Charlton Athletic Online

Charlton Athletic 0
Wycombe Wanderers 1

Where to start? I haven't read a paper, or another blog - I'm too sad, depressed, upset, angry, annoyed...

This was abysmal. An utterly abject performance from the home team. It is one thing to be outclssed by a resurgent Liverpool side, as we were at the weekend, but to be outplayed by a team from League 2 is beyond belief.

It was dire. A bright opening five minutes was followed by 85 minutes of utter crap. They were all pretty useless, but let's look in more depth, starting up front.

The three forwards
Darren Bent
Low on confidence; without a goal in eight games now. He tries desperately hard sometimes, but runs down too many blind alleyways, and just doesn't get hit with a pass often enough. With the rest too scared to hit the early ball when he makes his runs, Dazza is not really worth tuppence at the moment, let alone £10 million!

Marcus Bent
Big Benty usually wins the first header of the evening, and then very little else. How a player of his supposed class can be beaten in the air time after time by second rate defenders is unbelievable. His touch is poor; he does not link play well; he is lazy too. OK, he got injured during the game, and tried to battle on but delivered absolutely zero to the teams overall play.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Amazingly, Jimmy was one of the bright spots on this awful night. Tried to link up the midfield and forwards, and got involved. If only he could do that for more than twenty minutes against lower league opposition.

The three wingers
Jerome Thomas
A wrong move to bring Jerome back without any preparation work. He lacked pace; confidence; and effort. Not once did he beat his marker; not once did he get a cross into the box. Useless, big-time Charlie.

Dennis Rommedahl
If only Dennis could do the good stuff and cut out the bad. We can put up with wingers who don't tackle (Colin Powell anyone?), but not one who gives up and bottles out. He is dangerous when he has the ball; did beat his full back; and did put over some decent crosses especially in the second half. Needs to do this more and more but may be near the end of his Charlton career.

Lloyd Sam
It's a shame that Lloyd didn't start the game. At least he hasn't yet been contaminated by some of his team-mates antics. A breath of fresh air, he looked good toward the end, when finally brought on for Thomas. Possibly the future of the club?

The three midfeild players
Bryan Hughes
The Bryan Hughes we know and love was on show last night - outclassed by a hard working midfield who gave him no time or space, Hughes really should be playing against teams like Wycombe every week, because that is his level. Reed brought him back and he did play well against Blackburn, but now he is back to his normal game-plan, and that just isn't anywhere near good enough to play in the Premiership for Charlton.

Amady Faye
If our Amady had a virus on Saturday, how come he had recovered so quickly in order to play last night? He was utter garbage. A complete waste of space. All those who digged out Kishishev last year now know what the real option looks like, and it isn't a pretty site. He can't pass; he has poor positional sense; he charges forward or wide chasing the ball leaving the defence wide open. His shooting - let's not forget he has never scored a goal in the English game - is woeful.

Matt Holland
Matt tried when he came on, and at least provided some movement in the middle of the park. Moved to right back when Reed finally twigged we might lose and shifted Fortune up front. One of the better ones, but that isn't saying much...

The three defenders
Osei Sankofa
Luke Young's replacement did OK defensively, but was poor going forward. His link up play with Rommedahl was embarassing. Sacrificed in an effort to equalise. Will he be in the team for the next six weeks while Young recovers? Maybe, but is he good enough cover?

Souleymane Diawara
At least we know our French-speaking Senegalese defender has balls - he got the ball right where it hurts from a Wycombe shot, though how the ref gave handball for it I don't know! Competed well, but his passing was poor, in that he tried to give the ball to others who were under pressure, and not good enough to cope. Was the one marking Easter when he scored, but had little chance to stop him after a good flick on.

Jonathan Fortune
Big John tried, and coped OK in the air; didn't mark closely enough though and allowed forwards to turn. Not Premiership class, but maybe could still hack it in the lower leagues.

The goalkeeper
Scott Carson
Carson saved a few shots early on, but then seemed to get annoyed and let in a savable shot from Easter. If he had worked his angles better, he should have had it covered in my opinion. He will certainly have a few stories to tell from his time at The Valley, and the lack of defence in front of him. Don't be surprised if he asks to go back to Anfield in January!

So there you have it - a bunch of rubbish footballers, who are paid large sums of (our) money to entertain us, and win the odd game.

Ooops, I forgot someone...didn't I?

Who was playing the left back position?

I remember my first game at The Valley - Brian Kinsey was left back, and he was quite good. After him, I watched Dietmar Bruck, Ray Tumbridge, Phil Warman, Kevin Dickenson, Phil Ferns, Mark Reid, Paul Mortimer, Scott Minto, Anthony Barness, Mark Bowen, Chris Powell, Paul Konchesky, Hermann Hreidersson, and probably a few more whose names I can't really remember play left full back.

Last night, I think I saw the worst display from any player I have ever seen who purported to be playing left back. Djimi Traore take a bow! You are an utter disgrace, and are quite simply not fit to wear a Charlton shirt ever again. You may have a Champions League winners medal, but deep down, you know you are a loser, and a waste of space. You are a joke. Get out of this club, and don't ever come back!

I feel sorry for Les Reed; he picked that team, and they completely let him, the club, and the fans, down. It was sad to see him booed when he caught the ball during the second half.

This season has seen a number of lows. Each time we think we have got to the bottom rung, and yet, and yet, we still (!), seem to be sinking lower and lower.

I can take relegation. I can take not being in the Premiership. What I cannot take is Charlton without heart; without fight; without effort; without pride...

...and that's what we have at the moment.