Who's Going to Keep Their Nerve?

Just 45 days left of the football season, a little over 6 weeks and which team, and manager, will be better at keeping their nerve?

We are still in a dominant position, 9 points clear of Sheff. Utd and 11 clear of Wednesday and they don't even talk about us now as they battle among themselves for the second automatic spot. So are we worried or not? Well, that will depend as much on you as the team  so lets do our best to help you enjoy these last few weeks of a memorable season.

Everyone is calculating how many points we need to get the Championship/automatic promotion. Will we need 90, 95 or whatever? But the Number One priority is, of course, to stay above the third placed team, currently Wednesday although Huddersfield could equal their points total if they win their game in hand.

The good news when comparing the Addicks, the Blades and Wednesday is that we have all fallen below our best over the last 8 games. Over the whole season so far the Addicks have averaged 2.16 points per game, United 1.92 and Wednesday 1.87 whereas over the last 8 games, both ourselves and Wednesday have dropped to 1.75 and United are down to 1.37. So everyone is suffering from bad nerves with 4th placed Huddersfield also down to 1.62 points per game.

So we ask ourselves, will the next 8 games be any easier than the last 8  - well, probably not as the Play-off and relegation battles hot-up - so it would seem obvious to calculate how many points both Sheffield clubs would get if they continued at their current rate. That's easy - United would add  just 11 and Wednesday 14 to give them totals for the season of 84 for United and 85 for the mighty Wednesday compared to our current Addicks total of 82.

Now, you can see some daylight. At those averages the Addicks only need four more points to be certain of grabbing hold of the silverware. But I can see you're not convinced, you want it to be harder than that don't you?

OK, lets see how easy are the 8 games of our opponents to see whether or not they may improve on their current averages. United look to have an easy run-in and face the 3 bottom teams, Chesterfield, Rochdale and Exeter; 2 more involved in the Play-off race, MK Dons and Stevenage and 3 others in mid-table, Hartlepool, Bournemouth and Orient. OK, I hear you say - any team that puts 5 past Notts County could well win at least 6 of those games against such iffy opposition giving them at least 18 more points and a grand total of 91 even if they lost to the Dons and Stevenage, and that's 9 more than we currently have, so we would need at least 3 more wins plus whatever else they pick up.

OK, then lets look at Wednesday. They, on the other hand being in 3rd place, we only have to match game for game to keep them below us and what better than to play the same teams which is almost the case. No less than 6 of our own opponents - Huddersfield, Orient, Preston, Wycome, Carlisle and Oldham also play Wednesday. Annoying thing is we play 4 of them before they do so we won't know what their result would be.

So all in all then we're got no idea what going to happen and I'm sure Sir Chris is only planning on winning as many games as possible until he can relax - hopefully in about 4 games time.......

The Complete Run-In Guide

As I was saying only a couple of weeks ago, the Addicks are not usually very good at run-ins.

But we are still on top, eleven points clear of third placed Wednesday and need 19 more points to ensure automatic promotion. Of course we won't need all 19 as games become harder for everyone and not only for us as Sheff Utd found out on Tuesday. Looking at our last ten games, we can divide them neatly into 5 homes and 5 aways. Our away form is by far the best in the Division and would appear, if you believe Yann, to be where our players feel most at ease. 

But, sorry Yann, the 5 aways would appear to be much more tougher that the home games. They are in sequence: Scunthorpe, Huddersfield, Oldham, Carlisle and Preston, so lets have a closer look to see our chances.

Scunthorpe are the first this weekend. They are currently 18th, only 6 points from safely so need the points badly and they are showing a fighting spirit to avoid a second successive relegation as they demonstrated on Tuesday with a 90th minute equaliser at Yeovil . Their long trip to Yeovil may work to our advantage but they are still 9th in current form over the last 8 games with a record of W3 D3 L2. In contrast their seasons record at home is not good reading as they have a total of 7 home defeats and only Orient have won less home points although they are fighting as a record of W2 D1 L2 over the last 5 homes shows. On the bright side they are not renowned for their exploits against the top half and are 17th in those games with only 2 wins against the best in the League. However, they did drew 1-1 at the Valley and another draw as we dig our heels in after our two defeats does looks likely.

Huddersfield are the next away game. Lying 4th but only 11th in current form with a record of W2 D5 L1 they lie 3 points behind Wednesday.They only have 2 home defeats and might want revenge for their record breaking defeat at the Valley. They also lie 3rd in getting points against the top 12 teams with 7 wins. Another draw....

Oldham are next. 14th in the table and currently 8 points from safety. 15th on current form with 4 defeats in the last 8 games and another team with 7 home defeats.They also have the same home record as Scunthorpe over the last 5 with W2 D1 L2. Their record against the top half is also bad with only 3 wins recorded. A Win surely.

Six games from now in Game 43, and Carlisle await us on April 14th. Currently 7th and only 1 point off the Play-Offs they are fighting for the 6th place with Notts County and Stevenage. Eighth on current form with 4 wins in the last 8 games and with only 3 home defeats all season and one of the 6 teams to record more than 10 home wins. Also with 4 home victories in the last 5 home games and a record of 5 wins against the best in the League. But we have a good record against Carlisle with 7 wins in the last 9 games and have already beaten them twice this season at the Valley scoring 6 and conceding none. Draw

And lastly there's Preston North End. Slowly sliding down the League and currently in 15th but are 22nd on current form with only 1 win in the last 8 games. Six home defeats and a record of W1 D3 L1 in their last 5 at home add to a sense that the Addicks can get the three points. But, like Carlisle, they do have a good record of 5 wins against the best in the League. Trouble is by the time we play them they may need the points desperately so a Draw.

The five home games are against Yeovil, Orient, Walsall, Wycombe and Hartlepool. An easier set of teams you couldn't imagine surely in 13th, 17th, 20th, 22nd and 11th place respectively and a record of 39 away defeats among them. Nobody going for promotion but there are three teams looking to avoid the drop.

The first to arrive for the expected slaughter in just 5 days time are Yeovil Town. As we said they are currently 13th with a total of 7 away defeats, but as is common among the bottom teams at this time of the season they are fighting for survival and are currently 2nd in the form table with a record of W5 D1 L2 over the last 8.  More to the point perhaps is that they have won 3 of their last 5 away games at Oldham, MK Dons and Wycombe. And they know how to score goals at the Valley with 5 in their 4 visits. They beat us 1-0 in a league cup game in August 2008 in their first ever visit to us and had a 2-3 loss in Novenber 2010 when they twice came back to equalise goals from JJ and Racon before JJ got his second goal from the penalty spot 5 minutes from time. So expect a fight. A Draw.

After Yeovil come Leyton Orient. Currently lying a worrying 19th, 6 points above Exeter and safety. They are also 19th in current form with a record of W2 D2 L4 so are not showing much of a fight to stay in League One. But this is a derby and their away form shows 2 wins in their last 5 games at Bournemouth and Preston and a good total of 4 wins against the top half although we have the question of revenge for over 1-0 defeat in December. A Win

Game 42, just 5 to go, is at home to Walsall. Currently lying 20th, one place above Exeter and just 3 points from safety. But again with a record of W3 D3 L2 over the last 8, including a 3-2 win over Sheff. Utd, they too are fighting the drop and have only lost one game in their last 5 away. We play them in 5 games time on Easter Monday but they play 6 games before then so their fate could be a lot clearer as they have to play both Chesterfield and Rochdale. Moreover, they have a good record against the Addicks with 2 wins and 2 draws in the last 4 games and even won 1-0  at the Valley in December 2010.  Their complete record at the Valley is good with 5 wins and 2 draws in the 14 games. On the plus side they only have 3 wins against teams in the top half this season. A Draw.

With just 3 games to go Wycombe Wanderers arrive at the Valley. Currently a fighting 14th on current form with 3 wins in the last 8, they are still languishing in 22nd spot, four points away from Walsall in the coveted 20th position. And its their away form which is letting them down with 12 away defeats and 5 in their last 5 aways. A Win..

As we all know, the last game of the season is against Hartlepool on May 5th. Currently stuck in a midtable 11th, 10 points off the Play-offs and an enormous 12 above the drop zone they will be happy to look forward to another League One season. An end of season Win then unless the trophy is already won in which case we'll probably lost. 

So forecast for the Away games - 1 Win and 4 draws, 7 points

                             Home games - 3 wins and 2 draws, 11 points

A grand total of 96 points, enough for the Championship?.....

The Final Countdown

Season run-ins have not been a Addicks speciality in recent years. Apart from the epic Lennie escape act in 1987 and the Curbs-lead charges in both 1998 and 2000 its all been pretty desperate stuff. And everyone can remember the fear that seemed to affect everyone during the Curbishley years as soon as March arrived.   

But this is 2012 and with March dawning we can't let the current situation go un-noticed or uncelebrated, even if there are still 13 games left to play. We are top of the Division with 75 points from 33 games, an average of 2.27 per game. There's a gap of 13 massive points before second placed Sheffield United appear on the horizon while the team in 3rd, Wednesday, are 15 points behind us. We have an enormous goal difference of plus 40 (forty), 11 more than the next best, Huddersfield. We have scored the most goals, 63, and conceded the least with 23. We have the most wins, 22 and the fewest defeats, 2, in the Division.

We have the most clean sheets with 14 out of 33 games and the fewest no-score games with just 2. While we have easily the best away record with our Addicks record equalling 12 wins, we don't have the best Home Record on points with both Sheffield clubs winning more games at home than we have, and with United winning more home points but both have lost twice at home whereas, of course, we haven't, so I personally prefer our record to theirs.

But are we chanting victory too early? There's still 13 games and 39 points to play for and who knows? They may talk of Champions Elect but this is the Addicks we are talking about and we will always fear the worst. So lets try to reassure ourselves a bit. Automatic promotion is clearly the number one target for everyone. Let's get out of this poxy place, three years is quite long enough. Huddersfield Town are currently our nearest challengers that can deny us that goal. They are currently 4th but have a game in hand on Wednesday in 3rd and are only 1 point behind them so their maximum points haul is greater than the Massives. Huddersfield currently have 59 points from 32 games, 16 points behind us.

Looking at the current form table over the last 8 games, they are notching an average of 1.87 points per game.  But new manager Simon Grayson has had a win and a draw in his two games in charge so is currently achieving 2 points per game. So what exactly am I getting at? Well, if Huddersfield continue on 2 points per game over their remaining 14 games they will reach the heady total of 87 points for the season. So for me that's our target, just 12 more points, 4 more wins to ensure the goal of Automatic Promotion.

The month of March brings us: Bournemouth (A),  Colchester (H), Notts County (H), Scunthorpe (A), Yeovil (H), Huddersfield (A) and Orient (H). Of course, we still can't celebrate even when we reach 87 points because its just possible that Huddersfield, or even Wednesday, could go berserk and win every game they have left. After their game against the Addicks, Huddersfield have only 8 games remaining so even then, on March 24th, we would need a gap of 24 points to be certain of an automatic spot.

So maybe that should really be our aim - forget the 87 points total but increase the gap over Huddersfield in the next 5 games from 16 to 24 and a trip to Huddersfield to win the point that would ensure promotion on the ground of our nearest challengers. But that's a tough call for even if we win all 5, 15 points, Huddersfield would need to get only 7 for us to be 24 in front come March 24th. And Huddersfield's next 5 games all look winnable with home games against Hartlepool and Rochdale and away against Bury, Colchester and Chesterfield especially when you see their recent record of only 1 defeat in their last 12. One thing working against the Terriers can be understood when you look at one of the few tables that we are not top of; the score first table. Only Huddersfield have scored first in games more times than we have, their 24 to our 23 but a more damning statistic could not be brought up in front of Lee Clark for whereas the Addicks have won no less than 20 of our 23 games having scored first, the Terriers have only won 14 and drawn 10.

So all in all we may have to win at the Galpharm to force the issue and reach that 24 point gap and here we come to another happy statistic. Not only have we already beaten Huddersfield 2-0 at the valley, ending their record breaking run, but the Addicks are currently the best, the very best, in games against the top half of the table in League One. An amazing 13 wins in 16 games, an astonishing 41 points against the cream, with 30 goals scored and only 5 conceded and the only blot being that defeat at Stevenage on October 15th.

And if we can win all the next 5 and Huddersfield kept to their 2 points per game we'll be 21points in front when we play them and a win there on March 24th will move us to the magic 24 with them only having 8 games left and leave Promotion almost assured.

  

Ah, but wait a minute - you clearly haven't noticed ( points out my brother, Hardy ) that only 2 of our next 5 opponents are in the top half of the table.........

Once an Addick, always an Addick.......

Table Toppers - But will it Last?

No time these days for match reviews and with other good blogs around its been a pleasure to read rather than write. And with the levels of euphoria around at the moment its just been a pleasure to be an Addicks fan wherever you live and to enjoy wallowing in it all. The mishap at Stevenage a couple of weeks ago is looking more and more like a bit of a blip and we must all be pleased at how the team has reacted to their first defeat. Three wins since then have kept our place at the top and has now given us equal most-goals in the Division with Huddersfield and the biggest goal difference to boot.

But.....

Now I'm not normally a pessimist but being a Charlton fan I do tend to look on the black side after all those years of suffering. Which means that lying quietly there at the back of my mind there's always an tedious itch endless searching for the banana skin that will prove fatal. So, after another long look at the Table and a feeling that a total of 37 points after 16 games was pretty good going I nevertheless wanted something to reassure me so I began to wonder what had happened in the past to teams at the top of Tier Three after 16 games.

Well, only one team in the last 10 years has managed more than 37 points in the first 16 games and that was Leeds in 2009/10 who had 39 points and, of course, got promoted in May in second place behind Norwich. And only one other team managed 37 - Brentford leading from Brighton in 2001/02 - so 37 is indeed good going but there's a long way to go yet so, of course, you all want to know what happened at the end of the season to all those number 1's that were leading the Table in those past 10 years.

Well, of those 10 leaders, only two failed to win promotion, Forest in 2006/07 with 34 points after 16 and Brentford with their good total of 37 in 2001/02. Of the rest 4 (Plymouth (30 after 16 games), Luton (35), Southend (33) and Brighton(34) ) finished as Champions, 2 (Leeds (39) and Forest (30)) finished in the second automatic spot and 2 (Cardiff (34) and Scunthorpe (33) ) went up via the Play-offs.

So the only ones that missed out on promotion were Brentford in 2001/02 finishing 3rd and missing the auto spot by just a single point whereas the worst failures were clearly Forest in 2006/07 who ended up 4th, 3 points behind 2nd place, although they were promoted the following year. Both teams lost in the play-offs.

So it all looks pretty good doesn't it but before you think that its all over bar the shouting, I should remind everyone that the Addicks have been in second place in the table for the last two years after 16 games played with totals of 32 and 28 points respectively only to fall away in both years.

Of course, it won't happen this time, will it, but I'm just going to check another couple of years to settle me down a tad.

Notts County Preview

We live pretty high up, 600 metres above sea level, and because of the mountains, sometimes in winter I wake up in the middle of a cloud and you don't know where you are. And right now thats how it seems with Charlton. Forgive me my apparent ignorance, I am after all 1000 miles away, but I was beginning to see some light at the end of our Tier Three tunnel and beginning to imagine that we would soon get to the end of a nightmarish period that we are clearly not used to.

Of course, others closer to home have been constantly trying to divert me from my fantasies and delusions and have tried everything to shake me out of my dreamy state by repeating over and over again that we were just very lucky to be in 5th place, and that one day lady luck would desert us.
I laughed, we always think we know better than the others, but now, of course, it seems that the majority were all correct in their pessimism. Its now been two dreary defeats after 4 wins in a row and we find ourselves out of the Play-off places again. Not that that should surprise us really, 'cause thats where we have spent 15 of the 29 games so far this season and we are now back where we were when Sir Chris took us over.

And, after giving Exeter their first ever win at the Valley after 14 failed attempts we can move onto the other foot this time because at Notts County we face a similar picture - after 16 visits we've won only one with 7 draws and 8 defeats. The only victory took place in May 1977, a 1-0 win in the last game of the season with the goal coming from Flanagan. Overall its an embarrassing 11 wins each with 12 draws. And perhaps we should mention that although we may not think we should be superior, in fact Notts County and the Addicks just about share equal success in the history of the Football League. We've each won the FA Cup once with a 4-1 win and their best finish was a 3rd place compared with our 2nd in the 30's. We've enjoyed 26 years in the top flight and they 30, although most of theirs was a long time along, and while the Addicks are 33rd in the all-time top flight rankings, County are just behind in 34th.

The Opposition

Paul Ince took over on October 28th last year after the dismissal of Craig Short when the club was sinking towards the relegation places after 7 defeats in their first 13 games. Perhaps highlighting their early successes in the previous century, County had a very sensible and conservative total of 7 managers in their first 51 years, which is in stark contrast to recent years where Ince is now their 13th manager in the last 10 and can by all the reckoning be expected to be sacked during the summer. Lee Hughes and Craig Westcarr and leading scorers with 12 and 11. Hughes it was of course that scored the Valley goal that saw us relegated to Tier Three back in April 2009 with an injury time equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Blackpool.

Form

County are currently 18th, twelve points behind the Addicks and only 4 above the drop zone. Overall their home record is the similar to the Addicks with 8 wins in 15 but with 6 defeats to our 4. Over the last 8 games both teams are pretty equal with the Addicks getting 13 points to County's 12 but whereas Huddersfield, Orient and Rochdale are unbeaten over the last 8, nobody has conceded less goals in that time than Notts County whose defence has only been beaten 5 times. In comparison, the Addicks have conceded 13!
And to emphasize the difficult task open to Powells boys, after a dismal October/November with their 4 defeats in a row, County have now had a run of only 2 defeats in their last 12 League games.

Whats Their Secret?

Not letting in goals and keeping clean sheets have become a passion for Mr Ince. County only kept their opponents out 3 times in their first 13 games before he joined but after an initial learning curve have now enjoyed 7 clean sheets in their last 12 games. In fact over that last 12, they have accumulated 22 points out of a possible 36 from 6 wins and 4 draws which is exactly the same record as leaders Brighton over the same period. Take note, Chris.

But while keeping the opposition out has been Plan A for Ince, down the other end you could say he's not been so productive. After climbing to 13th on January 3rd after 4 wins out of 5, there followed 5 games without a win and with only 2 goals scored. That was rectified in a midweek game at home to Colchester where a 2-0 win was the result. Last weekend, of course, saw a 0-5 away defeat at the hands of Man. City in the FA Cup.

The Team

Its at this point that a bit of encouragement is needed. For those bloggers who see 7th place as the best we can achieve, perhaps we can give supply them with some reasoning for their anxieties and at the same time encourage the rest. Because, rather surprisingly, and although we've only had 12 games against the top half of the table, we are the team to have got most out of those 12 at an average of 2 points per game. That's better than anybody else. Meanwhile, however, in proof of our inconsistencies we have failed to beat any of the bottom four at the Valley, losing 2 and drawing the other 2 and while only losing twice against the beat half of the League we have lost 6 times against the supposed crap, ie Exeter twice, Hartlepool, Brentford, Swindon and Walsall.
As for the team on Friday night it'll be interesting to see if Sir Chris makes any changes. A howler from Doherty and a lack of goals despite lots of chances created could prompt some movement off the bench by Joe Anyinsah perhaps.

Verdict
With our record at Meadow Lane of one win in 16 and County's form to date, another defeat is to be expected. County have only conceded 2 goals during the first half in their last 12 games so don't expect us to score in the first 45 again and it all points to few goals being expected.

0-1 to County, then?

Yeovil Town Preview

Maybe it was a fortunate three points on Tuesday but for sure Chris isn't complaining. Two clean sheets, six points and a three game unbeaten run now...

But after the changes in ownership, management and players its still hard to see exactly where we are. Are we improving from a bad run in December or has Sir Chris just been lucky? And its not helped by looking at the table, because after a winter of frost and disruption, the League One table is looking a bit of a shambles. Five teams - the Addicks, Carlisle, Orient, Notts County and the Daggers - have all played 25 games while the likes of Plymouth have played 4 more. And its all meant that the Addicks now have twenty-one games left until the end of season and, as of Saturday, only have 91 days left to play them all. That's an average of one game every 4.3 days and with only 14 Saturdays left that means they'll be a midweek game every other week between now and the 7th May. Saying goodbye to all those cup competitions doesn't seem to have helped us and we can only help that we stay clear of major injuries between now and the end of the season.
All of which means that though we have slipped to 8th we have games in hand over all the 7 teams above us, with three games in hand over Bournemouth and MK Dons and two over Huddersfield and Oldham.

The Opposition

After 108 years in non-League football, Yeovil have only been in the Football League nine years and after two years spent in Tier Four this is now their sixth year in Tier Three with 5th place in 2006-07 their highest placing. Last season they finished 15th just 3 points away from the drop zone and this season didn't start too well either with only two wins in the first nine games which took the Glovers down into the relegation places. Worst was to follow with a disastrous run of 6 defeats in seven games in October and November, conceding 3 goals in 4 consecutive games including losing 2-3 at the Valley, all of which meant a second from bottom placing for six weeks and into the New Year.

Form

Due to the weather, the Glovers only played one game in December, a 0-0 away draw at Colchester and they followed that up with another useful away point at Plymouth on New Years day. But those two games meant that they had failed to score for 42 days and were still in 23rd place. Something had to be done and during the January transfer window four new men joined the club - ex-Southampton midfielder Paul Wotton, 18 year old German midfielder on loan from QPR Max Ehmer, goalkeeper Richard Martin and ex-Exeter midfielder 37 year old Alex Russell.

And much to Terry Skiverton's relief, there was an immediate improvement. After the leaky defence of November, as witnessed at the Valley where they have been the only club to concede three, they continued the goalless draws with Colchester and Plymouth with a further three shut-outs against MK Dons (h), Brentford (h) and Swindon (a) and won all three games, 1-0, 2-0 and 1-0.

So after starting the year in 23rd spot with only 4 wins in 20 games and 5 points from safety, the Glovers, even after a disappointing 0-1 defeat to Rochdale at home on 22nd January, but with a 2-1 win over Brentford away last weekend and another 1-0 home win over Plymouth on Tuesday night, have now lifted themselves into 17th with 5 wins in their last 7 games

And perhaps more to the point, the Glovers now find themselves one of the Form Clubs of the moment with a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and only that one Rochdale defeat in their last 8 games. Seventeen points have been grabbed from those 8 games, 7 more than the Addicks have managed with only a couple of wins, and all with only 4 goals conceded, a complete turnover after leaky November with only 4 goals conceded.

So on to the good news. Only one team has suffered more home defeats than Yeovil's total of five this year and that's bottom of the table Walsall with eight and that helps to give the Glovers the 3rd worst home record. And the list of teams taking away all three points must give us hopes of continuing our good away record - Hartlepool, Exeter, Wednesday, Rochdale, and even Dagenham and Redbridge have all won at Huish Park this season.

DangerMan

Number 10 Dean Bowditch is the Glovers top goalscorer with 8 League goals and is just two behind his last seasons tally.

What's Their Secret?

The Glovers and the Addicks are both pretty useless when the opposition score first with Yeovil earning just 2 points from the 12 occasions when they have let in the first goal and the Addicks only a point better from the eight games where we have conceded first.
But we finish our games much the stronger because while the Addicks have scored no less than 10 times in the last 5 minutes plus added on time, the Glovers have done the opposite and conceded 8 times in the same 5 minutes.

History

Only our 6th game ever against the Glovers and so far we have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 of the previous five. Four games have been at the Valley with only the single draw, a 1-1 affair last season, being at Huish Park. That was the game that saw Sam Sodje get his 13th red card of his career and we had to play over a hour with 10 men. Luckily, his brother Akpo, saved our blushes with a cracking 56th minute equaliser.

What Are They Saying?

Bradley after his move to the Addicks, "I failed a medical at Reading because they just didn't want to take a risk but Charlton are my local club, although I supported Arsenal, and I couldn't turn Charlton down. I feel good and my knee feels good. I think I'm going to need a few more games but I should be all right. "

And the Glovers man Terry Shiverton had this to say after Yeovils' 5th win in 8 over Plymouth on Tuesday, "A lot of teams were saying before Christmas that we had a soft underbelly and that were a good footballing side that could be turned over, but now they're having to come to Huish Park and work really, really hard."

The Team

Chris Powell made his second Charlton signing on Monday bringing in Federico Bessone on-loan from Leeds. He's a left-back, Argentinian, 27 years old and has played in the same team, Barca Reserves, as Leo Messi. He also knows Miguel Llera from their year together at La Liga side (in 2007-08 anyway ) Gimnastic before moving on to Swansea. He would appear to be a bit famous for his errors but I somehow can't see Chrissie Powell making a mistake with a left-back - a striker maybe but not a left-back and his first game on Tuesday showed just why Sir Chris had brought him in.

As for the second newcomer, only time will tell whether our taking on Bradley Wright-Phillips was a mistake or not. And Reading, who decided it was a risk not worth taking, may be watching his progress.

Verdict

So we've never lost at Huish Park and can point to a four month unbeaten away run in the League. On the other hand the Glovers are enjoying themselves at the moment with 5 wins in the last 8 to earn 2nd place behind Bournemouth in the Form guide over the last 8 games. A draw looks likely but Chris needs to bear in mind that although our home form has now improved to 9th best, we have slipped to 5th best away team although we have outscored everyone with our 26 away goals. Southampton have now won 6 away from home while the leaders Brighton are on 5. The Addicks have done well at Brighton, Colchester and Wednesday recently but are still stuck on 4 away victories, the last one being at Peterborough in the middle of November. We need to start winning again.

But three wins on the trot in your new job may be asking a bit much against a team in form, a 1-1 draw then unless we can take advantage of their tired legs in the last 5 minutes to snatch a winner.

Rochdale Preview (a)

Saturday was a giant step in the right direction in the search for Fortress Valley and after no less than six 1-0 home wins in all competitions, Saturdays 2-0 win was unbelievably our biggest home win of the season and even then we had to wait until the 90th minute for the 2nd goal to go in.

But that 2-0 win over Plymouth couldn't have come at a better time as Chris Powell needs, desperately, to get rid of the sense of foreboding that appears to attack the players on home soil. It's becoming a bit of a millstone around our necks and although 6 wins out of 12 at the Valley isn't disastrous its worth pointing out that its a worse record than say Orient although on the plus side it is better than our next opponents Rochdale.

But perhaps we could argue that its because, whatever we may think, Charlton are still seen as a Big Club as far as League One is concerned. So lets compare it with the only teams above us on attendances, Southampton and Wednesday. Both have lost the same number of home games as we have, three, and both have around the around the same points per home game as we have, 1.78 for the Saints, 1.75 the Addicks and only 1.69 for the Owls. So perhaps it's the away teams we should be blaming and not our players as our opponents seem to be raising their game when they play in the bigger stadiums. Compare the rating of the best home teams, Bournemouth, Brighton, MK Dons and Peterborough, all with over 2 points per home fixture. Whereas the Addicks home gate now averages 15,400, MK Dons only average 8,000, table leaders Brighton only 7,000 and Bournemouth and Peterborough a distinctly average 6,500.

Anyway, this week its back on the road again where in the same period that we've lost to Brighton, Walsall and Swindon at home, we are unbeaten in seven games with our last defeat away from the Valley being on October 2nd at Brentford.

Form

Not that it should worry us but surprisingly, Rochdale have a better away record than we do with 18 points against our 17 but then we have played against 6 of the top 10 home clubs already and have only lost to two of them.

But at home, Rochdale have only the 17th best home record in League One but then again are on a run of 6 games without defeat which equals their best run of the season which took them up to 4th place back in September. In fact, over the last 8 games their share top spot with unlikely company in the shape of Notts County, both teams having a record of 4 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat in the last two months. In Rochdale's case it was a 1-2 defeat at Peterborough back on December 10th that makes them unbeaten this year.

Whats Their Secret?
Both teams have only 6 clean sheets, but Rochdale have had exactly half of theirs in their last 4 games whereas the Addicks clean sheet against Plymouth was the first in the 8 games. Rochdale also have the 5th best defence in League One with only 30 goals conceded, five less than the Addicks.

One point in our favour though, is the results against the best teams in the Division for while the Addicks have the best points and goals pergame of anyone in Tier three, with a record of 5 wins, 4 draws and only 2 defeats against the top half of the table, Rochdale have the 14th best record. But, Chrissie a word of caution - the top teams don't score many goals against this lot and in fact only Brighton, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday have conceded less that Rochdale have.

History

We've only played up there 4 times - two cup ties in 1955 (won 3-1) and 1961 (0-1 defeat) and two League games when we were in Division Three in 1972 (2-0 win) and our last visit there, 34 years ago, in 1974 (1-1 draw).

The Team
This will be Sir Chris' first away game as a manager after Saturdays 2-0 home win and a previous 3-1 win over Scunthorpe when caretaker manager of Leicester last October. After only one win in 9 games that had meant the end for Paulo Sousa, Leicester were, in fact, rock bottom of the Championship and Powell may see this weekend's visit to Rochdale as a bit of a relief after those two stressful games.
Meanwhile, the arrival of new recruit Bradley Wright-Phillips means that we now have three of the top 24 strikers in League One, more than anyone else, of course, with Bradley top scorer on 13, Johnnie Jackson on 12 and Paul Benson on 8. As well as Scotty W. one behind on 7. All Sir Chris has to do now is find a place for them all as well as including Nathan and Joe of course.

Its unlikely that Wright-Phillips will start this weekend due to lack of fitness after his knee problems and the disruption of his non-sale to Reading because of a failed medical. The Pilgrims reported in mid January that he had seen a consultant who advised him to do a bit of rehab for at least a month and in fact he hasn't played since his 90 minutes against Bristol Rovers on January 4th.

As far as the manager is concerned, we will at least see how he views our number 17 with the return from suspension of Paul Benson. He has so far favoured Joe Anyinsah as lone striker with a five man midfield and this could continue with Scotty enjoying another outing. In fact, we'll probably see the same eleven as against Plymouth.

Verdict

Things have moved on quite a bit since December when this game was postponed. The Form Book back then said a clear away win with the teams being 1st (the Addicks) against 21st over the last 8 plus the always helpful fact that we haven't lost at Spotland for 49 years. Now of course its almost the reverse with the Addicks languishing in 14th spot over the last 8 while Rochdale are in equal top with Notts County.

So, it could be a difficult day for Sir Chris and he'll need to be patience with his team and remember that although the Addicks are the League One top scorers away from home with 26 goals, six more than anybody else, we face a team that have only conceded more than 2 goals in a game once, in a 3-3 draw with Swindon, whereas the Addicks have conceded more than 2 goals on five occasions plus another two in cup competitions.

Verdict then, a close 1-0 away win to the Addicks.

Plymouth Arygle Preview

Extra workload, two broken computers and all those new year celebrations have all served to cut down on things recently but there was no way that time cannot be found to herald the beginning of a new and special era at the Valley. There's been a vast outpouring of views over the last few days, some pessimistic and full of foreboding, but you won't see any of that here.

His lack of experience seems to influence many into forecasting problems ahead or is it a sentimental desire to keep our memories of Sir Chris as one of our biggest heroes from being tarnished? Of course it will all end in tears, this is a business that these days demands results and sooner or later he will be replaced in an attempt to improve things. Because its seldom that a manager retires from his club, only Ferguson probably stands out there, why, even Jimmy Seed was sacked in the end. But will Sir Chris fail after one year or after 10, we just don't know but where better place for him to get his first experience of management than at his spiritual home, the Valley. For me its a great opportunity for us that we can't possibly reject and clearly the new owners feel the same way. You only have to feel the buzz around this football club at the moment that shows what the appointment means to many.

And perhaps we owe it to one of our own to furnish the opportunity that he would sooner or later be looking for as we did with Curbs in 1995 when he took sole control of the Addicks as the age of 38. Did anyone give Curbs a hope in hell of getting us into the Premiership and keeping us there for 7 long years? Clearly, in these doldrums that we find ourselves, we need somebody special and from what I have read and seen over the years from the East Stand, Chris Powell could well be that man.

And as far as experience is concerned, perhaps its worth remembering that Seed, whose success all those years ago at Charlton means his name appears over the South Stand, only had two years in management at lowly Clapton Orient before joining the Addicks as manager in 1933. His first year at Orient they finished 16th and the second they had to be re-elected - not a great success rate there then but he was to lead us to unimagined success.

Form

It was starting to look a nice easy fixture for our new man as Plymouth slipped 3 places last weekend down to 17th after the dismal 0-2 showing at home against Oldham, who clearly had a point to improve after their embarrassing 0-6 home defeat to the Saints the previous week. The other Athletic now have exactly the same record as the Addicks, 9 wins, 8 draws and 6 defeats and sit right behind us in 8th.

That Oldham defeat added to Peter Reids problems, and meant that they were having their worse run of the season with three straight defeats to Bournemouth (a) 0-3, Huddersfield (a) 2-3 and Oldham (h) 0-2. But like Oldham, a bad result or a dismal run can somehow force an improvement and that duly came on Tuesday when the Pilgrims enjoyed their 4th away win of the season in beating MK Dons 3-1. This was only Plymouths 2nd away win since September and came as a surprise to everyone and was also achieved without top scorer Wright-Phillips who is the subject of serious transfer talk from several clubs including us apparently.

So with the Pilgrims only two points behind us although having played three games more, a win at the Valley could propel Reid's men above us and into the fringes of the Play-off positions even though they have suffered nearly twice as many defeats, which now number 11.

As for the Addicks form, it doesn't make happy reading with Arygle having a point more than us over the last 8 games, with 11 to 10 respectively, but not very respectable coming from 24 available. Chris needs to make an improvement and quickly before the leaders vanish over the horizon.

History

After the crazy years of 59/60 and 60/61 when an astonishing 37 goals was scored in just four games, things have calmed down a lot and only once in the last 20 games between us has anyone scored more than twice and that was the Addicks in a 3-1 home win in 1976.

In recent history over the last 20 years, there's been nine games home and away with the honours pretty even with 3 win, 3 draws and 3 defeats. But of the 4 games played at the Valley the Pilgrims have won twice with the Addicks only winning once, in the last game here, on Valentines day 2009 with a 2-0 win, our second home win in a row after beating Palarse to end our 18 winless run three weeks earlier.

What Stats Can We Give the New Gaffer?

The Addicks are 6th in goals scored but as far as the defence is concerned have only 5 clean sheets (exactly half the number of Brighton and Southampton) but we do tend to score first doing it 15 times out of 23 games. As a consequence we have only been losing three times at the break, less than anybody else, although we currently share the record with such strange bed fellows as Oldham and Hartlepool.

Unfortunately we then tend to relax a bit thinking the jobs done and give the game away. Five times now we have drawn after scoring first and there's only 3 teams more generous that us in that respect - Colchester, Bristol and Exeter. And despite all those late goals - a total of nine in the last 5 minutes - we have only come out top in the second period a meagre 5 times with only two teams, Bristol Rovers and Yeovil, having worse records in the second 45.

Verdict

Only 8,337 fans were there when the Addicks returned to the Valley on December 5th, 1992 and it was a close fought 1-0 victory over Portsmouth, from a 7th minute Colin Walsh drive, that send us all happy. Saturday seems to me a very similar experience and the gate threatens to be a big one. But that day back in '92 everyone was full of nerves, desperate to get off to a winning start back at our home and somehow this time round I don't think we'll see any desperation just a determination to win. So this time its a 2-0 home win, that nothing is going to prevent.

Hartlepool Preview

Whether or not you consider a 0-0 draw a defeat there's a second consecutive 'L' in our results column and it was also our first two non-scoring games in a row since the loss at Colchester and the draw at Leeds in October last year. And the last time we had two defeats in a row last November the sequence was lengthened by another defeat against Southampton in last years JPT. Parky can't allow that to happen this time, of course, because not only is there a vital three points on offer at Victoria Park but there's the potential takeover in the air and Parky needs to establish firmly that he is the man needed to get us promotion.

Before Brentford there was the terrible display against Walsall which left Parky sounding rather like Capello during the World Cup. Of course, its not the first time Walsall have won at the Valley, they've won 2 of the last four there including cup games, and 3 of the last 6 counting Sainburys. Put the blame on Manager of the Monthitis which strikes again although there were a few banana skins mentioned before the game. And, of course, we should be aware of top (well, nearly) v bottom games and there was never a better one than March 2000 when, after 12 successive wins, along came hard-up Swindon who beat us 0-1 thanks to a Dean Kiely own goal after 5 minutes, our first League defeat of the century.

And maybe the situation was like that at Dean Court last Saturday where Bournemouth produced a 140 page progamme to celebrate 100 years at the ground. Hartlepool took note of the possible distractions and made sure that it was going to be their day instead with a 1-0 victory.
And its worth noting that the Walsall game highlighted one of major failings, apart from being able to pass to ball to each other, that, forgetting our cup games, we are still one of a decreasing number of teams, 8 now in Tier Three, that have failed to win a League game after falling behind. Its happened seven times now and we have lost 5 of them including Walsall and we are the only promotion chasing team with this dismal record.

History
There's not much history between the Addicks and the Pools with a total of only three games played and due to our current lapse in fortunes and one of Hartlepools rare visits to Tier Three last year was the only season we have spent together. We won the game at Victoria Park 2-0 in August 2009 thanks to goals by Burton and Bailey in the first 30 minutes and we also won the return game at the Valley in January by 2-1. The only other game against them was a League Cup tie at the Valley in 2005 which we also won 3-1. So 3 games and 3 wins for the Addicks but will this perfect score continue on Saturday?

Hartlepool became founder members of the Third Division North in 1921 and they share with Rochdale the unwanted record of enjoying 89 years of League football without ever reaching the headly heights of Tier Two. But one thing they share with the Addicks is that our baptism in League football began in the 1921/22 season with both of us being in the regional Third Division, the Addicks in the South and the Pools in the North. But whereas we only stayed eight years before being promoted into the Second Division in 1929, the Pools had to wait 46 years to get that first promotion by finishing third in 1967-68. Sadly Tier Three football only lasted only one season and they were relegated back to Division 4 where they had been since the 4th Division was created in 1958.

However, this is the 4th straight season in Tier Three which is a bit of a record for the Pools although they only survived last season by the skin of their teeth finishing just above Gilllingham on goal difference with a last day goalless draw at Brentford while the Gills were losing 0-3 at Wycombe.

Form
Down in 12th place but they managed to struggle into the top half of the table for only the second time this season with a surprising 1-0 away win last weekend at the number one home team in Tier three, Bournemouth who were on a 5 game unbeaten run. As for their home form and its only the 19th best with only 3 wins and 2 draws from 8 games with a couple of serious hammerings from Wednesday 0-5 and Carlisle 0-4. BUT two of those wins have been against Brighton 3-1 a month ago ( Poyet's first defeat in 13) and the Posh 2-0 before that and they have improved with only one defeat in their last 5 home games.

The Opposition
The 60 year old Mike Wadsworth is currently caretaker manager of the Pools and a more varied managerial life than his can't be imagined. After working for the FA including a coaching role in the 1990 World Cup and FA's Excellence Programme he's moved into management and has managed or been assistant manager at a total of 15 teams including both the Congo and St. Kitts and Nevis national teams and at club level, Oldham, Carlisle, Colchester, Huddersfield, Southampton and Newcastle and many more. So a man with a wealth of experience. He joined the Pools in June as First team coach and has been caretaker manager since Chris Turner left in August.

Dangerman
Midfielder number 15 Anthony Sweeney is doing a Johnnie Jackson and getting the goals. He's got 4 League and 4 cup goals for a total of 8.

Whats Their Secret?
The Pools are a first half team and have only been behind at the interval on two occasions this year. Only the ultra conservative Oldham with 11 first half draws can better that record. The Addicks and Brighton have been on the losing side three times at the 45 minutes.

And they are another team apart from the Addicks whose favorite score is 1-0 - they've had 3 of them. But although only 3 teams have scored less than their 21 goals, they do have a better defence that the Addicks having conceded one less goal than the Addicks.

What Are They Saying?
Manager Wadsworth after last weeks win at Dean Court said: "We were looking forward to this for a while and we've been talking to the players about building momentum and spoiling their party and we managed to do that. It was a very good result for us. We are putting a run together away from home, that's three good displays away from home now. We have a good group of players here and they have some belief now."

The Team

After a 0-0 90 minute scoreline against the best in-form team in Tier 3 Brentford ( 6 wins in their last 8 League games) with a weakened team, perhaps Parky was secretly pleased with the result and losing the potiential headache of extra injury-provoking cup games.

With Jenkinson, Reid, McCormack and Abbott getting rare starts there may be a call to start with the first two against the Pools but I fancy that Parky will be reluctant to introduce Jenkinson into such a crucial game and with top scoring Sweeney playing out left. Francis no doubt took note of the treat from the 18 year old and will want to be on top of his game this weekend.

Christian Dailly at last returned on Tuesday after his ban and got a full 90 minutes in and will be keen to captain the side to another away win in similar fashion to his last away game at Peterborough where we won 5-1.

The only other possible change may somehow involve the return of Reid in place of the recently disappointing Wagstaff although its hard to see how Parky can fit our top scorer Jackson and Reid into the same team without pushing JJ back to full-back where his chances of a goal will be seriously reduced.

Elliot; Francis, Dailly, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Anyinsah, Benson

Verdict
Despite the Pools recent home wins over Brighton and Peterborough, we do have a 100% perfect history against them, a desperate need to get back on track after slipping to fourth and Parky's desire to prove himself to our new owners all of which point to a 2-0 win for the Addicks. But then I won't put any money on it.

And then there's the weather. Friday night in Hartlepool is forecast to be minus 6 with temperatures on the Saturday not rising above -2 but with clear blue skies. Pack them gloves Parky.

Rochdale Preview

A dismal 2-2 home draw with Luton, where the desire if not the skill was with the Hatters, at least preserved, and lengthened, our current 9 match unbeaten run and means just 2 defeats (Brentford and Brighton) in the last 18 League and Cup games. But while we can all have good feeling about that, perhaps we should spare a thought for Luton where the number 18 conjures up a quite different feeling, it being the number of years since they were a Tier One club. And perhaps the three thousand Hatters fans had that in mind as they made the short trip to the Valley, perhaps to remind themselves what it was like in the good old days. And, of course, its up to them now to encourage their players to get them a game that'll really put their memories in gear with the prospect of an away game at White Hart Lane beckoning.

Quite what we'll be doing in 15 years time to push back the memories is anyones guess. And whether we'll have a team with enough passion and skill to get a result in the replay, so as to avoid a second sucessive defeat to a non-league team in the FA Cup we won't have long to ponder. But before moving on, can anyone remember how many of todays Tier Three were in the old Division One 18 years ago? Well, there's four, Wednesday, Southampton, Oldham and Notts County.

Meanwhile, League game 19 approaches and there's now just 5 games left to the half-way point. We had 47 points at the cut last year so we'll need to win all 5 to reach last years haul but a less strong second half of the season saw us ending on 84 at seasons end.

History

It used to be that having to play Barnsley was a step down for the Addicks but now its little old Rochdale that are Saturdays opposition. But while you may not be impressed by the fact that Rochdale play their games at the 90 year old 10,000 capacity Spotland Stadium, its rumoured that the away fans are graced with the newest stand being the Westrose Leisure Stand, in Willbutts Lane, whose facilities are said to be "second to none". Sadly then, we've only played up there 4 times - two cup ties in 1955 (won 3-1) and 1961 (0-1 defeat) and two League games when we were in Division Three in 1972 (2-0 win) and our last visit there, 34 years ago, in 1974 (1-1 draw).

After finishing 3rd in League Two last season, Rochdale managed promotion for the first time in 41 years having spent the last seemingly endless 36 years in Tier Four. And to add to that dismal record they also share with Hartlepool United the dubious distinction of having played the most seasons in the Football League without ever reaching the top two tiers, 82 years.

The Opposition
The man that Rochdale have to thank for that once in a lifetime promotion in manager, the 43 year old, Keith Hill. After a playing career at Blackburn, Plymouth and Rochdale, he took over as caretaker manager of Rochdale in December 2006 after the departure of the previous incumbent. Rochdale were then in 22nd position in Tier 4. He got things working and they finished the season in 8th position. His first full season they got as far as the Playoff final before losing to Stockport and the next year they lost in the Playoff Semis before finally getting automatic promotion last season by finishing 3rd behind Notts County and Bournemouth. So 3 and a half successful seasons for Mr Hill.

Dangerman

Number 8 is the 33 year old Rochdale legend and captain Gary Jones. He's been with the Dale for the last 8 years, plus three years before he played for Barnsley, and holds the record for Dale appearances with 390. He's also the current top goalscorer this season with 10.
Therry can have a few words in French with number 14 Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, thats as long as he gets off the bench. Akpro is an ex of Grimsby, where he was a part of the disappointing 25 game winless run that finished with Grimsby being relegated to the Conference last season.
Rochdale are also the only team in the UK to have two Kennedy's in the team. Left back Tom takes the penalties while number 7 Jason has played in the Prem in 2005 for Middlesborough while 18 years of age. No, not against us.

Form

The Dale made a very good start to their new life in Tier Three with 4 wins and only a single defeat in their first nine games reaching a heady fourth place in the table. But then the oxygen ran out and three consecutive defeats to the three yokels from the West, with only a single goal being scored, against Exeter, Yeovil and Bristol Rovers and they have now only won 1 game in the last 9.

So its been a steady slip down from 4th to the current 15th place and with a home record that is now only 17th best in Tier Three, although they have managed to score three times in three of their last five home games in beating Huddersfield 3-0, the Daggers 3-2 and drawing with Swindon 3-3.

But on overall form there's no-one to beat the Addicks with 17 points from the last 24 while Rochdale are 21st with only 6 points from their last 8 games. And we are the 2nd best away team, after Gus, but with 4 goals more than anyone else with 20 in 9 games.

What Are They Saying

Gus Poyet, after being booed off at half-time by the Withdean crowd during their 1-1 draw with non-league FC United, was very upset after the game, "I was very disappointed with the fans and I invite all those who booed us at half-time to stay at home, because I don't want that and I don't accept it. Proper supporters are the ones who support their team during every single minute. And it sounds like he already given up any chance during the replay by saying he'll field a reserve team.

Whats Their Secret

Whereas the Addicks have twice as many score-first games as Rochdale, 12 to 6, the Dale have a much better record of coming from behind. There remain only three teams in the top half of the table that have not yet won after going behind, the Addicks, Carlisle and Exeter whereas Rochdale have clawed back seven points after falling behind.

They are also the 12th highest scorers in Tier Three with only 5 goals less that the Addicks and are the only club in the bottom 13 that have a positive goal difference.

The Team

Two home draws after 5 straight wins won't please Parky but after only 9 goals scored in our first 9 home League and cup games we at least have 6 in the last three, even though non-league opposition are included. And its highlighted in our goalscoring charts which nobody could have guessed back in August. Johnnie Jackson, fresh from another appearance in the Football Leagues Team of the Week, leads the list with an impressive 8 - one more than his previous best season with Colchester - while Benson, chasing 22 from 50 games last season, now has 7 but only 2 at home, while Waggy has already gone one better than last seasons efforts and is on 6. Joe Anyinsah, still struggling with his fitness and with only one full 90 minutes to his name (524 minutes in total ) already has 4, while Therry Racon with 4 from his previous 3 seasons and 66 Addicks games has already equalled that in his 20 games this season.

As for the team, Christian Dailly serves his 3rd of 4 matchs out, and with the cup replay counting as his 4th will be back for the game against Walsall. Matt Fry returns after his one match suspension and Doherty should be back after his dead leg suffered against Bristol, while Martin returns after being cup-tied but may be too lightweight for an away game at Rochdale.

The real doubt perhaps rests on Jose Semedo's hamstring "complaint" and whether he has recovered enough to put McCormack back on the bench. Jose, meanwhile, is dying to play remembering that his last, and only, goal for the addicks was a few miles, well 32, away from Spotland at Tranmere in August 2009 and with Therry racking them up he's feeling just a tad jealous.

Elliot; Francis, Doherty, Fortune, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Anyinsah, Benson.

Verdict

The Form Book says a clear away win with the teams being 1st against 21st over the last 8 plus the always helpful fact that we haven't lost at Spotland for 49 years. And for the Addicks its vital we make the most of the next two away games at the Dale and Hartlepool, and the Walsall home game between, before a difficult sequence of games begins on December 26th with the arrival of Southampton.

Bearing in mind the weather theres's some doubt that the game will go ahead but if it does, 2-1 to the Addicks.

Bristol Rovers Preview

So its deja vu time, as exactly a year after playing Yeovil at Huish Park in a 1-1 draw in which Sam Sodje was sent off for a professional foul in the 29th minute we again face Bristol Rovers at home 3 days later. The score last year on 24th November against Rovers was 4-2 to the Addicks and perhaps its a good time to give Parky some credit for what he has achieved because of the 18 players who took part against Rovers one year ago, there's only 6 (Dailly, Llera, Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon and Akpo Sodje) still at the club. And just 5 weeks after his head was supposedly on the block at Carlisle, we sit comfortably (at times) in 2nd spot just as we did this time last year and after 5 wins on the run. We have 2 less points this time round but exactly the same number of goals scored and its been achieved with the loss of 20 players during the summer.
As for the game last year, we took an early 2-0 lead through Mooney and Burton and after Rovers had scored twice to equalise, further goals from Bailey and Akpo won the game.

History

Rovers are the poor relations of Bristol and unlike their neighbours City have never played top flight football with their highest position ever being 6th in Tier Two twice in the 50's.

But there's good news for you if you believe in all that history crap because its extremely likely that the Rovers have ever beaten us in home games in your lifetime. In fact, you would have to be over 52 to have been born when it last happened and in your 60's to be conscious of the fact. Sad to say I was probably there when it last happened on 29th March 1958 in a 2-3 defeat.

All in all in home games at the Valley ( and elsewhere) its a very pleasant score of 16-4 to the Addicks with 6 draws and in only 1 of the last 9 games have the Pirates avoided defeat and that was in a 2-2 draw ten years ago in our last season at Sainburys.

Other Stuff

Bristol Rovers have a strange sponsorship deal. Faced with the prospect of having no shirt sponsor for the 2009-10 season, the club came up with the idea of a raffle to raise the funds required. Tickets were sold at £1,000 with all 96 available being sold meaning the club raised £96,000 for one season of shirt sponsorship. First prize in the draw went to local training and recruitment company N-Gaged whose logo appeared on the home kit. Second prize went to Bristol based solicitors Stevens, Hewlett & Perkins whose logo appears on the away kit.
The raffle proved so successful that the club replicated it for the 2010-11 season with Smart Computers becoming the new home kit sponsors and Stalbridge Linen the away sponsors.

Are They Dangerous or Not?
On the face of it, and before the Yeovil result, you would think that there's not a lot to worry about as the Pirates form at the moment is very similar to that of Yeovil. Their last win was on October 16th, the day of our last defeat to Brighton, but whereas in the 5 League games since then, we have won 5 the Pirates have only had 3 draws to get excited about, along with 2 defeats. However, as you may have noted, we have a chance to compare ourselves with the only team above us, Brighton, as that last draw was at Withdean last Saturday, a 2-2 affair with Rovers getting an equaliser in the 93rd minute.

After that precious point on Saturday, the Pirates are currently in 16th place, 10 points behind the Addicks. But they are slipping down the table as they are 17th over the last 8 games, and 22nd on November results.

The Opposition
The Boss

Rovers boss is 42 year old Paul Trollope who has been there for 5 years, 2 in Tier Four and the last three in Tier Three.

The Players
One player not appearing on Tuesday will be the scorer of Rovers first goal against Brighton, defender Bryon Anthony, who received his 5th yellow of the season and will be suspended.

Who's Fortune Got to Worry About Then?

With the absence of Christian Dailly, its likely that Jon Fortune will step in even though Parky has signed Dutchman Marcel Seip on loan from Plymouth. He's been out of favour under Peter reid and hasn't put his boots on since the 0-4 home defeat to Swindon in the FA Cup on November 6th so may not be fit to play a full 90.

Definitely appearing at the Valley will be all three of the following. Top Pirates scorers are Will Hoskins 8, Jeff Hughes and Jo Kuffour with 6. Hoskins injured himself in the FA Cup first round clash with Darlington on the 6 November when he suffered a sprained ankle, but he returned on Saturday playing 12 minutes and he could start on Tuesday. They also have ex-Arse and the Bees 29 year old Ghanian Kuffour who was last seasons top goalscorer with 14. He's apparently got an impressive 28 in 96 games for the Pirates. Meanwhile, ex-Palarse and number 11 Hughes has an impressive 23 goals from 99 appearances for the Pirates.

What Are They Saying?

Brighton boss Gus Poyet after Saturdays draw with the Pirates, "We have not been ourselves for the last three or four games. We need to get back to the way that we play and make sure we are in control of the game. If we'd played them two months ago and we were 2-1 up with eight minutes to go I can promise you they wouldn't have touched the ball. We got punished and we got what we deserved."

Whats Their Secret?
Only tenth in the table in away form with 2 wins (at Dagenham and Huddersfield - the Terriers first home defeat of the season), 4 draws and 3 defeats BUT they like to attack away from home as Brighton can testify and only three teams (the Addicks, Wednesday and Swindon) have scored more away from home than their 13 goals. And they don't give up a lost cause either, for a very impressive 6 of those 13 have been scored in the last 5 minutes.

But down the other end, whilst the Addicks have had 5 clean sheets in their last 7 League and Cup games, the Pirates haven't kept a clean sheet for 9 games.

And you may have noticed that they don't like losing to top teams, with good results against Huddersfield and Brighton and they only have suffered 2 defeats in 7 games against teams in the top half of the table.
Another secret comes from the boots of Rovers' captain Stuart Campbell, a player that Lennie Lawrence made his first signing at Grimsby. Seems his corners are worth planning against and this is what happened in the dying seconds last weekend "Another superb corner was delivered in by Campbell and with the Brighton defence being put under additional pressure by Rovers goalkeeper Anderson, defender Bennett powered a header past his own keeper for the goal that gave Rovers a deserved point"

The Team

Two more yellows ( and a red) after three yellow cards in both of the previous two games, (although one of them was seems to have been on purpose), means we are returning to our old habits as we continue to lead the table on fouls. Doesn't matter you say, but sometimes these games are won by very slender margins and its worth pointing out that we've collected more yellows in total than any of Brighton, Bournemouth, Colchester, Carlisle, Huddersfield, Southampton, Peterborough, MK Dons and Sheffield Wednesday, all of the top 10 in fact.

After October's problems with bottom of the table teams, and Yeovils determination to get a result on Saturday you'll be pleased to see that we now face another six games against similar teams before we can return to a bit of tranquility on Boxing Day with the arrival of Southampton. The next six are Bristol, Luton (h), Rochdale(a), Walsall (h), Brentford (a) and Hartlepool (a).

However, looking at the three League games after Bristol, and with our impressive away form, they all look difficult but winable. Rochdale went 4th at the end of September but have been in a hopeless deline ever since with just 4 points from their last 7 games, but have only lost one of their last 6 home games, beating Huddersfield 3-0 in the process. Walsall currently prop up the Division and only have 2 points from last 5 away games, scoring just twice.

Meanwhile, Hartlepool have been hovering just above the drop zone from the last 10 games but after losing two of their first three home games have tightened up at Victoria Park with three wins over Walsall, Peterborough and Brighton, a draw with Bristol and only a disappointing 0-4 to Carlisle in the last 5 there. The 3-1 win over Brighton on November 13th was their first defeat in 12. And that defeat to Carlisle has had a similar effect on Hartlepool with 3 wins, 2 draws and only 2 single goal defeats in the 7 games since then.

Whilst Dailly's composure at the back will be sorely missed, there's no denying that the presence of Johnnie Jackson at left-midfield is proving a bonus for Parky. Pushed up since the injury to Reid against Brighton he's netted six times in the 8 games since then and in the 4 games he's scored he's always been first on the scoresheet.

A favorite of Parky, he's signed him twice (while at Colchester as well), he's already equalled his most successful scoring season at Colchester 3 years ago and he's now the Addicks leading scorer.

Elliott; Francis, Fortune, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Martin, Benson

Verdict
The history over the last 50 years is rather against Bristol but our stuttering home form could even things out. And against our 5 match winning League run is their confidence-boosting 2-2 result against Brighton at the weekend and they now have leading scorer Hoskins returning from injury. Plus they don't like losing against the top teams and were determined not to lose last weekend at Brighton and they even threw the goalkeeper up for a corner in the closing seconds and won a point.

And if you are hanging on to a one goal lead in the 85th minute, hold on to your hats because the Pirates have scored in the last 5 minutes in 5 of their 9 away games.

But what the hell, we've turned a corner and scored three for the first time at home this season and with 1-point-from-6 Brighton facing the top team over the last 8. the Saints, a win could leave us one point off top spot. But, of course, this is the Addicks we are talking about and any six wins in a row need a lot of luck and we used up a lot on Saturday so it looks a draw, 2-2 for me.

Yeovil Town Preview

To believe or not to believe that is the question. For, although Parky and his players may not have been overly surprised by Saturdays 5-1 result, the fans certainly were. To be honest we just can't get used to all the discrepancies in our home and away form and perhaps its time to get a bit of counselling because with this Jekyll and Hyde stuff we just don't know whether we're coming or going. Thank you then to the Guardian who supplied us with a timely and storming report on Monday morning helping to quell our doubts and hinting, only hinting, at possible good times to come.

It harkened back to our last 5 goal away haul, eleven years ago at Grimsby in 1999, a promotion year, and went on to award the Addicks with several choice phases unknown around these parts for a few years. "Steely new mentality" was one that I really liked and the "zippy, slippy play" of our front two, Martin and Benson, seemed to roll off the tongue like sweet nectar at an oasis. "Acute promptings" was liberally applied to our midfield while the central defensive duo of Dailly and Doherty was labelled with the reliable tag of "67 years of experience".

So, with such superb eulogies, what are we worried about? Well, the details are hidden away further down in an attempt to conceal the truth but the crux of the problem is a distinct sense of confusion. Because, forgetting our away form where we manage an average of 2.22 goals per game, it has to be said that our players don't seem to like the Valley too much. In the nine home games so far played in League and Cup competitions only nine goals have been scored and 6 of the 9 have been 1-0 victories. We'll take the victories, of course, but can we have just a couple of goals to help us enjoy it a bit more please. Starting with Yeovil.

In optimistic fashion we have to present the plus side to raise the mood and we now have nine clean sheets in our total of 22 games and are now 4th in League goals scored in Tier Three and nobody can better our number of wins (5) against the top half of the table. And we're back where we were a year ago at second place in the table, ( although back then we did have 4 points more) and 4 wins in a row, and a 4 week surge from a lowly 14th up to automatic promotion, something that seemed a dream after that defeat on October 16th. Its not the first time that the Posh have let in 5 of course, Bournemouth enjoyed themselves too at their expense, but can we convert our Acute Promptings into Home Goals starting with Stingy Yeovil.

The Boss
Its tempting to wonder what managers talk about in the bar after games. Perhaps they avoid each other but its clearly an opportunity to find out a thing or two not least how other teams

are faring. So, just perhaps, would Parky have asked Peterborough boss Gary Johnson how his old Yeovil captain is making out down at Huish Park. Johnson was in charge at Yeovil and Terry Skiverton (left) the centre-half and captain when Yeovil won the Conference in 2003 and were promoted to the Football League for the first time. Perhaps Parky showed concern about Terry's future as Yeovil fortunes sink, hoping that Gary, not thinking clearly after the days events, would maybe spill a few beans, not knowing that Yeovil would be next up for the Addicks. Unlikely, of course, but you can't blame Parky for trying.

Form

Yeovil are 23nd in the table with only 4 wins and 15 points in 16 games and with only a single point in a 3-3 home draw with Swindon in the last 5 games. Away from Somerset this season its 2 wins (at Walsall and Rochdale) and a goalless draw at Oldham and only MK Dons and the Daggers have suffered more than their 5 away defeats.

And after taking 4 points away from neighbours Exeter last season the Glover fans are certainly not happy after two defeats already this season in the League and JPT and to rub salt in the wound they've also lost to another local rival, Bristol Rovers.

But its best not to underestimate anyone in any League particularly in a League where we are perceived to be one of the Big Boys which sometimes tends to up the stakes just a bit in our opponents favour as they seek to prove a point. And although this weekend we face a team down there in 23rd it should be pointed out that a 1-0 away win is becoming one of their little specialities and although they have lost both their most recent away League games at Brighton 0-2 and MK Dons 2-3 before that they beat Walsall and Rochdale 1-0 ( Rochdale's first defeat in 7) on their own ground and last weekend dispatched Rushden and Diamonds in the FA Cup by the very same score with all three goals coming late on in the game.

Who Are Yeh?

Unlike the Peterborough defence last week, Yeovil will arrive with a more experenced back line containing the following three good players. Twenty three year old Paul Huntington started his career at Newcastle and during the winter of 2006/07 started eleven times in the Premier all before his 20th birthday. During the summer next year he moved to Leeds and played a major role in their central defence during their first season in League One under Gary McAllister. But after serious hernia and groin injuries and the arrival of Simon Grayson, chances at Leeds Road disappeared and Huntingdon now finds himself at Huish Park on a 2 year contract. He's played 15 and scored once.

Another player with Premier League experience is Andy Welsh who played for Sunderland in 2005 during the Black Cats dismal campaign. Number 19 is ex-Brighton Adam Virgo and is another that has experienced life at the top spending three years at Celtic. He plays central defence but has already scored 4 times.

And they also have internationals in the obvious Welshman Owain Tudur Jones in midfield.

Dangerman

Top scorer last season with 10 in his first season with the Glovers even with three months out with injury, number 10 is the 24 year old ex-Ipswich Dean Bowditch. He's managed 6 already this season and Parky, has to be watched.

Ex-Addicks

Only one this week, goalie Ben Roberts who played just once for the Addicks back in May 2003 when he came on against Fulham in our last game of the season when we finished a glorious 12th in the Premiership. We lost 0-1 and Roberts didn't save the penalty, the concession of which had had Kiely sent off. And he's only played once this season and is now the same age as his manager.

What Are They Saying?

Lee Martin on his having to wait his turn, "The main thing is for me to go out there and enjoy myself and the three points were massive for the boys because they've put us in a good position and confidence is sky-high right now"

And Parky, reflecting on tomorrows game, "It is important our supporters do not turn up just expecting an easy win. They have a big part to play on the day in creating an atmosphere and I’m sure they will do that.”

Whats Their Secret?

Unlike our last opponents, Peterborough, who fare so well against top half teams, poor old Yeovil have not won a single game against the cream in 7 games.

They are listed 21st in goalscoring in Tier Three and only last weeks Peterborough have conceded more, both of which mean that their goal difference of minus 13 is the worst in the Division. But beware Parky, there are 6 teams with worst away records than Yeovil and they have only conceded one more goal away from home than we have.

Meanwhile, facing the Glovers will be a team showing distinct Jekyll and Hyde tendencies. Because the Addicks are the Divisions highest away scorers with 20 goals, seven more than anybody else in Tier Three and in fact the highest in the country. However, you all know whats coming next because, our home form, and although our points are split equally, 12 home, 12 away, is not nearly so convincing. In fact, a paltry seven League goals have been scored, the lowest in the Division along with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol Rovers. Four 1-0 wins and draws against Oldham 1-1 and the 2-2 against the Daggers and we still haven't scored more than once in 90 minutes in eight home games so far (including the Cup win over the Daggers) as it took 91 minutes to score twice against Dagenham in the League.

History

History or is it nostaglia? Just four games played, all in the last five years. We won the first 3-2 at the Valley, an FA Cup fourth round game in January 2005 when Yeovil were 4 Divisions lower than the Addicks, with goals from that controversial trio of Hughes, Jeffers and Bartlett in an otherwise forgettable season in which we finished an average (sic) 11th best in the country. Dumped out of the Premiership the year before and on the slipperly slope to Tier Three in August 2008 we lost the next game, again a Cup affair this time a 1st Round home League Cup tie, at the Valley by 0-1 with present boss Terry Skiverton in defence. Only 6,000 hardy souls attended and perhaps they hadn't been told what everyone already knew because they witnessed the first defeat in a dismal season that would see a further 24 defeats before the seasons end.

So after being 4 Leagues apart in our first game against them 4 years and 10 months ago we somehow achieved parity last season and met Yeovil in the League for the first time. The first encounter was a 1-1 draw and we won the return in February this year 2-0.

The Team

In a strange week that saw the Football League team of the week include three Orient players and two from the Daggers the Addicks performance was rewarded with another duo from the Addicks, this time two goal Johnnie Jackson and Therry Racon.

The Addicks League form of 5 wins and a draw and top scoring with 17 goals over the last 8 games make us 2nd best form team in Tier Three being equal to Southampton and only behind leaders Brighton. A settled team is taking shape and this week there's really only the question of who will partner Benson up front, 2 goal Lee Martin from last week or Joe Anyinsah.

Elliot; Jackson, Dailly, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Martin, Benson.

Verdict

After 4 straight wins over teams currently lying in 4th, 8th, 9th and 13th positions how can we possibly fear a team slipping down to 23rd? Well, its quite possible that Yeovil will perform more like Barnet than Peterborough and will remind themselves that before the 4 wins we failed to beat such lowly teams as Tranmere, Dagenham and Brentford in a 2 week span back in September, suffering one defeat and scraping two draws.

Skiverton's first ever game at the Valley with Yeovil was a 1-0 cup win just over 2 years ago and he'll be trying to do the same on Saturday.

However, Yeovils favorite scoreline this season is also mine ie 2-0, or in Yeovils case 0-2, and what better result could there be than that.