May: I won't celebrate if I score

Alfie May says that he will not celebrate if he scores for Birmingham against Charlton on Saturday.   He says that Charlton is a fantastic club but the story of his departure is yet to come out: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/birmingham-city-alfie-may-charlton-30052657

Table topping Birmingham have won all of their three away games.

Nathan Jones says he chose the wrong side against Bristol Rovers, but given that he has known many of the players at other clubs and are his persoal picks this is somewhat surprising.

CAF Trust reckon we need a straw to clutch: https://www.castrust.org/2024/10/birmingham-low-expectations-recommended/

'Timid' Addicks scrutinised

Passive, timid and uncertain are among the words the SLP's Richard Cawley uses to describe the performance by Charlton at Bristol Rovers on Tuesday.  He insists that it is not time to push the panic button, but a muh better performance will be required for the visit of Birmingham City on Saturday: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/talking-points-from-charltons-3-2-loss-at-bristol-rovers-addicks-looked-timid-and-lacking-confidence/

Down the Football League we go

Another poor performance saw Charlton lose 3-2 at Bristol Rovers and drop to 13th in League One.

Gas skipper Scott Sinclair, 35, rolled back the years to put the hosts in charge on the half-hour with a classy left-footed curler from the edge of the box that gave Will Mannion no chance.

Midfielder Jamie Lindsay doubled the lead in the 57th minute with his first goal in Rovers colours as his stylish right-footed 20-yard effort flew past Mannion and into the top right-hand corner after being teed up by Promise Omochere.

Centre-back Wilson strengthened the hosts’ grip 10 minutes later when he nodded in from close range after striker Omochere flicked on Clinton Mola’s cross.

Nathan Jones’ Addicks struggled to get going against a hard-working Rovers side but pulled a goal back when Alex Mitchell headed in Matt Godden’s goal-bound effort after 79 minutes.

Godden volleyed in to further reduce the arrears four minutes into stoppage time and set up an angst-ridden finale, but Rovers held firm to end a four-match losing streak and ease the pressure on boss Matt Taylor.

Charlton's owners are unlikely to take another spin on the managerial merry go round with no queue of quality managers wanting the poisoned chalice.

Rovers on losing streak

You would have to go back to the final five games of Bristol Rovers' relegation season of 2020/21 for the last time the Gas lost five league games in a row, a frightening omen for them ahead of Rovers' home game against Charlton this evening.

It's tough to call any footballing situation a 'crisis' with any real substance only eight games into a campaign but four consecutive defeats in League One has extinguished any of the optimism or positivity shared amongst Gasheads this time last month on the back of a bright start to the campaign.

After picking up seven points from their opening four league games in August, Rovers endured a brutal September with losses against Barnsley, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough and Wycombe Wanderers.  It was the Wycombe loss on Saturday in particular that hurt and angered supporters as Matt Taylor's side led for the majority of the contest.

Manager Matt Taylor says that fourth from bottom Rovers have a 'soft underbelly' but that could also apply to a faltering Charlton who have difficulty finding the back of the net even if the defence is tighter.

I'll stick to my original Badger League prediction of a 2-2 draw.