From Deano to Lisbinho !

Blimey. So much has happened since my last blog update it’s hard to know where to begin.

So I’ll begin with a fond farewell to Deano. Nicky Johns excepted he is probably the best goalkeeper I’ve seen play for Charlton. In his six or so years at The Valley it is no coincidence that we have seen the rise of Charlton to the established Premier League side we are today. Okay things have gone a little pear-shaped this season but let’s remember the good times and that toothy grin. When he returns with Pompey later this season he is assured of a tremendous welcome. Good luck Deano (and I think you’re going to need it). What else has happened ? Oh yes. The feverish election campaigning has died down as voting gets underway and I expect a close finish between Ben Hayes and the ’young’ pretender being championed by Derek Hales, Vince The Pole. Ben Hayes to win on a recount. On the pitch Curbs has gone back to basics and results have followed. It may not be pretty but it’s been effective. Journeymen like Holland and Hughes have come in, applied themselves properly, and hey presto, a couple of home wins, through in the cup and a more than creditable draw at Chelski. As Curbs said, now we’ve steadier the ship more expansive football may once again follow.

Talk of Chelski leads us neatly onto Marcus Bent. His signing was met with comments of “2.5m you’re ’aving a larf” and “’ave you seen ’is goalscoring record?”. Well, his goalscoring record for us is 1 in 1 (and after all that’s all that matters) and compared to £1.75m for Akinbiyi then Marcus was an absolute steal. So, Deano out and ’Big’ Benty in. Anyone else on the move? Euell to Birmingham was on, off and now seemingly on again. Johansson is in talks with Serie A (probably B) side Treviso, Jeffers is linked with Millwall most days and someone else every other day. Considering another appearance will trigger a further payment to Arsenal and the fact he’s out of contract in the summer I expect him to depart one way or another before midnight 31st January. Lisbie, and we’ll return to him later, is linked to Narwich in a cash plus player deal for £2m rated keeper Robert Green. So that’s £ 1,999,999.00 plus Lisbie (lights blue touch paper and retires). Why we need another top-class keeper remains a mystery to me. We’ve just lost one who was unhappy so signing Greeno would just make Tommy or Steph desperately unhappy. We’ve always got Randolph as emergency cover. Expect Green to sign tomorrow then, ok ? Elsewhere, we are continually linked with Zat Knight who although 6ft 5inches isn’t particularly mobile and not much better than what we’ve got. However, with El Kak likely to return early from the African Cup of Nations perhaps we had better sign another centre - half if only to keep him away from the action. Seriously, with JJ, Jeffers, Euell and Lisbie all set to go in the next few days, so freeing up valuable wages, I think we can expect at least two incomings and possibly three before the window slams shut. Strewth, just realised I have not even mentioned Murphy whom it is now rumoured has been missing due to an undisclosed personal, family reason. Uhmm. And what of Bowyer I wonder.

So finally this from the BBC Messageboard, message 25,Lisbinho. Said we’d return to him later. Either this guy is the most deluded person on the planet or this is a brilliant wind-up. Enjoy.