Same Again Please

All a bit late in the day I know, but that’s the trouble with bloody winning, no sense of urgency when there’s nothing to moan about (especially when there was an appointment to keep at a nearby domain right after the final whistle and your partner is already frowning at you for having spent two hours in front of a screen rather than digging holes in the garden as we need to get our new vines planted before winter sets in). A fellow Addick who couldn’t watch the game (there are advantages to being tucked away in Burgundy, aside from the obvious) asked whether it was a case of ‘transformation or perspiration’. You’d have to say it was a mix of the two, with a bit of overdue good fortune thrown in.

The perspiration was a necessary condition for getting something out of the game; JJ’s second in charge was always going to be a tough one, but in some ways that helped. Too often this season we have played as if the opposition had no right to score against us, seemingly shocked by their temerity when they did (and usually did again). That didn’t apply playing away at Sunderland. Even without the change of manager the squad should have been up for it; and it was.

Transformation came in the form of some personnel changes. At full-back Matthews and Purrington came in for Gunter and Soare – and both had good games (leaving aside Purrington’s inexplicable miss in the second half; he scored from a similar position/situation at Wembley after all). In midfield Dobson was given a start against his old team and provided the best protection for a defence that we’ve seen since Pratley was discarded. And up front/wide Washington was brought in from the start ahead of Blackett-Taylor, Jaiyesimi (both of whom did make the bench) and Kirk (who did not). Now whether that amounted to a formation change as well I couldn’t be sure; if it was Washington and Leko either side of Stockley and Lee in support it was as you were; but others more knowledgeable than me talked of Washington as a second forward with Lee deeper and Purrington pushed further forward. Whichever way it was only a matter of degrees, but Washington gave us more options than before as both he and Lee moved around.

The other real change only came half an hour into the game as Lavelle pulled up injured and was replaced by Pearce. Nobody can say how the game would have turned out had that not happened; and if we’re talking fine margins Pearce could have been the villain of the peace if the ref had given Sunderland a penalty when the ball hit his hand (would have been tough but have seen them given; the Sunderland manager and others have been critical of the decision since, although it should be noted that the highlights of the game on the Sunderland club site, which run to 9 minutes, didn’t bother to include the incident). Just as Lavelle might have been culpable after early on he was turned and seemed to fall over, resulting in one of the two early shots which might have seen them take the lead.

In the event, with Pearce the defence looked better organised than before. Whether that was down to him, to Dobson’s work in front, the full-back changes, or all of the above nobody can say. Of course if Lavelle has joined Inniss on the sidelines we may have further games to find out.

My reading of the game was that Sunderland started the brighter and we were wobbly, as evidenced by their two early chances, both of which were saved smartly by MacGillivray, the next spell was pretty even, but then they finished the first half the stronger, seemingly turning the screw, drawing another save from MacG. So we were perhaps slightly fortunate to be level at the break. But I also felt we edged the second half, creating the better chances (Purrington’s, Lee’s blocked shot, and of course the Stockley goal), with Leko running them ragged.

Sure it would have been a different game if their shot from inside the box had been an inch or two lower rather than cannoning back off the bar, and their later curler from outside the box had dipped sooner than it did. The difference from before is that we simply didn’t gift the opposition goals. And then having taken the lead we had something to hold on to, which we did if not comfortably then with more ease than we did away at Fleetwood in the final minutes.

Quite simply that has to become the norm, with JJ stressing that a marker has now been set which the team cannot fall back below. We of course are already thinking about how many games it might take to close the gap on sixth place, but there’s no question that Saturday’s game against Doncaster is still massive. Win the game and we are quite possibly out of the relegation spots and on a clear upward trend; lose it and we are back where we were, in fact a place lower than before Sunderland. Doncaster are no doubt feeling much like us in that a win and a draw from their last two games leaves them one more result away from being on the fringes of the drop zone rather than deeply immersed in it.

Things can after all change quickly: just one clean sheet and we no longer have the division’s second-worst goals against record – now no less than seven teams have let in more, albeit only one or two. One thing that hasn’t changed over the past week is that JJ is still given the shortest odds on the next Charlton manager, with nobody else (including Jason Euell) inside 10-1. Another victory and he’ll be an even stronger odds-on favourite. May it come to pass.