Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Redvolution Starts Now!
Just as I posted Waggy’s letter home, I read the news – SAP has finally packed his bags and is leaving ASAP.I’m not going to be nasty about the man, but I am glad he has left Charlton. For a couple of months now he has lost the plot and not been leading the Addicks in the way we would expect a man of his stature to do. Sure, he has had to work under budgetary constraints, but then so does every manager in football (even Mark Hughes!).
The simple facts are that he lost the dressing room, lost the fans, and lost all semblance of hope when he just wouldn’t stop tinkering with the team every week, and then came out with a host of excuses that blamed everyone and everything apart from himself.
Now the club moves on, and Phil Parkinson is in charge for the game on Tuesday night at Loftus Road, in a clash of two brand new managers.
I doubt we will see an immediate upturn in fortune (we never seem to get the new manager kick some other teams get…), but hopefully, we can now plan a longer term strategy (that isn’t based on only being two/three/four wins off a play off place…) and aim to retain our position in this division and get stronger next year.
The key question that the board will be asking over the next few days is whether Phil Parkinson is the man they want to lead that turnaround, or if some of the other names being bandied about are realistic options.
The King is Dead, Long Live the King!
Labels: Alan Pardew, Join The Redvolution
Thursday, October 30, 2008
The Redvolution Starts Soon!
So here we go – the real McCoy: Our day of Destiny. One more game, and it just has to come to pass. It’s is just Barnsley that stands between Alan Pardew, and the Redvolution. Chin up eh, Al?Now don’t get me wrong, I would love Charlton to win this match, as I want them to win every single game that they play. But enough is enough, and I believe that this will be Alan Pardew’s last game in charge of the Addicks.
If Charlton do not secure a win, even a dodgy own-goal victory like the last time we won three points about a month ago, then the Board must do the right thing for Charlton.
Looking back over the years, the Board of Directors have always followed that principle; to do what is right for the club at that time – when it was time for Alan Curbishley to make a go of it on his own, Richard Murray stood up and told Steve Gritt the news; when Curbs said he wanted just one more season, our Chairman said that was not in the Club's interests, and an amicable parting of the ways came about; when Dowie and Reed made a pigs ear of our last Premiership season, they were quickly shown the door; when Zabeel offered to buy the Club, the Board said it was in the best interests of the club and made a recommendation, sadly which didn’t come to fruition.
A defeat, or even a draw, on Saturday, and the Board should do what is right for the Club, once more, and relieve Pards of his duties. They have absolutely no other choice. A win may postpone the inevitable for another week or two (after two more away games, which could be pointless), but the writing is definitely starting to appear on the pay-off cheque.
I know it will cost the club money, but no more so than that which is starting to be lost through falling gates, falling merchandise sales, and lack of season ticket uptake, all a result of the managers tinkering and failure to pick a team to do a job.
I know that we have to find a replacement, and quickly, but with managerial experience available from within the club (Parkinson and Gritt for instance), why that cannot suffice until a permanent replacement is found I do not know? It is my opinion that whoever is placed in charge can do no worse (and probably a whole lot better) than Pardew is currently. Anyway, it shouldn’t take too much to get a few other managers interested in awakening this sleeping giant? And there are plenty out there who are not currently drawing a wage in pounds, shillings and pence…or even Euros! And sometimes, yes sometimes, the caretaker manager comes up trumps and carries on permanently and does a very good job - a certain Mr Lawrence comes to mind...
So who is it that can save the managers door nameplate from being unscrewed this week? Well, Nicky Weaver is sure to be in goal – Weaves saved a penaltyn (left), and possibly Pardew’s ass on Tuesday night, even though he apparently took some stick at half-time for daring to let a goal in.Then there is skipper Mark Hudson, he’ll be on the pitch and fighting to keep Barnsley (and ex-team-mate Jon Macken) at bay. I expect Yassin Moutaouakil to get another home start, even though he was substituted at Ipswich by Jose Semedo, who did well. I think Martin Crainie is almost certain to play alongside Hudson, especially as Linvoy Primus is carrying a slight injury.
Whether Pards trusts Kelly Youga, who played at Ipswich, or Grant Basey, who played last weekend against Burnley, at left back is a close call, though I think Basey is better suited to home games, and can cause plenty of problems for the opposition with his free kicks and corners.
The midfield will certainly contain Suffolk goalscorer Nicky Bailey, but who else plays is very open to option; alongside Bailey we could see either stalwart Matt Holland, or the youngster half his age – Jonjo Shelvey - fresh from England U-17 duty. Then again, we could see Semedo step in and play the holding role he did so well last season if Pardew wants to free up the rest of the midfield to attack, or even last weekends debutant, Josh Wright. Out wide, you can probably pick any two from three of Lloyd Sam, Hameur Bouazza, and Darren Ambrose.
As with the midfield, Pards is not short of choice when it comes to the forward line either. Luke Varney didn’t miss a chance on Tuesday, thankfully, but demons may be creeping into him, as it is a while since he last scored. Andy Gray could be back after family illness, but I wouldn’t count on that, while Svetislav Todorov is far less effective starting than coming on as a second half substitute. Then we have the enigmas that are Chris Dickson and Izale McLeod who could start, be on the bench, or be left out completely depending on Pards mood.
I’d like to say that this is what we like about Pards, the inconsistency of his rotation policy, but I cannot; it is ridiculous the way he tinkers with his team and fails miserably to get anything like the right blend on the pitch from the off.
This is the eleven I would pick if I were Pardew and I had one more match to save my job –
Nicky Weaver
Yassin Moutaouakil
Mark Hudson
Martin Crainie
Grant Basey
Grant Basey
Lloyd Sam
Nicky Bailey
Matt Holland
Nicky Bailey
Matt Holland
Hameur Bouazza
Luke Varney
Andy Gray (or Todorov if Gray is not available)
Andy Gray (or Todorov if Gray is not available)
Subs from – Elliott, Semedo, Primus, Youga, Shelvey, Wright, Ambrose, Todorov, Dickson, McLeod.
One game, and it has come down to Barnsley at home; will they roll over and let Pardew seek out that victory? I doubt it, they are as desperate for points as Charlton are, but did win their first away game of the season at Doncaster in midweek (where have I heard that before I wonder…).
They are no great shakes as a team, but do have individual players who could thwart the home team. Jamal Campbell-Ryce is an ex-Addick who would love to light up The Valley with his undoubted skill, while Muller in goal is a tough nut to crack when on form.
Putting aside my thoughts on Pardew, I really am not that confident about getting a result on Saturday anyway! Pedro45 is going to forecast another 1-1- draw, with the boo’s ringing out once more and all those kids who have come to the game to shout and scream at the top of their high-pitched voices going home disappointed. I would love the efforts of the team that Pardew picks to be enough to win over some of these youngsters as future Addicks fans, but unless the team can win, and win well, then they will all revert to being Chelsea, or Arsenal, or Manchester United, or Liverpool fans come Monday morning (or until they have seen Match of the Day and not heard Charlton mentioned…).
My one-to-watch for the second week running is going to be Alan Pardew. I’ll be watching him, and so will most of you, especially if his (possibly last) Addicks starting side fails to get on top during the initial phase of the match, even when he phones a friend (left). We have the players to go out and beat the Barnsley’s of this league, but getting the right players out there on the pitch, in the right formation, and mentally prepared to win games for themselves, the management, the directors, and the fans seems to be beyond Pardew’s capability at present. I hope for his sake I am wrong, but I truly do not believe it.
I get absolutely no pleasure from wanting the manager to be removed from the heart of the club I love, but sometimes these things are for the best.
A win and we can smile and hope that our luck has changed, and that we are going to start climbing the league table at last; a draw or a defeat, and all those that have joined the Redvolution will be baying for one thing – we just need the Board to be listening.
Come on you Reds!
One game, and it has come down to Barnsley at home; will they roll over and let Pardew seek out that victory? I doubt it, they are as desperate for points as Charlton are, but did win their first away game of the season at Doncaster in midweek (where have I heard that before I wonder…).
They are no great shakes as a team, but do have individual players who could thwart the home team. Jamal Campbell-Ryce is an ex-Addick who would love to light up The Valley with his undoubted skill, while Muller in goal is a tough nut to crack when on form.
Putting aside my thoughts on Pardew, I really am not that confident about getting a result on Saturday anyway! Pedro45 is going to forecast another 1-1- draw, with the boo’s ringing out once more and all those kids who have come to the game to shout and scream at the top of their high-pitched voices going home disappointed. I would love the efforts of the team that Pardew picks to be enough to win over some of these youngsters as future Addicks fans, but unless the team can win, and win well, then they will all revert to being Chelsea, or Arsenal, or Manchester United, or Liverpool fans come Monday morning (or until they have seen Match of the Day and not heard Charlton mentioned…).
My one-to-watch for the second week running is going to be Alan Pardew. I’ll be watching him, and so will most of you, especially if his (possibly last) Addicks starting side fails to get on top during the initial phase of the match, even when he phones a friend (left). We have the players to go out and beat the Barnsley’s of this league, but getting the right players out there on the pitch, in the right formation, and mentally prepared to win games for themselves, the management, the directors, and the fans seems to be beyond Pardew’s capability at present. I hope for his sake I am wrong, but I truly do not believe it.I get absolutely no pleasure from wanting the manager to be removed from the heart of the club I love, but sometimes these things are for the best.
A win and we can smile and hope that our luck has changed, and that we are going to start climbing the league table at last; a draw or a defeat, and all those that have joined the Redvolution will be baying for one thing – we just need the Board to be listening.
Come on you Reds!
Labels: Alan Pardew, Barnsley, Charlton, Join The Redvolution
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Pardew Out!
OK, it’s time to nail my flag to the mast. I’m fed up with Alan Pardew. I know from reading other blogs and the comments on them that most of you guys are too. A lot of Charlton fans seem to be saying that we like him, but we just want him to be a bit more realistic, passionate in the right sort of way, contrary, to accept the blame every now and then.Well, I’ve had enough. I’m not trying to be antagonistic or inflammatory, but I think that it is time for Pards to go; leave Charlton; find another club; let the Addicks re-float with a new man at the helm.
I appreciate that not everyone will agree, and I feel a bit guilty if I’m honest, as I love Charlton as much as anyone and I only want the best for our club. I have rarely previously ever wanted a Charlton manager to be sacked (maybe Dowie, and Foley a few years ago, but nobody else really...).
I am sensible enough to understand that when Richard Murray tells me that we haven’t got any money then I don’t expect the club to spend millions on this player or that. I also know that the financial situation around the world is not helping matters at all, and that we should cut our cloth accordingly. I went into this season expecting Charlton to finish in mid-table, as did many other fans and blogs, but now, now, I am really worried that we could slip into a dire relegation battle and all the good work put in during the last decade will have been undone.
Sure, not all of the problems are of Alan Pardew’s creating. The Dowie spending spree was cataclysmic in deciding the short term (and possibly longer term) future of the club. Pardew has had to suffer the consequence, but you always get the impression that he has a chip on his shoulder because he cannot go out and spend, spend, spend like other managers from this and higher divisions. He simply does not have the solutions that Charlton need.
I also should make it plain that I am not one of the group of supporters who boo the team, or the manager, with regular abandon when things don’t go right on the pitch. I know that we have seen a great deal of effort and guts from the team so far this season, but what we need is direction, a playing style, and tactics that work (every now and then at least). We are not going to win 40 matches a season, but I do expect us to be able to compete in at least 40 games each year, even if we don't always win.
This is also not a rant after the midweek defeat I might add, whatever our managers past links with that club.
This blog is therefore calling for a change; a change at the management level at Charlton. Alan Pardew is no longer the man who should be picking the team; the person who decides tactics; he must retire from being the leader who doesn’t lead.
New York Addict has collated a massive selection of verbal diarrhoea that has spouted from the mouth of Alan Pardew at various press conferences over the last couple of years and it makes fascinating, and very funny reading. But it also hurts. When Pardew comes out with this bilge, it is just an attempt to cover up the failings of not the team, but of him as a manager.
How can we ever trust him? One week he says he will make changes, and then he doesn’t make any but enforced ones. But after another defeat, he says the same thing – changes are coming…not good enough Al!
Last week he came out with the usual media-speak drivel when asked how committed and passionate he was about Charlton. He is not using Charlton as a stepping stone to another job; well guess what? He is, but it isn’t going to be a promotion (no pun intended).
So there you go – someone had to be first with the Pards out comments, and maybe it’s me. Of course, it’s nothing that ten wins on the trot couldn’t cure; “And the Manager of the Year is …Alan Pardew” - Yeeeeaaay! Mucho humble pie on the way...
OK, Saturday. Changes afoot (if you believe Pards).
Weaver to remain in goal; Varney and Gray up front; Bailey to play; Primus to be strapped up and forced out; Hudson to wear the armband; then where do we go?
Well I suppose that Zheng Zhi just has to start if he is fit. And Kelly Youga will probably get the nod over Grant Basey at left back. Martin Crainie will also play I suspect, though if he was switched to the centre at the expense of Primus then that would allow the more attack indeed Yassin Moutaouakil a chance. On the wings, Sam, Bouazza, and Ambrose will all press for a place, but not all can play, unless Holland is dropped, which is likely. This still leaves no room for Semedo or Shelvey, while Dickson is suffering from the fact others are fit when he really should be placed ahead of Todorov on the bench.
I don’t know who Pardew will pick, but if I was to guess, then this is the team I think he will send out, though it only shows two of the three changes he promised –
Nicky Weaver
Martin Crainie
Mark Hudson
Linvoy Primus
Kelly Youga
Darren Ambrose
Zheng Zhi
Nicky Bailey
Hameur Bouazza
Luke Varney
Andy Gray
Subs from Elliott, Moutaouakil, Basey, Semedo, Holland, Shelvey, Sam, Todorov, Dickson.
Pedro45 is so depressed about what he has seen in the four games he has watched so far that all he can predict is another hapless defeat. Of course, I hope I am wrong, but my fear is that another 3-1 trouncing is on the cards. Ex-Addicks Lisbie and Haynes both scored against Charlton last season, and they may only make the bench in this game. Ipswich are not coming off ten consecutive away defeats as they were last year, so a repeat of the first half performance from that match is very unlikely.
My one-to-watch is going to be Alan Pardew himself this week. We have all been watching the team on the pitch waiting for something to happen, but invariably it goes wrong from the start, is not corrected at half time, and the manager waits too long to make substitutions or to give any direction to the team when he does switch things around. We need to see an improvement Alan, and not just in the starting eleven. If that is not forthcoming, then it can only be a matter of time before the groundswell on the terraces starts to permeate the boardroom, and with new blood in there, who knows how long thngs will be allowed to deteriorate.I would love my doom and gloom to be proved wrong; sacking Pards would not solve all the issues the club has but it has to remain an option if things continue in the downward spiral that is prevalent now.
Maybe a win would drag things out, and I’d be happy with that, but ultimately, I do think it is time for a change.
Come on you reds!
Labels: Alan Pardew, Charlton
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Make Your Own Mind Up...
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Repeat Performance
“We’ve got no divine right to win football matches because we’ve just got relegated from the Premiership and get 20,000 fans here.”Too true Al…
“We’ve got no divine right for teams not to get over the half-way line and have shots but that’s the expectations we’ve got to live with.”
Alan, I couldn’t agree more…
I bet you thought Alan Pardew (above) said those words didn’t you? But he didn’t! During a trip back to my parents house this week, my father gave me a copy of a South London Press he had found from November 1999. The words quoted were from Charlton’s manager at that time – Alan Curbishley.
The point I am trying to make by reproducing the quotes is that we are in pretty much the same boat now as we were then, except it is later in the season, and we don’t have that many games left in order to put things right.
There was such expectation this season that we would bounce straight back up to the Premiership, but due to a variety of things, this really doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now. Such expectation was built not only on Charlton’s fantastic display in season 1999/2000, when following a single season in the top flight, Charlton blew away all and sundry after Xmas to build an un-surmountable lead at the top of the division culminating in the Championship being won, but also by the manager now at the helm having the experience required to lead a club out of this league via the right end.
Sadly, the team of this season has failed to live up to the peers of the Millennium season. Weaver, Ambrose and Iwelumo are not comparable to Kiely, Kinsella, and Hunt. Greg Halford is no Danny Mills, and Sam Sodje not as good as Eddie Youds. Lloyd Sam will never fulfil his potential as Shaun Newton (nearly) did, and Luke Varney will never be as quick as Martin Pringle. You can compare every member of our squad from 1999/2000 with a couple of players filling in the same positions now at The Valley, but few can hold a candle to the Champions of 2000.
Alan Pardew had much experience when he arrived at The Valley last Xmas, having led Reading and West Ham to promotion. But for some reason, his recent tinkering has hurt the club in a way that few thought possible when we were well placed going in to the reverse fixture with West Brom back in December.
Back then, we knew that the winners of teh game at The Hawthorns would be top of the league at the end of the match, be it the Brummie club, or our Addicks heroes. We knew we had a dodgy defence, and that they scored bundles, but we had hope when Chris Iwelumo jumped off his one good leg and headed into the corner of the net past Barnsley’s future FA Cup hero Luke Steele. And when Steele gifted Izale McLeod his first goal for the club to level matters in the second half, we still thought that we would be OK, even with a draw. Sadly, Gera leapt above Chris Powell twice, and a 4-2 defeat ensued.
What has gone on and how much has changed since?
Well, the Baggies still score plenty (recent 5-1 winners in the cup quarter finals), but they are in another dodgy run of results (thumped 4-1 at home last Saturday); Charlton on the other hand, have a much more solid looking defence (the Blackpool result aside), but are in a bit of a barren patch in front of goal themselves. We have also lost three games on the bounce...It could be a close game then!
Alan Pardew has a pretty good number of players from which to chose, though Luke Varney (who is injured) and Therry Racon (now out on loan at Brighton) will not feature.
In goal, Nicky Weaver will continue, with Rob Elliott on the bench as back up. The defence is likely to remain unchanged, with Halford and Thatcher as full backs, and McCarthy and Sodje central. Hoepfully, no wonder goals or crosses will fly into the net this week...
The midfield will feature Matt Holland, and Darren Ambrose. After that it becomes a little more difficult to call, but I presume that Zheng Zhi has had his well earned rest (an hour on the bench at Burnley) and he will also start. On the assumption that Pardew will start two forwards (though that is by no means certain…), that leaves just one wide berth, and any one of Jerome Thomas, Lee Cook, Lloyd Sam, or Scott Sinclair could fill that position.
Up front, Leroy Lita will continue to search for a goal, and with Varney, Dickson, Todorov, and McLeod all injured, it is a straight choice between Iwelumo and Andy Gray to start alongside the on-loan Reading forward. If Pards wants five in midfield, Semedo will play, and Lita will start on his own up front.
This is the side I expect Pardew to send out to start the match –
Nicky Weaver
Greg Halford
Paddy McCarthy
Sam Sodje
Ben Thatcher
Matt Holland
Zheng Zhi
Darren Ambrose
Jerome Thomas
Andy Gray
Leroy Lita
Subs from Elliott, Moutaouakil, Fortune, Youga, Basey, Powell, Semedo, Cook, Sam, Sinclair, Iwelumo, Uchechi.
Pedro45 has had a terrible start to 2008; I don’t want to go into too many personal details, but I do need cheering up. If Charlton can do that, it would help my state of mind no end! So far in 2008, the Addicks haven’t helped, and I must admit that I cannot see this televised game improving matters. The FA Cup game at The Valley in January showed that Charlton can compete with a below-par Baggies team, and that really is our only hope. We need to treat this match like a cup game, as no other result other than a win is any good, and hope Albion are rubbish this week again. If we are going to lose though, it may as well be 4-1 as opposed to 1-0. My score forecast, which has been off target all season (a bit like our forwards shots or wingers crosses really...), is a 4-0 thumping, though I desperately hope I am wrong and we finally get it together.
My one-to-watch in this match is the manager, Alan Pardew. Pards has had plenty of stick this season, and more and more is becoming justified. We really should have a settled team by now, and more so when you can only get new players in during the transfer windows (what is this emergency loan loophole rubbish?). With five players in on loan, and plenty out on loan, surely the balance is wrong? We need those players who want to play for the club to stand up, be counted, and given a shirt. If you cannot commit to your team, then you are playing the wrong game. Big time Charlie’s don’t fit in at Charlton; they never have. But my worry is that Pards is starting to look like one of those over-paid media players who always come out with an answer that doesn’t quite fit the question. So Pards – what is our best team? What are you doing to get them on the pitch together? And what motivation other than a contract that includes bonuses for getting us to the promised land that is the Premiership do our team need? It is long past the time when Pardew needs to earn his money; he really needs to start earning the respect of the crowd because our patience is wearing a little thin.
I started this blog with quotes from Alan Curbishley, made many years ago; football clubs do tend to go up and down, but Charlton seem to be going in circles, repeating themselves. I know Pards learnt much from Curbs, but please don't quote his excuses every week.The groundhog day I’d like to see is the one where we thrash Albion 5-0 (from 1998); where our forwards score consistently (1976); where our keeper makes saves (1982); where our defence keeps clean sheets (1998 again); where wingers can cross the ball (1977), and the midfielders know how to pass and tackle (2000). Is that too much to ask?
Come on you reds!
“People forget the reason we’re in this position… People do look at us as a Premiership outfit and it’s great to be in the top 20 in terms of gates.”Yes, Al, I’m proud of our standing when compared to the 70’s and 80’s, and I know it all went pear-shaped last season…
“There’s an anxiety from the people in the dugout, the players and the fans ifWise words indeed Alan…
we’re not 3-0 up after 20 minutes but that’s how far this club has come. We’re
aware of it and it’s something that we’ve got to deal with.”
I bet you thought Alan Pardew (above) said those words didn’t you? But he didn’t! During a trip back to my parents house this week, my father gave me a copy of a South London Press he had found from November 1999. The words quoted were from Charlton’s manager at that time – Alan Curbishley.
The point I am trying to make by reproducing the quotes is that we are in pretty much the same boat now as we were then, except it is later in the season, and we don’t have that many games left in order to put things right.
There was such expectation this season that we would bounce straight back up to the Premiership, but due to a variety of things, this really doesn’t look like it’s going to happen now. Such expectation was built not only on Charlton’s fantastic display in season 1999/2000, when following a single season in the top flight, Charlton blew away all and sundry after Xmas to build an un-surmountable lead at the top of the division culminating in the Championship being won, but also by the manager now at the helm having the experience required to lead a club out of this league via the right end.
Sadly, the team of this season has failed to live up to the peers of the Millennium season. Weaver, Ambrose and Iwelumo are not comparable to Kiely, Kinsella, and Hunt. Greg Halford is no Danny Mills, and Sam Sodje not as good as Eddie Youds. Lloyd Sam will never fulfil his potential as Shaun Newton (nearly) did, and Luke Varney will never be as quick as Martin Pringle. You can compare every member of our squad from 1999/2000 with a couple of players filling in the same positions now at The Valley, but few can hold a candle to the Champions of 2000.
Alan Pardew had much experience when he arrived at The Valley last Xmas, having led Reading and West Ham to promotion. But for some reason, his recent tinkering has hurt the club in a way that few thought possible when we were well placed going in to the reverse fixture with West Brom back in December.
Back then, we knew that the winners of teh game at The Hawthorns would be top of the league at the end of the match, be it the Brummie club, or our Addicks heroes. We knew we had a dodgy defence, and that they scored bundles, but we had hope when Chris Iwelumo jumped off his one good leg and headed into the corner of the net past Barnsley’s future FA Cup hero Luke Steele. And when Steele gifted Izale McLeod his first goal for the club to level matters in the second half, we still thought that we would be OK, even with a draw. Sadly, Gera leapt above Chris Powell twice, and a 4-2 defeat ensued.
What has gone on and how much has changed since?
Well, the Baggies still score plenty (recent 5-1 winners in the cup quarter finals), but they are in another dodgy run of results (thumped 4-1 at home last Saturday); Charlton on the other hand, have a much more solid looking defence (the Blackpool result aside), but are in a bit of a barren patch in front of goal themselves. We have also lost three games on the bounce...It could be a close game then!
Alan Pardew has a pretty good number of players from which to chose, though Luke Varney (who is injured) and Therry Racon (now out on loan at Brighton) will not feature.
In goal, Nicky Weaver will continue, with Rob Elliott on the bench as back up. The defence is likely to remain unchanged, with Halford and Thatcher as full backs, and McCarthy and Sodje central. Hoepfully, no wonder goals or crosses will fly into the net this week...
The midfield will feature Matt Holland, and Darren Ambrose. After that it becomes a little more difficult to call, but I presume that Zheng Zhi has had his well earned rest (an hour on the bench at Burnley) and he will also start. On the assumption that Pardew will start two forwards (though that is by no means certain…), that leaves just one wide berth, and any one of Jerome Thomas, Lee Cook, Lloyd Sam, or Scott Sinclair could fill that position.
Up front, Leroy Lita will continue to search for a goal, and with Varney, Dickson, Todorov, and McLeod all injured, it is a straight choice between Iwelumo and Andy Gray to start alongside the on-loan Reading forward. If Pards wants five in midfield, Semedo will play, and Lita will start on his own up front.
This is the side I expect Pardew to send out to start the match –
Nicky Weaver
Greg Halford
Paddy McCarthy
Sam Sodje
Ben Thatcher
Matt Holland
Zheng Zhi
Darren Ambrose
Jerome Thomas
Andy Gray
Leroy Lita
Subs from Elliott, Moutaouakil, Fortune, Youga, Basey, Powell, Semedo, Cook, Sam, Sinclair, Iwelumo, Uchechi.
Pedro45 has had a terrible start to 2008; I don’t want to go into too many personal details, but I do need cheering up. If Charlton can do that, it would help my state of mind no end! So far in 2008, the Addicks haven’t helped, and I must admit that I cannot see this televised game improving matters. The FA Cup game at The Valley in January showed that Charlton can compete with a below-par Baggies team, and that really is our only hope. We need to treat this match like a cup game, as no other result other than a win is any good, and hope Albion are rubbish this week again. If we are going to lose though, it may as well be 4-1 as opposed to 1-0. My score forecast, which has been off target all season (a bit like our forwards shots or wingers crosses really...), is a 4-0 thumping, though I desperately hope I am wrong and we finally get it together.
My one-to-watch in this match is the manager, Alan Pardew. Pards has had plenty of stick this season, and more and more is becoming justified. We really should have a settled team by now, and more so when you can only get new players in during the transfer windows (what is this emergency loan loophole rubbish?). With five players in on loan, and plenty out on loan, surely the balance is wrong? We need those players who want to play for the club to stand up, be counted, and given a shirt. If you cannot commit to your team, then you are playing the wrong game. Big time Charlie’s don’t fit in at Charlton; they never have. But my worry is that Pards is starting to look like one of those over-paid media players who always come out with an answer that doesn’t quite fit the question. So Pards – what is our best team? What are you doing to get them on the pitch together? And what motivation other than a contract that includes bonuses for getting us to the promised land that is the Premiership do our team need? It is long past the time when Pardew needs to earn his money; he really needs to start earning the respect of the crowd because our patience is wearing a little thin.I started this blog with quotes from Alan Curbishley, made many years ago; football clubs do tend to go up and down, but Charlton seem to be going in circles, repeating themselves. I know Pards learnt much from Curbs, but please don't quote his excuses every week.The groundhog day I’d like to see is the one where we thrash Albion 5-0 (from 1998); where our forwards score consistently (1976); where our keeper makes saves (1982); where our defence keeps clean sheets (1998 again); where wingers can cross the ball (1977), and the midfielders know how to pass and tackle (2000). Is that too much to ask?
Come on you reds!
Labels: Alan Pardew, Charlton, WBA
Monday, September 03, 2007
Pardon Me Al!
Croydon 0 Charlton Athletic 1I bet the Charlton manager has a smile on his face as wide as the M25 at the moment, following the Addicks win in this South London derby. Pards played for both clubs during his career and professes to have a love for each team. Luckily, his current employers were the ones he cared more about and he ensured a terrific result for South London’s finest.
The great thing about the manager is that he seems to be showing us fans what he really is all about. I admit I have yet to be fully convinced, but this weekend went a long way to showing me that he can be a good front man for Charlton, and that he could even be better than that.
Tactically, he showed he is flexible, as he started with the 4-5-1 formation that has been called for in relatively tough Championship away games. This needs him to be hard on some players, who may be left out or on the subs bench – but needs are needs, and I’m sure that players won’t mind (too much) as long as the results continue to flow. This weekend, it was Lloyd Sam – my midweek man-of-the-match – who was left out entirely, and Svetislav Todorov who was, somewhat controversially, left on the bench.
The great thing about being flexible is that you can change things when the situation demands it; on Saturday, rather than have to panic when it has all gone pear-shaped in the first half, Pards picked the right side/formation from the start and was then in a position to go for the win midway through the second half. It worked a dream as, shortly after his introduction, Toddy strode on to Iwelumo’s flick, nudged between two defenders and poked the ball over the keeper, and then rolled the ball into the empty net. Todorov wheeled away toward the Charlton fans in delight, and was jumped on by delirious team-mates.
Of course, you need to have the squad capable of playing in this flexible manner, and whereas Curbishley chose to have flexible players capable of playing in more than one position, Pardew now has a squad who can cover any required option. And that is to Pards credit; he has built a squad in the transfer window that can cover any formation option – 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-5-1, or even 5-4-1, we shouldn’t have too many problems covering all these as and when they are needed. He has also recently dispensed with those liable to sulk when they are left out on favour of a particular game need (no names necessary).
Of the team who played on Saturday, mention must be given to Nicky Weaver, who is settling in to the Charlton goalmouth, and made some fine saves; Jose Semedo, who looks like a tremendous prospect; Andy Reid who ran the whole show; and Danny Mills, whose second Charlton debut finished in the same result as the first – he is a winner!
Overall, we wook to have far too much class for this division, and have rightly been made favourites once more. Looking at early season form, the rivals we should care about are Watford, and maybe West Brom; it's early I know, but I'm not sure any others can get too close to us this year, and I bet that their blogsites are citing Charlton as the team to fear.
We now have a couple of weeks during the international break to savour the victory that came on Saturday, and look forward to continuing our march up the table (we are now seventh) and back toward the troubled Premiership.
Labels: Alan Pardew, Charlton
