Kiss me quick!

It's been a funny old week, both for me and my football team. I've had a poor performance with results to match whilst Charlton have played superbly with mixed fortunes.

The dreaded misery that is man flu took it's ugly grip on me at the beginning of the week, assigning me to my bed for a couple of days. It would have been longer if my attendance at work hadn't been vital to the cause on Friday.

I therefore not only missed the action at The Valley on Tuesday evening in the flesh, but i also slept through the radio commentary too!
I took from the game that Charlton bossed the majority of the match, despite the 1-2 scoreline, Watford's Italian contingent did a fair impersonation of Tom Daley, and finally, we really need to take our chances at this level.

A trip to free scoring, high flying Blackpool was just what we needed then. In some respects, there was a little less pressure on us to get a result than there was on Tuesday, but two good performances at home still count for something. We would either get the reward these showings have been promising or we'd get a hiding.
I hate to admit it but i was expecting the latter.

Chris Powell decided it was time to shake things up a little, most notably by dropping Bradley Wright-Phillips to the bench and switching to a 4-5-1 formation. New boy Abdul Razak was his replacement coming into the centre of the midfield.

Charlton's solid performance was back and on display in the first half but once again the chances came and went. Fortunately Blackpool were wasteful with theirs too. Ricardo Fuller came the closest when his header came off the underside of the bar. That was the best moment of the first forty five.

The worst moment once again involved a players personal misery. We'll have to find space in an already crowded treatment room back in the capital as Danny Green came off after only around twenty minutes becoming the latest member of the Charlton cripple club.

It was the second period when things really came to life. Only three minutes in and Charlton were in front. Leon Cort once again found the net with his head from a Stephens corner. The Charlton traveling support were, for not the first time, coming through loud and clear on the radio (were there any home fans at the game? It sounded like Craven Cottage), and twitter was already full of tweets urging us to hang on! We really don't have too much faith in holding onto a lead.

We did hang on though, Fuller giving a professional display up front warranting a man of the match accolade. Charlton wrapped it up as Chris Solly scored the second with a sweet right foot drive from around twenty yards out.
As they quite correctly mentioned on the radio, it's a goal that ,with time, will be noted as being further and further out.

The emergence of both 1998 play off final veteran  Kevin Phillips and the very talented Tom Ince off the bench failed to inspire Blackpool to a comeback and Charlton clung on (as we do) to three very welcomed points on the road lifting us to a much more respectable fifteenth in the table as we go into an international break.

After a week of Chris Powell receiving criticism from a certain portion of the Charlton support he's shown that he's quite happy to drop a 'name', quite prepared to try a different approach and quite correct to tell us all to have patience.

I believe he knows what he's doing, i never doubted him for a moment. Honest.

Two In Forty Eight

Chris Powell has dipped into the loan market twice since our match with Blackburn. He's strengthened two areas of the park, one that's come under criticism of late and one that's been plagued by injury.

It's a real mixture of youth and experience that's arrived at The Valley with an exciting young midfielder and a proven old head up front.

Abdul Razak signed just after the match on Saturday having watched the game from the stands. Very highly rated by his parent club, Manchester City, the nineteen year old has already won his first full cap for the Ivory Coast.
Having had spells on loan for both Portsmouth and Brighton on the South coast, he's now set for three months in the capital, a City he knows well after starting his footballing career at Crystal Palace.
This should prove to be some valuable match time for the young midfielder as i expect chances at the City of Manchester stadium will be few and far between.

Monday lunchtime saw the anticipated announcement of the capture of Rob Hulse from Queen's Park Rangers, again on a three month contract.
With injuries to Yann Kermorgant and Danny Haynes, and Ricardo Fuller suffering from a virus, Charlton were very short on cover in attack.
Hulse, a player with top flight experience, has spent large portions of his career at this level affirming himself with the likes of Derby, Leeds and West Bromwich Albion.

At 32 his legs may not make a full ninety minutes but he will make the perfect impact substitute. And measuring over six foot tall he'll also be perfect for the long ball tactic we practiced on Saturday!
Without a squad number at Loftus Road for this season, there's every chance his loan could either be extended or the move made permanent at a later stage. Rangers have made it clear to the player he has no future there. If ever there was an excuse to make a good impression.........

Both players will be in the squad for tomorrow's visit of Watford.