Stay Positive

Couldn't get down to the Valley today, so had to listen on radio and take part in the thread on Charlton Life.

Well ... I've heard of a game of 2 halves, but this definitely seemd to be a prime example. There was an early scare when Burnley appeared to have scored, but after discussion with the linesman, the ref called it as offside. Seemed that the ref got his first decision completely wrong.

The crowd started brilliantly and the songs were coming through loud and clear.

But it didn't take too long before Burnley did score and within a few minutes, the crowd was very quiet and a few boos came across on the radio. What is the point of that? This team needs confidence at the moment, and booing them only gives the away team confidence. OK, you have paid your money and you can do what you want, but why not wait until the end, and if you don't like it, don't bother coming back.

The impression given by Phil Parry and Steve Brown was that Burnley started very strongly, yet according to BBC stats, we had 55% of possession. Didn't sound that way on the radio.

The booing came across at a more frequent rate especially when Burnley were on the attack, and it appeared to be affecting the players.

At half-time, it seemed clear that a change in shape, and a change in players was needed to change the game. Good to hear Dave Lockwood do his part to get things moving when he played Valley Floyd Road and Into the Valley before the 2nd half started.

And it seemed to work! The crowd got going and the team improved ... good job, Dave! Toddy and Sam joined the 2nd half and both of them had a storming game. Our first shot on target came on 46 minutes and got an ironic cheer. Ambrose transformed himself after a rubbish first half and sounded excellent.

The crowd were very loud at this stage and we eventually received our just desserts for our 2nd half display with a great goal from Toddy. The rest of the game was all Charlton, apart from a couple of Burnley counter-attacks, and we were very unfortunate not to win. Having said that, I still heard a few boos at the final whistle, but the rest of the crowd proceeded to drown them out.

We need to go on from here, the confidence of the 2nd half has to be maintained. We have not turned a corner yet, but the signs are there. This squad is good enough to move up the table and challenge for the play-offs. Equally, with such a close division, we could be near the bottom. Confidence is all, and I hope that we now have enough to change it around.

Oh, and Josh Wright received a standing ovation when he was subbed - sounds like he had a terrific debut.

C'mon you Reds!


Stay Positive - The Streets


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