Bradders bounces back

Once upon a time, a football clubs front men had a tough old ride. Referee's often sided with defenders who gave out crunching tackles as regularly as hooligans making the front pages.
The likes of Norman 'bites yer legs' Hunter, Dave Mackay, Kenny Burns,  and later, Julian Dicks, struck fear into anyone venturing forward although, it has to be admitted, in the case of Graeme Souness for example, some were more than happy to give a little back.

The game is a lot less physical now and your twenty goal a season star striker is far more protected by the men in black (or yellow, green or red as it seems these days) although just as likely to go clattering down inside the penalty area!

Some things however haven't changed for strikers, and goal droughts are one of them. Every striker from Hackney marshes to Old Trafford and beyond has suffered at some point with this.
Wayne Rooney hit the headlines relatively recently with his inability to 'bulge the onion bag'. He's not the only one of England's finest to suffer, Gary Lineker, Bradley's father Ian Wright, and even I believe the goal machine himself, Jimmy Greaves,  had a lean patch or two.
It's a confidence thing of course. Once it's been more than three or four games people start to realise it just isn't happening for the individual. As the games mount up it's harder and harder to find any joy in front of goal, the manager's hoping a simple tap in or even a deflection of sorts that will be enough to see every nine year old supporters poster hero get his name back on the score sheet.

Floodgates i believe is the word. Once one goes in, however that may happen, plenty will follow. And so that's how it evolved for our very own Bradley Wright-Phillips.
November 19th at Griffin Park was goal number fourteen of the season for our number ten. Nobody then would have thought it would take thirteen more games to get his fifteenth.
Our Bradley couldn't have picked a better stage to finally end this drought though than a home tie against Stevenage in front of a staggering 26,000 supporters. This crowd of Premier league proportions was due to Charlton's now familiar and very successful  'football for a fiver' campaign.

After a poor score draw at The Valley against Rochdale, Charlton got back to winning ways against high flying Stevenage with goals from the impressive Michael Morrison and then, finally, BWP himself. If truth be told, that day Wright-Phillips could have, and perhaps should have  had half a dozen.
The only dampener on a fantastic day in SE7 was the bottle throwing incident as Bradley celebrated his goal. Fortunately the perpetrator didn't have the same measure of accuracy as our goalscorer.

Last night it was a trip to the B2net stadium (what an awful name) in Chesterfield for the re-arranged fixture from the other Saturday. League One's bottom club hosted the top one and three points for the visitors, although by no means a forgone conclusion, wasn't met by any real surprise.
An impressive seven hundred Addicks made there way to Derbyshire and witnessed what should have been Wright-Phillips first career hat trick.

For the second game in succession Chris Powell fielded his strongest (and preferred) starting eleven with both Solly and Jackson now present. Jackson, the skipper, added to his impressive tally for the season again whilst Charlton's other goals in an excellent 4-0 win were down to a now much more confident goal scorer.
Although still claiming the match ball, Bradley's third saw the final touch coming off a defender and appears from some sources to have been credited as an own goal. I doubt very much the striker will let that one go without a fight!
In fact, interviewed afterwards he said, "I lunged at it and got a touch. There was a little bit of help from the centre-back on its way in, but it's clearly my goal."
Everybody loves a hungry centre forward.

Thirteen games to go, sitting proudly at the top and fifteen points clear of third. These are great times to be a Charlton fan, and even better times to be a Charlton striker i should think.

Warming up for love

Valentines Day saw a return to action for the Addicks after another enforced Saturday afternoon off, due to last Saturday's trip to Chesterfield going the same way as the Rochdale fixture the week before. With overnight temperatures dropping to -10 it was of very little surprise that it was postponed, just very disappointing for those who had already started their journey.
Some made the most of the day and visited a few of the ale houses in Chesterfield whilst others mixed with Birmingham City and Wycombe Wanderers fans at Bramall Lane for the Chairboys League One clash with the Blades. There is a video on you tube of a little singing banter between the three during half time.
We can now emphasise with the Rochdale fans who were looking forward to a day out in the capital last week. I doubt very much they'll bring as many down for a Tuesday evening fixture next week.

The cold snap is over and our Charlton snow angel has all but melted away. My hands, which spend all day covered in old engine oil, are starting to heal a little as the skin cracks in freezing temperatures, and most importantly of all, football up and down the country is being played. Yes, things have certainly cheered up!

Last night saw the first of four consecutive Tuesday night fixtures.The next few weeks are going to be vital in the promotion challenge, a real make or break time for all the clubs involved.
No better time to secure another three points then with a win over Britain's least favourite club, The Milton Keynes Franchise.
A small crowd was a foregone conclusion what with it being Valentines day, but those allowed a pass out, along with all the single supporters witnessed, from what I'm told, a relatively unspectacular match with a few flash points.
I spent the entire match in a Chinese restaurant close to home with my wife and didn't once look at my phone to see how we were getting on. I am that dedicated to/scared of (delete as you wish) her indoors!

So what of this match? Two minutes after walking through my front door i was scanning the web for reviews.
Yann Kermorgant received a head butt resulting in a penalty two minutes before the break! The Frenchman's a pretty big chap, i wouldn't head butt him, but Gary MacKenzie, the culprit, is a big lad himself. I'll be keen to see what went on there. It'd take a brave man to step in between those two.

Johnnie Jackson, skipper supreme, stepped up and duly slotted away the resulting spot kick and we were going into the interval with our noses just in front.
This was only two minutes before the end of the half,  yet there was still time to add to this as Jackson was tripped inside the box moments after Green had rattled the crossbar in the third minute of stoppage time. Again Jackson dispatched the penalty kick. Half time 2-0 up against ten men, it had all the makings of a classic Charlton collapse. We held on though.
In fact it could have been a lot different had Hamer not made a tremendous point blank save just after the half hour.

It doesn't sound like you would have known which side were playing with ten men in the second half as MK Franchise put in a spirited shift in trying to overcome the deficit. They did pull one back three minutes from time but Charlton hung on to go eight points clear at the top.
Sheffield United beat Huddersfield in another top of the table clash (resulting in manager Lee Clark losing his job) whilst Sheffield Wednesday dropped points at home to the surprise package of the season, Stevenage. It's jolly nice of that massive club to try and stay in this division so the likes of Yeovil and Wycombe have something to aspire to and the opportunity of a day out at one of the worlds biggest clubs. They really are too good to us all.

Charlton took advantage of this great position by sending out season ticket application packs last week. Looking through old ticket books i realise i haven't had a season ticket since the 2003-2004 season when my job situation changed and i had to work Saturdays.
I'm keen to change this and make more than the one game a month which i do on average at the moment. I'm in discussion with work on trying to come to an arrangement but that's the easy part. I then have to persuade the wife! I can understand Heidi's point of view, i work around fifty hours each week and we hardly spend any time together. We'll see what happens. I've left the application pack on the kitchen table, it's been there a few days. She knows it's there, she knows that i know that she knows it's there. It's all a matter of mentioning it, or more importantly the timing of my mentioning it. Now you see why i didn't look at my phone to check the score during last night's very romantic meal...................

Tranmere Rovers on the Wirral Saturday, then the re-arranged Rochdale match at The Valley on Tuesday. I've booked a rare afternoon off for that one, it'll be my first midweek game since a trip to the MK Franchise back in late September. Can't wait.

Come on you reds!

A fiver buys more than a franchise

Saturday's football for a fiver campaign has to be seen as a success. Last season we drew the crowds in and the team failed to deliver. This time around however those long lost fans got quite a bit of entertainment for their green stuff.

How many of those 8000 or so returning (or new) faces come back again remains to be seen, but one things for sure, it's fantastic marketing by the club.
Club shop sales, food kiosk sales, extra revenue for the local pubs, cafes and take aways, it is a good old reminder of what things were like in SE7 just a handful of years ago. And at the current rate, what things will be like again soon.

On the pitch Charlton are doing as much to convince people to return as they are off it. Chesterfield are just the latest to stumble when confronted with Chrissy Powell's red and white army.

Once again work stopped me handing over my hard earned Lady Godiva and being a part of the 22,000 strong support. Nevertheless, the boys got through it without me. And while they were slogging away on the field of play, i was doing the same on my own personal battleground.

You see, tomorrow morning (and very very early morning at that) we head off down to Bath for a few days away.
So after work at about half two i serviced the car rather than listen to the match on CAFC player.
I knew in the long run this would give me a bartering pole.

As Paul Hayes opened the scoring with that glorious backheel, i was spinning the new oil filter on. When Johnnie Jackson made it two with a simple but precise strike from a free kick, i was filling the windscreen washer bottle and cleaning the lines.

So you ask me, why couldn't this wait until Sunday?
Well, I had the rare opportunity of an away game. I struggle to get out of work in time for home matches, unless we are drawn away to Crawley in the cup away days are a thing of the past for me. A day off and Charlton playing only an hour and a half down the road is far too good an opportunity to miss.

So when Chesterfield got a goal back i was choosing my moment. Then as Bradley Wright-Phillips sealed it in injury time, and i was putting up a curtain rail (complete with curtains) in the spare room, i struck with the venom of a particularly dangerous rabbit.

"I'm thinking of going to Milton Keynes on Tuesday my darling"

Not overly impressive but it did the trick and I'll jump on the bike later this afternoon to ride up there. Heidi has gone for a girlie shopping spree in Brighton in retaliation. Expensive this football lark.

A good home win then before two tricky away days. MK Dons started very brightly but have just started to drift away a little now. I don't see them rolling over tonight and a difficult game awaits. Then it's the red half of Sheffield on Saturday. This will i fear be even trickier. I would be happy just with two points out of these games, four and I'll be jumping up and down. If we win them both who knows what I'll be up to.....................................................probably a lot more DIY!

I'm looking forward to my first trip to StadiumMK, I've heard as grounds go it's quite an experience. It's just the club we have trouble with.
In a week when Wrexham are set to join the likes of Exeter and AFC Wimbledon in a true football romance story, being owned by the supporters, the whole franchise affair still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of all true football fans.
As does the name Clinton Morrison in the north and south of all Addicks. I'm sure we'll be seeing an appearance from this 'gentleman' tonight. I just hope it's not a repeat of the last time.

If you see me this evening (I'll be the one walking around with a crash helmet) come over and say hello. You will however have to wait for the next post containing my adventures tonight until after the weekend when i return from the west country.

Come on you reds!!!!!

Fortress time.

Away from The Valley Charlton continue to pick up points. I still believe the players do better without that 'pressure' of sending fourteen thousand fans home happy. Who knows how they'll cope with a twenty thousand plus attendance on Saturday?

Rochdale, with all due respect, are not going to be mounting much more than a relegation avoidance scheme this season. Having said that, grounds like Spotland are tricky places to go and take all the spoils (aren't they all?).
Charlton did take take all three points but made very hard work of it.

It was the Bournemouth old boys act that graced the score sheet. Danny Hollands constantly good performances were rewarded with his first goal for the club to put the visitors in the lead.
Rhoys Wiggins, who has been seen as a weak link in the side so far doubled the lead just before the interval.

Being Charlton we had our normal self inflicted scare. Every Addick knows nothing for our boys is simple and two Rochdale goals proved the point. Hollands however popped up with ten to go and sent the Londoners back down south with huge grins across their drunken (well my friends who went were) faces.

Four away wins in a row. I'll use the dreaded word, it is promotion form and that's why we are top of the table.
Just to sort out that home form.

Maybe, like i said, it's the pressure. Perhaps it's the great stadium and day out which causes the visitors to raise their game. One things for sure, we don't often look in total control at home.

Every manager will tell you this but you need to make your home a fortress. Yes, we are top of the table and shouldn't need to panic. Agreed, but from what I've seen in SE7, poor teams have failed to punish us and half decent sides have walked away with a point.
I remember many years ago hearing Ray Clemence in his Liverpool days saying "win all your home games and draw all your away ones and you'll be sure to win the league".
In the real world that won't happen but it's a safer target than winning the away games and drawing at home!

Saturday could be time to change all that. Chesterfield would, you'd think, be easy pickings. Look at their form though and they have won their last three. That includes a three nil away win and scoring four past Carlisle last Saturday.
I'm certain they'll relish playing in a lovely stadium like ours. And with Charlton's 'football for a fiver' campaign, it's guaranteed to be a bumper crowd. It'll be a great match for either side to win for sure. This should though be a home win in anybody's book.

There has been enough incident in football these past few days, what with Torres missing a sitter and the whole Arsenal/Wenger sideshow.  The Premier League is turning more into a circus every week, I'm happy to see League One stay predictable.
Well not too predictable, i don't want the Charlton mid season wobble of course...............

Come on you reds!!