Apology Was Needed

It takes a big man to admit when he is in the wrong. Karl Robinson took most of the blame for Tuesdays performance but at the same time was critical of his players who did not perform to the standard he expected them too. When you are up against one of the best attacking sides in division one, it is expected that your players can match theirs in every section of the pitch. It is up to our players to stop an attacking team playing their usual football and close down the danger men before they create a scoring chance.

On Tuesday, the exact opposite happened. Straight from the kick-off our defensive frailty were exposed. If it was not for good goal keeping and some frantic clearance we could have been down a goal very early on in the game. The danger signs were blatantly on show and one could sense, this was not going to be our night. To compound our lack of goal scoring ability. At the other end Tariqe Fosu hit the upright and Josh Magennis follow up missed its target. A chance squandered.

In football things can change very quickly. A missed chance can so easily turn a game on its head. The visitors had the edge. Karl Robinson side had no answer to the fast movements on and off the ball. It was however, not when they were going to score, more like, are we going to survive the first-half on level term. We held them off in spite of a Constance barrage of balls finding their influential players. But on 44 minutes we conceded our first goal and there is never a better time to score than on the stroke of half-time.

Did we deserve to be one down? Yes. As much as it hurts me to admit it, the Addicks showed very little to be impressed with. Therefor on reflection, one goal against flattered us it could have been more. A quote a line from Karl Robinson what he had to say about the difference between their manager and the players? I quote: ‘` I lost my battle with their manager and every one of my players lost their battle with their players. It`s as simple as that“ unquote.

Karl Robinson also made a reference to Jake Forster-Caskey missed effort and Josh Magennis chance in the first 15 minutes which in his opinion changed the whole momentum of the game. We give him that. But it also meant that Wigan had flaws at the back and with better understanding from our strike force their defences could be breached again.

The second half Robinson said and I quote: ‘`we tried to play a little different way in the second half, play a little bit direct to Josh but we didn`t win enough balls and I have to be open and honest with you, as I always have, that we lost our individual battles, in my view.“ Unquote.

His team talk at half-time could not have had much impact. The Addicks came out in the second period more dissociated from the game than the first 45 minutes. Passes went astray, our midfield had a nightmare against the more composed Wigan centre players. The first-half taught our players nothing. We did not tighten up. We allowed Wigan to run the game at the pace that suited them. This sort of display must not happen again. There is no short-cut to success it is earned. We have started this campaign on the up. On Tuesday we were brought down to earth and tasted defeat after a 5 games winning start. Let`s be mean out there by starting the ball rolling on Saturday. Let`s get back on the winning trail.