Worthy Of Praise ?

What ? Us, lil' old Charlton deserving of praise. No, didn't think so. Despite an emphatic 3-0 demolition of England wannabe Steve MacLaren's Middlesbrough the press in general still couldn't really find it within themselves to give us the credit we deserved. Any praise was followed or preceded by 'Boro were awful' or 'Boro forgot to turn up'. Utter rubbish. I know what I saw and that was a decent Boro side being totally outclassed. Our midfield totally and utterly dominated the whole game and didn't allow Boro to get going at all. If Boro were poor it was because we were so absolutely damned bloody brilliant. And for me, my opinion is the only one that counts.

I know it's probably irrational but I'm already starting to worry whether or not Chelsea will recall Alexei(y) 'Class Act' Smertin in January. Can we not nip my angst in the bud and buy him right now ? Surely 3m would do the trick ? He is the missing link as it were. Without him we were a rudderless boat drifting around in the PL no man's land. With him and we are are a slick passing team destined for a top eight finish at worst. I even find myself praising the previously much maligned Kishishev who is now an integral part of the team and looks every inch an international player. More importantly Alexei's arrival has allowed Danny Murphy the opportunity to express himself and become the player we always knew was there. Last season he was like a little boy lost in a sweet shop, able to see the goods on sale but unable to reach them, but now he has grown in stature and is carrying all before him. On this form Sven will not be able to ignore him for much longer.

Darren Bent. Four goals in just three games puts him just two behind our top PL goalscorer for the whole of last season; Shaun Bartlett on six (just in case your Math is bad). Now I accept he will endure a lean spell or two but I'm pretty confident he'll have exceeded six before the end of the season. A very shrewd signing by Curbs especially when compared to the 7m Boro paid for Yakubu. What I like is that he squandered a couple of (difficult) chances but instead of hiding away he still both wanted the ball and was prepared to try again. Too many of our strikers seem to get embarrassed when they have missed a chance and are reluctant to shoot again. Bartlett especially take note.

Without wishing to sound churlish my only slight concern arising from Sunday's victory was the wayward crossing from both Rommedahl (note correct spelling Di !) and Thomas. Both found themselves in excellant positions after good work but let themselves down with poor crosses, most of which were over hit. If they had been delivered better we would have found ourselves ahead much earlier than we were and may have won by even more. Yes, very churlish I know.

I'll finish on a positive note. Bryan Hughes has played about four minutes of football in total at Sunderland and Boro' and has provided Darren Bent with two assists. Can't ask for much more than that can you.