Exeter City v Charlton Athletic Matchday thread.

[Hants_red]

The 360

 

[Benjisheps14]

This will need fact-checking but... I think yesterday was the first time we have scored in the first 15 mins of a league game at home since Tim Dieng got one in October 2022 (apologies if this has already been stated somewhere in this thread)

Sinisalo - Usual strong presence and couldn't really do anything about the goal. He couldn't seem to work out weight of long ball out when playing with the wind sadly. A number of balls went straight through to their keeper second half.
Sweeney - Good distribution and generally solid. Sadly let Aneke get a run on him for the header which led to the goal.
Aimson - distribution not as good but defensively very good again.
Purrington - very classy and so good to have such a versatile left sided player. We could have done with Jules second half for the physical onslaught but excellent all round game from BP.
Niskanen - all action as usual which is even more crucial when Woods is playing. If he had end product he'd be incredible.
Wildschut - Good again for a second home game in a row. Really pleasing to see him go at the full back time and time again... However, the cynic in me wonders if his upturn in form coincides with contract time... Possibly harsh but hope to see sustained good form from him.
Carroll - People moan about him slowing down the play but personally I thought he was very good.
Woods - Really good showing - super classy. The only criticism is that he can't cover sufficient ground for a CM/CDM but rarely gives the ball away. If we can get him to 100% fitness/speed it'll be awesome.
Harris - Missed a crucial chance to make it 2 in the second half but was hampered by another player's touch. Works so hard, super tidy and whilst he hasn't got eye-catching numbers since he arrived, he has been key to our upturn in form in my opinion.
Aitchson - Not his usual self making some odd decisions in the final third but a good assist and as always works his socks off.
Cox - worked hard but not alot of service or chances.

Subs
Alli - We have to give him time but so disappointing to not see him able to charge around for 20 minutes off the bench.
Eisa - Looks like he's a little disinterested. Has to do more if he wants a contract.
Rankine - the Raheem Sterling of League 1?!? Harsh again but no end product and I resign myself to him running down a dead end whenever he gets it.
Diabate - The own goal wasn't his fault but didn't provide a reassuring presence when he came on.
Cole - little time to impress but dead ball delivery is quality.

Overall - another point closer to safety against a team who I think will challenge next year. Great first 10-15 but average thereafter.
I'm not too downbeat and fancy us getting 3 points on Monday. UTC!

Always enjoy your player summaries after each game HR. I would agree with everything you have said as well.

 

[Benjisheps14]

Eisa is a forward with a very decent record - that he’s looking completely anonymous should speak to how GC sets his team up. Likewise with Sonny, he’s been asked to perform a role that isn’t properly playing to his strengths. He’s not going to be Watkins but there’s a very good player under there with a creative streak.

Obviously we’ve all be round in circles about this but I believed just bringing in a forward wasn’t enough to stop us looking blunt in a lot of games. And it’s playing out with a very low scoring frontline all season. Caldwell needs to make some tweaks to the formula this summer IMO… I live in hope as the stuff in the midfield can be decent.

I don’t buy into this idea that it’s absolutely nothing to do with Caldwell some of our annoying habits. He has to shoulder at least some of the responsibility. It’s interesting how there is a perspective taken on here that the players just continually go out and ignore GC’s instructions. If that’s really the case, then that is also surely a management issue isn’t it?

Agree with a lot of this Max, although you could argue that once we brought Sonny back from Yeovil and he has played as our #9 our form has improved significantly to the extent that we have had mid-table form since Boxing day. To that point you could then argue that playing with a consistent #9 was the biggest issue although I do believe that getting Harris in has also helped Aitchison which again has helped our form.

I 100% agree that we are still lacking in the final third if we are to push on again next year and this has to some how get rectified this summer. Even in January where I think most of us were extremely worried (including the board) we still weren't able to solve our striker problem. If reports are to be believed, we were in for Pressley at Stevenage and Evans at Newport so it will be interesting to see if we are back in for them this summer. To me Eisa was a signing that came about when we realized we weren't going to get the main targets we wanted, hence why it was a loan to the end of the season (when he is out of contract) and not a permanent signing.

I still feel (like most) that we need 2 forwards brought in and one of them has to have pace so we can stretch an oppositions back line which we can't do at the moment and a physical presence is also required within the two that we hopefully sign. As great as Sonny has done for us, he still shouldn't be leading the line at this age on his own in League One. I'm really pleased he has signed a new contract as think there is definitely potential there, but he should be our 3rd #9 in my opinion with two good options ahead of him.

A #10 or winger with pace who can beat a man 1v1 is also needed although this could be Demi if he was to resign. In fairness losing him was a massive blow and I feared the worst when he was ruled out for the season.

Like you have said Max certainly lots to improve on and some is tactical, but a large part of it will also be the personnel that we are able to bring in. At some point we need to find a way to do it within the transfer market, but as we all know that is harder than probably most of us even realize.

Still the basis of a good side forming in my opinion and hopefully we can get a win on Monday and start to look forward to next season.

 

[suffolklad]

If anybody thinks we are going to change from possession based football your kidding yourselves. It’s what the vast majority of teams now play. You might find it boring and slow, it is. Personally I quite like it as it’s a more tactical game. Hoof it from the back gets you nowhere, I would suggest that if you don’t like then don’t watch and you could stay away from exeweb and I wouldn’t have to put up with the constant moaning

 

[Oldsmobile-88]

The goal line clearance.

 

[Sexton Blake]

The goal line clearance.

View attachment 15129

Ben did really well to even get near to ball but photo inconclusive

 

[Exehausted]

Ben did really well to even get near to ball but photo inconclusive

Watching the clearance in the Spurs v Luton match yesterday you would have thought that all of the ball had crossed the line. However, the ref's watch didn't bleep and the position of the ball stayed in by the tiniest of margins.

 

[Bridgy 81]

The goal line clearance.

View attachment 15129

Nice one.
Well done Ben.
If it was in, who cares?
They (or the ref) did us with Aimson’s red card at their place.
So we’re equal, sort of.

 

[Red & White]

The goal line clearance.

View attachment 15129

From that angle it looks in, but this could be deceptive that if taken from the line it may be closer. Who cares, we don't have VAR in league 1 and over the course of a season these sort of decisions even themselves out!

 

[denzel]

Whole of the ball not over the line.

Move on, nothing to see here.