Charlton Athletic (H) League 1 Re Arranged Tuesday 02/02/10.

[matt-thesaddler]

Just got back. The WORST referee we have had in a long long time. Mattis booked for a perfectly good tackle, Vincent booked for time wasting, Deeney sent of for 2 so called fouls. First one should of been a good talking too, not a booking. 2nd was maybe a booking. But because the first wasnt a yellow, he shouldnt of been sent off.

Ince- Did ok, couple of good saves. But why he picked that backpass up I dont know.
Weston- Injured early so no chance.
Vincent- Did well for a left back. Solid, no mistakes.
MacDonald- Another class performance. Solid, good in the air (as we expect) and sprayed the ball round well. My MOTM.
Sansara- Not to bad but i prefer Vincent there.
Till- Quiet and backed out far to often.
Mattis- Booked early for a good challange so he couldnt really put some tackles in. Got picked up a couple of times by the ref for nothin before getting booked.
Taundry- Good game. Had a few quiet spells but he was very good today.
Richards- Did well against Norwich, not the best today.
Deeney- Took his goal well. Good performance. Can tell hes getting stronger. Daft sending off.
Byfield- Ran himself ragid again. Does seem to run around pointlessly at times. Did ok though

Westlake- Good performance. Better than Weston. Not MOTM though.
Nicholls- Had a couple of runs but didnt have much of a chance.
Parkin- Not on long enough.

[Dave Gittins]

Referee - what a joke!!

Good header by Deeney

Their penalty was dubious to say the least. From the F2G lower there was no apparent contact and he went down like a sack of spuds

Referee - terrible!!

Byfield penalty shout early second half - we would have been very fortunate if it had been given with little or no contact but it would have evened things up from their penalty.

Referee - DIRE!!

Deeney very unfortunate to be sent off - the two incidents may have warranted a total of 1 yellow

Hutchings was very careful with his post match interview but he was obviously very unhappy with the refs performance

Oh, did I mention the ref was absolutely awful!!!!

[m&m]

That ref was the worst we have seen for quite a few seasons.He seemed determined that Charlton would win the match so all credit to our players for what i'd describe as a gritty performance.At least it shows there must be a good team spirit at the club.
I realise byfield was knackered but to put Parkin as a lone striker was just crazy.He just can't run!
Saturday will be interesting without Deeney.Who will play upfront with Byfield.Personally i'd give Nicholls his chance in his favoured position but I fear it will be Parkin.
Again a good point tonight against 12 men.

[m&m]

I too thought it was Westlakes cross for the goal?

[latviancheese]

Nicholls was cack, bottled it at the end. Cant see him upfront, give Parkin a go.

[matt-thesaddler]

Referee - what a joke!!

Good header by Deeney

Their penalty was dubious to say the least. From the F2G lower there was no apparent contact and he went down like a sack of spuds

Referee - terrible!!

Byfield penalty shout early second half - we would have been very fortunate if it had been given with little or no contact but it would have evened things up from their penalty.

Referee - DIRE!!

Deeney very unfortunate to be sent off - the two incidents may have warranted a total of 1 yellow

Hutchings was very careful with his post match interview but he was obviously very unhappy with the refs performance

Oh, did I mention the ref was absolutely awful!!!!

No i dont think you did mate.

[Dave Gittins]

Oh and where did the 5 minutes of stoppage time come from?

[saddlerJP]

Cheated

ref was a complete disgrace!

Mattis booking - REF GOT IT WRONG
Penalty - REF GOT IT WRONG
there bloke going through the back of deeney - no booking REF GOT IT WRONG
Macdonald Booking - nothing in it, foul at most REF GOT IT WRONG

didn't really fancy the byfield one as a penalty but as mentioned above at least there was minimial contact as opposed the one he gave. He played sommat like 7 mins added time. abosulute joke

on to our lot

Ince - fluked a world class save in the first half, claimed a few cross, messed up a few crosses and then the backpass - not a good night for him really

Westlake - did well but not MOTM

Macdonald - class, Hutch better not drop him (although hutch will def bring Hughes back (wrongly) so thats manny on the bench)

Sansara - just don't rate him. He's pony

Richards - poor game NOT A WINGER

Taundry - Good game. Just what we need

Mattis - couldn't play his normal game due to bell sniff ref but did well

Till - same old till, runs around, can't beat his man, can't cross under pressure

Deeney - Nice goal, shame the ref spoiled it (wasn't the first yellow for moaning about the idiots ref's idiot penalty decision)

Byfield - played ok. Doesn't look lie scoring at the moment

------

Nicholls - didn't look like he cared. If thats the case he can @@@@ off

on a side note i'm proud of the lads for the point considering we were playing 12

(concerned though with the professionalism of the squad, our half time ritual insists of out left winger/striker diving around in goal, with the others lamping the ball into the crowd for 15 minutes. It's Pub side. Then we had some joker on the pitch doing the same. 2 seats were broken from them just shooting the ball into the crowd with them all laughing - these are the guys who could possibly come on and do a job for us.)

[Pedagogue]

I think that it's quite clear that certain posters on here have made their minds up about certain players before the game even starts (don't you Latvian? :mrgreen: ). The big talking point is the referee. I would love to see the assessor's report. Mr Haines was VERY poor - well, he is a Geordie! The free-kicks he gave against Walsall were generally correct (Mattis and McDonald ARE both clumsy buggers) but he seemed totally unwilling to apply the same standards to Charlton - "big" club syndrome, perhaps? Some of the Charlton players (Deon Burton and Akpo Sodje) seemed to fall over at the slightest whiff of a passing breeze. I know that they have managed to farm out Izale McLeod on loan but his spirit clearly lingers on at the Valley! :twisted:

The penalty seemed, from where I was sitting, to be very soft when Therry Racon went down theatrically under the slightest touch from Jamie Vincent. That said, Vincent is old enough to have known better than to give the cheating French git the chance to demonstrate his thespian skills. Then, when Darren Byfield was fouled (much more blatant) he ignores the claim. Sadly, this prompted Deeney to open his gob and mouth off at the referee and thus earn his first yellow card - idiot! I hope that Hutchings fines him. Dissent is inexcusable and, with our fixture programme, we do not need suspensions.

The other cautions - Mattis did commit the foul but it merited only a free-kick, not a caution as well, as it was careless, not reckless. Vincent invited his caution for time-wasting - no sympathy for him, at all. McDonald will always invite cautions with his style of play, ploughing through players from behind. I thought that he would be the one to be sent off for two cautions.

There positives from the game, though. Ince was o.k. apart from his schoolboy error in handling the ball from a kicked pass from a team-mate. Westlake looked good, laid on our goal with a great cross for Deeney to head in and got the sponsor's MotM award. Vincent looked safe and sound and McDonald was "physically combative". Disproving Latvian's ridiculous comment, Sansara had a sound game, making very few mistakes, despite having the handicap of Wendy in front of him.

Till offered nothing. He has no pace and is totally incapable of beating an opponent with the ball at his feet. It is a shame because he is one of our best crossers of the ball. Sadly, that only happens if the opposing left-back is poor enough/stupid enough to give him the time and space to do it! A similar thing could be said about Wendy Richards on the other flank. In the middle, Taundry made a good, fighting comeback but he and Mattis are too similar in style and both lack creativity.

Up front, Deeney scored an excellent goal and ran and chased (not always to good purpose) but blotted his copybook with a totally needless booking for dissent. He could feel hard done by with the second caution as it was just a free-kick and nothing more, in my opinion. Byfield also worked his socks off and should have won us a penalty.

Nicholls had little time to make an impact and Parkin even less. Knowing Hutchings, I expect Parkin to come in for Deeney when the latter serves his one-match ban.

[cyclothymic]

Back home - cooling my screemed-out throat with some white wine.

Full of pride for all Walsall players who took to the pitch tonight.

Given the wet conditions any human being would have expected a few clumsy challenges and made decisions based upon this - not our man Mr AH though!

Anyone who was not there will look at the stats and think it was a dirty match - all of those yellow cards, a pen, a red card ... when actually it was a pretty clean match (although Charlton players are not like Weebles - when they wobble then boy do they fall down!!!)

As always Byfield gave his all - but tonight it seemed others wanted to do the same - Westlake was great and for me won a starting place over Weston for Saturday. Great to see Taundry start - strength and skill.

It is easy to knock players - but we have what we have - and tonight they did us proud considering what they were playing against.

Take what we were tonight - second half especially - build on it and we will finish top half.

Once again - I was proud of them tonight!

[latviancheese]

Its a real shame we dont have any decent wide players.

[tinned]

Considering for most of the match it was 11 against 12 and then 10 against 12 we day do too bad, However, if that ref EVER takes to a football pitch again then football has disgraced itself. He is not fit to ever referee another game. Clueless idiot. The only way he could've furthered Charlton's cause more is if he'd nodded one in at the back post.

Was it Mattis the first yellow? (sorry the ale is taking it's toll). Never, never, never, he took the ball easily. If Wallett would just risk the 36p postage then we'd have that one rescinded. The penalty, I'd like to see it again but i thought the player was looking for it AND the ref already had his whistle in his gob before the tackle came in, he couldn't wait to point to the spot. The effing idiot, I think he thought we'd paid to watch him.

Westlake MOTM? Nah, Taundry. That's what tackling is Bradley. And Ince ...... goodbye.

[WFC_Rob]

A point was a fair result on a difficult pitch, with an even more difficult referee.

Let's start with the ref. Having booked McDonald for a challenge which wasn't even a clear foul let alone worth a card, he let one of their Sodje's off for scything through the back of Deeney. Having put double standards in place so early in the game, a red card at some stage seemed inevitable and came via two nothing challenges by Deeney. Whilst I wouldn't say we deserved three points, the fact that Mattis and McDonald had bookings lingering over them for the majority of the game certainly took an edge off our willingness to make a tackle.
The penalty was soft to say the least, but we caused our own problems by allowing the ball to be played to feet inside the box from a corner. That said, the way Racon hit the ground with his arms flailing didn't look too genuine from my seat and 45 minutes of hard work was undone.

In general I thought we handled some good players pretty well. Nicky Bailey barely got a kick in the middle of midfield, and for all the time they had the ball, their wingers weren't given too many clear opportunities to provide quality crosses. For once, I thought we really worked hard to stop crosses coming into our box, and that was pleasing to see.
The back four all looked fairly solid. Both of our fullbacks are arguably better with the ball than without it, but Vincent and McDonald were expertly organised and handled an awkward front two well.

I thought Taundry was probably our best player. He added some tenacity and urgency to what has been a very pedestrian midfield for some time. Mattis was quiet, as can be expected after a booking so early in the game. Richards provided us with a useful outlet and kept the ball well - as he almost always does. Till meanwhile didn't do a great deal, but works harder defensively than his main rival for that position, Alex Nicholls, and crucially provided a quality cross for Deeney's goal.

Deeney and Byfield linked up well again. Whilst I did think Deeney's sending off was harsh, he didn't cover himself in glory by giving the linesman an earful midway through the first half. Hopefully he'll learn from that.

I'd argue that more positives than negatives can be taken from tonight's game. Let's just hope that we've now had our annual share of refereeing ineptitude.

[cyclothymic]

... and something I missed off my last post

It was great to be there tonight - to support the Saddlers

[Graydon48]

The ref far from being slated should be congratulated for creating the best atmosphere for a long time.
I'd go as far as to say he was responsible for our much improved performance because he certainly wound the team up to giving it 100%. Shame Hutchings cant do that.

[latviancheese]

I tell you what, there is some right moaners in the f2g lower, last block nearest the Family Stand. I was ready to cut my wrists.

[Pedagogue]

... a red card at some stage seemed inevitable and came via two nothing challenges by Deeney.

Till ... crucially provided a quality cross for Deeney's goal.

Let's just hope that we've now had our annual share of refereeing ineptitude.

Couple of points, Rob:-

1) Deeney's first caution was for dissent
2) Westlake crossed for Deeney's goal.

I share your closing hope! :D

[mel58]

If any team needs to be worried following tonights match, then I suggest it should be Charlton rather than Walsall. Their inability to capitalise on the opportunity they had doesn't bode well for the rest of their season. Unlike Norwich they couldn't take the match by the scruff of the neck - they weren't a patch on the outfit who ran us ragged at the Valley early in the season.

The MOTM was most certainly the ref. I thought Mattis' booking was ludicrous - he couldn't have got a more definate contact with the ball without picking it up and running away with it! McDonalds booking was also not warranted. I think both players are easy targets for refs, because their style is inelegant. I get the impression that refs feel they'll be marked down by the assessor if they don't caution Mattis nowadays.
Whether or not I'm right on those points, the worst thing about the ref was his inconsistancy. He eventually managed to force himself to caution a Charlton player for the heinous crime of booting the ball out of play, having ignored opportunities to do so when awarding free kicks against them for fouls on a par with those committed by McDonald and Mattis.
He couldn't even be consistantly bad in his dealings with our players. I was amazed that McDonald wasn't given a second yellow towards the end of the match when he just fell onto a Charlton player. If he'd applied the 'Standards' he set at the start of the match it certainly warranted a second yellow.

With regards to our players:

Ince - another patchy performance; why on earth he picked up the back pass in the first half? He dealt well with crosses on the whole but struggled more with corners.
Westlake - played well though I'd have gone for Vincent or McDonald as MOTM.
Sansara - better than his other recent performances. He seemed to stay in position better and not get drwn in to the middle so much.
Richards - another consistant display. He covered a lot of ground and took responsibility.
Deeney - great header for his goal. A good performance marred by his sending-off. A harsh second booking. 'Proffessional foul'? I think he was very unlucky.
Byfield - seemed to have their defenders beaten for pace, especially when Sodje went off, but he didn't manage to get into goal-scoring positions.
Till - did ok still doesn't get involved enough.
Taundry - a good return to first team action. Definately more 'in your face' than Bradley or O'Keefe have managed. I hope he gets a run in the team based on tonight's display.
Nicholls - disappointing in that he didn't impose himself on the game.

[WFC_Rob]

... a red card at some stage seemed inevitable and came via two nothing challenges by Deeney.

Till ... crucially provided a quality cross for Deeney's goal.

Let's just hope that we've now had our annual share of refereeing ineptitude.

Couple of points, Rob:-

1) Deeney's first caution was for dissent
2) Westlake crossed for Deeney's goal.

I share your closing hope! :D

OK, just seen the goals on SSN - you're right, it was a great cross by Westlake. Till didn't do a great deal tonight then. :?
As for Deeney, my point still stands - he put himself in a position where the ref was always likely to show him a card. Having already established that the ref was a joke, Deeney should have just got on with the game.

[Pedagogue]

OK, just seen the goals on SSN - you're right, it was a great cross by Westlake. Till didn't do a great deal tonight then. :?
As for Deeney, my point still stands - he put himself in a position where the ref was always likely to show him a card. Having already established that the ref was a joke, Deeney should have just got on with the game.

Agreed - on all points! :D

[Asps]

I tell you what, there is some right moaners in the f2g lower, last block nearest the Family Stand. I was ready to cut my wrists.

Which row were you on?

I'm in that block (FL6) & all I heared was abuse towards the ref.

[Whitti Steve]

... a red card at some stage seemed inevitable and came via two nothing challenges by Deeney.

Till ... crucially provided a quality cross for Deeney's goal.

Let's just hope that we've now had our annual share of refereeing ineptitude.

Couple of points, Rob:-

1) Deeney's first caution was for dissent
2) Westlake crossed for Deeney's goal.

I share your closing hope! :D

Agreed. But WM's reporter and at least one caller said Deeneys first "challenge" got him carded.... I thought I was going mad. He was booked for whinging after the penalty had been taken before the re-start.

[Wyrley_saddler]

The ref was very inconsistant. To be fair, from where I was sitting (is it the Bitesize stand nowadays?) the penalty looked stone wall. Ball played into feet, across came the defender, Sansara? , and over went the player. Not saying it was, but it did look it from where I was.

I thought we were very lucky not to have more sent off. First of all, Mattis in the first half. What an awful tackle. Two footed lunge from behind. Got nowhere near the ball with the actualy tackle, just took the man and got the ball after the guy was on the floor. Very lucky not to see a straight red as I'm sure many referees would have.
Also, McDonald. How the hell wasn't he sent off for 2 yellows? Constant fouling all night. I reckon if Deeney hadn't have been sent off, Macca would have been.
As for Deeney's sending off, in my opinion he is an idiot. Booked for discent after the penalty, kept having a go at the ref after that and then makes a petty foul to earn his second yellow. No defending him for that.


As for the game it's self. It thought Charlton were the better team, but lacked in the final third. They had very good wingers who caused us problems, but no one to put away the chances.

I thought we were pretty bad. To much hoofball and not enough on the floor. I know the pitch is difficulty to play on, but when we did get it down, we did to good affect.

My MOTM was Mattis. Even though he should have been sent off, fantastic performance by him.

UTS!

[belgiansaddler]

According to that bastion of reporting accuracy the BBC

"Deeney then saw red with 13 minutes left for something he said to the referee, but Charlton failed to rally."

[philthesaddler]

... a red card at some stage seemed inevitable and came via two nothing challenges by Deeney.

Till ... crucially provided a quality cross for Deeney's goal.

Let's just hope that we've now had our annual share of refereeing ineptitude.

Couple of points, Rob:-

1) Deeney's first caution was for dissent
2) Westlake crossed for Deeney's goal.

I share your closing hope! :D

Agreed. But WM's reporter and at least one caller said Deeneys first "challenge" got him carded.... I thought I was going mad. He was booked for whinging after the penalty had been taken before the re-start.

To be fair though, the ref handed out so many cards to our players it's easy to see how WM got confused!

[latviancheese]

Ive just see the game "highlights" on SSN.

NEVER a penalty, the silly french tosser went down like a sack of cack.

Deeney hardly touched the bloke for his second booking, and a bit of play acting helped it all along. Big time charlies.

[Jorge14]

I think this is generally positive. Other than the sending off (which sounds utterly stupid to me...I can't stand it when niggly fouls and dissent contribute to a dismissal ), I am pleased to read such positive feedback - particularly about Taundry, Westlake and Sansara. I agree that the form of Ince is a worry; time for Rene to have another run in the side?

Up the Saddlers - lets get all three points on Saturday.

[ShyTallKnight]

The referee was, in my opinion, a cheat. Simple as.....

[Anon E. Mouse]

The referee was, in my opinion, a cheat. Simple as.....

It's easy to draw that conclusion as he appeared biased towards Charlton. However, I would prefer to call him useless, incompetent, arrogant, etc.

[tinned]

The referee acted if we'd all come to watch him, the useless prat.

For once Bonser has got to be praised. He's obviously told the ref to be an incompetent fool to purposely build up a bit of passion and noise from the fans. That's one thing we've never duggested at Focus meetings :D