Chaplin
Harness

Ladapo


Although Suspect Jackson may start instead of Ladapo.
Id personally rather start Edwards over harness.

Chaplin has been a bit off, not bowled over by TJJ yet either, Hanress is a bit hit and miss but I liked him vs derby.

I’ll trust in KM though.

[Bluemike]

Walton, Donacien, Davis, Morsy, Burns, Harness, Edwards, Keogh and Ladapo are all must starts for me, the other 2 places up for grabs, probably Ball & Edmundson.

[rossi]

I expect the front 3 to be completely rotated once again.
I see in his latest interview KM is saying that it is good to keep opponents guessing as to his front 3 but the main reason he rotates the front 3 every game is we need different players for different games. I don't buy that at all - it's complete bollox as it intimates that the need for different situations goes consistently back and forwards on a game-by-game basis which is utter tosh.

0-0 draw for me.

Maybe KM is light years ahead in his thinking on football than yourself ??
The guy has Ipswich in a great position given the shambles since MM left, maybe a good idea to appreciate him and his tactics ?
1-2 to Town for me.

Maybe he is light years ahead of me in his thinking on the modern game - after all I am a bit of a dinosaur and much prefer to see the cut and thrust type of football that was played in the '60s and '70s, but that doesn't make his reasoning to rotate every single game because he needs different players for different situations valid. We have played consecutive games against teams who play the same way, yet the rotation still happened which trashes the reasons he gave for rotation - that's all I'm saying, and maybe if you had taken a bit more time to think about what I had written you might have understood it a little better (but then again, maybe you wouldn't have done)

Oh, and I can make up my own mind what to appreciate, thank you very much.

[mendipblue]

I think the changes of personal depends on how the opposition set up. Derby and Port Vale did not play the same
PV pressed far more than DC did. So that alone explains changes in KMck assessment of tactics.
I'm just glad Mr Rossi is not managing the team.

[marko69]

Ben Garner caption:

Player on bench: “Boss? Did the owner not give you Charlton stuff to wear?”
Ben: “No no, Sshhhh! Its fine. I’ll just wear this non embarrassing beige.”

[Charnwood]

Not sure how you’d cope with Graham Potter at Chelsea Rossi.

So far he’s used 21 players in his first nine games in charge.

Only 5 have played in all 9 games

Out of these 5 players, only this one played the entirety of these 9 matches.

He’s also set his teams up using 6 different starting formations.

…. and by the way, since Potter arrived Chelsea have remained unbeaten, whereas his predecessor Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea had won just 3 of his 7 games in charge since the start of the season.

If you have sufficient talent in your squad and players are hungry to play, you can get away with tinkering and making changes which is why Kieron McKenna can get away with it and why Paul Lambert couldn’t.

[number 9]

I’m not a fan of the rotation system, but let’s face it we’re still in an automatic promotion spot. Sure, Prem teams rotate on a regular basis mainly because they have squad depth. And yes, it’s looking like we have squad depth now. I still think we need a big striker who can win the ball in the air. If we can comfortably score from set pieces, we’ll be unstoppable. We’re awesome, but let’s get even better in January.

[Dazzz67]

I too am not a fan of rotation but that is part of the game nowadays, bigger squads, oppo's different styles, injuries, but it is also about being fair and trying to keep everybody happy, you get more out of them. The team are loving playing for KM and they also get the fans support which is a big boost, think if they were not we would see it in performance and results. We all know players hit highs and lows and it is important to try and balance that even though they (and fans) do not always like it when they are dropped, it's all part of being a grown up.

Going for a 2 -1 win to the boys in blue.

Now where's my Lego? lol

[Bluemike]

Lol, under the stairs with your Fuzzy Felts

[Dazzz67]

Cheers Mike, fancy a game of Subbuteo or Buckaroo later? lol

[rossi]

Not sure how you’d cope with Graham Potter at Chelsea Rossi.

So far he’s used 21 players in his first nine games in charge.

Only 5 have played in all 9 games

Out of these 5 players, only this one played the entirety of these 9 matches.

He’s also set his teams up using 6 different starting formations.

…. and by the way, since Potter arrived Chelsea have remained unbeaten, whereas his predecessor Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea had won just 3 of his 7 games in charge since the start of the season.

If you have sufficient talent in your squad and players are hungry to play, you can get away with tinkering and making changes which is why Kieron McKenna can get away with it and why Paul Lambert couldn’t.

Wow - with all that in-depth Chelsea knowledge anybody would be forgiven for thinking you were a Chelsea fan .
You can't really compare Chelsea with Ipswich though - quality of the players is poles apart.

Seriously, yes we all know that KM has a much better squad to choose from than did PL et al - but I still say that playing some players one game and dropping them for the next is not always condusive to a player having confidence (that depends, of course, on the personal make-up of the player).
The biggest thing I don't understand id the need to rotate the front 3 but not the midfield or defence - he rotates the front 3 every game but very rarely midfield or defence. It makes me think that he knows what his best defence and midfield is, but not his front 3.

I am not knocking him or his methods - you cannot argue with the position we are in at the moment. But I can't help wondering that had we played a settled side would we be in an even better position?

[Bluemike]

I think in the case of Ladapo this rotational thing has been counter productive which is why the guy has got so much stick, ask Rotherham fans, he is a confidence player that scores in batches, goes on runs of finding the net, that being true you are nullifying the attributes of the player to a certain extent, it could also explain why TJJ has rarely showed much.

[Charnwood]

Not sure how you’d cope with Graham Potter at Chelsea Rossi.

So far he’s used 21 players in his first nine games in charge.

Only 5 have played in all 9 games

Out of these 5 players, only this one played the entirety of these 9 matches.

He’s also set his teams up using 6 different starting formations.

…. and by the way, since Potter arrived Chelsea have remained unbeaten, whereas his predecessor Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea had won just 3 of his 7 games in charge since the start of the season.

If you have sufficient talent in your squad and players are hungry to play, you can get away with tinkering and making changes which is why Kieron McKenna can get away with it and why Paul Lambert couldn’t.

Wow - with all that in-depth Chelsea knowledge anybody would be forgiven for thinking you were a Chelsea fan .
You can't really compare Chelsea with Ipswich though - quality of the players is poles apart.

Seriously, yes we all know that KM has a much better squad to choose from than did PL et al - but I still say that playing some players one game and dropping them for the next is not always condusive to a player having confidence (that depends, of course, on the personal make-up of the player).
The biggest thing I don't understand id the need to rotate the front 3 but not the midfield or defence - he rotates the front 3 every game but very rarely midfield or defence. It makes me think that he knows what his best defence and midfield is, but not his front 3.

I am not knocking him or his methods - you cannot argue with the position we are in at the moment. But I can't help wondering that had we played a settled side would we be in an even better position?

I’m not a Chelsea fan at all Rossi I don’t even like them that much, I just picked this info up yesterday reading an article about Graham Potter and for some reason thought of you and what you might think.

You should know from the past that I’m no great fan of large scale rotation especially when if appears to be just for the sake of it.
I don’t think you’ll find any posts of mine lauding Kevin McKenna for doing it apart from my one post suggesting in his defence that he may be better equipped for doing it than previous managers, especially given the number of talented players at his disposal who all want to play and all have something to offer. Also with the team often playing 3 games in 8 days and the ground they cover and pace we play at these days some players will need to take the occasional rest or only play part of a game. Hence in the Graham Potter example only 5 of Chelsea’s 21 players used have covered the entirety of 9 matches.

It would be interesting to compare Towns player stats so far this season.

[JohnnyB]

The biggest thing I don't understand id the need to rotate the front 3 but not the midfield or defence - he rotates the front 3 every game but very rarely midfield or defence. It makes me think that he knows what his best defence and midfield is, but not his front 3.

I would say one benefit of changing the front three (and I’m not saying I always agree with it) is that opposition managers cannot prepare a game plan to stop our attack. They don’t know till the last minute whether they are going to deal with Jackson’s pace for example and whether that will be coming from the middle or down the flank.

[JohnnyB]

Sorry meant to quote Rossi in the first paragraph there but messed up somehow

[arana peligrosa]

Voted to draw. We got the attacking potential but the defensive side of things leaves a certain trepidation. Some of our players may be tired after the heroics of Port Vale and a score that follows which may be more down to earth. Victory while not imperative, would be mighty useful in keeping contention for auto promotion. Plymouth must not be allowed to break clear at the top.

Charlton 2 ITFC 2

[Bluemike]

If you are right in that some may be tired, surely KM is right to rotate ? Devil's advocate and all that.

[shabba]

The biggest thing I don't understand id the need to rotate the front 3 but not the midfield or defence - he rotates the front 3 every game but very rarely midfield or defence. It makes me think that he knows what his best defence and midfield is, but not his front 3.

I would say one benefit of changing the front three (and I’m not saying I always agree with it) is that opposition managers cannot prepare a game plan to stop our attack. They don’t know till the last minute whether they are going to deal with Jackson’s pace for example and whether that will be coming from the middle or down the flank.

Defense and midfield it pays to be settled and they don’t have to run as much. Front players it helps bribing on fresh legs to stretch tired defences. I’d include wingbacks in as front players in that theory.

[Charnwood]

In our family Charlton v Ipswich (home and away) is the biggest fixture of the season. My son-in-law is a life long Addicks nut case having been born and brought up not far from The Valley and in recent years we have a case of Ale bet on the match. Although earlier this year we thumped them 4-0 on the last day of the season, generally speaking they’ve held the upper hand since we’ve both been in League 1, however whilst we were in The Championship it was Town who more often than not came out on top. I’m hopeful we have enough fire power in the locker to win by the odd goal, however expect another tightly fought match against a team that definitely won’t want to suffer two consecutive home defeats after losing 0-2 at home to MK Dons midweek. Maybe they had themselves in the wrong mind set after beating Pompey 3-0 the week before which suggests they’re more than capable of springing a surprise.
Hoping for a win but won’t be surprised if our defence drop at least one clanger that sees the game finish all square.

[hallamblue]

If we thought Port Vale was a tough game ( we made it hard work IMHo), then Charlton game is going to be Armageddon . If we don’t learn to defend balls into our box, we will lose to teams like Charlton. I’d not be surprised to see a very hard fought for draw. Their results are not t9 be taken lightly .

1-1

[Andym]

I wouldn’t be surprised if were lost this one. I don’t think recent performances have been as sharp as at the start of the season. Too many loose passes, demanding errors etc. If we play at our best we will win, but (ignoring results) I think e are going through a less good patch.
3-1 defeat.