Charlton v Nottingham Forest Preview
Posted on | January 9, 2009 | No Comments
New Nottingham Forest manager Billy Davies couldn’t have picked a better time to join his new club as the City Ground side enter a crucial period of their season. Following a tremendous 3-0 victory over Premier League giants Manchester City last week, struggling Charlton will surely have their work cut out as they try and close the gap that leaves them five points away from safety.
It seems unbelievable to think how Charlton were a Premiership side not so long ago, yet are now sat at the foot of the Championship not knowing where their next win will come from. The club announced Phil Parkinson as their new permanent manager last week which angered a few fans, with Parkinson yet to win a single game in his caretaker role at the club. In fact, the Addicks haven’t won in their last seventeen games and after just releasing information that they’ve made a loss of over £11m in the last year, things certainly don’t look down at the Valley. However, Parkinson has managed to bring Graham Murty in this week and with the full back having experience in abundance, perhaps he can help spark life into this side. With Darren Ambrose returning to the club after completing a loan spell with Ipswich, at least the Addicks have a couple of fresh faces in which may inspire them somewhat.
As for Forest, it wasn’t long ago since they were in a similar position to Charlton. However, as is the case, the sacking of Colin Calderwood looks to have proved a pivotal point in their season and recent results have been impressive. They’ve now exited the relegation zone and having won their last two games, one of which was the thrashing of Man City last week, things are finally looking up for Forest. Saturday is Billy Davies’ first game in charge and with the Scot taking a non-nonsense approach to management, there’s no doubt that the visitors will be completely up for it and looking to take advantage over luckless Charlton.
In terms of team news, veteran defender Graham Murty looks set to make his first appearance for Charlton after joining the club on loan earlier this week. Mark Hudson could feature after recovering from an ankle injury, but Phil Parkinson will be without Nick Bailey through suspension while Nicky Weaver is doubtful with a hip problem. New Forest boss Billy Davies has a few concerns coming into this one with Guy Moussi, Julian Bennett and Joel Lynch all absent through injuries. However, James Perch looks to have recovered from an ankle injury and should be available to feature.
As for a prediction, we’re going to go with a draw. We’ve painted two contrasting pictures of the current situations at these two clubs, yet Charlton are now scrapping for their lives and at least have a couple of different faces involved this weekend. Forest will put on a good show, but will be held here – 0-0.
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