This is odd, isn’t it? Me writing on a Monday morning after a 12:30 kick-off. Something must have gone horrifically wrong.
It did and it didn’t. The early kick-off meant early to the pub; we got there for three, ish. The intention was a couple of pints, go and get some food, finish up in Wragby, no problem, no fuss. Somehow, 11 hours later, I was getting turned away from Popworld for being too drunk for the second time in the evening, as if after the first time I got turned away, an hour of drinking shots elsewhere would rectify the situation.
I don’t know why these things happen; I’m very much a binge drinker, not an actual drinker. I think perhaps as the night rolled on in Wragby and someone said, ‘Shall we go to town?’ I wanted to find some excitement. Because, let’s be brutally honest, we didn’t get any from our football fix.
Saturday’s game was, for the most part, tough to watch. I don’t think it was because we were bad, but it was wet, windy and cold. The wind swirled around the ground pre-game, leaving the fan zone virtually deserted. The rain came down from all directions and whenever a ball was launched into the air, it either went a lot further than it should, or held up and began to go back towards the kicker. A couple of weeks ago, Chris called slightly damp, crisp weather perfect for football. Saturday was absolutely not perfect for football at all.
That can lead to two situations. It could be a mistake-laden free-for-all, full of excitement, drama and controversy. Or, it could lead to yet another Sky TV 0-0 draw, following on from Wigan and Exeter, in which it is hard to remember anything of note happening. That’s pretty much how I feel about the game. I sat down last night to write my article and spent a few minutes trying to remember a highlight. There’s a few minutes I won’t ever get back.
That’s not to say it was as bad as the 0-0 draw with them a few seasons ago, as that game wasn’t spoiled by incremental weather. Instead, we just got a game that felt like both teams might have been happy not to make a mistake. A game where coming out with a point, while not ideal (three for 15 now) is also not the absolutely worst outcome we could have faced.
I actually thought we started well, and did better in the first half than the second. You have to remember this is a side missing Ben House (illness), Tendayi Darikwa (suspended), Tom Hamer (injury), Adam Jackson (assaulted), and Tom Bayliss (injured), five players who would 100% be in with a chance of a start. You could argue at least three of those are nailed on to start if they’re fit (Jacko, House and Darikwa) and that Bayliss would play a role at some point. That’s a big chunk of the first team, let’s say 25% of the 16 that would be on the field at some point during the game. Despite that, the only thing I felt made us disjointed was the weather.
That’s what’s really tough to process at present. We’re on a challenging run, a run where points are harder to come by than a lottery win, but I can’t recall a game I think we played badly in. We didn’t play badly in the first period this week – in fact, we had the game’s only shot on target in the first half.
That’s depressing, isn’t it? 90 minutes, two teams and one shot on target. Last weekend we had what, 15 against Crawley? What a difference a week the weather makes. Moment of quality were rare in this game, but you can understand why. In the stands, it was easy to groan at a bad pass, but when we walked back down the road after the game and it felt like my ears were going to blow off my head, you begin to sympathise. Moylan’s 21st-minute effort didn’t go in, but it was the only shot in the whole game to properly work the keeper.
George Wickens created a bit of work for himself at times. I feel for keepers in games like this – standing alone, trying to keep warm in the driving wind and rain, balls swirling around like discarded crisp packets, unpredictable and volatile. Still, I’m sure he’ll be delighted with a clean sheet after being at the centre of one or two little moments, failing to clear the ball, coming for crosses and not getting there. It’s odd because I thought it was the most unsure he’s looked since signing for us, but also the most untroubled.
Mind you, Charlton are not a good side. I said we didn’t look great because of the weather, so I’m sure it’s the same for them, but a couple of their lads had stinkers. I can (and shortly, will) pick out some Imps I felt looked really good, but a couple of Addicks stood out as struggling, none more so than Tyreece Campbell.
Again, fair assessment isn’t really applicable given the weather and conditions, but I’d like to have seen us go toe-to-toe with this Charlton side on a clear day with blue skies and no wind. What’s really upsetting is we’ve played two bigger hitters over the last week in terms of wages and finances, and picked up a single point when I really believe all things being equal, we were better than both.
It took me a while to recognise Alex Mitchell with hair, but he had a decent game. He got booed by some of our supporters, which baffled me, but he was also playing the shithouse a bit, on purpose, obviously. I saw him getting in Erhahon’s ear, and giving a bit to Makama as well. I’m sure it was all good-natured (no broken eye sockets here) and I hope that after the game we can go back to recognising what a good player he was here, and wishing him all the best until we got to South London later in the season.
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