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.

Charlton 2 Huddersfield 1

Well, we wanted a Plan B, and we got it. A week late admittedly, but very pleasing to see it nevertheless. Parkinson got this one just about spot on, so well done to him, and the players involved. I am not entirely convinced that we have the quality of personnel up front, to go 4-4-2 on a consistent basis, but this attempt was overdue, and reaped a deserved, if at times, fortunate reward. The most telling moment for me, was the substitution of Semedo for Spring. You could just see the trust and belief flow back into the team, knowing that our favourite Portugeezer was protecting the back four. Youga continued his immense form of late, and was my man of the match, by quite some distance.

So, what else? I am happy to put on record here and now, that I have no problem with a Sullivan led bid for the club. I had business dealings with the Golds', David, and his brother Ralph, many years ago, and always found them very straightforward to do business with, albeit it that most of the business was done through David's two daughters, Jacqui and Vanessa. If David Gold is involved, then I don't believe that Charlton would have better owners to follow in the mighty footsteps of Richard Murray. Just don't bring Karren Brady with you please.

P.S. - I should add at this time, I have always held a torch for Vanessa :-)