Friday, October 24, 2008
The R Word
Gordon finally came out and said the R word in Parliament this week, and with a bit of luck, Alan Pardew said something similar when he was updating the players this week with the news that we will not have new owners in the apparent near future. Pards R word will hopefully not have been recession, but something all the more scary - RELEGATION.
As this blog conceded several weeks, unless there is a pick up results, attitude, leadership, tactics, and all-round demeanour from the staff at the club, then that dreaded R word is going to become a reality (another R word!). In a few months, we could drop from being the leading club in South London, to the lowest in the league from the area... check the tables; scared yet? Hopefully the manager and players are now fully aware of the consequences of not picking up points...
How the Club goes about improving things is open to debate, though Pedro45 is of the opinion that Alan Pardew is not the man to lead the players, chose their tactics, pick the team, or be at the forefront of media relations. Suffice to say though, that after this week, that view may either gather steam (especially if Charlton suffer a third straight loss on Saturday) or quieten down (if the upheaval of the last two weeks steadies down and the players start to perform as we hope that they can). You too can Join the Redvolution!
The thing with Pardew is that we simply do not know if he knows what he is talking about. More and more he becomes hypocritical - I’m going to make changes, and then he doesn’t; we need a settled team, and then he drops half the side; the youngsters need a game (this weeks theme), and what’s the betting that Todorov will start? How can we, the fans, trust Pardew, let alone the players?
So I really do not know who Pards will pick to wear the red shirt of Charlton tomorrow afternoon. Rather than guess, this is who I think we should send out with the Valiant logo covering their heart -
Nicky Weaver
Yassin Moutaouakil
Mark Hudson
Linvoy Primus
Kelly Youga
Nicky Bailey
Matt Holland
Hameur Bouazza
Luke Varney
Andy Gray
Chris Dickson
My one proviso is that Bailey is fit; if he is not 100%, as he clearly wasn’t on Tuesday, then it is simply not worth playing him, and Josh Wright should be given a chance.
Subs from Elliott, Crainie, Basey, Semedo, Wright, Ambrose, Sam, Todorov.
I know my team doesn’t include that many “youngsters”, unless Wright plays instead of Bailey or Holland, but with Shelvey away with England, Youga just about edging Basey at full back, and Wagstaff and Arter not yet ready, we are very limited.
Maybe Pardew’s youth policy means that Moots, Basey, Dickson, Wright, Sam, etc will get a look in? Who knows? Does AP know?
Burnley will be loving their trip south; they will be so full of confidence, not just from their own recent results, but from the way Charlton seem to be crestfallen and in disarray. They will want and expect three points...
And Pedro45 is pretty confident that they will get them too! My score forecast is another 2-0 defeat. If Pardew plays the youngsters it could be men against boys...
My one-to-watch in this match is going to be the Man himself - Alan Pardew. Is he the man to lead us forwards? How long will those arms stay crossed as he stands on the touchline? Will he back his words and pick a changed team, or will it be back to the same old same old we usually get when he purports change? Would it be a bad thing to simply replace Crainie with Hudson, and try to play the way we did for the first 25 minutes against Bristol City?
Pedro45 is just about on the edge here - I love my team, and support them in any way shape or form that I can. It is tough work when surrounded by fans of other clubs who now see the Addicks as a bit of a joke; a club going nowhere except downwards, and I really hate that. Throughout the 1990’s we were a club improving every season - not necessarily on the pitch, but when we had an indifferent season (oh how we would like on of those at the moment!) we did improve off the pitch, building stands, that sort of thing. Without any investment now, we do have to re-stock our position; we must get back to the Charlton who use to have to fight for anything they wanted - fans, players, and management. Pedro45 just does not think that Pardew is the man to lead that fight, and the R word that I leave you with is Redvolution.
Join it. Come on you reds!
As this blog conceded several weeks, unless there is a pick up results, attitude, leadership, tactics, and all-round demeanour from the staff at the club, then that dreaded R word is going to become a reality (another R word!). In a few months, we could drop from being the leading club in South London, to the lowest in the league from the area... check the tables; scared yet? Hopefully the manager and players are now fully aware of the consequences of not picking up points...
How the Club goes about improving things is open to debate, though Pedro45 is of the opinion that Alan Pardew is not the man to lead the players, chose their tactics, pick the team, or be at the forefront of media relations. Suffice to say though, that after this week, that view may either gather steam (especially if Charlton suffer a third straight loss on Saturday) or quieten down (if the upheaval of the last two weeks steadies down and the players start to perform as we hope that they can). You too can Join the Redvolution!
The thing with Pardew is that we simply do not know if he knows what he is talking about. More and more he becomes hypocritical - I’m going to make changes, and then he doesn’t; we need a settled team, and then he drops half the side; the youngsters need a game (this weeks theme), and what’s the betting that Todorov will start? How can we, the fans, trust Pardew, let alone the players?
So I really do not know who Pards will pick to wear the red shirt of Charlton tomorrow afternoon. Rather than guess, this is who I think we should send out with the Valiant logo covering their heart -
Nicky Weaver
Yassin Moutaouakil
Mark Hudson
Linvoy Primus
Kelly Youga
Nicky Bailey
Matt Holland
Hameur Bouazza
Luke Varney
Andy Gray
Chris Dickson
My one proviso is that Bailey is fit; if he is not 100%, as he clearly wasn’t on Tuesday, then it is simply not worth playing him, and Josh Wright should be given a chance.
Subs from Elliott, Crainie, Basey, Semedo, Wright, Ambrose, Sam, Todorov.
I know my team doesn’t include that many “youngsters”, unless Wright plays instead of Bailey or Holland, but with Shelvey away with England, Youga just about edging Basey at full back, and Wagstaff and Arter not yet ready, we are very limited.
Maybe Pardew’s youth policy means that Moots, Basey, Dickson, Wright, Sam, etc will get a look in? Who knows? Does AP know?
Burnley will be loving their trip south; they will be so full of confidence, not just from their own recent results, but from the way Charlton seem to be crestfallen and in disarray. They will want and expect three points...
And Pedro45 is pretty confident that they will get them too! My score forecast is another 2-0 defeat. If Pardew plays the youngsters it could be men against boys...
My one-to-watch in this match is going to be the Man himself - Alan Pardew. Is he the man to lead us forwards? How long will those arms stay crossed as he stands on the touchline? Will he back his words and pick a changed team, or will it be back to the same old same old we usually get when he purports change? Would it be a bad thing to simply replace Crainie with Hudson, and try to play the way we did for the first 25 minutes against Bristol City?
Pedro45 is just about on the edge here - I love my team, and support them in any way shape or form that I can. It is tough work when surrounded by fans of other clubs who now see the Addicks as a bit of a joke; a club going nowhere except downwards, and I really hate that. Throughout the 1990’s we were a club improving every season - not necessarily on the pitch, but when we had an indifferent season (oh how we would like on of those at the moment!) we did improve off the pitch, building stands, that sort of thing. Without any investment now, we do have to re-stock our position; we must get back to the Charlton who use to have to fight for anything they wanted - fans, players, and management. Pedro45 just does not think that Pardew is the man to lead that fight, and the R word that I leave you with is Redvolution.
Join it. Come on you reds!
