MHROTD

...........to Jonjo Shelvey, and thank you for doing the honourable thing by signing a two and a half year deal. Not that I am expecting him to see it out. Indeed, I believe he will go in the summer, and make that a definite if we are relegated. I would expect a clause in his contract to that effect, and who can blame him.

What he has done, however, is ensure that when he does go, Charlton stand a sporting chance of obtaining a decent transfer fee for him. I suspect Jonjo Shelvey will be sold to help us a) survive, and / or b) get us back into the Championship. Even if we do stay up, there is no guarantee that he will stay, as the lure of filthy Prem money will prove too much to resist for a club with no parachute payment to fall back on, and dwindling saleable assets on the playing side.

Too Little, & Probably Too Late

Credit where credit is due, as Parky and the boys have managed to pick up four points out of six, and kept two clean sheets. It would be ironic, that having discovered some mid-table form, that our early season proclivities prove to be a bridge too far from a recovery perspective. Other results on Saturday, didn't help us either, and we really need to keep Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Norwich, Plymouth Argyle, and Barnsley in close proximity. I am not convinced that Watford, Blackpool, and Doncaster Rovers are safe either.

On to Swansea then, and whereas we needed three points against Barnsley, I would happily settle for one against Swansea. How long ago, does that sunny opening day of the season, and a 2-0 victory seem now? Our away form is still the worst in the division, but we now rank 21st for our last eight games, and that keeps the hope alive.

Keep It Simple

One of the benefits of sitting six rows behind the home dugout, is that you get to hear every pearl of footballing genius as it is being uttered. So what jewels did Parkinson impart yesterday? Well, to be honest, not very much. If he shouted "Soaresy" once, he shouted it a hundred times during the game. He wasn't being angrily critical of the Stoke loanee, but he did see, in his own mind, at least, the conduit through which, he believed most change would be wrung from a poor Plymouth defence.

He may well have been right, as the 2-0 scoreline does not flatter us at all. It could easily have been four or five. Indeed, it would have been, but for Larrieu in the Plymouth goal. Similarly, the Pilgrims could very easily have got two goals of their own as well. The second opportunity would have been particularly painful had it been converted by Fallon, after one of the most horrendous back passes, courtesy of Kandol, that it has ever been my misfortune to witnerss.

But, let's not detract from a good team performance, and that is the key to yesterdays success, as this was the nearest I have seen to a team performance for some months now. If "Soaresy" is as influential as Parkinson certainly believed yesterday, then I hope his wish to extend the loan for a second month comes off for him.

The other pearl of wisdom to be uttered from the dugout several times yesterday, was for me, far more relevant, and that was "Keep it simple". He refrained from adding the word "stupid" on the end, but this was a "KISS" that was very appropriate for St. Valentines day, and the team deserve the plaudits for doing just that.

Business As Normal

The games against Burnley and Bristol City shared much in common, not just with each other, but many other games this season as well. Take lead, surrender lead, leak a second goal, and game over. Whilst nobody at the club can admit to giving up, of course, I believe there is a danger that the false optimism will be allowed to cloud the future of the team this season, which as I have stated before, now has to be to bed in the core of the team that will be representing Charlton next season.

Many times over the years, we have heard phrases like "doing a Charlton", and "Charlton are the model that we should be following". Well now, it is our turn to look for a model to follow, and the most relevant one to my mind is that of Leicester City. If you look at their relegation last term, the fans principally blamed one thing. They were convinced that Mandaric was to blame for the team’s relegation, and that belief was coupled with the question of who could step in and finiancially save Leicester City if he went? The third issue was the merry go round of managers instigated by Mandaric, that saw nine managers at the Crisp Bowl in the first eighteen months of his ownership.

So all Mandaric really then? I don't think Charlton fans would heap that much blame at the current boards door. Our demise has been the result of a combination of failures that can be principally laid at the doors of, yes the board, but also Alan Curbishley, Iain Dowie, and the main culprit, Alan Pardew. But this is all irrelevant now. What is salient, is how do Charlton recover from this? Well, with Leicester City clear at the top of the third division, what are they now doing right, that others, Leeds United included, have not emulated?

They now see their relegation as a blessing in disguise as it's allowed them to rebuild and bring together a proper team with a togetherness which hasn't been there for a long time. They are spookily like Charlton in that the feeling is, their demise started five or so years earlier, and that they were on a downward spiral, with no confidence at all, and had gone from manager to manager, since O'Neill left. One of the plus sides to relegation appears to be that they got rid of Holloway, and installed a management team that could instil a winning mentality. Then there are the players. Leicester got rid of most of the dead wood in the summer after relegation, and those that under-performed last season such as Howard and Fryatt have turned their own fortunes around dramatically. Leicester now have an extremely settled side, and one that looks as though it could compete in the Championship next year. It is also, please note, a very youthful team. And Milan Mandaric? - he's still there!

Assuming Charlton go down, we have a stark choice. We can either be like Leeds, or Leicester. I know which I would choose.