2 Good 2 Bad

Ian Goodison - The 2 good

Had Dowie been there it would have been the good, the bad and the ugly. However, as far as I know he wasn't even though the team resembled one of his !

Ian Goodison did a good job for his team and was quite a cool character too. He manged to inject some humour into a lifeless first half when replicating the infamous Gazza moment when he showed the ref a yellow card. It seemed the only way we'd see one at one time as he was reticent to brandish one to the Rovers boys despite several niggly fouls.

The 2 bad was of course our boys. Aside from Reid and Dailly I can't honestly say anyone had a good game. Dailly, for me, was our best player and read everything right. Reid gave us what we've been missing all season, attacking intent and good crosses from the left although they sadly went unrewarded.

McKenzie should perhaps speak to John Terry to see who you have to sleep with to start a game. I'm really not sure how Mooney kept his place. As I've said before I do like him and think he has something to offer but he's clearly low on confidence. If we're now employing two wingers then it'd be useful to have someone in the box who knows how to put them away. At present the best option for this is McKenzie.

We desperately need a proven goal scorer. For whatever reason we've missed out on Puncheon. Whether it's permanent or on loan we need to bust a gut to get one. We may not be playing well but we are still creating chances and clear cut ones at that.

Playing away isn't always a good thing ( another John Terry reference ) but right now it'll probably be good for our lads. The pressure may be off a little. We need to get at least 7 points from the next 3 games as I think it's the minimum we're going to need.

Nice One Wirral

Another potential banana skin ?

Tranmere have seemingly recovered from their summer of madness when they appointed John Barnes as manager..........oh dear ! Yes, a big mistake on the part of both parties. John tried to get an average bunch of tier 3 players playing a style of football that was clearly beyond them. Our good fortune then to play them whilst John was still at the helm. John Barnes I have to say is one of the most natural..........t.v. presenters I've ever seen so it's great that he's now free to pursue that career again eh ?

Never mind, he's been replaced the man who epitomises Prenton Park Life...........Les Parry !

Who's that gut lord marching ?

Yes, it's former fat physio now turned fat manager, Les. Blimey, he might start singing Vindaloo. Well let's hope they don't score one more than us.

I recall in days of yore that Tranmere never played on Saturdays just Fridays. Understandable I guess when you've bigger teams nearby seemingly more attractive. Why have Palace and Millwall never followed suit I wonder ?

Obviously we need to make changes following Monday's poor effort. For me that means the return of Sodje and playing McKenzie on the left at the very least. Mooney was poor on Monday and probably shouldn't start. Maybe Racon deserves a recall, can't do much harm. Maybe a 4-5-1 with McKenzie / Shelvey would offer something different and after all, it served us well at the start of the season.

I'm optimistic we'll win. It needs to be a confident and comfortable win though to makes us all feel happier about the future.

Come On You Reds !

Wee Timorous Beastie

That Rabbie Burns Was Something of a Visionary Wasn't he ?

Sadly the Addicks chose the night of the Ayrshire Bard's birthday to bring to mind one of his most famous works. I'm sure we were celebrating by playing with a haggis....it looked that way at times !

Not a great night but one that wasn't a great shock given less than convincing performances in the previous two games or maybe more if we're honest.

I was both frustrated by and disappointed for Mooney. I like him as he seems to care and gives of his best. Sadly it wasn't enough last night and he should have done so much better with the gilt edged chance in the second half.

I couldn't help thinking that had Sam Sodje been on the pitch, then he'd have put away at least one of those good crosses from Sam. Whatever the shortcomings of his temperament, he is a big loss when not available.

I pray that Leeds and Norwich don't get more than a point each at best tonight but feel it's almost enevitable that they'll be bagging the full three.

No matter, all the Addicks can do is concentrate on themselves and our games. I'll be very surprised if we don't get a good response on Saturday........hopefully off the pitch too. These players have done it before and need to recapture what they had, aided hopefully by a couple of new additions....here's hoping !

Shouldn't Barry Hearn Be Our Chairman ?

Snooker, darts, football.......blimey, he's got his fingers in more pies than John Prescott.

Barry Hearn is now chairman of the PDSA ( People's Dispensary for Sick Animals ) the governing body of snooker. An Australian named Eddie Charlton used to play snooker..........q.e.d. Baz should be our chairman, simples !

Really, I'm thankful he's not. Housing in every corner of the ground.....no thanks. We've quite enough with our very own Nelson Mandela house just behind the Jimmy Seed Stand.

Tomorrow is another must win game. Firstly we want the 3 points to draw level with Leeds but a much improved display is also important. It's a game we should win of course but as ever, it's Charlton so nothing is straight forward.

As for the team, I'd like to see McKenzie start on the left but don't envisage Parky doing that. Ironically Shelvey seems to fade in the second half a la Rommedahl and Wagstaff appears to be an impact player coming off the bench. It would seem to make sense to start with the same eleven as on Tuesday and bring Wagstaff on if needed..

I didn't get to the Hartlepool game and was grateful for the detailed reports from other blogs. Similarly I won't be there tomorrow....arghh ! Normally not a problem to be there but circumstances have conspired against me. Oh well, at least it's on telly I suppose although I hate watching the game that way, would much rather be there.

Let's hope we don't baulk at the chance to do well, that we can rack up a convincing win by completing a double, pocket the three points to give us a cushion, before we have a break till Saturday.   

Phew, I'm off for a rest !

Come On You Reds ( always time for one more ) !

Run Comes To An End Tomorrow

" Oh Bugger ! "

Having not missed a game since Brighton away I'm not going to get along to the game tomorrow. Had we not had such extreme weather of late that run would have been extended further by the addition of Walsall away and Hartlepool at home.

I'm not best pleased especially as the same work related reasons may keep me away on Monday too. I know it's on the telly but it's not the same is it ?

At the moment it's quite enjoyable to watch our boys. This recent stretch of home and away games is my best for many a year, if not ever. Bloody work commitments eh ? Don't get me wrong I love what I do but this is impacting on the Addicks !!

As a result I've not paid a lot of attention to the oppo aside from noticing that Mr Stelling's friend, James " I feel good " Brown is out. 

To those of you going, I hope it's a good one...........enjoy. I fear that I may miss a goal fest. I fear I may have to suffer Radio London's commentry or some such. I may as well be in Timbuktu or somewhere even more remote.........Adams Park !

Come On You Reds !

Fog and Missed

The view from the Dreams Stand late in to the game.

Adams Park is very much the out of town ground isn't it ? There's bugger all around and apparently only two pubs...........even then I only found one of them, the Hour Glass and this after driving around for some time ! Clearly the ground isn't named after the old Arsenal defender then.

Led to believe that a pre-match beer and bite to eat could be got at the ground we headed to that. Fair play, we had a beer in Scores and were made to feel very welcome. We relaxed as we watched Rafa's men drop more points in the quest for fourth place. Not so long ago children, Liverpool used to be quite good and actually won things and had aspirations of finishing higher than that, that's all changed now of course. With expectations lowered so are the chances of the manager getting sacked now no matter how bad he is or how much tosh he talks.........FACT !

A good showing of away support yesterday with everyone up for getting behind the lads. We weren't very good to be honest........the team not the fans......let's hope that it's just as a result of not playing for some time. Really we should have brushed Wanderers away quite comfortably. I'm hoping we improve as we get back to regular games....weather permitting.

Luckily, Wycombe missed their best chance early on although to be fair we did the same on a couple of occasions. The addition of someone who can tuck away chances on a regular basis would be very useful.

The plusses were the return of Burton, Dailly and Richardson, the latter looking good coming forward. Let's hope he stays fit. It'll be good to see Youga back too.

Another plus yesterday was that McLeod only had 30 minutes at Posh. Good, the less he's on the pitch the less time they have to realise just how bad he is.

Plenty to improve on for when we play the better sides but a win's a win and we'd have all settled for that before kick off.

Having left the Dreams Stand after the match it was onto the nightmare of driving home. It seemed an eternity before we got onto the M40. We then got held up for some time on the M25 as it shut in both directions. I later discovered this was due to someone wandering aimlessly across said motorway..........Izale ? Is that you ?  

Wasps Away

Following our last game against the Bees we now meet the Wasps. For me the Wasp is not as fearsome as the Bee, however, I'm expecting a tough game today.

On the wing Paul Sackey represents a real threat for Wasps. Thankfully we are able to call upon our leading try scorer, Deon Burton. Semedo should be able to return to his favoured scrum half positition with Dailly returning at inside centre.

Ironically, on the warmest day in living memory we are playing at a ground with under soil heating ! Oh to have been scheduled to play them on 2nd January.

As I type, the Walsall game is still at the mercy of the now regulation pitch inspection. Surely for the Braziers ( forgot Saddlers that nickname's passed into history now ) it'd be better to interupt all tv and radio programmes to announce that " today's game at the Banks's stadium is ON ! ".

Let's hope we can grab the win today whilst remembering  to observe all the opposition's kicks in total silence such is the proper way in these rugby stadia.

Brass Monkey Hangers

See No Football, Hear No Football, Speak No Football !

According to an e-mail to the Football League Show last night, a group of Hartlepool fans travelled to the      Valley yesterday unaware that the game was off ! Oh dear ! Clearly they needed more notice........hope         they're not due at the Banks's stadium soon.                                                                                                

Hev Yew Gotta Match Boy ?

Norfolk - The English Riviera ( " This isn't just any weather forecast, this is a Wikipedia forecast " )

With apologies to Allan Smethurst aka The Singing Postman ( check it out on Youtube kids ! ) it seems a reasonable question for a Canary to ask. It seems that Norwich are confident of their game being on tomorrow. I note that Leeds are equally optimistic of playing too. Localised weather eh ?

Perhaps it isn't the weather, maybe they just have the most braziers in League 1. Undersoil heating ? Pah ! Braziers, they're the future now........I've seen it !

Both teams will be visiting The Valley at the back end of the season, expect to be taunted with " we've got more braziers than you ! "..................... repeat ad nauseam.

Whilst our boys are training on the Thames tomorrow I fully expect that Leeds and Norwich will be pocketing another 3 points each. Ho hum !

I'll be spending the day watching telly, here's the schedule.........

12pm - Film - Starsky and Hutch starring Paul Michael-Brazier

2pm - American Sitcom Hour - Kelsey Grammer stars as psychiatrist Brazier

3pm - Dad's Army - A classic episode in which Private Brazier tells everyone " We're All Doomed ! "

4pm - Question Time - Today the MP for Canterbury and Whitstable gets a grilling.

5pm - Delia's How To Cook - A how to cook chestnuts special.

6pm - What's My Line ? A reprise of the old panel game. In this hilarious episode Bill Oddie incorrectly guesses that an old oil drum is a construction professional that selects, cuts, installs, replaces, and removes residential, commercial, and artistic glass.

7pm - Nightwatchmen News - An industry special focusing on the best way to stay warm at work and also enjoy a game of footie during your breaks.

8pm - Channel 5 only - Braziers and The Nazis.

9pm - Channle 4 - Big Brazier's Little Brazier.

11pm - Closedown - Dying Embers.  

A Dog's Dinner and An All Day Breakfast

All there was to show for yesterday's trip to Banks's Stadium

Having read that there was to be a further pitch inspection at 12pm but the referee / Walsall F C were confident the game would go ahead, myself and my eldest lad travelled to Walsall with some optimism. Wonderful then to arrive at the ground just as the game was called off ! To add insulst to injury the steward told me they'd tried everything and mentioned the dreaded " braziers ".............Arghhhh !!! Well if that state of the art technology couldn't sort it what would have !

What a mess, the canine's cuisine ! It wasn't as cold on Monday when the ref ( or was it Lambert ? ) called the game off. Surely he should have asked the ground staff about that and taken a steer from them. They must have known it wasn't going to improve as it was considerably colder.

We toyed with the idea of going to see Villa but decided to save some dosh. It was a return to Birmingham N S station and an all day breakfast in a nearby cafe. Sadly that was pretty poor tbh.......great, what a day !

Let's hope that Leeds get side-tracked by the cup and that Norwich start slipping up. It'll be interesting to see what effect the thumping Colchester got yesterday will have on them.

BTW Sandy Stewart, the assistant Burnley boss isn't someone you want to make excuses for you. He explained that Owen Coyle's absence from the post-match interviews was that he had to hot foot it off to Scotland to see his family............ " he's not seen them since New Year obviously.... ". Sandy, it was the 2nd January for God's sake ! All it needed was for Walsall F C to back that up with " we're confident that Owen Coyle isn't interested in the Bolton job " to apply the final nail in the coffin !

Indeed a day of dog's dinners, all heated by braziers of course....... !

The Artist Formerly Known As Bescot

One of Bescot's Iconic Works

I often wonder where I'd be these days without wikipedia............a lot less well informed and no mistake !

It appears that a former resident of the Walsall suburb of Bescot became well known as a graffitti artist. Wishing to conceal his true identity he became known simply as " Bescot ". That was until he moved to London near the banks of the River Thames and then acquired the monicker " Banksy ".

His work was already well known to the good people of Wasall who had called their local football team's ground, The Bescot Stadium, in honour of the man himself. Naturally once he'd changed his name to Banksy there was little else for them to do other than follow suit with their football ground.

Unfortunately, the new name was relayed to a firm of sign writers over the phone.....oh dear ! This led to some confusion with the result that the new stadium was called The Banks's Stadium. Never mind, it remains as a tribute to Bescot / Banksy, the artist of graffitti (" is that the Italian lad ? "  " No Trig ! " ).

Grabbing at any tenuous links to Only Fools and Horses it appears that Jack Frost may play his part tomorrow in the postponment of this game. Let's hope not and that the groundstaff of Walsall have been able to employ something a little more in keeping with modern methods than a bunch of braziers ( wonder what the collective noun is for that ? ) to keep the pitch playable.

Chris Hutchings has just recruited one of the stars of this year's pantomime, Jack and The Beanstalk, from the Walsall Rep Company. The giant, as played by Clayton McDonald, may well be on the bench..... " Fe Fi Fo Fum, I play football near Birmingham ! ". 

Let's hope that the game does go ahead, that Deon is fit to play and we go home with the 3 points.

Come On You Reds !

Train Travel :- London Euston to Bescot Stadium For A Tenner

If you're planning to travel by train on the London Midland route to tomorrow's game then note that they have an offer at the moment to travel anywhere for £10 for an adult and £5 for a child. The route covers from London Eusto to Bescot ( Banks's Stadium ).

Check their website, Londonmidland.com, to get details and voucher.