Charlton 1 Sporting Braga 2

So there we have it, pre-season all over and done and dusted, and its all down to Scunthorpe next weekend. And it all ended with a meaningless defeat against a very good Braga side. Seems its our three foreign johnnies that took all the prizes, Magic, Moutaouakil and Semedo all showing the skills and workrate that persuaded Pards to bring them to the Valley. Lets hope that they understand how it's going to be on a cold winters night in February, sorry December, down there in Cardiff!

There's still talk of additions from Pards "I want one more striker for sure, Luke Varney's ankle injury has been a blow to us because he was a big-money signing but hopefully that'll turn out to be a silver lining when he's back in two to three week's time. We've also made a couple of enquiries regarding a central midfield player but I haven't got anything concrete at the moment. I would like to get a striker in and I'd be more patient with the midfield player.”

Looking back on the brief, and regrettable, Monica Moment last year, Carson, Reid, Faye and Diawara ( and Traore) all joined in the last two weeks of August so it'll be no surprise if there are not more to arrive, or maybe depart...

But to put us at ease, probably the best news coming out of yesterday was the commitment of Andy Reid and Jerry Thomas to the cause and to ease our defensive worries, well a little bit, the news that Jon Fortune has decided not to join Stoke.

Several people have commented about the apparent secrecy at the Valley regarding injuries so its good to get a bit of news about right-back osei sankofa who's been, yes you guessed it, injured apparently, but by whom or what we still don't know. And at times it would seem that the management have read that fascinating book by Simon Montefiore about Stalin and the Politburo in the 50's and are following the rather convenient occurrence of having people simply vanishing from sight and then, sometimes, being restored when a change in mood, or is it recovery from injury, sees fit. Perhaps there's a safe house in darkest Kent that we secretly dispatch them to to be rehabilitated into "real Addicks".

Not putting too fine a point on it, but what's happening with Cory Gibbs, is he still here? Has his injury reoccurred? He played the second half at Welling but has now vanished from sight again. And where was Amady Faye between the Everton game in the middle of April and Gillingham in July? It all makes Agatha Christie's disappearance for 11 days in 1926 almost insignificant, which it probably is. But at least it makes you pleased to be a little club. If we was "Big", the story would be all over the tabs telling us he's suffering from some terminal illness or has flown to the moon for a holiday. Oh, and Lloyd Sam is apparently injured as well.

But at least we told what's happening with Matt Holland, "We've lost Matty for six weeks. It looks like he will have to have a cartilage operation so that's a blow to us.”

Meanwhile, the topic on everyones lips concerns Souly D. The statement is that although he didn't feature from the bench in Saturday's friendly clash, Souleymane Diawara is not on his way out of the club.

Pardew explained: "I didn't use Souley today because we've had a bid from Bordeaux which is way short of our valuation. But, by the same token, I'm trying to make sure that he doesn't lose focus. He's having some difficult decisions to make and we'll see how that progresses but at the moment he's certainly not going anywhere.."

Scunthorpe meanwhile, managed a 1-1 draw with Grimsby with ex-Addicks Kelly Youga at last getting a game of football and playing the whole game at left-back. I bet he plays a blinder come the weekend. And expect a party atmosphere next Saturday. Over 1,800 Iron fans are making the trip to see their first Tier 2 game in 43 years!

And a final note. Its good to see that our faithful Web Designer has come back from his hols and finally removed the annoying clips of certain ex-players from the official website. They've been replaced by pics of a smiling Pards with thumbs-up and new goal-scoring legend Luke Varney. And to show that we have a heart its good news to see that Kevin has finally signed for colchester although he might be a bit embarrassed to see in print his final Charlton scoring figures - 19 from 176. Makes even Leaburn seem prolific.