The 2014-15 Roller Coaster Ride

A Review of Charlton’s 2014-15 Season

So, the Championship is all over and Charlton finished in a creditable 12th place.  The fact that we were the first team to qualify for next season’s Championship competition tells a story in itself:  Not good enough to go up (or even make the play-offs) not bad enough to go down (although at one stage it looked as if we might be).  If you just considered the mid-table finish and the extremely high number of draws this season you might be forgiven for thinking that the season one of consistent mediocrity, but it wasn’t really like that. It’s been a bumpy ride with two main peaks and two main troughs.

The first peak came at the start of the season with wins against Wigan, Derby, Norwich and Watford and an unbeaten run that lasted until mid-October.  Gradually things started to turn sour though as wins turned to draws and draws turned to defeats.  Other teams all seemed to have worked out how to stop us and if management had an alternative plan, the players never put it into effect.  A three month winless streak from mid-November to mid-February saw Charlton drop as low as 20th in the table.  Manager Bob Peeters seemed to have ‘lost the dressing room’ whist the club seemed in danger of losing its fans.  In a few short days in mid-January Peeters was sacked, Luzon was appointed and Meire was accused of lying.  This was the nadir of the season.

Guy Luzon did well to keep his head when all about were losing theirs and changed the team into a more attacking force that put together a string of wins in late February and March, scoring three goals on five occasions. This period saw safety guaranteed as Charlton moved into the top half of the league table.  Sadly it wasn’t to last.  Once a certain level had been reached, the wins dried up as the players went on their proverbial summer holidays.  The last month was one largely filled with frustration, ameliorated only be the demise of our leonine neighbours and win’s for the U18s in their league and the U21s  in the Kent Senior Cup.

The bumps and dips of the season are shown on the chart below, which uses an index rating to show the changes in fortune of the club for it’s league position, points taken, goal difference and goals scored.

Please click twice to enlarge.

Have Charlton Turned A Corner?

Having scored nine goals and taken nine points from the last four games, it is suddenly feeling good to be a Charlton fan again. After a dreadful January that saw us score just one goal and earn two points, the team seems rejuvenated.  The incoming players have fitted in very well and Guy Luzon seems to have the whole team playing with considerable confidence.  So how did February as a month compare to the other months so far in Charlton’s league season?

February was certainly the most polarised month so far.  During Bob Peeters reign, a massive 52% of all games ended in draws. In February there wasn’t one.  The three wins of February are the most in any month this season, but then so are the three defeats.  In terms of points per game (PPG) the healthy 1.5 of February is the third best so far this season.  It’s not as good as those optimistic days at the beginning of the season with our 11 match unbeaten run, but it is head and shoulders above the dark days of winter when we only just scraped half a point per game.  It is particularly pleasing that the club’s league position has risen from 18th to 12th over the course of the month.

It is perhaps to early to say if the corner has been turned yet, but both the performances and the results have been the best for quite a while.  If a similar level performance continued throughout March we might reasonably expect to take around 8 points.  That would bring us up to the 50 point mark and probable Championship safety.

In the table above, Charlton’s monthly performances are ranked by Points Per Game and then Goal Difference.

UNLUCKY FOR SOME?

A timeline showing the main events of Roland Duchâtelet’s first 13 months of Charlton ownership

Please double click on the image below to see a larger clearer version.

Vaarwel Bob Peeters

Goodbye to Bob Peeters who left Charlton on Sunday

Date Appointed: Tuesday 27^th May 2014

Date Departed: Sunday 11^th January 2015

Time in Charge: 229 days

Job Title: Head Coach

Contract: 1 year

Results:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
League (Skybet Championship)	25	6	13	6	24	29	31	-5
(Capital One) League Cup	2	1	0	1	4	1	n/a	3
FA Cup	1	0	0	1	1	2	n/a	-1
Overall	28	7	13	8	29	32	n/a	-3

First Match: 05/07/2014 Standard Liège away 0-2. 45 minute match in the “Stayen Cup”

First Competitive Match: 09/08/2014 Brentford away 1-1, Sky Bet Championship

Biggest Win: All league wins (Wigan, Derby, Watford, Norwich, Bolton, Reading) were by a single goal. The 3-2 win against Derby was the biggest scoreline. The biggest win in any competitive match was a 4-0 victory over Colchester in the League Cup.

Heaviest Defeat: 0-3 to Fulham at Craven Cottage 24/10/2014. In typical Charlton fashion our heaviest defeat was live on Sky tv.

Highlight: Probably the 1-0 victory at Norwich who were top of the league at the time.

Last Match: 10/01/2015 0-1 home defeat to struggling Brighton.

Debutants: It’s hard to say that Peeters made any signings, because that’s not the way things work under the Duchâtelet régime, but the following players made their debuts under Peters: Henderson, Ben Haim, Bikey-Amougou, Berg Guðmundsson, Buyens, Vetokele, Țucudean, Moussa, Gomez, Bulot, Ahearne-Grant, Coquelin [loan], Onyewu [loan], Etheridge [loan], Watt.

What He Said At The Start: “For me it was an easy decision. I know the Championship and I know Charlton and, along with Damian Matthew and the coaching staff, we are going to be a good team. The most important thing for me was that the owner had a lot of respect for the work I had done with Waasland-Beveren and said if I can go to a team like Charlton then not to hesitate. For me it was an easy deal. I had to finish my contract at Waasland-Beveren and they weren’t very happy because I managed them last year and we survived, but this was an opportunity to go to a bigger club and see how it goes in England. Everybody dreams of a big team in England. If a train passes you by and you can jump on it to a place like Charlton then you are happy. I very much look forward to starting the job.” B.P. 3^rd June 2014

What They Said At The End: “It was a very difficult decision to reach. We had been very supportive of Bob until the very last moment, but the disappointing nature of performances and results in recent matches forced us to look at the situation. Despite recent rumours in the media we had not considered this option until after Saturday’s game. We have won just once in the past 12 matches and with the January transfer window open it is an important time of the season for the club. We feel this is the right decision for the club and I have asked Damian Matthew and Ben Roberts to take temporary charge. I have no doubts they will do an excellent job taking care of the side for the time being. KM 12^th January 2015

Also Goodbye To: Patrick Van Houdt (Senior Professional Development Coach) and Guy Kiala (Performance Analyst).  

Summary: Bob’s tenure at Charlton came in two parts. The club got off to a good start and were the last team in the division to suffer a defeat. However, with a thin squad the team lost its way and recorded its last victory back in November against Reading. At the point of Bob’s departure, the team had more draws than anyone else in the division and even these had become hard to come by at the end. Although fans were sympathetic to the lack of options available, criticisms were raised about lack of alternative approaches, zonal marking and playing players out of position.  There were also rumours of disputes with members of the team.

TONY WATT DEBUT VERSUS BRIGHTON

Congratulations to Tony Watt who made his first team debut for Charlton on Saturday Afternoon

Full Name: Anthony WATT

Squad Number: 32

Valiant Number: 791

Manager: Bob Peeters

Debut Date: Saturday 10^th January 2015

Opposition: Brighton & Hove Albion

Ground: The Valley

Competition: Sky Bet Championship (Tier 2)

Timing: 51^st minute replacement for the injured George Țucudean

Position: Forward

Score at introduction: 0-0

Score at completion: 0-1

Impact: Looked like he might be useful. Strong and good with the ball at his feet. Linked-up well with Chris Solly who had moved to midfield after Jackson went off injured. Set up Solly for a shot that hit the crossbar and had a shot of his own that went just wide.

Manager’s Quote: “He’s showing a lot of good things, but he needs to play more games because he lacks some rhythm of the game, but he can improve us in a lot of ways. He’s a good player, he’s very lively and positive on the ball and hopefully he can take that into the next game and score us some goals. I knew I was going to give him half an hour to show his ability and I think he’s done well. He was just unlucky not to score a goal.”

Date of Birth: 29^th December 1993

Place of Birth: Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland

Age at Debut: 21 years, 12 days

Previous Clubs: Airdrieonians 15 (3), Celtic 25 (7), Lierse [Belgium] [loan] 16 (8), Standard Liège [Belgium] 13 (2)

Development: First came to the attention of Airdrie as a 15 year old when he responded to an advertisment in the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser. He was the stand-out player in a “bounce game” organised by the club and was put straight into their youth team. Progressed to the U19s and then the first team before being transferred to Celtic for a reported £80,000 in 2011.

Career Highlight to Date: Scoring what would be the winning goal in a Champions League match against Barcelona, November 2012.

Internationals: Played for Scotland at U19 5 (1), U20 1 (0) & U21 9 (5) levels.

Charlton Status: Signed a 3½ year deal with Charlton on 6^th January 2014. He had previously been playing for network club Standard Liège but had struggled to fit in and had mainly made substitute appearances.

Neil Etheridge; Debut v Cardiff

Congratulations to Neil Etheridge who made his first team debut for Charlton on Friday afternoon

Full Name: Neil Leonard Dula ETHERIDGE

Squad Number: 44

Valiant Number: 790

Manager: Bob Peeters

Date: Friday 26th November 2014

Opposition: Cardiff City

Ground: The Valley

Competition: Sky Bet Championship (Tier 2)

Timing: Played from start

Position: Goalkeeper

Score at introduction: 0-0

Score at completion: 1-1

Impact: In goal for whole game and got better as the game went on. Made a few catches from crosses but didn’t have too many saves to make. Not at fault for their goal as Adeyemi was gifted a free header. Quick off his line and quick in distribution but had a couple of wayward kicks.

Manager’s Quote: We changed Nick Pope because he was a bit unlucky in the last few games so we played our third goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and I think he was fantastic today so that will give him a boost

Date of Birth: 07/02/1990

Place of Birth: Enfield

Age at Debut: 24 years 322 days

Previous Clubs: Chelsea [youth], Fulham 0, Leatherhead [loan] 1, Charlton Ath. [loan] 0, Bristol Rovers [Loan] 12, Crewe Alex. [Loan] 4, Oldham Ath. 0

Development: 3 years in the Chelsea academy then signed by Fulham. All league appearances have been for loan clubs.

Internationals: 1 match for England U16s. 43 full matches for the Philippines; he qualifies as his mother comes from the Philippines.

Charlton Status: Signed on loan on 27^th November 2014 to help cover in the absence of injured keeper Stephen Henderson. The loan agreement with Oldham lasts until 30^th December 2014. Etheridge had been an unused substitute in Charlton’s previous four matches. He had been on loan at Charlton before; in March 2011 Chris Powell borrowed him from Fulham following injuries to Rob Elliot and Ross Warner. However he was recalled six days later having been an unused substitute in two matches.

José Riga versus Bob Peeters

Which of Roland Duchâtelet’s men has performed best at the helm of Charlton Athletic?

	José Riga		Bob Peeters
Played	16		21
Won	7		6
Drawn	3		12
Lost	6		3
Goals For	17		23
Goals Against	20		22
Points	24		30
Goal Difference	-3		1
Percentage Wins	44%		29%
Percentage Draws	19%		57%
Percentage Losses	38%		14%
Scored Per Game	1.06		1.1
Conceded Per Game	1.25		1.05
Points Per Game	1.5		1.43
Binary Scorelines	44%		67%

Stats above are for League Matches only.  José Riga’s from the 0-0 Draw with Huddersfield on 12th March 2014 to the 3-0 victory at Blackpool on 3rd May 2014.  Bob Peeters’ from the 1-1 draw at Brentford on 9th August 2014 to the 2-2 draw with Blackpool on 13th December 2014.

Karlan Ahearne-Grant; Debut v Norwich

Congratulations to Karlan Ahearn-Grant who made his first team debut for Charlton on Tuesday night

Squad Number: 43

Valiant Number: 787

Manager: Bob Peeters

Date: Tuesday 30th September 2014

Opposition: Norwich City

Ground: Carrow Road

Competition: Sky Bet Championship (Tier 2)

Timing: 89th Minute sub for Frederic Bulot

Score at introduction: 1-0

Score at completion: 1-0

Impact: Looked very confident. Within seconds of coming on, dribbled the ball into the Norwich box.

Manager’s Quote: “I’ve always said that when I came here, that whether they are 16 or 17, I will play them. That is what I stand for, giving young players an opportunity because they are the future. We were having problems in the last five minutes. Frederic Bulot hadn’t played for a long time and he was having to play twice in three days“.

Date of Birth: 18th September 1997

Age at Debut: 17 years 16 days

Previous Clubs: None

Development: Ahearne-Grant was just 15 years old when he played in Charlton’s league winning U18 side and had for the two past seasons been top scorer in that side. Debut came exactly 1 week after signing a 3 year professional contract.

New Age Movement

 Times They Are A Changing – And The Charlton Squad Is Getting Younger! We were intrigued by an interview with Katrien Meire in CASTrust’s TNT7 in which stated that Roland Duchâtelet is “famous for giving lots of young professionals a chance”.  This was cited as a reason for Bob Peeters being appointed as Head Coach rather than Jose Riga.  This set us thinking, if RD is out to employ bright young managers like Katrien and Bob, would this philosophy of employing youngsters extend to the first team at Charlton? Looking at how the average age of a squad member has changed over the past 11 months, it would certainly seem so.  On the day that RD took over the club the average age of the first team squad was 25 years and 159 days.  By the final day of last season that had dropped to 24 years, 155 days.  Today it stands at 23 years and 182 days.  That’s quite a remarkable change in less than a year.  It has been achieved in two ways.  At the older end of the scale, we had 9 players older than 26, last January.  Of those, only the skipper remains.  The others have been retired, re-leased or re-sold.  Of the new recruits only two are over this age: our double-barrelled centre-back pairing.  At the younger end of the scale our youngest player is now aged 17 years and 122 days.  And with 4 appearances already, young Mr Gomez certainly isn’t there just to make up the numbers.  It certainly seems that the Duchâtelet philosophy of giving young talent a chance has been extended to the Charlton first team.  The only question is, how low can you go? Full Table of Squad Ages Please click to enlarge