Charlton Athletic Online

Blackburn Rovers 4 Charlton Athletic 1

Charlton's run of away wins in the Premiership came to an emphatic end at Ewood Park, where the result was deserved, but the scoreline was not entirely true of the play. The official club report is here.

A very early goal, courtesy of a goalkeeping mistake, an offside second goal ten minutes later, a deflected third, and a last minute breakaway fourth completed the scoring into Charlton's net. The only consolation coming from Bryan Hughes, who slid in Darren Bent's cross before halftime to make it 2-1. Charlton had other chances,, but found Rovers goalie Brad Freidal in excellent form.

This was Charlton's first away loss since the end of season defeat to Chelsea six months ago in May.

Darren Bent returned to the Charlton team (in place of Jay Bothroyd), but Alexei Smertin was out injured and replaced by Hughes.

Overall, the team did not play with any confidence - Murphy and Ambrose having very quiet games - especially having gone two nil down so early. The second half could have seen Charlton equalise, but it was not to be.

Some fans have subsequently called for major change - including some idiots willing Curbs to take the vacant Hearts job - but we should realise that this is just one setback in a very long Premiership season. Charlton are still seventh in the league, and a return to form, following the international break, would see the Addicks climb the table once more.

What is required is more flexibility; if key players like Bent and Smertin are unavailable, maybe Curbishley should consider switching to 4-4-2 and being more positive?

If supporters were told before the season started that Charlton would win five out of six away games up till November and be seventh in the table at that point, most fans would be very happy. We should all therefore take stock and accept that Charlton are not going to win every week, and that this is still the best start to a Premiership season in the clubs history.

We have at least six fixtures to play before Xmas, and all are winnable if the right attitude is there amongst the management, players and supporters. These six games will be key in how Charlton's season pans out. Let's all get behind the lads and not spend too much time in a negative mood in the two weeks before we entertain Manchester United at The Valley.