Name: Craig Sloman
Current home town: South East London
Birthplace: South East London
How long have you supported your team? 25 years
Overview of your club:
Favourite thing about your home ground: Probably the history; the Valley’s existence is a reminder of what can be achieved by football fans when they are united behind a cause that has the best interests of their club at heart. Owners, managers and players will come and go but the supporters will remain the only constant and the Valley is this country’s monument to that.
Favourite match played by your team & why: It would have to be that 1998 Playoff Final (known as “the Greatest Game” by supporters of the club) – a hat trick, extra time, a penalty shootout and a victory for the underdogs assembled on a shoestring budget. It had everything and is ranked as one of the greatest games to ever have taken place at the old Wembley
Favourite player of all time who played for your club: Probably Clive Mendonca, although Robert Lee runs him close. Without Mendonca’s incredible finishing in that playoff final it’s possible that the expansion the club saw over the subsequent Premier League years wouldn’t have happened. Strikers who know where the back of the net is are the most precious thing in football and Mendonca certainly had that ability.
About our forthcoming match against you:
Your favourite current player in your squad and why? Right now, the return of Johnnie Jackson, who is likely to be fit again after playing 85 mins during the week in our League Cup defeat at Huddersfield is a massive boost. It is bordering on the ridiculous how much we missed his presence in the middle since he was out for the last few league games and he’ll bring the leadership, balance and possibly goals that we desperately need.
Player in your squad we should most fear and why? If I was being cruel then I’d say that based on our league form so far I think the only thing Leicester should “fear” about coming to the Valley is the weather after the rain helped us avert a disaster against Doncaster when the game was called off on Saturday after 45 minutes with Charlton being 3-1 down.
However we’ve had a good record against Leicester last year, winning both fixtures 2-1 and that old Foxes hero Yann Kermorgant scored in both games so I guess he could be out to continue his revenge fee against his former employers.
Player in our squad you most fear and why? So far this season it has to be Chris Wood. He’s been in incredible form, we’ve let in two goals or more in every game we’ve played in the League (including games that finish after 45 minutes) so he’ll definitely have opportunities and as he’s a former Millwall star which will probably lead to elements of the Valley faithful booing him at every opportunity it seems like the perfect combination to ensure Wood bags one.
Up and coming prospect in your squad? One of the positives from Jackson being injured so much at the start of this season is that it has allowed Jordan Cousins to force his way into the first team and it’s likely that he’ll stay there on Saturday, deposing relative old timer Mark Gower to partner Jackson in the middle. Charlton have had a poor start but Cousins has been a real silver lining, he is very busy and proved he knows where the goal is after scoring against Barnsley away in a 2-2 draw a couple of weeks ago.
Where do you think you’ll finish this season? It’s not looking good is it ? The team isn’t markedly changed from that which finished so strongly last season and almost made the playoffs but there seems to have been a change in attitude and that’s a worry. We have an excellent under 21 side who won their national league last year along with the Kent Senior Cup and it may be that we need to rely on more players than just Jordan Cousins from there breaking in and creating competition to liven things up. I still think there are at least three teams worse than Charlton in this league and that will bear out over 46 games so we should survive, just.
How do you think you’ll do against us? It will be very, very tough. I don’t expect the game to be a classic, we will have to keep things tight to avoid Wood getting too many opportunities. However with the return of Jackson I think the side will be more regimented and I also expect Kermorgant to once again be up for it against his former side. I’ll go for a 1-1 draw with Wood and Kermorgant getting the goals.
Any other comments? Good luck for the rest of the season Leicester.