Charlton Athletic Online

What looked like a three-horse race for the promotion places out of League One has developed into something a lot tighter, with the chasing pack now giving as good as they have got and sneaking significantly closer to the top three over the first month of 2010. The bad weather, which meant postponed games for some clubs and not others, plus FA Cup commitments, coupled with the poor league form of Leeds (three defeats from four games) and the loss by Charlton on Monday, has all of a sudden concertinaed the division, especially if you take into account the games in hand some clubs have (presuming that they are all won, which will not happen…). So Addicks fans have, all of a sudden, started to look at not only Norwich and Leeds scores when they play, but also at the closing Colchester, Swindon, Huddersfield and Millwall results. That’s seven clubs aiming for two promotion and four play-off places, and it’s not impossible that Bristol Rovers and MK Dons could make late runs to bring themselves into contention too. No, this season is far from over!

Mind you, with all the doom and gloom following Charlton’s home loss to Orient on Monday, you might think that the Addicks hopes had come down with the Xmas decorations such is the moroseness of some forum posts. Let’s get things into perspective – it was Charlton’s first home loss in over ten months, and only their third defeat all season! Sure, I was as frustrated as the next fan by the display which lacked anything bar the very evident spirit that the players have. But if Charlton can bounce back, then it will appear as a mere blip on the results log, and may not be as important over coming weeks as some fans currently fear.

The need to bounce back is paramount though, and what better time to do so than against a side humbled 4-0 when they last met the Addicks. Tranmere come to The Valley a very different team to that beaten comprehensively back in August, but they are still pretty average, even by league one standards. Les Parry may have brought them a few wins since taking over as manager, but they are still deep in relegation trouble, and will see anything gained against Charlton as an unexpected bonus. A midweek 2-1 win against Yeovil took them well clear of Wycombe and Stockport at the bottom, but they are still several points off a position of safety. The main threat to Charlton will come from attackers Thomas-More (a scorer in midweek), Gornell and Curran, while goalie Daniels and full back Logan are on loan at the club.

Tranmere scored both their midweek goals early in second half, and with Charlton having conceded early goals in three of their last four games it may be opportune for fans not to linger over their half-time beer or cuppa! Hopefully, the Addicks will be well in control by then, as they look to bounce back out of their current form (if not results) slump. Should Phil Parkinson make wholesale changes after that home defeat, or should he give the players another chance?

Well, the options are not that many, due to injuries and finances. In defence, the news from the horses mouth that Kelly Youga is still some weeks off fitness is a bit of a shock, but at least Sam Sodje has now served his four-game suspension and is available. Bouyed by the birth of his first child, I fully expect him to return to the defence in place of Miguel Llera. If there was any doubt about Sodje returning then Monday’s display by the Spaniard really put matters to rest; on too many occasions, volleys ended up going the wrong way (either forwards or backwards, depending) and one attacking volley by Big Mig ended up being one of the best clearances coming out of the Orient penalty box all evening! The continued obligation by Llera to send the ball long when he has it at the back is another thing that will change when Sodje returns, and Charlton simply play better football with the Nigerian in the side.

The other area that Parky still has to clear up is the left side of the midfield. As I foretold in my last preview, the team is unbalanced at present, and if Jonjo Shelvey, Scott Wagstaff, and Leon McKenzie are not (considered) up to the task, then it may well be time to switch Nicky Bailey back out wide, where he played for the first dozen games of the season. This would seamlessly allow a hopefully rejuvenated Therry Racon back onto the midfield after his rest, and even improve the creativity of the team which has been woefully lacking, Sam excepted.

The experiment of playing Shelvey at some times on the left and at others at the front of a diamond really hasn’t worked, and with important points to play for, it should now be discarded. Jonjo can still play a very important part in the last half of the season, but I just don’t think he should be asked to start out wide left any more.

The final part of the jigsaw that Parky will consider (or fans think that Parky should consider) is who plays alongside Deon Burton in attack. To my mind, the only choice should be Dave Mooney; I know he missed a few chances on Monday, and he also got caught offside on too many occasions, but then again so did Chris Dickson, and at least Mooney was working for the team. Mooney did score the opening goal against Hartlepool recently lest we forget, and he is the only player we have (in a very static team) who makes runs consistently. McKenzie may be worth a start at some point, I just don’t think it should be now.

This is the side I think Parky will send out in order to get us back to winning ways –

Rob Elliot
Frazer Richardson
Sam Sodje
Christian Dailly
Grant Basey
Jose Semedo
Therry Racon
Nicky Bailey
Lloyd Sam
Deon Burton
Dave Mooney

Subs from – Randolph, Solly, Llera, Omozusi, Spring, Shelvey, Wagstaff, McKenzie, Dickson.

I still think that Lloyd Sam had a game that he will want to forget on Monday; he may have been heavily involved, especially in the second half, but he often failed to get past his man, and when he did (and got a cross over) it was delayed and usually countered by sufficient O’s defenders being back in defence. What Sam needs to improve on, is getting the ball and attacking the defender at pace; when he does this, he looks a terrific player and the Addicks strikers would all prefer the ball played in early which he would be able to do. Sam knows that the creative element of the side is flowing through him at the moment, and that a more balanced team would take a lot of the pressure off him, but despite this, to be fair, he will want and need to improve on his recent performances and get back to scoring goals and creating too. I am therefore going to make him my one-to-watch for the second game running, in the hope that this time he puts all that effort into a positive end product.

Pedro45 just cannot contemplate the Addicks playing as poorly as they have over recent weeks for too much longer, and hopefully the turn around in form will have been jump-started now the weather is (a mite) warmer; I predict a 3-0 victory (mind you, that’s what I said last week too…), and smiling faces in Floyd Road for a change.

The league table makes for uncomfortable reading now, but if we can get Charlton back into the winning habit, those sides below us will slowly fall back, or then we can get back to worrying about any teams that might still be above us. Blip, or slump? You know it was a one-off!

Come on you reds!

Labels: Charlton, Lloyd Sam, Tranmere Rovers