After the match yesterday I was driven to drink instead of blogging. Four weeks of New Year abstinence went for a Burton following a third successive inadequate home performance where we scraped a draw to go with the fortuitous win and deserved loss against Hartlepool and Leyton Orient. I wasn't alone as a number of mates appeared in the Royal Oak to support the inquest.
Tranmere started the match with the sort of inferiority complex you would expect from a side headed for League Two. They were defending from the outset and rarely got more than two men into our half. It was a signal that we should have moved up and camped on them until we opened the scoring and forced them out. We didn't manage it.
Instead, Lloyd Sam and the busy Kyel Reid worked away on their flanks and provided what ammunition they could but Burton and Mooney struggled again to play as a pair and we weren't getting enough bodies up to create the opportunities necessary. Semedo played much better yesterday than against the O's because Tranmere weren't pressing him but he was playing too deep in space just in front of Daily and the returning Sodje. That left Nicky Bailey with too much to do and we simply failed once again to win the midfield battle. Prior to the match I was interested to read Rovers fans bemoaning their poor midfield so was hopeful this would be the key to the match.
Tranmere created next to nothing in the opening forty-five but you could see that they had recovered from their initial stagefright and were at least beginning to feel like they were worthy opponents. Shortly after the start of the second-half, for the third home game running, we conceded a goal. This one was just one of those things that happens every now and then. A harmless looking corner was flicked on at the near post and struck Sam Sodje on the hip and rebounded over the line with a stationary Darren Randolph gazing on. Rovers couldn't believe their luck and the fans behind the goal celebrated like they had taken the lead at Old Trafford.
Sodje was quick to seize the ball and run to the centre-spot like a schoolboy determined to atone for his error. He spent the rest of the game trying to get on the scoreline again and came close on a couple of occasions. The goal did at least spur a Charlton response and we upped the ante significantly until Nicky Bailey forced a loose ball over the line from close range from a corner which Burton had knocked down into the melee. One-one then with plenty of time and once again there a feeling that we would now do a Norwich and go on to win the match. Unfortunately, the pace dropped again and we got to 70 minutes without taking the lead. Our first substitute was already on, Randolph for Elliot who injured his back after half-an-hour. Phil Parkinson made his move to shake things up but managed to take off the best player we had on show. Reid was substituted for McKenzie and left the field to a crescendo of boos. Perhaps he was tired or not match fit but there was no sign of it up to that point. Wagstaff came on for Lloyd Sam which meant we were stuck with Mooney and Burton upfront who were not causing any real problems and who were tiring.
We rallied at the end and came close to the winner but that was after we escaped conceding a second as Curran fired wide with the goal gaping and Goodison slammed a shot against the bar. With Norwich and Leeds both winning, there is now a growing gap of five and potentially eight points with their game in hand to Leeds. The talk in the pub was now of the closing pack and the inevitable Charlton fear that we will collapse and finish outside the play-off places. With three tricky away fixtures now coming up at Walsall (Tuesday), Swindon and Bristol Rovers, we may be desperate for points by the time we run out at the Valley again when we play Yeovil on 20th February.
The back four were again pretty solid today and Christian Dailly was my man-of-the-match by some way. Darren Randolph had another less-than-impressive emergency appearance and his flapping punch shortly after coming on didn't do much for confidence, although he could hardly be blamed for their goal. Nicky Bailey was below par and with Semedo failing to get forward, we struggled in the middle. Mooney and Burton ran and chased but there was very little interplay or awareness of one another. It was a game where a scampering Chris Dickson might have caused them problems but Parky saw the problem on the wings instead of upfront.
Time to knuckle-down and grind out a few results to salvage something from this season. I will miss my fifth, sixth and seventh matches of the season in the coming weeks as I refuse to travel back to Walsall on Tuesday and the 6 Nations interrupt the schedule. Things may look significantly different next time I see us play.
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Without doubt another disappointing performance. The reaction to results often reflects expectations so having appropriate expectations is important if the situation is going to be assessed in a balanced fashion. My sense is that we have a fairly ordinary bunch of players who are well organised and motivated and who have been outperforming in averaging two points per game. In recent home games those little breaks that had been going our way have gone against us and the result is one win in the last five and a massive nine points dropped. We now need to set expectations on the Play-Offs because on the basis of the way both Leeds and Norwich are performing even two points per game may well not be enough to secure automatic promotion and, realistically, we are simply not good enough to get ninety two points plus.
ReplyDeleteThe booing yesterday was ridiculous and the chant “You don’t know what you’re doing” a complete disgrace. It was obvious that Reid came off because Parkinson felt his fitness was a concern and wanted to protect the player even if the symptoms weren’t very visible in Reid’s play. The crowd, or certain sections of it, need to get their expectations at the right level because the obvious impatience and inclination to criticise without real thought just doesn’t help.
It is worth reflecting on the fact that Parkinson has not been able to part with a single transfer fee since his appointment, i.e. he has been dealing exclusively in frees and loans. The only player (out of 14) on the pitch yesterday for which a transfer fee was paid was Bailey, who was bought by Pardew. Parkinson is still dealing with the millstones of McLeod, Moutaouakil and Fleetwood, for whom the Club paid good money, whilst other players for which Pardew departed with hard cash, including Racon and Dickson, are in the squad but not enough for the First XI. I’m sure Parkinson knows he is desperately short of quality but he simply doesn’t have the budget to address the problem. By my reckoning, we have just four players, Sam, Elliot, Richardson and Youga who’d be comfortable in the Championship with Shelvey and perhaps Wagstaff having the potential to be good enough [Christian Dailly is obviously an exception but now probably past it]. For the rest we are dealing with very honest journeymen, perhaps epitomised by the very hard working Semedo. His effort can’t be faulted but on occasions he looks so ponderous it is almost embarrassing. These players and their manager need support and encouragement, not the crowd on their backs. Supporters need to understand that the current squad will have done very well to achieve a top six place and even better if they eventually secure promotion.
Apologies for the rant!!
Anon - fair comment. I too thought the chant at Parky was OTT but the reaction to Reid's substitution was spontaneous and was made by a large number of fans.
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