Charlton Athletic have woeful record in League Cup – but Lee Bowyer lacked depth in his squad for a run this season anyway
CHARLTON 0
FOREST GREEN 0
(Forest Green Rovers win 5-3 on penalties)
BY RICHARD CAWLEY AT THE VALLEY
When your squad is threadbare by Championship standards, progressing in the EFL Cup is not going to be high on your list of priorities.
And that’s especially the case in your first season back in a higher division. Unless you have a rich owner ready to plough plenty of his millions into chasing the Premier League dream – and Roland Duchatelet does not fall into that category – then consolidation is the buzz word.
There was little buzz on Tuesday night as Charlton continued a record in the EFL Cup which can kindly be described as wretched.
Apart from the 2015-16 season – when Crystal Palace eased to a 4-1 win at Selhurst Park – you have to go back to the 2007-08 season for the last time that they reached the third round.
Tuesday night was the seventh occasion they have fallen at the first hurdle. Forest Green Rovers, a club powered by renewable energy and serving vegan-only food, could smell an upset in the air as Addicks boss Lee Bowyer made eleven changes.
If Jake Forster-Caskey had scored from the penalty spot – instead of producing an unconvincing effort which barely tested Joe Wollacott – things might have been different.
Instead the Gloucestershire side showed how it should be done in the shootout, which mercifully followed the full-time whistle instead of us enduring an extra 30 minutes.
Ben Amos only made contact with their second attempt but it still crept in. The rest were converted with aplomb. Albie Morgan followed Forster-Caskey in missing, the only difference being his attempt came back off the left upright, and it was game over.
Forest Green joined Cheltenham Town, Leyton Orient, Shrewsbury Town, Hereford United and Yeovil in causing a mild upset by dumping the Addicks out.
Last season Bowyer also rested his star men and Charlton’s supporting cast botched their lines with a 3-0 loss at Milton Keynes.
There was a healthy smattering of experienced pros named to face Rovers but that lack of squad depth was illustrated by a bench of just five players – Dillon Phillips the only first-team regular likely to start at Barnsley tomorrow.
If there is criticism aimed at Bowyer for not naming a full matchday quota of 18, it’s misplaced. Yeah, Lyle Taylor might have been able to provide that moment of magic – but what if he had suffered a serious injury?
Charlton had 24 players named on the back of their matchday programme but that will drop to 21 if Albie Morgan, Alfie Doughty and Brendan Wiredu head out on loan.
You can reduce that to 20 with Lewis Page also still not fit from a groin problem which has sidelined him since October.
Bowyer’s annoyance at the stop-start nature of the left-back’s time in SE7 was clear when he spoke in midweek.
It was Page’s goal against Plymouth which kicked off his managerial reign with a victory. When the West Ham man has been fit, there is no doubting his quality. It just hasn’t happened anywhere near enough.
Bowyer was left frustrated that players had not grasped the opportunity to impress.
Albie Morgan played one superb defence-splitting pass which led to Naby Sarr being brought down for the penalty, but the youngster never got into top gear.
Alfie Doughty looked to have the pace and penetration to trouble the visitors down the left-hand side of the pitch but his team-mates failed to give him the ball enough.
Perhaps the biggest setback from going out of this tournament is that it makes it harder for Bowyer to get players up to speed fitness wise.
He handed a debut to loanee Sam Field, short on minutes after not featuring loads at West Bromwich Albion. A second round tie later this month would have been an easy way to build up his workload in a competitive environment. If Beram Kayal is fit by then, he would have been another to feature.
Instead those players who need to sharpen up – Forster-Caskey missed nearly the whole of last season due to injury – will have to do it on the training pitch and in less challenging U23 fixtures.
Macauley Bonne also needs more time in an Addicks shirt to grow into his new surroundings.
In terms of the bigger picture, an EFL Cup exit is a blip that barely registers on the radar.
Charlton have bigger fish to fry – something you won’t catch Forest Green owner Dale Vince doing – as they aim to finish outside of the Championship bottom three.
Charlton (4-4-2): Amos 6, Wiredu 6, Oshilaja 6, Sarr 6, Doughty 6, Lapslie 6, Field 6 (Ocran 78), Forster-Caskey 6, Morgan 6, Aneke 6 (Quitirna 62, 6), Bonne 6. Not used: Phillips, Dempsey, Stevenson.
