Deja Vu

Same old, same old, said twitter, all afternoon and well into the evening. Charlton's reputation for throwing a perfectly good situation out with the bath water is common knowledge. To repeat the feat two weeks running almost replicating the fine detail is quite simply astonishing/disheartening, even for our normally tolerant faithful.

Sheffield Wednesday came along and mugged us last Saturday, Crystal Palace did the same yesterday. Tactical substitutions failed us one week and they ruined us the next. Ian Holloway may have been under fire of late from the Palace supporters but he certainly won a place in their affections with his half time team talk and change of formation. Powell was certainly the sharper dressed of the two (Holloway looking more suited to selling the Big Issue outside Sainsbury's) but the Eagles boss was a lot sharper tactically.

The first half was a showroom for Charlton's dominance, first to every ball whilst keeping the talents of wide men Zaha and Bolasie at bay. With Dervite playing a holding role in front of the back four as part of a five man midfield Charlton bossed the middle of the park, Solly and Wilson overlapping wonderfully on the right hand side causing all manner of mischief.

It was the lone front man, Ricardo Fuller, who broke the deadlock after a quarter of an hour. Typical fancy footwork from the striker (football's answer to Lionel Blair?) saw him dance his way in from the side of the box finishing with a low strike which rippled the net from an acute angle. Three thousand travelling spectators who were already in good voice erupted, revenge for September's undeserved defeat in the reverse fixture the ultimate goal.

As with the Wednesday game, Charlton failed to turn pressure and possession into anything more. The best opportunity to double the lead and perhaps kill the game off falling to Johnnie Jackson. Cedric Evina put a lovely cross in from the left picking out Lawrie Wilson who headed neatly into the path of the incoming skipper. Jackson, normally deadly with his head, this time guided it the wrong side of the post and the only thing rippling the net this time was the player himself.

At half time Powell was looking relatively happy, Holloway was trying to ignore the disapproval of many, vented his way. When they came back out fifteen minutes later Kevin Phillips was stripped and ready to join the action. After a spot of googling, it transpires the Palace debutant is somewhat surprisingly the youngest of the three of them.

Phillips linked well with decisive front man Glenn Murray up front as Palace ditched their 4-3-3 for a far more effectual 4-4-2. Phillips was the centre of everything looking a lot more dangerous than he did a month earlier for Blackpool at The Valley. A game of two halves is probably the most overused phrase in football but sometimes no other words will do. Crystal Palace were on top, the Addicks needed inspiration, cue the first of Chris Powell's changes a whole seventeen minutes before the end of the game. Positively premature compared to the previous week! Rhoys Wiggins, absent since that same game in September I mentioned previously, made his long awaited return. The left back replaced Scott Wagstaff, not what we expected. Two minutes later Palace were level.

The home side had chance after chance but were getting closer to an equalizer by the minute. Murray, in a clear yard or two of space, picked the ball up close to the penalty spot and a striker of that calibre just doesn't miss, with or without Leon Cort lunging at him. Marking him may have been more effective.

The Palace pressure continued immediately, Ben Hamer producing a fine stop when the ball came hurtling in from a very sweet thirty yard strike. The resulting corner led up to a goal to really break Charlton hearts. Murray controlled a long ball into the box (directly returning from a hopeful 'anywhere will do' clearance) with the outside of his right foot at knee height, bringing it down for a sublime strike with his left peg without breaking stride. Hurt as it may, there is no doubting the excellence of the finish.

A double change with Kermorgant and Haynes both trying to rescue something as Powell went for out and out attack/panic had little impact for the last ten minutes, Palace still doing their damnedest to give Kevin Phillips a debut goal.

With emotions running high, Charlton fans both at the game and around the country were miserable and angry. Throwing a lead away against Wednesday was one thing, throwing it away against South London rivals another. There are plenty of us that will have to face Palace supporters at work tomorrow, bragging rights aside, I think right now I'd rather be Peter Odemwingie facing a hostile return to training than meeting the two Palace regulars I endure on a Monday evening!

No matter how high the tension, how angry the reaction or how badly policed a football match may be, there is no excuse for mindless vandalism. If like minded supporters want to punch one another that's one thing, men fuelled on beer and emotion will always have this side to their character, but the need to take out your frustration on parked cars belonging to local residents is not only embarrassing but financially crippling for the injured party.

I live between a housing estate and the town centre pubs. Every Friday and Saturday night the local yobs and drunks shout and punch their way past our front door with absolutely no respect for any residents. I know I'm starting to sound like my parents rather than the anarchic punk rocker I used to be, but nigh on every Sunday i push the dents back out of the roof of our car after some hero has decided to walk across it. Over the past year there have been about four occasions where we have discovered the wing mirror hanging by it's wires. Believe me, it's a crushing feeling.

All in all it's best we forget this game moving onwards and hopefully upwards for the visit of Birmingham City next week. We may feel despondent at the moment but let's not forget that for the first half yesterday we played a top six side off the park. As Chris Powell said, “It’s tough to take because it’s quite easy to forget about how well we played in that first 60 minutes. It was a proper local derby and chances at both at both ends and its just a body blow for us that we didn’t come out on top.”

We have the ability, we just need to be a little more professional. With our finishing, our substitutions and our exiting a football ground.

Red Saturday

The advertising world has one main mission in its existence, to promote a product so well that either the product itself or it's catchphrase become an everyday phrase or saying. Part of the English language itself if you like.

When it works it drives you up the wall. There is a jingle from distant times past, 'Nice people to do business with' that I hum almost daily all these years later. I've no idea what company's television commercial contained it but it certainly left an impression on me. Mobile phone network Orange have certainly caught themselves a whopper of a catchphrase with their Orange Wednesday. It's not just a catchphrase, it's an event. The Blackpool Gazette must list it as one of their most overused headlines after a midweek Tangerine victory. Therefore I have no remorse in my blatant and shallow robbery. Yesterday was a Red Saturday, the first in SE7 this season.

Leicester, Cardiff and Peterborough had all previously come to The Valley this season and lost, yet not one on a Saturday afternoon. In fact, it was Hartlepool on the final day of last season that were the most recent team to suffer a Saturday defeat in Charlton.

As the game kicked off many may have thought a victory was the last thing on Charlton's agenda. The victory at Bloomfield Road back in October is one of the stand out results of the season so far, Blackpool were, don't forget, play off material last season. With their charismatic manager Ian Holloway now at Crystal Palace fortunes this season have proved to be a lot different, stability under new boss Michael Appleton seemingly essential to get their season back on track. So when news broke in the days preceding the game that the new gaffer had accepted an approach from Blackburn, belief we could do 'the double' over Blackpool rose considerably.

Fielding a 4-5-1 formation, we a looked a little slow in the freezing conditions. Blackpool were sharper with their passing and quicker with their movement, if anything it was ourselves who were there for the taking in the early exchanges. Matt Taylor had returned to the heart of defence due to Cort's injury and Dervite's suspension whilst Scott Wagstaff was enjoying a very rare start after returning from his loan spell at Leyton Orient.

Blackpool couldn't capitalize on their dominance despite an early brush with the woodwork, Hamer was rarely tested throughout, and I was starting to believe a rather demoralizing 0-0 draw was in the making. From somewhere out of  the blue though a chance was carved out as Solly played a through ball into the box. A visiting foot connected and changed the balls course, falling to Johnnie Jackson to roll the ball home from the edge of the area, catching the entire Blackpool defence on the wrong foot.
 
As many supporters were heading for the food kiosks to purchase a much needed warming Bovril, Charlton pounced again. Kermorgant was on the end of a cross, meeting it with a powerful header which the Blackpool keeper could only parry and it fell to Wagstaff who fed on the scraps like an abandoned dog not knowing where its next meal would come from. Speaking to an Orient supporting colleague, young Waggy didn't have the greatest spell at Brisbane Road. His confidence will have sky rocketed after this.

A 2-0 lead at half time certainly took our minds off the Arctic temperatures and gave one of the dreariest forty five minutes of football an almost unbelievable glow. There was a fair bit of stoppage time added on, due mainly to a head injury sustained by Matt Taylor. He played a large percentage of the first half giving a fine impersonation of Stuart Balmer with a white bandage wrapped around his head. Whether this was in fact worn for a medical reason or just seen as a cheeky opportunity to don some needy head wear for the conditions remains to be clarified, but I will say that Taylor wasn't at all afraid to head the ball once back on his feet!

I fully expected Blackpool to throw everything at us during the second half having come so far but alas, moments of note were fewer and farther between than before the interval. It was to be the substitutions that would adhere in the memory.

Chris Powell brought on young Callum Harriott who impressed from the start. The youngster had made some noises for us in League One last season but was one to suffer in the step up last summer. Opportunities hadn't just been limited, they had been non existent this term, so when he started a collection of step overs on an eclectic run into the box to win a corner the Covered End erupted.

My own personal memory will consist mainly of Bradley Pritchard's contribution to the resulting corner. As Harriott ran back towards the half way line to take up a defensive role, the aged and experienced head of Pritchard ran back to take Harriott's position and he sent the young substitute back up into the mix. I fully believe this is the first occasion in Pritchard's Charlton career that he's carried any kind of superiority 'clout'. From where I was sat he looked like he enjoyed it too!

The other substitution of note was the departure of stalwart striker Kevin Phillips. Sections of the upper north stood and applauded as he walked off much to my bemusement. I wondered if it had anything to do with that day in May '98, Phillips being to my knowledge the last remaining man still plying his trade at a professional level. I shouldn't look so deep into the actions of The Valley faithful. It was only in the pub afterwards that I discovered the player replacing him and the recipient of the applause was Nathan Eccleston, the young striker who was on loan here a couple of seasons back.

Eccleston would give Blackpool a moment of hope in the final minute of the match as he struck a peach of a volley from the edge of the area to pull a goal back for the visitors. It was all too little too late. A poor spectacle of a game finished with three important points in the bag, a first league double under our belts and the horror of the FA Cup showing the previous week forgotten about.

This season I'd quite happily take victorious unattractive football with great regularity as we aim to solidify our membership of the Championship. Here's to many more Red Saturday's!

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.