Johnnie Jackson is looking forward to pitting his tactical wits against his old pal Ryan Lowe in Saturday's game with table topping Plymouth Argyle: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-caretaker-boss-johnnie-jackson-relishing-tactical-battle-against-plymouth-pal-ryan-lowe/
The CAS Trust match preview is here: https://www.castrust.org/2021/11/another-unbeaten-run-to-bite-the-dust/
I thought that Altrincham would beat Gateshead at home, but all credit to the National League North side. Courtesy of Leamington TV, you can see some highlights of the 'Heed playing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PSTWh6hjIQ
Five minutes into his Charlton Athletic debut, Matt Holland was struggling. Not because of a lack of fitness, or a lack of understanding with his new team-mates, but because he could barely tell his own side from the opposition.
Charlton, in their red shirts, were away at Plymouth Argyle,
whose home kit is green, as part of a pre-season tour in 2003.
Being colour blind, Holland could not distinguish between
the two, and only by focusing intently on the different designs of the respective
sides’ shorts could he tell the difference.
Every time I looked up, all I could see was one colour,”
Holland told The Athletic of that day in Plymouth. “I ran
over to the dugout. Mervyn Day was assistant manager, with (manager) Alan
Curbishley up in the stands. I said, ‘Merv, I have a big problem. I can’t
tell the difference between the two teams here’. I was having to look at the
shorts, which were different, but that isn’t great if you’re trying to do
things quickly.
“He must have thought, ‘What the bloody hell have we
signed?’ He told me I’d have to get on with it and that there was nothing they
could do. I told them after it was a bit of an issue: I always did things
quickly, one and two touches, and kept the ball moving. If I have an extra
touch and have to look up that takes away from my game so I had to say I’ve got
a problem here.
“We had green, orange, red bibs in training and he had to
make sure I had a colour I could see. He was conscious in training that I got a
colour I could tell my team-mates apart in, so I knew which team I was on.
“Those are the only times I’ve had major issues.”
Holland, 47, is now working in the media and adds: “I have
had problems watching games, on TV and when I’ve been commentating, where the
two teams are very similar. I have to really, really concentrate just to see
the difference between the two.”
Ryan Inniss is making a good recovery from his thigh injury, but Johnnie Jackson does not expect him back soon: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-caretaker-boss-jackson-provides-ryan-inniss-injury-update/
Charlton are to appeal the red card issued against Jayden Stockley, Johnnie Jackson also arguing that there should have been a penalty: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-to-appeal-jayden-stockleys-dismissal-at-burton-albion/
Trevor Kettle is notorious for issuing red cards when a yellow would do, but it is still allowed to carry on officiating.
He also loves flourishing a yellow card and Johnnie Jackson is incensed about the booking of Akin Famewo which means he will miss the Plymouth game: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/ridiculous-charlton-boss-on-akin-famewo-caution-which-sees-him-miss-plymouth-match/
Altrincham's co-chairman talks about the club who are likely to host Charlton in the second round of the FA Cup.
“Money talks more than you might think,” says Bill Waterson,
co-chairman of Altrincham. “That’s not unreasonable given that players have a
very short playing career so they can’t afford to be altruistic. They have to
maximise their earnings and it’s difficult to argue with that.”
Altrincham have been in the National League since the start
of last season after winning the play-offs to land a return to the top tier of
non-League after a five-year absence. They have a proud history outside the
country’s top four leagues but since their return to this level last season,
the gaps that have opened up within the league have grown more obvious.
“There are three types of club in the National League — the
big clubs relying on the momentum of averaging over 5,000 spectators,” Waterson
says. “There are the ambitious clubs that are not traditionally Football League
clubs but have a big-money backer and are working their way up the pyramid.
Then, there are those who don’t feel they can compete."
“The jump from one to another is quite substantial, as we
are finding now trying to go from a club aiming to avoid the relegation zone to
one challenging at the top. There is a chunk of clubs towards the bottom of the
table who are biding their time. That’s an operating model which is, ‘Don’t
worry about us, we’re just passing through’.
“We’re counting up to 50 points, so looking down rather than
up in terms of what we expect to do this season, but our ambition is to be one
of those smaller clubs competing with those traditionally bigger clubs. It’s
about attitude as much as anything.”
If we are ever in a position to go up, we will be ready to
go up and will be able to hold our own. It’ll be easier in some respects to
hold our own in the Football League than it would be to get out of the National
League just because of some of the resources that are available to the clubs at
the top of this league.”
George Dobson talks about being frozen out of the first team by Nigel Adkins: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-midfielder-dobson-sunderland-situation-helped-me-cope-with-being-out-of-first-team-picture/
This was certainly one of the worst decisions taken by the former manager.
