vs Charlton

[SteveTreacle]

Bowyer quoted as saying that on another day they could have scored four, then going on to say:
"We moved the ball the best I’ve seen us move it and we didn’t get sucked into their game. We kept on passing the ball, even when we went one down, and got a deserved point"

Actually, that's not too bad for him. He didn't say that we couldn't have scored four as well, or that they actually deserved to WIN.

Also said he thought both penalties were soft and that the ref had decided to even them up.

On Quest, they said that Gunter tripped over his own feet and unintentionally tripped Akinde at the same time and, watching it again, I think they are right. Still makes it a penalty, though.

I also think Amos was faultless and would have been a prime candidate for their MOM which indicates something.

In theory both teams could have scored four, but it would have meant both teams pretty much scoring any decent chance they had and relying on some luck and or defensive howlers. Realistically, we probably should have scored one more with the Oliver one on one and might have scored another with Amos making an outstanding save from Oliver in the first half; you could argue, they of course should have scored the penalty and might have scored that long rang free kick which Bonham tipped on to the bar, but certainly can't see an argument for either team thinking they should have got four - that "other day" would have been a very fortuitous one for Charlton, were they to bag four. If that's the best passing they've got, they might not do as well as a lot of us think they might do - they kept it well and dominated the possession stats, but didn't really create a lot with most of their possession being in safe areas for us in their half with a back four and three midfielders goal side of them generally and would have been out of the game had Oliver stuck that one away. To be fair Bowyer is right that overall they deserved a point and that both pens were soft. Agree on Amos - he was clear MoM for me. Made one excellent and several other good saves and generally looked very composed; Bonham of course made an excellent penalty save and a couple of other decent ones, but did have a few hairy moments in the first half.

 

[jogills]

Don't disagree with anything there Steve but the old cliché holds, consistency brings success over the season. I'd wager that Charlton can churn out good average performances over the season while we will be much more variable and don't have the experienced heads to "manage" refs and games. That could be enough to take them up and should certainly see them as play off material.