OK, it is if you forget this was a PSF. Or you forget the existence of Crystal Palace and Millwall…
Still, I’m not going to complain too much about Plough Lane 2 The Valley 0. We handled ourselves well, and maybe even deserved the win.
The first half was pretty non-descript, to be honest. We seemed to be on the back foot until about ten minutes before the break when we started getting going.
Things just didn’t seem to come off, and there was the odd moment when a couple of players went for the same ball. That kind of thing.
It got better in the second half, and Ninetowns and Johnson combined for a good finish for our opener.
We also might have got to see the first link-up between Maycock and Kelly, as the former fed the latter through for a somewhat delicious finish for our second.
Seriously, if you can find the goal on t’internet, you’ll see that if it was a goal in the League, they’d be replaying it over and over again.
Maybe.
I hope Kelly can find that form when the season starts. He’s been labelled as a flop by some, which I think is a tad premature.
The lad definitely has skill, and perhaps bringing in Maycock to get him firing will prove to be one of the astute signings?
There were a few things to note about this particular run-out. Owen Goodman was in goal, and he seemed to be gaining a little bit of an understanding with our back line.
Though there was a moment he showed his ball skills when manoevering past an approaching Charlton forward, which will undoubtedly cause a cardiac arrest or two during the season.
It helps that our two central defenders are Johnson and Lewis (whose shorts haven’t lengthened during the summer).
We’ll need those two injury free, as the Trialist didn’t massively impress. Even this morning, I’ll still be happier with one (preferably two) more defenders signed up.
Generally, we look quite fit and strong, which was something a couple of Charlton fans picked up on when comparing their side to ours, and that’s a good thing.
Sasu in particular has clearly been on the diet as provided by one of our sponsors. Reston Waste, that is.
Apart from that, it remains a pre-season friendly and it’s solely about fitness.
Except it isn’t. I know that the players don’t go in 100% during these fixtures, and we’ll get a proper idea where we’re at this time next week.
While it may sound odd to write something like this next bit in the phoney war stage – we did need a response after last week’s gubbing.
Which we got, and it proves that this time of year is as much building up confidence as it is the physical side of things.
We can feel content and perhaps even allow ourselves to be a little optimistic about the nine months ahead.
Though we can equally change our minds PDQ when we lose at Maidenhead and Barnet…
Plus points: We won. Clean sheet. Goodman looking more promising. Kelly and Maycock combining. Johnson’s finish. Looking strong and sharper.
Minus points: First 35 minutes. Piggy laboured a bit.
The referee’s a…: I hadn’t even considered his existence in the game until coming to write this bit, so I guess he did a decent job.
Them: I expect they’ll get better, but if I was an Addick I’d be a tad worried about their performance yesterday.
While Goodman looked more assured at the back, he was helped by them looking like they’d re-signed Manbun up top.
One of their players was ex-Franchise, which was happily referenced by the south stand during the game, especially after he missed.
Charlton are a bit of a strange side. They’re in League One for a reason, and they don’t seem capable of figuring out how to get out of it (the right way).
Having as many owners as seasons in the top flight hasn’t helped them, ditto managers, and you half-expect Nathan Jones to get the elbow when they’re down in 16th again.
Just over 1000 of them travelled across south London, although very few of them stayed behind when JJ clapped them after the game…
Point to ponder: Speaking of our ex-Charlton manager, I wonder if this season is his make-or-break one?
He seemed pretty happy in the post-game interview, although I haven’t listened to any of the audio, and he does give the impression he has a plan he’s content with.
JJ has talked about being further forward with the transfers compared to this time last year, and bar the obvious one we’ve pretty much sorted out the majority of positions now.
This is *his* team now, and his AFCW managerial tenure pretty much relies on them performing from next month until next May.
He’s been given time that some don’t think he should have got, and finishing top ten last campaign vindicates that.
But he needs to improve on that, and it wouldn’t surprise if the playoffs is what he’s been told to get.
I think that’s achievable, by the way, and yesterday’s embryonic showing gives promise.
It can go wrong, of course, and if we find ourselves looking over our shoulder at the drop rather than up the skirt of a promotion contender, he’ll be gone.
At the risk of sticking my neck out and getting it wrong, I don’t think that will happen in 2024/25.
I’m not sure what will be the outcome, but one thing I think I can guarantee – JJ won’t leave us wondering “what if?”…
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) Why was Goodman wearing leggings in the middle of July? 2) Speaking of outerwear, was it me or did Johnson sport a head garment? Either that or he’s found a skilled barber. 3) Kid near me in Spurs shirt. Although not as odd as seeing a Charlton-shirted family in the concourse at half time.
Anything else? As you can see by the picture at the top, your editor went into the west stand for this one.
It was the same price as behind the goal, and it’s not a bad thing to spread about once in a while.
While I’ll be back in the usual spot when I get to attend games again, I have to admit it’s a pretty decent view from where I was sitting.
It was a bit crowded in the concourse at half time, although that seemed to be more down to half the concession stands being shut.
I don’t hear so many horror stories these days about people getting served, which is a good thing.
What struck me yesterday is that if/when we actually get any money to start replacing the other three stands, we should go for the east stand as a priority.
Doing that would be a good place to put the casual/newbies, and you can have a proper family zone there too.
I don’t know how much enabling development you could do with it, but tying the rebuild up with a hotel or similar would help.
The current east stand is OK enough at the moment, and any redevelopment of PL is a long way off.
But there will be a time, perhaps sooner than one may think, where we’ll need to properly revamp our stadium to make it more “proper”.
And maybe, just maybe, we might have even figured out how to sort out the empty seats there by then.
So, was it worth it? I would say so.
In a nutshell: Full of tits, fannies and Wombles.