First off, Happy New Year to one and
all! Unfortunately the first question for 2022 is whether Saturday’s defeat
against a top six side, our second in succession, truly kills off our chances
of closing the gap on the play-off places in the second half of the season. The
obvious answer is ‘no’, but the two games without doubt make a serious dent in
our ambitions, especially when paired with points dropped in the away games at
Morecombe and Shrewsbury. It’s unfair, and there are reasons behind the
results, but there is now a clear contrast between the first five games under
JJ – four wins and a draw, 13 points out of 15 – and the subsequent six – two
wins, a draw, and three defeats, or 7 points out of 18. Also, a defeat at home
rather puts paid to the notion that we might simply have a problem getting the
necessary results away from The Valley.
It isn’t rocket science to pinpoint
the factors behind the change in returns. Of the last six games Stockley dropped out of three for
his suspension and a fourth, yesterday, due to a knock. Add in the three
unavailable late in the day for Plymouth, before that Pearce being injured,
plus Leko, in addition to the other absentees (Inniss, Lavelle, Matthews, Blackett-Taylor
and Forster-Caskey) and we have been pulled up short. The squad is well covered
in some areas but not in certain key ones and for that we have paid a price,
especially as some of those on the fringe of the starting XI – Kirk, Morgan,
Soare and now Davison – have not taken their chances.
It's reasonable to say that the style
of play that Jackson wants the team to produce is demanding in terms of
physical intensity; and when the team has been up for the challenge it has worked
very well. But when they are off the pace, and short of options in key areas,
it seems we can be found out, with presumably teams doing their homework on us.
Without Stockley, Wycombe were able to crowd out the important areas, leaving no
space for Washington, Lee or Gilbey – or indeed Leko - to exploit, and until
Inniss came on as a last-gasp centre-forward we had no real alternative.
There are still too many points to
play for to simply call time on the season and plan for the next campaign. But Saturday
did feel seriously deflating, perhaps not just for the fans. I’m all for mutual
respect on the pitch etc but there did seem to be an awful lot of mateyness out
there once we had been beaten rather than desolation at losing a game against
what we hoped would soon be a rival for a play-off spot.
For the record, I see that Wycombe
have come in for a fair amount of flak from other Addicks over their tactics,
but I’m not sure why. They neutralised our strengths and played to their own,
which included the knowledge that in McCleary they had a player capable of
producing some moments of magic and in Vokes someone likely to convert if a
chance in the box came his way. Their time-wasting was excessive, but it wasn’t
their fault the ref did nothing about it, adding a mere five minutes of stoppage
time. Fact is that they produced the one moment of class in the first half –
and those at the game may have been deprived of the interesting debate between
Robert Lee, Steve Brown and Scott Minto over whether the bulk of the blame for
it should rest with Dobson or Gilbey – and in the second half, although we hit
the post, had the better chances, missing one or two which would have killed
off the game.
If we wanted TS to spend all he had
in the transfer window to bolster a continuing rise up the table it was not
exactly what the doctor ordered. And as has been pointed out elsewhere, addressing
our needs isn’t a simple case of going out and signing another centre-forward.
Would that player be intended to be a straight replacement if Stockley is unavailable?
In that event, if we can attract someone ready to be a second choice, Davison
becomes very much surplus to requirements. How do we intend to use Leko for the
remainder of the season? He is a different style of player to Washington and if
he’s playing the midfield has to be able to adapt to that to get the best out
of him. It’s reasonable to expect that we will bring in another forward during
the window, but just what sort of player will say a good deal about how
Sandgaard at least views the remainder of this season.
For now we have to pretend to be
interested in the Papa DooDah thing. I hope JJ uses the game to try something a
little different, just to experiment, especially if Stockley isn’t risked. After
that, I’m aware that others attach more importance than I do to the FA Cup for
a team in our situation. I hope we have an enjoyable game against Norwich but
am far more interested in how we will be shaping up against Crewe and Cheltenham
as quite frankly both now need to be beaten – otherwise even the seriously
deluded optimists, including myself, will have to start planning for another
season in this bloody division.
