Since I last posted, we have put in a completely inept performance at Hull, and dropped two points at Stoke to a very late penalty.
By all accounts the Stoke perforance was excellent defensively, with a predictable return to the side for Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly.
But it was the defenders who really stood out, with almost faultless displays across the back four. Unfortunately a solitary lapse in concentration cost us, with the one ball we allowed to bounce in the area going on to be the equaliser.
The Charlton game tomorrow night will see the return of Andy Gray, just six weeks after he left the club in acrimonious circumstances. My admiration for Gray while he was at the club is well-known, but we have to move on, and hopefully his absence will go on to allow Kyle Lafferty, the scorer at Stoke, to fill the void up front.
Gray is not in good form, but former players always seem to come back to haunt us, so it would not surprise me to see his name adorning a Turf Moor scoresheet again.
The two games this week is the final opportunity to keep matters under our own control, with anything less than four points surely leaving us too far adrift to make any impact on the top six.
Finally this week, the club has announced that it has frozen season ticket prices for the coming season, and has also kept up its Premier League Pledge. Good news, but with attendances already on the light side, a lack of incentives for ST holders combined with the recent freebies for walk-on fans means there will have to be a sufficiently exciting end to the season, as well as some quality additions to the playing staff over the summer, to get season ticket sales anywhere near those of this season.
It's a challenge that Owen Coyle will have to show he is up to over the coming weeks. I have faith in him.
2 comments:
Your admiration for Gray was well known, but you have questioned his form for Charlton. The last time I heard, OK he wasn't scoring, but he was getting many assists and the Charlton fans seem delighted with him.
They were happy enough when he was getting assists, but even those are drying up. Fact remains is that he hasn't scored this year, and it looks like we did some very good business for him looking back, especially if Cole can nab a few before May.
He was appalling last night by the way.
Post a Comment