Respect Where It's Due

He came, he saw, but he never conquered. Scott Parker’s first visit to The Valley since his acrimonious move to West London over two years ago was greeted with a mixture of boos, cheers, jeers and clapping. Neither overly derided nor feted I felt the reaction he received was spot on. Naturally he scored but Lee Bowyer’s comical own goal within a minute made Parker’s strike quite ironic. To his credit Parker went up slightly in my estimation, surprisingly, by not rubbing our noses in it when he did score and by his reaction at the end of the game when he clapped the Covered End and gave a thumbs-up as if acknowledging that we had made our point and he recognised the reason why we had done so. For me, that’s it now. A line has to be drawn under that episode in our history. We’ve made our point and succinctly so. I’m not saying I’m going to applaud next time he visits SE7 but I’m not going to jeer or ’abuse’ him either. No, that will be reserved for a certain Mr Murphy who is now obviously happy warming the bench at Big Tart Lane. Presumably he’s happy as he gets more time to enjoy Sudoku. What a (boring) couple they make.

They may not be the most talented or gifted midfielders in the country (ok, they’re not) but at least they want to play for us. Whilst the Murphy’s and Smertin’s of this world have departed for pastures new, and taken a dig at us on the way out the door, those that remained behind have taken up the baton and are running with it. Holland, Hughes and Kish are not among my favourite players but they at least want to play for us. Whatever their failings as players you cannot fault their attitude, commitment and effort. I’d rather have any one of them in the side than a sulking, over-paid, over-rated prima-donna like Murphy. They deserve our respect for that at least. I’m not saying I want to see them in the team next season, midfield is the area that most needs strengthening, but at the moment they’re alright for me. You can’t ask anymore than a player giving 100%, giving his all for the cause.

Finally, it’s obvious that major team rebuilding needs to take place over the summer months. Whoever is in charge. Let’s just hope that the FA doesn’t prevaricate too long and balls it all up for us. Whilst the uncertainty remains it will surely affect our ability to attract players to the Club for next season. Curbs was in France the week before last personally running the rule over Marouane Chamakh, a Moroccan international striker who plays for Bordeaux. With seven goals in just eleven starts this season he may well be the answer to a partner for Benty (D, of course, the jury’s still out on M in my opinion). But what player would agree to sign if they don’t know who the manager will be the next week. Would the Board sanction a move if they don’t know who the manager will be? I mean, would you sanction a near 2m deal if next week a new manager might not want that same player. Of course you wouldn’t. This needs sorting as soon as possible for the good of Charlton Athletic.