Let's talk about the Charlton Athletic playoff game

[tyke1962]

Going back to the tie it's a fascinating contest for me , Charlton have shown more consistency over 46 games with some good wins , ourselves , Pompey who they doubled and recently ended Luton's long unbeaten run .

Rovers were the best side to come to Oakwell all season , played us off the park and nobody did that at Oakwell all season to us .

Charlton's greater consistency counts for nothing now , it's two games , nothing more than that at this stage .

A totally 50 - 50 game and the belief from handling the pressure yesterday will serve you well , Coventry were certainly no mugs .

A draw for Rovers in the first leg isn't a poor outcone , keep yourselves in the tie , you know sometimes a slender 1-0 lead can be tactically difficult for a coach and his group of players .

Do we stick or do we twist , it gets to 60 minutes and the lead still intact and then how do we manage the game , players will naturally drop deep and that can invite your opponent on .

Going to the Valley all square and knowing where you are isn't to be sniffed at .

The second leg home pressure for a big expectant crowd can be overwhelming .

Fascinating tie , to say the least .

[PDX_Rover]

Watched their highlights against a very poor Rochdale side. Their first goal looked offside in the build up and the second was an own goal. But, with better finishing they could have run up double figures.

Everything goes through their number 9 who tends to play right side. Stop him and one of their main threats is nullified.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

The game at the Keepmoat was a good game and we had a perfectly good winner chalked off. Charlton will know they have their hands full.

[sha66y]

I think we will beat them both home and away....JM now scoring, Sadlier getting into those places, Wilkes terrorising, and the better attacking formation gives us the edge

[selby]

  They have Taylor on 21 league 1 goals the same as Marquis, and also Ahearne-Grant on 14 league 1 goals sha66y, they are quite potent up front.
   I fancy us though especially if our back four play like yesterday and the team are set up and are as tight when not in possession as yesterday.

[drfchound]

.......and of course we have Mallik Wilks on 14 league goals.

[colincramb]

My worry is the away leg - sometimes we just appear to fold and concede far too easily. I think it’s crucial we go to the valley with a lead

[pib]

  They have Taylor on 21 league 1 goals the same as Marquis, and also Ahearne-Grant on 14 league 1 goals sha66y, they are quite potent up front.
   I fancy us though especially if our back four play like yesterday and the team are set up and are as tight when not in possession as yesterday.

Grant went to Huddersfield in January so I wouldn’t worry about him.

[since-1969]

If all square after both legs is it extra time and penalties or straight to penalties. Just a thought

[sha66y]

  They have Taylor on 21 league 1 goals the same as Marquis, and also Ahearne-Grant on 14 league 1 goals sha66y, they are quite potent up front.
   I fancy us though especially if our back four play like yesterday and the team are set up and are as tight when not in possession as yesterday.

You worry far too much about the opposition....just believe we are more potent and have nothing to lose .....

[selby]

  sha66y, I don't worry about the opposition at all, just our game, that is the only team in the game our management can do anything about, and as I alluded to in the post, if we get it right, I fancy us to get through if we play well.
 A direct quote from Grant McCann about  this game  in the FLP " We've got to make sure again we get the game plan right" that is all he can do, and then trust the players on the field to carry it out.
  Against Oxford and Coventry he got the plan right and the players carried  out the plan, looked comfortable in their positions and played well as a unit.
 Against Accrington , in the first half the personnel on the field  and the plan was wrong, to his credit he changed it at half time and we nearly pulled it off.
   
   

[adamtherover]

I say this as someone without an emotional attachment to Rovers and I sincerely mean no disrespect , just saying as I see it .

You have a superb modern stadium not out of place in the championship .

You are no strangers to the championship either .

Knock the pub team culture on the head , it does you no favours .

I don't know whether the scars from the conference days are still at play but it's puzzling guys .

Small club in the championship yes , so are we .

Small club in League One , absolutely not , you are where you should be .

well said tykes, most of league one see a trip to the keep moat as a grand away day.... mixing it with the bigger boys... we had 5 out of 6 years at the 2nd tier of English football.. hardly Sunday league...

[tyke1962]

I say this as someone without an emotional attachment to Rovers and I sincerely mean no disrespect , just saying as I see it .

You have a superb modern stadium not out of place in the championship .

You are no strangers to the championship either .

Knock the pub team culture on the head , it does you no favours .

I don't know whether the scars from the conference days are still at play but it's puzzling guys .

Small club in the championship yes , so are we .

Small club in League One , absolutely not , you are where you should be .

well said tykes, most of league one see a trip to the keep moat as a grand away day.... mixing it with the bigger boys... we had 5 out of 6 years at the 2nd tier of English football.. hardly Sunday league...

Aye and I'm glad we've avoided this particular part of the season I can tell you that .

I didn't fancy us at all and I won't lie , on a hiding to nothing Sunderland , Pompey and Charlton .

[selby]

  That is my take on it Tyke, in many of their supporters eyes they should have been automatic, all are big clubs in this division, all the pressure of expectation is on them.
  And they have failed at this stage before.

[Bristol Red Rover]

The pressure on Sunderland especially is immense. Next season anyway they lose about £21m from their Prem parachute payment so would need to be in the Championship to spend on a push back to the Prem - the following season they'll be at a disadvantage. Also, the difference between Championship revenue and League 1 revenue is considerable.

I'm not sure how well they are budgeted with their squad to afford their wages in League 1 next season.

Would be a cracking day out at Wembley for us as they bottle it!

[Rovers91]

In my opinion we need to win the home leg next week to stand a chance of progressing. We need to be taking a lead down there because our away form isn't exactly great and Charlton are very good at home.

[Campsall rover]

In my opinion we need to win the home leg next week to stand a chance of progressing. We need to be taking a lead down there because our away form isn't exactly great and Charlton are very good at home.

In these one off games you can throw home and away form out of the window.
It’s going to come down to which team can handle the occasion and pressure.

[since-1969]

It’s always been a bone of contention “Playoffs” when a team 6th place  can get promoted , get a day out at Wembley a big payday and cup n medals all round. When the the team that finished second gets nowt !! and taking the place of the 3rd place team who just happens to Finnish with 20 more points and ends up getting stuffed and they talk about a fair play awards ! It’s nearly as daft as getting relegated on goal difference when a playoff would be a better team solution.?

[drfchound]

It’s always been a bone of contention “Playoffs” when a team 6th place  can get promoted , get a day out at Wembley a big payday and cup n medals all round. When the the team that finished second gets nowt !! and taking the place of the 3rd place team who just happens to Finnish with 20 more points and ends up getting stuffed and they talk about a fair play awards ! It’s nearly as daft as getting relegated on goal difference when a playoff would be a better team solution.?

But the teams know the rules when the season begins don’t they.
If the team that finishes third can’t beat the team that finishes sixth then there can’t be much between them can they.

In my opinion the play offs are great.
They keep interest going for supporters right up to the end of the season as usually the last day still has quite a few teams who can qualify for them.

Much better than having three or four matches to end the season with nothing to play for.

[tyke1962]

The pressure on Sunderland especially is immense. Next season anyway they lose about £21m from their Prem parachute payment so would need to be in the Championship to spend on a push back to the Prem - the following season they'll be at a disadvantage. Also, the difference between Championship revenue and League 1 revenue is considerable.

I'm not sure how well they are budgeted with their squad to afford their wages in League 1 next season.

Would be a cracking day out at Wembley for us as they bottle it!

Losing Maja in the January window really hurt them massively .

If McGeady doesn't play they are very ordinary and he's stuggling at the moment with an injury , can't shake it off , seems to play a couple of games and then it flares up again .

They have an historically shocking play off record and haven't won at Wembley since 1973 despite half a dozen visits since .

I think Pompey will see them off personally , Jackett is a smart cookie at this level and despite missing out on the automatics I think he will have them ready .

Different dynamics going off in the final if Rovers progress and meet Pompey , it's a one off game , 90 minutes or 120 .

That said Pompey are carrying a recent Wembley victory with them and will possibly be backed by 40k fans .

Then again defeating Charlton Athletic will give your lads a tremendous amount of belief and confidence .

The League One play offs are the pick of the bunch for me , totally wide open .

[Pancho Regan]

I love the fact that we’re  the complete underdogs in the play-offs.
I really fancy our chances over two games against Charlton.

Regarding the ‘pub team having a laugh’ tag......

I think this is a very understandable and healthy view from our fans which stems from the humbling experience of spending several seasons in the Conference not too long ago.

We were only promoted back into the Football League in 2003 via the play-offs.
The team who were promoted automatically that season finished SEVENTEEN points ahead of us.
They were Yeovil Town.
Yeovil lost their Football League status last weekend, 16 years after being promoted with us.

Humility is a virtue. We learned that the hard way.

[NewDonny]

It’s always been a bone of contention “Playoffs” when a team 6th place  can get promoted , get a day out at Wembley a big payday and cup n medals all round. When the the team that finished second gets nowt !! and taking the place of the 3rd place team who just happens to Finnish with 20 more points and ends up getting stuffed and they talk about a fair play awards ! It’s nearly as daft as getting relegated on goal difference when a playoff would be a better team solution.?

What are you talking about, the team that finishes second gets automatic promotion!

[tyke1962]

It’s always been a bone of contention “Playoffs” when a team 6th place  can get promoted , get a day out at Wembley a big payday and cup n medals all round. When the the team that finished second gets nowt !! and taking the place of the 3rd place team who just happens to Finnish with 20 more points and ends up getting stuffed and they talk about a fair play awards ! It’s nearly as daft as getting relegated on goal difference when a playoff would be a better team solution.?

Our lads all got medals and a runners up trophy after the game at Bristol Rovers .

[RedJ]

Probably means f**k all to the Bournemouth fans now but it makes me smile knowing we denied them collecting all three Football League winners trophies on their way to the top.

[acacia94]

My Charlton fan mate thinks they've got a free pass to the final getting us in the 2 legger. Cocky as you like he is! Not a glimmer of doubt...

[DonnyBazR0ver]

2 leg affairs generally mean it's likely to be a cagey game in the first leg with neither side wanting to give themselves a mountain to climb in the second.

If we approach this in the same way we did v Coventry then we should be optimistic. I'd take any lead or a draw into the second leg. Once again, discipline and patience is required. Do the basics well.

[Gelan Swift]

Hello, Charlton fan here.  I'm very impressed with the respect you all have for your fellow fan, whoever they support...it's refreshing.  Ok, about us...we don't have the best players in the league, so the confidence (looking at a sell out at The Valley) is by way of Bowyer installing his mentality, but that has taken a full season.  In my 60 years of watching our lot, I have never seen this team mentality...there is a real die for the shirt mindset which has brought all the boycotters back, it's infectious.  If we go behind Bowyer won't panic, we'll just pass it around until a chance comes.  In saying all that I'd rather we had Sunderland or Pompey as they looked completely knackered and must know they threw promotion away.   Discipline will decide who wins.

Good luck and enjoy the day.

[selby]

Thanks for the contribution Gelan, you are more than welcome and we are always interested in the other teams supporters views on our team.
  Because you are playing us the game is most likely to be overshadowed by the other tye, but that game is no more important to us than our game against yourselves.
  I agree with Tyke our friendly Barnsley fan, the division 1 playoffs are the most evenly matched sides, betting on any team would be a risk.
  Three teams will be disappointed, obviously I and others on here hope Doncaster win the games, but hope that you and others from your club enter into friendly banter and discussion on this thread, that will be interesting.
 

[Gelan Swift]

Cheers Selby...just to add that I was banned from a Charlton Forum for keeping the peace lol...I'm an old hippie.

I think the underdog tag is misleading both ways. 

(a) No pressure from fans....there is always pressure from fans.

(b) Last season we were about the same points behind Shrews as you are behind us, and we were outplayed in both legs.

I hope you bring a big following so we see a full Valley...it's about being entertained, and I can certainly guarantee that

[selby]

 Both clubs have declared a fully fit squad of players, both clubs are in the same position with loan players, will they be able to keep them if they do not win the playoffs.
  Charlton have players on big wages who are important to their team, but are out of contract at the end of the season, and with owner problems may not be offered the same terms if they fail to win.
  And anticipation now being cranked up in both sets of supporters.
   I can't wait for it to begin.