No-one said it would be easy
GILLINGHAM 3
O’Keefe 13 Ndjoli 48 List 89
CHARLTON 1
Aneke 43
BY RICHARD CAWLEY AT PRIESTFIELD STADIUM
We all know – at least those of us who operate with a healthy dose of realism – that Charlton’s first season back in the Championship is going to be a challenge.
But what wasn’t perhaps to be expected was that even the pre-season would not go seamlessly.
Yes, results don’t matter in friendlies. Yes, performances also need to be largely dismissed – especially when the spectator doesn’t know if players have had a heavy training session the day before.
It’s fitness first in this period and everything else second.
That’s all well and good – but you can’t help having some worries for Charlton.
It’s not so much to do with their second defeat of pre-season. And this reverse to League One opposition was similar to an off-the-pace display when they were also beaten by Ebbsfleet United earlier this month.
No, what is the worry is that the Addicks look short in a number of key areas.
When Lyle Taylor was replaced for the final 15 minutes it was Alfie Doughty – either a winger or wing-back by trade – who played alongside Macauley Bonne.
Chuks Aneke, who netted his first goal for the Addicks at the weekend, is playing in a spot just behind the frontline.
So you have to say that Charlton are weaker in that centre-forward department than they were 12 months ago when they still had Karlan Grant with Igor Vetokele as a back-up.
And there is no doubt they are also weaker in central midfield.
They have lost that almost effortless looking energy that Joe Aribo supplied in the middle of the park. The vibe also isn’t good that either Josh Cullen or Krystian Bielik will be coming back on loan.
Replacing that kind of quality with permanent signings is impossible for boss Lee Bowyer when you have the kind of budget he has been ordered to work under – effectively paying salaries which would not look out of place in the division below.
Aribo was that good that he effectively did multiple roles in midfield – he could break up play as well as going through the gears when moving up the field and scoring goals.
Already impressing for Rangers, he has left a huge hole.
Charlton need to be shrewd and lucky with their transfer deals.
It’s less than two weeks until they kick off at Blackburn Rovers, and the squad still needs another five or six additions.
Albie Morgan started in Kent but Bowyer admitted that his plan is to loan the young midfielder – claiming the academy graduate is not ready for the level above.
The same will apply to Taylor Maloney, Ben Dempsey, Brendan Wiredu, Doughty and maybe even George Lapslie, who were all part of last weekend’s squad of 18.
Charlton were missing Chris Solly, Ben Purrington and Jake Forster-Caskey – set to be given more minutes at Colchester United tonight.
But Bowyer also saw Lewis Page and Aneke come off with hamstring strains.
Page has been so unlucky with injuries that you always fear it will be a lengthy lay-off, however innocuous it may initially appear.
Charlton were down to 10 men when former Crystal Palace midfielder Stuart O’Keefe put Gillingham ahead – Page’s replacement Jonny Williams still sat in the dugout getting his instructions from assistant boss Johnnie Jackson.
Williams’ introduction saw the Addicks switch from 3-5-2 – Bowyer’s preferred formation in pre-season – to 4-4-2.
The Addicks struggled to create but a foul on Morgan gave them a shooting chance on the edge of the penalty area. Naby Sarr did not disappoint with his free-kick, and although it hit the left post, Aneke was there to slam in the rebound.
It took just three minutes of the second half for the Gills to restore their advantage. Hesitant defending saw Mikael Ndjoli squeeze a shot past Dillon Phillips.
And a mistake by Tom Lockyer in the 89th minute was ruthlessly punished by Elliott List.
He surged into the Charlton penalty area and finished sweetly across the Charlton keeper.
That’s another thing that is a concern to be, the Addicks’ determination to play out from the back – because the opposition are going to be so much better at punishing any errors.
Bonne headed a Morgan corner wide in the second half but once again the visitors made heavy going of things in the final third.
Aneke did get into good positions but twice failed to find a finish – sending a Sarr cross over which he arrived on to perfectly – and then a low Dijksteel delivery that he failed to meet with accuracy or power.
It wasn’t all bad news for Bowyer. Williams, who put pen to paper on a 12-month contract last Thursday, got his first action of the pre-season with a solid 60 minutes.
But it’s a bit too much like the same stage a year ago, Charlton are too much of a work in progress in terms of building a squad.
Bowyer and head of recruitment Steve Gallen eventually got the deals done, and the Addicks got stronger and stronger as the campaign went along – particularly at the start of 2019.
But that doesn’t always mean you can repeat the feat again.
I’ve already mentioned before that Bowyer and Gallen have done nothing wrong in terms of signings – it’s more that they are at the mercy of Premier League clubs to let them have their young players.
It’s lucky that the deadline for all deals, including loans, is August 8 and no longer the end of the month.
Their business has to be done earlier this time around and that means they will only have played one Championship match.
Under the old rules, six league games would have been completed by the time the window closed. Charlton have enough challenges without giving some of their rivals that kind of head start before they settle on their playing squad.
Charlton (3-5-2) Phillips, Lockyer, Pearce, Sarr, Dijksteel, Pratley, Aneke (Lapslie 54), Morgan, Page (Williams 13 (Dempsey 73)), Taylor (Doughty 75), Bonne. Not used: Amos, Maloney, Wiredu