Holmes And Away

Holmes wasn't playing away but the Addicks managed to secure a second 1-0 win and their first away in the league since October.

Rather like the previous Saturday it would appear that it wasn't a great performance but it's better than losing I suppose especially given the circumstances of the last week alone.

The upcoming games are all very winnable if we're are playing anywhere our best. However, as we've seen in the last two fixtures nothing is easy in this league.

The manager probably deserves some credit for this win but he can spare me the " woe is me " tone of recent interviews.

I accept all the injuries and Roly not backing him at all in this transfer window. However, Robinson and the players need to get on with the hand they've been dealt.

All of us in our less well rewarded jobs have to deal with difficulties and set backs on an almost daily basis. The school where I work suffered a couple of devastating blows last year both within a few weeks of each other. However, we had to get on with things.

You'd think our brave boys had been to war in the last few days with the manner of reporting of some events.

Yes, I know it doesn't help when Roly has inflicted untold damage on our club over the last 4 years and even more of late but please, get on with the job in hand.

I'm not sure why Robinson opted to only have 5 subs on the bench. That included Solly and JFC who were both not really fit to play. It was great that they wanted to be there but why not include some of our U23's. Surely they're better than nothing.

What if Phillips was injured ? Are we seriously to believe that Robinson wouldn't have a young keeper on the bench ?

It's with things like that Robinson lets himself down in my opinion.

As a footnote to all of the above I now read that Robinson says he wanted Carruthers in return for Holmes. Now I am really confused as I'm sure that the manager said a couple of days ago that Ricky only just told him that he'd had an offer from Sheff Utd with the inference that he ( Robinson ) was unaware of it.

However, it was at least a week ago that Robinson went public on wanting Carruthers. All that gives credence to my view that Robinson wanted Carruthers and that Holmes going the other way was originally part of the deal. It was only when Roly said he wanted cash only that that particular deal blew up.

My last word on Holmes is that he has been an excellent servant to the club in his short time with us. He's not been of his best of late and I've been quite critical of him for that. However, be in no doubt that he is a very good player at this level and one who at his age deserves a shot at the Championship and maybe more. You really can't blame him for grabbing this opportunity and he leaves us with some pretty good memories of his time in a Charlton shirt.

As with all things in S.E.7 it's all a bit of a mess. The sooner this takeover goes through and decisions are made ( whichever way ) on the management side both on and off the pitch the better.

In case you were wondering the pics at the top of this piece are " Holmes under the ( MC ) Hammer ".....hilarious eh ?

Have a good week let's hope it brings some positive news.