Friday, August 15, 2008
All Change Please...
Blimey...a few days offline sunning myself on the Keys and all hell breaks loose on the Pardew transfer front.
Out go Thomas's Jerome and Aswad, joining Pompey and Barnet respectively on loan; out for good - thank god - finally, has gone Amdy Faye to Stoke (where Tony Pulis really should be knowing better...); Stuart Fleetwood and Dean Sinclair have been allowed to gain loan experience at Cheltenham; and one coming in the right direction is midfielder Nicky Bailey from Sarfend, where he apparently didn't want to play any more. All this should considerably improve the weekly salary situation, even if the overall shortfall in cash may still need homeward bound from the Olympics Zheng Zhi to be sold in the next couple of weeks.
All this after an abject midweek cup exit to Yeovil which I failed miserably to keep secret from my Somerset born wife for very long - even out here.
Next up, tomorrow, is a league game at Watford. It is a long, long time since Charlton beat the Hornets, which is strange when you think about it. Watford have been a bit of a yo-yo team over recent years, but Charlotn have failed to win any of the recent match-ups.
Presuming he is still fit, Nicky Weaver should be in goal, with Rob Elliott as bench back up. The defence is likely to be the same as played against Swansea last weekend, provided that Hudson and Fortune have recovered enough from recent knocks; Semedo and Youga - the eventual midweek centre back pairing - should play at full back, unless Moutaouakil is free from suspension this week (I'm not sure if he is?). If Moots is able to play, then that would allow one of the full backs to cover the central positions if necessary.
Bailey should start in midfield, though where is unclear. Will Therry Racon and JonJo Shelvey be given another run or will one be rested for Bailey? Bouazza - playing against his former club - seems a straight replacement for Jerome Thomas, with Lloyd Sam the likely winger on the opposite flank. Luke Varney and Andy Gray will play upfront it seems.
This is the line up I expect Pards to start with -
Nicky Weaver
Jose Semedo
Mark Hudson
Jon Fortune
Kelly Youga
Lloyd Sam
Therry Racon
Nicky Bailey
Hameur Bouazza
Luke Varney
Andy Gray
Subs from Elliott, Moutaouakil, Basey, Holland, Shelvey, Wright, Wagstaff, Dickson.
My one to watch has to be new signing Bailey; already being linked by his surname to another former Addick midfielder, which is grossly unfair in my opinion, it will be good to see him settle down early and play the kind of football that has earned him high praise in Essex circles.
Pedro45 is still out of the country, and will only fly back once the game at Vicarage Road is over; hopefully happy texts that I am able to comprehend prpoerly will keep me up to date with the score. I'm thinking though that my vacation will return a win, a loss and draw, and I'm therefore plumping for a 1-1 draw tomorrow to keep the Addicks in the top half ofthe table.
Up the Addicks!
Out go Thomas's Jerome and Aswad, joining Pompey and Barnet respectively on loan; out for good - thank god - finally, has gone Amdy Faye to Stoke (where Tony Pulis really should be knowing better...); Stuart Fleetwood and Dean Sinclair have been allowed to gain loan experience at Cheltenham; and one coming in the right direction is midfielder Nicky Bailey from Sarfend, where he apparently didn't want to play any more. All this should considerably improve the weekly salary situation, even if the overall shortfall in cash may still need homeward bound from the Olympics Zheng Zhi to be sold in the next couple of weeks.
All this after an abject midweek cup exit to Yeovil which I failed miserably to keep secret from my Somerset born wife for very long - even out here.
Next up, tomorrow, is a league game at Watford. It is a long, long time since Charlton beat the Hornets, which is strange when you think about it. Watford have been a bit of a yo-yo team over recent years, but Charlotn have failed to win any of the recent match-ups.
Presuming he is still fit, Nicky Weaver should be in goal, with Rob Elliott as bench back up. The defence is likely to be the same as played against Swansea last weekend, provided that Hudson and Fortune have recovered enough from recent knocks; Semedo and Youga - the eventual midweek centre back pairing - should play at full back, unless Moutaouakil is free from suspension this week (I'm not sure if he is?). If Moots is able to play, then that would allow one of the full backs to cover the central positions if necessary.
Bailey should start in midfield, though where is unclear. Will Therry Racon and JonJo Shelvey be given another run or will one be rested for Bailey? Bouazza - playing against his former club - seems a straight replacement for Jerome Thomas, with Lloyd Sam the likely winger on the opposite flank. Luke Varney and Andy Gray will play upfront it seems.
This is the line up I expect Pards to start with -
Nicky Weaver
Jose Semedo
Mark Hudson
Jon Fortune
Kelly Youga
Lloyd Sam
Therry Racon
Nicky Bailey
Hameur Bouazza
Luke Varney
Andy Gray
Subs from Elliott, Moutaouakil, Basey, Holland, Shelvey, Wright, Wagstaff, Dickson.
My one to watch has to be new signing Bailey; already being linked by his surname to another former Addick midfielder, which is grossly unfair in my opinion, it will be good to see him settle down early and play the kind of football that has earned him high praise in Essex circles.
Pedro45 is still out of the country, and will only fly back once the game at Vicarage Road is over; hopefully happy texts that I am able to comprehend prpoerly will keep me up to date with the score. I'm thinking though that my vacation will return a win, a loss and draw, and I'm therefore plumping for a 1-1 draw tomorrow to keep the Addicks in the top half ofthe table.
Up the Addicks!
