Charlton 2 Swindon 2

When I heard the team news in the Rose of Denmark before the game, I had to think hard about the rationale behind Parkinson's choice in midfield. The only logical reason I could see for going with no width, and a diamond formation, was that he believed that Swindon posed no threat down the flanks, and that after the midfield had been breached at will by Millwall last time out, he wanted a narrower stiffer combination in the centre of the park. Whether it would have worked is open to conjecture, but I must admit, I didn't feel comfortable with it when I first heard about it.

As it turned out, any game plan Parkinson had for the match, was thrown out of the window after referee Miller sent both Sodje Snr, and Burton off, both of which were correct decisions. We almost lost this game due to a lack of discipline by two of our most experienced players! The fact that we did not, was down to a number of factors, not least of which being that Swindon were really not very good. Credit has to go to the nine remaining men, and with Parkinson refusing to be pinned down, the substitutions were telling, and all of them brought fresh attacking impetus to a depleted side, 2-1 down shortly after the arrival of McKenzie. Both of Swindon's goals were the result of superior numbers rather than any error on the part of the nine men left fighting for a point on the park.

Despite the heroics, and for the second game in a row, Charlton threw away two points, and as a result, both Norwich and Colchester have us firmly in their gunsights again. Sodje Snr, and Burton will know that they let their team down today, and Basey having witnessed all of the above, obviously did not get the message, and also picked up a stupid booking for dissent.

Perhaps Parkinson needs to do some homework on the referees in this division, as yesterday, leaving the two sendings off aside, Charlton were almost undone by a referee that obviously felt that Charlton were Billy Big Bollocks, and his sole reason for being on earth was to make sure that they did not get away with it. As a result, his behaviour meant that he acted as Swindon's 12th man against our nine. The fact that Swindon only got one booking in the game was quite frankly farcical, as their behaviour on occasions was almost as silly as that of Charlton, and warranted far more card waving than they actually received.

Parkinson now has a serious selection issue for the Brentford game, as both Sodje Snr, and Burton are now banned. With Dailly still likely to be ill, the club has only one recognised senior centre back available. With Youga also missing, this means that Semedo will almost certainly have to drop back to partner yesterday's hero Llera, with obvious ramifications on the midfield. With Burton also out of the picture, I would expect a reversion to 4-4-1-1, with Shelvey retained, and Dickson consigned to the bench. Sam will be back, and I would expect Spring to retain his place alongside Bailey. I would also like to see McKenzie on the left, as I believe he deserves a start, and it also gives the option to switch to a 4-3-3 if progress against our west London neighbours merits it. Sodje Jnr is not a natural player to hold the ball up, but I believe he will be Parkinson's preference for the lone front man role.

With the January transfer window almost upon us, what price a central defender, and a striker? Yesterday, the price was two dropped points.

Striker Light

OK. Let's assume for now that McLeod will be loaned out to Hearts, Dickson will be loaned out to whoever, and Fleetwood stays at Exeter. Let us also assume that Mooney is now sufficiently crocked that his loan will not even warrant an attempt at an extension. Add to the mix, Holden being released as not being the answer to our left wing prayers, and what have we got? Akpo Sodje, who may or may not go back to the blue side of Sheffield.

The left side will be filled by McKenzie. He played in that position for Coventry, whenever he was fit enough to take to the pitch that is, so we still have a weak left hand side. In attack, other than the mighty, and ageing Burton, we realistically have nothing if Sodje Jr. returns to the steel city . So, what to do? Deep breath here. Michael Mifsud. I believe he is without a club presently, and he is a striker with a proven record, and I think? he is left footed, so could also fill in on the left hand berth. Young Wagstaff will have a lot to prove on the right if Sam does get sold though. Another deep breath, and an assumption that Notts County are about to implode. Lee Hughes.

Both these players have very publicly revealed flaws, and as a management challenge, we would really find out whether Parkinson is the man for the job. Mifsud particularly has a past that is at best kept hidden, (unless somebody can tell me otherwise?), but in the same way that I knew Norwich had got it right when they employed Hoolihan and Holt, and they do not have the chequered history of the two I am citing here, I genuinely believe that Mifsud and Hughes would give us the mid season impetus to make it back to the Championship. Given the mid term financial results, it has to be a gamble worth taking. The consequnces of Charlton not getting promoted are Chesterian at best.

One last throw of the dice ladies and gentlemen, and as ever, I am happy to be proved wrong!

Charlton 4 Millwall 4

My first ever game watching the Addicks was in the 1989/90 relegation season, and the opponents were Millwall. It ended 1-1 that day, and it was a very dull game. The same certainly could not be said of yesterdays efforts, but as I was being the 2nd permanent under secretary at the Ministry of Schools, surrounded by girls in stockings and suspenders (more of that story another time), my ticket fittingly went to the guy who I shared a crush barrier with on the Holmesdale end all of twenty years ago now.

He was not very happy with what he saw yesterday. With numerical advantage, his view was that we should have closed this game out. Not only did that not happen, but he is convinced that Millwall will consider themselves unlucky not to have won. Personally, I thought the game was always going to be a draw, although I doubt if anybody could have predicted the scoreline. A frustrating day for him, was not helped by both Leeds and Norwich overcoming better opposition than we faced yesterday.

Still, we will enjoy Christmas Day second in the table, which is better than I dared hope for, and I shall return to my seat for the visit of Swindon on Boxing Day. I trust the defence will put in a better performance than they did yesterday

Charlton 1 Southend 0

It is probably only important that David Gold enjoyed himself. The activity around his motor in the West Stand car park, suggests that for some Charlton fans, his presence, along with the fireworks display going on somewhere up the hill, that coincided with the final whistle, were the highlights of the day. Fair enough really, given the somewhat turgid nature of the match that was set out before us yesterday. Little guile, but lots of honest endeavour by both sets of players, and a well worked goal, started by Bailey, delivered by Sam, and despatched by the impressive Burton, being the difference between them seemed about right.

I was pleased to see Richardson restored to the side, albeit short lived as it turned out, but for me the unfortunate Racon looked horribly short of form. That it took as long for him to get booked is down to the ineptitude of fussy referee McDermid, as he was somewhat fortunate to stay on the park as long as he did, before making way for Spring. Had Semedo not been banned, I suspect Racon would have been on the bench, and he does look like he needs to rediscover some form again. Elsewhere the two youngsters, Wagstaff and Basey had difficult afternoons against physically stronger opponents, the latter letting in Southend for their best chance of the afternoon, which Elliot saved superbly with his legs.

With the transfer window fast approaching, the rumour mill ratchets up another gear, with Sam the Charlton player in the news, with a supposed £1m move to Newcastle. Whilst I think the move is a likely one, the transfer fee quoted seems fanciful, given that he is only months away from his contract ending. If we were to receive an offer of that magnitude, I suspect it would be too good to turn down, especially if it allows Parkinson to dabble in the market himself.

The Selling of Jonjo Shelvey

Venice was very nice, thank you for asking. I go away for a bit, and return to find that Charlton have suddenly discovered their shooting boots, not to mention a preponderance to play 4-4-2, and for most of that time without Shelvey. Why do I single out our wunderkind for mention?

Back at the paint pot game against Southampton, I mentioned in a posting, that in order to acquire strikers to aid the ailing Deon, or indeed for additional players in other positions, we may well have to sell one of our prized assets, in order to raise the money for transfer fees and wages. For me that realistically meant Shelvey, as our most saleable asset, in a midfield that admittedly has a few saleable assets. This opinion brought about the anonymous response below, and it is a subject worth considering further, as the one thing all Charlton fans do know, is that we will sell Shelvey, the only question is when.

If you're talking about money to help the club as a whole, a few million for Shelvey won't change much. After the board's injection we're holding out for a takeover which is the only thing that can realistically help the club's finances.

I totally agree with this statement, and no I wasn't talking about money to help the club as a whole. If we don't get promoted, and have no buyer by the end of this season, and the board decide to put no more money in, then anything with a pulse, (optional), will be sold in the summer, because that is the only way Charlton could survive.

If you're talking about money for other transfers that's ridiculous because there's obviously not a hope in hell that we'd be able to bring in replacements near the quality of Shelvey.

Here I disagree. Shelvey will be very good, we can all see that, but he is obviously not the finished article yet, and I would argue that he hasn't really been a major influence on team performance, other than enforcing a 4-5-1 / 4-4-1-1 when he was ever present at the start of the season. While that worked, all was fine, but as soon as teams started to work us out, the performances of both the team, and Shelvey particularly fell off the wall a bit. Plan B, or 4-4-2, was introduced, with a good rate of return, and Shelvey has become a marginal player as a result. Will he come back?, of course he will, but are Charlton in danger of fashioning a style of play, and team formation around him, when the reality is, that he will not be with us in the medium term?

My point is that we are closing in on halfway through the season, the January transfer window is less than a month away, and I have to believe that Parkinson would want to bolster a very thin, (in terms of numbers), squad. If Mooney and Sodje Jnr are the answer to the strike force issues, then transfer fees would be involved, albeit that in the case of Sodje, it should be small, given that he is in the last year of his contract. I suspect that any sale of Dickson, and Fleetwood, even if it is possible, which is debatable would not cover the amount needed to bring in Mooney and Sodje Jnr on a permanent basis. That might change if McLeod can be moved on, but a meaningful transfer fee would be unlikely, albeit that there would be some meaningful relief to the wage bill.

Add the need for a second senior keeper, again assuming that we can get Randolph away, and the need for a pot of money potentially gets bigger. If you then add in a central defender / right back to boost the cover in that department, and a left sided midfielder, as both McKenzie and Holden do not seem to be the answer in Parkinson's eyes, then would the sacrifice of Shelvey be warranted, if it gave Charlton a better chance of escaping the third division at the first time of asking? The situation reminds me a little of the sale of Robert Lee to Newcastle, for what all parties recognised at the time was a steal. As we know, the sale happened to get us back to The Valley. I wonder if Charlton will be prepared to sacrifice Shelvey for the greater good, albeit as Richard Murray has said, it would have to be "for silly money"