Mafia Of The Mediocre

So Marmite Man Darren Ambrose returns from Ipswich, having failed to set the world alight there. Nothing if not consistent in his inconsistency is young Darren.

So Phil Parkinson has been confirmed as manager, having failed to achieve, well anything really. Nothing if not consistent in his mediocrity is young Phil.

I now fairly and squarely blame the Board. This has to be some of the most incompetent, and dangerous decision making since the darkest days of Charlton's existence, and let's face it, the poor decision making since Curbishley left has quite frankly been staggering. I wish they could have gone when they wanted too, safe in their contribution to Charlton's history, but they could not. I feel desperately sad for them, and for all of us.

Now, we have the anonymous Chappell , a Jeremy Beadle lookalike, and his assistant who chews gum to mimic his new(ish) lord and master, in the same way he used to stick his hands deep into his pockets to mimic Reg. Oh, and we have Phil Parkinson. Charlton is now run by a mafia of the mediocre, and this latest appointment is very much in the same dysfunctional grain.

Enough?

Having had the good fortune to be part of the best period in Charlton's history, it is of course totally appropriate that I should now bear witness to statistically the worst performing Charlton team since the club was founded. Like most, I suspect, I shall miss the irrelevance of the FA Cup game against Norwich, and shall return once more for the game against Nottingham Forest

No money, no leadership, and if we lose the game against Forest, quite frankly no hope.

2-2 To The Londoners

This actually felt quite good. A 2-2 draw that saw Charlton come from behind twice, displayed all the fighting qualities that will be needed if we are to stand any chance of getting out of the mire we are in. Nicky Bailey chose a good time to rediscover some form, with two well taken headers, but perhaps more worryingly, Hudson seems to be having a dip in form at a time when we can least afford it. The second goal has to go down to a defensive error by him that allowed Blackstock to get free and score. This is the third error by him recently that has led to a goal for the opposition.

More importantly for me, is that I now believe that Parkinson is definitely not the right man for the job. Although we look better than under Pardew, the lack of both consistency and motivation is still there. We were dire in the first half, but a teacup laden half time break, saw the players return to the pitch early, and for fifteen minutes after the equaliser look like the only team likely to win it, until Hudson's defensive error let QPR off the hook.

As for the sending off, yes it showed passion, but quite frankly it was stupid. Having a go at the fourth official about two penalty decisions to go against us in quick succession maybe frustrating, and show "heart", but it also shows desperation as well. But at least he cared. Had he been sent off for QPR's third goal, then fine, but the attempt was rightfully ruled out for an over zealous attempt to claim Jon Fortune's shirt off his back, when he would otherwise have easily been first to clear the ball

So the transfer window opens in five days time, but will Parkinson be the one calling the shots on who comes and who goes? Harsh as it may seem given the fight shown today, but I don't believe he should be. Weaver, and Zhi to go, will release much needed funds for a centre back, and most importantly a creative midfielder, although sadly I think they will both be loans.

P.S. Am I the only one who thinks that the detail behind the injury to Zeng Zhi is a story that should be, shall we say, more candidly explained? Preferably with a little bit more transparency than the attendance figures would be nice.

It's Captain Clean Shorts Fault

A post or three ago, I mentioned that one of my Coventry City supporting friends borrowed my season ticket, and went to see the latest home outing of the abject horror show that is the current season. His verdict on our plight was interesting, as he couldn't place a finger on an obvious weakness in the team, as they were all bloody awful. His overriding impression was that we were panicking, and this manifested itself by trying to play the ball around at 400mph.

By his own admission, Coventry are a "fragile" team, and yet our high octane, zero result style of play at present, meant that they didn't even have to press us. All they did was wait until one ambitious rocket pass went wrong, which was inevitable, collect the resulting free ball and hoof it forward to let the runners torment our beleagured defence. So why, in his opinion, should Matt Holland get singled out for opprobrium? The reason is that, according to my friend, he is the senior pro, and should have put his foot firmly on the ball, tell everyone to calm down, slow down, and make the simple pass.

Common sense stuff really, but we have continued to play pinball football against similarly weak teams to ourselves, and the result is our parlous league position now. The frustrating thing for me is that I could see this happening, even before the essential three games, for me anyway, against Southampton, Blackpool, and Coventry were played.

The result is that we have now gone fourteen games without a win, and if we can keep it up for another two, we will apparently equal our worst ever run of games without a win in our history, which I am told currently stands at sixteen, from some time back in the Fifties.

Merry Christmas, and (hopefully) a happier New Year to you all.

Pantomime Season

How else should I rationalise the rumour that the Spanners current manager Kenny Jackett will be coming to Charlton in January? or indeed that Lennie Lawrence may also put in an appearance from his current berth at Bristol Rovers? Fortunately the Currant Bun also cites that perennial favourite Billy Davies as another wise man potentially to travel to SE7. Pantomime season may start in earnest in January, but nothing beats a little pre-season marketing eh?

And so to Norwich, buoyed (falsely I believe) by cheerier thoughts off the back of the performance against Derby. This was another team in our neck of the league table that really had to be beaten to get any sort of credibility behind statements about escaping the clutches of the bottom three. The fact that we didn't beat them had nothing to do with luck, and everything to do with poor defending, it doesn't really matter whether it was in the 4th or 94th minute, the result is another leaked goal, and another two points dropped.

We cannot afford to draw against teams like Southampton and Derby, and hope to survive. The same is true of Norwich. Nothing less than three points today will be good enough.

Crumbs!

You know a friend, or even a passing acquaintance, who is a genuine football fan will never take the piss, even in jest, when your team is in trouble. Most of the time, the subject of football will never be discussed between you, when previously it would always be the opening gambit of conversation. There is an innate understanding that "There but for the grace of.....etc" exists between genuine fans, who know that the dividing line between success or failure is often the narrowest of tightropes.

So it was, on the last day of last season when I bought two Cov supporting friends to The Valley to see their inept team ripped to shreds by south London's finest. Discussing football afterwards in the Rose of Denmark was inevitable, given the occasion, but I genuinely felt sorry for them, and was able to pinpoint fairly easily the source of their teams shortcomings that day, namely that the central midfield pairing, with a combined age of near 70 was the weakness that most urgently needed to be addressed.

Last night I gave my season ticket to one of them. If the club want to take it away for my misdemeanour, then quite frankly it would be a mercy killing right now. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with him this weekend, because I will be interested to know what he thinks our problems are from a more objective point of view. He would have had every opportunity to boo the team off last night in safety, but do you know what? - he won't have done. One, because he is a mate, and two, he knows what we are going through right now. Cov survived by one point last season, and that looks positively comfortable compared to where we are right now.

There Are Three Teams Poorer Than Us

Norwich, Southampton, and Watford are the three, and it has nothing to do with their performance on the pitch. All three are in financial crisis, and if Charlton can stave off a visit to administration themselves, the deduction of ten points from these three should see us safe. I am finding it increasingly difficult to see how we are going to avoid the drop any other way.

Has it really come to this! With half the season still to play, I hope not, but with limited cards to hand, the current personnel don't appear to be the answer.