Hungry like the wolf

As per usual I arrived for an evening game straight from work listening to my stomach rumbling it's own version of Valley Floyd Road louder and louder with every footstep. Unlike Saturday I'd made good time and thought I'd venture to a different catering bar than usual as this new gourmet catering inside the ground needed exploring. The Upper North however seems to have been forgotten when it comes to pleasing gastronomes, relying on true working class values for the fare on offer. I found the pie and mash stall and this could have been unparalleled in the world of football nosh if, a) they had some mash potato, b) the pie wasn't hotter than the sun, and c) the pie wasn't far tougher than the plastic fork accompanying it which shattered on impact. And all washed down with 'delightful' generic lager. New catering? Same old crap catering in the Upper North.

But we don't go to the football to eat, we go to sing our hearts out and support our team. Next time I'll grab something en route and be done with it. So how did the singing and supporting side of the evening go? As wonderful as always when the floodlights are switched on. A great atmosphere and an entertaining match, even if we were very much up against it facing a strong Wolves team. The lads from Molineux have started very strongly in their return to the Championship and were the fourth fancied side to venture to SE7 already this season.

Charlton started quite brightly but soon carried on from where they left off against Watford on Saturday. André  Bikey-Amougou gave the Addicks the lead midway through the first half with a good volley and even better tumbling celebration, but the visitors finally broke us down with a scrappy yet deserved goal mid way through the second.

George Tucudean had a great opportunity to double our lead shortly after the centre half scored, I had a feeling we'd go on to rue that moment. Tucudean still seems to scuff his scoring opportunities but has so much more in his locker. He is often asked to track players by Peeters and does this like a true unsung hero quietly and efficiently although it does take its toll on his stamina, rarely lasting more than an hour.

Wolves had chance after chance yet like our George and also Watford before them, left their shooting boots at home. Former Charlton misfit Leon Clarke struggling to recapture the form he showed at Coventry last year. The trouble is, we invited them to attack us by sitting deep and standing off them especially in midfield. It doesn't help that, the two central defenders apart, we are a relatively lightweight side and get muscled off the ball in all areas of the pitch.

We've had a great start under Bob Peeters guidance, he certainly hasn't put a foot wrong yet but it'll be interesting to see how he adapts his tactics when needed. His formation is very rigid at the moment, I'd love to see an opportunity for Jordan Cousins to play centrally behind the front men, I can't help but think he's a little wasted out wide.

Chris Solly is also a worry. I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever now fulfill his potential after the injury. He had his best game for ages against Watford, the downfall being his unavailability last night. Joe Gomez came into the side to replace him but gave the ball away with too much regularity, as did Lawrie Wilson in front of him. We certainly miss Gudmundsson and the threat he poses on the right hand side of the park. His work rate and link up play with Buyens and co is as much a highlight of the new look team as Vetokele's goals.

There's plenty more on offer when we keep the ball on the floor and play the short passing game as we did towards the end of the match. The last ten minutes saw plenty of opportunity to snatch all the points, especially with Franck Moussa determined to make up for his butterflies on Saturday when he came on for Tucudean. For all the moaning, we did deserve our point but we can't keep giving these teams so much possession away from home.

Igor Vetokele went off at the end clutching his arm which is a worry for Rotherham and a possible blessing for Simon Church. A game that could be a potential banana skin, the thought of Steve Evans boasting about ending our unbeaten start to the season doesn't bear thinking about; please let's not forget our lines on Saturday, whoever plays up top!

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.

It's black and white.

In a day and age when football sides have third kits, commemorative kits and even European kits, it's refreshing for me to see Charlton often run out with the wrong shorts on. My contempt for Nike aside, traditional red and white home attire complemented with an all black away number works. We have seen red shorts appear occasionally and now we have the home shorts breaking up the black. It all harks back to me of a day when football was a lot less commercial, when you made do with what you had and just for those of you watching in black and white, Charlton are in the lighter shorts.

Chris Powell surprised us with a formula at Leeds that brought home a point and should perhaps have reaped even more reward. There were no surprises that he named an unchanged side at Molineux.
The similarities didn't stop at the line up. Once again Charlton went behind and looked second best during the first half. And once again the Addicks pulled a goal back, having chances a plenty to come back to London with three more points on the board.

Lawrie Wilson started his account after Rob Hulse had been denied, the hard working striker running his heart out during the afternoon and having the greatest of opportunities at the death with a close range header which he unbelievably steered wide.

Two draws away from home in five days at Leeds and Wolves is undoubtedly a great achievement, but that hard work now depends on capitalizing with the home fixtures against Middlesbrough and Cardiff. Will Powell use this formation at The Valley or does he need to go for the throat and play two up front to utilize the home advantage?

Our home form has been very below par, not a patch on the gritty performances on our travels which is why we now languish at a lowly twentieth in the table. The away form is mid table, no-one can take that away but the home form is that of a relegation side. We can draw matches all day on the road but if we don't punish teams in SE7 we'll undo the good work achieved around the country. Three wins in the first thirteen games tells it's own story. Perfect timing for two of the top three to make their way into South East London next then, although on the plus side both these sides may have impeccable home form but can both be dissected and beaten on the road.

A long way to go of course, but if we can address the home form, that mid table security we desire will eventually follow.  November would be a lovely time to put a run together, i still deep down believe we'll go into Christmas in a far more salubrious position.

What better way to build on the week's hard work and start a run than dispatching Nicky Bailey and co! For the benefit of those reading in black and white........

Come on you darker shirts attacking the goal to your left!