A Summer of Discontent ??

Could we be in for a hectic time on the transfer front this summer. First we hear that Deano may be a target for Man Utd and before this can be digested The Sun is suggesting that both Franny Jeffers and Dennis Rommerdahl are to be offloaded by a disappointed Curbs. Add to this the fact that both Mark Fish and JJ are out of contract and Jason Euell is upset with his lot at The Valley and you are left with the distinct feeling that Mr Murray and Mr Varney may not get time for a summer holiday. All I hope is that we sign at least one decent striker !!

The Way Forward ?

It seems that Alan Curbishley is convinced that 4-5-1 is THE way forward. I have no argument with this except one. And that is, IF we are to play this as our preferred system then during the next transfer window we need to sign at least one striker, and preferably two, who are able to play the role of the lone forward to better effect than Shaun Bartlett does. Now, I’m not knocking Shaun’s work-rate, which is unquestionable, but his ability to do that which is necessary. To my mind that is acting as a target man with a physical presence who can hold off defenders, hold the ball up, bring other supporting players into the game and, when chances come their way, take those chances with greater consistency than Shaun is able to. If Shaun had scored with the headed chance he had in the second half against West Brom there is no doubt that we would have then been able to hold out for at least a share of the spoils if not all three points. AC is right in that we do have available the players required to make 4-5-1 work successfully; Rommerdahl, Thomas and Murphy for example, except I believe for the position that is the most vital to it’s success. Let’s hope that is rectified during the summer.

Seeing Red

Hard to know exactly where to start. So I’ll start with a question to AC. Why, oh why, was Feeesh preferred to Chris Perry. Fish has never before played alongside El-Karkouri and Perry was excellent against Spurs in midweek in a defence that kept a clean sheet. Why change it ? If the idea was Fish’s slightly extra height then it didn’t work as what you gained in height you lost in both pace and positional awareness. It seemed a strange decision from the start and so it proved.

The team came out very sluggishly and after a couple of near misses and a couple of Deano saves it was hardly a surprise when Albion took the lead although poor defending from the Addicks played no small part especially from Fish who decided to chase the same ball as El-Karkouri leaving Horsfield unmarked to head home. When our equaliser came it was certainly against the run of play but it put us back in the game and a real chance of going on to win. However, the sending off of El-Karkouri (very harsh, not two-footed) changed the game completely. For the rest of the first half and the first twenty-five of the second we actually looked the better team, albeit with ten men, and the team most likely to score. In fact we should have done but Bartlett decided to head straight at the keeper from point blank range and our best chance was gone. Albion suddenly decided to throw on Earnshaw and the rest, as they say, is history. A close range header (unmarked), a chip over Deano (from a seemingly offside position) and a converted penalty (dodgy to say the least) later and it was game over. But it’s never that simple is it.

I left the ground, like many others, cursing referee Mark Halsey, who had a mare, and bemoaning our bad luck. Five hours later after watching SkyTV’s excellent Football First I had a different perspective on the game. In truth, we were second best from the off and we still may have lost even with eleven men. El-Karkouri, in my opinion, deserved to go. It was a two-footed lunge over the top of the ball and dangerous to say the least. What made it worse was the fact it was totally unnecessary. (More annoying though is referee inconsistency. In the Birmingham v Villa game on Sunday Lee Hendrie made a similar lunge at Melchiot and got away without even a booking. At least Baros in the Merseyside derby got his marching orders.) Anyway, back to The Valley. Calamitous defending cost us the next three goals. Fish lost Earnshaw in the six yard box leaving him both time and space to steer the cross home, a through ball caught the defence knapping and, with Konch playing Earnshaw onside and Fish standing statuesque appealing for a flag that was never going to come, the diminutive striker burst through and neatly chipped over the advancing Keily for the third. The fourth came after Bryan ’The Shadow’ Hughes felled Chaplow in the box and Earnshaw completed his twenty minute hat-trick from the spot.

Don’t get me wrong. Although the score line was harsh, Albion deserved to win. It's true that for a long period we looked the better side, without creating too much, but in many respects we more than contributed to our own eventual downfall. A bad start, bad defending, and a needless sending off. Add to this the strange recall of Fish and some questionable substitutions and you must also conclude that Curbs should shoulder much of the blame. It was however unfortunate that we had to play sixty minutes with ten men in extremely hot conditions. So shall we put this down as a one off ? Let’s hope so. A win next time out against the Massives and everything in the garden will look rosy again. If we had to lose then better to do so against a relegation haunted team like Albion than to Spurs. Now that would have been disastrous.

Magic Moments !

From where I was sitting Danny Murphy looked quite pleased with his late stunning free-kick. After being mercilessly barracked by the Spurs faithful every time he touched the ball, it was only right and proper that he should sweetly strike home the free-kick, off a post, from 20 yards in front of his ‘adoring’ fans. Quality. And this is exactly the word to describe Charlton’s performance.

From the 4th minute, when Jerome Thomas smashed a quite breathtaking drive from 30 yards past the despairing dive of England keeper Robinson, to the final 4th minute of injury time this was a Charlton performance of which to be rightly proud. Those fans who previously berated the 4-5-1 system are suddenly nowhere to be seen. Instead we exited The Valley to the chant of ’Alan C’s Red & White Army’ and deservedly so. The last time we left it was with boo’s ringing in our ears after the Leicester performance. This time the team delivered. To single out certain players for special praise is probably a tad unfair but special mention must be made of firstly Chris Perry who was at his imperious best, Danny Murphy who worked his socks off and provided real quality with his play, Jerome Thomas who for 45 minutes gave Spurs no end of problems but especially to Paul Konchesky who performed superbly in the centre of midfield in preference to Kish.

I was surprised at the treatment meted out by Spurs, especially on Thomas, and at how niggley and nasty they were. Michael Brown has never seemed like that sort of player to me but tonight he resembled Robbie Savage but without the hair.

For some reason it is always especially sweet to beat Spurs. I don’t know if it is because there are more Spurs fans at work than any other team, whether it is because Judas plays for them or, more likely, because their fans seem to be living in some sort of time-warp in which they are the biggest club in the world. Get real. The hierarchy of English football has changed and Spurs are now amongst the also-rans.

So, now for West Brom. Make no mistake, this will be as tough as any game this season has been but three points will take us another step closer to the European qualification we crave and in my opinion deserve.

Finally, three words for referee Mr Chris Foy. Stop, please, now.

Stand Up For PV

Well, you have to hand it to the man. If there is a fight to be had with the Premier League then Peter Varney’s your man. Not content with the answer received from them over the rescheduling of the final fixture of the season he has gone on the offensive and attacked not just them but UEFA also. Quite how UEFA can accept a challenge from the Scots to the TV schedule on a day when, as yet, there are no fixtures in Scotland and indeed the actual fixtures are not even known is beyond me. Bizarre to say the least.

Not a shrinking violet our Peter. Unperturbed he is launching an almost one-man battle against this unwanted change and is hoping for the support of other Premier League clubs. All I can Peter is ‘don’t hold your breath’. The others either don’t care or don’t want to get involved. Apathy rules the day. We await the PL meeting later this week with interest.

PV has shown in the past however that he is not prepared to ‘put up and shut up’. Whether it is this issue, SkyTV games, amounts of foreigners in teams or Chelsea with regard the pitch, Carlton Cole or Spotty Parker then he has shown that he is more than willing to fight OUR corner (By the way, Carlton Cole. Thank God we got the money eh !).

So I say, good on you Peter. If only all Premier League Chief Executives were the same. The football ‘fan’ would be better off if they were.

Much Consternation !

Over that last few days the 4-5-1 v 4-4-2 debate has raged on netaddicks. About 90% of fans are right behind Curbs and supportive of the 4-5-1 citing that with the current personnel and the lack of a holding midfielder this is the formation best suited to us at the moment. Of course, eighth in the table and just three points off fifth makes it appear that everything in the garden is rosy. On the other hand the other 10% say that we lack ambition and at Fulham especially should have been more adventurous in the closing stages when three points were there for the taking. Some though, GolfAddick especially, don't exactly help their cause !!

However, sanity is restored in a post by the voice of reason SailorBrowneye.

For me, I'm generally happy with 4-5-1 at the moment and it can be sucessfully argued that far from being a negative formation it has enabled us to created numerous chances in the last three away games when better finishing would have brought us more than the three points we gained. We certainly deserved more. However, when opportunities arise as at Fulham to push on and gain extra points then Curbs must be more adventurous and change formation rather than just personnel.

One things for certain though. Football in the PL is getting boring generally. More teams are playing it safe as relegation from the league would be catastrophic for most and so at the start of the season the ambition for seventeen teams is aiming for forty points and safety. Everton, who are widely considered to be having a good season, resort to 4-5-1, even at home, and Bolton and Boro' play this system on a regular basis. Many others below us such as Fulham and Portsmouth also regularly employ it as well and at times as many as ten teams will be playing this system. Even Man Utd, and Chelsea last night v Barcelona, are not exempt from it's use. However, to use it constantly when safety has been achieved is, in my opinion, unnecessary. Let's not forget football is supposed to be entertainment but much of what we are seeing at the moment is turgid and dull and if the situation continues then fans of all clubs, not just Charlton, will begin deserting in their droves. The cash-cow that is Sky is being milked dry and unless the product improves it is hard to see where football is heading except downwards for all but the 'big three'.
On a brighter note, European qualification is certainly achievable. The in-fighting between fans has to stop and the need is for us all to get behind Curbs and the players are cheer them on to European glory. Put aside your differences for the next 10 games and use all your energy to this end. European qualification is the next step for the Club and there is no reason we can't achieve that this season. So, all together 'Alan C's Red and White Army' !!

Finally, there is no truth in the rumour that Deano has been tapped-up by Man Utd.

4-5-1 You're 'Aving a Larf !!

Well, another attempt at 4-5-1 at Foolham has proved a major disappointment. Twenty minutes to go and three points there for the taking and what does our Supreme Master do. Replace the ineffectual Thomas with JJ, a like for like substitution. C'mon, take a gamble and play two up especially when that gamble was likely to gain extra points. Football is meant to be entertaining but watching Charlton is far from that at the moment. Let's hope that with three consecutive home games fast approaching we will see a switch to 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 and a more adventurous style of play. I won't be surprised though to see 4-5-1 against Spudz.

The ressies beat Derby last night 5-2, including two headed goals from balls crossed in from the touchline. Are you watching Curbs ?? You were ? Of course, saw you there with Peaks and Merv. Won't allow that to happen again will you !! Lisbie was available but missing again due to an ankle injury. No surprise there then.

Finally, nice to see a good turn out at Craven Cottage with plenty of noise being made. Shame Alan C couldn't/wouldn't recognise it at the end.