In the pink !

A fantastic performance on Saturday saw the Addicks return to winning ways in addition to stemming the flow of goals conceded. That this was achieved against an in form Barnsley team speaks volumes.

I don’t think anyone had a bad game. The return of Bielek shored up the back four. An improved display for Dijksteel allied to Pearce being restored to his preferred side really made a difference.

Added to that Steer put in a more assured display with a couple of good saves and on occasion, excellent distribution.

Grant’s excellent finish following a sublime pass from Ward was very much against the run of play. The first half was an even affair and in truth the Addicks would have welcomed the half time break.

The first 45 minutes made it clear that referee Linington had not improved since his last time at The Valley. Mind you with the sun in his eyes ( not an excuse he could have for the Posh game ! ) it’s no surprise. On several occasions he had his hand shading his eyes from the bright orb in the sky !

It did make me wonder why referees don’t follow the example of keepers and wear a cap ( ok, I know this means exercising a degree of common sense ! ). I’m sure The Valley in mid-November can’t be the only occasion that this is an issue so why would it not be part of their kit they take to every game ?

The second half saw Barnsley reduced to just one shot on target pretty much such was the excellent work from the team. The second effectively finished the game but you can never say never with the Addicks !

A third was disallowed for reasons known only to the man from the Isle of Wight but it failed to lessen the celebratory atmosphere in S.E. 7 !

On to tomorrow night and the most one dimensional manager in league football brings his Oxford team to The Valley. It’s something of a surprise as most of us thought he’d have gone by now so bad has been the Yellows start to the season.

A number of fans seem happy following a run of two scoreless draws and a win over the bottom club, Plymouth. However, some of the natives have been restless with most seeing through the verbiage and endless excuses of our former manager. However,

A couple of fans recently observed “ No evident style of play, no clear strategy to score because Robbo is a tactical numpty “ and “ Honestly, I’ve seen bowls of porridge with more tactical acumen “ !!

Of course, we know this all too well having witnessed it at first hand.

It we fail to beat Oxford tomorrow it’ll only be down the goalkeeping excellence of Simon Eastwood, a dodgy refereeing decision, some horrendous mistake or poor play from ourselves.

Lee Bowyer should be confident of a win although he’ll no doubt be up to the wee hours trying to second guess what formation Crafty Karl will deploy !

In the event of another defeat for Oxford no doubt Robinson will dig deep into the book of excuses. This season he has added the home ground having an effect on the lads. The three sides isn’t helping apparently.

Jon Obika is out for the season and so won’t be playing. Ricky Holmes missed out on Saturday but I don’t know the extent of his injury. Carruthers is finding his fitness and feet after a spell on the sidelines.

Oxford are unlikely to be adventurous and Robinson would probably take another 0-0 right now. He’ll have half an eye on a smash and grab.

Hopefully he’ll leave pointless with The Addicks cementing the good work done on Saturday.

Finally, tomorrow’s match is part of Lyle Taylor’s Go Pink campaign and let’s hope it is successful in raising more money towards this very worthwhile cause.

Come On You Reds !