Home Sweet Home !

Saturday sees AFC Wimbledon visit The Valley. This is the first of 4 successive home games with unusually, this being the only league game. The other 3 are comprised of 2 Checkatrade Trophy matches and an F A Cup tie.

Of all 4 games potentially only the one against Fulham U21s ought to realistically present any real difficulty. However, Charlton being Charlton I'm sure matters won't be that straight forward !

AFC have had a mixed set of results this season. Back to back wins in mid-October appeared to have got them on the right road before they suffered a reverse against Plymouth last weekend.

However, they lost to the only goal of the game and all the stats suggest that they were unfortunate not to come away with something from it. I don't envisage that they will sit back and get 11 men behind the ball. That promises for a good game.

Sadly, I'll not be there as I'll be celebrating a 90th anniversary on the Kent Coast. One that is in keeping with the stereotypical view of a Charlton fan !

Speaking of anniversaries I note that our esteemed CEO broke her long silence this week. At least in as much as a statement was attributed to her concerning the Back To The Valley dinner. Ah 1992 I remember it well ! A time long before Roly and Miss Meire started the downward spiral.

As a2c will no doubt observe there I go again with my xenophobia towards Queen Kat who's doing such a great job dahn our gaff. Please keep your silly comments to yourself although I'm sure you won't.

In respect of the BTTV dinner I'm disappointed that this is on a Sunday. Why could this not have been on the Saturday after the game when fans would already be there.

That aside it is of lesser importance than the proposed cost of £95 per head. Ah the people's game, the working man's game except it isn't these days is it.

I suspect that this is an attempt by Meire and Co to keep out the riff raff. After all we don't want those that this really means something to actually be involved. 

Imagine a family having to find the money for this. No kids rate tickets of course and this £95 doesn't include drinks either.........was this really organised by the boys team from The Apprentice !

It's a shame as I'd loved to have gone much like many others. I'll be surprised if they manage to sell all the tickets at that price.

On a brighter note we ought to win on Saturday and I shall be following from a distance as I hope our good run doesn't hit the buffers.

Come On You Reds !   

Out Of The Blue

Solly seems to be the hardest word.

Saturday's win oop north meant that The Addcicks came away from the two away games with 4 points. Appropriately as I've recently been listening again to Elton's 1976 album this all came a bit out of the blue.

A number of good performances amongst a solid sounding team performance. I'm not sure that we created a lot of clear cut chances but the result was everything and others will be too if we're to have any hope of catching the top two.

I'm not sure that Wigan will be caught by anyone but certainly one would expect Shrewsbury to slip up at some stage or have a bit of a wobble at least.

Sarr has impressed again and I don't think it has hurt our cause to add some height into the back four. It's all well and good saying how good Dasilva is going forward but we need some strength and physical presence in the back four and playing two full backs with Dasilva and Solly's stature is something of a risk.

Amos made two or three great saves and on another day Bradford might have got something from the game. However, they didn't and it makes a change to report on the oppo not taking chances rather than us.

Not many teams in recent seasons have come away from Bradford with all 3 points and that serves to underline how good the result was.

A week's break before we face a real slog of games most of them at home. A chance for the management team to consider an alternative to playing Magennis up front. In fact given the need to make the best use of the whole squad there are many options to consider.

No further news on the rumoured takeover has come to light with Miss Meire remaining tight-lipped. Mind you she's made any utterance for some time. Maybe she's waiting on her application to join The Cistercian Order. Since she's seemingly not said anything since early April she must be a shoe-in.

Whilst the last few games haven't produced exactly blinding performances we are now unbeaten since mid-September. That must be good for confidence and provides a good platform. Had we won a couple more of those our position would be really healthy but we're hanging in there. 

The real test is to see if we can still be up there by the end of the upcoming run of games. 

Come On You Reds !

Cock and Ball Story

My attempts to combine the latest takeover rumour with our next opponents gave me a heart attack when I sought to find an accompanying image. Damn near took my eye out ! If curiosity gets the better of you then make sure you don't Google the image in the office ! 

Today saw the re-emergence of the takeover rumours. I can't add to anything that has been said elsewhere on Twitter or other social media. Clearly it's what we all want with the hope the any new owner will have only the best interests for our club at heart and that it can recapture its place as a decent and well run club with the fans at its heart. 

It would be nice if that were to happen to once again be truly proud of our club and all it has traditionally stand for.

We face a tough away game on Saturday following another disappointing draw on Tuesday. More disappointing than the result perhaps is our failure to yet again take more than one of the chances on offer.

Clearly this repeated failure will and is costing us dear. Robinson's response to this is apparently to get Big Sam in to work with our defence ! We've conceded 6 goals in the last 6 league games, hardly a crisis at the back. The aim to get Allardyce in is therefore a bit bizarre rather like the playing of Holmes in centre mid. Put your best players in their best positions, it really is that simple.

There's no denying that the football for the most part this season has been better than we've seen from Charlton in recent seasons. However, Robinson doesn't like to do the basics right it seems allied to his refusal to try anything other than his preferred system.

I think we all like seeing a more expansive style of play but I get frustrated when we can't play the ball out from the keeper properly. We seems to make a hash of it too often. It should be simple even if the oppo presses you a bit.

Magennis must be knackered and it seems is in line for a rest at some stage if he isn't injured before then. Sadly, not trying playing without him even for the last few minutes of a game leaves us nothing to go on and no experience for any other player. 

Some will cite the lack of another striker as an issue and to some extent it is but our side ought to have goals from a number of areas. That potential isn't being realised. We ought to be pushing for a top two place with what we've got. 

I can't believe that the likes of Shrewsbury, Bradford and Rotherham have better squads than us and they're not getting better backing from the fans I'm sure. However, They find themselves ahead or just behind us.

We need to turn draws into wins and that probably won't happen on Saturday but it needs to start happening soon otherwise a play-off will be beyond us.

Come On You Reds !

The Graduate

" Are you trying to seduce me Mr Robinson ? "

The Addicks face two tough away tests starting with Oxford where they hope to pass the first test with first class honours.

Travelling fans will be hoping to see a performance a lot more inspiring than Saturday's against a poor Doncaster side. Whilst never in any real danger of losing our failure to add to the early goal nearly came back to bite us on the backside.

Having had two weeks break and with increased competition for places it's not unreasonable to have expected more. However, a win's a win and if it contributes to the ultimate prize of promotion then I guess it's a small price to pay.

One assumes that Robinson will make some changes with the upcoming schedule. However, he's not been one for change of late so who knows.

Oxford find themselves on a decent run following a couple of setbacks towards then end of September. It won't be easy to get anything from the game.

If we can garner 4 points from this game and Saturday's trip to Bradford then that will be a pretty good return ahead of  a faltering Wimbledon side at the end of October.

There is some respite from all the league action after all that when Truro City make their way up from the West Country for the first round of the FA Cup. A home tie is desirable and in opposition that we ought to beat will allow more fringe players to get a game.

Come On You Reds !

Donny Ahoy !

Oh look he's chartered a boat especially !

Charlton return to action on Saturday with the oppo at The Valley being Doncaster Rovers.

Donny have enjoyed mixed results to date this season. They finally recorded a home win last Saturday with a 4-1 win over Southend. On the road they have beaten Blackburn and Plymouth whilst drawing 3 games overall.

The main goal threat will come from former Millwall man John Marquis who netted 26 league goals last season and has scored 5 to date this season.

Rovers are managed by Darren Ferguson and whilst it's exactly a case of like father, like son in managerial terms Darren enjoyed a fair amount of success at Peterborough.

Last season he achieved promotion with Rovers and is a manager who knows the league well and is used to managing successfully on a small budget. He will know only too well what to expect from a side managed by Robinson.

Charlton will be keen not to have lost any impetus gained from the fine performance and result from the Fleetwood game.

Magennis could be excused for being totally knackered from his international exploits and given our totally reliance on him with seemingly no sign of a rest it's only a matter of time before he's injured or becomes pretty ineffective as he runs out of steam.

Robinson now faces a bit of a selection dilemma. As Solly didn't play last time out we had more height ( it's not hard ! ) with Konsa having a fine game. In addition, Sarr performed well too.

Normally you would expect your skipper to come straight back into the side but it's not that simple although I expect Robinson will bring him back in.

Midfield is where even greater selection issues occur. In that respect the manager can have few complaints with a number of options available. Given the trouble that the manager went to organise friendlies and internal practice games if Reeves and Marshall don't feature to some extent it'll look rather futile.

Whilst the rest of the squad will be well rested the 3 international players that we can't do without have returned. Quite how prepared they'll be for tomorrow's game is anyone's guess. Certainly Magennis ought to be physically and mentally tired after some tough games. To some extent the other two as well.

A real long slog of fixture looms large on the horizon and it's fair to say the squad will be used to its fullest extent as injuries and suspensions will no doubt play a part. Let's hope we can start off with a win tomorrow.

Come On You Reds !

A Win At Last !

Fleetwood looking a little shocked by the result !

A much welcome win then for The Addicks on Saturday following a pretty miserable winless run. Good performances from all concerned especially Konsa, Sarr and of course hat-trick hero Fosu.

Robinson ought to be wondering like the rest of us how we could play so well for nearly the entire duration of the game after such insipid and inconsistent performances in the previous four.

Missing Pearce and Solly and able to bring on Marshall and Reeves whilst Aribo is still in reserve many will wonder what as to the validity of Robinson's claim that he is overseeing a thin squad.

Agreed, he doesn't quite have the 2 players competing for each position that he stated he wanted but Robinson's cupboard isn't quite as bare as he would have us believe. In addition, it looks an awful lot more rosy than compared to many of the other squad in League One.

The absence of alternative strikers to Magennis is surely down to the manager himself unless his claims that he is in control of all the transfer dealing is pure fabrication. Selling or loaning out all those players before getting any suitable replacement in is naive for any manager but quite startling for one of Robinson's experience.

I understand the reasons for the Peterborough postponement of course. However, I felt it was a bit short sighted before Saturday's win. I think we can cope without the 3 called up and also the missing Pearce.

We have now added another midweek fixture that will surely test our resources even further especially given that it may well be preceded or followed by another midweek game either side of it.

It looks worse given Peterborough's last couple of results and given that they have an EFL fixture tomorrow against fairly local rivals Northampton. It seems that Saturday was an almost ideal time to play them.

Too late now of course and only time will tell if it was the right one. In the meantime we have a break until Saturday week before we face Doncaster Rovers. Let's hope we don't lose the momentum gained from the win at Fleetwood.

Come On You Reds !