The Silver Fox

With all the carnival atmosphere surrounding Charlton Athletic and the FA Cup quarter final next weekend, it was easy to almost forget about today's Championship clash at Leicester City.

Fortunately, football is full of 'characters' and no matter how much you may be focused on a weekend away and all the beer that that entails, somebody is always going to steal the headlines and make this a week to remember. That headline grabber today was a rather despicable Premier League manager and unfortunately not a Horley Town footballer heroically saving his club from their continuing perilous flirting with relegation.

Always a man of extremes, I was more than happy to distance myself from next week's trip to Bramall Lane and plant myself firmly on the ground at the other end of the footballing spectrum, by visiting my local club Horley Town today. The Combined Counties Premier Division, level nine in the grand scheme of things, is light years away from BT Sport and ITV fighting over matches they can schedule for ludicrous kick off times. There isn't an armchair season ticket holder in the world that would want to watch the football I witnessed today. To be fair, there weren't many in the small crowd that really wanted to watch either.

Horley find themselves sitting twenty first in a twenty two team table, and today they entertained the bottom club, Bedfont Sports. As six pointers go, this was leaning to a seven. With dwindling crowds, a fixture congestion common to all small clubs that have endured recent flooding, and an injury crisis that has prematurely recruited heavily from the youth team, Horley Town are without doubt facing a crisis. With this in mind they thought up the incentive of half priced admission and a free half time alcoholic beverage on presentation of a flyer on arrival at the turnstile. The need for a half time alcoholic beverage is greater every match I'm told.

I've been to The New Defence, home of Horley Town, a handful of times this season and today was without doubt the poorest I've seen them play. The passing was misdirected, the mistakes were playground-esque, the heads were down and they looked beaten from the off. I spoke briefly to Anthony Jupp, the caretaker manager at the end of the game who was a little lost for words really. He knew it was poor, he bemoaned the injuries that forced his hand with team selection and he was, quite understandably, running out of excuses. Losing 2-0 at home to the one team below you is probably, for a football manager, as low as it gets. I certainly didn't envy him trying to pick those lads back up afterwards in the dressing room.

My attention was unsuspectingly drawn back to Charlton and their game at Leicester when I bumped into an old Charlton supporting friend at half time for my free pint. As well as an Addick, he's also a South Park supporter, a club top of Horley's division (not just an American cartoon), and with their game called off took advantage of the reduced admission price, coming to see life at the other end of the table. Used to watching level nine football of some standard, he openly admitted his surprise as to how shockingly bad the football he was witnessing today compared. It is of course all relative but believe me, no matter how much Charlton disappoint us on a regular basis, it doesn't often get quite as desperate as this.

News of The Foxes wasn't quite that which I expected. Another fox, that of the silver variety, Alan Pardew had sent twitter into meltdown after headbutting Hull City's David Meyler. The former Charlton boss was red carded amidst the fracas that followed, it's not the first time he's got physical on the sidelines either. With a squad of international superstars at his disposal, 'Pards' week in week out lets himself down with dreary monotone press conferences and classless interviews. How a young lower league manager would relish the chance to work with such talent; Anthony Jupp in the face of impending disaster is ten times the man Pardew is and a lot more deserving of success to boot.

So how did Charlton fare today? Leicester's bogey team, on a run of two back to back victories, yes, sure to form we got beat. Three-nil quite convincing, but Leicester are head and shoulders above the rest, the South Park of the Championship. Besides, whether we admit it or not, supporters and players alike we've all got one eye on next week's trip to Sheffield haven't we. Ninety minutes from Wembley; ninety thousand miles from Horley.

and Leicester

Hands up who didn't fancy today. Who else would have quite happily taken a point before kick off? With warm sunshine indulging South London there was absolutely no opportunity of using the same excuse as last week, it just wouldn't wash again no matter how many sprinklers we had on the pitch before kick off. it's quite demoralizing how little faith we now have.

I thought we'd be on the end of a real pasting, Leicester, once again, are a useful side put together with a tidy amount of cash and a wage bill to match, which I may add is always paid in full and on time. A quality team that has all the attributes to make the transgression to the big time. And how we wish we could play them every week!

Our defending has of course become infamous throughout the division and Leicester brought a fair number with them to witness a goal fest in the capital. Chris Powell, well aware of his rear guards reputation, has understood the need to address this and decided that if two centre halves don't cut the mustard then simply add a third. A ploy he used in Huddersfield midweek which worked well for eighty minutes. This dimension does require full backs that are prepared to run the flanks all game, today in Wilson and Wiggins (my man of the match) he had just that. Chris Solly apparently is out with a niggly knee and not in the final throws of signing a ludicrous deal with a club that can further his career. He'd better get his skates on then, the transfer window closes on Monday and we've the gas and electric to pay.

Jackson drove the troops from the middle admirably alongside Pritchard and Stephens while Simon Church led the line alongside penalty expert Yann Kermorgant. The script once again would write itself.

We showed little enterprise I'm afraid from open play, the final ball always falling a short yet from set pieces we looked solid. Corners, free kicks, the smell of a goal was always in the air when the referee gave the vital decision our way. Now Michael Morrison has come in for some severe criticism this season already, not least from myself, and in all honesty I thought it may do him good to be dropped. True to form then he scored the opener with his head from a corner just before the half hour.

To lead at half time was a good achievement. The tackling was very impressive, strong and decisive although possibly needed a little too frequently as we struggled at times to keep possession, especially when clearing the ball from our area. Leon Cort saw the ball return quicker than he could keep up with as his long clearances rarely found a red shirt. We continued to press strongly though and the second half merited a superb performance from Kasper Schmeichel in the Leicester goal.

There were at least three occasions where the keeper pulled off saves straight from his fathers locker. The first, very impressive as he got across his goal line to turn a Kermorgant free kick around the post. Kermorgant won the free kick himself, plummeting to the ground where there appeared to be absolutely no contact from any opposition player. Neatly done and a trick Simon Church would try to emulate later in the box with less success. The second save was far more elaborate as a one handed stop denied a Kermorgant header and the third a brave one on one with substitute Jordan Cousins.

Kermorgant did get Charlton a second, again from a corner although Leicester protested for pushing with no success. The fact we had doubled our lead was relatively surprising as the referee had tried his best to level the odds by sending off a Leicester midfielder, Matty James, for a rather too verbal outburst. Very little dampens my enjoyment than the opposition being reduced in numbers as it has so often been our undoing.

Any new found confidence developed by our defence was soon shattered as the visitors duly pulled one back. A loose ball in our area was captured quickly by a blue shirt, the lad had a little space and slotted home. You didn't think for one moment that it would all be plain sailing did you? On the plus side the Charlton safeguard took two steps forward today to their one backwards which is undoubtedly a huge improvement.

A first victory could have been far greater if it wasn't for superb goalkeeping and a missed first half sitter, yet in true Charlton form we made it a nervy six minutes of stoppage time. But a first three points it is, and a real victory as opposed to last weeks mental achievement.

It was worth celebrating so we headed to The Grapes at London Bridge. Unfortunately so did Stoke who had been at West Ham this afternoon. A small mob arrived at first, young spotters followed by bigger and uglier lads and a police entourage. These weren't the Met either so had come down to London for day out too. As we supped our beers more appeared, wave after wave of Stone Island clad brutes arrived, there were police wagons parked all around and there was no doubt that something nasty was brewing. Too old for such fisticuffs we downed said beers and found a much quieter watering hole. It was an evening of celebration after all, not confrontation.

As a footnote today also saw a new Charlton fanzine hit the streets called Valley Talk. The brainchild of a very enthusiastic Joe Hall, this debut issue is proving to be an enjoyable read of many well known Charlton writers. Keep an eye out for future issues, as great as it is to have the Voice return, you can't beat a little competition.

Sine Wave

I know very little of mathematics, science, or engineering. My understanding of the word 'oscillation' is very limited, to me a sine wave represents one thing, supporting Charlton Athletic. There are ups and downs, highs and lows, but don't get too comfortable, fortunes change like the wind.

Going a month without a win and throwing away a winning position twice in as many weeks, Charlton had two away games in four days to try and get back on track. Against both Palace and Birmingham no-one could ever doubt our work rate, but the same old story of lapses in concentration and a failure to capitalize had left the Addicks feeling quite despondent.

This despondency carried on into the weekend as our trip to Hull proved fruitless. Again the team were credited with hard work and determination against one of the better sides in the division, yet it was a cruel moment of luck rather than skill that gave the home side all three points. Hamer came out determinedly to deal with a corner but missed the ball which landed in a posse of players and could have gone anywhere, Hull's Egyptian striker Mohamed Gedo turning the ball home. Fortune favours the brave,unless the brave come from SE7.

No time to dwell on events though, a Tuesday night fixture at another promotion candidate, Leicester City, could be the catalyst to get the season and the main priority of safety back on track.

One man who would not be heading to the King Power stadium (even the cheesiest bad guy in Hollywood or the WWE is named better) was Bradley Wright-Phillips. The out of favour striker, who may well have played his last game for the Addicks at Hull has moved across London to Brentford on loan to see out the end of the season. He was of course very close to signing for Swindon with Danny Green on the final day of the transfer window, but that fell through on a technicality. Bradley was Chris Powell's first signing as Charlton boss, he ended last season with twenty two goals and certainly became a fans favourite. Unfortunately he has found the step up a little harder than most but will, I suspect, bolster Brentford's own promotion campaign alongside another former Addick, Paul Hayes.

A Charlton striker most definitely not missing the trip to Leicester was Yann Kermorgant. The big Frenchman had a fair few boo-boys to silence and a gigantic ghost to lay to rest. He spearheaded the gaffers preferred 4-5-1 formation with countryman Dorian Dervite once again protecting the back four.

From the off the boos rang loudly around the stadium, how often had we done similar ourselves only to be silenced when Defoe and co have found the net triumphantly! Yann Kermorgant had read the script perfectly and duly obliged with a goal after twenty minutes. The resurgent Scott Wagstaff kept an almost lost cause in play, Pritchard won the ball and centered it for Yann to shoot home. Now you or I would have run to the home supporters to tell them in no uncertain terms who was having the last laugh but Kermorgant is far too level headed for that. Classy footballers let their game do all the talking. Some said we have our very own Eric Cantona but there was no post match speech on trawlers.

Very recent history has told us that this work ethic and endeavor doesn't necessarily produce results, remember the sine wave? Not only can that define our season, it's a pretty accurate match report in itself too. Almost on cue, with twenty minutes remaining Charlton's defense of a lead faltered. A quick, flowing, passing move culminated in New Zealand striker Chris Wood slotting home from the edge of the box. Chris Powell knew action needed to be taken, despite this setback the points were clearly there for the taking. Frequently abused for his use of substitutes (on here as much as anywhere else), he brought Danny Haynes on for Dervite. A minute later we were back in control.

If it wasn't for a cruel tragedy of injuries, Danny Haynes would I'm sure be plying his trade in the top flight by now. He has already produced a goal of true finesse this season against Derby County, last night he topped it. The ball came over his left shoulder, he let it bounce, gained his composure and volleyed it home from twenty five yards out. The celebration in front of the 650 away supporters told it all, passion and relief by the bucket load.

This time there was no mistake, no late drama. Charlton had won and done the double over much fancied Leicester City. That by anybody's standard is a sign of Championship quality and perfect form to take into Saturday's home clash with Nottingham Forest. It should be quite a game, Forest destroyed Huddersfield 6-1 last night.

No matter what your views are of Slater and Jimenez, the 'unknown' boardroom events going on behind the scenes, the rise in next season's ticket prices or any other controversial happening around the club, we do at least still have our Charlton. The clubs hearts beats strongly and it's still a huge part of and benefit to the local community. I'd much rather my identity and with it mid table obscurity than promotion to the 'promised land' and no soul whatsoever.

Cardiff City's re-branding did of course take the football world by storm. Supporters walked away from the club they supported all their lives and the campaign against modern football took another step forward gaining bountiful support. Yet plenty renewed their season tickets rather than voting with their feet, and for this they were 'rewarded' by the clubs Malaysian owners. Upon entry to the ground last night for their clash with Brighton and Hove Albion, each supporter was handed a free red scarf at the clubs expense. This isn't Germany, where football supporters cannot be bought, so many took the said item gladly and wore it proudly around their necks. I've even been told that supporters entering the away end were handed one too. I suppose the board feel Brighton is also a catchment area, well it works for Manchester United.

One supporter took his scarf and did exactly what any true lover of football would do. God bless him!

Shhh!

Boo boys always get silenced. Fact. Jermaine Defoe is guaranteed a goal when lining up against Charlton. It's an unwritten rule.

How satisfying must it be from a players perspective, after listening to supporters boo your every touch, to then run up to the noisiest, ugliest of the bunch and hold your finger to your lips. Just ask Yann.
The only other thing he could of done was to sing 'over land and sea, and Leicester at them', but in French i believe that loses something in translation.

It all stems from a penalty miss during a shoot out against Cardiff in the play off semi's, although it must have really had a deep effect on one Leicester fan who had far too much time on his hands judging by this song.

Pundits are often heard saying the best way to answer critics is to do it on the field of play. Last night Kermorgant quietly said 'I'm better than you' to the 1600 in the Jimmy Seed stand. We booed their left sided full back a little in the safe knowledge he doesn't score many goals.

Although the good performance and the point at Birmingham had given us a confident start, we really didn't know what to expect on Tuesday evening against one of the bookmakers favourites for promotion, Leicester City. A match that Chris Powell would have been relishing when the fixtures were announced.

It wasn't just Kermorgant and the gaffer this stood out to though, Michael Morrison had a spell with the Foxes whilst Paul Konchesky (even though he's getting on a little, i still want to call him 'young Paul Konchesky') did the opposite and last night returned to where it all began.

Another footballer to make an appearance on The Valley turf was Ricardo Fuller, unveiled to the fans at half time, who we had learnt in the Rose of Denmark prior to the match had signed for the club yesterday.
An experienced head at this level, it's not just about the earrings but the strength he'll bring to the squad, he won't be content keeping the bench warm.
Signed on a one year deal, the 32 year old will insist on giving Powell some selection problems. Our strikers will see it as even more pressure to get their shooting boots on and find a rich vein of form.
If this was Chris Powell's intention, it was a masterstroke.

Leicester started well but Charlton got stronger and stronger as the minutes ticked by, spurred on by a great atmosphere from the home support. A disappointing crowd of under 17,000, that made the noise of double that.

Eighteen minutes in and what appeared to be a bit of a speculative shot from Bradley Wright-Phillips found the back of the net. Just under a quarter of an hour later Yann Kermorgant did the same with a similar kind of effort. Cue the big man's celebrations.

The Valley was rocking, it could have been more than two, as Leon Cort tried to emulate what he had done on Saturday but was thwarted by the keeper..........Kasper, you're a ghost, Kasper Kasper you're a ghost........

Leicester boss Nigel Pearson made a couple of changes at the interval after what i guess was a fierce dressing down to a shell shocked team. It worked.
We looked very stretched at times during the second half as Leicester played some lovely football. They passed the ball around with confidence and set up chance after chance.
Andy King, not the Everton legend but the Welsh lad, was one of the arrivals after the break. Less than ten minutes later he'd pulled one back.

Charlton weren't going to give this up without a fight though. We all sang 'we all dream of a team of Kermorgants' yet in reality we had eleven hero's on the pitch. Rhoys Wiggins showed great vision going forward, Hamer did what he needed to do comfortably and without unnecessary flapping, and Bradley Pritchard looked totally at home on the right. It's hard to believe this lad was playing for Hayes and Yeading just over a year ago.

Someone at the heart of our rear guard though was immense last night. Michael Morrison, was a tower of strength putting in a collection of challenges and breaking down wave after wave of attacks.

There was a time when only the nimblest of fancy footwork superstars could wear coloured boots. I appreciate these days you can only purchase black boots from a referee's outfitters, but to wear orange boots still makes a bold statement of courage in my eyes.
We saw at Brentford last season some of the magic footwork Morrison is capable of. Last night we saw some more as the centre half threw in a couple of delicate step overs as he brought the ball out of defence.
Near the end Morrison went in bravely and came away with blood on the face forcing the ref to restart with us down to ten as the defender was cleaned up on the sidelines. The second half, as a whole, saw the tackles getting harder and harder as a mixture of desperation and desire got the better of both sides.

I never thought anyone would challenge the great Eddie Youds in my own Charlton hall of fame. How that particular scouser must be clinging on to this mantle with just a little sweat starting to appear on the brow...........

As the clock ticked down, my compatriot Jim stood next to me finding it harder and harder to watch. It had the feeling of a cup tie or an end of season six pointer, even their keeper was coming up for a corner.............in August!

The relief at the final whistle was staggering, you couldn't do that week in week out, could you?
I'd predicted we'd get one point out of our first two games, we got four. And Palace are bottom.
You've just have to smile!

Hull Saturday......

Come on you reds!

Dates for the diary

Due to the exploits of the Addicks on the pitch last season, one thing was guaranteed from Monday morning's announcement of the 2012/2013 fixture list, we weren't going to entertain Hartlepool's wonderful supporters for a third final day in a row. Or for that matter Bournemouth's on the opening day.

Promotion has brought with it a change in names of the opponents that we seek out immediately the list is announced. Palace and Millwall are the obvious now, alongside the relegated clubs we saw on Match of the Day last season who will hope to be topping the Championship table come May.

Boxing day, New Years day, birthdays, we all wish for fixtures that tie in with any plans already set in stone and you can bet your last pound they'll be one or two you were looking forward to that are hundreds of miles away and scheduled for a Tuesday night in January!

The clubs are allowed to submit some special requests to the FA although 'we would like an easy run in to the season' probably doesn't count as justified. Charlton this summer made no such requests.
This fixture list is still subject to changes and at the moment about as final as Stuart Pearce's long list for Great Britain's Olympic team.

The police will no doubt require matches to be moved, Sky have yet to alter as many games as they are allowed from a traditional Saturday three o'clock kick off, and all this before the weather kicks in and pitches become frozen causing a fixture pile up come March.

Birmingham City host us for the opening day of the season. A side that have Premier league aspirations, they were losing play off semi finalists last season and will be one of the favourites for promotion this time around. As we wait for an announcement as to the replacement of Chris Hughton in the Blues hot seat, we can romanticize about a possible meeting with former Charlton boss Alan Curbishley on August 18th.

August is a traditionally hard month for me to attend games as every parent at work books the time off for the school holidays resulting in me often working full days on the Saturdays to cover. I'm grateful to see then that our first home league fixture is on the following Tuesday.
Chris Powell's former employees Leicester City are the visitors. My next visit to The Valley after that could be mid September for Crystal Palace. Probably the first game i looked out for.

The return fixture at Selhurst is at the beginning of February. Millwall entertain on the first of December and visit mid March. I can't see The New Den being full of festive good will!
Boxing day is a fixture i haven't been able to attend since i got married for fear of castration by the missus should i miss out on the family gatherings. I selfishly pray for an away fixture but alas this season I'll be missing the visit of Ipswich. I'll get my Christmas football fix three days later for Derby County's trip to SE7.

At this level there won't be any easy games, but our run in does look tough with trips to Barnsley, Cardiff and Middlesbrough in April, not to mention the visit of  two of last season's Premier League sides in our last four home fixtures. The full fixture list can be seen on the official club website.

As mouthwatering as this main course is, we have the appetiser of pre-season friendlies first.
Today we discovered that we'll face Sporting Lisbon whilst away on the training camp in Spain. This time away was invaluable last year as the new squad got to know each other both on and off the field. We faced two of this season's rivals, Cardiff and Bristol City, last time around. No disrespect to either of those two clubs but it's exciting this year to be facing not just foreign opposition but one of Europe's most famous clubs.

A friendly against Fulham behind closed doors has also been confirmed which i have mentioned before here, along with a list of the other warm up matches.

With everything now in place for the big kick off we wait to hear of any news in the transfer market. To date all we've got is contract extensions for Bradley Pritchard and Yann Kermorgant to get excited about but it's not really the same as a new name to the squad list.

Perhaps that will all change after the European Championships and England's historic semi final win over the Germans. Revenge for 96.

Maybe.