Charlton 1 Notts County 0

That was truly dreadful. No, that's harsh, let's try again shall we? In a happy clappy style perhaps? The whole thing about a brand new team taking time to gel is an argument I have put forward myself, but the reality is that Parkinson has a collection of individuals, some of whom have more than a modicum of talent at this level, but he does not have a team, he really does not have a team. That is ultimately down to him, and nobody else.

Notts County could have easily won this game two or three nil, and had it not been for man of the match Elliott, they could at the very least have so easily mirrored both the performance and result of Exeter a week earlier. A penalty save where a trailing leg held firm in the centre of the goal as Elliott went to his left to save Hughes penalty, saw the ball balloon up and over the bar having hit said trailing leg was just reward for keeping Charlton in a game that quite frankly they deserved to lose. Swings and roundabouts I suppose, as we probably should not have lost at Exeter.

I have a question here. Why was the pitch being watered directly before kick off? Yes, yes, I know all about the ball moving faster over a damp surface, blah blah blah, but to what advantage? It certainly did not help Charlton, as player after player lost the ball in dangerous positions due to having no purchase on the pitch, and falling over like something out of a cartoon. It was Reid falling over in such a manner that led directly to the penalty. I don't blame Fry for giving it away, he was left with very little choice in the matter, but if a moist surface is that important, can we at least get the choice of stud correct?

Something unusual happened to me during todays game, a first in the twenty plus years I have been watching Charlton. I almost fell asleep. I am not saying this for effect, I almost fell asleep in the middle of a sodding game of football at The Valley. Theatre of dreams?, it almost bloody was for me! I knew it was going to be a long day, when the only notable change in the starting lineup was Fry replacing the hapless Llera, which also allowed Jackson to take up the left back slot. My concern of last week and previously, remains the same, we had no creative force in midfield.

I don't blame Semedo or McCormack for this, but they are essentially fulfilling the same function, and it was only with the introduction of Racon that finally we got a moment of passing cohesion between himself, Martin, Sodje, and Anyinsah that provided the last mentioned with the decisive goal. I am not convinced that Racon is the answer, but a timely dip into the loan market for such a midfield muse is desperately needed if funds allow.

Still, a win after two defeats keeps us flowing along in mid table anonymity, which is no bad thing, but Charlton are going to have to do a lot better than this if we are to have realistic pretensions to a top six place.