Louis Mendez’s four takeaways from Charlton’s 2-1 loss at Bristol Rovers: Mood is turning sour as poor Addicks run continues

Charlton slipped to a second successive defeat as Bristol Rover’s bagged an added-time winner at the Memorial Ground. Here’s Louis Mendez’s four takeaways from Friday evening’s clash.

CHARLTON PUNISHED AGAIN

It took until late on again, but the Addicks found a way to lose. The Boxing Day defeat may have been a first in eight, but it had been coming. And like London busses, Charlton seemed to slow down over the Christmas period. Oh, and two came along at once.

The Addicks needed a reaction from the so-called display at Brisbane Road and it looked like they’d had one to an extent in the opening exchanges. Alfie May rattled the crossbar, Lloyd Jones fired just wide, Corey Blackett-Taylor and Chem Campbell both saw efforts from the edge of the area cause concern.

But Rovers gained some real control before the break and had chances of their own, plus a disallowed goal just before the interval.

The restart paved the way for further Addicks openings to come and go before substitute Chris Martin broke the deadlock 20 minutes from time for the Gas.

Charlton found an unlikely equaliser through Slobodan Tedic five minutes from time. But there was still time for Martin to grab his second as the visitors fell asleep at a quickly taken free-kick in added-time.

It’s not been a Merry Christmas for the South Londoners, who remain 14 points adrift of the play-off places.

ANOTHER GAME WINLESS

That’s now just two wins in 11 League One outings. Two successive defeats following the reverse at Leyton Orient on Boxing Day. Five goals conceded beyond the 80-minute mark in the last five games.

The form is awful. Ironically, there was an improvement in the display of sorts last night. The first 10-15 minutes of each half saw Charlton apply some pressure to the Bristol Rovers goal, much more than we’ve seen in the last couple of games.

But those spells weren’t sustained and Charlton’s seemingly insatiable desire to concede can never be fully satisfied. They soaked up a lot of Rovers possession in the first-half but let two in under little duress in the second.

Appleton said last night: “If we took the last two minutes of stoppage time out of the way you thought and the way you see things, you’d be absolutely delighted. The performance was top draw. We probably would have come in and been disappointed we’d got a point.”

Whilst that may have been an exaggeration – I’d struggle to see an argument they deserved more than a point – that this side continues to find ways to not take maximum points week in, week out at the moment continues to be a major red flag. It’s weak-minded. It’s soft. It’s why they sit in mid-table in League One, again.

APPLETON UNDER PRESSURE FROM FANS

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment things changed but I think the late leveller Burton Albion grabbed at The Valley just before Christmas was a bit of a turning point for some of the Charlton faithful.

Some supporters chanted against Michael Appleton during both the defeats at Brisbane Road and the Mem over the last few days. There have been questions on social media regarding his team selections and decision to play Alfie May out wide.

It’s just over a week since technical director Andy Scott told our paper that he was enjoying working with Appleton and was confident the side were heading in the right direction.

So, there’s no indication that there is internal pressure from above on the Addicks head coach at this moment in time. But Appleton certainly needs to improve results to turn the tide with sections of the fanbase. It can be very difficult to get that back once things turn sour.

WHAT CONSTITUTES SUCCESS NOW?

The season is over in terms of promotion for the Addicks. They are 14 points adrift of the top six. To reach the average amount of points required for a top six finish – 75 – the Addicks would need to win around 60 per cent of their remaining games – double their current win percentage. They could only lose between three and five.

And that’s before you consider that the sides currently around sixth are on course to get more than the average of 75. Charlton would have to be the one of the best teams in League One between now and the end of the campaign to reach that. There’s been some strong indications that they aren’t.

Whatever happens now, this has been another failure of a season. But that doesn’t mean what does occur between now and May doesn’t matter. The groundwork for next season simply must be laid in the January window. Ideally, the better players like Corey Blackett-Taylor tied down. But if not, the difficult task of finding quality replacements is hugely important because this side can’t afford to go backwards in any department.

Performances have to recover. Defensive errors, whether they be individual or team, must start being cut out. Some bottle found on the road – one away win all season is atrocious.

Before next season there must be some sort of indication that the club is going to start heading in the right direction. It feels a long way off at the moment.

PHOTOS: KYLE ANDREWS