French Connection 2

Ah yes, I remember it well........

Having just missed out on Van Persie, Charlton have added another player of Gallic descent and it is the big name player we were promised, Dorian Dervite-Vaussoue. An anagram of that is ravenous, devious tirade ( what do you mean I've too much time on my hands ? ).

At 6ft 3in he is a tad taller than Chris Solly. Formerly of Spurs and more recently Villareal B he will probably go into the squad ahead of Saturday's trip to Birmingham. If Cort is injured then that's definite. Un ami for Yann then.

If Dorian does as well as his French counterpart then we're in for a treat !

This season it will be interesting to see how we individually and collectively we make the step up to the Championship. I'd be happy with mid-table but fear we may struggle. The addition of a striker and midfielder of decent pedigree may allay those fears and I hope it comes to pass.

I know I ought to want for us to ultimately go back up to the Prem but I have reservations about that. The cost of home matches would increase for sure as well as the cost of attending away games. To give you an example of costs, this weekend Southampton fans are having to pay £50 to watch them play City away in a game live on Sky ! Ridiculous if not scandalous ! If it were Charlton then I'd be hard pushed to justify that level of spend even leaving aside the travel costs.

It's not hard to envisage the South London trio of us, Palarse and Millwall all in the lower reaches of the table come season's end.

I hope the players are looking forward to the challenges ahead. For one or two I'd say this is a make or break season. Stephens will need to re-capture his early promise from last season as towards the end he wasn't doing it for me. 

I remain frustrated and amazed that Wagstaff is still with us. He could be good but his continued lack of physical presence ( get down the gym young man ! ) and reluctance to attack defenders and running round in circles should consign him to a place on the bench at best.

On Tuesday Hamer looked more confident and decisive than last season. He came for crosses and caught or punched with authority. I hope he continues to progress and hopefully he'll develop into a keeper of some quality.  

Like others I was shocked that Mambo was kept on. Being loaned out is fine upto a point but if he's good enough then surely he ought to play. Today's signing does nothing to make you think Sir Chris sees him that way.  

The boss himself faces the biggest test of his fledgling managerial career. Can he cope ? Yes, I believe he can as I feel he's very intelligent and quick to learn. At this stage I wouldn't want anyone else in charge of our team. 

I think we'll do well to come away with anything from Saturday's game. Brum are strongly fancied to do well this season in spite of having Lee Clark as a manager. I didn't like him at Huddersfield, going to Birmingham hasn't helped my affections towards him. Had he stayed at Hudders I don't think they'd have gone up, too many draws would have transpired I feel.

I note that the delightful Marlon King plays for the Blues and the law of sod says he's odds on to score along with Ambrose.

I fully expect our team to be that which for the most part finished the League One campaign although I wouldn't be surprised if Pritchard didn't sneak a starting place.

Good luck to all those braving the trip to a place not quite as welcoming as Carlisle ! Sing your hearts out for the lads and I hope that for all of us Addicks but you especially that we come away with something.

Come On You Reds !