Disgusted Valley

I was going to discuss in detail the various merits of two of our current midfielders but I've just noticed something else that demands some instant attention.

I'm referring, of course, to the advert on forevercharlton relating to bloody Royal Madrid. How can this happen? Have we reached such a position of low groveling that, not only are we having to beat off offers for one of our sole remaining stars from legendary giants Wigan, but are now acting as advertising agents for selling a god-damn hymn in f**ing Spanish, excuse my French, for one of the most enormous sporting (sic) monstrosities in the world.

We're Charlton, and supposed to have values, to be a family club, passed from father to son, support your local team and all that. What are we doing peddlaring this stuff? These people are the very opposite of what we are. They've got their own newspapers and TV. They've even got their own bloody plane for gods sake.

The sense of shame at the destruction of all of our values is enormous. How can we walk down the street now with our heads held high, which was proving hard enough anyway after the season we're just had, when we're reduced to the modern equivelant of wearing those advertising boards make famous in the thirties. If it was our own stuff we were flogging it would be different but this! Its....., words fail me.

Even in the distant Third Division days we never had to trawl such low ebbs. We've always managed to put a brave face on it, show our grit and determination, there was always the next game to recover ourselves, always next week to look forward to a comeback. But now, what!

Will we be advertising shirts for the Arse, Fulham's seasonal 2007-08 CD showing how Murphy-Man helped in their escape, and the big nightmare, will we stoop to such depths by helping to sell tickets for Palarse's pre-season trip to Dulwich?

You might argue that we need the cash, it's a consumer society mate, it's what happens. Well, sorry, shit happens but I don't like it any better.

We need to fight these elites and keep their influence at arms length. We need banners saying "Support Your Local Team" and "Join The Valley Express", not carrying adverts for these abominations. And what about the children? Is this ad safe for their eyes. What if little Jonny looks over my shoulder and asks me "Whats that mean Dad?"

So to help us get back our sanity and to rectify matters, here is a website for a club of similar status and standing to our own. If you want a bit of foreign action, support someone that going to appreciate you and give you value for your hard-earned cash. Valladolid's the name, currently struggling to avoid relegation from La Liga, and no, I don't get a penny, or cent, of any sales.

More's the pity......

Wish You Were Here...

Strange feelings watching the Play-Offs. Its like watching a sex scene on TV, you know you shouldn't poke your face into someone else enjoying themselves, but you do anyway. But unlike the sex, watching the Play-Offs does seem to leave a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth. Like imagining that you could watch your work mates off enjoying a holiday while you had to stay at work. And all the time you'd know that really you were more deserving than them and its you that should be enjoying all that sun.

Except you're not.

Are we still thinking too much of ourselves, well maybe. And its not just memories of Premiership games that lingers, its the reality that we are better than these 4 teams. None of them managed to beat us this season and with 4 wins and 4 draws we took 16 points out of the 24 available when playing against them so we must be better. Aren't we?

And although some people are saying that the games are good, are they really? The fizzies may be a very tough division to get out off but I don't think there's many Premiership managers losing sleep over the impending arrival of the best of Bristol, Hull or Watford.

In last nights game at Bristol, although there were 3 cracking goals, the ball was always flying through the air and most of the time was belted anywhere aimlessly with slick passing moves as rare as a vegetarian in a slaughterhouse. Sour grapes, then.

And the thought of a missed chance of a really gilt-edged opportunity keeps coming back to me. Promotion, this year, would have been a doddle compared to what its going to be like next year. With Reading and Birmingham likely to retain most of their squad next season its odds-on that it'll be they that claim the automatic slots with the Play-Offs left to the rest of us.

And already there's teams sniffing around to see what's available at the ex-Premier clubs. Bougherra off to Betis? I hope not and looking at the poll results on CAFCPicks clearly so do most of us with Magic getting the most votes in the defender category. Encouragingly, I can't find any news of it over here but its bound to happen with players looking elsewhere for a better deal.

Although Pards has often bemoaned the lack of a settled squad its perhaps worth reiterating the fact that Bristol City used the fewest players in the Division with 26, while Watford used only 28, WBA 29 and Hull 30. Meanwhile at the other end of the table relegated Leicester used the most with 41, with struggling Southampton, changed management at both QPR and Palarse and the Addicks next with 38 players used. A case of too much money earning us little in the way of benefits and perhaps an example of January loan deals working against us rather than for us.

And lastly a few words of advice from a fan enjoying the Play-Offs. No-one from Palarse, of course, but a northern mate watching the Tigers battle it out to the end and whatever you might feel about their style of play they did finish 11 points clear of the Addicks.

Anyway, advice for next season for what its worth.

"1. A manager the players want to play for (think Curbs fitted the bill, not Pardew)!!!

2. True northern grit and a solid back four,

3. Dean Windass ! (with a bit of help from rising superstar on loan from Man U (Fraizer Campbell)), who can bang in the goals, wind up the opposition and referee the game, at the same time."

So Pards, a 39 year-old forward, with 11 fizzy goals, outscoring any of our lot, a reduced squad enjoying better rapport with the manager and a 20 year old superstar. That's all that's needed, apparently....

Coventry Preview

Well, its all gone rather quiet, don't you think. Everyone's just lost interest and are trying really hard to do something else. In fact just about anything else will do, be it a touch of gardening for the open air types, the latest version of Grand Theft Auto IV for those who can't keep away from their PC or even following the attempts of a third division French team in Lyon to win promotion. And who can blame them because it would be nice if this nightmare of a season would just go away.

But that's the trouble, they gave us 46 games, that's 69 hours of football Pards, to get it right and there's still one sorry example left. Perhaps its the one we need to sort things out. To at last get it right.

Because Pards, I'm sorry to say but this season has been a complete failure. There I've said it. Failure. Not a nice word on which to end the season but I'm afraid on this occasion its the only one that fits.

We've had all the excuses, the latest one of which was; "If we'd stayed fitter we'd be in the play-offs. But this squad can have a better year next season just by staying healthy. But I do want to improve. I think we have a good base here and we have some very good young players who are going to threaten the side. But I certainly need to bring in at least two or three first-team players."

But to tell the truth we're all a bit tired of excuses, because excuses remind us that we all expected to win promotion first time round and Pardew feels he has to explain the current situation. As far as we're concerned next year will be different, 'cause we won't expect so much, in fact, many people won't expect anything at all. Just a few more home wins at the Valley would be nice thank you very much and a couple of away wins to keep the real supporters happy.

Anyway, moaning over, in case anyone is still at all interested in the very last 90 minutes on offer, we will try to tell you all we know about Coventry.

There's about half of the current fizzy collection that can all remember, and reminisce, about better times of Tier One football. And probably Coventry fans have more dreams than anyone. For an unbelievable spell of 34 years they enjoyed top-flight football without winning anything. Between 1967 and 2001 they were continuous members of England's top division and at the time of their eventual relegation, only Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton could claim a longer stay in top-flight English football than Coventry. OK, they did win the Cup in 1987 but never finished higher than 6th in the league.

As for ourselves, Sunday was, of course, the day that we all planned to give Monica a huge farewell wave with accompanying laughter, as we departed the fizzy shores for more healthly climates but alas not only has Monica been shown the door but we're not going anywhere either. Current manager is Chris Coleman, ex of Fulham and Real Sociedad of San Sabastian in northern Spain. They are in 19th place with 53 points; Coventry that is not Real Sociedad. They're in better shape since he left and are in 4th spot in the second division with 7 games left.

Attempting to gee myself up for what will be another empty and meaningless encounter except that Coventry need a point to ensure that they avoid relegation, I have asked myself the question, have they got anyone of interest? Captain is number 8 Michael Doyle, another Dublin midfielder, and he'll probably be alongside another player eager to be a thorn in our side, number 6 Stephen Hughes, who spent a fruitless year with us in 2003/04 without Curbs giving him a game. Up front they'll be the Maltese mosquito, number 17 Michael Mifsud who, if you believe the hype, is the best player ever to come out of Malta. Unlike the Addicks strikers he knows what its all about and has scored 16 goals this season. Unfortunately he's in a bit of a dry spell and hasn't scored in the last 25 league games since getting two in Coventry's shock 4-2 win at West Brom on December. After scoring against us in September, he's obviously due a goal about now.

On current form we can also expect another home pasting as, over the last 8 games, Coventry have amassed twice as many points as we have, 10 to 5, and whereas NOBODY has suffered more defeats in those last 8 than we have, eg 5, Coventry have only lost 2 and moreover enjoyed a rumping 5-1 win over Colchester on their last trip away from home.

As for the Addicks, who knows what Pards will offer us. Lack of width being one of the excuses, sorry reasons, for Saturdays defeat at Barnsley mean he's rather desperate for a winger. With Cook's departure back to Fulham, there's only Sam and Thomas left of the experienced wide men and both are reported as injuried. Perhaps its time we saw what 18 year old Scott Wagstaff is all about. But more likely it'll be Varney or Ambrose on the right.

Therry Racon, whose birthday it is today - he's 24 - has returned from his education at Brighton, 8 games in 5 weeks, and will presumably take some part on Sunday. If you've forgotten what he looks like, there's a pic on seagulls along with encouraging words like energetic and dynamic.

It's Sam Sodje's last game before his loan spell is up so perhaps Pards will include him and give us a hint of his plans for next season. Otherwise it'll be Bougherra and McCarthy in central defence. Again Greg Halford is due to return to Sunderland after the game and with the 3.5m that Keane laid out to get him from Reading last summer in mind it would appear unlikely that we'll see him again. Whether he plays on Sunday will depend on Pardew's desire, and perhaps need, to get a result.

Who else? Jonjo Shelvey must start and at least get the fans some promise of a bright future.

So Weaver; Semedo, McCarthy, Bougherra, Thatcher; Racon, Shelvey, Holland, Ambrose; Varney and Iwelumo.

Subs; Randolph, Halford, Wagstaff, Basey, Gray

And what does Pards say about the game? "Our fans will be coming on Sunday, and we'll have to put on a display with character, tenacity and a bit of quality. The players need to show some spirit, and we are looking to finish the season on a high note." Another 1-1 draw then.

Sacked!

Well, he's gone hasn't he. Sacked on Tuesday night. It had to happen really. Just 4 wins in 22 games, the team has crashed down 11 places from 4th place in October and the crowd were anything but happy with the situation.

An away defeat last weekend was the killer and occurred despite the fact that everyone knew exactly what was an stake. Surprisingly, the players underperformed, once again, and the manager's on his bike.

Who we talking about? Why Ronald Koeman, of course, handed his cards this week at Valencia. Oh, I see, you thought I was talking about Pards. Well, I suppose the numbers are remarkably similar.

But there is a difference. Valencia are a big club used to success, ie winning things, we are not. Valencia have pots of money, we do not. And Valencia have enough standing in the football world to be able to attract a top line manager, the Addicks sadly have now lost any we might have had. But with Saturdays loss finally putting Pardew's totals into the negative - 23 wins, 22 draws and 24 defeats in 69 games in charge at the Valley - is it time for a change?

The obvious answer is, of course, that no it's not. The very good article in wharf that Forever Charlton have somehow unearthed compares us, not to Valencia, but to fellow ex-Premiership Southampton. Redknapp was in charge when they were relegated in 2005 and since then George Burley and now Nigel Pearson have tried to get them back. After last seasons 6th place they are now in 21st spot, one point away from another relegation. Its their first year without any parachute money and they are clearly struggling.

So yet another change of manager for us is quite simply not on the cards. One senses that stability has always been one of Richard Murrays watchwords and perhaps Pardew should be thankful that there was a singular failure in the short terms of Dowie and Reid to make his job all the more secure. After those two failures, it was apparent that even some short-term problems would be tolerated. For how long we don't know but success next season is obviously vital before the money disappears.

On a brighter not, seems we can all sleep easily because Pardew claims he knows what the problem is and is quoted as saying "I think I know the reasons why we are not up there challenging and I need to put them right, I’m certainly planning to make three or four changes to this team to give us a bit more steel and a bit more strength. We’ve dominated games but haven’t got the goals some of our play has suggested we would. If we don’t get those goals, we’re always open to scary moments and defenders get edgy, and we’ve drawn games or lost games that we shouldn’t have."

So now its steel and strength that's needed now with apparently 3 or 4 changes to get it right and, if you believe the Wharf, apparently another 11M to spend. But Pardew's record in the market place for some reason doesn't exactly inspire does it. What's he's spend so far, you might ask? Altogether, on 14 players, it adds up to a rough total of 11.1m with Bougherra at 2.5m, Varney 2m, ZiZi 2m, Gray 1.5, McLeod 1.1m, McCarthy 650k, Thatcher 500k, Moutaouakil 400k, Racon 400k, Dickson 35k, with four others Weaver, Iwelumo, Semedo and Todorov all arriving on a free.

Obviously, it'll be very interesting to see which 3 or 4 Pards chooses to replace although it would appear that steel and strength would go some way to replace our famous superior technique which has failed to achieve very much. And not surprisingly it has to be said that after a total of eleven million spent to get us to 11th place it's not really surprising that Pards is apparently putting his faith in a couple of youngsters before the season's over. Because Murray won't want to spend another 11 million for an anonymous mid-table place.

Foreign Cup Finals....

And now for something completely different. In case you missed it, yesterday was Spanish Cup Final day. A Wednesday? Yeh, a midweek game, starting at the absurd time, for an Englishman anyway, of 10 o'clock. Well, ten past actually, this is Spain after all.

And you'd be surprised by the football as well. After watching Birmingham at the weekend on the box - what the hell are they doing in the Premier? - the contrast couldn't be more apparent.

In fact the style of football was very English with both teams, Valencia and Getafe, working hard and crowding out the player in possession forcing the team with the ball to display crowd-pleasing amounts of elaborate ball-passing skills. And then falling over, in dramatic fashion. This is Spain after all. Valencia, of course, have been the most english of Spanish teams for many years now and last night being their last chance to get into Europe next season, they were determined to take it. Not to mention that a defeat would probably have cost new manager Ronald Koeman his job, Valencia being down in 15th place in La Liga.

Getafe, meanwhile, seemed to be relying on the footballing rule that says ( as we well know) that a team appearing in its second successive final, after losing the first, is bound to win, and therefore as usual started off far too relaxed.

Perhaps two games against the dreadful Bayern Munich in the UEFA Quarter-Final over the last couple of weeks had given them too much belief in themselves. Over 3 and a half hours of football they had played the Germans off the park in both legs, in the process forcing the Germans to launch hundreds of desperate long balls into the box ala Birmingham in fact, to draw 4-4 on aggregate, only to lose on the away goal rule, to a last minute header after being 3-1 up in the return leg with 5 minutes left and that after with playing almost 2 hours with 10 men.

Well, anyway you've guessed last nights outcome. There were no dream-like endings for the small Madrid club. Little Getafe, budget around 20 million Euros, lost 3-1 to the Big Boys Valencia, budget 139 million, mainly through a poor start - where have we seen that before - conceding twice in the first 10 minutes. A spirited fightback to 2-1 at the interval, because even here, spirit is one thing the little clubs have, was in vain.

It was of course to be expected, even though Getafe had been handed the advantage of a final played in Madrid only a few miles from their humble home in the south of the city. Valencia, meanwhile, had to travel 450 KM.

But it's hard not to feel a bit sorry for Getafe, a team fighting every week in the La Liga on gates and budgets a mere fraction of the other clubs, because in reality they are not so unlike our own. They were, of course, one of the teams that tried to tempt Rommers to join them last summer. Thankfully, he was not on display last night because he would have been a bit lost as the football whirred around him.

So, once again, depressingly the Big Club wins in the end and we can only think back 6 years, in Spanish football anyway, for some consolation. That year it was decided that it would be a great idea to celebrate the holy Real Madrids centenary year by holding the Cup Final at the Berniebow. A bit like playing this year's FA Cup at Fratton Park because that year, 2002, Real made the final. What their opponents Deportivo thought about the plan nobody seemed to care.

So to the final itself and with the home stadium decked out in white to celebrate the inevitable result of a home victory over the boys from distant La Corunna and with the Cup already festooned with its white ribbons, miraculously, Deportivo scored after 6 minutes, took a deserved 2 goal first half lead and refused to play the game, ending up 2-1 winners and leaving the stadium with egg all over several important faces. Magic!

Jumping Through Hoops?

At long last in an indifferent season that is turning out to be just a little embarrassing, we come to a bit of a defining moment. A day when, if we don't get it right, it really could all be over from another year. For if we lose on Saturday at QPR and Palarse win at Watford, we'll be due the same fare, with the added attraction of Swansea away, next season.

And one half of that possibility, a defeat at Loftus Road, can by no means be ruled out.

QPR, in 14th place on 55 points, are rather better than they used to be - and even back then they beat us 1-0 - and are currently one of only 6 clubs to be unbeaten in their last 5 home games. In fact, after losing their first 3 home games without scoring, they've dragged themselves clear of the relegation zone over the last 3 months and have now had just one single home defeat - 2-4 to Burnley in the middle of February - since losing to Palarse on December 4th. That's eleven games with 7 wins and 3 draws, including two thumping 3-0 victories over both Stoke and Bristol City.

In fact, it could all be over by half-time, as, rather surprisingly, there's nobody better in the whole of the fizzies over the first 45. They've scored more goals, 33, during the first half than anyone else and have scored most "points" by half-time after being in front at the interval 18 times and drawing 18 times and there's not been a lot for manager, Luigi De Canio, to do over their half-time cuppa as they've only been behind on 7 occasions. The apprehensive Addicks, by comparsion, have only been in front at the break on a meagre 10 occasions out of 43 games, and have been losing the same number of times. A case for wondering why we need 45 minutes to get it right could be argued, except that our half-time figures are almost the same as top of the table WBA.

And whilst the Addicks can still somehow boost the most victories over top half opposition, 10, it somehow seems appropriate that, after all the problems with supposedly crap teams this season, we are finally undone at the home of a team in 14th spot.

But, for those of you out there that still cling to slender hopes of a revival you should take a look at the games history. For you'll be pleased to learn that we are unbeaten on our last 5 visits there, with 4 victories and a draw, our last defeat being in the old First Division 19 years ago in 1989. Overall at QPR we've had 8 wins and 11 defeats in 29 games.

The top goalscorer for the hoops is the Hungarian international, number 10 Ákos Buzsaky, supposed to be a midfielder, but currently on 10 goals. Catching up fast, however, is new-boy Patrick Agyemang, the ex Dons and Gills Ghanaian international from Walthamstow, brought from Preston during the January window, and now on 8 goals in 14 games.

As for the Addicks, we at last have a settled team, at least until its all over when the kids are rumoured to be appearing. Well, settled as far as Pards is concerned anyway, the fans opinion being somewhat different.

So with Randolph again being given the nod in front of Elliot, the only choice open to Pards is whether or not to include Lee Cook against his boyhood heroes and against the team he played for from 2002 to 2007. Bearing that in mind, and with the result being far more important than the style, perhaps there's a case for a starting ZiZi-Holland-Semedo-Ambrose midfield with two up front to stifle Rangers ambitions before applying the killer punch in the second half.

Prediction? With no less than 10 1-1's behind us who can resist another one. A draw would, of course, offer that just barely possible, but tantalizing prospect of being 6 points behind Palarse with 2 to play. An obvious scenario to aim for then for the Addicks.

Saints or Sinners?

So after a game to remember for those that travelled to Plymouth and after a pot-luck prediction that turned out correct, are we to believe that a corner has, at last, been turned?

Can we look forward to new fighting abilities that we didn't know we had? Or was it just a bit of lady luck at last with two generous presents from the Argyle goalkeeper? One fact that was confirmed was that we definitely play better with 10 men.

After seeing 6 red cards this season, for Semedo (Southampton 1-0), Sam (Hull 2-1), Sodje (Norwich 1-1), Mills (Hull 1-1), Fortune (Ipswich 3-1) and Weaver (Plymouth 2-1), we've managed 4 wins and 2 draws and are unbeaten. That's a truly remarkable record and can only mean that deep down there is a fighting spirit in the team that only dire circumstances can reveal.

But perhaps the most significant thing about Saturdays result was the proof that, after recent rumours, Pards does in fact read what we write. After accusing the team of "Lack of resilence after scoring first and no mental strength to overcome a deficit" here last week, the team did the exact opposite to everyone's surprise and Pardews reaction to the win said it all, "The resilience and character in the team, that's been questioned by some people, shone through, and it was great to win for our fans, because they have had to suffer frustration recently."

Well, Pards perhaps its time to make sure that the team understands that dire circumstances are indeed upon us and that we don't really need to lose a man to find the qualities required. As for Saturday, starting the month from so far behind, its pretty obvious looking at the table that unless we can beat Southampton all the hard work at Plymouth would have been in vain.

History is very even with 12 wins to us and 7 to them while another 7 have been draws. The last Saints win in London was a 4-2 at Sainburys on New Years Day 1990 in the old Division One, while their last win at the Valley was back in 1977, 31 long years ago.

The Saints are also without an away win since winning on Dec 1st last year at Leicester. They've had eleven away games since then but have been beaten only 4 times with 7 draws.

But what do three of our remaining opponents, Southampton, Barnsley and Coventry, all have in common? Well its the fact that their half-time talks have counted for nothing as they have all failed to win a game this season after being in a losing state at half-time. And after so much being said about our lack of comebackability recently you can surprisingly add Hull and Bristol City to that list of 10 clubs that cannot rowse themselves for a second half win.

But before you get too carried away you should take notice that over the last 8 games all four remaining opponents have enjoyed a better time of it than we have. QPR have managed 13 points (with only 1 defeat), Coventry and Southampton 10 each and Barnsley, preoccuped with thoughts of Wembley perhaps, have only accumulated 9. The Addicks, as I'm sure you know, have got only a meagre point a game from the last 8 games.

As for the team to play, Pards will want to retain as much of last Saturdays spirit as possible so with Weaver and Sodje out the only choice open to him is which goalkeeper to play. After Elliot's heroics at Home Park it'll be tough if Randolph takes over but that looks likely after Randolph's return from Bury.

Charlton: Randolph; Halford, McCarthy, Bougherra, Thatcher; Zheng, Semedo, Holland, Cook; Iwelumo, Lita

And we can only hope that Pards will have found a way to dispense with the Valley jitters other than by losing a player once again.

Where's Peter Shirtliff?

With just a single solitary win in the last 10 games, only 5 games left to stage a comeback, and the massive mountain of four points separating us from a Play-offs place, ( its taken us the last 7 games to accumulate 5 points ), the situation has already lead to several interesting seasonal analysis and debates on what's gone wrong. Drastic calls for Pardews head as a solution have not been infrequent while conversely the board just given him their vote of confidence. We couldn't afford anyone else anyway.

Perhaps its too early for the inquests but who can be surprised at the reaction when our expectations were obviously so high. We've all been proved far too foolish to expect so much so soon and we even believed that all we had to do was turn up to win every single game. It hasn't worked out like that at all and other teams have obviously enjoyed taking our ex-Premiership attitudes to the cleaners.

For many people the answer has been to look backwards to get some reality to what is happening to us but that does tend to fill us all with to many sentimental nostalgic dreams of what used to be.

The stark reality is that currently there's only one team below us, Colchester - with one sorry point - in the last 8 game form guide with just pathetic 5 points from the last 8 games.

But, perhaps remarkably, there's still one stat in which we lead the field. We have still scored first more times than anybody else. Twenty-three times out of 41, one more than Watford, West Brom, Hull and Stoke and there's only three teams that have scored more points than us after going ahead.

So what's gone wrong? Scoring first shows our attacking attitude and potential and with our 56 goals only 5 teams, West Brom (78), Stoke (63), Hull (59), Watford (58) and Ipswich (58), have outscored us.

But to find the reason we have to dig deeper and look at those games more carefully for although we have got 49 points from those 23 games perhaps its the points per game that is most revealing. Just 2.13 points per game after going ahead and there's 15 other teams that have got more points per game after going ahead. Is it that 15 other teams are more resilent on hanging on to a lead than the Addicks?

Perhaps to explain what's wrong with the Addicks this year we should compare ourselves with another team getting almost the same points per game after going ahead: ie Stoke City. They've scored first 22 times and got 48 points in the process so pretty equal with Pardew's lot.

But what of the other games, the occasions when we've gone behind. After taking 0-0 draws into account that's 17 in our case and 14 in the case of Stoke.

When our opposition scored first we managed a meagre 7 points from 1 win and 4 draws. Only 4 teams, Preston, Barnsley, Leicester and Scunthorpe have a worse record.

But what of second placed Stoke? Well, here is the difference between 11th and 2nd place. Fourteen times the opposition have scored before Stoke have but that doesn't seem to upset Tony Pulis's boys. They've managed 16 points in those 14 games with 4 wins and 4 draws. That's collective mental strength that only players like Peter Shirtliff would understand.

So Pards. Lack of resilence after scoring first and no mental strength to overcome a deficit. Says it all really and no amount of technical ability is going to overcome those two major liabilities.

So need we bother to turn up on Saturday? One win in our last 10 away games and 4 failures to score in the last 6 will lead to most people doing the DIY or messing about in the garden. The sorry ones will be remembering last May at Anfield and dreaming of a revival now that the pressure is, in some ways, off.

OK, call me sorry, but hope, and oncoming madness, springs ever eternal. 2-1 to the Addicks.

Dancing With Wolves?

Just six games left now and even Pards admits that we need to win '4 or 5' to reach that fast disappearing Play-Off position. Bit of a tall order really after just 4 wins in the last 19 fizzies and 1 win in the last 9 and especially with the next two opponents having similar ideas in mind.

And after the excitement of playing West Brom for the fourth time this season, next up are their near neighbours Wolves, currently enjoying a good run that has taken them past us into ninth place with a game in hand.

A rather strange team, Wolves, full of caution, that contest the title of 'draw specialists' with the likes of Leicester and Palarse, and only seem to come out of their shell after their half-time tea. In fact they've scored more goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half than the entire first 45 so be prepared for a boring first half before the fireworks.

Unfortunately, as mentioned, they are on a bit of a roll and looking at away games only, have the best record in the fizzies over their last 5 games with 3 wins and only 1 defeat - 0-3 at Watford, back at the beginning of February - and are now unbeaten in 4 on their travels. And over the last 8 games home and away, they've got the third best record in the Division with 4 wins and only a single defeat.

In line with their cautionary attitude, they'd had more clean sheets than anybody else with 16 (the Addicks have 12), but have failed to score 13 times, more than anyone else above us in the table which clearly emphasizes their favorite result, a 0-0 draw, of which they've had no less than 7 (the Addicks have only had one!).

There's more good news in looking at their games against the top half teams. While Wolves have picked up 3 doubles and 18 points from the bottom three teams, against the Addicks disgraceful total of 6 points, we have secured a massive 26 points against the cream of the Division. McCarthy's boys meanwhile have picked up a meagre 14 points in their games against the top 12. And the bad news for them is that apart from the Addicks, they face 4 of the racing pack in their last 7 games with a visit to Bristol City and home games against West Brom, Plymouth and Ipswich. And looking at their home record, the only team they've beaten in the top 14 in the table is, yes you've guessed it, Charlton...

But one positive for them is their success during the January sales. In marked contrast to our own sorry story regarding strikers, they have obviously done their homework and splashed out 1.5M on someone called Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. Unlike Andy Gray or Leroy Lita he does appear to know where the net is and has scored 7 times already since the move from Plymouth. His style of play has been termed 'aggressive' and apparently there's a night club bouncer in Plymouth that can verify that after an incident in November concerning a bottle. Ebanks-Blake is currently on bail pending another visit to the courtroom in April and is presumably enjoying his dancing somewhere else now.

West Bromwich Albion Preview

It'll be a sombre mood at the Valley tomorrow and perhaps we should all be wearing black. The fans will be wondering what exactly they are doing there on a holiday afternoon when the wife expects at least a trip with the hubby to Bluewater. Well, that'll be Saturday then. And they'll have mixed emotions - the fans that is, not the wife. Do we grin and bear it or do we let our emotions run riot and show what we really think? Because how on earth can the club expect us to sing and cheer at this precise moment in time.

Take a quick look at the table and it shows the Addicks in 10th. A mountain has appeared in front of us and like the closure of Everest by the Chinese, it seems that the players have suddenly had the door slammed in their faces and have admitted defeat. And while there's no knowing how the crowd will react tomorrow perhaps we should instead be thankful that there's only 7 more games of this tainted Tier Two season to go before we can thankfully forget it all and take our long earned summer break.

But is it too late for a Grandstand finish? A late spurt to show everyone what we're really made of? Unless we can find the key to the door, I wouldn't bet on it.

As for the players, we have to say we expected more, but so too did Pardew. The talisman Leroy Lita, loaned from Reading, has now played three games and enjoyed three defeats. He has yet to score for the Addicks and has now apparently gone a total of 16 games without scoring. Andy Gray, ex of Burnley, after his first game against Watford in January has now played 11 games, starting in 7 of them, and has also failed to score.

Two million pound Luke Varney, 21 starts, plus 13 sub appearances, has scored just 7 times. Perhaps we were just too hard on Carl Leaburn, with his 53 odd goals from 344 appearances.

The only sign of any success up front, apart from Todorov, has been Chris Iwelumo with 11 fizzy goals from his 28 starts, and 11 substitutions. Perhaps, in retrospect, we should have kept Kevin Lisbie who's enjoying his best season ever and has already scored 14 times, twice as many as Varney, for a club at the very bottom of the League and clearly heading for relegation.

As for the teamsheet tomorrow, Pards is an advocate of a settled team and it'll probably read the same as last time out, despite the defeat, with a 4-5-1 line-up.

Weaver; Halford, McCarthy, Sodje, Thatcher; Ambrose, Semedo, ZiZi, Holland, Thomas; Lita. The only change maybe the omission of Semedo, who didn't play well against Ipswich, for Andy Gray and a return to 4-4-2.

As for the result, we'll have to wait for New York's flawless predictions to know what to expect but a pointless ( in terms of league position anyway ) 0-0 scoreline would appear fitting in the circumstances.

Looking Forward to West Brom?

Pardew only has another 56 hours to figure out how to stop the rot and prevent our next opponents West Brom putting more points between us and at the same time its vital that he prevents a permanently damaging fourth defeat in a row. But it wouldn't be easy against a team that we've faced three times already this season, and have yet to beat.

Two drawn cup games back in January, before losing on penalties at the Hawthorns, and the 4-2 away defeat on December 15th doesn't give us much confidence to draw on although we did come from 2 goals down to equalise then and only lost with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes.

To add to our current problems we sunk to 10th in the table last night after Wolves beat Scunthorpe with a Neill Collins' header 7 minutes from time. Oh, and Hull won again as well to go 6 points in front of us in our coveted 5th spot.

So it's a sizable dilemna for the gaffer to face and all in front of a nervous and extremely critical support. And perhaps support will be a key word for without some positive vibes from the stands, its obviously going to be another difficult afternoon.

But, despite it all, its probably just about the best time to be facing West Brom. We all know the Addicks form of only 4 wins in the last 20 games but the team from the Hawthorns are not a great deal better with only 6 wins in their last 15 fizzies. And while we are a lowly 22nd (!) over the last 8 games-table, they are only rated 12th.

With only two wins in their last 6 away League games since beating us in December, over Hull and Sheff. Wed, they've had surprising 1-2 defeats at both Preston and Barnsley along with another two upsets at Stoke 1-3 and Ipswich 0-2.

Perhaps, with everyone tipping them as promotion certainies for so long, they have allowed their mind to slip elsewhere. For in just two weeks come Saturday they'll be playing at Wembley in an attempt to beat Portsmouth and appear in their first Cup Final for 40 years when they beat Everton 1-0.

With a five point gap to 2nd place but with two games in hand, West Brom are still on course for automatic promotion and with 5 games left against clubs in the bottom half they don't need to win tomorrow against a team now so far behind them.

In their alarming weekend 1-4 defeat at home to Leicester, both of their key strikers, 20 goal Kevin Phillips and Man City loanee Ismael Miller, were on the bench and up front started Roman Bednar and on-loan Luke Moore. Probably it had something to do with the fact that Miller, otherwise known as the Moston Menace, and who will be signed on a permanent deal at the end of the season, seems to save himself for the cup games, scoring a hat-trick in the Quarter-Final against Bristol Rovers. For as far as League games go, he's only scored once in the last 23 fizzies, which obviously encouraged Mowbray to get a back-up and Moore was loaned from Aston Villa till the end of the season. Unfortunately, we won't be seeing him either as a straight red card in the defeat by Leicester means he will not be playing at theValley.

On another happy note, injuries are starting to affect Mowbrays team, with our main tormentor back in December, Chris Brunt going off injured with hamstring problems against Palarse last week and not appearing at all against Leicester.

On the history front, we can all remember the disappointing, at the time anyway, 1-4 home defeat on 19 March 2005 ( which was their first win at the Valley in 50 years) back in our illustrious Premiership days but overall we have a good record against them with 11 wins at home compared to only 6 defeats.

Perhaps to encourage the opposition to daydream, we 'ort to lower ourselves to chanting reminders of the Cup just to put their mind off the game. 'Don't Forget Pompey' - 'Only two weeks to Goooo' - but no, the most important thing we should be doing now is getting in training to make some noise come Friday and drown out any murmours of booing. Whatever we may think, the time for boos is past, because its getting too serious now and Pards' obviously needs us just as we need him.

Ipswich 2 Charlton 0

Another blank scorecard and continued cheerful enthusiasm and manic optimism is at last proving distinctly difficult to maintain as we wait increasingly impatiently for normal service to be resumed.

After a stunning once-a-season strike on Tuesday from a player that has never done it before, we move on to a 35 yard floater, caught by the prevailing winds, sailing rudely over Weaver and going in off the far post. You got to laugh really or you'd be reaching desperately for the bottle.

Except that nobody, least of all Pards, is laughing and certainly not the board after they're read kingshilladdick sparkling analysis of Pardews use, and non-use, of his players, not to mention the apparent twelve million spent. Perhaps all we need now is the board's vote of confidence.

But just when you thought that everyone would be pulling up the bedclothes, surprisingly, there's been an unprecedented volume of posts over the last half-day reflecting at least a fighting spirit from the fans. Predictable back-lash maybe but most point out how stupid we've all been to think we would sail back up despite the the relative mediocrity of the fizzies. Perhaps it's a case of not the hope that kills, its our over-blown expectations, although one person seeing though all the optimism is newyorkaddick who continues to amaze with another spot-on prediction.

But its not what we feel or think that's important right now, its the players and of course, Pardew. He's got 6 days to figure out what the hell to do and who to do it with. As far as the players are concerned, I can only surmise that the second half comeback by Bristol, just when they thought they'd done enough, is still on their minds. Following close on the second-half comeback by Watford, its perhaps confirmed to them that they are really not strong enough to cope.

Somebody used the word relegation yesterday and I suppose that at least there's no fear of that so things could have been worse. And we can only hope that in the 7 games to go, the shock of at last being overtaken by all the over-achieving dross that surround us will somehow fire the players back into contention.

And what a chance to prove it next Friday against another team conceding 4 in their last game, West Bromwich Albion, 4-1 losers at home to Leicester. A clash of the titans then or two teams struggling in a worsening quagmire. Who knows but with all the frayed nerves on hand we could have a 6-6 scoreline that would at least give something to cheer.

As for the papers few of them have bothered and you really can't blame them. The posh_murdoch, although usually accustomed to its owners desire to bend the truth somewhat and to ignore the obvious, have, to their credit, in fact tried to raise the spirits of the dead and give four of our players a score of 7 out of ten - the same as awarded to the Tractor Boys - for effort and endeavour presumably rather than any successful end result.

Charlton: Weaver; Halford, McCarthy, Sodje, Thatcher; Ambrose, Semedo (Iwelumo 59), Holland, Zheng (Varney 83), J Thomas; Lita (Gray 83).
Subs (not used): Elliot, Fortune.
Booked: Semedo 26 (foul on Garvan), McCarthy 32 (foul on Lee)

Eight to Go...Ipswich Town

A stunning strike from a player that hasn't scored all season somehow said it all on Tuesday and settled the game at Turf Moor. We were supposed to bounce straight back after a disappointing loss at home to Preston but it didn't happen. It was obviously going to be a night when the result was more important than the performance but it appears that we got it all wrong and ended up with just an improved performance, which at least appears to have satisfied Pardew. Indeed he failed to spot much difference between Tuesday and our win over Sheffield Uoo.

Perhaps we should be worried by that but in this League there's just no time to reflect on anything as tomorrow we travel to Ipswich.

And after two defeats in a row, one would think that the worst possible place to go now would be that little town in East Anglia. Because, with only one defeat in 18 games at Portman Rd this season - 1-2 against Watford on Feb 9th - they clearly have the best home record in the fizzies.

But, optimistic as ever, hope is not lost as they are currently suffering their worst run in the League this season without a win in 4 games and endured their biggest defeat of all on Tuesday by 1-4 at happy cup semi-finalists, Barnsley. Manager Jim Magilton was not a happy bunny and is reported to have read the riot act after the game.

With their 54 goals, 4th most in the fizzies and one more than the Addicks, they are clearly not shy in front of goal and have currently three players on 11 goals, the Spaniard from Galicia, Pablo Counago, the tall, 6' 3" strapping giant from Galway Alan Lee and the Irishman from Birkenhead, Jon Walters. However, injuries have hit Magilton and he'll unfortunately, depending on your point of view, be without Walters with a knee injury and probably winger Danny Haynes as well.

But clearly there's one player who will enjoy tomorrow, Matt Holland. Making his first return to Portman Rd since he joined Charlton in the summer of 2003. He made a total of 259 appearances for Ipswich in the six years 1997-2003, with an amazing run of 223 consecutive games and showed an unusual sense of loyalty when he even rejected a move to Premiership Aston Villa to try to get Ipswich back into the Premier after relegation in 2002.

We also have another Ipswich ex in our 9 goal Darren Ambrose. Starting his career at Portland Rd, he had two years there 2001/03 playing 30 games before Bobby Robson signed him for Newcastle.

So, in compliance with the law of the ex - even though it failed to galvanize Andy Gray on Tuesday - starting with Holland and Ambrose is a must, and there's only the decision as to which 9 to add to the team and then decide on the correct formation.

4-5-1 Pards. Don't know how many times we have to say it, but clearly its time once again for a 5 man midfield. Semedo, Holland and Ambrose please, and pick your one for the lone job up front. Leroy it is then.

The defence picks itself, or rather we know who playing, Weaver, Halford, Sodje, McCarthy, Thatcher so that just leaves the wide man to choose. And with Sinclair apparently not 'fitting-in', Lee Cook suffering low conditioning, and Lloyd Sam indisposed, that just leaves Jerry Thomas on the left.

So Weaver; Halford, Sodje, McCarthy, Thatcher; Ambrose, ZiZi, Semedo, Holland, Thomas; Lita.

Prediction. With only 4 wins in the last 19 games and only 6 teams getting less points than we have in the last 8, its a bit hard to see beyond another defeat at Fortress Portland Rd. But, this is football and strange things have been knew to happen, even with the Addicks.

If its going to happen, a winning run that is, it has to begin now and with Holland keen to impress at his old home and the law of the ex in operation its an Darren Ambrose goal for a 1-0 victory....

At least that's what the missus thinks. Me? I think I'll settle for a point.

Deja Vu?

A narrow defeat suffered by Hull last night, 0-1 at Cardiff, means that remarkably, after 1 point from the last 9, we've still in 5th place. West Brom moved a point closer to the top two with a 1-1 home draw with Palarse and right now with only 8 games left there's definitely two separate races taking place.

The top four of Bristol, Stoke, Watford and West Brom are all alone in the race for the auto spots and are now covered by just 5 points with Watford and West Brom having games in hand. Meanwhile, there's now a 6 point gap before the second grouping of no less than 7 teams fighting for the 2 remaining Play-Off places. These 7 are again covered by 5 points with the last two, Ipswich and Wolves, having games in hand.

And even more remarkably Pards, optimistic as ever, remains upbeat after defeat at Burnley. Well he hasn't much choice, has he, because it's fast becoming crunch time.

Pardew has made many hints over the past months that it's his experience of this situation that will see us right in the end and looking back three years it's not difficult to see a distinct parallel with his last season in the fizzies back in 2004/05 with the Hamsters.

On March 18th 2005 West Ham had 56 points from 16 wins and 8 draws with just 8 games remaining. They had scored 53 goals and had a goal difference of plus 4. They were seventh and out of the Play-Offs.

With only 2 points from the last 5 games things were not going well for Pardew and the fans were screaming for his head when suddenly things started to improve. Three straight wins followed and 5 weeks later they had done enough with five wins and 2 draws to finish the season in the coveted 6th position on 73 points, three clear on Reading in seventh place.

Strangely enough we find ourselves in almost exactly the same position now. Exactly the same number of points, 56, and the same goals scored, 53, from 15 wins and 11 draws but with a better goal difference.

It all finished well for West Ham when, Pardew, after a two legged win over an Ipswich side containing Darren Bent, took the Hamsters to the Millenium Stadium on May 30th and beat Preston 1-0.

Revealingly, one man was clearly responsible. Of the 5 goals scored in the Play-Offs, Bobby Zamora scored 5 of them including the winner at Cardiff. And it had been Pardew who had insisted on including the 6' 1" 24 year old Zamora in the Defoe transfer deal with Spurs, taking him to Upton Park in January 2004.

Is Pards dreaming that new-boy Lita will do a Zamora? Both started their playing careers in Bristol, Lita with City, Zamora with Rovers.

Perhaps we should let Pards have the last word, "I won't hide from the fact that we've got ourselves into a hole. We've lost three league games in a row. The pressure on me and on the team is increasing, and it doesn't make it comfortable. I will look in my team to find who will be up for the challenge."

Well, that was 3 years ago but obviously nothing changes in this world as a challenge we most definitely have now with an upcoming visit to a team with the best home record in the fizzies, Ipswich Town.

Perhaps its time for Leroy Lita to light the touchpaper and do a Zamora......

Looking Forward to Preston?

I can only call Tuesday a stunning disappointment and after the second-half display there's only the realisation that there's definitely better teams than us in the fizzies. Meanwhile, it's perhaps a point gained and we continue to stagger hopefully towards the Play-off lottery.

Still six points behind Watford in 2nd and with Stoke and West Brom also to overtake, perhaps we should remember that we still have to visit two of our closest rivals in Ipswich and Plymouth and of our 5 away games we have to visit three teams that have some of the best home records in the fizzies, Ipswich, Plymouth and Burnley with only 6 home defeats between them in a total of 54 games. Perhaps we should concentrate on retaining our 5th place after all.

Preston, meanwhile, are down in 20th, on 40 points, with only 4 teams below them. Preston's home form is good with 8 wins - the same as the Addicks - and with only one defeat more than we've had and Charlton are the only team in the top 10 to have taken away all three points from Deepdale. But its their away form that has dragged them down to the relegation area. With only 3 away wins and 3 draws, they have suffered more defeats on the road than anybody else in the fizzies, a total of 12, and only Ipswich and Barnsley have picked up fewer points away from home.

And a further bad sign for a team at the lower end of the table, they don't seem to be very good at fighting. Compared to Bristol City, as we sadly experienced, who have fought back and scored 14 points on the 17 occasions that they've gone behind, poor old Preston, after conceding first 16 times have only won a meagre 4 points in those games, a feat equalled by Leicester City.

But the good news for Preston fans is that they are slowly improving and with the three points on Tuesday, have now dragged themselves out of the bottom three. With more points than the Addicks over the last 8 games, 13 to 12, Pardew should take note that at the same time as we were drawing with Bristol, Preston were gaining their third away win of the season by winning at Leicester by the only goal in the last minute.

As for the Addicks, nothing less than 3 points will do on Saturday, and while there have been many disparaging comments about the acquisition of yet another forward, perhaps its worth noting that the Addicks for all our firepower only have one player in the top goal-scoring 20 players in the fizzies and he, Gray, scored all of his 13 goals this season at Burnley, and hasn't now scored for over three months. By contrast, West Brom have 3 players in that top twenty, and Stoke, Watford and Ipswich all have two.

Perhaps we shouldn't worry too much about that what with the highest scoring team by far, West Brom with 71, are still only 4th while Bristol City, outscored by 11 other teams, are 3 points clear at the top. But while we have 2 midfielders in ZiZi and Ambrose both finding the net 9 times, I can't help but remember that in our last promotion years, Super Clive got 23 in 1998 ( and then another three in the Final) and then Andy Hunt going one better and getting 24 in 2000.

So the arrival of Leroy Lita, 14 goals last season but only one in this, is Pardew latest attempt to force the issue. Perhaps those with a long memory can recall the arrival of striker Jim Melrose for the last 11 games of the successful promotion-winning 1985-86 season. He only got 5 goals in those 11 games but they included a face-saving equaliser at Sainburys against Millwall after they had gone 3-0 up in the first 19 minutes.

And it does seem that we need to do something about the accuracy of our finishing. Only 4 teams, West Brom with 71, Stoke 59, Watford 57 and Ipswich 53 have scored more goals than we have with our 52, but Stoke and Watford have managed it with roughly 60 less shots on target than we have. And with the distinct possibility that we'll have to face at least one of these teams in the Play-Offs its perhaps vital that we find an answer now before its too late.

So we can only hope that Pardew, with his contacts at Reading, has this time got himself someone who we can rely upon to hit the back of the net.

Eleven Games to Go...Bristol City

Just eleven games left now before the season ends and another 8 wins is still not enough to get us into the 80's, the very minimal for a automatic spot. So therefore aiming for 8 wins, a draw and just 2 bad days in the last two months of the season what better start today than the arrival of top-dogs Bristol City.

After analysing Bristol's form yesterday, there's nothing left but to cover the players.

Star man, above, for Bristol is Number 35, the 6' 3" Nigerian striker Bamberdele Adebola, 'Dele' to his mates. He's now 32 and has been around with Crewe, Birmingham, Palarse and Coventry and he joined Bristol in January for an undisclosed fee. Scoring 29 in 122 games at Crewe, 29 in 128 at Birmingham and 31 in 163 at Coventry, he's also started well at Bristol with 3 games in only 6 games.

Another big number at 34, is the Jamaican international Darren Byfield from Birmingham who's played for Millwall and the Gills and is this seasons top goalscorer with 8. Captain Louis Carey is rumoured to be suffering from an ankle injury and won't play while his right-back teammate Bradley Orr, who was sent off in August 2006 for attempting to head-butt Carey, is unfortunately also missing. They've also got a Brazilian goalkeeper in Adriano Basso who has just been voted BBC West player of the year....

Manager Gary Johnson, apparently up against a 'Premiership' side and keen to get started, will leave Byfield on the bench and play the same 4-4-2 side that beat Hull 2-1 at the weekend:

Adriano Basso; Ian Wilson, Jamie McCombe, Liam Fontaine, Jamie McAllister; Ivan Sproule, Lee Johnson, Marvin Elliott, Michael McIndoe; Nick Carle and Dele Adebola.

Turning our attention to the Addicks, it'll be a surprise if the back 5 are changed after a pleasing and determined performance at Sheffield and the only decisions that Pardew has to make will affect his formation and attack.

Beefing up the midfield with a 4-5-1 at Bramall Lane was the obvious option after the 5-3 mauling at Bloomfield Rd but this is a home game and the last time he played that format at home was the debacle against Colchester on January 1st with Iwelumo as lone striker.

After containing Sheffield the midfield also looks clear with Holland, ZiZi and Ambrose which leaves just 3 places up for grabs. There's no news about the 'illness' that has kept Gray, just voted second-best player in the fizzies, after Kevin Phillips, out of action which could be a ploy to keep the opposition guessing. Gray's already scored against Gary Johnson's side this season back in September for Burnley.

New boy Scott Sinclair is also looking for a start but Pardew will probably opt for Thomas on the left after his full 90 minutes on Saturday.

So expect a line-up of;

Weaver: Halford, McCarthy, Sodje, Youga; Ambrose, ZiZi, Holland, Thomas; Varney and Iwelumo.

Subs: Elliot, Fortune, Semedo, Sinclair, Gray

And a prediction? Killer sees it as a 2-1 home but Pards will be more keen on stopping them from scoring as they are still unbeaten when they score first. That said, a single goal will be enough for me, a 1-0 with Sodje scoring again.

The Best in the League?

While we make the usual slow crawl through the traffic into work this morning, but this time with a wry grin on our faces, its perhaps best, after a quick tour around your mates milking the applause, to waste no more time and to consider the prospects of overcoming little old Bristol City tomorrow night.

Because with a fixture list of 7 games in March there's just no time to rest on your laurels in this League and what better feast can we have than 2 games against perhaps the best in the division, Bristol and West Brom, plus another two against two of the oldest and famous, Preston North End and Wolves.

And with just 11 games remaining and a gap of 7 points to make up on the coveted 2nd place there's no room for dropping further points. So what better chance can we have of closing the gap than the visit of a team currently 9 points in front of us.

After our 1-0 win back in November at Ashton Gate, there's a chance of our third double of the season over a team that last season was in Tier three. On the other hand, its perhaps not the best time to be facing a team obviously in form in table-toppers Bristol City, who, with only 7 defeats in their 35 games, fewer than anyone else, also have the best current record in the fizzies over the last 8 games with 16 points out of 24.

However, its also been the miserable recent away form of their rivals that have seen them go 2 points clear at the top of the table. For while all the other four teams in the top 5, apart from Bristol, have only won 1 away game in the last 5, City have put the pedal to the floor in winning no less than 3. OK, two of them were single goal victories against bottom clubs Colchester and Scunthorpe, but we, of all people, know how difficult it can be to get points at these grounds.

On the plus side they have lost 5 away games so far, the same as us, and two of them occurred just before their Colchester and Scunthorpe wins, in their last two visits to London being at QPR 0-3 and Palarse 0-2.

And if we need more encouragement, you only need to look at their low scoring record of 44 goals - ten fizzy teams have scored more - and their low goal difference to realise that something is wrong somewhere. In fact, they do seem to have bad days at the office and as testimony have suffered several threshings apart from the 3-0 at Lofus Rd in January. In fact, once a month, on a regular basis they do seem to implode. A 4-1 defeat at West Brom in December, was preceded by a 0-6 embarrassment at Ipswich in November and before that a 0-3 at Barnsley in October. Perhaps its time, at long last for a hat-full from the Addicks?

But, and there's usually a but, with their meagre 7 defeats they are hard to beat and although they have scored first less times, 17, to the the Addicks 21, they are one of only 6 teams that remain unbeaten once they have gone ahead.....

In fact, you just don't want them to be the first to score because of the 17 times they have scored first they have won 16 of them - and they've only won 18 games in total. So the first goal tomorrow is vital.

And if you're interested in history, its been 40 years since Bristol won at the Valley, a 2-1 win back in 1968 and they've only managed a total of 4 wins and 4 draws in 26 games at the Valley.

So come on Pards, pedal to the floor....its time to catch up and prove that WE are the best in the League.

Sheff United 0 Charlton 2

Well, nobody saw that coming with just about everyone steeling themselves for another disappointing away defeat. Silly of us to forget the old adage that says that teams conceding lots of goals one week, will miraculously recover and greatly improve the next, and so it's been proved with a headline quote of 'terrific' from Pards.

Thankfully, Pardew took notice of our advice of last week and returned to a 4-5-1, last used with non-affect against Colchester, with strongman Sammy Sodje bolstering the defence although with the inclusion of a seemingly lightweight midfield trio of Holland, ZiZi and Ambrose. Andy Gray was dropped completely and Chris Iwelumo, starting for the first time since Stoke, was reinstated as lone striker with Luke Varney and Jerry Thomas on the wings.

And while I did wonder at the wisdom of informing everyone that we've only won at Bramall Lane once in the last 21 visits, it obviously worked to our advantage instilling in our opponents thoughts the anticipation of an easy game and this time it was the turn of the opposition to be slated by their manager in a performance termed by Blackwell as 'insipid'.

And as we stretch our lead our 7th placed Plymouth to 3 points, we're back in our coveted 5th spot and consequently there's still not a lot about us in the papers. In the telegraph you'll only find a round-up of the fizzies with the Addicks getting, true to their league position, the fifth paragraph.

The sportinglife, meanwhile, calls Pardew 'inspirational' in bringing back Iwelumo and in the stats page also highlights the captains new-found aggression with Matty Holland's second yellow of the season.

Over at the posh_murdoch there is, supposedly, a report from John Aizlewood but at the moment a technical hitch prevents any expansion of what he saw. Perhaps they'll cure it later, or perhaps not.

But there's also a paragraph, this time that works, about that 'ittle irish fella that we sold January in posh2, which as you would expect combines an appreciation of his creative skills with an awareness of a lack of fitness.

But probably the most pleasing of reports can be found on the suffering Blades site where, for a pleasant change, we can read that both our goals came from set-pieces with an alleged 30 yard throw-in from Greg Halford creating the havoc that caused the first.

The Addicks: Weaver; Halford, McCarthy, Sodje, Youga; Varney (Sinclair 71), Holland, Zheng, Ambrose (Semedo 83), J Thomas, Iwelumo.
Subs (not used): Elliot, Fortune, Cook.
Goals: Iwelumo 45, Sodje 82
Booked: Holland 43 (foul on Quinn), McCarthy 54 (clash with Morgan)

Looking Forward to Sheffield?

Yes, it was the famous Henry Ford that said 'History is more or less bunk' but after Saturdays horror show I'm not so sure. Perhaps it's the long trip north or the bracing sea air affecting the players but large figures in the goals conceded column at Bloomfield Rd is not a new phenomena.

We conceded 8 goals back in 1952 in a 12 goal nightmare, 7 back in 1964, 6 on two occasions and now 5 goals 4 times. A grand total of 74 goals hitting the back of our net in 26 games at an average of 2.85 per game.

So with only 4 wins for the Addicks in those 26 games its obviously never been a good place to go and furthermore no-one in the Big Three can hold a candle to Blackpool's home scoring record against the boys from SE7.

At the Arse its 5 wins for the Addicks out of 28 but goals conceded per game of 2.46.

At Manure its 3 wins for the Addicks out of 31 but goals per game conceded of 2.42.

At Liverpool its 6 wins for the Addicks out of 30 with goals per game conceded of 1.77.

So Mr Pardew, we've just given you another excuse, if you need one, for our performance last weekend.

But the point of this exercise is really to confirm the message that, despite everything that Henry Ford had to say, history cannot be completely ruled out. And with the next game just 3 days away I sure you don't need reminding that with only 1 win in our last 21 games at Bramall Lane and just 3 wins out of a total of 29 visits, the opposition, even forgetting their 3-0 win at the Valley in November, will be brimming with confidence, even if our goals conceded is only an average of 1.93 per game.

Perhaps its time to forget our usual 4-4-2 attacking gameplan and turn our concentration on stopping the other team scoring. Whatever the conclusions reached regarding our latest defeat, it would appear that things are due a change and a repeat of our boring 1-0 wins at Bristol and Southampton back in November are sorely needed right now. The formation back then was a 4-5-1, with Iwelumo the only striker, and scorer of both goals, and we can only regret the forced exit of our key midfielder in both games, Andy Reid.

Whatever, times change and we can only hope that Pards gets it right cum 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon and has managed to install a fighting spirit sadly missing last weekend. At least there's no sea air in Sheffield to worry about.

Oh, and something else that Henry Ford said, strangely enough regarding the Play-Offs, was 'If you think you can, you can. And if you think you can't, you're right.'

Time For A Change?

Fresh from the anticipation we had this time last week of visiting the club against whom we enjoyed our biggest win of the season at the Valley - but with dire consequences - in complete contrast this weekend we travel to face the club against whom we have suffered our biggest home defeat. And to complete this crazy conundrum, the 3-0 Valley defeat on November 27th was also Sheffield's biggest win of the season. I bet they can't wait for the weekend to come round.

And after the abject reverse that was Saturday, Pardew must be in a desperate dilemma as to what to do with his defence for the game against Sheffield. But more of that later.

His first job this week will be to raise the morale of the team after its Blackpool mauling. Conceding five goals is bad news in anyone's book, but perhaps we should all take note that while Blackpool were buoyed by the inspirational Dickov and have a good record at home, Sheffield, now in 15th place are a team with a new manager, Kevin Blackwell, and are more used to drawing at home than winning. Moreover Blackpool, with our help admittedly, are now the 7th highest scorers in the fizzies, Sheffield, meanwhile, are outscored by 17 other teams.

And while we may lament the large number of recent drawn games, only Colchester, with 14, have drawn more games than Sheffield's 13 this season and to complete the picture the surely-to-be-relegated duo of Colchester and Scunthorpe have also managed to win more games at home. And just as Pardew will be urging his players to prove themselves after a bad defeat, its just possible that he'll be able to convince them we were on the receiving end of a similar situation in November when United came to the Valley after suffering only their second home defeat of the season against Plymouth just 3 days before.

And to raise the morale still further Pardew will point out that its been their dismal home form since then that has been key to Robsons departure. In the 7 games since the Plymouth defeat, they've only managed 2 single-goal wins over Barnsley and QPR and since the Valley result only 9 goals scored in the subsequent 15 games that also included the nail in Robsons coffin, the 2-0 defeat at Hillsborough in the middle of January. And since that defeat, 5 consequent drawn games.

So having raised the morale and instilled in the players minds that revenge for the home defeat is a necessity, Pards, after sensing the mood, must then turn to his selection. And after saying on Saturday evening that the team must sweat to see who he leaves out, he has committed himself to make changes and just about the only feasible option is to bring back Jose Semedo to tighten up the midfield. Who makes way though may well be teasing Pardew till match day.

After his experience with Dickov last weekend, Pards will know what to expect this time round. Saturday will see Blackwell's first home fizzy game as manager after the goalless draw with Middlesbrough in the FA 5th round tie. He's already demanded a higher work-rate from his players and his more 'direct' style of play won them a late equaliser last weekend at QPR. And we can only hope that a tiring cup replay tomorrow night will sap their energy levels.

An extra covering midfielder doesn't exactly punish, or correct, the defence for its collective 'off-day' but after singling out Halford for criticism and lamenting the loss of Youga it'll be no surprise to see Yassin and Kelly return as the two full-backs. It remains to be seen what Pardew will do with his central pairing of McCarthy and Fortune. Step forward Sammy Sodje to cope with the more physical nature of the United attack.

As for the Addicks forward line, we have proved previously against Bristol and Southampton that you don't need to score three times away from home to win any game. In fact scoring three got us exactly nowhere, and Pards will no doubt be wondering exactly when Andy Grays first goal for the club is coming.

Nevertheless, he'll have noticed that out of our 17 goals scored in the 12 games since the West Brom defeat on December 15th, only 4 have been scored by our forwards. In fact Gray and Big Chris have failed totally during this period and its Varney that has got all four and this will give Pardew a greater puzzle when he turns his attention to his attack.

With the inclusion of Semedo in midfield, and 4-5-1 on the cards, the decision has to be made as to who will lead the attack, Gray or Iwelumo. And perhaps more important, which one of Varney, Semedo, ZiZi, Holland, Ambrose and Cook will he leave out. Perhaps with both Varney and Ambrose scoring 4 times in those 12 games both will play with the sometimes lightweight ZiZi on the bench.

And speaking of lightweight, it's times like this that we wish we had a powerhouse in the midfield, a Parker, a Song or even a Kinsella, to put himself about and help to remove words like abject and embarrassing from any future Charlton match report.

Roller Coaster Ride, or a Plan for May....

Saturday's result finally completed a circle of fortune for Charlton that was started two and a half years ago on August 28th 2005. On that day, almost exactly 30 months ago, we demolished Middlesbrough at the Riverside 3-0, in what for me was probably the best performance I have ever seen from the Addicks.

And our fall from grace, from that epic day 30 months ago, has been confirmed in what can only be a Charlton-way. In a performance labelled in the Sporting Life yesterday as an 'embarrassing, abject humiliation' this was, of course, the first occasion since that day that we managed to score 3 goals away from home.

Any comparison with that game, in which we made our best-ever start to a top flight season, would be pointless, but suffice to say that although we can talk of circles we may not yet have reached our bottom.

But we mustn't be negative, supporting Charlton and having a pessimistic outlook is only a receipt for suicide. No, its usual on these occasions to search for some light at the end of tunnel, in the hope, and not forgetting that adage that 'its the hope that kills', that somewhere we can find a trace for some optimism.

Perhaps we should start with Blackpool, the main cause for our current nightmare. Although they were 15th in the table, and 13 points behind us, before the game, it was pointed out last week that their home record was very good and they now have as many points won at home as we have. And in 17 games, only three teams have gone to Bloomfield Rd and won this season.

And they were also part of the infamous quintet of Scunthorpe, Colchester and Norwich that, before Saturday anyway, had big problems with the Big Teams and had only won 2 games each against top half opposition. Thankfully with just 12 games left we have got these boogies out of the way, for alarmingly, when other teams seem to have little problem avoiding defeat when playing them, out of a possible 24 points against this group we only managed to get 9. And of their, now, 9 wins against the best 12 teams in the fizzies, fully a third of them have come against us...

But, as we ponder the dilemma that while we have difficulties in beating teams that are the 'easy-touches', we can, on the other hand, beat the best on our day, perhaps we should recall what the Club Handbook said about that season two and a half years ago. 'A real Roller-coaster' it turned out to be, apparently - shame they couldn't foresee what was coming because the same phrase should really have been saved for right now, for our monthly record is truly a measure of our consistent inconsistency.

Looking at the monthly results, this was our position; August 12th, September 2th, October 21st, November 1st, December 13th, January 5th and February 12th. But before your stomach complains from all the stormy battering, perhaps we should turn it around and rejoice that February will soon be over and we can look forward to fact that in March, with 21 points available in a 7 game program, we are due to raise on the crest of a wave up to our proper level and after a terrible plunge in April with three difficult away games at Plymouth, QPR and Barnsley, raise again from the ashes for a triumphant May.

Madness or a Plan for Promotion, who knows?

Blackpool 5 Charlton 3

Anyone wanting to enjoy this particular Sunday Morning will be dragging the dog for a long walk, reading a good book on anything but sport or simply turning over in bed. Whatever takes your fancy and anything to avoid the problem of picking up today's papers.

And you can't blame them really, except that most papers now don't even bother to write about us anyway as we're already been written-off as far as promotion interest is concerned.

So for those diehards still with us, you can jump straight into the sportinglife report for an explanation of a 3-5 scoreline, that looks bad whichever way round you look at it, where the text is full of those charming little objectives that we all thought had disappeared with last seasons relegation.

Yes, once again we're 'Embarrassing', 'abject', with 'defensive frailties' and if you still don't get it then there's the killer sentence putting the nails in the coffin, 'the Addicks looked anything but a side heading for an immediate return to the Barclays Premier League after an abject surrender left them utterly humiliated by Simon Grayson's men.'

And if you were expecting a response from Pardew then there it is in black and white, 'furious boss Alan Pardew launched a scathing attack on his players, "They were really bad goals on our part and the back four just did not function today. The two centre-halves and the right full-back - again - was poor. I've said that to them so I've got no problem saying it now".

The only other paper to show any interest was over at the observercumguardian where they're a little bit kinder and put the blame fair and square on the inspirational (!) form of the on-loan Paul Dickov.

More probing analysis will doubtless follow in the next few days from everyone but right now I'm going back to bed!

The Addicks: Weaver, Halford, McCarthy, Fortune, Basey; ZiZi (Semedo 71), Holland, Ambrose, Cook (Thomas 70); Gray (Iwelumo 46), Varney.
Subs Not Used: Elliot, Sodje.
Booked: Fortune.
Goals: Ambrose 29, 30, Fortune 74.

Fizzy No. 34 - Blackpool (a)

So even Pardew reckons that time is running out for the Addicks to achieve that disappearing second spot although Killer himself is clearly not convinced that tomorrow will be any different, 'cause he's gone for another stalemate, a 1-1 draw.

And you can't really blame him as its another away game against bottom half opposition which these days seems to tax us more than most. That last away win was back on December 4th, 2-0 over Cardiff and is it a coincidence that it was the last time Reidie scored for us before his departure?

Since then we're gone 6 without a win on our travels, with 4 draws - Norwich, Leicester, Watford, Wednesday - and 2 defeats, West Brom and Scunthorpe.

And what of Blackpool? In the crazy fixture list that we have, its only a month since we played them and we had our biggest win of the season, 4-1. Goals by Bougherra in the 6th minute, Varney in the 10th and two from ZiZi in the 24 and 72. So an early breakthrough, unusual for us.

But although they are 15th in the table, 13 points behind us, that's mostly down to their poor away record. For their home form is not at all bad with 25 points won at home, just 3 less than us with one less game played. And only 3 home defeats against Norwich, Cardiff and Stoke. Bristol City, Plymouth and Sheffield Uoo have all gone away with only a point while Addick-beaters QPR, Burnley and Scunthorpe were all beaten....And Blackpool are now unbeaten at home in 5 games.

But whats our record up there at Bloomfield Road? Well, pretty bad and that's probably the reason for Killer's pessimism. Only 4 wins and 5 draws in 25 games, although we did win there the last time we went, 2-0 in 1981. But there's been some almighty hammerings over the years with an 8-4, a 7-1, a 6-0 and a 6-1 and a couple of 5-0's all reminding us that Blackpool were once a Big Club.

But, of course, they're not any more and like lowly Colchester and Scunthorpe with average gates around the 6000 mark, Bloomfield Road is also a small ground and has yet to see a 5 figure crowd this season. And as we all know the Addicks like playing the current Big Clubs and the thought of going to a small ground will not be pleasing Pards, or Killer..

As for their players, they only have a trio in the ACTIM top 100 fizzies, pint-sized No. 11, the Irish winger-midfielder Wes Hoolahan and the Scottish ex-Leeds and Celtic full-back Stephen Crainey and not forgetting their star player, as far as ACTIM are concerned, the ever-present, ex-Addicks, goalkeeper Paul Rachubka...

Top goalscorers are Hoolahan and Ben Burgess with 5 each and as a team they do like to shoot a lot and are one of only 6 teams in the fizzies with over 200 shots so far but have been a bit unlucky hitting the woodwork no less than 21 times, more than anybody else.

The Addicks then. With a accumulation of yellows, Kelly Youga is out and presumably Grant Basey will take his place for his 7th game of the season.

Halford will continue at right-back and its up to Pards to see who will partner McCarthy at centre-back, Bougherra or Fortune, and will Pards consider the conceding of 2 goals in a minute to Watford after only letting two in over the previous 5 games? This may prompt Pardew to make a change and go for Sammy Sodje in place of either of them.

Lee Cook is due for a start pretty soon after 2 sub appearances but Pardew may prefer it to be a home game and will stick with what he knows tomorrow especially with Basey returning for his first game for a while. Sam and Ambrose will therefore be out wide and midfield will be ZiZi and Holland with Varney and Gray up front.

Charlton: Weaver; Halford, McCarthy, Fortune, Basey; Sam, Holland, ZiZi, Ambrose; Gray, Varney.
Subs: Elliot, Sodje, Semedo, Cook, Iwelumo

Prediction: Seven points behind now so we have to win this one if we expect to ever get back to second so its a 2-1 win for me.

Looking Forward to Watford?

As we head inexorably towards the lottery that's called the Play-Offs, there's two teams, that I for one, would like to avoid. Watford and West Brom. They're the two we seem to have most problems with and if we can't make the auto spots then its probably best that they do, just to get rid of them. So defeat on Saturday won't be the end of the world for me, it's much more important to beat Bristol City in two weeks time to get us into 3rd or 4th position to get home advantage first come May.

And defeat is possible as, with three consecutive draws, we just can't seem to beat the buggers. It was 1-1 last month with Darren Ambrose equalising 11 minutes from time, and 2-2 last season at Vicarage Road with a second half comeback after being 2-0 down at halftime with the equaliser again coming from Ambrose this time with just one minute left. The last game at the Valley on October 21st 2006, finished 0-0, and was another frustrating game as it was supposed to be the one that turned our Premiership season round. It didn't!

And after a poor three months for Watford, getting only 4 wins in 16, it's obviously not the best time to be playing them as they've started this month well with three straight victories over Wolves, Ipswich and Leicester with their last away game ending Ipswich's unbeaten home record.

And if we couldn't beat them at their place where their form is not brilliant and when they were having a bad run, what chance do we have at the moment against a team that have 10 away wins under their belt and are the best away team in the fizzies with only 3 defeats in 16 games.

But Pardew will know what to expect and will have had a rehearsal of Saturdays game two weeks ago against Stoke City, a team that are a match for Watford. For while we usually start slowly with 17 out of our 32 games being all-square at half-time (only the conservative Wolves and the strange Palarse have been drawing more times at the interval), Stoke and Watford are the two teams with most 'wins' in the first 45 minutes, 15 and 14 respectively.

So the first half performance this time is crucial to our chances and although it looks a formidable task for Pardew and the team there is a promising side to our game. For while we have continuing problems with relegation teams, we have a good record against the top ones and no team has won more games against top half teams than the Addicks, 8 in all. And it's this statistic that is the most meaningful of all. Four teams stand out as the best in the League with West Brom, Watford, the Addicks and Stoke getting most points against the very best.

Unfortunately, I shalln't be there to see this battle of the giants. My sister is celebrating one of those important, unavoidable birthdays, that end with the magic '0', at some posh Italian place, but unlike most people that choose a Saturday evening or Sunday lunchtime for such events, my unthinking sibling has decided it will be an afternoon bash starting at 2.30, in Eastbourne, on Saturday. What!

Prayers for a impending cup tie or another Friday game to cause interference to her plans to upset my life have come to nought. I could rely on the weather and heavy rain to cause a postponement but that's more likely to provide a heavy pitch that'll suit Watford more than us.

Carbonara and a large drink, please.....

Sheff. Wed 0 Charlton 0

OK, that's it for me. Plan ahead is the thing and the only remaining option now is to decide on the airline. Easyjet are the cheapest from Madrid and if we can consolidate our strong position in 5th that'll mean, if using last year dates as a guide can be relied upon, a Home first leg tie against whoever finishes in 4th on Sunday 11 May with the return on Wednesday 14th.

At the moment it'll be a game against West Brom, and we can only hope that Pards has a plan up his sleeve to solve that little problem, and if we get past them it's the Final on Monday May 26th. The biggest headache will, of course, be the queueing for the ticket for the Final, or finding someone to do it for you, which last time took no less 4 boring hours standing in the sun. Presumably this will be done the previous Sunday, May 18th.

As for last night's non-action, the man from the telegraph was there to see an 'depressing deadlock' as Nicky Weaver salvaged a point with three cracking saves.

The managers give their opinions on sportinglife1 while the best unbiased report is also around there on sporting life as well and talks of Wedneday being the more 'purposeful' and practically gives Weaver the MOM.

Pards was frank with his diagnosis, 'It was our character, really, that saw us through that game. That pitch was really poor and we struggled to pass it and struggled to get going at times.'

It was also disappointing to see Gray pulled off after 63 minutes and even more so to see get Kelly Youga wound up so much that he had to be subbed before he was sent off after getting a early yellow card. Three minutes after Gray left Sam was also removed and Lee Cook saw his first action since April.

The Owls site gives you more info on Youga's withdrawal and apart from 'Weavers three stunning reflex saves' talks of 'desperate defending' and 'credible shouts for a penalty'.

On the plus side, we've now only conceded 1 goal in the last four games but have not won away since Cardiff, 6 away games ago, also the day when Reid scored his last goal for us. And on current form, over the last 8, we've placed 9th - equal with Blackpool - having got just 12 points from the last 24. Saturdays visitors, Watford, however, although regaining top spot, are little better having accumulated 14 points in the same time, although, after winning just 4 games during November, December and January, the signs don't look good as they have now won their last three games, even being the first side to win at Ipswich this season.....

But if you're a determined masochist and want to heap even more pain, suffering and depression upon yourself, you might care to read, if you've missed it, what the posh_murdoch had to say about the debut of a certain 'ittle irish fella at the Stadium of Light over the weekend....And there's even a picture of that left leg in action, just to make it quite clear exactly what we are missing.

The Addicks: Weaver; Halford, McCarthy, Fortune, Youga (Semedo 45); Sam (Cook 66), ZiZi, Holland, Ambrose; Gray (Iwelumo 63), Varney.
Subs Not Used: Elliot, Sodje.

Booked: Youga.