Charlton 1 Sheffield Wednesday 2

Is it possible to dominate something unconvincingly? After yesterday's performance I would have to say yes. Sheffield Wednesday were in the main a poor side, with only Reda Johnson, and latterly Lita causing trouble to the Addicks backline. So how did we contrive to lose a game that should really have been sewn up long before the final six minutes and the two goals for Sheffield that turned the whole match on it's head?

Much of the comment after the game was critical of Powell for not changing things sooner. In his defence the manager would argue that at 1-0 up with five minutes to go, why change something that wasn't broke? The reality was that a tiring Charlton side needed a managers response to the ongoing threat of Johnson, and then the fresh legs of Modine, and especially Lita being brought on. With Lita it isn't exactly a case of misjudging the impact of an unknown quantity is it?

The impact of those fresh legs was obvious throughout much of the last half an hour, so there was plenty of time to respond. For me, a very tired looking Pritchard should have been replaced by the more physical presence of Dervitte, to provide some speed and protection from the raiding Johnson, as well as the rapid movement of Lita. As much as we love Morrison and Taylor, they are not fast, and Jones the Sheffield manager knew it. I would also have replaced Kermorgant with Fuller as our favourite Breton spent most of the game being impotently angry, and I suspect Fuller would have given the giant blue backline something different to think about, as would Harriott for a visibly tiring and increasingly ineffective Wilson.

So, a game we did not deserve to lose, (or win if truth be told), but for me it is another reminder that we shouldn't expect Powell to get it right every time. Yesterday's defeat was largely down to him rather than the players, who generally did well throughout a  tough physical encounter.

Charlton 2 Notts County 4

Where on earth do you begin with today's game? Well, the first and most important thing is

DON'T PANIC!!!

The first half was as poor a performance as I have seen in a long time. Hamer and Taylor will not need to be told that at least two of the goals against were down to them. It was as if the team as a whole had only just met each other, such was the lack of communication. If Hamer and Taylor were talking a different language for one of the goals, then cameos of the same malaise were being played out all over the pitch. Judge put County ahead with a 25-yard drive, that he was able to tee up in an acre of space, before Forte grabbed three close-range efforts, the final one a header, to make it 4-0, and all before the break.

So other than Hamer and Taylor, where else were there issues? Undoubtedly for me, the main area of concern today was the central midfield, and Stephens in particular. Both he and Hollands pushed up far too high, and were largely bypassed. Stephens first touch was awful, giving the ball away in a dangerous position twice within the first five minutes alone. He is talented, but let's face it, he has not been the same player since he came back from injury, Today was not an isolated poor performance from him either, and in much the same way that Green has apparently picked up a shoulder knock, it is time Stephens had a similar misfortune. Hughes or Russell are both far more defensively aware, and would cover the protection role that significantly nobody did today, thus exposing Taylor in particular rather badly on more than one occasion.

The half time team talk saw a far better Charlton team return to the pitch, albeit for no more than ten minutes. Wright-Phillips pulled one back with an acrobatic overhead kick, before Wagstaff powered in a header from six yards. Any momentum caused by those two goals vanished when Wright-Phillips had an appeal for a penalty turned down. It was a stonewall penalty, and would have put us in a position for an unlikely 4-4 draw, but it wasn't to be, and quite frankly we did not deserve it either.

Leaving aside all the Powell is the Messiah guff, the manager now really needs to earn his corn. For my money the MK Dons are the team to watch out for, not the two Sheffields, and it will take a minimum of five wins from the last ten games to achieve the title, and yes, I mean the title. Mind you, if we only got five wins, I suspect we would only get it on goal difference. I remember watching Powell motionless on the sidelines like a rabbit in the headlights last season at Stadium MK as the team he had inherited were pulled apart. He was motionless throughout most of the first half today as well. As any Charlton fan will tell you, we do not do the last ten games of a season at all well. Powell will need to break that habit if we are to get the rewards we deserve for the season we have had so far.

COYR!

Charlton 2 Exeter 0

If the sign of a team headed for promotion is the ability to grind out a result when not playing well, then Charlton are in good shape for a return to the second division. This was not a good game, and Charlton did not play well, but still sit second in the table this morning, a single goal being the difference separating them from top spot. Was I the only one though that felt a little flat at the conclusion yesterday?

On Tuesday night I watched Charlton on Sky, in a spit and sawdust pub in Northampton, labouring to a draw against a well organised Sheffield Wednesday side. What was telling for me was the difference in how Powell and Megson reacted when things weren't going their way. Twenty minutes in and Megson knew his side were in trouble, unable to cope with Charlton's free flowing play, so what did he do? He changed it of course, and whilst Wednesday never looked like winning, neither did they look like they were going to be the losing side after their manager had altered the formation that had struggled in the early period of play.

Powell, however, never looked like he was able to change the side that had started so well. Euell for Hayes does not constitute tactical thinking, and so the game petered out as a contest, both sides seemingly content with the stalemate. Others have mentioned it, and I agree with the theory that Powell really doesn't seem to have a Plan B. This may in part be down to personnel, but I also believe he needs to exercise some tactical nous, and I am not convinced that he has that ability in his armoury yet.

Robinson at MK Dons is voted manager of the month for August, and he would be the first to admit that the award is as much for the wise old head, and shrewd tactician that is his number two. Powell does not have a Gorman to consult, and sorry but no, Peacock does not fall into that category. The problem that Charlton are now facing is that our newly rebuilt team is no longer an unknown to the other teams in the division. They now know who we are, and they know where we live, and unless Powell starts to mix it up a little, someone is going to find us out.

I doubt if it would have been yesterday, as Exeter lacked the cutting edge to cause Charlton too many problems. This lack of bite was compounded when Nardiello, incensed after a perfectly good goal had not been given, decided to abuse the East Stand lino to the extent that he got a straight red for his efforts. After that, it was only a question of when Charlton's patient but on occasions frustratingly ineffective probing would produce a result.

My man of the match yesterday eventually found a way through, after some clever interplay between himself and the underrated Hayes, saw Wright-Philips tuck away his fifth goal of the season. He should have been more careful about his goal "celebration" though, as he could easily have picked up a yellow for taunting the Exeter fans who had been giving him abuse all match. Stephens attoned for his miss on Tuesday night, by ensuring that his shot never left the deck to rack up the second with ten minutes to go, and that was that. Game over.

Hopefully the second string will get the chance against Preston in the Carling Darling Cup on Tuesday, and in one sense this otherwise meaningless competition is important. Players like Bover and Evina may well be the answer to Charlton's need for renewed and varied impact. The return of Green would also be welcome, if only to provide an alternative to Wagstaff, who I would also rate as an impact option. I believe the time to change things a little is upon us. I just wonder if Powell will take the opportunity.

Case For The Defence

Palace have Sainsburys, Charlton have Morrison. Another piece of the jigsaw slotted in today, as the Sheffield Wednesday centre back passed Jose Semedo on the M1, and signed a three year deal. I don't remember a summer of transfer activity at The Valley quite as intensive as this one, but the rebuilding work continues at breakneck speed.

With news of Francis imminent departure as well, it has been quite a week. As regular readers of this blog know, I have never been a fan of either Francis or McCormack, but if both do go, (McCormack is being linked with Dagenham & Redbridge), then I genuinely wish them well. For whatever reason, last season is one that they, and us will want to forget. So let's just do that, and move on. For now though, both remain as Charlton players, hence their continued presence in the squad list below.

Looking to the future, I have also updated the status of Harriott and Osborne to reflect the two year deals they signed earlier this week.

Contract End - Dec 2011

Davisson

Contract End - June 2012

Alonso*
Benson
Doherty
Elliott
Francis
Jackson
Mambo
McCormack
Pritchard
Wagstaff
Wright-Phillips

Contract End - June 2013

Evina
Harriott
Osborne
Pope
Solly
Sullivan
Taylor

Contract End - June 2014

Green
Hayes
Hollands
Morrison
Stephens
Wiggins

First Professional Contract

Cousins
Gough
Izquierdo
Popo
Warren

Loan

None

(* = contract length unknown)

Charlton 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0

Well hasn't that performance made the whole weekend seem so much better? Today was the best performance I have seen from Charlton all season. They have played better in patches in other games, but the worrying trend of only turning up for one half was certainly not present today. Everyone played a magnificent part in a free flowing game that for once we looked like we wanted to win from the first minute to the last.

Ask a selection of Charlton fans who were there today to name their player of the match, and it is quite possible that you will get a range of names. It seems churlish to pick one man out of a solid, and yet creative game, that the blue side of Sheffield contributed to in no small measure, but for me it was Anyinsah, who was a major problem for the Wednesday rearguard throughout.

Had it not been for Weaver making no less than three top drawer saves in the first half, Charlton fans could easily have been looking nervously over their shoulders with a three or four goal lead by half time. Fry, Jackson, and Benson were all denied by our former stopper, but Wagstaff made the breakthrough, and how appropriate on the clubs academy day, that it was a lad who has been with us since the age of eight who got what turned out to be the winner.

A good day at the office, a very good day indeed

Ever Decreasing Circles

"We need to make the players know in no uncertain terms that we are not going to accept that. I'll be trying to change this team round so I can get some stronger mentalities in.”

Phil Parkinson in the aftermath of the abject failure of the team to put in anything resembling a performance at Sheffield Wednesday.

I think it is now safe to assume that we will be relegated at the end of this season. It is difficult to know what else Parkinson can say to explain the inadequacies of the playing staff, but inadequate they certainly seem to be. Another merry go round of players leaving the club, with Weaver, Gray, Zhi, Shelvey, and Ambrose as obvious candidates to be exiting, but what will we replace them with? If we see any more one month loanees, then we will be perpetuating the cycle of failure, that has plagued us thus far. So, what to do?

My own view is that we should be looking at consistently playing the likely personnel that will still be with us in division three. For me, that means Elliot or Randolph in goal, which is already happening, with Weaver being sold, or released. Looking at the back line, the only one likely to be retained is Basey, although I still think Moutaouakil and Youga can do a job at the third level. Fortune, and Hudson will both go, so that is an area that needs addressing, probably in the summer.

Midfield will probably revolve around Spring, Bailey, Racon, Semedo, Sinclair, and hopefully Sam. I really hope Shelvey won't be sold, but believe it is inevitable. Zhi will also be sold, or released, as will Ambrose, and Holland will also be released. No obvious left side in that midfield, and that will need to be addressed, but those are the six to predominantly use.

Up front is interesting, as a strike force of Fleetwood, McLeod, and Dickson, actually sounds like it could do a job at the third level. Burton should be released; he isn't the future, indeed, he isn't even the present. Gray will be sold, and Todorov will be released.

Third Time Unlucky

Having had more than our fair share of luck at both Doncaster and Nottingham Forest, this game proved a step too far for not so Super Alan Pardew's men, as they went down 2-1 to a poor Sheffield Wednesday team. There has been much (rightful) derision at Pardew's theorising about the joys of a defence that can all speak the same language, so on that basis, can he explain to us why the vast majority of that defence, and for that matter, the midfield as well, who as far as I am aware, speak English, weren't in fact speaking the same language as each other at all, for five mad minutes yesterday afternoon?

Let's get real here. For the most part, footballers are not the sharpest knives in the cutlery drawer, and the average vocabulary, swear words aside, that are used during a game, probably struggles to get past a dozen. Would that really be an insurmountable feat for Semedo or Mouatakil to manage? I would suggest that concentration is probably more important than linguistic ability, as Charlton dominated this game completely, aside from the first five minutes of the second half, and disastrously, as it turned out, the last five minutes of the first

Although a vocal minority at present, there is definitely a ground swell building against Pardew amongst Charlton fans, and unless he can get his team playing consistently, it will get much louder, very quickly. A trip to Selhurst Park on Tuesday, needs no further hype than its announcement for Charlton fans, and I would suggest that a win is actually more relevant to Pardew's chances of job survival, rather than furthering any thought that he might be using the job as a stepping stone, which quite frankly I find laughable at present,