Down in The Valley, something stirred. V Charlton Athletic away Sat Aug 24th 3-0 'clock.

[TANGODANCER]

Long week with no football,, so might as well get the internet "optimism v pessimism" battle going early. A win, a draw and four points v two wins and six points is hardly a peg to hang you hat on just yet, but that's what we have as The Whites mobile hotel on wheels rolls towards south London this week end. With no knowledge at all of Athletic's current players, (me) let's hear the views of the faithful. Clear the decks...

[GhostoftheBok]

I think we can hurt them.

They're much better under Jones, but nobody has asked them the right questions yet.

Orient went out to contain them. Wigan are just a bit crap right now.

They'll carry the ball a lot, so we need to win those battles in the middle third. They will want to try and run Toal with Campbell, so he has to match that.

If Matete is right to start, this might be a god one for him over Sheehan. Let him and Thomason sort out Docherty, preventing him running the game with his ball-carrying and passing through the middle.

If not, you're looking for Sheehan to improve his passing over last game and find those runners. Sheehan's the more offensive choice with his range of passing.

Shackle the out-ball to Campbell with Rico, shut down Docherty and win your individual battles out wide. Then it's about getting the quality into the box to win it.

Should have no fear of this lot. They're a good side, but we can be better.

[Harry Genshaw]

Is The Valley our happiest hunting ground? We've won our last 3 league games there and I can think of several notable previous ones - Youri's overhead kick, Sneekes' two thunderbastards and as far back as a midweek 4-0 triumph, the first year we missed out on promotion in the mid 70s.

We can win there again but I'm doubtful this time. 1-1 draw.

[TANGODANCER]

A really good attacking winger ( two? ) who loves to run at defences would be my preferred first choice. Ideally, a Xherdan Shaqiri who is now playing in the Swiss League for Basel is my role model for this. Add to that a better use of set pieces would help. Then again, I always wanted a Jaguar and to be a professional ballroom dancer and pro golfer, but one can't have everything.

[Worthy4England]

It doesn't really matter at the end of the season whether your draws and losses happened in August or April. We should be unhappy with draws and chugging starts to the season.

Would be happier with a draw away, than I was at weekend where we ceded two points. Three would be better.

[DJBlu]

Just got to win as many as we can. We've been a thorn in Chartlon's side however they're a different team from last season. Up and at it Whites!

[GhostoftheBok]

Losing on Saturday will put us 5 points behind Charlton, which psychologically is likely to be damaging.

On paper it's one the toughest games in the division, but it's too early to say for sure.

[TANGODANCER]

Losing on Saturday will put us 5 points behind Charlton, which psychologically is likely to be damaging.

On paper it's one the toughest games in the division, but it's too early to say for sure.

A draw is less damaging then a loss because it means nothing changed from now. That said, a win is what we need. A loss, we don't even contemplate.

[Worthy4England]

They've managed 2 "1-0's" against two pointless teams. They will not be ready yet, as new players need to bed in, have content downloads etc. They've got 60% of a new midfield, lost Alfie May and signed half a new strike-force and have at least 1 new defender and keeper. I don't think most of this years team played as regular starters last year for them. They're at home which is apparently little advantage and playing a team that finished 34 points in front of them.

We'd already be lining up our reasons for not winning, over 15 glorious technicolor pages, if it was us.

2-0 Whites.

[GhostoftheBok]

They can be got at.

Wrexham was the best team display of the the 3 so far this season, despite being the one we didn't win. We've had another week to get information into the players.

Definitely a winnable fixture and we should be the best team they've played yet by a distance.

[Prufrock]

Some records on the line for the part timers I'm going with, if that's your vibe.

[Mar]

Historically a good fixture. Even in our dark times. Were somewhat of a Bogey team for them.

We should be getting three points.

Presumably we'll slip up against our bogey team(s) so to get some balance we need to beat the teams where we are favoured.

[TANGODANCER]

Historically a good fixture. Even in our dark times. Were somewhat of a Bogey team for them.

Do you believe in fairies? If "bogeys" exist, then so must fairies; one or the other. Or we could just go out and beat Charlton because we play better football than them on the day. We could also consider that a lot of teams have changed players and systems and it's all a bit of a masked ball just yet. When a few masks come off we'll have a better idea. Right now it the old smoke and mirrors favourite time. I'm promoting the word "shoot" as flavour of the month. Mean while, I'm a bit unsure so I'll stick with Que Sera.

[The_Gun]

History has virtually zero relevance with regards to our chances on Saturday.

Charlton are in a much better place than they have been for a while, and could well be genuine playoff contenders this season. We should expect a very tough game which will be difficult to win.

[Worthy4England]

We should always expect a difficult game and have to work intelligently to bring home three points.

[Prufrock]

Any record against a team going back more than about 3 years is meaningless (and diminishing up to that point).

[Worthy4England]

Any record against a team going back more than about 3 years is meaningless (and diminishing up to that point).

Great. I look forward to our wins against them pie chucking bastards!

[TANGODANCER]

Time to start thinking team news. With a sizeable option for a change, can we upset a few apple carts down in that London? Not seen the weather forecast around the capital, but the north and west seems to be getting the worst of it, so playing away might actually have its advantages. Bit of optimism and enthusiasm called for, so " COME ON YOU WHITES..!". ..

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Not seen the weather forecast around the capital, but the north and west seems to be getting the worst of it

Rained a bit this morning, very pleasant now. You're welcome.

Hard to imagine many changes to the XI that dominated Wrexham (without scoring). Would be somewhat surprised if there weren't starts for Baxter, Johnston (after last weekend's excellence), Santos, Toal, Schön, Thomo, JDC, Collins and McAtee - especially with the midweek cup game giving options for the alternatives.

There's a horses-for-courses argument to say Matete gets the hour and Sheehan gets the last 30, although it would still be a slight shock, and while Evatt singled out Matete for praise he still suggested it would be after the early-Sep international break before everyone was on a fitness par.

With this looking like being one of the tougher fixtures, you could also argue for Vic to start instead of Dion - the old "physicality first, then get behind them as they tire" tactic. Again, though, you assume Dion is in the box seat.

PS it's now available as pay on the day (£3 more) if you haven't already got a ticket.

Wait a minute...

[GhostoftheBok]

Just got to win as many as we can. We've been a thorn in Chartlon's side however they're a different team from last season. Up and at it Whites!

Is the couch accommodating guests tomorrow, Blu?