Charlton 1 Tranmere 1

I had a feeling that yesterday was likely to feel a bit like after the Lord Mayor's show. A stellar performance in South Yorkshire a week ago that will rightly be hailed as one of the games of the season, if, or when we win promotion, followed by a dreadful showing on Tuesday night in the Paint Pot, albeit with a much changed team. I actually feel that what happened against Brentford was just as significant as what happened at Sheffield United. At least the forced inclusion of six first teamers for a meaningless cup competition will not prove our undoing in terms of injuries or suspensions, but nobody will have been happy with the nature of the performance.

And so to yesterday. The antics of Fon-Williams time wasting took me straight back to the corresponding fixture last season, when the whole Tranmere team had obviously been instructed to waste time right from the very first whistle. It wasn't as bad as that yesterday, but how the Tranmere keeper did not end up with a yellow card is beyond me. Give Rovers manager Parry his due, he had done his homework. He came with a game plan to go tight on the marking, and hustle the midfield out of any rhythm, and hit on the break. His team stuck to it, and they deserved the draw.

Robbed of the ability to play fluent passing football, Charlton were having a bad day at the office, particularly in the first half. No one player shone, but starting Kermogant showed just how powerful he is in the air throughout a match. I don't believe he lost a single aerial encounter, but unfortunately his team mates, and Wright-Philips in particular, couldn't read where the ball was going to end up. Some focus on that next week at Sparrows lane methinks.

Green was the other starter, in place of Wagstaff, who eventually replaced him anyway two thirds in. He did not have a good game, but in fairness it would be unreasonable to single any one player out as having a bad game, as none of them really rose to the occasion yesterday. Much like Arsene Wenger I did not see who the penalty winner was, but I am told it was Wright-Philips. The real winner was Jackson though. Tranmere pulled out every trick in the book to disrupt the captain from his job, and it must have been a full three minutes of pantomime deviancy before he cooly wrong footed the keeper and slid the ball home for the equaliser.

It was probably just about what Charlton deserved for the second half performance where they at last put Rovers under some concerted pressure, and could have gone on to win it. That would have been unfair on Tranmere, in the same way that losing to a heavily deflected shot from McGurk via Solly would have been an unjust way to lose our undefeated league record. Even when not playing well, we are picking up points, and that is the best Charlton can take out of yesterday.

Charlton 1 Tranmere 1

"Oi Powell, can't you tell Francis he's shite?"

The last time an old man came down to remonstrate with the manager, we were being tonked by Brighton. Today, we never looked in any danger of that outcome, but it is alarming to see how the confidence of the back four in particular has nosedived to the extent it has. The gentleman of advancing years, having delivered his question full voice, turned and walked back to his seat. The stewards left him alone, and the manager quite wisely, did not even turn round.

I still find it alien that some fans boo the team, but it is definitely happening again, and not just at the end of the half or full time either. Yes, the players are collectively poor, but no worse than most in this division, and no Powell is not the Messiah, but hopefully sensible fans always knew that. It is interesting to see the players berated, but the sainted manager excused though, because the current slump, arrested by todays draw, is as much down to him, as it is to the players he has inherited from Parkinson.

As for the game itself, the first half was poor, poor, poor. It took a defensive mistake, of course; from Francis, inevitably, in the absence of Doherty, to put Tranmere ahead. Having said that, he is quite the conundrum is Francis. Bloody dangerous to the wellbeing of the team defending, but also quite dangerous going forward, and crossing into the box. If only he could defend, he would be er....a full back?

Hats off to Llera who seized his chance to shine, capping his performance off with a goal. Why do I always get the feeling with him though, that his defensive displays are like watching Bambi take to the ice for the first time. A slip never seems to be too far away, but credit where it is due today, as his errors were few, and fortunately non-critical. His attitude was spot on, and it has been some time since we have seen the trademark crossfield passing that seems to be his signature move. He fully deserves to keep his place for Tuesday night, especially as it is against his old employers.

As for the passing, it is quite obvious that the players have been told to pass and probe, and to keep doing it until they find a way through. The problem with that, is that it means the team as a whole has to be comfortable with the ball, and quite frankly the majority of our players are really not good enough to do that without giving it away under pressure. When done well, like Brighton, it is effective. When done at Charlton it causes rumbles of discontent from the crowd, and more than the occasional heart stopping moment when the ball ends up with an opponent in a dangerous position after a period of sterile to-ing and fro-ing, usually along the fragile back line.

Racon had one of his better games today, and was a problem for Tranmere, particularly in the second half, when Charlton remembered that it was ok to join in and play. The problems he caused though were not the ones he should have been causing, namely incisive passing through the opposition back line for a predatory forward to latch onto. Rather, he was causing most problems running at the defence with the ball at his feet. Valid, but doesn't detract from the fact we need a creative ball player in the heart of the midfield.

As for Tranmere, did they think they were playing Barcelona or something? I only ask because the slowing down of the game, and prevarication that ensued at every dead ball situation, right from the off, was quite obviously an instruction from their manager. What did he fear?, our high tempo, slick passing game? I really have no idea, but the referee should have clamped down on it immediately.

So, we have a draw after four straight losses. It isn't good enough of course, and yet again, this was a game that Charlton should have won. The crucial thing now, is to get a result on Tuesday night at MK Dons, and I shall be there to see it. Now is also the time for the loanees to be brought in. If he wants a big lump up front, then fine, but do not forget central midfield or centre back, as failing to strengthen those two areas may well be the difference between sneaking into the playoffs, or a season of mid table obscurity. Frankly, we deserve no more than the latter, but can realistically dream of the former with the right recruits.

Charlton 1 Tranmere 1

Because of work, I cannot get to Charlton home games during the week. Yesterday, for me, was the first time I had seen the team play since Boxing Day, and a number of things struck me, not least that the crowd is beginning to turn against Parkinson, after a fourth poor display since the enforced winter break. It is some time since I have heard a chant of "You don't know what you're doing", but even before it came rolling off the Covered End, people around me were individually shouting it at the back of Parkinson's head, as he stoically ignored it some six rows in front of me.

The immediate cause of the ire was the double substitution of Reid and Sam, for McKenzie and Wagstaff. I don't understand this, and I know I am in the minority here, but Reid has been a bench warmer at Sheffield United this season, and almost certainly isn't match fit. Sam had battled with Bakayogo, the Tranmere left back, who was every bit as fast as himself, with limited success. Even when we were on fire at the start of the season, Sam usually got substituted with twenty minutes left on the clock, so as far as I am concerned, this was a like for like substitution, and in the time he was on, Wagstaff certainly had more joy against the understandably tiring Tranmere left back, who eventually got sent off for a lunging late tackle when Wagstaff had got away from him yet again. Unfortunately it was so late in the game, it had no meaningful bearing on the match.

As for the match itself, there was a curious desperation about the way we played, personified for me by Bailey, who had a very poor game, goal aside. His passing was overly ambitious, and easily intercepted on too many occasions by the Tranmere midfield. He wasn't the only one to forget the twin truths, that the game is best played when in simple form, and on the grass. Mooney also had a game to forget, but is it really helpful or necessary to boo him?

I am hoping that with the next three games being away from home, the team won't feel as pressurised as they seemed to yesterday, a situation not helped by the increasingly restless home crowd. As for automatic promotion, well yesterday was a blow, but not a fatal one, unless of course we all decide to self inflict it.