Charlton Athletic Online

Labels: Charlton

With the news that Yado Mambo - Charlton's only true centre-back cover - has been allowed to join Welling on work-experience terms, could this be a sign that the Addicks are about to sign a centre-half?

Manager Phil Parkinson has acknowledged that 17-year-old Mambo is very short on experience, and that he needs more options in central defence, and one of his top priorities is to sign somoene who can cover Christian Dailly and Miguel Llera (both pictured left) should they get injured.

Currently, with Parky not keen to thrust Mambo into the first-team, the only other options are Kelly Youga, who can do a reasonable job in that position, and/or Jose Semedo, who originally came to the club as a centre back but who has now settled into a central midfield defensive role. If a new centre back is not signed in time for this weekend's match at Tranmere, and if Semedo fails to recover from a hamstring strain, then Youga is the only option open to Parky should he need to make a change at any time.

Mambo himself should get plenty of game time at Welling, and will relish the prospect of the physical side of the game often seen in the Conference. As he has joined on work-experience terms, he can also still play for Addicks reserve teams should that be required by the club.

The Mambo deal could also be a pre-cursor to a potential takeover announcement, as any significant transfer activity is probably dependant on a Boardroom re-shuffle, so hopefully we may get more news later today?

Up the Addicks!

Labels: Charlton

Charlton Athletic 2 Walsall 0

Labels: Charlton, Walsall

It is quite some time since Charlton won five league games on the trot, yet that is the prospect this weekend, as Walsall are the latest tier three team to line up against The Addicks. The win in the last game of last season, plus a 100% start this August made it four on the bounce, and home fans will be hoping for a nap hand come 5pm on Saturday.

Even the most optimistic Charlton fan would probably not have expected to have won all three initial matches this season - including two tough games away - but with the midfield still untroubled by transfer activity, the new-look defence settling in well, and the attack starting to cause problems for opposition defences and score goals, all is very rosy-red in SE7. Charlton don’t even have to worry about injuries too much, with Dean Sinclair the only long term absentee, and recent minor knocks to Miguel Llera (pic below, sporting his latest headgear), Christian Dailly, Lloyd Sam, Jonjo Shelvey and Fraser Richardson all failing to keep them from playing. Thus, manager Phil Parkinson has been able to field an unchanged side in the league games, and the likelihood is that we will se the same starting eleven come this Saturday too.

The options for change are there, but why would, or should, Parky dabble with his team - He is no Alan Pardew (spit!) as we well know! If Parky was of a mind to think about any changes, it would not involve the goalkeeper, where Rob Elliot has had a very good start to the season and made crucial saves at times in each match.

Nor would the defence seem to be ripe for changing, with few options at centre back, and Chris Solly able to cover any position (with Kelly Youga’s help) from the bench. In midfield, Matt Spring can count himself to be really unlucky not to have played much game time yet, but his chance will undoubtedly come, as tiredness, injuries and suspensions become reality in months to come. At present though, the midfield is simply playing too well and any change could disrupt the positivity we are seeing from Charlton in each game currently.

With Jonjo Shelvey starting to get to grips with the season, he is a shoe-in to play one of the forward roles, and the only reason to switch Deon Burton for one of the other forwards at the club is if he is a bit tired. All of Andy Gray, Stuart Fleetwood, and Izale McLeod will be hoping to get game time this weekend, but that may simply be from the bench, as Deon Burton is keeping up the tone of a great week for Jamaicans by scoring in his last two matches. Unless another forward gets injured, it does seem like Chris Dickson will miss out once more for a bench place.

This therefore is the unchanged side that I think Parky will send out on Saturday –

Rob Elliot
Fraser Richardson
Miguel Llera
Christian Dailly
Kelly Youga
Jose Semedo
Therry Racon
Lloyd Sam
Nicky Bailey
Jonjo Shelvey
Deon Burton

Subs from Randolph, Solly, Mambo, Basey, Clark, Spring, Stavrinou, Wagstaff, Small, McLeod, Fleetwood, Dickson, Gray, Tuna.

As for Walsall, they’ve had a reasonable start to the new season, and currently sit in 10th position in the table, after a win, a draw, and one defeat (at home to Leeds in midweek). As with most of the other teams we have played so far, few of their players will be well known to Addicks fans, though thankfully, some may be better known to Mark Kinsella who was at the club a few years back. Kins may have updated his boss on the talents of some of the younger squad members, though Walsall have had a high turnover of senior players and few are still there from Kinsella’s time just three years back. The nippy Steve Jones (once of Crewe) and the big lump that is Sam Parkin (formerly Swindon and Ipswich) are fairly recent signings, and will probably form the strike force at The Valley, while big central defender Mark Hughes (no, not that one) will try to hold the defence together in the face of plenty of Charlton pressure. The manager is old hand Chris Hutchins, he of Bradford and Wigan fame.

Pedro45 can only be confident of the outcome of this match, and predicts a 3-1 victory; I would add that I hope the team is not over-confident as that could be their downfall in some games this year. Walsall will be hard to break down, and swift on the counter attack (they scored in midweek from a fast break resulting in a penalty), and no easy push-over. Charlton’s winning streak has to come to an end at some stage, but hopefully it will not be until after we have tasted some time at the head of the division. It is manager Parkinson's job to make sure they do not go to sleep during games, and maintain the edge that they currently have over rivals.

My one-to-watch in this match is going to be Lloyd Sam (left). Our right winger is really causing opponent full backs problems this year, and he looks dangerous and likely to go past his full back and deliver a cross each time he receives the ball. Getting more confidence into Lloyd is something that the club has struggled to do over recent years, but if there was ever a time for him to finally score after a long barren spell, and add his name to the goals column alongside his multiple assists then it could be Saturday. Sam is a key and integral part of the tactical formation, and much as some people are frustrated by him on occasion, there are few options to take over his role should he not be in the team.

You know the story about never having everything going really well at once – your love life, work life, and play life; well, I don’t have a job at present (though I do have an interview next week!) but the other two areas are going pretty nicely thank you! I love my wife and if we can get another three points at the weekend, and see a decent bowling display by England, I’ll be a very happy Pedro45!

Come on you reds!

Labels: Charlton, Lloyd Sam, Walsall

Leyton Orient 1 Charlton Athletic 2

Another good victory at the start of this season, and almost 3,000 Charlton fans went home very happy. Second half goals from Jonjo Shelvey and Deon Burton (celebrating left) made for smiley Addicks and maintained Charlton’s winning streak that sees them sitting nicely in second place in the table.

It’s about twelve years since I’ve been to Brisbane Road (the pre-season friendly where Alexei Michaelichenko played for Charlton), and the ground has changed significantly in this time. Not quite finished, and hence the crane behind one goal, three sides have been transformed into seated terracing and housing in the corners, with quite a few families camped out on their balconies sitting on chairs watching the game. Opposite the one side that has not yet been re-developed (the east stand which housed the Charlton fans) was a funny looking building that had all you would expect of a main stand, but had flat frontage up high with windows, where many more locals stood and watched from – whether this was the back of the snooker club, I do not know? Whatever changes to the infrastructure, the pitch itself looked in magnificent condition, and I’m sure that the attendant Colin Powell was impressed.

Charlton went into the game unchanged for the third successive time in the league; as the game progressed, you did wonder if this was the right move, as Orient started the game much the brighter, and were generally quicker and more positive. The home team closed down the midfield, Charlton’s obvious strength this season, and made sure that Lloyd Sam and Jonjo Shelvey had little time to settle on the ball. Shelvey started the game with a lunging tackle and got a long talking to from the referee, before play continued. Shelvey’s argument was that he played the ball and without malice, but he does need to understand that as a potential "name", he is going to come under very close scrutiny at this level, and officials will think nothing of adding him to their list of dismissed players given the chance. It wasn’t long before Shelvey did find his way into the referee’s book, as a clash when going for a header left an O’s player writhing on the ground, clutching his face, and the resultant yellow card was not a surprise.

Charlton had the best of the early chances, with Bailey and Burton messing up a long Sam cross between them, and Shelvey, always in the thick of things, blasting over when well placed. The home team created very little, and did seem to be happy to control the game by gaining free-kicks and seeing what happened when they had a chance to knock these into danger areas. Sure enough, a move that was going nowhere out on the right wing drew the foul (after several attempts!), and the good delivery was headed in at the near post by Mkandawire. I think that Charlton simply did not have enough bodies to cope with the plethora of six-foot plus attackers, something that needs to be recognised.

The Addicks tried to bounce back, but the final ball always seemed to be wanting, and Therry Racon and Jose Semedo found little in the way of smooth play to work the ball forward. Even the defenders, Fraser Richardson, Miguel Llera and Christian Dailly had little time on the ball, and Nicky Bailey was anonymous out on the left wing. Rob Elliot made a smart save from another free-kick to keep the score down to one at half-time, and the writing was definitely on the wall if the home team could maintain their grip on the game.

With the skies now dark, and the 18 lights from each floodlight pylon taking effect, Charlton started the second period with more intent. I don’t know if Orient decided to sit on what they had, but it was now a very different game. Racon started to run the match, and he was a constant thorn in the O’s side, linking with Sam, who had obviously been told to take on his marker for pace, and Shelvey, who flitted everywhere. Semedo sat back and broke up any counter attacks, and all of a sudden it was pretty much all Charlton. A free-kick was won on the edge of the penalty area, and as everyone waited on Shelvey to take it, up stepped Llera to curl a lovely shot toward the top corner, only for it to be saved acrobatically by the home ‘keeper.

Labels: Charlton, Leyton Orient

Blimey, so much positive activity surrounding Charlton these days! Fabulous isn’t it! Two league wins out of two, and sitting a comfortable second in the early league table makes for happy Addicks. Now it can only get harder…

Tuesday’s third league game of the season is at Leyton Orient, a little team who are another who would love to knock the big boys from down the road off their lofty perch. Orient’s ground capacity is under 10,000, and with all 3,000 tickets offered to Charlton now sold, it will be a hefty away following that makes its way down the Central line after work tomorrow night. Some may even turn up without a ticket, pay on the gate, and mingle in with the home supporters; knowing a few O’s fans over the years, I’m sure this will be OK, as long as the police and stewards don’t over-react.

Orient have had an indifferent start to the season, maintaining the course of their previous season’s form – winning away and losing at home. They are a hard team to predict, but seem to have a few friends which suggest that they play reasonably attractive football. I suppose being a London side, some of their players are better known locally than those of, say, Hartlepool, though that does not necessarily make them any better. Tamika Nkandawire is a defender whose name has been talked about in higher circles than league one; Sean Thornton was a starlet at Sunderland only a few years back; Veteran James Scowcroft has history and was a player linked with Charlton in the summer before he opted to join Orient; and Scott McGleish will relish the chance to play against his first league club quite a few years after leaving the Valley. However, the danger man may be John Melligan, a right winger with an eye for goal, who has scored in two games already this season (and he is an unknown to me).

Charlton themselves have a player who has scored twice this season – captain Nicky Bailey. Our ginger armband wearer has been on the end of crosses following two right wing surges, and it is looking like the thirteen goals he scored last season could be eclipsed by Xmas barring injury, transfer, or a complete loss of form. Bailey is being played out of position due to Charlton’s current midfield strength; with Jose Semedo and Therry Racon controlling long spells of matches from the middle, and with the creative pair of Jonjo Shelvey and Lloyd Sam settling in to have good seasons too.

In fact, the side is looking good with the clean sheet gained up at Hartlepool, and goals coming from all over the pitch (now that a forward has finally scored…).

Goalkeeper Rob Elliot will be happy with that clean sheet, and he has made pretty good saves at crucial times in all three matches he has played so far this month. He is a fairly formidable presence in that orange kit of his, and if he can just learn when to come off his line for crosses and when to stay back, he could become a real star in the making.

Fraser Richardson settled back into his right back duties on Saturday, and had a comfortable afternoon by all accounts; he should be fit (after his hip problem of last week) to take his place once more. Christian Dailly is another with a minor knock that he has to play through, this time to his rib cartilage. Again, without having to worry about a distance to travel, he should be able to retain his place in the team. The one injury worry is undoubtedly Miguel Llera at centre half; the bad cut he picked up on opening day against Wycombe failed to heal enough for it not to bleed again a week later. Hopefully, the red stains on the bandage made it look worse than it really was and he can be patched up and wrapped in cloth once more, and this time complete the 90 minutes without bloodshed. Kelly Youga is holding down the left back position, and I doubt that Grant Basey is too close to challenging for that spot yet this season.

Up front is where there may be a possible change though, after Deon Burton ran his heart out for the club on Saturday. I wonder if now is the right time to give Burton a rest, and start Andy Gray as the lone ranger? This may not be too popular with some fans, but Burton is no spring chicken, and it is a very long season. He won’t be tired, but games do add up, so I think he might actually benefit from a night on the bench. Also, if Gray is to be sold in the next couple of weeks, maybe we should get one last match out of him now and opt to save Deon for the weekend home game? The other striker options are all much of a much-ness, and unless there is a switch to 4-4-2 from kick off, none of Izale McLeod, Chris Dickson (who got game-time on this pitch last week for Ghana), nor Stuart Fleetwood is likely to feature.

This is the team I think Parky might select –

Rob Elliot
Fraser Richardson
Miguel Llera
Christian Dailly
Kelly Youga
Jose Semedo
Therry Racon
Lloyd Sam
Nicky Bailey
Jonjo Shelvey
Andy Gray

Subs from Randolph, Solly, Mambo, Basey, Clark, Spring, Stavrinou, Wagstaff, Small, McLeod, Fleetwood, Dickson, Burton, Tuna.

This is another tough fixture for the Addicks, as they find their feet in this division, and one that the home team will relish the prospect of. Home chairman Barry Hearn may be rooting for his boys, but his protégé and pay-check provider Steve Davis may be supporting his boyhood team (I certainly hope so!); no doubt they will have money on the outcome (I think Chairman are allowed to bet on football matches?) and what better way for it to finish all square with all faces saved. Pedro45 predicts a 1-1 result.

My one-to-watch in this match is going to be Jonjo Shelvey. Our young seventeen-year-old has had a quiet start to this season by his own lofty standards. No goals yet, and a couple of games where he has flitted in and out of the action; he has made two goals though, and with the closer marking he can expect now he is a bit of a “star”, we may see his assist numbers rise while his goals scored numbers lower. What Jonjo will know, and what we should understand, is that it is no good him burning himself out in August when he is still going to be required to play in April and May next year. Provided he can link the play between midfield and forwards, and bring the wide players into the action as well, then he is doing just fine. This is going to be his first full season in the first team after all…

Much of the doom and gloom amongst Addicks has been lifted by this start to the season, and manager Phil Parkinson must take a good deal of credit for this. While we, the fans, wondered if he would keep his job all summer I’m sure he did too, but he got on with his role, worked on bringing in those players that were imperative (for no transfer outlay at all!), and kept hold of all the clubs prized assets (so far) through luck. His style may not suit all followers, but he knows what he wants, fits players to the system that he thinks is best suited to winning games, and lets the guys go out and do what they should. We can all quibble about when is the right time to make substitutions, and if we should switch a formation when we are winning (God, we moaned enough about Alan Curbishley in his time when he did that sort of thing too…), but we generally do this from hindsight. If Gray had slid home the fourth goal in the Wycombe game - which he came very close to doing - then it is quite possible we could have gone on to score five or six, and maybe we could even have been top of the league on goals scored by now. What the club needs in these trying times, whether there is a take-over or not, is solidarity and a one-ness that winning games brings. We aren’t going to win the Premiership in the near future, but then again, nor are at least 88 other league clubs (and maybe 90 of them…!). Let us settle in to our lot, and keep the faith, with Parky as leader until we want, need, and can have, other options.

Up the Addicks!

Hartlepool United 0 Charlton Athletic 2

Labels: Charlton, Hartlepool

Charlton travel to Hartlepool on Saturday, for their first away game in League One this season; the victory over Wycombe last weekend will have worked wonders for confidence, but the defeat to Hereford, albeit with mostly a reserve team, will have quashed any thoughts of Charlton being far too strong for this division.

There were signs, in both previous matches, that Charlton’s passing game is in pretty good shape, with long periods of both matches dominated by our midfield. This strength has created chances, but, as Phil Parkinson rightly points out, Charlton really must start to put away the plethora of chances they are creating to allow the rest of the team, and in particular the new defence, to play with any confidence. Against Wycombe, goals were scored in the middle of a forty minute master class by Therry Racon, Jose Semedo, Nicky Bailey, and Lloyd Sam; sadly, Sam himself then missed a gilt edged chance, and circumstances led to the away team pulling a goal back, and ultimately a frantic finish to the match. At Hereford, a largely changed team still took change, but rustiness seems to have prevented Andy Gray and Izale Mcleod from making more of the headed chances that they had to score from. With substitutes Deon Burton and Stuart Fleetwood also failing when opportunities arose late in the game, a blank scoreline ensued and defeat naturally follows.

Hopefully, the management have been working on this cumulative mental block and with Chris Dickson back in contention after an international appearance for Ghana, striking options abound.

The defence has also been of some concern in the last seven days, though form has only been a slight part of this discussion; all three new defensive signings came out of last weeks game with injuries, but Christian Dailly, Fraser Richardson, and Miguel Llera should all be back to play some part this Saturday. Dailly hurt his rib cartilage in the friendly game at Bournemouth, and he is having injections in order to play; how long this will continue is a mute point, but in cricketing terms, this type of injury can take a couple of months to heal to any degree. Richardson has a bad hip, but has trained, and Llera had a total of thirteen stitches in his clash-of-heads wound, and provided the cut can be protected (and we see all sorts of head-gear these days that allow play with similar injuries…), he should be OK.

The other midweek injuries have had a lot less discussion, and expectation is that Sam and Jonjo Shelvey will be fit to travel and play; I do wonder if this is the case when the management have not mentioned either player this week, bar Sam not being able to join up with Ghana for the first time?

The onus is therefore very much on the midfield and forwards to start scoring, as that will take much pressure off the new defence, and allow them time to bed in, and hopefully all recover from their injuries in less stressful match situations.

This is the side I think Phil Parkinson will pick –

Rob Elliott
Fraser Richardson
Miguel Llera
Christian Dailly
Kelly Youga
Wade Small
Jose Semedo
Therry Racon
Nicky Bailey
Jonjo Shelvey
Deon Burton

Subs from Randolph, Solly, Mambo, Basey, Clark, Wagstaff, Spring, Stavrinou, Sam, Gray, McLeod, Dickson, Fleetwood, Tuna.

Hartlepool have had a good start to the season, and are unbeaten and yet to concede a goal after two matches. They had a creditable draw at MK Dons on the opening day, and followed that up with a 1-0 win at Coventry in the League Cup. They will be looking for another scalp on their first home game too no doubt, so we can expect a tough game. As with Wycombe, there are few players who will be recognised by Addicks faitfull, and the best known player (Ritchie Humphreys) is injured. This makes Hartlepool ever more dangerous in my own eyes, and raises expectation levels amongst fans to unrealistic levels. Adam Boyd scored the goal at the Ricoh in midweek, so he needs to be watched. Hopefully, the extra time required by Hartlepool may have taken more out of them on Wednesday than it did from those Charlton players who played on Tuesday. This is a still very tough game, and we should all recognise that.

Pedro45 is concerned that the injuries recorded in that first match may not have all healed properly; the creative element is reduced if Lloyd Sam is not available, so I really hope his knee injury is not too serious and he plays. If Shelvey is out too with his heel problem, then it is possible that Parky will switch back to a 4-4-2 formation, and play another striker alongside Burton (or Gray). Whatever formation is chosen, the team must try to relieve the undoubted pressure that third tier teams will put on Charlton at every opportunity, and the best way to do this is by scoring three times. Pedro45 is going out on a limb a bit here, but is going to forecast an unexpected 3-1 victory.

My one-to-watch in this match is going to be new centre-half Miguel Angel Llera; the Spaniard (bandaged, left) made a decent start to his Charlton career last weekend, and scored what proved to be the decisive third (and winning) goal. His main duties though are in defence, and he did a good job and nullified the Wycombe attack up until he received his head injury after 40 minutes. He was just about to return to the pitch when Charlton conceded the first goal, and a good pass (and possible offside decision) went against him for the second goal. He will need to put his head into some danger positions this weekend, something he apparently failed to do when bandaged up last weekend (although who can blame him?), and it is key that he forms a good partnership with Christian Dailly until further central defensive recruits are brought in as cover.

Charlton must try to build on last week league win, and if they can go into next Tuesday’s London derby with Orient sitting close to the top of the table, the 3000 travelling fans could have something very nice to sing about; defeat though will bring questions that the club may not yet have answers for, so let’s not dwell on that. Charlton need to fight for their collective lives at Hartlepool, and if they do, and do it well, I think we’ll be OK. Success brings confidence, and confidence brings success.

Up the Addicks!

Labels: Charlton, Hartlepool, Miguel Angel Llera

Hereford United 1 Charlton Athletic 0 (AET)

Another loss in the league cup to lower league opposition, but in some ways, this defeat was a lot less unexpected than those from previous years.

Manager Phil Parkinson chose the tie to give some much needed experience to a crop of youngsters, who all seemed to acquit themselves very well, plus game time to those squad players who needed it.

The result could have been so much better if Andy Gray’s penalty hadn’t been saved midway through the second half; Gray himself had been bundled over before the award. Indeed, the game was not short of chances, and in terms of good play and excitement was on a par it seems with Saturday’s 3-2 win over Wycombe.

Charlton held the ball well early on, as they had done at the weekend, and Izale Mcleod (above pic) and Gray had headers at goal that could have given the Addicks the lead. Danger man Pugh was a constant threat to Charlton with his pace, but the makeshift defence of Chris Solly (making his full debut), Kelly Youga, (captain for the day) Jose Semedo, and Grant Basey held firm. In midfield, Alex Stavrinou competed well on his debut, and Matt Spring will be all the better for a good workout. New signing Wade Small also made his debut on the left wing, and he was balanced by another hardworking performance from youngster Scott Wagstaff.

Although the home team had more of the play in the second half, the chance-count was pretty even, with Gray and McLeod going close again, as did substitute Stuart Fleetwood, who finally got on the pitch to make his debut after two years at The Valley. In goal, Rob Elliot had to make a couple of smart saves to keep Charlton in the tie, especially late on when Hereford almost won the game.

With some legs tiring, Nicky Bailey came on for Small, and Charlton did become more direct with the club captain on the pitch.

In extra time, players from both sides started to get cramp, and the deadlock was finally broken by Godsmark who fired home from a good cross in the 98th minute to give Hereford the lead. Parky immediately brought on Deon Burton for Wagstaff, and he almost equalised when his clip beat the ‘keeper and hit the post.

The last twenty minutes saw much huffing and puffing, but with Stavrinou and Solly almost out on their feet, Charlton couldn’t engineer a late saver.

This defeat was hardly a surprise, given the extent of injuries that the club has, and it would be nice to think that we will not need to throw as many youngsters in at once in any further games this season. The experience that Solly, Stavrinou, and Wagstaff gained, plus the bench time for Yado Mambo will stand them in good stead for when they are required in league games in the months ahead.

Hopefully, most if not all the injured defenders will be back at the weekend, and normal service will be resumed in the league games.

I should also apologise for my incorrect assumption in yesterday’s blog about home-grown player qualification. It does seem that it is a rule dreamed up to keep significant overseas players out of match-day squads and is perceived to have little effect outside the Premiership. The only rule change for this year we need to think about is having enough bodies to fill the seven substitute places now available.

Labels: Charlton, Hereford United

There are two new rules that Football League clubs have seen introduced this season, one of which is obvious, but the other not so.

The change to the substitute rule this season – an increase from five players to seven allowed to sit on the substitutes bench, although it is still only three that can enter the field during a match – is seen when teams name their starting eleven, and then (for lower league clubs) try to find enough players to fill the rest of the match day squad.

But it is the other new rule, the introduction of the stipulation that at least four players in the 18-man match day squad must have been registered domestically for at least three years before they turn 21 that may cause most confusion. The four home-grown players can be of any nationality, which will help Premiership clubs mostly, as they tend to buy young, often at the age of 17, then register/play the kid at the club for three years (if they are good enough) before they can then be regarded as a "home-grown" player.

But in the lower divisions, clubs will need to bring on their own youth team players, and often thrust them into match situations just to satisfy this new ruling. Clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two will not have the option of buying youngsters and keeping them in reserve for a few years while they qualify; these clubs will have to make sure that they have a youth set up which gives them enough options and hopefully immediate results.

So who at Charlton can be regarded as home-grown, and more importantly for teams like Charlton and other lower league sides, do young (16- and 17-year old) players (like Jonjo Shelvey) also have to be registered for three years to count?

First, who qualifies for the Addicks? Checking through the club handbook, this is what I can deduce:

Well, we can obviously discount new recruits Christian Dailly, Fraser Richardson, Wade Small and Miguel Llera, and also others who have relatively recently been signed by the club like Nicky Bailey, Andy Gray, Deon Burton, and Matt Spring.

Of the rest, Rob Elliot (left) qualifies, having been at Charlton since he was young and he’s now 23 years old.

Kelly Youga is an interesting case – signed from Olympique Lyonnais in May 2005, he has been at Charlton for long enough, but I think he fails the qualification rule as he was 19 when he signed for the Addicks, and therefore didn’t get three full years in before reaching 21. I’ll stand corrected if that is wrong?

Jose Semedo was signed from Sporting Lisbon when he was 21, so he fails the rule, as does Therry Racon who was nearly 23 when he signed for the Addicks in 2007.

Lloyd Sam does qualify though, as he has been at the Valley since he was a youngster, and he is now 25. Grant Basey also qualifies, as another to graduate through the youth team; Basey is now almost 21.

Izale Mcleod has only been at The Valley for two years, and he is now 25, so he fails to qualify, and Chris Dickson is another who is well over 21 and not been at Charlton long enough. Nor has Stuart Fleetwood, while Dean Sinclair was 23 when he signed for Charlton.

Chris Solly (left) is a graduate, and still only 18, so he should qualify, as will Jonjo Shelvey, who is a year younger, provided he was signed from West Ham before he was 14. Scott Wagstaff is also a graduate who gets on to the OK list, and he is still a teenager.

Reserve ‘keeper Darren Randolph is another youth graduate and now 22 years old so he qualifies, and Alex Stavrinou is 19 and another graduate. Similarly, Tamer Tuna and Jack Clark are both graduates (who have been at Charlton since they were nine), and still very young, so they both qualify too.

Neither Yassin Moutaouakil nor Martin Christensen qualifies and it is unlikely that they will play for Charlton again anyway.

For information, as both Ben Davisson and Yado Mabo are not yet professionals, I have not included them in the above list, though they should both qualify I guess?

My main concern is over the youngest players we have in our squad, as some of them joined Charlton from other clubs, and they therefore may not yet have been at The Valley for three years? Shelvey for instance, was on West Ham’s books as a youngster, and may be yet to complete three years registered with Charlton?

If we presume that Shelvey is OK, Phil Parkinson will need to name at lest four of these players in his match day squad this season –

Rob Elliot
Darren Randolph
Lloyd Sam
Grant Basey
Chris Solly
Jonjo Shelvey
Scott Wagstaff
Alex Stavrinou
Tamer Tuna
Jack Clark

For the league opener against Wycombe on Saturday, Charlton picked six of these home-grown players in their match-day squad. With Shelvey and Sam both now injured, you can see that to fill the bench with two others (say, Tuna and Stavrinou) is necessarily weakening the team.

So when we are playing for important points later in the season, and fans question the choice on the bench of, say, Tuna over Dickson, it will probably be because of this new home-grown player rule. And maybe, just maybe, one reason why the club will not be interested in selling Jonjo Shelvey and Lloyd Sam just yet is also because of this new regulation, as without them (and the two ‘keepers) in the squad, we don’t actually have that many home-grown players left to put in!

Labels: Charlton

Whatever you think about the League Cup (I refuse to name it after the sponsor…), we are in it every year, and it remains a competition that we would love to win (or even just get to Wembley?). However, with Charlton having to start this years effort in round one, the likelihood of that happening this season is remote and then some!

Having painfully dropped out of the Championship, we now have to fight our way past lower league opposition just to get a chance to play a team we played in the league last year; not until the third round do we play a possible Premiership club, and with our record in this competition being awful, that hope can probably be crossed off the wants list right now.

The draw has not been kind (or maybe it has?) as we have an away tie against Hereford, who are in league two. This is a significant journey for the team and for any fans who are able to make the trip, and it will start a busy week that also takes in a journey way up north to Hartlepool. Hopefully, the players will fly to that game otherwise it could be about 20 hours in the back of the coach for them in just a few days.

Hereford started the season with a 2-2 away draw at Morecombe, with new signing Marc Pugh scoring both goals. In fact, only four players remain from last season when Hereford were relegated to the bottom tier, but they hope to bounce back this season and challenge for promotion. They have few players that may be known to Charlton fans, with old stagers Kenny Lunt and Leon Constantine (once of Millwall) perhaps the best known. The home team will certainly be hoping for a good result, as they have actually lost their last seven home games, and they have never beaten Charlton!

Phil Parkinson has a few problems knowing who to pick for the Addicks, as a number of the team that started Saturday’s league fixture against Wycombe have pulled up with injuries. All three new defenders are out – Fraser Richardson with a hip problem, Christian Dailly with a dicky knee, and Miguel Llera has 13 stitches in his head wound – while Lloyd Sam and Jonjo Shelvey have knee and heel problems respectively. That will leave the manager with a few headaches of his own as he tries to maintain the winning start to the season.

In goal, Parky has a straight choice between his number one ‘keeper Rob Elliot, or he may wish to give a game to reserve Darren Randolph who had a spell on loan at Edgar Street last season. That loan spell ended in acrimony, and if Randolph does play then he can expect plenty of stick from home fans, but that in turn could be good experience, and if it was my call, I’d throw him in.

The only realistic option Parky has at right back seems to be Chris Solly, with Yassin Moutaouakil out of favour, so I expect this youngster to play (If Moots does get a game or a bench place, he’ll have to be given a squad number, which Parky may not like doing?). Without both central defensive starters from Saturday, Parky will have to seriously consider whether to give another youngster, Yado Mambo a game, or if he will go with the more experienced Kelly Youga and Jose Semedo, neither of whom has played much time in the middle of the defence over recent seasons. Another option is Grant Basey, but I expect him to play at left back, with Youga moving to the middle, whether alongside Semedo or Mambo.

The midfield options, so over-flowing recently are now more limited with Shelvey and Sam out. I therefore expect Parky to play with two up front and just four in the middle, with Wade Small, signed today on a non-contract basis, debuting on the left; with Matt Spring and Nicky Bailey falling into the centre, giving Therry Racon a rest; and with Scott Wagstaff lining up on the right. Up front, I think Deon Burton may get to sit this one out with Saturday’s second half substitutes Andy Gray and Izale McLeod getting starting time. Chris Dickson is away with the Ghana squad, who also wanted to pick Sam for the first time but couldn’t due to his injury.

This is the team I think Parky may elect to start in his first Charlton League cup game –

Darren Randolph
Chris Solly
Kelly Youga
Jose Semedo
Grant Basey
Scott Wagstaff
Matt Spring
Nicky Bailey
Wade Small
Izale McLeod
Andy Gray

Subs from Elliot, Moutaouakil, Mambo, Clark, Stavrinou, Davisson, Racon, Burton, Tuna, Fleetwood.

This is very much a second string Charlton team therefore, but it could act as a spur to those players currently on the fringes of selection (Spring, Small, Basey, plus the forwards) and push them further into contention for league games. There are enough pl;ayers available for the side to be balanced and have plenty of experience, albeit not much playing time together.

Pedro45 hopes that Charlton have enough for victory this game, and if confidence is still high after the win at the weekend, then on paper we do have enough to win the game in 90 minutes. But football is a funny old game (Copyright - some bald bloke…), and if the defence shows signs of weakness, then the home team would like nothing better than to embarrass a team who they will consider fallen giants. We fans know that we are so much weaker than we were just three years ago, and we do have a habit of losing to lower league sides in this competition. Most of those results have come when pressure is on at home, and so without that strain Pedro45 predicts a 2-0 victory.

My one-to-watch should be Darren Randolph, but I’m not sure he is going to play; I do think Andy Gray will start though, so he is my pick for this game. Gray (left) had a terrible time last season as we all know, both on and off the pitch, but he has it in him to be a good player once more, and I fancy him to get off the mark for the season in this fixture. He did look a bit rusty at the weekend, during his twenty minute cameo appearance, but even then he was just a whisker away from scoring. Against a side that may be low on confidence, and have as many problems with players getting to know each other as Charlton do, he should be too good for Hereford’s defence.

It might not sound like much to get to the second round of the league cup, and Pedro45 won’t be too unhappy if the team are beaten, but it is important to try to maintain confidence and win every game we play. That is the message Parky will be trying to get across, and I fancy he’ll do just that.

Up the Addicks!

Labels: Andy Gray, Charlton, Hereford United

Labels: Charlton, Wycombe Wanderers

Following an article in The Mail about released and available players who have yet to sign for any club this summer, which included an XI that contained Nicky Weaver and Danny Mills, I thought I’d check out the PFA website and see who else Parky might be looking at to fill our squad gaps.

There are plenty of famous or infamous names listed, all of whom have either been given a free transfer, or have come through the youth system, and who are still to find employ for 2009/10 season. This week, many may be lucky and finally get an offer from a club – like Weaver has at Dundee United – but many others will not be so lucky, and will have to find another way of bringing home some cash.

We know that Charlton manager Phil Parkinson is after another centre back, so the inclusion on the list of Sol Campbell and Ugo Ehiogu could offer an easy way out of the void, but you and I know that these two players would probably demand a lot more than the Murray coffers can afford, so we can probably say they won’t be joining Charlton. I’m not sure it would help with any youth policy either! But also available is ex-loanee Sam Sodje (scoring for Charlton, above left), and Addicks fans would probably welcome him back. He might not be willing to sit on the bench, if Llera and Dailly are first choice central defenders this year, but Alton Thelwell, a good youngster at Spurs who has been at Orient for a few years might?

As for strikers, well, Mark Viduka is looking for a club, though the £60,000 a week plus he was on at Middlesboro and Newcastle may have to be cut a little. John Connolly, a useful Irish goalscorer is available from Sunderland, though injuries and age may not be on his side either. So how about Rui Fonte, a 19-year-old Portuguese striker let go by Arsene Wenger? Or Collins John (still only 23!), linked to Charlton very recently, with 20 Premiership goals on his CV and yet still without a contract? If they are too expensive wage-wise, how about Steve Kabba who has now been released by Watford, or Leon McKenzie (left), a proven scorer at this level, who has left Coventry. The Sky Blues have also let Michael Mifsud go, and I’m sure someone will take a punt on this Malteser.

There is also a player on the website called Rodolphe Douala resplendent in a Charlton shirt, and available on a free transfer (though not from Charlton it seems). Now I cannot seem to recall him playing on the right side of midfield for The Addicks, be it the first team or reserves, but someone took his picture in our red Cabrini kit. Did he play in any friendlies at the start of last year? One problem with the website is that the link through to see details of his career takes you to the stats of a Chelsea youngster, so that’s no help. Other players are listed twice, so maybe the PFA could pick a webmaster on a free transfer?

Wideman Keith Gillespie is without a contract anywhere yet, though I doubt we would want to have him back at The Valley again, while the left-sided Julian Gray, often talked about as a Charlton target in the past, has been freed by Fulham. Ex-Charlton youngster Lee Harrison is a ‘keeper at a loose end, but at least at 37 he shows our own two goalkeeping graduates who are also listed – Harry Lee and Callum Christie - that you can survive for many years in the lower leagues, and make a decent living at the same time.

Another ex-Charlton player listed is Jerome Thomas, while recent contract enders Zheng Zhi, Aswad Thomas, Jon Fortune, and Matt Holland are on the list along with a number of trainees who were not offered terms at Charlton.

I’m sure many of these players will have their agents working hard this week and getting them last minute deals, especially as clubs do seem to have been holding off offering contracts earlier the summer in these financially tough times.

Hopefully, Parky will be using the website to plug those holes in the Charlton squad, and give the Addicks cover in every position for the season ahead.

Labels: Charlton

A new season, and so much optimism – even if you are a Charlton fan! But should we be optimistic about the Addicks prospects this season? I think we should!

We’ve had a pretty good pre-season by all accounts, with the only losses coming when a "Charlton XI" has been fielded. There has been a lot of take-over talk, yet to come to fruition as I write, and surely that can only be for the betterment of the club? The management situation seems to have settled down with Phil Parkinson in situe, and with a new assistant (Tim Breacker) and the old guard (Kinsella, Matthews and Chapple) now working under new contracts in newly-defined roles. And best of all, we haven’t (yet) sold any of our stars, with Jonjo Shelvey, Therry Racon and Nicky Bailey still able to play for us this weekend.

So all in all, we Charlton fans should be quite optimistic about the months ahead, and there does seem to have been a positive sea-change amongst some bloggers and blog-readers over the last week or two. Blimey, even The Times thinks we will finish in a play-off place!

We all know and accept that the outcome of any take-over discussions will influence matters at The Valley greatly, especially amongst the playing staff, but it is to Phil Parkinson’s credit that he has just got on with his job this summer, and worked at creating a squad that can suffice this season. With many of the top wage earners out of contract, the club has been able to shift out some of those under-achievers that it couldn’t sell for love or money previously. Of the thirteen whose contracts ended, only four were offered new deals – Fortune, Zhi, Randolph and Holland. ZiZi has decided that the third tier of English football is not for him while it looks like Fortune and Holland have decided that the better money is elsewhere (and who can blame them) although they are yet to formally sign with anyone; only Randolph, with a one-year deal, has signed back on the dotted line so far.

To replace some of these players, Parky has gone for experience, with Miguel Llera (wearing the centre half’s shirt number 5), Fraser Richardson (in a right back shirt number 2), and Christian Dailly (wearing a shirt matching his age – 35!) all coming in (without any transfer outlay) to bolster the defence. With a solid look about the midfield – the most consistent part of the squad last season – we don’t seem to have any issues there (provided they are not now sold…), so that just leaves the forwards to manage. Here, we have had bids it seems for all of the Charlton front-men, barring Deon Burton. This is a surprise when you consider that we haven’t exactly been banging in the goals over recent years. But players have their levels, and Andy Gray’s is probably above this league, while Stuart Fleetwood’s may be below this division. Izale McLeod and Chris Dickson have potential to play above but perhaps not the attitude, so that leaves them in a bit of limbo, and maybe the right place? While they are all here, as a group they look powerful enough to do a job, though we will still have the problem of how to fit them in and knowing what our best combination or pairing is? In my opinion, we may yet see some movement both in and out amongst the forwards this week, and if we do sign a decent striker, then we should be quite optimistic.

One other good piece of news is that we do not seem to have had any major (or many minor) injuries to concern us this pre-season. With under a week to go, it looks like Dean Sinclair is the only player not available this weekend, and it is fair to assume that he would not be in the match day squad anyway such is the strength of the midfield currently at the club.

So who can we expect Parky to play this weekend, in the opening league match against Wycombe Wanderers?

In goal, it’s a straight fight between the only two senior ‘keepers at the club, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason to suspect that Darren Randolph will be chosen ahead of last years favourite Rob Elliott. The local lad will have to be on his toes though, as Randolph will be pressing I’m sure, knowing that he has just one more year to really make the grade (or for ever more be a back-up). Elliott is solid enough to do a good job this season, and if his weight loss shows up in improved agility, then he could yet be a long term star at The Valley.

Our defence is where we will see most change from last year; Fraser Richardson will beat off any challenge to his right back place from Chris Solly, while Yassin Moutaouakil will not get a look in as long as other options are available and Parky is manager. At left back, Kelly Youga was nearly always chosen ahead of Grant Basey last year, so there is no reason to summise that that will change, and young Jack Clark will bide his time and wait for a chance that may be some time in arriving. Centrally, new pair Llera and Dailly will hope to shore things up, though how much pace the 30-plus pair have will be interesting to see. Experience will count for a lot in this league though, so they should be OK. Yado Mambo is a very young and experienced reserve, but our only current option.

The midfield is likely to have a familiar ring about it I think, with regulars from last year Lloyd Sam, Therry Racon, Nicky Bailey all lining up, and with either Jose Semedo or Matt Spring replacing the departed Chinaman. If Semedo comes in, then that should release Racon for a more forward role than if Spring plays, so my vote would go to the Portu-geeser. Other options include Alex Stavrinou, Scott Wagstaff, and maybe even Wade Small, if he does get offered a contract after spending most of pre-season on trial at the club.

We still have to fit in Jonjo Shelvey somewhere, and with midfield places all taken, I expect him to slot into the behind-the-striker hole he occupied earlier in 2009, and from where he scored and made plenty of goals in a losing team. That just leaves the single forward place open, and unless I am very wrong, we can expect that to be filled by Deon Burton, scorer of a hat-trick in Charlton’s last league game. Other forward options could pair any two from Gray, Dickson, McLeod, plus Shelvey and Burton, but I suspect Fleetwood will miss out on sheer weight of numbers.

This is the team I suspect that Parky will pick to kick off our League One campaign, along with their new shirt numbers:

Rob Elliott (1)

Fraser Richardson (2)

Miguel Llera (5)

Christian Dailly (35)

Kelly Youga (3)

Jose Semedo (6)

Therry Racon (8)

Nicky Bailey (4)

Lloyd Sam (11)

Jonjo Shelvey (7)

Deon Burton (10)

Subs (and it’s seven this season!) from – Randolph (25), Solly (20), Mambo (27), Basey (12), Clark (29), Spring (14), Stavrinou (26), Wagstaff (16), Small (?), Davisson (30), Gray (9), McLeod (15), Dickson (17), Fleetwood (22), Tuna (28).

Just a point on the subs bench this season, with seven options it is likely that most managers (where they do have seven options, as some teams may not…) may choose a spare ‘keeper, a full back, a centre half, a midfielder, a wide man, and fill the rest with strikers. That’s certainly how I would see Parky playing it, with the emphasis on additional strikers for when they are needed.

Wycombe have an experienced manager in Peter Taylor, and we all know what happened last time they came to SE7; Carling Cup quarter finals and Les Reed do seem like an awful long time ago, but in reality it wasn’t many seasons back. The BBC reports them to have an injury crisis, but we should maybe take that with a pinch of salt, as believing that will allow them to play freely and try to catch Charlton off guard. They do now have one time Charlton target Michael Duberry in defence, and also forward Ian Westlake, who was a good youngster at Ipswich, although he looks like one who might be out injured. The one time £10m Newcastle-man Carl Cort has signed for Brentford, after playing in a trial for the Chairboys last weekend. So what we can expect, even if we know few of the names on the team-sheet, is a side that will come to close us down, play neat tidy football, and hope to grab a goal and with it the points. They will hope to turn the home crowd against the Addicks, and we cannot allow them to do that.

Pedro45 is quite optimistic for this game, even though I failed to get to any of the pre-season games this summer. Provided the team play to their capabilities, we should have too much for a bare-bones Wanderers team. I will forecast a 3-1 victory for the Addicks.

My one-to-watch in this match is going to be Nicky Bailey, simply because I may not get too many more chances to feature our ginger midfielder. In the year that Bailey has been at Charlton, he has played some exceptional games, and the odd-doosey too, but he always tries his hardest and gives his all. Likely to be out on the left side of midfield, his runs into the penalty area when Lloyd Sam breaks down the opposite wing will be vital as we will need extra bodies in the box at every opportunity. Bailey is usually fit enough to accomplish this, and his other tasks, so I fancy him to be on the score sheet early for the Addicks this season.

Last season is history, and a year in League One is upon us; we must be brave, direct, professional, positive, and physically willing. The playing team will need those qualities too. Charlton players and fans alike can get Charlton off to a great start on Saturday!

Come on you Reds!

Labels: Charlton, Nicky Bailey, Wycombe Wanderers