Another disappointing Charlton performance which asks yet more questions of the Manager, our players and our strategy for this season. It's still very early in the season to be fretting but I am trying unconvincingly to tell myself not to be worried.
Backed by a very vocal following in the opening twenty minutes, we settled quickly and looked solid at the back. So solid, in fact, that we could afford to push up a bit and put the hosts under some pressure. Conor Washington was very unlucky not to see his hard and low effort hit the net but Stevens flung himself to his left and managed to get just enough on it to divert it inches past the post.
On 23 minutes Oxford countered for the first time in the game and Williams blasted home a rebound from Macgillivray's initial block. The Kassam woke up and all of a sudden we were in a game. Oxford struck again nine minutes later through Branaghan and we were in trouble.
Conor Washington reduced the arrears quite quickly from the penalty spot after Jayden Stockley claimed a handball a couple of feet from his header. I would have been furious if it had been given against us and so was Karl Robinson who talked himself into a booking.
At half-time, we all hoped for that second-half recovery that would rescue the day and keep us unbeaten. Two draws wouldn't have been great alongside a scruffy cup exit in the week but it would have been something to build on. Sadly, the fightback didn't come and I found the second-half depressing. Oxford opened us up and should have made it three before the end.
I don't think 4-3-3 suits us. We don't yet have the squad to play it. Stockley becomes the focal point and he is invariably having to outjump two players who are close to him in order to create anything. It doesn't help when Jaiyesimi is unable to beat his man and gives up - he touched the ball seven times in little over an hour today. He was rightly the first subbed after 63 minutes but all we had to bring on was Davison - so we had Davison and Washington player wingers. It would have made more sense to switch to 4-4-2 and push Davison upfront alongside Stockley. As it was, we managed three more chances on target today to add to one last week. It is absolutely nowhere near what is required to entertain fans and win matches.
It still might have worked if we had three midfielders able to press the game and win a supply of possession for the front three but that was an even bigger problem. Morgan was caught in possession, couldn't find the front three and held on to the ball for too long. However, he was involved. The same can't be said for Dobson or Clare. Dobson was my man of the match last Saturday but he disappeared today. Apart from a couple of early touches, I can't remember him being mentioned until he was subbed after 70 minutes. You might have hoped Clare would be saving a special showing against his old club but you would be forgiven for thinking he didn't want to upset anyone on his return. He was more present than Dobson but I can't remember a positive contribution.
We didn't defend the goals particularly well and another question is being raised about Macgillivray, but I can't look at the defence when the midfield and attack is so pedestrian.
Kirk may bring a better balance to the flanks if Jaiyesimi shakes a leg and finds the sort of form he showed in the Rochdale game against us last season, but we are crying out for another striker and I think Adkins has to change formation to give us more teeth upfront.
Performances like today's really frustrate me because our club seems to be an easy number too often. Players have really poor performances but are selected again, week after week, without making any discernable improvement. This was true of Alex Gilbey last year. He was dire for several games in-a-row and was only finally dropped through injury. To be fair to him, he improved significantly before the season finished but why was he selected when he wasn't adding anything to the game? This doesn't happen at most other clubs. If a player fails to perform, he is dropped and has to wait his chance. When it comes, he has to take it or he's out for even longer. I know the squad game and rotation of players doesn't help this at clubs like ours where we have smaller squads but all the more reason to pick players with clear drive and ambition. Like James Henry, who always puts in a shift.
I also don't really see what Adkins' game-plan is. Apart from a 4-3-3 formation, I don't see any tactical pattern. It might be too early and our midfield might not be strong enough to enforce it but we simply look slow and unsure. Again today the back four fell ever-deeper after initially standing up and moving out in the early phases. As a result we again found ourselves passing the ball increasingly backwards and around the back four as Oxford pressed us and it is clear that Macgillivray had been told to play it out from the back. This is lovely to watch if it's working but if your opponents counter it, you need to adapt and we didn't.
I honestly don't believe our squad is better than that which finished the season and we are probably another three decent players off that. The notion that we are automatic promotion candidates is laughable at the moment. I had hoped to see Adkins' imprint on the players and our style by now but I can't see anything. Positivity is all very well and so is walking but I don't want to see our players doing it during games. I want urgency and creativity. I want to see opponents under pressure and struggling, not our players.
We could have afforded to have done our business this year well before now, perhaps with a couple of bonus players yet to come in on loan. Instead, we have been slower than most and are starting with a sub-standard line-up. Results have proven that so far and you wonder whether two or three more will make that much of a difference given we are hardly likely to be bringing in established Premier League players.
Thomas Sandgaard and the management team are taking something of a calculated gamble on this season with our recruitment strategy. There are no quarantees of course - Ipswich lost 2-1 at Burton today - but they have plenty of options and will be using them.
Totally agree; l have recently expressed similar concerns to the owner in a lengthy email. I told him that we are more likely to get relegated than reach the play-offs, and that his supposed idea of premier league football is nothing more than pure fantasy.
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