Portsmouth Let Off Scott Free
When the teams were announced, my first thought was, "This is the most attacking Charlton line-up I've ever seen." So it stands to reason that we lost, erm well...one-nil.
It was again reassuring that Dowie threw caution to the wind by playing 4-3-3 realising that in times of adversity, attack is the best form of defence. Perhaps our new boss had read the spoof maths report I wrote for Curbs last year. Critics might argue that our defeat proved it was a wrong choice, but the quality of decisions cannot be judged based upon a single observation.
I was joined in the pub by three Addicks (yes, three), a chartered surveyor and his son, and a theatre director no less. The team may not be going up in the world, but it seems that their fans are. We all agreed that Curbs would have gone 4-5-1 and tried to eke out an ugly win and although our results under Dowie are not yet reflecting the more ambitious approach, I remain confident that they will do (just).
The first half wasn't a great spectacle and we were clinging on at times, with only a first-minute looping header against the bar to show for our attacking approach. By half-time Dowie realised that a slight change was needed, putting a less-than-fully-fit Jon Fortune into defence to allow Amdy Faye to move into a more typical four-man midfield. Although Omar Pouso showed plenty of promise, it was a little much to ask him to plough a lone central midfield furrow and he only lasted another fifteen minutes after the interval before being replaced by the anonymous Matty Holland.
Ironically having been outplayed before the interval, for much of the second half we looked the better side, and ended up losing the game. Faye was at the centre of most of our better play, and although we pressed and probed, in truth we didn't create a single outstanding chance and paid a full price when Lua Lua's tame shot somehow evaded Carson's late dive. It would be easy to be critical of our young keeper, but without his heroics against Bolton we could well have zero points right now.
The Addicks contingent in New York remained optimistic although when pressed to name three teams we would finish above, we only got as far as Watford and Sheffield United. The theatre director even expressed some admiration for Marcus Bent, and he wasn't even drinking. It's possible we were all just high on the elixir of being an Addick in New York; in short, it's the closest we'll probably ever get to knowing how it feels to be super-rich....your very own bar, several flat-screen televisions and a friendly Irish butler bringing you breakfast at half-time.
posted by New York Addick @ 6:07 PM
4 comments
We started last season playing better attacking football than we have this year, we had a better second-half when he employed more Curbs-like tactics. If Dowie were one to throw caution to the wind maybe he'd take of the fat useless Jimmy Floyd!?
I'm sure Dowie will get the team playing better but the Curbs-bashers need to remember that he was someone that kept us in the division consistently with much less money to spend than Dowie. By the way, 3 up front is not attacking football if you barely have the ball and create next to no chances.
There is also no excuse for bringing Lisbie on.
It is easy to say 3 points for a win and a loss is better than two draws, but the two things that this simplistic argument ignores are that firstly you have given away 3 points rather than 2, and secondly the morale may be better served by not loosing. Dowie has made several signings who may at the moment be thinking 'where do I go next?', Curbs signed players who knew that either they kept Charlton up or they became Championship players.
You lucky sod. I was in the pub entirely on my own Saturday morning. Well, not all on my own. The manager was there too.
Anonymous, I struggle to see how 2 points could ever be better than 3 points. I understand what you mean about only 'giving away' two points instead of three, but you're forgetting that the other 17 teams not involved in those two games are all pulling ahead.
I accept that in a key relegation battle it may not make as much sense to throw caution to the wind because a defeat is like losing 3 points. However if you take your theory to its logical conclusion Dowie should be aiming to lead a super-confident team to 38 draws and probable relegation.