The Long And The Short Of It

"E"asy does it

Thanks to one of our twitter fans for the photo. I hope the Gazette's poster writer doesn't work at the local sweet factory........an awful lot of rock goes to waste if they do. Spelling's not their forte in Blackpool I have to say. When I last visited they had a poster in the local pub saying that the following Saturday's entertainment was going to be " compared " by Dave Williams. Oh dear !

I avoided all media contact until 4.52pm yesterday when I tuned into Final Score. How shocked and pleased was I with that ! It had me jumping around the living room, punching the air. Fantastic.

My delight was enhanced when I found out about the goal scorers and in particular, the manner of Solly's one. Superb and from what I can gather he was rather happy with it. I'm pleased that a number of supporters had taken up the bet for Cort to score and their wallets will be a little fatter today unless they've spent it on a drink or two to celebrate.

Sir Chris made a change and brought in Razak for BWP. A tough decision and a little harsh on Bradley perhaps but one that was good for the overall well being of the team. Fuller as one would expect had a blinder playing as the lone striker. Indeed, he was unlucky not to score.

I note that Wilson had a good game and well done to him. I'll leave aside the full back debate for now as we should really just wallow in the glory of victory.

Just as pleasing as how well everyone played individually and collectively was the clean sheet. Always good if that can be achieved and I note Hamer made a couple of fine saves.

Poor old Super Kev eh ? The Addicks did for him again !

Those damned international breaks come at the wrong time and have had me confused. I was certain we were off to Leeds next Tuesday but of course, we're not. At least it'll give us a chance to get all rested and one or two an opportunity to overcome their injuries.

Young Abdul is off to the Ivory Coast to play so he'll come back match fit but hopefully not too tired.

With the Addicks not playing next weekend, we'll need to look to the lower leagues and non-league for our footie fix.  

There's A Famous Seaside Town Called........

Blackpool, That's noted for fresh air and fun......

There may be plenty of fresh air on Saturday but the way things are at present I'm not sure we can guarantee any fun !

Following on from Saturday, Tuesday night was missed opportunity part two. Curbs learnt the folly of misguided loyalty and Sir Chris needs to too and quickly. Tuesday night should have seen starts for Evina and Razzaq. Even failing that, then at worst, some ten minutes into the second half, those two should have come on for Wilson and Hollands.

Yes, we gave Watford a battering second half but with the superior passing of Razzaq and with Evina delivering crosses from the left we probably would have won. Staying with what appeared 4-4-2 in the second half with the oppo having only one striker up front was lost on me.

The thinking behind the decision to take off our most influential player of late ( Fuller aside ) in Green and push Wilson up to right midfield was lost on me.

We could have had Green attacking still on the right, Razzaq controlling the midfield and creating with some quality passing and Evina delivering from the left and linking up with Kerkar.

In my view we took too long to start Fuller in games and now we are repeating that mistake with Razzaq and Evina.

We've a run of games now that promises to be both tough and little in terms of points. We've got to be positive and make those changes now. It's worked in as much as playing Green and Kerkar has improved our play and we're creating more. A couple more tweaks as suggested and we can have cause for optimism.

All of the above isn't to detract from how well we played at times on Tuesday because we did on occasion look quite good with some slick passing and movement. It's just it could and should have been so much better.

Onto Saturday then and time to make those changes please God ! The Seasiders are a tidy outfit now and possess a number of decent players that carry a real threat. We will need to be at our best if we are to get anything from the game.

I'll not be there on Saturday due to finances but in any case I'm still trying to recover from the horror of the Pardew inspired 5-3 defeat a few years ago...........what a bloody miserable weekend that was.

Well done and good luck to all that travel oop north and if your name's Albert.........watch out for the lions !

Come On You Reds !

Little Italy

Hopefully he and his friends won't be too much of a pest.

Ciao readers ! Tomorrow night's game see us play Watford and half of the Udinese side courtesy of the Hornets' owners connections. Added to that is the manager Gianfranco Zola, blimey they might well appear in an azure strip and be called the bluebottles.

One hopes that Fuller's absence on Saturday was indeed down to a virus and nothing more sinister. We can do without that as we need him in the side.

Our new recruits, Razak and Hulse ought to get some time too. Useful additions and I'd like to see young Razak start but fear Sir Chirs's cautious nature may prevent this form happening.

That tendency towards caution cost us on Saturday I felt and I hope that he'll be encourage to go all out for the win. We do need to win as we don't want to find ourselves back in the bottom three even if the league is still at a somewhat embryonic stage.  

Please let's not see a 4-5-1 formation again that has BWP at its head..........it's not for him ! 

You'll probably be pleased that this post is rather brief as it's at the end of a long day and I'm just about to beat a midnight deadline.

Let's hope that we can get ourselves another win tomorrow night and get three points to send back in the right direction.

Come On You Reds !

Missed Opportunity

The shock news of Steve Kean's departure on Friday evening was going to have an effect in one of two ways. Either it would galvanize players and supporters or it would knock the stuffing out of the team. We now know it had the latter effect. Most of the Rovers side looked lost and were certainly far from " up for it ! ".

The relatively sparse away following was similarly affected.......possibly the quietest bunch at the Valley for some time when one felt that had much to celebrate.

Rhodes and Murphy in particular had little to no impact on the game with both being largely anonymous. You only knew Murphy was playing courtesy of our fans saying welcome back and his constant moaning to referee Deadman.

David Dunn came on as a late sub and it was evident as to the whereabouts of the elusive Steve Kean....he'd been eaten by Dunn.

The shock news of Fuller's mystery illness resulted in us going 4-5-1 with a recall for Hollands. This to me seemed illogical on both counts. Why change the formation you'd worked on all week ? Smith should have played. BWP is not someone to play up front in the said formation. Aside from that Pritchard would have been better suited to come into midfield.

Sadly our boys still played as if we had two up front, continually banging balls up to Brad with same result every time. He was never going to win it against their.... er, slightly taller defenders. Surely our boys could have worked out that was never going to be successful ?

Rovers were there for the taking and why we didn't sling on another man up front especially in the latter stages when we were well on top I simply don't know. Had either Yann or Fuller played then I've little doubt we would have won the game.

I would have taken a point before kick off but seeing what unfolded was left frustrated that we didn't secure all three. You've got to go for it at home, surely ?

Most players had a good game and although I'm not Dale's biggest fan I thought he did rather well. Morrison was immense and Green maintained the decent standard he's played to of late. Danny was unlucky not to score in hitting the post.

I felt that the team played well although I'm not sure if that wasn't in some measure due to the Rovers performance. I can't believe that Watford will play as poorly as Rovers on Tuesday.

I hope the injuries to Jackson and possibly Kerkar doesn't mean we're without either for too long. Last season we were very lucky with injuries, this term is proving the opposite. However, on a more positive note the acquisition of Abdul Razak is a very good one. Comparisons with a young Alex Song wouldn't be far off the mark as he has a good eye for a pass and usually going forwards with it too. I hope he is given a start on Tuesday.

Finally, a word about the supporters trust. I know it has been highlighted on other blogs but will add my own plug if I may. I did a quick survey with regular Charlton Life contributor, Seth Plum before the game. I would be happy to contribute a fiver to this worthy cause especially as living a fair distance away from the Valley leaves me unable to make a much more meaningful contribution. You can find out more at www.castrust.org.

Looking forward to Tuesday although, as I said, it'll be a damn sight harder than Rovers yesterday.

Not So Kean

Hope & Keen sans the Crazy Bus

Back in the day Hope and Keen were what passed for children's entertainment on BBC 1 I believe. They toured the country in their crazy bus usually getting into some " hilarious scrapes ".

Blackburn Rovers have Kean but no Hope ! That is how many Rovers fans view things until the much disliked Kean departs Ewood Park. They don't think there's much to laugh about.

We can but hope that this will work against Rovers if things don't go their way at The Valley on Saturday and their fans voice their displeasure and get on his back with the effect of unsettling the Blackburn players.

There's no mistaking that they have some quality players and it should prove to be a tough game. I believe that Rovers will win the league as I think the hapless Kean is on borrowed time. Once he's gone any competent manager that replaces him ought to get them up at least.

Jordan Rhodes hasn't enjoyed much success against us and I trust that remains the case come 4.55pm on Saturday.

Sadly we are now down by two in terms of the title winning team of last term as Yann joined Wiggins on the long term injury list. He will be missed but as others have observed this gives opportunities to others. Talking of which, for the love of God, I do hope that Evina gets a start on Saturday. Sir Chris seems to be indicating that he might and I do so hope he does. He deserves it and Solly should be playing at right back, end of !

Fuller should start again of course. He is a class act and his goal on Saturday was testament to that !

I see no reason to change the midfield that began at Portman Road. Prove positive that players should play in their best and natural positions.

Elsewhere, great to see that the Barcodes have seen fit to reward nice Mr Pardew with an eight year contract ! Bu**er me, some of us were just coming to terms with the 5 year one he got when he joined ! Little chance of him still being there in 8 years of course but every chance of him making sure he gets every last penny of compensation should he be sacked.

On a more positive Mags note, I was delighted to see Robbie Elliot play at Old Trafford last night and do so well. He made a couple of blinding saves and looked quite assured. Good for him. I hope he gets a go in the league side soon.

Enough of all that. I hope that the lads are buoyed by the win at Ipswich and gained confidence and can get something out of the game. A point would be good for me and all three, even better.

Come On You Reds !

Jewell In The Brown

another sweater from the PJ casual range

Paul Jewell gave off the impression of a defeated man yesterday before a ball had been kicked. His rather unkempt and casual appearance did little to dispel that. He had shaved, put on a suit or even a tracksuit then his players might have felt that, he and they, meant business. It's almost as though he is resigned to his fate.

It was a good time to play the Tractor Boys when they're not performing too well with the Suffolk side, ironically, lacking punch up front. Their goal came courtesy of a deflection that no Addick could be blamed for and Nathan Ellington wasted a glorious chance late on..

I was pleased to see Sir Chris ring the changes and give starts to Kerkar and Fuller albeit that in the case of Ricardo his hand may have forced by the injury to Yann. I'd like to think that he was going to start Fuller whatever.

The boss was spot on in his post-match interview when he observed that scoring the first goal was all important. It gave us a boost whilst heaping pressure onto Ipswich.

Fuller showed his ability with the second goal and we must all pray that he stays fit. If so, we can look forward to plenty more of that and him making a major contribution to our season. His determination to win the ball and then composure and class with the finish was top drawer and it even drew an appreciative round of applause from an elderly Ipswich fan behind the goal. Well done madam !

Good to see skip score. He does need to play in central midfield if he is to play and it would seem that he had a good game or at least a better one than of late.

Green looked very effective again and it's pleasing to see him doing well. Clearly he's been working hard at his game and that is paying dividends. He also needs to stay fit.

Yesterday I adopted a policy of staying away from all media from 3pm until 4.50pm when I switched on Final Score but given the large amount of time added on had to endure a nervy 5 minutes or so until the final whistle was confirmed. 

I failed in my attempts to stay awake for the highlights on the football league show. Having watched them  this morning I was amused by Leroy Rosenior's observation that Portman Road is a difficult place to go as I wasn't sure that he didn't mean for the home team !

Next up we've two home games, starting with the arrival of Blackburn Rovers. Rovers lost on Friday night and didn't look particularly convincing. Steve Kean continues to suffer abuse from the home fans even having been top of the league. One assumes the away support is even more vocal in terms of expressing their displeasure so that may help us if we can get on top. It surely can't be great for the players.

A result then and again on the Tuesday would be a real boost. I hope it's not too much to hope for.

Sharp Shooters

Like Danny Green, he knows how to shoot

I went to the movies, the flicks or as we used to say, the pictures, on Tuesday night. I saw The Sweeney which I thought was pretty good. Bugger the critics. Never read a review and pay too much attention to it, go see for yourself. I don't care if that makes some kind of easy to please nonce but after all, I like watching Charlton so the bar's not set very high !

We were one down before I taken my cinema seat and I got a text telling me we were two down before Pearl and Dean were done. As I was watching Plan B, Sir Chris was working on his. I have to say young Ben met with more success !

Although we seemingly didn't play well for the first hour or so, we came back into the game and you know your luck's against when you have yet another goal chalked off for offside and are on the wrong end of a soft penalty. Throw in Stephens's suicidal back pass ( well he wanted to be a Villan ) and you've little chance of getting anything from the game.

Onto Saturday and our basement battle away to Ipswich. This term Sir Chris has reminded me of our first season in the Prem when Curbs remained steadfastly loyal to a few players who'd been instrumental in promotion. Indeed, Curbs in his autobiography remarked on how it had been a mistake to do so. Ilic stands out as a classic example of that.

The need to change the midfield ( to a greater extent than bringing Green into it ) has been there for all to see for some time. It should have happened on Tuesday at the latest. The additional delay in starting Fuller also stands out like a sore thumb. He is a class above just about anyone else we have and we do create chances when he plays.

At last we added width from the start in the shape of Green who has returned refreshed and looking the business. I feel we need to add Kerkar in the midfield. He looks good to me. We've just got to find the right balance, whatever that might be but it certainly isn't with the present incumbents.

I've always believed in playing players in their strongest position and the loss of your first choice left back shouldn't be compounded be losing your first one on the right by playing him on the left. It doesn't make sense to me especially when a fairly decent left back is available. Evina may not be everyone's cup of tea but he's looked ok to me and as I said, why suffer a self imposed double whammy !

Sir Chris needs to make some changes ahead of Saturday and I do so hope that a few reinforcements come in although I've no idea how likely that is. All the players need to feel under pressure to perform to hold onto their place. We've already seen the impact it can have in the shape of Green's return looking a lot better than I remember towards the end of last season.

This season is a real learning curve for all concerned and I never felt we'd do much else other than struggle given how little quality or experience was brought in over the close season. We can finish in about mid-table given a couple of decent additions. The side doesn't lack character. At the start of the season it didn't lack self-belief either, however, defeats can change that of course.

As I've remarked before Sir Chris is too intelligent not to learn lessons and do the right thing. Like any other manager, he needs backing in terms of resources and if some stories are to be believed he hasn't been able to bring in the players he wanted.

Moreover, Sir Chris needs support from us and even if we continue to struggle and stay in the bottom three I believe he should remain as manager. It would be foolish to sack him as he possesses too much potential. I remember that doubters that would have had him out the door at the end of his first incomplete season. They were wrong then and they'd be wrong now or at any time this season.

Let's hope that the lads can set us back on the right path with a win at Portman Road on Saturday.

Come On You Reds !