retired_swmchick2006

PM: He actually *could* be very good, if everything works out for him. As for *why* him... let's just say the story idea and the player idea came about together... I just had/have no idea with which team or how he'll actually play.

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Sunderland 3 : Charlton 2
(Williams 19, 27, Brennan 31 : Humphreys 24, 45)

Despite Humphreys' brace, Charlton lost their first match of the season to a Sunderland team that remained undefeated at home and went top of the table.

Abdulla did not play.

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League Cup 3rd Round
Charlton 1 : Chelsea 0
(Phelan 74)

Midfielder Lee Phelan came in as a sub and scored from a rebound 4 minutes later as Charlton went into the next round.

Abdulla did not play.

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Charlton 0 : Fulham 2
(Fleming 8 : Dempsey 79)

Charlton keeper O'Brien had a complete stinker and Fulham's Scottish international Chris Fleming scored one and set up the other.

Abdulla came on in the 63rd and contributed very little (other than being fouled twice).

Our rating: 7 of 10
Goals: 0
Total Goals: 4

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Charlton 2 : West Ham 1
(Abdulla 47, Donaldson 64 : Day 58)

West Ham's keeper Keith Bridge and midfielder Andy Day kept this one from getting out of hand.

Abdulla had an impressive day, and might have had a hattrick against any keeper that wasn't on top form. Bridge saved a bullet header in the 5th minute and also an audacious long range effort in the 10th from the striker, but was helpless to stop a placed 47th minute header that tucked in at the far post. After Day tied the match, Abdulla knocked the ball down for right-midfielder Donaldson who did well to beat his man and score the winner.

Our rating: 10 of 10
Goals: 1 (1 assist)
Total Goals: 5

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Commentary:

It has come to our attention that little has been said about the overall Charlton team and their manager. This has been intentional. In simple terms: neither is very good.

Yes, it is true that Charlton has had a good run of form to start the season, but this can be attributed to several other factors, not the least being that the major teams in the Premiership have had to contend with serious fixture congestion and the resulting fitness issues, so the rather poor quality and depth of the Charlton team itself has not really been tested. As for the manager, the less said about Max Jenkins' experimental 4-5-1 the better. Let us simply point out that that such a tactical abomination is far better suited to Serie A than the beautiful free-flowing football we are accustomed to seeing in the Premiership.

That all being said, let us just add that Charlton's young defender Andy Hughes looks quite a capable player, and that the play of 22-year-old English defender Phil Rogers (who just earned his first cap against Portugal) and the signing of 21-year-old defensive midfielder Matt Potter implies some talent at the club, though probably just in the scouting department.

retired_0PETE1

Nice to see you're doing another story :thup:

I look forward to reading further into this.

retired_shaneltolbert

Are you the manager of any club Attjen???

retired_swmchick2006

Thanks Birdy. Danny: I took over Charlton after Abdulla joined, but haven't decided if I'm going to stay at the club for long. I'm not really dedicating must effort to the managing portion of it (for now).

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Arsenal 1 : Charlton 0
(Leroy 39)

Arsenal’s French superstar Arnaud Leroy scored the only goal as Charlton failed to create much in the way of goal opportunities.

Abdulla showed lots of effort and energy, but with little result as his service went missing. (Michaelsen in particular had a poor day.) The striker picked up his first career yellow early in the game, and tracked back well on defense, but his only shot was a volley from well outside the area that looped over the bar.

Our rating: 8 of 10
Goal: 0
Total Goals: 5

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League Cup 4th Round
Charlton 3 : Tottenham 1
(Phelan 15, 18, Sabatini 27 : McDonagh 64)

Midfielder Lee Phelan led his club to an easy victory and into the next round, scoring twice and setting up the other.

Abdulla did not play.

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Charlton 0 : Middlesbrough 0

The visitors sat back and absorbed a feeble day of attacks from the Charlton offense.

Abdulla’s only impact was a long range effort in the first half that went just over the bar. He was deservedly substituted in the 73rd, but Sabatini could manage nothing more against a side playing for a nil-nil draw.

Our rating: 6 of 10
Goals: 0
Total Goals: 5

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A lot of effort with little result (and one good performance against West Ham) was enough to earn Abdulla English Premier Division Young Player of the Month for November.

retired_shaneltolbert

If you are the manager, why aren't you playing Abdulla every game???

retired_swmchick2006

Well, the simple answer is he isn't ready to play every game. So he's on squad rotation until he gets a bit older.

retired_missk222

Great story Attjen , KUTGW :thup:

retired_swmchick2006

Southampton 1 : Charlton 0
(Cameron 25)

Southampton easily handled the Charlton counter-attacks and rode a Paul Cameron header in the 25th to victory.

Abdulla had many opportunities to change the outcome of the match, but failed to do so on each occasion. The words “Over the Bar” come to mind. As has become his style of late, a lot of effort and movement with no final product.

Our rating: 6 of 10
Goals: 0
Total Goals: 5

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League Cup Quarter Final
Charlton 1 : Aston Villa 0
(Phelan 3)

Charlton moved in to the semis of the league cup with a narrow win over Aston Villa.

Abdulla did not play.

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Charlton 1 : Aston Villa 0
(Humpreys 30)

Same team, same result. This time Clayton Humpreys scored the only goal.

Abdulla did not play.

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After his manager rested him for the games against Aston Villa, Abdulla managed to pick up a groin strain in training and would miss the next two games.

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Everton 0 : Charlton 1
(Crawford 16)

A fairly poor performance from Charlton, with keeper Peter O’Brian vital to the team stealing an away win.

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Man Utd 0 : Charlton 0

An awful, awful match. Only 2 shots on target all game, on a rainy and cold afternoon. The draw was enough to leave Charlton in first place at the halfway point of the season.

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Intercontinental Cup
FC Bayern 3 : Sao Caetano 2
(Schuster 2, Pinola 27, 57 : Rosa 42, Leal 89)

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Charlton 2 : Newcastle 1
(Abdulla pen 14, Donaldson 30 : Tucker 36)

Right-back Georgiev was brought down in the area, and Abdulla calmly scored the penalty. Midfielder Donaldson got to the end of a Matt Potter cross to score before Newcastle bustled home a mess of a corner.

Besides the penalty, Abdulla’s return from injury was a very solid performance. His willingness to take on players with the ball at his feet led to Donaldson’s goal, and he clearly made Newcastle defenders nervous - forcing them into mistakes. However, Abdulla had at least one ‘over the bar’ and several other ‘wide’ or ‘embarrassingly wide’. Those type of chances at least need to be put on target by strikers wishing to be called ‘world class’… or even ‘strikers’.

Our rating: 8 of 10
Goals: 1 (penalty)
Total Goals: 6

retired_swmchick2006

Charlton 0 : Chelsea 0

Both teams left the stadium feeling that they should have gotten more than a draw, but neither team was particularly good.

Abdulla was easily contained by his man-marker, and had no impact until his substitution in the 65th, when we finally realized he was actually on the pitch.

Our rating: 7 of 10
Goals: 0
Total Goals: 6

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Charlton 0 : Blackburn 1
(Holsgrove 45)

Blackburn’s keeper Ramos made a single goal hold up with a fine performance.

Abdulla was held without a goal, but was a bit unlucky to hit the bar with a header and forced an excellent save in the 77th with a first time shot from a loose ball. Overall, a very average performance, however.

Our rating: 7
Goals: 0
Total Goals: 6

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FA Cup 3rd Round
Mansfield 0 : Charlton 1
(Humphreys 34)

Abdulla did not play.

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Commentary:

In early January, it seemed to finally dawn on the Charlton manager that his youngsters that had been playing with the first team were not able to keep their fitness levels high with the continual wear and tear of league and cup matches. Both Khamis Abdulla and Anthony Hughes, arguably ( - okay, very arguably in the former case - )two of the club’s most reliable players, were clearly unable to play day-in-and-day-out.

The manager had no choice but to lift several players from the reserves to the main squad, including 31-year-old (and transfer listed) striker Carl Milton and young defenders Sean Ryan and Barry Rowe.

In other words, the complete lack of depth and complete lack of back-up talent at the club meant that players who really probably shouldn’t be playing in Premiership games were doing so. Such problems were certainly not befalling either Manchester United (9 games undefeated) or Liverpool, both of whom were starting to take control of the top two positions in the league.

It certainly seemed likely that Charlton’s position in the table had already crested and would certainly begin to slide and the young players who had been proud to be at such an overachieving club would begin to become jaded and complacent with a mid-table finish.

retired_swmchick2006

Bolton 2 : Charlton 2
(White 36, Trivino pen 56 : Humphreys 13, Michaelsen 32)

Abdulla did not play as Charlton should have been able to hold onto a 2 goal lead, but gifted Bolton a penalty in the 2nd half as Phelan took down a player.

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Charlton 1 : W.B.A. 0

Abdulla showed his best effort-to-product ratio of the season, scoring on his only chance of the game against a W.B.A. side that lined up in a ridiculously over-defensive formation.

A poor goal kick from W.B.A. keeper Robinson was headed down the wing by Matt Potter. Donaldson raced onto it and whipped a near post cross for Abdulla to head in at the near post.

Our Rating: 8 of 10
Goals: 1
Total Goals: 7

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FA Cup 4th Round
Blackpool 0 : Charlton 1
(Rowe 63)

Abdulla played one of his few cup games as Sabatini was injured in the 37th. The ‘desert stallion’ as some idiots in the press have started to call him, was merely vaguely competent in the game. His 53rd minute half-volley probably should have been better placed, and he probably should have reacted faster to the loose ball after Blackpool’s Hay made a mess of the save.

Lee Phelan was man-of-the-match and set up defender Rowe’s winning goal with another stellar freekick.

Our rating: 7 of 10 (generously)
Goals: 0
Total Goals: 7

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League Cup Semi-Final Leg 1
Middlesbrough 0 : Charlton 1
(McKay sent off 69: Michelsen 21)

An early Michaelsen goal and an unadventurous Charlton side left Boro wishing their strikers weren’t complete wasters. Young defender Barry Rowe continued his strong form in a man-of-the-match quality performance.

Abdulla was given a rest for the mid-week game, and was not needed after McKay received a straight red for needlessly holding back Milton.

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Leeds 0 : Charlton 2
(Reva sent off 1 : Rowe 39, Milton 41)

Another player sent off for fouling Milton, and Rowe scored again as Leeds were even more awful than their mid-table under-achieving mediocrity would suggest.

Abdulla didn’t play.