Valley Viewpoint

Wigan and Charlton are two teams expected to be battling for promotion come the end of the season. Wigan have had quite an inconsistent start to the season, starting with 4 wins in their first four games in all competitions, but have dropped off recently with only 1 win and a draw in their last 4 games. Charlton however, have had a brilliant start to the season, winning 5 of their 6 league games and the all but 1 of their 3 cup games. Coming into the game, Charlton find themselves in second place, while Wigan sit in 8th place after just losing to table toppers, Shrewsbury. Teams Charlton : Amos, Solly, Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva, Kashi (Konsa, 68), Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Ahearne-Grant, 68), Clarke (Dodoo, 74), Holmes, Magennis Wigan Athletic : Jones, Byrne, Morsy, Evans, Grigg (Power, 78), Massey, Bruce, Jacobs (Elder, 90+2), Powell (Toney, 74), James, Burn What would seem to be a battle of the league one giants off the pitch, was the complete opposite on it. Charlton capit...

Charlton came into the match against Southend losing just 1 of their opening 5 league games, leaving them yet to be beaten at home, sitting at 3rd place in the league table and one of the best form teams in the league. Considering Southend finished just outside the playoffs last season, narrowly missing out to Millwall, they have had a rather disappointing start with only 1 win, 3 draws and a loss, with their only win coming against Blackburn on the first day of the season and being winless since, leaving them occupying 15th place. On a day where 6 of the top 7 teams played each other, there was serious potential for Charlton to make progress up the league table. Teams Charlton : Amos, Solly, Bauer, Pearce, Dasilva, Kashi, Forster-Caskey, Fosu (Konsa, 89), Clarke, Holmes (Dodoo, 85), Magennis Southend United : Oxley, Hendrie (Demetriou, 75), Ferdinand, Kightly, Timlin, Cox (Robinson, 75), McGlashan (McLaughlin, 61), Leonard, ...

Incomings Billy Clarke - The first of Karl Robinson's summer signings and, from what he has shown in our pre-season friendlies so far, a decent one at that. The Bradford striker/centre forward helped Bradford reach the Play-offs last season. Going by Bradford fan's views and opinions on Clarke, he was very much loved by the bantams faithful mainly for his dedication and love for the club but also for his work ethic, however they weren't to fond with what matters most, his footballing ability. Personally, I think it's a good signing as we struggled in that creative midfielder/forward role last season. A problem which arose for Russell Slade last summer and one which has never been fully addressed. We have players who can play there, but not naturally and are better suited to other positions. Mark Marshall - A very exciting signing, again from Bradford, who was voted as their player of the year last season. From what I have seen of him when Brad...