Charlton Athletic Online

Charlton Athletic 1 Hull City 1
Norwich City 1 Charlton Athletic 1

Having been away for Chirstmas, I missed posting anything about the Hull home game on Saturday. I'm not sure I could have written anything sensible about the game immediatley afterwards; suffice to say it was a very poor game.

The "highlights" were, firstly, Madjid Bougherra's equaliser, which was a long way from my seat and scored from a crowded penalty area where I have no idea what happened except that Magic was announced as the person who stabbed the ball high into the net; and secondly, Danny Mills sending off.

Today, Charlton picked up their second draw of the week, away at Norwich, and again saw a defender sent off - this time Sam Sodje. Charlton's goal was scored by Zheng Zhi (above), but the ten men couldn't hang on and honours ended even. I was travelling home in the car at the time of the match, and luckily Radio five kept me abreast with developments, and the point was welcome if not fully deserved.

Bearing in mind the current injury crisis, plus the suspensions, a couple of points from these two games is no bad thing, and it does keep Charlton in fifth place in the league, and hopefully safe from relegation by the end of January.

The other good points to come out are ZiZi playing through his calf injury, which threatened to keep him out of both matches; The Magic Mans (left) first goal for the club on Saturday, and his reasonable (it seems) performance at right back today; Nicky Weaver making important saves at last, which have won points in both games; McCarthy coming back into the team and looking a better player than he did in August; and skipper Matt Holland leading in exemplary fashion.

The bad points are obviously having to play around 90 minutes in the two games with only ten men on the pitch; not a good thing when half the team are carrying injuries, and the rest look quite simply tired! Pardew needs to ensure that discipline starts in the changing room, and not just when the ref bandies cards about! Chris Iwelumo has valiantly limped through most of both games though he came off at half time today. Hopefully, he can make another appearance at Leicester on Saturday. The bad continues with the other injuries; Ambrose was missing today physically, and he might as well have been on Saturday too for all the work he put in; Varney was ill on Saturday but played 90 minutes today, mainly out wide right; Sam missed the second half on Saturday but came back as a sub today; Racon was a sub too, having recovered enough to be named. We still need others to come back - Basey, Moutaouakil, Reid, Thatcher, and Gibbs - if we are to mount any sort of challenge at the top of the league.

Also without much good in them must be the refereeing performances; nobody is questioning the two sending off, but overall, the level of the men in black is fairly poor, and bordering on farcical at times. One wonders what the refs in the two lower leagues are like?

And then we get to the plain ugly...

I haven't yet seen Sodje's two footed lunge from today which led to his red card (left), but it did seem like a pretty dumb thing to do. Thankfully, Jon Fortune is available again after his suspension at the weekend, so it shouldn't hurt the team too much. I remember reading something by a prominent player who said that they used to get sent off on purpose around this time of year so that they didn't have to worry about being away from family at Christmas; with Fortune and Mills not having to travel today, I hope Pards made sure they were required to do double doses of training!

By far the ugliest thing though, was Danny Mills "performance" against Hull on Saturday. Dis-Misses Mills should be ashamed of himself, but although he says sorry on his website, that really doesn't come close to appeasment.

Mills played for Hull last year on loan, and there is obviously "history" with some of the players. Maybe they didn't like him, or maybe he doesn't like them. Whatever. On Saturday, he became involved with Caleb Folan early on, shouting out in agony well before any elbow came near him. Bryan Hughes outrageous kick just before half time wasn't deserved, but Mills milked it by staying down as if shot, then lashing out when a Hull player tried to "help" him to his feet. Eventually, another second half altercation led to his booking, and then he finally got himself sent off. I didn't see anyting wrong with the Hull players challenge on Mills which left him in a crumpled heap, and when it was obvious the ref didn't either, Mills was soon on his feet and walking in the referee's direction. I don't know what he said, but the referee had been lenient with him all afternoon, until Mills over-stepped the mark. Red card; carry on walking Mrs Mills!

Mills had "announced" before the game on his own website, that he throught that this would be his last home game in a Charlton shirt. Apparently the money men couldn't agree anything, so he would not be staying after his loan ended on 31st December. I doubt Manchester City wanted much in the way of a transfer fee (maybe £500,000?), so it seems it was down to signing on fee and wages. With the club in no way guaranteed to go back up to the Premiership, his current salary of, I guess, around £20 - 25,000 a week was not feasible, even though I'm sure he was offered decent terms (maybe £15k?).

Sadly, the everlasting memory of Mills in a Charlton shirt will be that of a man who was a decent player, but one who got sent off when he stopped winding up the opposition players and crowd, and started on the officials. In a few choice words, he undid all the good that he had brought in over the last twenty games or so. How can Alan Pardew go back with a better offer now? See ya Danny Boy! I guess the next time he plays at The Valley, we will be the ones boo-ing him...

Half way through the four game Christmas league programme, and we are unbeaten. A result on Saturday plus a win against bottom club Colchester next week will look good, and when we think of the apparent problems we have (which, reading the message boards are - a poor defence, lots of injuries, and no decent strikers...), maybe it's not so bad after all.

Labels: Charlton, Danny Mills, Hull City, Madjid Bougherra, Norwich, Sam Sodje, Zheng Zhi

It was a truly great result for Charlton on Saturday, and Addicks fans will hoping for more of the same when the team travel to Bristol City on Tuesday night for another tough game. I didn’t make it Saturday, mainly due to the engineering works which compromised the trains, and I cannot get time off work in order to make it to Ashton Gate either.

The three points won by Chris Iwelumo (left) in the late, late show at St Mary’s have taken Charlton up to fifth in the league table, but a couple more wins would mean Charlton are right back in promotion contention. Winning will be tough at Ashton Gate, as Bristol City have had a very solid start to the season, and their passion and commitment has seen them rise to the heady heights of second place, leading the pack chasing runaway leaders Watford.

The red half of Bristol are playing well, and ex-Yeovil bass Gary Johnson has made an exceptional job of limited funds as he has tried to build a side capable of making the Championship play-offs. The City team have no stars, but the blend of journeyman footballers and youngsters hoping to make a name for themselves has worked so far, and given Johnson hope that he can bring Premiership football to this major city for the first time. They don’t seem to be scared of anyone!

Charlton are in a much more fast-tracked environment when it comes to building a team fit for the Premiership; but Alan Pardew’s buying skills have been good, and the make up of up-and-coming overseas stars and experienced English based players is settling in well, albeit with the odd blip (the three games in the last week in October for instance!).

The game is therefore set up to be a good one - can the City upstarts maintain their form and show that early season promise is something that they can maintain as the nights get longer, or will the undoubted class of Charlton’s midfield shine through and prove too strong?

Alan Pardew will obviously be hoping that that 93rd minute goal on Saturday has turned around Charlton’s fortunes (we haven’t had much luck for a couple of years really when you think about it…), and the solidity shown by the clean sheet (the first by a team against Southampton this season) and work ethic can be maintained with eleven players on the pitch.

Nicky Weaver finally had a chance to work hard during a game, and made several good stops at St Mary’s on Saturday. He has obviously found it hard to shine when most games have seen him only required to make the odd save here and there during the majority of matches. Saturday could have been a turning pint for him, as he won over the fans with his command of the penalty area, something he has failed to do while wearing a Charlton shirt over recent months.

The defence worked hard and also gathered plaudits; Danny Mills didn’t get booked for a change, and his experience alongside the central defence is definitely required. That is especially so when young Grant Basey is playing at left back. Basey has settled in during both of his first two starts, making good tackles, passing reasonably well, and getting forward when he has had the chance. He is quick enough without ever looking fast; tall, so reasonable in the air; and unfazed, it seems, by playing in front of twenty thousand plus crowds. Some of his tackling, or lack of, does worry me, as opposition players are obviously encouraged to take on the youngster, and although he doesn’t make mistakes, he does seem to get beaten too often. Maybe this is being harsh, but it is an early observation. Although Chris Powell travelled on Saturday, I expect Basey to continue to play until Powell is definitely ready to return. Centrally, Sam Sodje has at last started to bring to some attacking play to the centre of defence; no longer are we seeing players watching the ball and then reacting; Sodje goes for it and then picks up the mess afterwards. This has helped Jon Fortune, who now no longer struggles to communicate with his defensive partner, although he too still needs to improve and make his mark in each game.

The midfield played very well on Saturday, and after Jose Semedo was sent off and a re-grouping at half-time, really took control. The skill level from a midfield combination of Andy Reid, Zheng Zhi, Jerome Thomas, and Lloyd Sam is probably higher than at any other Championship club. What is needed though is a work ethic to match, and with the team down to ten men, this was very evident too. The options to replace the suspended Semedo are to either bring in a straight midfield replacement like Therry Racon, or to go with a more attacking option like Darren Ambrose. Alternatively, if Pardew wants to switch to 4-4-2, Luke Varney could return to the starting line up in Semedo’s place after his late goal-assisting cameo at St Mary’s. I fancy Racon will be asked to play, with options to attack later on the bench.

That will therefore leave big Chris Iwelumo to start again up front on his own. Although he scored the only goal at the weekend, his general play wasn’t great, but this may have been down to the volume of possession (41%), and the lack of anyone else being in his vicinity (especially after the team were down to ten men). Iwelumo does lead the line, and runs his heart out in every game; hopefully, he will have something left in the tank after Saturday. What has he done to his strapped up hands though? I don’t think Varney could do the one-up-front on his own, though maybe Izale McLeod could?

This is the side I expect Alan Pardew to send out in the Seahawk Blue and Denim shirts (provided they are back from the cleaners in time?)–

Nicky Weaver
Danny Mills
Sam Sodje
Jonathan Fortune
Grant Basey
Therry Racon
Zheng Zhi
Andy Reid
Lloyd Sam
Jerome Thomas
Chris Iwelumo

Subs from Randolph, Moutaouakil, Bougherra, Ambrose, Varney, McLeod.

The whole mentality around the club could and maybe should have changed after that late winner, and it would be great if the team could turn around a bad run of results from one week, and fly back with three wins to counter those three defeats. I’m not sure that we can though, even with the renewed confidence; Pedro45’s score forecast for this match will therefore be a 1-1 draw. I toyed with a 2-1 defeat, but hope that maybe we can hang on for a point. It definitely won’t be easy, and it really is becoming a bit of a pain playing against teams who see Charlton as a big scalp and then raise their game accordingly. Bristol will be one of those, and cheered on under floodlights by a partisan crowd, it will be another tough match, even if we can keep eleven men on the pitch for 90 minutes!

My one-to-watch at Ashton Gate is going to be Danny Mills. Danny boy has bags and bags of experience, and has now got the fitness levels he lacked in September up where they should be. We loves interacting with the crowd, and does get an awful lot of abuse. He also pushes his luck with referees, and is finding that he cannot get away with as much in the Championship as he did in the Premiership. We now need Danny to stabilise the defence – Sodje and Basey are new guys, and Fortune has gone through a bad patch. Without Semedo to bottle up the midfield, there may be a few gaps that Bristol will try to exploit; it will be up to Mills to prevent this happening if Charlton are to get anything from the game at all. The clean sheet on Saturday was a fillip to us all (and the first since September!); if we can get another in quick succession, then we will all be happy!

Up the Addicks!

Labels: Bristol City, Charlton, Danny Mills