No Running. No Diving.

Tweet of the day was courtesy of Charlton Life, "Charlton have won the toss and will be attacking the Shallow End in the 1st half."
The twice postponed FA Cup clash against Oxford United had finally been given the go ahead, the pitch looked dreadful, the stadium was shut in many areas, and the visitors wore a purple shirt instead of a yellow one. Presumably to make them easier to spot by lifeguards should they get into difficulty and find themselves drowning.

It was Charlton however that found themselves out of their depth. New signings Astrit Ajdarević and Yohann Thuram-Ulien, a highly rated goalkeeper also signed on loan from Standard Liege, were both illegible to play as I believe the team had to be picked from those registered at the original date of the fixture. Chris Powell was nevertheless still determined to show his intentions in the competition by fielding a strong starting eleven.

The two new boys were nonetheless in attendance, part of the reported four and a half thousand cheering on the home side (870 made the trip from Oxford), but they were just getting used to their new surroundings, leaving their silicone swim hats and goggles back at their digs for another day.

Charlton were sinking without a trace on the field, a battling Oxford side taking a two goal advantage into the break, the team desperately trying to prove there's ridicule to be had from more than just our pitch alone. Chris Powell could do nothing about the playing surface, the performance however was another matter. He admitted the first half showing was the worst he'd witnessed in his three year tenure going on to say how he let the side know in no uncertain terms that he wasn't happy.

It did the trick, a much harder work rate coupled with a superb substitute performance from Danny Green saw the Addicks claw the two goals back and set up a third meeting of the season between the sides, probably next Tuesday, at the Kassam stadium. Another exhilarating cup trip to Huddersfield is still a possibility then.

AFC Bournemouth won their own third round replay last night against Burton Albion meaning that whatever the outcome of our own replay, the home fixture against the Cherries scheduled for January 25th has now been postponed.

As a footnote, it would appear that another new signing, Ms Katrien Meire, was in attendance last night. Recently appointed director at Charlton, I have it on good authority from a couple of friends that she is rather pleasing on the eye, well much more so than the first half performance at any rate!

And so we venture to Middlesbrough Saturday after a lengthy absence from league action and there's every possibility we could see a couple of new faces take the field. It's just typical that for the first time during this campaign Boro have found a bit of form...

You only sing when you're ploughing.

Is there a true, honest to God, football fan that truthfully begrudges losing to a better team? At QPR last Saturday the home teams quality shone though even though they had a (relatively) off day and yet they still picked up the three points. We battled, gave it our all, but still left with nothing to show for our endeavors. Were we bitter? Of course not, we had our pride intact and lost to a team whose salary reflected their ability. So seven days later that pride and belief, which had already been showcased in a tip-top performance against Doncaster on Tuesday, would again come to the fore and we would rejoice in a much needed second successive home win.

Trouble is, it didn't really go according to plan. Nobody could question Chris Powell in fielding the same eleven that ripped Doncaster to shreds midweek, and perhaps you could even argue that lady luck didn't really shine her torch on us today, but nothing hides the fact that for the first five minutes this afternoon we were still mentally in the dressing room.

Even before Ipswich got their goal Ben Alnwick was called into producing two good stops. I even said to those around me that it was probably good for the keeper to be called into duty early before he possibly had the chance to be a touch complacent.

It was to be the only goal, but my gripe is at the fact that Ipswich were never really in the game after that. We certainly didn't lose to the better team, maybe just the braver one.

Our ball into the final third of the pitch was always delayed, players looking for the safe option rather than taking a more direct approach. I can't quite remember seeing quite so much head tennis in the middle of the park, never resulting in Charlton gaining any ground. There was even occasion in the second half when we broke away with seemingly menace only for this attack to result in a sideways pass between our two centre halves less than twenty seconds later!

Ipswich had done their homework well, Jordan Cousins, for example, when receiving the ball on the edge of the box always had two blue shirts on him before he had a chance to swing his leg. The two visiting centre backs kept Church in their pockets whilst dishing Yann Kermorgant a rather tough lesson under the watchful eye of a (rare these days) card shy referee.

Charlton wasted move after move, it was only Rhoys Wiggins that nearly came close at the end of the first half when the keeper struggled to deal with a shot at his near post and nearly claimed an own goal. Danny Green looked lively replacing Jackson, he reminded me a little of Scott Wagstaff last season who needed to shine when the chance came his way. Pigott replaced Church with no real effect, I do wonder why this young lad is not on loan to gain experience and is instead ahead of Michael Smith in our front line pecking order. There was even another cameo for Marvin Sodall although for what good is anybody's guess.

Conceivably one of our clearest opportunities came near the death as Cameron Stewart received the ball via a diagonal cross from Cousins after Kermorgant was cynically hacked down in the centre circle. With only the keeper to beat the referee blew the whistle for the foul on Kermorgant bringing play back to the centre of the pitch. An unbelievably late call, what part of the word advantage he doesn't understand is beyond reason, if I believed that match fixing still occurred these days I'd suspect Ipswich of sweetening this ref with a box of organic home grown root vegetables prior to kick off.

The resulting free kick obviously failed to recreate any chance we may have had and only succeeded in infuriating an already tense situation into a complete free for all. As the players all 'bundled in' the referee should have stepped back and admitted to himself that the blame for these fisticuffs lay solely at his feet.

After the game in West London I predicted we would destroy Doncaster before returning to 'normal service' today. Unfortunately I was proved right, we were over ninety minutes perhaps the slightly better of the two sides yet we never looked like we wanted to be, or more appropriately, believed we should be.

I shall however finish on a positive. Ben Alnwick has been superb for these past two matches. I sincerely hope Ben Hamer has to fight for his place in the team upon his return. If he walks straight back in it will be a travesty, although Hamer is a country boy himself so perhaps he may try the fresh vegetable trick with the gaffer.

A gentleman is simply a patient wolf.

Yesterday The Valley was the epitome of gallantry and chivalry if you work on the basis of the late American actress Lana Turner's quote having any truth to it. The Jimmy Seed, to a degree, and the away dressing room (Dean Saunders especially) really would have appeared the most courteous and polite of wolves as there impending doom and successive relegation seem still a distant yet inconvenient blip on the horizon. If we were in the bottom three with just three matches left and Chris Powell didn't demand we throw everything including that well battered kitchen sink at the opponents I'd be pulling my hair out and spitting whole parakeets, let alone just bloody feathers.

The first forty five minutes were a typical end of season stroll in the sunshine, going through the motions, wish we were already on the beach, kind of affair. Two teams that were comfortable in mid table safety happy in the knowledge that they had perhaps over achieved in some eyes considering how little money they had or where they were only a month or two before. The good turn of form came just at the right time for these two sides and they can cruise into the summer break content with a job well done. Hang on, one of them are precarious at best, down the swanny at worst? You'd have never known.

Wolves nearly did take the lead in the one and only moment of note, action wise, during the first half. Karl Henry saw Hamer off his line and from just inside our half tried a speculative effort which very nearly bore fruit hitting the bar, and catching our number one out completely. His casual manner nearly his undoing as his panic almost caused a collision with the upright and I'm certain the keeper would have come off the worst.

We were forced into an early change as Andy Hughes was replaced by Mark Gower after only twelve minutes. Hughes has been the cornerstone in the side during this recent rich vein of form, I've no idea why he came off but with only two games to go it could well spell the end of his season. At his age and with his contract up it could even have been the final action of his spell at the club, or even at any club. I hope not.

Danny Green came on during the second period and things started to liven up just a little. The wide man has had very little opportunity and been well down the pecking order, so he used yesterday, as Scott Wagstaff did back in January, to show the gaffer he's still worth his paycheck every week. He played many dangerous balls into the box but the corner he supplied for Charlton's opener was one of the worst of the afternoon. It was only due to some comical defending that Dorian Dervite was able to latch onto a loose ball and give the Londoners the lead. The wolves at the opposite end of the ground no longer looked patient, more distraught.

They did get themselves back into it as Ben Hamer, for the second time during the afternoon, found himself flat footed and perhaps dare I say it a tad complacent. A long throw into the box was flicked on towards Kevin Doyle, the Wolves captain unmarked and apparently invisible. Hamer looked positioned to deal with the flick on but oblivious to Doyle. Two awful goals and we were once again all square. The away support was a little lighter in result though as stewards were quick to pounce upon supporters celebrating the equaliser.

Late drama has become almost expected in SE7 recently, Leeds bearing testimony to this only two weeks ago. Yesterday's game may well feature on the Dave television channel soon for it was the perfect repeat. Once again Charlton scored a winner at the death, once again substitute Jonathan Obika scored it, carving his name into Addicks folklore for all time. Danny Green had a good effort blocked by the visiting defence, foiling a committed goalkeeper, the ball fell to Obika who kept his head to finish decisively. For the third time in as many matches the home support were delirious! Many would wish the season still had two months left to run on this form!

For me though it was to be my exiting farewell. Two games left, first at Middlesbrough and then the visit of Bristol City, both of which out of my reach with first work and then a wedding being the culprits. Who gets married on the final day of the season!!??!!

Thankfully for us there will be nothing riding on it, the play offs are only just mathematically possible with the aid of a protractor and Bristol City already know their fate and have a sell sell sell policy put in place. Good job I'm not a gentleman then as it's most definitely going down to the wire for the Wolves.

Just as a footnote, the picture at the top of this post is of the teams walking on to The Valley pitch prior to kick off. Now I know we have a couple of mascots for the little kids (well they like that sort of thing the little 'uns), Floyd and Harvey, but I remember them being a cat and a dog. So can anyone tell me what that red thing is in the stand behind the tunnel? Yes that's the thing, the one with the huge eyes that looks like a deserter from Monsters Inc.

Ramifications

As hard as we try to find positives from these early season encounters, our shortcomings are becoming more and more obvious, with the inexperience and inadequacy to compete at this level seemingly rammed home (sorry) once again last night.

For the final twenty minutes Charlton threw everything they had at Derby, just as they had done against Forest and Palace before them, clawing the deficit back to only one goal, but the third defeat on the bounce was, I'm afraid, deserved.

The only changes to the starting line up were Danny Green coming in for Bradley Pritchard and Lawrie Wilson starting in place of the injured Rhoys Wiggins. Green fully warranted a start after looking so bright in his cameo last time out, whilst Wilson got the nod over the unlucky Cedric Evina for the full back berth.

We could be upbeat and commemorate upon the third occasion this season when the ball ended up in the back of the net yet a goal not given, or another late header which the opposition cleared off the line. We can even take some hope from being three goals down and still having enough fight in us to turn the finale into edge of the seat excitement.

None of this will hide the fact that for the majority of the game we looked absent. Again the opposition carved not just holes but huge slices out of our midfield, we still hoof the long ball forward optimistically and last night, unusually i must add, the defence was at sixes and sevens.
Alan Hansen would have gone into full meltdown summarizing the Rams second goal.

This is the same squad, give or take, that made a habit out of winning games last season and confidence will always play it's part, however i believe some of the mistakes were still made occasionally last year. In the Championship as opposed to League One you get punished more often, as we are learning to our cost.

The fight and resolve we're finishing matches with shows we've the ability to compete amongst this company and it is as we know still early days - many people have mentioned Reading's poor start to last season as a comparison.
Chris Powell can't be afraid to drop a senior player who's finding it hard to adjust. Danny Green, a player many i know in the summer said would struggle at this level, has come in and looked fantastic scoring a gem and assisting in the second last night. How many other squad players will delight and surprise if given the chance?

I have the utmost faith in the boss to turn this around and pull us out of the bottom three. Other than Forest, none of the rest looked head and shoulders above us, just better adapted to the job in hand at this level.
It's far too early to be calling the trip to Ipswich a six pointer, even if we do both share a seat in the relegation zone, but an important encounter it certainly is. I know in my heart we're too good for a relegation dog fight, i still think a mid table finish is a more realistic prognosis, but league standings don't lie. We really need to move upwards as soon as possible before we get too rooted at the base.

Ipswich entertain Wolves tonight giving us the psychological edge of an extra day between games, although if they win they can jump to the top half of the table. As i said before, still early days.

Come on you reds!

Smokescreen

I don't really have a problem with football 'ultras', a familiar sight all over Eastern Europe and particularly in Italy they bring a lot of noise and colour to a football match. I do rather enjoy seeing lots of coloured smoke emerging from a football crowd.
Unlike football hooligan firms, ultras do find more importance in supporting their own side rather than fighting the opponents. The need for black ninja outfits is slightly worrying though, maybe they'd feel more at home in certain religious female attire?

Crystal Palace included a small amount of ultras in their 3000 strong travelling support and in all honesty, the noise from the Jimmy Seed last night was very impressive. Dislike them i may, but i can't ignore the fact they certainly were a sight and did the whole twelfth man thing perfectly.

While the smoke was getting in the eyes of the travelling contingent, it was certainly clearing in the home areas. We may have had a scoreline at Forest that tried to cover the deficiencies in the side, but the Palace game certainly showed us all our shortcomings and raised even more questions.

The honeymoon period of the Birmingham and Leicester matches when we still carried the momentum of last season are well behind us now and we can expect a long hard slog through the coming winter months.
Crystal Palace were by no means a side on par with Forest but they were physically strong and well organized. Two factors we need to sharpen up on.

At the time i felt this was probably the easiest three points they would win all season, now having had the chance to sleep on it, i can take a couple of positives from the evening.
It seems the midfield is everybody's main concern. Dale Stephens is back and needs to continue with the performances which alerted Villa in the first place, using us as a platform to both better himself and launch what could be a fantastic career. If not and he wallows in what might of been he could take the team morale down with him.

One thing we can take from last night is the need to play with width. Jackson is struggling with fitness and doesn't look to have a full ninety minutes in him, whilst Pritchard doesn't really seem the player to attack full backs and get the crosses in. Danny Green came on for a cameo yesterday and suddenly showed a creative spark we had been lacking.
Look at the trouble we had dealing with Yannick Bolasie. A true wide man, Chris Solly was tested to the full, first on our right, then once Wiggins had gone off on our left. It's testament to young Solly that he limited Bolasie as much as he did.
Zaha also proved a handful, never short of both ideas and confidence, he was a constant thorn in our side all evening.

Palace were famed for their inability to defend set plays. Unfortunately both Jackson and Kermorgant struggled to find a strike between them that would really hit the target, let alone trouble Speroni in goal. Shots on target were in short supply throughout.

Our disallowed goal from Wright-Phillips should have stood after seeing TV replays, the referee later apologizing to Chris Powell for the error of judgement, and that goal would have had some impact on confidence and perhaps the run of play, yet we were clearly second best.

A draw would, i hate to admit, have been unfair on the visitors. The little rally late on which saw some awful shooting from Fuller and Wilson amongst others was I'm afraid too little too late. Again, similar to the Forest match it was desperation to salvage something after being outplayed for seventy minutes.

Ben Hamer had one of the best chances as he came up for a stoppage time corner. A strong header was cleared off the line and we got a comical moment to cherish as the keeper tried an overhead kick on the follow up. That little gem was especially for the Addicks that had already seen enough and headed for the pub.

Quote of the night from a chap i spoke to afterwards, "We looked like a League One side who's financial backer had pulled out."
It's back to the drawing board for the gaffer after this wake up call, bouncing back against Derby on Tuesday is vital if we don't want to get too comfortable in the bottom six.

For the first time in many years i rode to the game last night. I parked the bike at the Rose of Denmark heading back there afterwards for a quick one before setting off home. In hindsight this didn't turn out to be a bad idea. It was nice to wind down and chat about the game afterwards but it also kept me away from Charlton station.
When i returned home i saw my twitter timeline full of people saying that it had all kicked off earlier around the station. Men old enough to know much better unable to differentiate between fun harmless banter and ignorant thuggery.

What a sad way to end a hugely disappointing evening.

It's Green in Devon

828 Charlton fans saw the Addicks win in Exeter yesterday. That brings the total number of living Addicks to see a Charlton side win there to 828. It's been that long, 83 years in fact.

There was a time not so long ago when 4-0 was the typical Charlton scoreline. We seem now to becoming masters in slugging out our victories in a 1-0 fashion.
It was always going to be tough at Exeter, they have a great home record and typify the sort of side that can bring Chris Powell's high flying team back down to earth with a bump. With the home side playing five across the back we knew we were in for a tough afternoon.

Matt Taylor made a fond return to a club he made nearly 150 appearances for, as did Addicks keeper Ben Hamer who was in the same part of Devon this time last year on a loan deal.
Bradley Wright-Phillips returned to the west country to a tirade of boos from the home support. How he would dearly love to have ended his goal drought ( i think it's ten games now) against the Grecians and quieten down those boo boys.
He'll still have to wait though as Exeter's rugged defending gave the front man very little opportunity.
I for one can't wait to see his goal celebration when it does come. I feel their is a lot of frustration building up inside the lad and when he scores he's going to go off like a firecracker on bonfire night!

It wasn't just Wright-Phillips who found the going hard, Exeter didn't allow us many chances to play the flowing football we've become accustomed to.
A goal did come, but even that was fortunate. 'Lucky' Charlton strike again. Danny Green (how Exeter love green!) crossed from the right only for the home keeper to fumble the ball across the line with his hands and the use of the post. That was the first goal conceded by Exeter in five hours of football.
Harsh on Exeter who had a game plan and stuck to it, in fact they had a chance or two near the end as Hamer had his now customary five minutes of flapping, although the keeper did make a great save from a powerful close distance shot from Spanish striker Guillem Bauza.

Dale Stephens was one of the substitutes to get a run out for the last ten minutes. Bradley Pritchard has done well of late as Danny Hollands latest partner, Stephens will be keen to get back to full match fitness and get that spot back. A great time of the season to have such healthy competition in the middle of the park. Normally by now we're looking at suspensions and injuries!

With both Sheffield sides in cup action, we have gone to nine points clear of second, Huddersfield, with a game in hand on them. The steel city sides have played as many as us and occupy third and fourth. Both are ten points behind.
Home games this week against Bury on Tuesday and Rochdale on Saturday are ideal opportunities to build on the points tally.

Twitter was full of excitement, as was the BBC radio show 606, later Saturday night as club captain was on the train home with many Charlton fans and putting his hand in his pocket to buy drinks.
A future member of the Charlton Athletic 'hall of fame' this boy for sure!
Just another example of what a great football club this is.

Come on you reds!

The good, the bad, and the ugly (and that's just us!)

Today was no ordinary Valley matchday experience. Bank holiday's are notorious for disruption, but in all honesty i only expected it on the trains.

The trains certainly lived up to expectation with an extra change required both ways compared to a regular Saturday service, and i gave myself plenty of time with the added bonus of not having to work a few hours beforehand.
It transpired that every connection was as smooth as a Danny Hollands pass and i actually walked into the Rose of Denmark in record time. Even the journey home was very acceptable.

A pleasant couple of hours in the rub-a-dub catching up on Christmas and new year tales with plenty of the twitter crew was a perfect prelude to Charlton's first match of 2012. Many thanks to the miserable ol' git you know why matey!

Queuing at the turnstiles and still nothing out of the ordinary when, out of the corner of my eye, i saw a flapping steward. Seconds later every turnstile to the upper north was shut. No announcement, just puzzled faces. There were only five people in front of me at the time, i was that close. Five minutes later there was a queue down the road, police everywhere and still no one any the wiser.
Eventually an explanation. A power cut in the whole of the upper north stand and we are told are tickets will be valid in the west. Oh how i momentarily felt for the stewards!
What followed was literally a stampede around the corner to the west stand turnstiles. Kick off had been delayed by fifteen minutes but it didn't appear any supporters were taking a chance and rushed to get inside for kick off.
I plumped for the upper stand on the basis that there were probably less season ticket holders and less chance of having to keep moving out of people's seats.

The teams came out and Brentford, the visitors, were resplendent in black and yellow stripes living up to their 'bees' nickname.
The home side saw a couple of changes with Leon Cort partnering Michael Morrison at the heart of the defense, the very deserving Bradley Pritchard getting a start in the middle of the park with Danny Green recalled out wide.

I wish for many reasons that the game itself could have been the main talking point here but unfortunately, for my matchday experience, it wasn't.
There was nothing wrong with the game other than it being quite obvious it was at the end of a hectic period. Charlton took the lead on the half hour with Morrison heading it past the keeper after the ball seemed to hang around the six yard box for an age.
Brentford could feel hard done by a little as they had defended well up to that point. Charlton's defense was just as good though with the new partnership looking strong and Solly and Wiggins both on form.
A second goal however was always needed as Brentford sensed there was an opportunity to claw something back.

The temperature rose in the second half with Yann Kermorgant hitting the post and, much to the disgust of Chris Powell, Rhoys Wiggins getting booked for time wasting whilst waiting to take a free kick.
Danny Green finally put the game beyond reach on ninety minutes when he came inside his man and slotted the ball home. As you'll read in a second, i was glad to see him get on the score sheet.
Another note was Leon Clarke getting a 10 minute run out for a debut, he got a better reception in real life than he did on the Charlton forums!

In the Rose of Denmark i saw the good side of our support. Great people with hearts of gold that I'm proud to call friends. Every single one of them would go out of their way to help another addick, no matter what their dress, accent or general mannerisms.
In the upper west i saw the bad and the ugly.
Behind me were a family of three, mother father and daughter. To give you a clearer picture, the daughter was older than me and the mother looked like she was chewing a wasp. Throughout the whole game they moaned. Danny Green couldn't do a thing right in their eyes and i got the feeling this wasn't a one off with him being their regular recipient of disgust. During the whole game they never had a good word to say grumbling about every pass and every set play Charlton attempted. Not once did i hear them get behind the team!

Although irritating, i can put up with what i call 'bad' support. The ugly however is another matter.
One upper north vagrant chose to sit next to me second half. He came over on his own (not surprisingly) and used the foulest of language for forty five minutes. In the heat of the moment it's forgivable to let the odd word slip, it is of course a working class game. When it's constant it becomes quite offensive.
In front of me were a middle aged, middle class couple, real stereotypical west standers. These people pay their money and enjoy their football like we do. They may show it differently but they have every right to enjoy it in a comfortable atmosphere.
So when they asked this monkey to tone it down a little, the verbal assault they received was horrific. I tried to help and got a mouthful myself. I wanted to move but felt compelled to stand my ground in case this couple got more of the same and needed some support.

On leaving the stand, he started again at this poor couple giving them the impression they weren't worthy of being there. Pot kettle and black eh?
I personally don't believe in evolution, being a creationist, but if I'm wrong and evolution was the way, this character was left well behind. He wasn't even a kid either, this man was my age and definitely old enough to have learnt how to behave in public.
On my journey home i was wracking my brains to think of an occasion when I've been this embarrassed about a Charlton 'supporter'. I couldn't think of one, not to this extent.

Upon leaving the stand i caught up with this couple and had a chat with them. I felt the need to apologise for the monkey and explain how not all north stand supporters are this mentally disabled. I explained how the majority of fans who travel home and away are decent folk and full of respect for all football enthusiasts.
I should NOT have to stand on the steps of The Valley telling Charlton supporters that Charlton supporters are nice people. It was, for me, a sad day.

Hopefully that will all be water under the bridge (poor poor pun, sorry) as we look forward to a journey down the Thames and a break from the important stuff and enjoy a day out at Premier league Fulham in the FA cup on Saturday. With 7000 Charlton fans going it's going to have a real party atmosphere and a day out to remember.

Come on you reds!!!

Stung in the old paint pot.

Whether it was the Sky cameras or Chris Powell being nominated for manager of the month, one things for sure, Charlton were totally outplayed tonight by Brentford.

Sky's arrival at The Valley helped keep the crowd down to just under three and a half thousand despite tickets at just a fiver once again. The always depressing sounding Garry Birtles struggled with the pronunciation of Evina as much as Charlton struggled with good quick passing football from the Bees.

The ginger Pele made a return to the defense tonight and looked shaky from the off. Another starter was Mikel Alonso. The Spaniard looks very off the pace, as you would have to expect a little.
A goal in the opening two minutes  to wake up those of us still getting comfortable followed by a penalty twenty minutes later gave the visitors a two goal lead well before the break. The above mentioned were both to blame for the goals.

Big Miguel Llera returned to SE7 as he's on loan to the west Londoners from Blackpool. He soon got his name in the book like the old days and gave Danny Green the chance to pull something back with a free kick on the edge of the box. A stunning shot forced the first save of the game from the Brentford keeper.

Paul Hayes had a chance after a rare defensive error shortly afterwards but his early shot was high and wide.
Then it was Alonso's turn. Johnnie Jackson's free kick was cleared out the area to the Spaniard who shot for goal. The ref quite rightly awarded a Brentford throw.

A very poor first half. The second forty five started slightly better with the introduction of Euell but it didn't last. Our performance soon deteriorated to the same level as the visiting fans conga in the Jimmy Seed stand.

On the hour the visitors wrapped it up. Always threatening, Diagouraga finally got his goal after plenty of confusion. The lino had flagged for offside but the ref overruled him quite correctly too as our own Waggy had had a touch the assistant didn't see.

After this it was too late even for Yann Kermorgant to salvage something. Scott Wagstaff tried his luck five minutes from time forcing the keeper to make, i believe,  his second save of the game but if that's the best effort i can find to praise it says it all.
Charlton fans were leaving ten minutes before the final whistle and no one could possibly blame them. We were all ready for the ref to blow a long long time before he did.

Chris Powell said before the game that we don't do well in cups. How right he is. Yes it's a weakened side but then so was Brentfords. Rules state we needed to field six regulars and the others that came in are first team squad members. An unwanted distraction or not, this was not a performance worthy of a Charlton XI.
It's disappointing, we want to win them all, and Wembley may just have to wait a little longer for us.
Back to the important stuff on Saturday then and put this firmly in the back of our minds.
On the bright side that could be our last ever showing in the paint pot cup!

Pretty in Pink

Never has a pink jersey been so coveted. As we stand at the moment, three goalkeepers will be keen to wear it this coming Saturday.
Robbie Elliot and John Sullivan have been joined by Ben Hamer from Reading, with yet another 'standard issue' three year and undisclosed fee deal. Brentford and Exeter both had the pleasure of the 23 year old's efforts last season so he's no stranger to League One. Obviously he has invaluable experience of playing alongside Matt Taylor at Exeter, not to mention playing in front of a nearly full Valley when he visited with the Grecians for our football for a fiver campaign last term.
This does bring about the question of Elliot's future in SE7. I think three first team keepers is great competition but i don't think one of them not even making the bench come matchday (or two not making it if Chris Powell feels brave enough with this new ruling) is going to prove popular with any of them, no matter how many promises of 'keep training hard and your chance will come' they receive.
This of course points to Elliot's well rumoured departure. Chris Powell has already said that he won't let our Addick's supporting number one go on a free next summer when his contract is up for renewal. So to sell him now while he commands a fee seems obvious. Does hint at a move doesn't it.
With all respect to the lad, he did say on Twitter last night that he has no idea about any move and would love to stay here. There is no question that, should his future lie elsewhere, he'll always be one of us.

Chris Powell was true to his word when he said more signings are immanent. As he proved by snapping up Andy Hughes from Scunthorpe on a free today as well. The much travelled and experienced midfielder who has signed a two year deal at Charlton, will bring a lot to the dressing room and the training field.With around 500 senior appearances to his name, the 33 year old will prove a very useful utility man to have around the first team. Although mainly a midfielder, he can slot nicely in at full back when required. I do believe that makes it fifteen and counting.

So as the big kick off approaches, everything seems to be slotting into place. Last night saw the opening edition of this season's Charlton Live show on the CAFC player. The usual level of seriousness and professionalism was quickly reached and once again I'm sure the 'bloopers' box is already overflowing.
It did for me signal the start to this much anticipated season. A fantastic interview with the gaffer, Chrissy Powell, plus a superb insight into the squad from Johnnie Jackson with a little help from Danny Green. If you don't yet subscribe to CAFC player, then may i suggest you do. Seven till nine on a Sunday evening is worth the money on it's own.And no, I'm getting paid to say this before you ask! After last night Chris Solly will always be Rigsby to me. Now, if i can write a new song for him starting with the words Miss Jones............