Views From an Iberian Valley

Table Toppers - But will it Last?

2011-11-02T08:11:00.003+01:00

No time these days for match reviews and with other good blogs around its been a pleasure to read rather than write. And with the levels of euphoria around at the moment its just been a pleasure to be an Addicks fan wherever you live and to enjoy wallowing in it all. The mishap at Stevenage a couple of weeks ago is looking more and more like a bit of a blip and we must all be pleased at how the team has reacted to their first defeat. Three wins since then have kept our place at the top and has now given us equal most-goals in the Division with Huddersfield and the biggest goal difference to boot.

But.....

Now I'm not normally a pessimist but being a Charlton fan I do tend to look on the black side after all those years of suffering. Which means that lying quietly there at the back of my mind there's always an tedious itch endless searching for the banana skin that will prove fatal. So, after another long look at the Table and a feeling that a total of 37 points after 16 games was pretty good going I nevertheless wanted something to reassure me so I began to wonder what had happened in the past to teams at the top of Tier Three after 16 games.

Well, only one team in the last 10 years has managed more than 37 points in the first 16 games and that was Leeds in 2009/10 who had 39 points and, of course, got promoted in May in second place behind Norwich. And only one other team managed 37 - Brentford leading from Brighton in 2001/02 - so 37 is indeed good going but there's a long way to go yet so, of course, you all want to know what happened at the end of the season to all those number 1's that were leading the Table in those past 10 years.

Well, of those 10 leaders, only two failed to win promotion, Forest in 2006/07 with 34 points after 16 and Brentford with their good total of 37 in 2001/02. Of the rest 4 (Plymouth (30 after 16 games), Luton (35), Southend (33) and Brighton(34) ) finished as Champions, 2 (Leeds (39) and Forest (30)) finished in the second automatic spot and 2 (Cardiff (34) and Scunthorpe (33) ) went up via the Play-offs.

So the only ones that missed out on promotion were Brentford in 2001/02 finishing 3rd and missing the auto spot by just a single point whereas the worst failures were clearly Forest in 2006/07 who ended up 4th, 3 points behind 2nd place, although they were promoted the following year. Both teams lost in the play-offs.

So it all looks pretty good doesn't it but before you think that its all over bar the shouting, I should remind everyone that the Addicks have been in second place in the table for the last two years after 16 games played with totals of 32 and 28 points respectively only to fall away in both years.

Of course, it won't happen this time, will it, but I'm just going to check another couple of years to settle me down a tad.

Notts County Preview

2011-02-25T11:35:00.006+01:00

We live pretty high up, 600 metres above sea level, and because of the mountains, sometimes in winter I wake up in the middle of a cloud and you don't know where you are. And right now thats how it seems with Charlton. Forgive me my apparent ignorance, I am after all 1000 miles away, but I was beginning to see some light at the end of our Tier Three tunnel and beginning to imagine that we would soon get to the end of a nightmarish period that we are clearly not used to.

Of course, others closer to home have been constantly trying to divert me from my fantasies and delusions and have tried everything to shake me out of my dreamy state by repeating over and over again that we were just very lucky to be in 5th place, and that one day lady luck would desert us.
I laughed, we always think we know better than the others, but now, of course, it seems that the majority were all correct in their pessimism. Its now been two dreary defeats after 4 wins in a row and we find ourselves out of the Play-off places again. Not that that should surprise us really, 'cause thats where we have spent 15 of the 29 games so far this season and we are now back where we were when Sir Chris took us over.

And, after giving Exeter their first ever win at the Valley after 14 failed attempts we can move onto the other foot this time because at Notts County we face a similar picture - after 16 visits we've won only one with 7 draws and 8 defeats. The only victory took place in May 1977, a 1-0 win in the last game of the season with the goal coming from Flanagan. Overall its an embarrassing 11 wins each with 12 draws. And perhaps we should mention that although we may not think we should be superior, in fact Notts County and the Addicks just about share equal success in the history of the Football League. We've each won the FA Cup once with a 4-1 win and their best finish was a 3rd place compared with our 2nd in the 30's. We've enjoyed 26 years in the top flight and they 30, although most of theirs was a long time along, and while the Addicks are 33rd in the all-time top flight rankings, County are just behind in 34th.

The Opposition

Paul Ince took over on October 28th last year after the dismissal of Craig Short when the club was sinking towards the relegation places after 7 defeats in their first 13 games. Perhaps highlighting their early successes in the previous century, County had a very sensible and conservative total of 7 managers in their first 51 years, which is in stark contrast to recent years where Ince is now their 13th manager in the last 10 and can by all the reckoning be expected to be sacked during the summer. Lee Hughes and Craig Westcarr and leading scorers with 12 and 11. Hughes it was of course that scored the Valley goal that saw us relegated to Tier Three back in April 2009 with an injury time equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Blackpool.

Form

County are currently 18th, twelve points behind the Addicks and only 4 above the drop zone. Overall their home record is the similar to the Addicks with 8 wins in 15 but with 6 defeats to our 4. Over the last 8 games both teams are pretty equal with the Addicks getting 13 points to County's 12 but whereas Huddersfield, Orient and Rochdale are unbeaten over the last 8, nobody has conceded less goals in that time than Notts County whose defence has only been beaten 5 times. In comparison, the Addicks have conceded 13!
And to emphasize the difficult task open to Powells boys, after a dismal October/November with their 4 defeats in a row, County have now had a run of only 2 defeats in their last 12 League games.

Whats Their Secret?

Not letting in goals and keeping clean sheets have become a passion for Mr Ince. County only kept their opponents out 3 times in their first 13 games before he joined but after an initial learning curve have now enjoyed 7 clean sheets in their last 12 games. In fact over that last 12, they have accumulated 22 points out of a possible 36 from 6 wins and 4 draws which is exactly the same record as leaders Brighton over the same period. Take note, Chris.

But while keeping the opposition out has been Plan A for Ince, down the other end you could say he's not been so productive. After climbing to 13th on January 3rd after 4 wins out of 5, there followed 5 games without a win and with only 2 goals scored. That was rectified in a midweek game at home to Colchester where a 2-0 win was the result. Last weekend, of course, saw a 0-5 away defeat at the hands of Man. City in the FA Cup.

The Team

Its at this point that a bit of encouragement is needed. For those bloggers who see 7th place as the best we can achieve, perhaps we can give supply them with some reasoning for their anxieties and at the same time encourage the rest. Because, rather surprisingly, and although we've only had 12 games against the top half of the table, we are the team to have got most out of those 12 at an average of 2 points per game. That's better than anybody else. Meanwhile, however, in proof of our inconsistencies we have failed to beat any of the bottom four at the Valley, losing 2 and drawing the other 2 and while only losing twice against the beat half of the League we have lost 6 times against the supposed crap, ie Exeter twice, Hartlepool, Brentford, Swindon and Walsall.
As for the team on Friday night it'll be interesting to see if Sir Chris makes any changes. A howler from Doherty and a lack of goals despite lots of chances created could prompt some movement off the bench by Joe Anyinsah perhaps.

Verdict
With our record at Meadow Lane of one win in 16 and County's form to date, another defeat is to be expected. County have only conceded 2 goals during the first half in their last 12 games so don't expect us to score in the first 45 again and it all points to few goals being expected.

0-1 to County, then?

Yeovil Town Preview

2011-02-04T10:40:00.004+01:00

Maybe it was a fortunate three points on Tuesday but for sure Chris isn't complaining. Two clean sheets, six points and a three game unbeaten run now...

But after the changes in ownership, management and players its still hard to see exactly where we are. Are we improving from a bad run in December or has Sir Chris just been lucky? And its not helped by looking at the table, because after a winter of frost and disruption, the League One table is looking a bit of a shambles. Five teams - the Addicks, Carlisle, Orient, Notts County and the Daggers - have all played 25 games while the likes of Plymouth have played 4 more. And its all meant that the Addicks now have twenty-one games left until the end of season and, as of Saturday, only have 91 days left to play them all. That's an average of one game every 4.3 days and with only 14 Saturdays left that means they'll be a midweek game every other week between now and the 7th May. Saying goodbye to all those cup competitions doesn't seem to have helped us and we can only help that we stay clear of major injuries between now and the end of the season.
All of which means that though we have slipped to 8th we have games in hand over all the 7 teams above us, with three games in hand over Bournemouth and MK Dons and two over Huddersfield and Oldham.

The Opposition

After 108 years in non-League football, Yeovil have only been in the Football League nine years and after two years spent in Tier Four this is now their sixth year in Tier Three with 5th place in 2006-07 their highest placing. Last season they finished 15th just 3 points away from the drop zone and this season didn't start too well either with only two wins in the first nine games which took the Glovers down into the relegation places. Worst was to follow with a disastrous run of 6 defeats in seven games in October and November, conceding 3 goals in 4 consecutive games including losing 2-3 at the Valley, all of which meant a second from bottom placing for six weeks and into the New Year.

Form

Due to the weather, the Glovers only played one game in December, a 0-0 away draw at Colchester and they followed that up with another useful away point at Plymouth on New Years day. But those two games meant that they had failed to score for 42 days and were still in 23rd place. Something had to be done and during the January transfer window four new men joined the club - ex-Southampton midfielder Paul Wotton, 18 year old German midfielder on loan from QPR Max Ehmer, goalkeeper Richard Martin and ex-Exeter midfielder 37 year old Alex Russell.

And much to Terry Skiverton's relief, there was an immediate improvement. After the leaky defence of November, as witnessed at the Valley where they have been the only club to concede three, they continued the goalless draws with Colchester and Plymouth with a further three shut-outs against MK Dons (h), Brentford (h) and Swindon (a) and won all three games, 1-0, 2-0 and 1-0.

So after starting the year in 23rd spot with only 4 wins in 20 games and 5 points from safety, the Glovers, even after a disappointing 0-1 defeat to Rochdale at home on 22nd January, but with a 2-1 win over Brentford away last weekend and another 1-0 home win over Plymouth on Tuesday night, have now lifted themselves into 17th with 5 wins in their last 7 games

And perhaps more to the point, the Glovers now find themselves one of the Form Clubs of the moment with a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and only that one Rochdale defeat in their last 8 games. Seventeen points have been grabbed from those 8 games, 7 more than the Addicks have managed with only a couple of wins, and all with only 4 goals conceded, a complete turnover after leaky November with only 4 goals conceded.

So on to the good news. Only one team has suffered more home defeats than Yeovil's total of five this year and that's bottom of the table Walsall with eight and that helps to give the Glovers the 3rd worst home record. And the list of teams taking away all three points must give us hopes of continuing our good away record - Hartlepool, Exeter, Wednesday, Rochdale, and even Dagenham and Redbridge have all won at Huish Park this season.

DangerMan

Number 10 Dean Bowditch is the Glovers top goalscorer with 8 League goals and is just two behind his last seasons tally.

What's Their Secret?

The Glovers and the Addicks are both pretty useless when the opposition score first with Yeovil earning just 2 points from the 12 occasions when they have let in the first goal and the Addicks only a point better from the eight games where we have conceded first.
But we finish our games much the stronger because while the Addicks have scored no less than 10 times in the last 5 minutes plus added on time, the Glovers have done the opposite and conceded 8 times in the same 5 minutes.

History

Only our 6th game ever against the Glovers and so far we have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 of the previous five. Four games have been at the Valley with only the single draw, a 1-1 affair last season, being at Huish Park. That was the game that saw Sam Sodje get his 13th red card of his career and we had to play over a hour with 10 men. Luckily, his brother Akpo, saved our blushes with a cracking 56th minute equaliser.

What Are They Saying?

Bradley after his move to the Addicks, "I failed a medical at Reading because they just didn't want to take a risk but Charlton are my local club, although I supported Arsenal, and I couldn't turn Charlton down. I feel good and my knee feels good. I think I'm going to need a few more games but I should be all right. "

And the Glovers man Terry Shiverton had this to say after Yeovils' 5th win in 8 over Plymouth on Tuesday, "A lot of teams were saying before Christmas that we had a soft underbelly and that were a good footballing side that could be turned over, but now they're having to come to Huish Park and work really, really hard."

The Team

Chris Powell made his second Charlton signing on Monday bringing in Federico Bessone on-loan from Leeds. He's a left-back, Argentinian, 27 years old and has played in the same team, Barca Reserves, as Leo Messi. He also knows Miguel Llera from their year together at La Liga side (in 2007-08 anyway ) Gimnastic before moving on to Swansea. He would appear to be a bit famous for his errors but I somehow can't see Chrissie Powell making a mistake with a left-back - a striker maybe but not a left-back and his first game on Tuesday showed just why Sir Chris had brought him in.

As for the second newcomer, only time will tell whether our taking on Bradley Wright-Phillips was a mistake or not. And Reading, who decided it was a risk not worth taking, may be watching his progress.

Verdict

So we've never lost at Huish Park and can point to a four month unbeaten away run in the League. On the other hand the Glovers are enjoying themselves at the moment with 5 wins in the last 8 to earn 2nd place behind Bournemouth in the Form guide over the last 8 games. A draw looks likely but Chris needs to bear in mind that although our home form has now improved to 9th best, we have slipped to 5th best away team although we have outscored everyone with our 26 away goals. Southampton have now won 6 away from home while the leaders Brighton are on 5. The Addicks have done well at Brighton, Colchester and Wednesday recently but are still stuck on 4 away victories, the last one being at Peterborough in the middle of November. We need to start winning again.

But three wins on the trot in your new job may be asking a bit much against a team in form, a 1-1 draw then unless we can take advantage of their tired legs in the last 5 minutes to snatch a winner.

Rochdale Preview (a)

2011-01-28T11:06:00.005+01:00

Saturday was a giant step in the right direction in the search for Fortress Valley and after no less than six 1-0 home wins in all competitions, Saturdays 2-0 win was unbelievably our biggest home win of the season and even then we had to wait until the 90th minute for the 2nd goal to go in.

But that 2-0 win over Plymouth couldn't have come at a better time as Chris Powell needs, desperately, to get rid of the sense of foreboding that appears to attack the players on home soil. It's becoming a bit of a millstone around our necks and although 6 wins out of 12 at the Valley isn't disastrous its worth pointing out that its a worse record than say Orient although on the plus side it is better than our next opponents Rochdale.

But perhaps we could argue that its because, whatever we may think, Charlton are still seen as a Big Club as far as League One is concerned. So lets compare it with the only teams above us on attendances, Southampton and Wednesday. Both have lost the same number of home games as we have, three, and both have around the around the same points per home game as we have, 1.78 for the Saints, 1.75 the Addicks and only 1.69 for the Owls. So perhaps it's the away teams we should be blaming and not our players as our opponents seem to be raising their game when they play in the bigger stadiums. Compare the rating of the best home teams, Bournemouth, Brighton, MK Dons and Peterborough, all with over 2 points per home fixture. Whereas the Addicks home gate now averages 15,400, MK Dons only average 8,000, table leaders Brighton only 7,000 and Bournemouth and Peterborough a distinctly average 6,500.

Anyway, this week its back on the road again where in the same period that we've lost to Brighton, Walsall and Swindon at home, we are unbeaten in seven games with our last defeat away from the Valley being on October 2nd at Brentford.

Form

Not that it should worry us but surprisingly, Rochdale have a better away record than we do with 18 points against our 17 but then we have played against 6 of the top 10 home clubs already and have only lost to two of them.

But at home, Rochdale have only the 17th best home record in League One but then again are on a run of 6 games without defeat which equals their best run of the season which took them up to 4th place back in September. In fact, over the last 8 games their share top spot with unlikely company in the shape of Notts County, both teams having a record of 4 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat in the last two months. In Rochdale's case it was a 1-2 defeat at Peterborough back on December 10th that makes them unbeaten this year.

Whats Their Secret?
Both teams have only 6 clean sheets, but Rochdale have had exactly half of theirs in their last 4 games whereas the Addicks clean sheet against Plymouth was the first in the 8 games. Rochdale also have the 5th best defence in League One with only 30 goals conceded, five less than the Addicks.

One point in our favour though, is the results against the best teams in the Division for while the Addicks have the best points and goals pergame of anyone in Tier three, with a record of 5 wins, 4 draws and only 2 defeats against the top half of the table, Rochdale have the 14th best record. But, Chrissie a word of caution - the top teams don't score many goals against this lot and in fact only Brighton, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday have conceded less that Rochdale have.

History

We've only played up there 4 times - two cup ties in 1955 (won 3-1) and 1961 (0-1 defeat) and two League games when we were in Division Three in 1972 (2-0 win) and our last visit there, 34 years ago, in 1974 (1-1 draw).

The Team
This will be Sir Chris' first away game as a manager after Saturdays 2-0 home win and a previous 3-1 win over Scunthorpe when caretaker manager of Leicester last October. After only one win in 9 games that had meant the end for Paulo Sousa, Leicester were, in fact, rock bottom of the Championship and Powell may see this weekend's visit to Rochdale as a bit of a relief after those two stressful games.
Meanwhile, the arrival of new recruit Bradley Wright-Phillips means that we now have three of the top 24 strikers in League One, more than anyone else, of course, with Bradley top scorer on 13, Johnnie Jackson on 12 and Paul Benson on 8. As well as Scotty W. one behind on 7. All Sir Chris has to do now is find a place for them all as well as including Nathan and Joe of course.

Its unlikely that Wright-Phillips will start this weekend due to lack of fitness after his knee problems and the disruption of his non-sale to Reading because of a failed medical. The Pilgrims reported in mid January that he had seen a consultant who advised him to do a bit of rehab for at least a month and in fact he hasn't played since his 90 minutes against Bristol Rovers on January 4th.

As far as the manager is concerned, we will at least see how he views our number 17 with the return from suspension of Paul Benson. He has so far favoured Joe Anyinsah as lone striker with a five man midfield and this could continue with Scotty enjoying another outing. In fact, we'll probably see the same eleven as against Plymouth.

Verdict

Things have moved on quite a bit since December when this game was postponed. The Form Book back then said a clear away win with the teams being 1st (the Addicks) against 21st over the last 8 plus the always helpful fact that we haven't lost at Spotland for 49 years. Now of course its almost the reverse with the Addicks languishing in 14th spot over the last 8 while Rochdale are in equal top with Notts County.

So, it could be a difficult day for Sir Chris and he'll need to be patience with his team and remember that although the Addicks are the League One top scorers away from home with 26 goals, six more than anybody else, we face a team that have only conceded more than 2 goals in a game once, in a 3-3 draw with Swindon, whereas the Addicks have conceded more than 2 goals on five occasions plus another two in cup competitions.

Verdict then, a close 1-0 away win to the Addicks.

Plymouth Arygle Preview

2011-01-21T12:10:00.004+01:00

Extra workload, two broken computers and all those new year celebrations have all served to cut down on things recently but there was no way that time cannot be found to herald the beginning of a new and special era at the Valley. There's been a vast outpouring of views over the last few days, some pessimistic and full of foreboding, but you won't see any of that here.

His lack of experience seems to influence many into forecasting problems ahead or is it a sentimental desire to keep our memories of Sir Chris as one of our biggest heroes from being tarnished? Of course it will all end in tears, this is a business that these days demands results and sooner or later he will be replaced in an attempt to improve things. Because its seldom that a manager retires from his club, only Ferguson probably stands out there, why, even Jimmy Seed was sacked in the end. But will Sir Chris fail after one year or after 10, we just don't know but where better place for him to get his first experience of management than at his spiritual home, the Valley. For me its a great opportunity for us that we can't possibly reject and clearly the new owners feel the same way. You only have to feel the buzz around this football club at the moment that shows what the appointment means to many.

And perhaps we owe it to one of our own to furnish the opportunity that he would sooner or later be looking for as we did with Curbs in 1995 when he took sole control of the Addicks as the age of 38. Did anyone give Curbs a hope in hell of getting us into the Premiership and keeping us there for 7 long years? Clearly, in these doldrums that we find ourselves, we need somebody special and from what I have read and seen over the years from the East Stand, Chris Powell could well be that man.

And as far as experience is concerned, perhaps its worth remembering that Seed, whose success all those years ago at Charlton means his name appears over the South Stand, only had two years in management at lowly Clapton Orient before joining the Addicks as manager in 1933. His first year at Orient they finished 16th and the second they had to be re-elected - not a great success rate there then but he was to lead us to unimagined success.

Form

It was starting to look a nice easy fixture for our new man as Plymouth slipped 3 places last weekend down to 17th after the dismal 0-2 showing at home against Oldham, who clearly had a point to improve after their embarrassing 0-6 home defeat to the Saints the previous week. The other Athletic now have exactly the same record as the Addicks, 9 wins, 8 draws and 6 defeats and sit right behind us in 8th.

That Oldham defeat added to Peter Reids problems, and meant that they were having their worse run of the season with three straight defeats to Bournemouth (a) 0-3, Huddersfield (a) 2-3 and Oldham (h) 0-2. But like Oldham, a bad result or a dismal run can somehow force an improvement and that duly came on Tuesday when the Pilgrims enjoyed their 4th away win of the season in beating MK Dons 3-1. This was only Plymouths 2nd away win since September and came as a surprise to everyone and was also achieved without top scorer Wright-Phillips who is the subject of serious transfer talk from several clubs including us apparently.

So with the Pilgrims only two points behind us although having played three games more, a win at the Valley could propel Reid's men above us and into the fringes of the Play-off positions even though they have suffered nearly twice as many defeats, which now number 11.

As for the Addicks form, it doesn't make happy reading with Arygle having a point more than us over the last 8 games, with 11 to 10 respectively, but not very respectable coming from 24 available. Chris needs to make an improvement and quickly before the leaders vanish over the horizon.

History

After the crazy years of 59/60 and 60/61 when an astonishing 37 goals was scored in just four games, things have calmed down a lot and only once in the last 20 games between us has anyone scored more than twice and that was the Addicks in a 3-1 home win in 1976.

In recent history over the last 20 years, there's been nine games home and away with the honours pretty even with 3 win, 3 draws and 3 defeats. But of the 4 games played at the Valley the Pilgrims have won twice with the Addicks only winning once, in the last game here, on Valentines day 2009 with a 2-0 win, our second home win in a row after beating Palarse to end our 18 winless run three weeks earlier.

What Stats Can We Give the New Gaffer?

The Addicks are 6th in goals scored but as far as the defence is concerned have only 5 clean sheets (exactly half the number of Brighton and Southampton) but we do tend to score first doing it 15 times out of 23 games. As a consequence we have only been losing three times at the break, less than anybody else, although we currently share the record with such strange bed fellows as Oldham and Hartlepool.

Unfortunately we then tend to relax a bit thinking the jobs done and give the game away. Five times now we have drawn after scoring first and there's only 3 teams more generous that us in that respect - Colchester, Bristol and Exeter. And despite all those late goals - a total of nine in the last 5 minutes - we have only come out top in the second period a meagre 5 times with only two teams, Bristol Rovers and Yeovil, having worse records in the second 45.

Verdict

Only 8,337 fans were there when the Addicks returned to the Valley on December 5th, 1992 and it was a close fought 1-0 victory over Portsmouth, from a 7th minute Colin Walsh drive, that send us all happy. Saturday seems to me a very similar experience and the gate threatens to be a big one. But that day back in '92 everyone was full of nerves, desperate to get off to a winning start back at our home and somehow this time round I don't think we'll see any desperation just a determination to win. So this time its a 2-0 home win, that nothing is going to prevent.

Hartlepool Preview

2010-12-17T11:25:00.010+01:00

Whether or not you consider a 0-0 draw a defeat there's a second consecutive 'L' in our results column and it was also our first two non-scoring games in a row since the loss at Colchester and the draw at Leeds in October last year. And the last time we had two defeats in a row last November the sequence was lengthened by another defeat against Southampton in last years JPT. Parky can't allow that to happen this time, of course, because not only is there a vital three points on offer at Victoria Park but there's the potential takeover in the air and Parky needs to establish firmly that he is the man needed to get us promotion.

Before Brentford there was the terrible display against Walsall which left Parky sounding rather like Capello during the World Cup. Of course, its not the first time Walsall have won at the Valley, they've won 2 of the last four there including cup games, and 3 of the last 6 counting Sainburys. Put the blame on Manager of the Monthitis which strikes again although there were a few banana skins mentioned before the game. And, of course, we should be aware of top (well, nearly) v bottom games and there was never a better one than March 2000 when, after 12 successive wins, along came hard-up Swindon who beat us 0-1 thanks to a Dean Kiely own goal after 5 minutes, our first League defeat of the century.

And maybe the situation was like that at Dean Court last Saturday where Bournemouth produced a 140 page progamme to celebrate 100 years at the ground. Hartlepool took note of the possible distractions and made sure that it was going to be their day instead with a 1-0 victory.
And its worth noting that the Walsall game highlighted one of major failings, apart from being able to pass to ball to each other, that, forgetting our cup games, we are still one of a decreasing number of teams, 8 now in Tier Three, that have failed to win a League game after falling behind. Its happened seven times now and we have lost 5 of them including Walsall and we are the only promotion chasing team with this dismal record.

History
There's not much history between the Addicks and the Pools with a total of only three games played and due to our current lapse in fortunes and one of Hartlepools rare visits to Tier Three last year was the only season we have spent together. We won the game at Victoria Park 2-0 in August 2009 thanks to goals by Burton and Bailey in the first 30 minutes and we also won the return game at the Valley in January by 2-1. The only other game against them was a League Cup tie at the Valley in 2005 which we also won 3-1. So 3 games and 3 wins for the Addicks but will this perfect score continue on Saturday?

Hartlepool became founder members of the Third Division North in 1921 and they share with Rochdale the unwanted record of enjoying 89 years of League football without ever reaching the headly heights of Tier Two. But one thing they share with the Addicks is that our baptism in League football began in the 1921/22 season with both of us being in the regional Third Division, the Addicks in the South and the Pools in the North. But whereas we only stayed eight years before being promoted into the Second Division in 1929, the Pools had to wait 46 years to get that first promotion by finishing third in 1967-68. Sadly Tier Three football only lasted only one season and they were relegated back to Division 4 where they had been since the 4th Division was created in 1958.

However, this is the 4th straight season in Tier Three which is a bit of a record for the Pools although they only survived last season by the skin of their teeth finishing just above Gilllingham on goal difference with a last day goalless draw at Brentford while the Gills were losing 0-3 at Wycombe.

Form
Down in 12th place but they managed to struggle into the top half of the table for only the second time this season with a surprising 1-0 away win last weekend at the number one home team in Tier three, Bournemouth who were on a 5 game unbeaten run. As for their home form and its only the 19th best with only 3 wins and 2 draws from 8 games with a couple of serious hammerings from Wednesday 0-5 and Carlisle 0-4. BUT two of those wins have been against Brighton 3-1 a month ago ( Poyet's first defeat in 13) and the Posh 2-0 before that and they have improved with only one defeat in their last 5 home games.

The Opposition
The 60 year old Mike Wadsworth is currently caretaker manager of the Pools and a more varied managerial life than his can't be imagined. After working for the FA including a coaching role in the 1990 World Cup and FA's Excellence Programme he's moved into management and has managed or been assistant manager at a total of 15 teams including both the Congo and St. Kitts and Nevis national teams and at club level, Oldham, Carlisle, Colchester, Huddersfield, Southampton and Newcastle and many more. So a man with a wealth of experience. He joined the Pools in June as First team coach and has been caretaker manager since Chris Turner left in August.

Dangerman
Midfielder number 15 Anthony Sweeney is doing a Johnnie Jackson and getting the goals. He's got 4 League and 4 cup goals for a total of 8.

Whats Their Secret?
The Pools are a first half team and have only been behind at the interval on two occasions this year. Only the ultra conservative Oldham with 11 first half draws can better that record. The Addicks and Brighton have been on the losing side three times at the 45 minutes.

And they are another team apart from the Addicks whose favorite score is 1-0 - they've had 3 of them. But although only 3 teams have scored less than their 21 goals, they do have a better defence that the Addicks having conceded one less goal than the Addicks.

What Are They Saying?
Manager Wadsworth after last weeks win at Dean Court said: "We were looking forward to this for a while and we've been talking to the players about building momentum and spoiling their party and we managed to do that. It was a very good result for us. We are putting a run together away from home, that's three good displays away from home now. We have a good group of players here and they have some belief now."

The Team

After a 0-0 90 minute scoreline against the best in-form team in Tier 3 Brentford ( 6 wins in their last 8 League games) with a weakened team, perhaps Parky was secretly pleased with the result and losing the potiential headache of extra injury-provoking cup games.

With Jenkinson, Reid, McCormack and Abbott getting rare starts there may be a call to start with the first two against the Pools but I fancy that Parky will be reluctant to introduce Jenkinson into such a crucial game and with top scoring Sweeney playing out left. Francis no doubt took note of the treat from the 18 year old and will want to be on top of his game this weekend.

Christian Dailly at last returned on Tuesday after his ban and got a full 90 minutes in and will be keen to captain the side to another away win in similar fashion to his last away game at Peterborough where we won 5-1.

The only other possible change may somehow involve the return of Reid in place of the recently disappointing Wagstaff although its hard to see how Parky can fit our top scorer Jackson and Reid into the same team without pushing JJ back to full-back where his chances of a goal will be seriously reduced.

Elliot; Francis, Dailly, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Anyinsah, Benson

Verdict
Despite the Pools recent home wins over Brighton and Peterborough, we do have a 100% perfect history against them, a desperate need to get back on track after slipping to fourth and Parky's desire to prove himself to our new owners all of which point to a 2-0 win for the Addicks. But then I won't put any money on it.

And then there's the weather. Friday night in Hartlepool is forecast to be minus 6 with temperatures on the Saturday not rising above -2 but with clear blue skies. Pack them gloves Parky.

Rochdale Preview

2010-12-01T09:00:00.006+01:00

A dismal 2-2 home draw with Luton, where the desire if not the skill was with the Hatters, at least preserved, and lengthened, our current 9 match unbeaten run and means just 2 defeats (Brentford and Brighton) in the last 18 League and Cup games. But while we can all have good feeling about that, perhaps we should spare a thought for Luton where the number 18 conjures up a quite different feeling, it being the number of years since they were a Tier One club. And perhaps the three thousand Hatters fans had that in mind as they made the short trip to the Valley, perhaps to remind themselves what it was like in the good old days. And, of course, its up to them now to encourage their players to get them a game that'll really put their memories in gear with the prospect of an away game at White Hart Lane beckoning.

Quite what we'll be doing in 15 years time to push back the memories is anyones guess. And whether we'll have a team with enough passion and skill to get a result in the replay, so as to avoid a second sucessive defeat to a non-league team in the FA Cup we won't have long to ponder. But before moving on, can anyone remember how many of todays Tier Three were in the old Division One 18 years ago? Well, there's four, Wednesday, Southampton, Oldham and Notts County.

Meanwhile, League game 19 approaches and there's now just 5 games left to the half-way point. We had 47 points at the cut last year so we'll need to win all 5 to reach last years haul but a less strong second half of the season saw us ending on 84 at seasons end.

History

It used to be that having to play Barnsley was a step down for the Addicks but now its little old Rochdale that are Saturdays opposition. But while you may not be impressed by the fact that Rochdale play their games at the 90 year old 10,000 capacity Spotland Stadium, its rumoured that the away fans are graced with the newest stand being the Westrose Leisure Stand, in Willbutts Lane, whose facilities are said to be "second to none". Sadly then, we've only played up there 4 times - two cup ties in 1955 (won 3-1) and 1961 (0-1 defeat) and two League games when we were in Division Three in 1972 (2-0 win) and our last visit there, 34 years ago, in 1974 (1-1 draw).

After finishing 3rd in League Two last season, Rochdale managed promotion for the first time in 41 years having spent the last seemingly endless 36 years in Tier Four. And to add to that dismal record they also share with Hartlepool United the dubious distinction of having played the most seasons in the Football League without ever reaching the top two tiers, 82 years.

The Opposition
The man that Rochdale have to thank for that once in a lifetime promotion in manager, the 43 year old, Keith Hill. After a playing career at Blackburn, Plymouth and Rochdale, he took over as caretaker manager of Rochdale in December 2006 after the departure of the previous incumbent. Rochdale were then in 22nd position in Tier 4. He got things working and they finished the season in 8th position. His first full season they got as far as the Playoff final before losing to Stockport and the next year they lost in the Playoff Semis before finally getting automatic promotion last season by finishing 3rd behind Notts County and Bournemouth. So 3 and a half successful seasons for Mr Hill.

Dangerman

Number 8 is the 33 year old Rochdale legend and captain Gary Jones. He's been with the Dale for the last 8 years, plus three years before he played for Barnsley, and holds the record for Dale appearances with 390. He's also the current top goalscorer this season with 10.
Therry can have a few words in French with number 14 Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro, thats as long as he gets off the bench. Akpro is an ex of Grimsby, where he was a part of the disappointing 25 game winless run that finished with Grimsby being relegated to the Conference last season.
Rochdale are also the only team in the UK to have two Kennedy's in the team. Left back Tom takes the penalties while number 7 Jason has played in the Prem in 2005 for Middlesborough while 18 years of age. No, not against us.

Form

The Dale made a very good start to their new life in Tier Three with 4 wins and only a single defeat in their first nine games reaching a heady fourth place in the table. But then the oxygen ran out and three consecutive defeats to the three yokels from the West, with only a single goal being scored, against Exeter, Yeovil and Bristol Rovers and they have now only won 1 game in the last 9.

So its been a steady slip down from 4th to the current 15th place and with a home record that is now only 17th best in Tier Three, although they have managed to score three times in three of their last five home games in beating Huddersfield 3-0, the Daggers 3-2 and drawing with Swindon 3-3.

But on overall form there's no-one to beat the Addicks with 17 points from the last 24 while Rochdale are 21st with only 6 points from their last 8 games. And we are the 2nd best away team, after Gus, but with 4 goals more than anyone else with 20 in 9 games.

What Are They Saying

Gus Poyet, after being booed off at half-time by the Withdean crowd during their 1-1 draw with non-league FC United, was very upset after the game, "I was very disappointed with the fans and I invite all those who booed us at half-time to stay at home, because I don't want that and I don't accept it. Proper supporters are the ones who support their team during every single minute. And it sounds like he already given up any chance during the replay by saying he'll field a reserve team.

Whats Their Secret

Whereas the Addicks have twice as many score-first games as Rochdale, 12 to 6, the Dale have a much better record of coming from behind. There remain only three teams in the top half of the table that have not yet won after going behind, the Addicks, Carlisle and Exeter whereas Rochdale have clawed back seven points after falling behind.

They are also the 12th highest scorers in Tier Three with only 5 goals less that the Addicks and are the only club in the bottom 13 that have a positive goal difference.

The Team

Two home draws after 5 straight wins won't please Parky but after only 9 goals scored in our first 9 home League and cup games we at least have 6 in the last three, even though non-league opposition are included. And its highlighted in our goalscoring charts which nobody could have guessed back in August. Johnnie Jackson, fresh from another appearance in the Football Leagues Team of the Week, leads the list with an impressive 8 - one more than his previous best season with Colchester - while Benson, chasing 22 from 50 games last season, now has 7 but only 2 at home, while Waggy has already gone one better than last seasons efforts and is on 6. Joe Anyinsah, still struggling with his fitness and with only one full 90 minutes to his name (524 minutes in total ) already has 4, while Therry Racon with 4 from his previous 3 seasons and 66 Addicks games has already equalled that in his 20 games this season.

As for the team, Christian Dailly serves his 3rd of 4 matchs out, and with the cup replay counting as his 4th will be back for the game against Walsall. Matt Fry returns after his one match suspension and Doherty should be back after his dead leg suffered against Bristol, while Martin returns after being cup-tied but may be too lightweight for an away game at Rochdale.

The real doubt perhaps rests on Jose Semedo's hamstring "complaint" and whether he has recovered enough to put McCormack back on the bench. Jose, meanwhile, is dying to play remembering that his last, and only, goal for the addicks was a few miles, well 32, away from Spotland at Tranmere in August 2009 and with Therry racking them up he's feeling just a tad jealous.

Elliot; Francis, Doherty, Fortune, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Anyinsah, Benson.

Verdict

The Form Book says a clear away win with the teams being 1st against 21st over the last 8 plus the always helpful fact that we haven't lost at Spotland for 49 years. And for the Addicks its vital we make the most of the next two away games at the Dale and Hartlepool, and the Walsall home game between, before a difficult sequence of games begins on December 26th with the arrival of Southampton.

Bearing in mind the weather theres's some doubt that the game will go ahead but if it does, 2-1 to the Addicks.

Bristol Rovers Preview

2010-11-23T09:20:00.011+01:00

So its deja vu time, as exactly a year after playing Yeovil at Huish Park in a 1-1 draw in which Sam Sodje was sent off for a professional foul in the 29th minute we again face Bristol Rovers at home 3 days later. The score last year on 24th November against Rovers was 4-2 to the Addicks and perhaps its a good time to give Parky some credit for what he has achieved because of the 18 players who took part against Rovers one year ago, there's only 6 (Dailly, Llera, Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon and Akpo Sodje) still at the club. And just 5 weeks after his head was supposedly on the block at Carlisle, we sit comfortably (at times) in 2nd spot just as we did this time last year and after 5 wins on the run. We have 2 less points this time round but exactly the same number of goals scored and its been achieved with the loss of 20 players during the summer.
As for the game last year, we took an early 2-0 lead through Mooney and Burton and after Rovers had scored twice to equalise, further goals from Bailey and Akpo won the game.

History

Rovers are the poor relations of Bristol and unlike their neighbours City have never played top flight football with their highest position ever being 6th in Tier Two twice in the 50's.

But there's good news for you if you believe in all that history crap because its extremely likely that the Rovers have ever beaten us in home games in your lifetime. In fact, you would have to be over 52 to have been born when it last happened and in your 60's to be conscious of the fact. Sad to say I was probably there when it last happened on 29th March 1958 in a 2-3 defeat.

All in all in home games at the Valley ( and elsewhere) its a very pleasant score of 16-4 to the Addicks with 6 draws and in only 1 of the last 9 games have the Pirates avoided defeat and that was in a 2-2 draw ten years ago in our last season at Sainburys.

Other Stuff

Bristol Rovers have a strange sponsorship deal. Faced with the prospect of having no shirt sponsor for the 2009-10 season, the club came up with the idea of a raffle to raise the funds required. Tickets were sold at £1,000 with all 96 available being sold meaning the club raised £96,000 for one season of shirt sponsorship. First prize in the draw went to local training and recruitment company N-Gaged whose logo appeared on the home kit. Second prize went to Bristol based solicitors Stevens, Hewlett & Perkins whose logo appears on the away kit.
The raffle proved so successful that the club replicated it for the 2010-11 season with Smart Computers becoming the new home kit sponsors and Stalbridge Linen the away sponsors.

Are They Dangerous or Not?
On the face of it, and before the Yeovil result, you would think that there's not a lot to worry about as the Pirates form at the moment is very similar to that of Yeovil. Their last win was on October 16th, the day of our last defeat to Brighton, but whereas in the 5 League games since then, we have won 5 the Pirates have only had 3 draws to get excited about, along with 2 defeats. However, as you may have noted, we have a chance to compare ourselves with the only team above us, Brighton, as that last draw was at Withdean last Saturday, a 2-2 affair with Rovers getting an equaliser in the 93rd minute.

After that precious point on Saturday, the Pirates are currently in 16th place, 10 points behind the Addicks. But they are slipping down the table as they are 17th over the last 8 games, and 22nd on November results.

The Opposition
The Boss

Rovers boss is 42 year old Paul Trollope who has been there for 5 years, 2 in Tier Four and the last three in Tier Three.

The Players
One player not appearing on Tuesday will be the scorer of Rovers first goal against Brighton, defender Bryon Anthony, who received his 5th yellow of the season and will be suspended.

Who's Fortune Got to Worry About Then?

With the absence of Christian Dailly, its likely that Jon Fortune will step in even though Parky has signed Dutchman Marcel Seip on loan from Plymouth. He's been out of favour under Peter reid and hasn't put his boots on since the 0-4 home defeat to Swindon in the FA Cup on November 6th so may not be fit to play a full 90.

Definitely appearing at the Valley will be all three of the following. Top Pirates scorers are Will Hoskins 8, Jeff Hughes and Jo Kuffour with 6. Hoskins injured himself in the FA Cup first round clash with Darlington on the 6 November when he suffered a sprained ankle, but he returned on Saturday playing 12 minutes and he could start on Tuesday. They also have ex-Arse and the Bees 29 year old Ghanian Kuffour who was last seasons top goalscorer with 14. He's apparently got an impressive 28 in 96 games for the Pirates. Meanwhile, ex-Palarse and number 11 Hughes has an impressive 23 goals from 99 appearances for the Pirates.

What Are They Saying?

Brighton boss Gus Poyet after Saturdays draw with the Pirates, "We have not been ourselves for the last three or four games. We need to get back to the way that we play and make sure we are in control of the game. If we'd played them two months ago and we were 2-1 up with eight minutes to go I can promise you they wouldn't have touched the ball. We got punished and we got what we deserved."

Whats Their Secret?
Only tenth in the table in away form with 2 wins (at Dagenham and Huddersfield - the Terriers first home defeat of the season), 4 draws and 3 defeats BUT they like to attack away from home as Brighton can testify and only three teams (the Addicks, Wednesday and Swindon) have scored more away from home than their 13 goals. And they don't give up a lost cause either, for a very impressive 6 of those 13 have been scored in the last 5 minutes.

But down the other end, whilst the Addicks have had 5 clean sheets in their last 7 League and Cup games, the Pirates haven't kept a clean sheet for 9 games.

And you may have noticed that they don't like losing to top teams, with good results against Huddersfield and Brighton and they only have suffered 2 defeats in 7 games against teams in the top half of the table.
Another secret comes from the boots of Rovers' captain Stuart Campbell, a player that Lennie Lawrence made his first signing at Grimsby. Seems his corners are worth planning against and this is what happened in the dying seconds last weekend "Another superb corner was delivered in by Campbell and with the Brighton defence being put under additional pressure by Rovers goalkeeper Anderson, defender Bennett powered a header past his own keeper for the goal that gave Rovers a deserved point"

The Team

Two more yellows ( and a red) after three yellow cards in both of the previous two games, (although one of them was seems to have been on purpose), means we are returning to our old habits as we continue to lead the table on fouls. Doesn't matter you say, but sometimes these games are won by very slender margins and its worth pointing out that we've collected more yellows in total than any of Brighton, Bournemouth, Colchester, Carlisle, Huddersfield, Southampton, Peterborough, MK Dons and Sheffield Wednesday, all of the top 10 in fact.

After October's problems with bottom of the table teams, and Yeovils determination to get a result on Saturday you'll be pleased to see that we now face another six games against similar teams before we can return to a bit of tranquility on Boxing Day with the arrival of Southampton. The next six are Bristol, Luton (h), Rochdale(a), Walsall (h), Brentford (a) and Hartlepool (a).

However, looking at the three League games after Bristol, and with our impressive away form, they all look difficult but winable. Rochdale went 4th at the end of September but have been in a hopeless deline ever since with just 4 points from their last 7 games, but have only lost one of their last 6 home games, beating Huddersfield 3-0 in the process. Walsall currently prop up the Division and only have 2 points from last 5 away games, scoring just twice.

Meanwhile, Hartlepool have been hovering just above the drop zone from the last 10 games but after losing two of their first three home games have tightened up at Victoria Park with three wins over Walsall, Peterborough and Brighton, a draw with Bristol and only a disappointing 0-4 to Carlisle in the last 5 there. The 3-1 win over Brighton on November 13th was their first defeat in 12. And that defeat to Carlisle has had a similar effect on Hartlepool with 3 wins, 2 draws and only 2 single goal defeats in the 7 games since then.

Whilst Dailly's composure at the back will be sorely missed, there's no denying that the presence of Johnnie Jackson at left-midfield is proving a bonus for Parky. Pushed up since the injury to Reid against Brighton he's netted six times in the 8 games since then and in the 4 games he's scored he's always been first on the scoresheet.

A favorite of Parky, he's signed him twice (while at Colchester as well), he's already equalled his most successful scoring season at Colchester 3 years ago and he's now the Addicks leading scorer.

Elliott; Francis, Fortune, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Martin, Benson

Verdict
The history over the last 50 years is rather against Bristol but our stuttering home form could even things out. And against our 5 match winning League run is their confidence-boosting 2-2 result against Brighton at the weekend and they now have leading scorer Hoskins returning from injury. Plus they don't like losing against the top teams and were determined not to lose last weekend at Brighton and they even threw the goalkeeper up for a corner in the closing seconds and won a point.

And if you are hanging on to a one goal lead in the 85th minute, hold on to your hats because the Pirates have scored in the last 5 minutes in 5 of their 9 away games.

But what the hell, we've turned a corner and scored three for the first time at home this season and with 1-point-from-6 Brighton facing the top team over the last 8. the Saints, a win could leave us one point off top spot. But, of course, this is the Addicks we are talking about and any six wins in a row need a lot of luck and we used up a lot on Saturday so it looks a draw, 2-2 for me.

Yeovil Town Preview

2010-11-19T10:55:00.014+01:00

To believe or not to believe that is the question. For, although Parky and his players may not have been overly surprised by Saturdays 5-1 result, the fans certainly were. To be honest we just can't get used to all the discrepancies in our home and away form and perhaps its time to get a bit of counselling because with this Jekyll and Hyde stuff we just don't know whether we're coming or going. Thank you then to the Guardian who supplied us with a timely and storming report on Monday morning helping to quell our doubts and hinting, only hinting, at possible good times to come.

It harkened back to our last 5 goal away haul, eleven years ago at Grimsby in 1999, a promotion year, and went on to award the Addicks with several choice phases unknown around these parts for a few years. "Steely new mentality" was one that I really liked and the "zippy, slippy play" of our front two, Martin and Benson, seemed to roll off the tongue like sweet nectar at an oasis. "Acute promptings" was liberally applied to our midfield while the central defensive duo of Dailly and Doherty was labelled with the reliable tag of "67 years of experience".

So, with such superb eulogies, what are we worried about? Well, the details are hidden away further down in an attempt to conceal the truth but the crux of the problem is a distinct sense of confusion. Because, forgetting our away form where we manage an average of 2.22 goals per game, it has to be said that our players don't seem to like the Valley too much. In the nine home games so far played in League and Cup competitions only nine goals have been scored and 6 of the 9 have been 1-0 victories. We'll take the victories, of course, but can we have just a couple of goals to help us enjoy it a bit more please. Starting with Yeovil.

In optimistic fashion we have to present the plus side to raise the mood and we now have nine clean sheets in our total of 22 games and are now 4th in League goals scored in Tier Three and nobody can better our number of wins (5) against the top half of the table. And we're back where we were a year ago at second place in the table, ( although back then we did have 4 points more) and 4 wins in a row, and a 4 week surge from a lowly 14th up to automatic promotion, something that seemed a dream after that defeat on October 16th. Its not the first time that the Posh have let in 5 of course, Bournemouth enjoyed themselves too at their expense, but can we convert our Acute Promptings into Home Goals starting with Stingy Yeovil.

The Boss
Its tempting to wonder what managers talk about in the bar after games. Perhaps they avoid each other but its clearly an opportunity to find out a thing or two not least how other teams

are faring. So, just perhaps, would Parky have asked Peterborough boss Gary Johnson how his old Yeovil captain is making out down at Huish Park. Johnson was in charge at Yeovil and Terry Skiverton (left) the centre-half and captain when Yeovil won the Conference in 2003 and were promoted to the Football League for the first time. Perhaps Parky showed concern about Terry's future as Yeovil fortunes sink, hoping that Gary, not thinking clearly after the days events, would maybe spill a few beans, not knowing that Yeovil would be next up for the Addicks. Unlikely, of course, but you can't blame Parky for trying.

Form

Yeovil are 23nd in the table with only 4 wins and 15 points in 16 games and with only a single point in a 3-3 home draw with Swindon in the last 5 games. Away from Somerset this season its 2 wins (at Walsall and Rochdale) and a goalless draw at Oldham and only MK Dons and the Daggers have suffered more than their 5 away defeats.

And after taking 4 points away from neighbours Exeter last season the Glover fans are certainly not happy after two defeats already this season in the League and JPT and to rub salt in the wound they've also lost to another local rival, Bristol Rovers.

But its best not to underestimate anyone in any League particularly in a League where we are perceived to be one of the Big Boys which sometimes tends to up the stakes just a bit in our opponents favour as they seek to prove a point. And although this weekend we face a team down there in 23rd it should be pointed out that a 1-0 away win is becoming one of their little specialities and although they have lost both their most recent away League games at Brighton 0-2 and MK Dons 2-3 before that they beat Walsall and Rochdale 1-0 ( Rochdale's first defeat in 7) on their own ground and last weekend dispatched Rushden and Diamonds in the FA Cup by the very same score with all three goals coming late on in the game.

Who Are Yeh?

Unlike the Peterborough defence last week, Yeovil will arrive with a more experenced back line containing the following three good players. Twenty three year old Paul Huntington started his career at Newcastle and during the winter of 2006/07 started eleven times in the Premier all before his 20th birthday. During the summer next year he moved to Leeds and played a major role in their central defence during their first season in League One under Gary McAllister. But after serious hernia and groin injuries and the arrival of Simon Grayson, chances at Leeds Road disappeared and Huntingdon now finds himself at Huish Park on a 2 year contract. He's played 15 and scored once.

Another player with Premier League experience is Andy Welsh who played for Sunderland in 2005 during the Black Cats dismal campaign. Number 19 is ex-Brighton Adam Virgo and is another that has experienced life at the top spending three years at Celtic. He plays central defence but has already scored 4 times.

And they also have internationals in the obvious Welshman Owain Tudur Jones in midfield.

Dangerman

Top scorer last season with 10 in his first season with the Glovers even with three months out with injury, number 10 is the 24 year old ex-Ipswich Dean Bowditch. He's managed 6 already this season and Parky, has to be watched.

Ex-Addicks

Only one this week, goalie Ben Roberts who played just once for the Addicks back in May 2003 when he came on against Fulham in our last game of the season when we finished a glorious 12th in the Premiership. We lost 0-1 and Roberts didn't save the penalty, the concession of which had had Kiely sent off. And he's only played once this season and is now the same age as his manager.

What Are They Saying?

Lee Martin on his having to wait his turn, "The main thing is for me to go out there and enjoy myself and the three points were massive for the boys because they've put us in a good position and confidence is sky-high right now"

And Parky, reflecting on tomorrows game, "It is important our supporters do not turn up just expecting an easy win. They have a big part to play on the day in creating an atmosphere and I’m sure they will do that.”

Whats Their Secret?

Unlike our last opponents, Peterborough, who fare so well against top half teams, poor old Yeovil have not won a single game against the cream in 7 games.

They are listed 21st in goalscoring in Tier Three and only last weeks Peterborough have conceded more, both of which mean that their goal difference of minus 13 is the worst in the Division. But beware Parky, there are 6 teams with worst away records than Yeovil and they have only conceded one more goal away from home than we have.

Meanwhile, facing the Glovers will be a team showing distinct Jekyll and Hyde tendencies. Because the Addicks are the Divisions highest away scorers with 20 goals, seven more than anybody else in Tier Three and in fact the highest in the country. However, you all know whats coming next because, our home form, and although our points are split equally, 12 home, 12 away, is not nearly so convincing. In fact, a paltry seven League goals have been scored, the lowest in the Division along with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Bristol Rovers. Four 1-0 wins and draws against Oldham 1-1 and the 2-2 against the Daggers and we still haven't scored more than once in 90 minutes in eight home games so far (including the Cup win over the Daggers) as it took 91 minutes to score twice against Dagenham in the League.

History

History or is it nostaglia? Just four games played, all in the last five years. We won the first 3-2 at the Valley, an FA Cup fourth round game in January 2005 when Yeovil were 4 Divisions lower than the Addicks, with goals from that controversial trio of Hughes, Jeffers and Bartlett in an otherwise forgettable season in which we finished an average (sic) 11th best in the country. Dumped out of the Premiership the year before and on the slipperly slope to Tier Three in August 2008 we lost the next game, again a Cup affair this time a 1st Round home League Cup tie, at the Valley by 0-1 with present boss Terry Skiverton in defence. Only 6,000 hardy souls attended and perhaps they hadn't been told what everyone already knew because they witnessed the first defeat in a dismal season that would see a further 24 defeats before the seasons end.

So after being 4 Leagues apart in our first game against them 4 years and 10 months ago we somehow achieved parity last season and met Yeovil in the League for the first time. The first encounter was a 1-1 draw and we won the return in February this year 2-0.

The Team

In a strange week that saw the Football League team of the week include three Orient players and two from the Daggers the Addicks performance was rewarded with another duo from the Addicks, this time two goal Johnnie Jackson and Therry Racon.

The Addicks League form of 5 wins and a draw and top scoring with 17 goals over the last 8 games make us 2nd best form team in Tier Three being equal to Southampton and only behind leaders Brighton. A settled team is taking shape and this week there's really only the question of who will partner Benson up front, 2 goal Lee Martin from last week or Joe Anyinsah.

Elliot; Jackson, Dailly, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Martin, Benson.

Verdict

After 4 straight wins over teams currently lying in 4th, 8th, 9th and 13th positions how can we possibly fear a team slipping down to 23rd? Well, its quite possible that Yeovil will perform more like Barnet than Peterborough and will remind themselves that before the 4 wins we failed to beat such lowly teams as Tranmere, Dagenham and Brentford in a 2 week span back in September, suffering one defeat and scraping two draws.

Skiverton's first ever game at the Valley with Yeovil was a 1-0 cup win just over 2 years ago and he'll be trying to do the same on Saturday.

However, Yeovils favorite scoreline this season is also mine ie 2-0, or in Yeovils case 0-2, and what better result could there be than that.

Peterborough United Preview

2010-11-11T09:00:00.003+01:00

Failure to score against the League's bottom club on Saturday didn't impress Mrs Nelson very much and its not so long along that she commented that we must be bad if we're playing Seaford. And a lacklustre performance against Barnet it apparently was, although one that Curbs would be proud of. Just three games after conceding nine goals in three games, we made it three clean sheets in three tricky games. Parky wheeled out the professional tag and pointed out its 4 intact wheels and after last seasons dismal performance at Northwich, welcomed the appearance of our name in the FA Cup 2nd Round hat.

And then there was Tuesday and a game against Southend in the silly Paint Pot job that after another goal from Therry Racon isn't looking so silly. Again we rode our luck at times but gained a fourth clean sheet and its now 6 hours 13 minutes since we conceded.

Meanwhile, in the League, the number three featured several times in the Swindon offering "Its all a question of 3's" and so perhaps it was no surprise to see the scoreline at 3-0. But it was left to young Wyn Grant to actually forecast a 3-2 win. But after hauling ourselves back into contention and a nice 5th place are we all optimistic this week for the trip to Peterborough?

The Boss

Whilst our last League opponents Swindon's Danny Wilson can be proud of taking Barnsley into top flight football for the first time, the Posh boss Gary Johnson is another manager with a famous credit to his name. After years of non-league giant-killing to its name, Yeovil Town at last reached the Football League in 2003 after winning the Conference with Johnson in charge.

But it hasn't been all plain sailing for Johnson because he didn't have much success at his first 2 clubs being sacked by both Cambridge and Kettering and a rather strange tenure as manager of Latvia for 2 years which didn't improve his CV although 4 wins in 14 games for such a small country would seem some sort of achievement. But he obviously learned something in Latvia if not the language and success at Yeovil soon followed. He arrived at Yeovil in 2002 and took the FA Trophy in his first year and then took giant killers Yeovil into the Football League for the first time in 2003.

After 5 years there he moved on to Bristol City and took them into the Tier Two Play-off final in 2008 and then lead City to their first win at the Valley in 40 years with a 2-0 win in October 2008, hammering another nail into the Charlton relegation coffin. He lasted another couple of years at Bristol but the spark of 2008 had died and in March 2010 "he left his post as manager of Bristol City FC by mutual consent." Three short weeks later he was snapped up by bottom of table Posh, 14 points away from safety with 5 games remaining, and relegation a certainty.

As for Peterborough's recent history, after 2 successful years under Darren Ferguson, who got the club back to back promotions from League 2 to the Championship, he was finally given the axe in November 2009 after just 2 wins in 16 League games. They are now on their third manager since then which at least is in keeping with the club, now on their ninth in the last 5 years since the days of Barry Fry.

Form
So how do they like Gary down at London Road? Well, very nicely thank you, for after a miserable total of 46 goals scored over the 46 games last seasons they've so far got 32 this year from 15 games.

So not surprisingly, the Posh are the highest scorers in Tier Three and especially at home where they have notched 21 goals in their 7 games and its earned them the fourth best home record in the Division with 5 wins - to the Addicks 4 - but with twice as many defeats, ie two, to Notts County and Brighton. So after four opening home wins against Bristol Rovers 3-0, Huddersfield 4-2, Oldham 5-2 and MK Dons 2-1, those two defeats have come in the last 3 home League games with an entertaining 5-4 win over Swindon sandwiched between them.

So are the Posh tailing off a bit? Only 2 defeats in their first 8 games, they have now lost 4 in their last 7.

Who Are Yeh?
There could be a battle of the 20 year olds on the right flank as six goal Waggy comes face to face with "Nana" from Accra. Left-back and number 22 is Seth Nana Ofori-Twumasi, a bit of a mouthful, but was once on Chelski's books and after captaining their reserves but failing to learn Russian, upped and left joining the Posh last July. But as Waggy scatches his head planning how to get past all those syllables, manager Johnson could have the answer as he has moved Nana into midfield and got himself a new left-back in Bristol City loanee Lewin Nyatanga, not from Ghana but a 22 year old Welsh international from Burton on Trent.

But as Parky eagerly casts his eye over the Posh watery defence he'll notice that beside ex Shrewsbury hardman 25 year old Kelvin Langmead there's another 20 year old at the heart of the Posh defence. This is number 16 Ryan Bennett, Peterborough's most expensive player at a quoted 500k, and after captaining Grimsby at age 18 was another Ferguson buy. Said to be "comfortable on the ball", - and a note for Parky - he's also said to be good at set pieces and has scored twice already this year.

In fact, Parky may not be alone in thinking that its the age of Peterborough defenders that may be the key to their abysmal defensive record, for at right-back is another 22 year old Mark Little.

Dangermen - Two Ex-Teammates Clash
In games against the Divisions top goalscorers, we couldn't stop Wright-Phillips (Plymouth) or Madine (Carlisle) scoring against us but more recently the defence kept Charlie Austin quiet at the County Ground. But can they do the same against Peterborough's finest? He sounds Scottish, but twenty-six year old Craig Mackail-Smith hails from Watford. He's been at London Road since January 2007 when he was snatched from Dagenham and Redbridge by Darren Ferguson, where he had been playing alongside Paul Benson, just as the Daggers were gearing up to win the Conference.

With only 38 goals in his three years at Victoria Road he was in Bensons shadow but has blossomed since then with a reported 61 goals in 152 games for the Posh. He clearly likes life in Tier Three and and after 11 League goals last season, he already has 8 goals so far this season, although he hasn't scored in five.....

Down the other end will be our own Paul Benson currently on 6 goals for the season. Four years older than MacKail-Smith, and a late starter he was 26 before he made his Football debut in August 2007. Benson notched a reported 70 (although he claims 85-odd) in 174 appearances for the Daggers.

What Are They Saying?

Peterborough United boss Gary Johnson after their last League game against Walsall, a straightforward 3-1 away win, Walsall's third defeat in a row,"We tinkered with the shape a bit to have an extra midfielder in there and I thought the boys put in a really good shift. Walsall got the ball forward very quickly, they had a few big lads in there, our three defenders had to deal with it and I thought generally they dealt with it well. When they didn't, our goalkeeper was there."

Whats The Secret?

The Posh The rather bizarre statistic of being this Divisions highest scorers with 32, three more than anyone else, but they also field Tier Three's worse defence (although shared with Yeovil and the Daggers ) on 28 goals conceded.

They also have the best record of anyone in their games against the top half teams in the table with 5 wins ( Bristol Rovers, Huddersfield, MK Dons, Oldham and Carlisle) in 7 games.

And although the Addicks are the only club to score as many as they concede in the second half with 12 goals scored and conceded, the Posh score twice as many as they let in with 20 scored and 10 let in.

The Addicks

Of the 15 games, we've scored first 10 times but of the 5 others we have only gained a single point - at Plymouth - all the others have been lost.

History
A strange history totalling 12 games, six of which have been cup ties. Three cup games at London Road and we've lost the lot but this the League and things are a bit different.

In the total of 6 League games, home and away, we won 3, drawn one and lost one and you'll be pleased to learn that we are unbeaten at their ground with two 1-1 draws in 1975 and 1992 and a 1-0 win in November 1993 when that man Nelson scored his 9th of the season. That was our 2nd of 4 seasons with Curbs and Gritt in charge and we flirted with promotion with just 1 defeat in the first 14 but 5 defeats in a row in March (including the spanners and Palarse) finished a disappointing season. We all went to Old Trafford in March, FA Cup 6th Round - the first time we had got that far since 1947 - but lost 1-3 after Schmeichel had been sent off, and somehow that really started the rot, we also lost 3 times to Palarse and finished the season in midtable, with Gary Nelson on 15 goals, with Leaburn and Pardew on 10, while Peterborough finished bottom and were relegated.

Discipline

Not something we want to read perhaps but as well as being high goalscorers, the Posh and the Addicks are way ahead in putting it about as well. The Addicks continue to set the pace in fouls committed with 210 but close behind in second place are Peterborough with 191. The Posh are also after the red card gong with 3 send off, although they are way behind Plymouth currently with 6.

The Team
In the news at the moment is Scotty Wagstaff. Named in the Football League team of the week, along with Rob Elliott after the win over Sheffield Wednesday it follows the naming of Johnnie Jackson and Paul Benson in the previous weeks team for the win over Carlisle.

And there's more good news on Paul Benson. After scoring four goals in October, Charlton striker Paul Benson has been nominated for the League One player of the month award. The winning player will be announced on Thursday, November 11th.

Meanwhile the Addicks have been unchanged for 4 games, apart from Tuesdays Paint Can effort against Southend. Memories of last seasons 6 game storming start are perhaps still fresh in Parky's memory as we topped the table and went 8 games unchanged, a club record. Only four players remain from that run - Elliott, Dailly, Semedo and Racon - but has the team improved?

After 15 games last season we had 4 more points than now on 29 points; from 8 wins and only 2 defeats away at Colchester and Carlisle. Away from the Valley even after that great start it was still only 3wins, 3draws and those 2 defeats. The goals stood at 12 goals for 10 against.

But at the moment away from home its almost as good with an encouraging 3wins, 2draws and 3 defeats at Huddersfield, Exeter and Brentford, ie only a single point worse off than last season. And the goals for column has grown to 15, with 13 conceded.

Another unchanged team then with:

Elliot; Francis, Dailly, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Benson, Anyinsah.

Verdict
As far as the League is concerned its a meeting of the goalscoring giants of Tier Three. In the 10 games played at London Road this season, 8 League, 3 League Cup, the fans have seen an amazing 48 goals, 28 by the Posh, 20 by the opposition. And in the red corner is the Addicks with 10 away games, 38 goals scored, 20 for us, 18 against. So its the highest home scorers against the highest away scorers.

And then there's the added conumdrum of the Addicks' fourth clean sheet in a row after Tuesday. We needed a bit of luck to keep that going but its doubtful it will continue at London Road against Peterborough and the only team to stop them scoring at home this season has been Brighton although that was in their last home game and they might have their doubts. And then there's the dual between Paul Benson and MacKail-Smith. The two ex teammates will want to prove to themselves that they is the best so expect them both to get on the scoresheet.

Meanwhile, we have never lost at London Road in the League although the number of games played have that lucky ring to it again, ie 3. Whether that means a 3-3 draw or a hat-trick for Paul Benson we can only guess.

Verdict, for me a 2-2 draw but do I see Gyn again forecasting another 3-2 win?

Swindon Town Preview

2010-11-02T09:07:00.011+01:00

An unchanged team and a sparkling performance that kicked all the Parky-out talk into the rubbish bin as least for a couple of weeks. And I hate to say I told you so but although the forecast 3-2 scoreline was only correct as far as yellow cards are concerned it was a somehow predicted three points that carried us up 4 places into sixth place and back into the Play-offs positions for the first time since August, 12 games ago, and now just a single point off Huddersfield in 2nd.

But, as the actress said to the bishop, its still very tight, with three points covering eleven clubs from 2nd down to 12th. And this week its Rochdale and MK Dons that have dropped down four places whilst surging up the table and jumping 5 positions are both Oldham and those 5-wins-in-the-last-7 boys from the coast, Southampton.

Meanwhile its another midweek game and the start of a crazy programme of 7 games in 25 days. Tonights opposition manager at the County Ground is, of course, Danny Wilson. For a 50 year old he's managed quite a few clubs starting with Barnsley and Wednesday and both of them in the Premier. He it was that in 1997 got Barnsley promoted to top flight football for the first time in 110 years but, sadly, they lasted only one season and they missed out on safety by just 5 points with the perennial Palarse finishing bottom as always. After Barnsley he spent 2 years at Wednesday but when it all finished sadly, it was famously said of him: "Lovely fellow, but he couldn't do it."

Moving on to Swindon and in complete contrast to our last opponents Wednesday but strikingly similar to Carlisle and Barnsley, Swindon are another team that has spent just one season, 1993/94, in top flight football and it all finished exactly the same as Carlisle, for unfortunately Palarse were not around that year so they finished bottom with 30 points and 100 goals conceded and 13 points away from safety.

Form
15th best home record with 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats against seasiders Brighton and Plymouth. Quite the reverse to last opponents Wednesday, Swindon had a bad start to the season with no wins in their first 5 games which contrived to carry them down to 2nd from bottom. Wilson proceeded to give them a kick them up the kursi and they brilliantly revived with three straight wins over Southampton, Walsall and Huddersfield which, of course, is something the Addicks have not yet achieved this season. However, Swindons miracle cure has proved to be a bit of a flash in the pan because they are slipping once again with only 1 win, and 3 defeats, in the 6 games since then and have the worst defence in Tier Three over the last 8 games with 17 goals conceded, 16 of them coming in their last 6 games.

So while we finished last season practically level pegging with the Robins, at the moment, despite Parky having to rebuild his team, there's a bit of a stark contrast because while only a single point ( OK, plus goal difference) keep the Addicks from the automatic promotion spot, the Robins are but a single point off the relegation zone, down there in 16th place in the table, five points off the Addicks.

The Opposition

Joe Anyinsah will met up with an ex teammate in French U21 international, but Cameroon born, Vincent Pericard (left) because they played together last season at Carlisle and were both in the Cumbrians team that beat us 3-1 in October last year. And this Pericard is an interesting character; He's played for St. Etienne in the French Division One and Juventus in Serie A and also in the Chumps League for the Italians.

A wandering career has then taken him to Portsmouth and Stoke both in the Premier before finally sinking into Tier Three after spells at Sheffield United, Plymouth and the spanners. He wears number nine but after injury was only on the bench at the weekend.

And talking of the spanners, some bad news just in is that the Robins have secured centre half Andy Frampton from Millwall on a months loan. Spanners Player of the year in 2009 he was last seen at the Valley in the absorbing (sic) 4-4 draw last December. And the spanners ex started his first game for the Robins last weekend earning his first yellow card as expected.

There's been changes at the County Ground as well as at the Valley and there were only four players in last weekends draw at Yeovil that played at the Valley in May and as the official site will tell you there's some serious problems with the Swindon squad injury-wish especially in midfield and full-back Sheehan is still serving a three match suspension.

Dangerman
One man that will need stopping at the County Ground will be the former brickie, twenty one year old Charlie Austin, who is still knocking 'em in for the Robins and now has seven to his name this season. He scored the first goal at the County Ground in May but the man who scored the other two Swindon goals in the tie, 18 year old Danny Ward has been signed by Bolton and has now been sent to Coventry.

Ex-Addick

Charlton Legend Peter Shirtliff is assistent manager at Swindon for just over a year. He only played for us for three years and 124 appearances before heading back to Sheffield but his nine goals included those two precious ones that he scored in the last 7 minutes at St. Andrews on 29th May 1987 against Leeds that kept the Addicks in the top flight.

Whats Their Secret?

Although the Robins have the same minus one goal difference as the Addicks they have scored 4 more and are the 5th highest scorers in Tier Three scoring eleven in their last 4 games. And although lying down in 16th, they can raise themselves in the big games and 3 out of their 4 wins (Huddersfield, Southampton and Bristol Rovers) have come against teams in the top half.

Despite what you may think about the Addicks fraility in giving leads away, its the Robins who remain one of only five teams down here who have lost more than once after scoring first. The Addicks, in contrast, despite several close calls and ignoring League Cup results, remain one of 12 still unbeaten after scoring first.

And there's a bit of a contrast in the social behaviour of the two teams. Whilst the Addicks continue to lead the field in fouls committed, currently one shy of the 200 mark, our opponents from Wiltshire have less than half our yellows with only an amazing 12 in 14 games.

History
Swindon should be one of those rare teams that we really shouldn't have to worry about. After 89 years, overall its 26-13 to the Addicks. Home and away in the last 24 League games, since we last graced this Division in 1980/81 the Addicks have won 13, the Robins 5 and the remaining 6 have been draws. In the 12 games at their place in those 30 years the Addicks have won no less than 7 with only 2 defeats and 3 draws. However, one of those painful defeats was at the County Ground in our last visit back in May when we had high hopes of departing these troubled waters.

And talking about forecasts, I did rather shoot us in the foot last May by pointing out that "Swindon are one of only 4 teams ( in the august company of the likes of the Gills, Tranmere and Oldham) in this neck of the woods that have not won a game after going behind". Well, although I believe Mr Mourinho may disagree, I would say that even though they lost 1-2 at the Valley they definitely came from behind to secure a Wembley spot on that dismal night back 5 months ago.

The Team
Its all a question of 3's as the Addicks expect to line-up with an unchanged team for the third consecutive game with Lee Martin not in contention because of his 5 yellows. But Swindon fans will see a completely different team to the one that they beat 2-1 last May with only three players - Dailly, Semedo and Racon - remaining from the starting line-up that night when two Swindon goals in 8 minutes sealed a defeat even though Deon Burton pulled one back with his first goal for three months.

And continuing the number three theme - when was the last time we won three in a row? Last December in fact, when Bristol Rovers 4-2, Brighton 2-0 and Southend 1-0 were all beaten and we then made it 4 in a row by beating Stockport County 2-1. Can we made it three this time?

I was thinking a touch of revenge after last seasons disappointments might be in order but with only a total of 4 players involved last May (Wagstaff came on in the 79th minute while Elliott and Llera sat out the game on the bench) its maybe a little unlikely that that game will have any impact and Parky doesn't seem the kind of guy to hold a grudge.

Fact time - Our favorite scoreline, double that of any other, is the Arse's favorite, 1-0, but only Brighton have scored first more times than we have. Wagstaff is now leading scorer with 6 and dreaming of another strange celebration on scoring Charlton 5000th goal tonight, and currently leaving Benson trailing still on 5 whilst the Doc is the player with most minutes under his belt, to the surprise of many.

But the key player tonight could well be Therry Racon. Starting his 10th game in a row, after effectively changing places with Alan McCormack at half-time against Notts County, we've won 4 of those last 9 games and his performance next to Jose Semedo last Saturday won him MOM according to blackheathaddicted. Maybe driven on by seeing his ex-team moving away at the top of the table although one scribe attributes it to the added motivation of becoming a father but whatever the reason we need more of the same from T, tonight.

Elliott; Francis, Dailly, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Benson, Anyinsah

Verdict

There's been nineteen goals scored in Swindon's last 3 games, (a 4-5 defeat to the Posh, 2-2 at home to Orient and a 3-3 draw at Yeovil) so we should perhaps expect a few goals and I'm going for another 2-2 draw.

Sheffield Wednesday Preview

2010-10-27T09:05:00.016+02:00

Well, are we happy? If you've been reading everyones views, seems not. A 4-3 win where nobody gave us a dogs chance doesn't seem to have had the desired effect on the fans and if we're not happy you have to wonder if Richard M is. And forgetting the games fluctuations, which had people tearing their hair out, its that goals against column that will do for Parky unless he sorts it out. Last season we had conceded 12 goals after 13 games, right now its 20, 15th worst in Tier Three.

And just when Parky wanted a few days to sort out our defensive failings, ie nine goals conceded in last three games, along come the highest scoring away team (equal to the Addicks of course) on a visit to the Valley that they must be relishing.
Manager at Wednesday is the Scot 52 year old Alan Irvine who knows all about Charlton as he was playing at Sainburys for the other lot when we were suffering those long years of exile in the eighties. He then went on to play from Blackburn where he retired in 1992. He became manager of Tier Two Preston in 2007, saved them from relegation and then lead them into the Play-offs the following season before being sacked the following December after only one win in 10 games. Memories are short in this business, aren't they Alan.
He then took over at Wednesday in January this year with the Owls in 22nd place in the Fizzies and two points clear of safety. But unlike at Preston he couldn't save them and they were relegated and he's now having his first taste of life in the Third Division.
With a massive 66 years in top flight football, 40 more than the addicks total, what the hell are a team like Wednesday doing down here. Its even harder to explain when you remember that they've won the League 4 times with back-to-back championships in the years 1903 and 1904 and again in 1929 and 1930. They're also FA Cup winners three times, all pre-war as well, and have a trophy room with 5 Division Two championships to complete the list.

It took them two years to get out of Tier three last time (2003-05), and they then managed to last 5 years in Tier Two before last seasons relegation where they had to beat Palarse to avoid the drop. They didn't. So Irvine's trying to cure past mismanagement and although he's enjoying high gates it seems that previously they've been spending too much as well because now they are currently experiencing severe money problems and received a winding up petition from HMRC last July and another two more since then, all of which have been staved off with bank loans and investments from "a consortium." Looks like they need promotion as much as we do.

Form

What you might call an inconsistent start with 3 wins and a draw in their first 4 games that took them to the top of the table, followed by 4 defeats in a row to Brentford, Carlisle, Plymouth and Southampton and a slump down to 16th. But the alarm bells went off and it was back to another 3 wins and a draw before last Saturdays 1-1 home draw against Bournemouth. After a poor first half another run of defeats looked like beginning again until Preston loanee Mellor saved their blushes with a late 82th equaliser.

So they're now in 4th place with 21 points, 2 more than the Addicks, and with, discouragingly, the second best away record in Tier Three after the leaders Brighton with 3 wins (Hartlepool, Notts County and Yeovil), 1 draw (at Colchester) and two defeats to those stinging Bees from Brentford and to Plymouth.

As for the Addicks - when was the last time that we conceded 7 times in two games? Well, rather ominously you have to go back to November 2008 to Pardews last two games in charge when we lost away 2-3 to Birmingham and then a week later the cruncher for Pards, a 2-5 home defeat to Sheffield United.

The Opposition

One player that has managed to escape our attention is the captain Darren Purse although perhaps not as he supported Millwall in his youth. Born in Stepney thirty-three years ago and apparently played in the same Sunday team as Lee Bowyer. He started his career at Orient and has spent most of his career at Brum but has now been at Wednesday for the last two years. Much like the Doc he's started to slow down and as Ketts has already pointed out, Darren may find the pacy Anyinsah a bit of a handful.

Ex-Addicks

As you all remember, Sheffield born Nicky Weaver played two years with us in 2007/09 playing 70 times but lost his place in December 2008 to youngster Rob Elliot and never got it back and finally returned to his roots this summer.

Dangerman

After two seasons with Deon Burton as top scorer, the last two years its been Marcus Tudgay with 14 and then 10 and he's close to becoming a Wednesday legend with 48 goals already to his name. This year number 33, Neil Mellor, on loan from Preston, is leading their charts with 5 but close behind is number 7 Marcus Tudgay, with 4 to his name.

Nostaglia Never Done Me Any Harm

If like me you've been knew to check the Prem teamsheets to see how our top class ex's are doing and have been heard to quietly utter the plaintive words of "he used to play for us" then you'll understand the reason behind this pathetic paragraph.

Across our screens last week were another couple of reminders of days gone by. Jonjo Shelvey played his first competitive game for the Reds last week in Naples, starting the game and playing the full 90.
And, going a bit further back, another player that appeared briefly for us in the summer of 2006, when we were all blissfully and innocently unaware of what was to befall us, was Christian Bolaños. He's now at Copenhagen and appeared in last Wednesdays Chumps League game against Barcelona.

Back in August 2006, however, when the sun was always shining and with the redoubtable Iain Dowie at the helm ( or should it have been paddle), Charlton announced that they had clinched their third new signing in the space of 24 hours by snapping up Costa Rica international Christian Bolanos.

Having completed the £4m joint capture of Djimi Traore and Amady Faye the day before Addicks sealed a one-year loan deal the following afternoon with an exclusive option to buy the player before the loan expires. But there at the end of the report was the phase that nobody noticed - The signing is subject to a work permit being granted.

But, as we all remember, after appearing for Charlton in pre-season matches against Welling United and New Zealand, and creating a goal for Marcus Bent in the latter, it was announced that he had failed to get the required work permit. Oh dear, what a pity that the other two didn't need one.

History

Just like Carlisle its a shame this is not a cup game because we've had three cup games, all in the FA Cup, and we've won every time including a 4-2 win at Hillsborough in 2006.
But Wednesday have beaten us 4 times in the last 5 games League games played at the Valley including sending us down to Tier Two in May 1999 with a 0-1 defeat. In fact, they have done the double over us in 3 of the last 5 seasons spent together over the last 20 years. Overall, at the Valley, its 9-6 to the Addicks with 5 draws although in total its level pegging with 15 wins a piece with 10 draws.

What's Their Secret?

A mean defence, equal best with Brighton, with only 8 goals conceded. And with so much emphasis on defence, down the other end they have failed to score 4 times in 13 league games, twice as many as the Addicks, and have lost 3 of them. But, completely unlike the Addicks, they are the only club in Tier Three that have not conceded a goal after scoring first and Wednesday have done it 6 times and of course have won every one of them. Meanwhile the Addicks, although scoring first twice more times( ie 8), have now conceded 8 and that's if we forget another 4 at Shrewsbury in the League Cup.

So first things first. It would appear paramount then we stop them from scoring, and especially scoring first. A big, big problem this with our current defensive record. But don't be surprised if we've managed it to half-time because Wednesday have failed to score before half-time in their last 6 games.

What Are They Saying?

Parky before last weekends game at Carlisle "It's important to remember it's our fourth home defeat in 34 games which is a good record. The manner of the defeat creates a lot of unrest but the home record has been good." Lets hope it improves even more this weekend.

While Wednesday's Irvine had this to say after his teams 1-1 home draw with Bournemouth, "It was a game of two halves. Bournemouth controlled the first half and were much the better side while we were the better side in the second. Take note Parky, the first 45 currently seems to be a bit of a problem for Irvine's lot.

The Team

The Defence. We all know who its going to be - unless Parky surprises us and gives the hard-done by Fortune a game - and thats why we'll all be a bit apprehensive as we take our seats on Saturday. Only twice in the last twelve League games have we kept a clean sheet and it was a miracle in one of those that Notts County failed to score. What on earth is Parky going to say that will make any difference this weekend as we face the biggest away scorers in Tier Three?

One player on top form last weekend was Scotty Wagstaff but I even have a doubt about that for how important was the loss of left-back Sean McDaid to Carlisle? Ever-present McDaid is now out for the season with a knee problem and was replaced in the Carlisle lineup by Robson, a winger who just couldn't cope with Waggy. Carlisle then lost two other important ever-present players in the first half-hour of the game in defender James Chester and then midfielder Francois Zoko. Could all these disruptions explain the 3 goals we scored in the first 47 minutes?

Putting all that aside, there's no denying Paul Bensons hit form with 5 goals in his last 5 League games and alongside him Parky seems to have picked up a gem, if he can keep fit, of Joe Anyinsah. These two, barring injuries, will be up front but behind them there may be alterations as the boss seeks to convince Murray that he can solve the lead weight of 20 goals conceded thats threatening to derail our season.

But don't forget Parky, this lot have a tendency to start slowly and then build up steam with nearly half their goals coming in the last twenty minutes. So start with Semedo/Racon and try for a goal before getting McCormack on the field to tie things up.

On another theme, its almost a year ago since we suffered the embarrassment of three defeats in a row and surprisingly for all the talk of Parky's imminent departure we haven't suffered two defeats in a row since then. OK, the League is the most important thing and two of those defeats were cup defeats, and all away as well at Carlisle, Northwich (FA Cup) and Southampton (Painting job) and we put it all right with a 5-1 home hammering over MK Dons. What a funny game is football.

Elliot; Francis, Daily, Doherty, Fry; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Benson, Anyinsah.

Verdict

A game between the Tier Three's two highest away scorers each scoring 12 times but with a fragile home defence with 9 goals conceded in the last three games. An Addicks team thats scored just 6 times at home against a team with the most clean sheets in Tier Three (7) and that hasn't conceded a single goal after scoring first. You would think that maybe a 0-0 draw would be worth a bet as Parky seeks to bring some calm to our troubled brows but no, I won't if I were you - this is Charlton we're talking about.

Forecast- I just don't know why, but 3-2 to the Addicks.

One final thought. After 13 games last season, the spanners were lying 9th with 18 points from 4 wins, 6 draws and 3 defeats, one point worse than the Addicks right now.

Carlisle Preview

2010-10-21T11:40:00.011+02:00

Its at times like this that you turn to philosophy for an answer. Stendhal, (no, that's not him on the left) our french romantic, realised that the pain of a defeat, especially a 0-4 hammering, stays for days and who said "If you need a thousandth proof that we are not fashioned by a benign being, it is that pleasure produces only about half as much impression upon our being as pain does".

OK, he said it a few years ago now and it needs reading a couple of times before the meaning sinks in but it does explain my beliefs exactly, ie that the pleasure of a win is only followed by a desire for another one next week whereas it seems almost impossive to shrug off the memory of our weekends 0-4 demise. I just didn't know until now that they played football in his day. And here's a picture of the glum Arthur Schopenhauer to let you know that its not going to get any better.

Of course, its at this point that we usually stroll out with all the excuses. Like "its been coming", "Reid got injured", "we were never four goals worse than them"; but that would just be a load of cobblers because its really not true and we are down in 14th because we deserve to be and the sooner we get used to this Division Three stuff the better. Because not only are we 14th in points but also 19th in current standings over the last 8 games, 12th in goals scored, 14th in goals against, and 22nd in October results. All of which makes our next game a bit crucial.

Parky's already demanding a response from the players, and what better place to begin than Carlisle this weekend. So another pic for you, this time its good old GA, manager of the Cumbrians. Its Greg Abbott, 46 year old ex Bradford City defender and he's been there since November 2008, and he's no relation to our own Pawel.

The Cumbrians are not a team with any great history behind it but they have done more than Plymouth for example by enjoying - well that's a bit debatable as they finished bottom - a season in top flight football back in 1974/75 and we all know what happens to teams that finish bottom. Since then they've had a topsy-turby 21st century with eventual relegation to the Conference in 2004 but like their stay in Tier One they didn't stay long and they had an immediate return the year after by winning the Play-offs. They then won Tier Four the next season and have now spent 5 years in Tier Three making the Play-off semis in 2007/8 but losing to Leeds. They finished 14th last season.

Form
Unbeaten in their first seven league games, a run which took them up to 2nd a week ago but they slipped up last weekend with a 1-2 defeat at Exeter and now have exactly the same home record as the Addicks with 3 wins, 2 draws and a single defeat against the Posh 0-1. But they have conceded the least home goals in Tier Three (along with Wednesday) with only 2 goals let in in nine hours of football.

Eight places above us in the table but only three points away and have only scored one more goal than we have and have only scored seven times at home in the 5 games with 4 of them coming in one game when they thumped MK Dons 4-1. The other two victories were against Brentford on opening day 2-0 and in their latest home game 1-0 against Notts County.

Only one team has more clean sheets than the Cumbrians six while the Addicks have exactly half that with 3 but, although it may seem a bit obvious, it seems that the only way to get something out of the Saturdays game is to stop them from scoring because they have had two 0-0 home draws with Swindon and Brighton.

The Opposition
One constant about the top two teams is that they have quite a lot of ever-presents. The Cumbrians have a small squad and currently have no less than 8 ever-presents so there should be no excuses this week about unexpected triangles because barring any injuries its hugely possible that we'll see goalkeeper Adam Collin, defenders Simek, McDaid and Chester, midfielders Berrett, Taiwo and Zoko and striker Madine.

And to help out the regulars in midfield Abbott has bought in on loan 19 year old Oliver Norwood from Manure and he's played 5 games now.

Dangerman
We couldn't stop McGleish, Harley or Wright-Philips - all top 20 goalscorers in Tier Three - so how will we do against the enormous 6' 5", 20 year old number 19 Gary Madine. He's currently the Divisions second top scorer with 6 goals behind Craig Mackail-Smith of the Posh.

Whats Their Secret?
Second in the table in clean sheets with 6 and second in the table of goals conceded with just 8 goals let in - the Addicks have now conceded seventeen..

But if you think that defence is their forte, well maybe but they also have had with more shots on target than the Addicks and over 50 less fouls (the Addicks still top of the league here, 8 clear of Notts County), 7 less yellows and half the number of players sent off so they are clearly more efficient and disciplined that the Addicks. Shame then that they don't attract the numbers to appreciate this style of play because while the two big S's battle it out for top spot, the Addicks sit comfortably in 3rd place on average attendances with nearly 15500, while the Cumbrians lie in midtable with less than 6000 a game..

History
First thing to regret is that it isn't a cup game, 'cause we had four against the Cumbrians and won them all, three at the Valley and one up there. As for the League we lost our first ever game at Brunton Park 1-3 on New Years Day 1966 and almost exactly a year ago lost the last one by the same score. In between we've won just two of the other 13 league games, the first in 1981, 2-1 and then in 1986, 3-2. But that last one won't be forgotten quickly as it was the one that got us promoted to the top flight, still called Division One in those days, after 29 years away.

So overall up there its a meagre 2 wins in 15 league games but we have forced a draw six times over the years and there's only 7 defeats in the 15 games.

What Are They Saying?

Parky appeared in no doubt where the fault lay last weekend, "two goals from set plays and another where we gave the ball away at the edge of our box. We can't concede sloppy goals like that and expect to get anything from the game."

The Team
We should have a strike force up for it this weekend as not only is Pawel on a high after seeing his goal at MK Dons in the last 10 for the Paint competition goal of the round but Joe Anyinsah will also be going back to play against his mentor and ex-manager Greg Abbott. Our 26 year old number 23 had his best ever spell at Brunton Park scoring 13 goals there last season and how he performs, for he's sure to see some action, could be key to our hopes.

After getting a player in the Football League team of the week after the Plymouth game - Paul Benson - it was no surprise that none made it into this weeks team - and as Parky casts an eye over his players this week he must be seriously wondering what or who can be expected to put things right. That's assuming that he thinks there are things to put right because some of his comments aren't clear on that. But if the job of a football manager entails seeing whatever positives there are and getting to work then Parky only has to listen to Gus who tried to help him out by saying that it may have looked easy but it wasn't.

As Parky scratches his head, its possible that our only League ever-present, Gary Doherty, may be "rested" and find his place taken by Matt Fry. Unless, of course, Parky remembers Curbs' answer to a problem by putting-up shop and fielding a defensive formation, perhaps of Fry at left-back and Jackson in midfield or will we see a return of McCormack.

So in taking Gus's line all we can do is do our bit and raise the spirits by pointing out that a couple of weeks ago Hartlepool, after a recent 0-4 home defeat at the hands of Carlisle, had a long trip to Plymouth four days later and won 1-0. And its not unusual to see Brighton win at the Valley, even the spanners with only 2 wins in their last 10 visits can't get anywhere near Brightons record of 5 in their last 10.

Elliot; Francis, Dailly, Doherty, Fry; Martin, Semedo, McCormack, Jackson; Benson, Abbott.

Verdict

After last weekends pounding, Curbs would have engineered a goalless draw or three. Can Parky do the same? With Reid missing, and facing a settled side, a crowded midfield prepared to do battle seems in order but where are Holland and Kish (not to mention Parker) to do it for us. Will Parky drop Racon and recall McCormack?

A rather surprising eight out of 38 punters on CAFCPicks saw a win back in the summer and they do include the leading man Major Ken with nine forecasts right so far. A 0-0 draw is all we can hope for but I doubt we can achieve it. A 0-2 defeat for the Addicks and more doom and gloom on the northern horizon.

Brighton Preview

2010-10-13T08:48:00.018+02:00

Eleven games in now and how are we doing? Well, a midtable 10th place and six points behind the leader was not what we had in mind at the beginning of August. And after three away games in 8 days, although two of them weren't all that distant, they've left me feeling a bit detached and indifferent especially with the results neatly arranged at a average 1 win, 1 draw and 1 defeat. I must admit to a little tad of indifference creeping in but that could be due to the arrival of winter.

I suppose you have to look at the facts and ask yourself whether we are improving or not. One defeat in the last 6 league games and 2 defeats in the last 9 if you want to include cup games. 14th best at scoring goals and 11th best at conceding them in Tier Three. 5th best home record and one of only 6 teams still unbeaten at home with an average attendance of 14, 700 - over double that of leaders Brighton. Crap against the bottom half teams but a cracking 6th in points won against the top half. Oh, and we never give up - or maybe just wake up late - with 6 of our 14 league goals coming after the 85th minute.

And for those hopeless pessimists out there we now face a bit of a lift. Because now that all the difficult bottom of the table teams are out of the way we now face 5 easy games in sucession, namely Brighton 1st (h), Carlisle 2nd (a), Sheffield Wednesday 5th (h), Swindon 14th (a) and Peterborough 3rd (a). If you are one of those with a pessimistic nature, five defeats in a row wouldn't be a surprise but I fancy we can get at least a point leaving us on a total of 17 with a slip down to 19th come the middle of November. And funnily enough, that's exactly where Brighton were last November when Gus Poyet took over as manager.

He's had plenty of grooming as they say. Swindon, Leeds, Spurs, all as assistant manager and then came his chance with the sacking last November of Brighton's Russell Slade. He was given the job and steered Brighton away from relegation and has obviously impressed a few important people down there as recently he's been rewarded a 4 year extension to his contract, an almost unheard period in his line of work.

Form
Six points in front of us and top of the table with 22 points and unbeaten in their last 8 with the 4th best away record in Tier Three from 2 wins (Swindon 2-1, Plymouth 2-0), 2 draws (Carlisle 0-0, Tranmere 1-1) and only a single defeat at Sheffield Wednesday 0-1.

And in the latest form guide, home and away over the last 8 games, the Seagulls take top spot and are way in front of us with 18 points against our rather pathetic 10, leaving us in 18th place.

As far as goals are concerned, they are 7th highest scorers in this league with just one more than the Addicks but have only scored once in each of their last three games, but on the other hand are graced with the 3rd meanest defence in Tier Three behind the surprisingly highly 2nd placed Carlisle and the now 5th Wednesday, with only 7 goals conceded in 11 games.

The Opposition

Number 14 is Iñigo Calderón who will be disappointed that Miguel Llera is not playing because the two of them played together at Alicante in 2004/05 before Miguel moved to Gimnastic Tarragona.

Ex-Addicks
There's only two this week, but what a couple of ex's. First there's a respected member of the Wembley Play-off team who played with his heart on his sleeve and always sweated blood for the team. His name - Stevie Brown. He played 228 games plus 55 sub appearances for the Addicks over eleven years from 1991 to 2002 scoring 11 times and Carles Puyol, capt of Barca and Spain always reminds me of Steve's head first style, except that Brownie hasn't got a World Cup winners medal. Steve's now returned to his roots and is Youth team manager at the Seagulls.
The other ex is, of course, Kish. Immoralized by the blogging world we can only wonder what his reception will be like. Now 36 and in his first season at Brighton, he's started 8 games this season for the Seagulls. He joined us in 2000 and stayed for 7 years before playing his last game in Jan 2007 and moving to Leeds.

Pi**ed off with relegations at Leeds and then Leicester to moved back to Bulgaria before Poyet enticed him back to the UK with a promise to let him play at the Valley. Capped 88 times for his country he played 167 plus 33 sub games for the Addicks in the Premier scoring twice and prior to that won two Bulgarian league titles in his time at Litex Lovech.

Dangerman
Top scorers are twenty year old number nine Ashley Barnes and number 17 Glenn Murray who have now been joined on 3 goals each by Kazenga LuaLua, on loan from Newcastle. And, no he's not the famous one, thats his brother Lomana.

History
Brighton have a good record at the Valley with 9 wins in the twenty-four games played at the Valley, all in the League, with 13 Addicks victories and 2 draws. And their last victory was on a wet night last February with Llera's mate right-back Calderon scoring the first on 36 minutes. Bennett added a second with 78 minutes gone and we only had a Sodje goal in the dying seconds to show for our efforts.
In fact, you could argue that they have one of the best records at the Valley of anyone for of the last 10 games at the Valley over the last 37 years they have won 5, the Addicks only 4 with a single draw.

What Are They Saying?

Parky was pleased after Saturdays game, "We are very pleased. Today was a good all-round performance with the second half very, very good."We conceded an early goal from a long throw which was disappointing, but football's all about reactions and you need character out there to make sure the team reacts in the right way and I felt we did that."

Whats Their Secret?
Especially clinical against the bottom half of the table with 4 wins and a draw and as we said before the 3rd best defence in Tier Three. But there does appear to be a lack of staying power present in the Seagulls. Because in complete contrast to the Addicks who have scored 6 out of our 14 in the last 5 minutes, the Seagulls do completely the opposite and have conceded exactly half of their 8 goals conceded in the last 5 minutes. And its a problem that sadly is getting worse for the Seagulls. Goals conceded last week at home to Bournemouth (in the 92th minute) and the week previous at Tranmere in the 87th have cost them 4 points in the last couple of weeks. Previous to that they lost another two points at home to Rochdale with a 92th minute penalty and the only time it didn't matter was a late consolation earned by Walsall in a 2-1 win.

And surprise, surprise, guess who else has gifted 6 points to the opponents due to conceding after being in front? Why the Addicks, of course, against Oldham, Tranmere and the Daggers.

They have what appears to be a settled team with 5 players who have started all 11 games whereas in comparison the Addicks have only one - Gary Doherty.

The Team

For Addicks strikers a brace of goals doesn't come along very often so we must heap praise on those that achieve it. Apart from Pav Abbott's couple in the League Cup against Shrewsbury in August, the last time anyone scored twice was Deon Burton's two, both penalties, in the 4-4 draw with the spanners at the Valley in December last year. Prior to that Lloyd Sam got two against Tranmere in our 4-0 win there in August last year but the last time a striker scored more than one in the League and not from penalties was Deon again on May 3rd against Norwich in our Tier Two 4-2 swansong, 57 league games ago. So it may have been a long time coming but at last we can say well done Paul.

As for the team at the weekend, Parky first of all has to decide who to play in central defence. With Francis failing to stop Brentford winger Weston the previous week and then being sent home at Andover for the Plymouth game, Christian has had time to fill in at right-back with a stirring performance that brought accolades from Parky. His class apart, perhaps we take this little gem for granted and as Parky discovered at the weekend there's far more to Christian than we normally see. At sixteen years of age in 1990, he became Dundee United's youngest ever player and, playing as a striker, scored in his first 3 games and as well as his 67 Scotland caps he's also played 34 times for the Scotland U21's, which is a world record for the U21's.

So its fair to assume that Dailly will be in the team for Saturday but will he be back in his normal role or flying down that wing again. With Gary Doherty being our only ever-present and Jon Fortune starting in the last 3 league games what will Parky do about new father Francis?

As for the rest of the team, with the second half performance last weekend reported by many to be the best of the season, it would be reasonable to expect the conservative Parky to start against Brighton with same players than started the second half with Francis replacing Fortune.

Elliott; Francis, Dailly, Doherty, Jackson; Martin, Semedo, Racon, Reid; Abbott, Benson

Verdict

Brighton's only defeat so far in the League was away at Hillsborough in front of 18,000 fans and with gates at the Withdean averaging just 6,800 maybe they are just not used to a little bit of noise. There were 10,000 at Swindon when they won 2-1 but perhaps our only chance will be to get behind the team, make a lot of noise and encourage them to attack until the very end especially in the last 5 minutes when Brighton are prone to concede.

All in all, Parky, its time for a Leeds-type performance to kickstart the season and bring these Seagulls down to earth. But as mentioned before, optimism is a bit lacking in this neck of the woods and for me its a 1-1 draw unless Benson can pop up with another late, late winner.

Plymouth Argyle Preview

2010-10-07T09:05:00.003+02:00

An away win in a cup competition doesn't happen very often for the Addicks but full marks to Parky for fielding a full-strength side at the stadiummk and Waggy and Pav for getting the goals. And its our first come from behind win since the 2-1 victory at Roots Hall in February when Reid was again the star, scoring one and making the other. But you have to ask yourself, how will that result affect our game on Saturday? Have we turned a corner, or were MK missing a few regulars?

So with expectations again showing signs of sprouting forth how will the team perform after our ignominous defeat at bottom club Brentford. There's not a lot of time to dwell on the answer because unlike the cream of English football we don't have a break this weekend and its on to Home Park, Plymouth and what will be our third away game in 8 days. Manager there these days is Peter Reid, now 54, and ex-manager at Man City, Sunderland, Leeds, Coventry and Thailand. His list of honours as a manager number two, the Tier Two championship in 1996 and 1999 - the second one with a then-record breaking 105 points - with the Black Cats. Of course, he is most remembered as the opposing, and losing, manager at the greatest Wembley game ever where his side lost on penalties to the promoted ADDICKS.

Mr Reid was appointed manager of the Pilgrims in June this year when former manager Peter Mariner was demoted, after just six months in charge, to the Pilgrims coaching staff.

Plymouth's current claim to fame is a rather unwanted one, for after Hull earned promotion to the Premier League, the city of Plymouth is now the largest in England never to have hosted top-flight football. They're currently down there in 17th position in Tier Three with 12 points and not looking likely to reach the Premier any time soon.

Form
So, after failing unsuccessfully to prevent Brentford from scoring their first goals in 5 games, almost akin to giving the Daggers two goals after they had also failed to score in any of their three previous away games, what better team to face now that Plymouth who have failed to score at home in their last three. Or to put it another way, the feeling of relief at Home Park must be massive at the pending arrival of so generous a team as Charlton who, as everyone knows, have not been good enough to beat three of the bottom of the table teams in the last 2 weeks. Perhaps we should consider the possibility of turning ourselves into a registered charity to gain the tax benefits or maybe rename ourselves Oxfam Athletic.

So how do Plymouth match up to our recent failures. Well, they're a lowly twenty-first best in home form in Tier Three which admittedly doesn't sound very threatening with just a single win, 3-2 over Sheffield Wednesday - the Owls third defeat in a row - in five home games. They did manage a 1-1 draw against Carlisle with an equaliser in the last minute in their first home game but most recently suffered two non-scoring defeats against high-climbers Peterborough and Brighton by 0-3 and 0-2 respectively.

But it all got even worse last weekend with the arrival of the less challenging 19th placed Hartlepool who, contrary to expectations, had rather a good away record, and had previously only conceded a single goal on their travels. And a single goal it was that decided it and of course it wasn't Argyle who scored it, it was Hartlepool in the 87th minute.

So following on neatly from last season when they were the Championships second lowest scoring team with only 2 wins out of last 13 home games last season which means only 3 wins out of 18 home games in 2010. Not surprisingly they're not happy bunnies down at Home Park.

As far as scoring at home is concerned, you'll be surprised to see that the two lowest scorers at home so far this season in Tier Three are the two pre-season favorites to be promoted - Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday - with just three goals each in 5 games with close behind, or should it be in front, are the boys from Devon with four. Of course, the second worse home scorers last week were Brentford; who aren't any more.

And if you want another pointer to the result, its another team (just like Brentford before the weekend) whose only previous home league win has been against Sheffield Wednesday.

The Opposition

A crazy mix of approximately 13 nationalities in their squad plus scouser Reid must make their training sessions a bit bizarre and there were eight different ones in the last defeat against Hartlepool.

And, of course, foreigners come with attitude as demonstrated by Dutch defender Marcel Seip who on 5 April 2008, refused to be a substitute in a league fixture against the Addicks, after having made four successive starts. He was subsequently fined two weeks wages, and placed on the transfer list, by manager Paul Sturrock. Obviously not one to forgive and forget, it took Seip 3 months before on 4 July, Seip apologised to Sturrock and his team mates over the Charlton affair. As a result, the club removed him from the transfer list. He's number 30 and so far there's no news of him refusing to play at the weekend.

Ex-Addicks
Only one this week, although another player who never kicked a ball in anger for us. His name, forever associated with the Dowie era, is Simon Walton. He was, in fact, Monica's first signing for 500k as an 18 year old from Leeds. He came on in the second half at the Valley in the 1-1 friendly against New Zealand but was soon sent out of loan to Ipswich. A year after he arrived he was sold to QPR for 200k. He spent last season on-loan at Crewe and then suffered a cruciate knee ligament when playing, on-loan, for Sheffield United in a pre-season friendly this summer so he's not one you see on saturday.

Dangerman
Current top scorer at Home Park is Bradley Wright-Phillips, younger brother of Shaun, with 4 goals.

Nostalgia Corner

At this point in the boring proceedings of a Tier Three preview, I thought you would appreciate a little bit of nostalgia brought on by Blackpool's startling 2-1 success at Anfield, aided and abetted by an ex-Addick. Good luck to the Tangerines but the enthusiastic celebrations by the same ex caused by Derby's second late, late equaliser in the 2-2 draw at the Valley back in December 2008 prevents me from offering any congratulations to Mr Varney. Instead, I thought it would be nice to remember that the Addicks are currently unbeaten on their last two visits to Anfield (2-2 and 0-0) and have only one defeat in our last four games there which include our memorable 1-0 win in April 2004. That win with just 6 games remaining of the season, left us just 2 points behind 4th place Liverpool with a game in hand - we finished 7th, of course but completed our first double over the reds for 50 years. And that Blackpool result shouldn't surprise anyone really because they have now won 4 of their last 7 visits to Anfield and only lost once.

History
Things have sobbered up recently in games against the Pilgrims with nobody scoring more than a couple of goals in the last 12 games. In previous years it was all a bit different culminating in the amazing 20 goals scored over two days in 1960 with both teams winning 6-4 on their own patch. It was Christmas after all.

In recent form, a total of eleven games both home and away over the last 30 years have been pretty even - we've won 4, they won 3 and there's been 4 draws. Of the total number of games at Home Park we've won 6 out of 32 with 19 defeats but the last two games there have been pretty dramatic. The season before last was a 2-2 in November 2008 where, after being behind for nearly an hour, we scored twice in 4 minutes through Youga and Gray with a penalty in the last 5 minutes before conceding an equaliser in added on injury time.

And previous to that in April the same year Leroy Lita was the hero when we won 2-1 with 10 men after losing Weaver, sent in the 3rd minute, going behind to a goal on the hour before on-loan Lita scored his last two goals for us in the second half.

What Are They Saying?

I have to say that I see the same attitude in the Pilgrims website as seen in Addicks blogs, a sense of expectant doom and lack of hope. We're not happy with our financial problems and lack of consistency and maybe its past history but perhaps we didn't give Parky enough credit for our record-breaking start last year after finishing bottom the previous season. In comparison, Plymouth seem to be suffering a serious case of relegation blues and manager Reid can't figure it out, especially after last weekends defeat to Hartlepool.

"Our best player against 'Pool was our 16 year right back Stephens", said Reid. "They had a nine hour journey yet it looked as if my team had had a nine hour journey. They were sharper and came with a defensive game plan."

If you really want to give yourself false hopes of a result (not recommended) the full interview is here.

Parky after Tuesdays win at MK, "I thought we got stronger as the game went on tonight and with someone like Scott Wagstaff, who is probably the best athlete I've worked with in my time in football, it's no surprise he's popped in at the back stick to get the winner.”

What's Their Secret?
As you can judge by their home defeats to the Posh and Brighton they don't have a good record against the top teams in the table. However, it may not have passed your notice that they enjoy beating BIG teams, ie Southampton and Wednesday and also last seasons Play-off losers Swindon who were on a run of 3 straight wins when they lost to the Pilgrims 2-3.

As for the Addicks, we continue to confuse everyone. Do we start well or not? We've scored first in 7 out of the 10 league games but then again nearly half of our league goals - five of twelve - have come in the last 5 minutes plus added on injury time. We've been in front three times and let the opposition equalise (Oldham, Tranmere and the Daggers) whereas in the three games where we've conceded first (Huddersfield, Exeter and Brentford) we've got nothing out of the game. Unless, of course, you count Johnstone Paint games.

The Team

Man of the Match, apparently, (for the Addicks anyway) against Brentford was sub Pawel Abbott or was it Kyel Reid. Whatever, but I really can't see the point of putting a team in this section if Parky's not going to take any notice. Clearly impressed by Johnnie Jackson's goal against the Daggers and ignoring Reid's perfect cross for Benson first ever goal for the Addicks against MK he failed to see my recommendation to play Abbott and Benson together while the Anyinsah is injured.
OK, he did include goal machine Waggy, currently making our strikers look a bit sick, whilst they continue to remind us all of prolificity of Leaburn and Varney, who duly fired home his 4th of the season. As for Abbott and Reid, Parky had clearly forgetten about their contribution to our win over MK and they again started on the bench although at least this week the changes were made earlier - at half-time.

All in all we achieved the impossible against Brentford. A home team, scoreless in the last four, with not a single goal scored in the 2nd 45 minutes against a team that hasn't conceded a goal in the first 35 minutes in any of the eleven games played so far. Far from giving them just 10 minutes then in which to score a goal we gave them their first on 13 minutes and giftwrapped a second just 17 minutes later. Disaster, Parky. Our "solid" appearance of just 4 days previous had become jelly and all we could do at half-time was the same we did on Tuesday to get the result that we got then. Might I suggest Reid and Abbott to start this week.

As pointed out last week Francis was key to the team last Saturday so its regretable that he proved not to be good enough against ex-Addick Weston. What a shame it's probably the only position that we don't have a ready replacement now that Chris Solly is out injured.

And something else which can't be ignored is the lack of goals coming from the boots of our twin strike force, whether it be any combination of Abbott, Sodje, Martin, Benson or Anyinsah. In fact, we have the crazy situation where three defenders (Solly, Fry, and Llera) have scored the same number of league goals as the our strikers (Sodje, Anyinsah and Benson) with all of them only having scored once, while a winger Waggy has 4 League goals to his name and now 5 overall. What chance a 20 goal striker this season? Rather remote, I would say.

But what will Tuesdays win do to Parky's team selection? Reid is a clear starter as probably is Wagstaff and apart from Doherty's touch of flu which saw him replaced at half-time by Jon Fortune the only other question mark is who will be our strike force. On Tuesday, Pav Abbott played in place of Benson and scored his first goal since August and it was Benson who then replaced Martin on 78 minutes. Will we see Martin or Benson reduced to the bench?

The team-

Elliot; Francis, Doherty, Dailly, Jackson; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Reid; Martin, Abbott.

Verdict
Maybe you've read the interview with their Mr Reid mentioned earlier and perhaps its made you think that this could be an easy game. BUT, you could read it differently and perceive what a thoughtful manager Peter Reid is and see how Hartlepool came good after a 0-4 home pasting to Carlisle. These two clues, for me, point to a team and a manager that won't want to disappoint their own fans twice in 6 days. Like Hartlepool, expect a reaction from Plymouth. Oh, and maybe he still wants to put one over us after that Big Disappointment in 1998.
So, don't know about you but I'm so confident of the result this weekend that I'll be probably be searching for a bookmaker come Saturday morning. Pilgrims 2 Addicks 1

Brentford Preview

2010-09-30T12:07:00.013+02:00

Just when everyone was beginning to despair at the widening gap up to 1st place, plus our inability to beat the bottom clubs, it all came together on Tuesday in a solid performance to beat the new Dons. A rousing evening with a first goal from striker Paul Benson in the 86th minute in his 6th game for us lifts the Addicks up 4 places to 7th, equal on points with 6th placed Colchester and only two behind Bournemouth in second place. And we are now in front of all three of the seasons favorites for promotion, Huddersfield, Wednesday and Southampton.

Next up its another derby against Brentford who fell to 24th and bottom on Tuesday after narrowly losing 0-1 away to Brighton.

Andy Scott's the manager and he's now in his 3rd year in charge and that makes him the longest serving Bees manager in the last 13 years. And that may give you some idea of the rapid turn-over rate at Griffin Park as they have had 10 in charge in the last 10 years. Scott is an ex-Bees player who started out as assistant to Terry Butcher but was given the job after Butchers dismissal in 2007 so this is his first managerial job and he's already given the Bees their first trophy in 10 years by winning the Tier 4 championship in his first full season 2008/09.

But after last season's credible ninth place finish in Tier Three (although a hefty 18 points behind the Play-offs) they have slumped now to bottom place and after last seasons average gate of 6000, crowds are now down to 4800. And after only two home defeats in each of their last two seasons they have already lost their first two home games.

Form

Brentford are finding it hard going this season in the League and sit down there in 24th spot with only one win, and 3 goals scored, in 4 home games. They've first lost to Walsall and Rochdale, 1-2 and 1-3 and then amazingly defeated top of the table Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 in what was the Owls first defeat of the season. And although they kept another clean sheet in their last home game against Hartlepool they couldn't score either and the game finished 0-0. So only three goals scored in 6 hours of play in league games at Griffin Park.

Away from home its even worse with only two points won in draws at Swindon and Bristol Rovers and defeats at Carlisle, Orient and Brighton so overall its not looking very good with just that one win in 8 games. But, before you get too carried away perhaps we should mention their fine League Cup form where in a similar three games, all at home, its been three wins out of three against Cheltenham and Hull, both 2-1, and then Everton on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

But overall if you think we have hard luck in front of goal, then you should feel really sorry for Brentford fans with just 4 league goals scored in 8 games making them Tier Three's lowest scorers. And their current run of two draws followed by two defeats have all come without a single goal scored and after only losing a total of four home league games in the last two seasons things are not looking good for Scott with two home defeats already.

In contrast, the Addicks are on a run of 4 games unbeaten with two draws and two wins and after our only non-scoring game at Exeter, a 0-1 defeat, we have scored 5 in the last 4 games.

The Opposition
The voting took place last week in the PFA player of the month for September and rather surprisingly included in the 5 shortlisted was the Bees skipper Irishman Kevin O'Connor - the others are Jamie McCombe and Gary Roberts (Huddersfield), Aaron McLean (Peterboro'), and Josh McQuoid(Bournemouth).

Ex-Addicks
Its a real home from home down at Griffin Park these days because there's no fewer than four ex-Addicks in the Bees ranks. Chief man has to be Charlie MacDonald who only scored one for us in his dozen or so appearances from the bench but it was an important one against QPR in a 1-0 victory back in 2000. He's now 29 and after a few years in non-league football with Crawley and Gravesend he's clearly found a good home at the Bees where he's been now for two years scoring a total of 37 goals with 17 coming last season. And Charlie it was that scored the only goal in the defeat of Sheffield Wednesday back on 5th September in a top versus bottom clash that saw Brentford win for the first time in seven league games. And it was an all ex-Addicks moment as it was Myles Weston who supplied the cross.

They also have Nicky Forster who has yet to score for them but got two for us last season in his 8 games for us as well as Myles Weston and 39 year old Simon Royce who played nine games for us and after Forster came on in the 87th minute against Orient last weekend all three outfield Addicks were on the field. And our ex-boys can take penalties as well as was proved against Everton. All three outfield players, MacDonald, Forster and Weston all scored in the shootout before Phil Jagielka missed for the Toffees.

And if you're looking for even more connections with the Addicks, Hermann Hreidarsson is very close to Bees fans hearts he being their most expensive player back in 1998 when they paid 750k for him before he inevitably became their most expensive sale as well a year later for 2.5m in a move to Wimbledon.

Dangerman

So with only 4 League goals to their name how is it that they have a top scorer with more than ours. Well, thats because of their successful Cup exploits. He's 25 year old Robbie Simpson, on loan from Huddersfield Simpson who's previously played for Coventry. He joined the Sky Blues at the start of the 2007–08 season along with a host of other new players, and was immediately touted as a future star by the man who bought him, manager Iain Dowie. That sounds familar, didn't that happen to us?

What Are They Saying?
Meanwhile, Bees striker Gary Alexander, who scored the goal against Everton (Myles Weston again supplying the cross ) looking for excuses after failing to score, and losing 0-1 at Orient 3 days after beating Everton, says they are not creating enough. "When we are creating chances we are missing them but we are not creating an awful lot"

Someone else was also discussing missing chances and it was Paul Benson yesterday: "In my head I can put it [lack of goals] down to switching clubs and the unrest that comes with that, plus getting used to a different style of play. I've been playing a slightly different role for the team and for the gaffer. I've been playing a little bit deeper than what I'm used to but I was right up top on Tuesday which is where I want to play and I managed to get the goal."

And early in the week manager Scott told the London Evening Standard, "My job is on the line if we keep losing games. There is no point playing well and then losing every week."

Meanwhile, the Sporting life were not very impressed by midweek football standards in Tier Three, "but a shocking lack of quality from both sides ensured real chances remained few and far between until Jonathan Fortune headed just over in the 78th minute."

History

We've had a total of 40 games against Brentford and managed 5 wins out of 19 games at Griffin Park but we've lost two of our last three visits there and haven't won since 1980 when we won in this seasons favorite scoreline, 1-0 with a goal by defender Peter Shaw. That year, thirty years ago, was the year we got out of the Third Tier by finishing third behind Rotherham and Barnsley. Could that scenario be repeated on Saturday?

Last seasons encounters were a 1-1 in Brentford with Nicky Bailey equalising with a penalty in the 58th minute after Carl Cort had put the Bees ahead 5 minutes earlier. At the Valley it was a record breaking 6th win in a row with Burton and Sam scoring in the first half to put us clear at the top of the table.

What's Their Secret?
At last we face a team that's even worse than we are during the second half. But surprise, surprise, despite the doom and gloom over our current poor second half performances, we've now managed to score more during the second 45 than the first, 6 goals to 5. But whereas we at least have scored during the second half, poor old Brentford have failed completely to score a single goal during the second half in their 8 league games. Incredible but true.

The Team

There's rumours that Rob Elliot and Christian Dailly will be back in contention for the weekend and we'd all feel a little happier if that were the case. Worner is clearly a good shotstopper but his lack of height is a bit of a worry while the steadying presence of Christian will be a particular perk even though we kept our third clean sheet of the season on Tuesday. And once he returns there'll be a real contest for the two centre-back places with the assured return after 20 months away of Jon Fortune playing his 196th game for the Addicks in Tuesdays win.

But, the most important player this week would appear to be Simon Francis who has the job of keeping the Bees main supply line, Myles Weston, quiet. Weston, still only 22, left the Addicks in 2007 and arrived at Griffin Park in 2009 via Notts County. Francis has met Myles before and will remember his last game at Brentford last season and although his team Southend lost 1-2 to a penalty in the 95th minute, he it was that put the shrimpers in front from a free-kick in the 9th minute. Weston also played that game and it was a foul on him by another ex, Osei Sankofa, that gave Brentford their first goal also from the penalty spot.

And they both met again in the return at Root Hall in April with Francis robbing Weston to set up Southends first goal in a 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, in the Addicks midfield 20 year old Alex Stavrinou was again named as sub on Tuesday and there was no sign of Alan McCormack. Also on the bench on Tuesday was 18 year old Tamer Tuna. Stavrinou has already played for Cyprus' U17's and Tuna has already scored his first goal for the Addicks against Barnet last year. If we can hold on to all these promising youngsters we could see the benefit in a couple of years. Just look at Barcelona who last weekend had 7 of their team come through their academy.

But will we see another defender taking a cue from Shaw thirty years ago? Its been 9 months since Jon Fortune last scored but he came close on Tuesday. His last goal was in his home debut for Sheffield United last January when, after going up for a corner, he controlled the ball with his thigh before volleying past the Reading goalkeeper. As for Gary Doherty its time for him to prove his usefulness with Christian about to return and its been 8 months since he last scored for Norwich at Brighton in February.

But what will Parky do with his attack? The introduction of Abbott on 70 minutes and Reid on 75 changed the game on Tuesday with Kyel supplying the cross for Benson's goal. Will Abbott's cameo be enough to see him start at the expense of Scotty Wagstaff and will Reid's crossing - vital to Benson's scoring - be enough to displace Johnnie Jackson from his midfield role?

Worner; Francis, Doherty, Fortune, Fry; Martin, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Benson, Abbott

Verdict

Our third game in 3 weeks against a team in the bottom three and having failed to despatch the first two what are our chances of completing an unwanted hat-trick. Very high actually. Thirty years since a win there in what is a London derby and with so many ex-Addicks just champing at the bit to get a win under their belt at our expense. And their home form against such teams as Wednesday and Everton should give Parky some food for thought.

The fact that they are bottom of the league may change peoples ideas but back in the summer only 4 punters out of 38 on cafcpicks saw this as an away win which shows how difficult a game it was thought to be. Local derbies often end in draws and this could well be the likely scenario with Charlie MacDonald getting a goal in a 1-1 draw. With twelve players already on the Addicks goalscoring charts after a total of 10 games played, who'll get the equaliser is anybody's guess.

MK Dons Preview

2010-09-28T08:45:00.016+02:00

All those unimpressed by our draw with the Daggers need only take a brief look at the bottom of the league table to get even more irritated. This, despite Parky's assertions that our first half performance was our best this season, will serve to remind you that apart from giving the Daggers their first away league goals after 315 scoreless minutes, we've now managed two draws against the bottom two in our last two games.

And we have to thank our young goalie Ross Wormer for even that, after making 3 excellent saves in the second half.

But there's no rest for the wicked as after the youngsters from Dagenham come another club with next to no history being been born in their present guise in June 2004 after having absonded from SE25. Leading out the Dons these days is the youngest manager in the Football League, 30 year old Karl Robinson, and he is also the youngest person to ever acquire a UEFA Pro Licence at the age of 29. If you are impressed enough to read more, its here.

But if you think the apparent inexperience of their manager in any way implies a pushover and perhaps another 5-1 like last season then it's probably best to think again as they are currently 9th in the table and with a home record thats the best in Tier Three. In fact Robinson is in that select group of managers who were either useless at playing or had to retire early because of injury - he's in the second group - and he started in a coaching role at Liverpool in his early twenties before following Paul Ince around at MK Dons and then Blackburn where he also experienced life working for Sam Allardyce.

And don't expect to see the same style of play from the Dons this season. Robinson was in charge for the last four games of last season and although they drew one and lost three of those four fixtures, "Robinson's attempt to introduce a less direct and physical style of play was appreciated by a large section of supporters." In fact, they like to pass it around and play possession football.

Form
So top of the table, in home form, with 10 points from 4 games so its fortunate that they're coming to the Valley because away from home its been quite the reverse with only one win from the 4 games with a 2-1 win at Walsall on opening day being their best result, followed by a bit of a pasting at Carlisle by 1-4, another defeat, 0-2, at Brighton and then another reverse 1-2 last weekend at Peterborough.
So we can only hope that we won't see them at their best and perhaps we can take encouragement from the fact that all of their 4 wins have been against teams below us in the league and the fact that this will be their third away game in a week, after Birmingham last week in the League Cup where they lost 1-3 and then Peterborough at the weekend.

The Opposition
Top scorer is number 10, 21 year old Sam Baldock with 4 and he looks to be a rising star having being been chosen for the England U-20 team to play at the FIFA World Cup last year in Egypt. He missed the Rochdale game with an ankle knock and was an unused sub against Peterborough where up front were Jabo Ibehre and Jermaine Easter, both with two goals each this season.

Meanwhile, our Christian is not the only old boy around these parts as the Dons have Dietmar Hamann, currently 37, of Liverpool fame. He it was who scored the last ever goal at the old Wembley in a game that Germany won 1-0 and forced the resignation of Kevin Keegan. Hamann was on the bench against Rochdale but started against Peterborough.

And Luke Chadwick and Lee Martin may have a few memories to discuss after their similar playing experiences. Both, obviously guilty of sinning in a previous life, started their career at Man U ( OK, Martin was at Wimbledon before that) and both were then loaned out to Belgian side Royal Antwerp. Although 6 years older Chadwick hasn't travelled so far or as much as Martin with 8 club stickers on his luggage whilst our Lee has already seen the inside of 9. And both Martin and Jermaine Easter know each other from Plymouth in 2007.

What Are They Saying?
Dons chairman Pete Winkelman said: "Karl (Robinson) is a young man with enormous ambition who has the talent to build on the momentum our club is building."

Daggers boss John Still on why Paul Benson is still not finding the net, "You have to cross it early. The wide players here come inside too much. As soon as you don't cross it, defenders get tight to him."

History
Following on from the Daggers an even shorter history if you conveniently forget the confusion with Wimbledon. Only two games played, both last year of course, and we won both. A pulsating 5-1 home win in November followed by a 1-0 win in April.

Whats Their Secret?
After our two goals on Saturday we have at least reached double figures with 10 goals scored even though in doing so we have slumped to 19th in the most generous league table having gifted 6 points now after having gone in front. This can be explained, partly, by our early game prominence, because we've scored first in 6 of our 8 league games. Only Bournemouth have more first-to-score games that us and we are one of eleven teams who have all failed to score just once.

And perhaps we should ask the League if we can play shorter games. Say 35 minutes which would suit us fine. We haven't conceded a single goal in that time in 9 games played whilst scoring 8 times. And its our second half performances that perhaps should be worrying Parky far more.

As for the Dons we face a team that are more ruthless than we are. They have only scored first in three games but have won them all whereas the generous Addicks have won three and drawn three of our 6 score first games.

The Team
Parky has some injury worries for todays game with both Anyinsah and Reid picking up hamstring injuries on Saturday while Abbott and Solly were both already in the treatment room.

But will he learn from last weekends failures. Perhaps stealing frequent goalscorer Tosan Popo from the U18's, especially since he turned 18 on Sunday, might serve to shake up the strikers even more and while we'll at it why not partner him with Tamer Tuna, unused sub on Saturday, who'll be 19 next month.

Meanwhile, bearing in mind we have so much trouble with our strikers who have once scored once (Anyinsah) in our last 8 games, he'll be very surprised to learn that we have the most scorers in Tier Three (including cup games). Yes, no less than eleven addicks have found the back of the net this season although close behind come the Dons with 10 scorers. Shame that Paul Benson is not among our eleven.

Wormer; Francis, Doherty, Fortune, Fry; Martin, Semedo, Racon, Jackson; Benson, Sodje.

Verdict

This will be a tough game and I can't really see a win here unless you manage to take heart from the Dons fragile away record. Their 1-4 defeat at Carlisle, where they also lost 0-5 last year, was because of the agressive Carlisle tactics where the Dons were hurried and hassled and never given time to settle on the ball. This is the only approach that may unsettle them and prevent them enjoying possession for long periods. Perhaps a return for MacCormack would improve matters here.

But unless the team continues its first half performance from last weekend, a 1-1 draw is probably the best we can hope for.

Dagenham and Redbridge Preview

2010-09-22T09:06:00.009+02:00

A disappointing result at Tranmere, where our first half dominance didn't see us get the goals we deserved, leaves us languishing in 10th and now 3 points away from Huddersfield in top spot. But its early days and we can only regret having been relegated a year too soon because if we had last seasons form we would be five points clear at the top.

Anyway, two home games coming up to see out September, a month whose results sees us currently 15th best, and we begin with the second to bottom club Dagenham and Redbridge.

And what an awful bees knees mess is this Tier Three league. Two weeks after playing the oldest team in the world John Still brings his young 18 year old team to the Valley. Although maybe that's a bit unfair as Dagenham and Redbridge are in reality four teams rolled in one, being an amalgamation of Ilford, Walthamstow, Leytonstone and Dagenham, and who can blame them if it gets them into League football. This they achieved in just 15 years when, after winning the Conference, they played their first League game in August 2007 just as we dipped out of the top flight.

Form

Second bottom of the league and with the worst away record as well, where they have played three, lost three and all without scoring at Wednesday, Notts County and Bournemouth by 0-2, 0-1 and 0-3 respectively. And in their cup exploits they have fared no better with a 2-1 away League Cup defeat at MK Dons as well as that forgetable 0-1 exit at the Valley in the Painting jobbie which all makes it look rather easy for Addicks come the weekend.

As for their home games, they drew 2-2 with 4th from bottom Tranmere and had a amazing 2-0 win over the hapless Orient while coming unstuck again last weekend against Bristol Rovers 0-3.
But they did manage a draw against Exeter this week to lift them off the bottom so its a total of seven league games, 4 without scoring, and only 5 points to show for their total of 5 goals scored; come back Paul Benson.

The Opposition
Number nine for the Daggers is Jon Nurse from Bridgetown, Barbados who in 2008 became the Daggers first ever full international when he played 55 minutes of Barbados' World Cup qualifying match in Dominica on the 16 February 2008. The forward then played 69 minutes in the 2nd leg against Dominica on 26 March 2008.

Alongside Nurse we may see the 6' 3" Basir "Bas" Mohammed Savage, just signed from Tranmere. He's big, black, with an extravagant style of play and is famous for his moonwalk celebrations whenever he scores. Lets hope we remain as ignorant of their style as we are now.

But the man to watch is surely the number 20 Frenchman Romain Vincelot (left). He's a midfielder but that doesn't stop him being the Daggers leading scorer with 4 goals including the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at home on Tuesday against Exeter.

And one aspect that Manager Still will be pleased about is the number of shoots last weekend, for while the Addicks managed 10 shots in total at Tranmere with only 3 on target, the Daggers had 22 shots in all with eleven on target. This may be a result of their being more adventous playing at home where they have managed to score all of their 5 goals. Looking back to their Painting efforts at the Valley it was the Daggers who hardly excelled with only three shots on target against the Addicks 6.

History

Just about the shortest history lession this season ( no, MK Dons will be shorter) with only three previous games. A Third Round FA cup tie in January 2001 with John Salako equalising in the dying moments saved our blushes and a Shawn Newton goal at Victoria Road got us through to the 4th round.

And then there was the nondescript Painting contest evening on August 31st when a 57th minute Therry Racon goal put an end to our embarrassment.

What Are They Saying?

After the Painting game at the Valley, Daggers boss John Still: "I didn't think we deserved to lose. I was pleased with the performance. I think we've got some very good players and I expect us to start winning games soon.”

While Gary Doherty adds, "We've got two massive home games coming up and our last two results have given us a boost. We're feeling confident."

The Team

After our staggering 3 goals at Orient, we have inconceivably dropped back into our goal-a-game mode. Not surprisingly our customary one goal proved not to be enough at Trenton Park and our 4 goals in our last 5 League games places us in 14th spot in the table for most dangerous attack in Tier Three. Even Orient and Rochdale have scored goals than we have and Parky must be rather embarrassed by the lack of exercise that we are giving the opposing goalkeeper. In fact, since that crazy 4-4 draw with the spanners back in December last year, although we've only failed to score 5 times in the 33 League and Play-off games since then, we've only scored more than once on 10 occasions. So, like the Arse of old, our favorite chant is clearly becoming its 1-0 to the Addicks with no less than seven 1-0 games in the last 19 fixtures.

And Parky won't be too happy either to learn that - after our impressive 23 fouls at Tranmere - our appalling tackling is setting new heights as we now have a clear lead in the table on fouls committed - now a huge 109 from our 7 games, one every 6 minutes - and only Bristol Rovers can beat our 16 yellow cards received. Won't be long before suspensions start hitting us hard, although it must be said that the cards are evenly spread with eleven players having been carded.

So while Parky emphasizes the need to stay on ones feet at the training ground, at home he'll be going over his endorsing the horses-for-courses approach, as he seeks to remedy our goals-for column and push it into double figures at least. Two goals needed, boys.

Last time out against the Daggers we played: Worner; Francis, Fry, Dailly, Llera; Martin (Reid 85), Semedo (McCormack 86), Racon, Wagstaff; Sodje (Abbott 67), Benson. So we can expect at least three changes from that team with new boy West Bromwichs' 22 year old Luke Daniels likely to start in place of 20 year old Russ Worner in goal. Christian Dailly will still be missing with his cracked eye socket (I hope they didn't make him watch the operation) and with the Daggers playing similar to Tranmere it looks like Miguel will retain his place.

Up front Paul Benson is still looking for his first Addicks goal after 4 games and this would be a good time to start Paul because despite all our efforts at signing a striker to end our distressing attacking problems, top goalscorer is none other than Scottie Wagstaff with three as many as anybody else, in league games anyway. He's one of five players that have now played more than 600 minutes but then again so have Lee Martin and Pawel Abbott.

Which strikers will Parky choose this week? After a total of nine games, with admittedly new additions coming in, we've tried five different combinations of starting strikers and none of the strikers who started the game have scored for the last seven games!

Looks like its becoming a bit of a problem then or do we put the blame on the support they are getting? Maybe its time to look back to our early success last season with a 5 man midfield and a single striker and play Racon and Martin together in midfield with Wagstaff and Reid on the wings and Benson on his own up front.

Anyway, probably supporting two of Anyinsah, Sodje and Benson, Parky must again decide who to play out wide with Scottie, Martin and Reid all available. Reid has still to score this year although Akpo will argue that it doesn't do you any good as he scored in his only League start of the season against Bournemouth and has been the perennial League sub ever since. Although he'll had to pay attention to more of what promoted-last-season Gary Doherty has to say "We've got competition for places and you need that if you want to go up. You need people fighting to keep their place and to get into the team."

Daniels; Francis, Doherty, Llera, Jackson; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, Reid; Anyinsah, Benson.

Verdict
With our recent goal a game run matching exactly what we have managed in our three previous games against the Daggers, you'd think a 1-0 win was on the cards. But after snatching three points from the jaws of defeat in the last home game against County, Parky's gonna be really embarrassed if we don't do the same and more against a team stuck at the bottom. A 2-0 home win then with Benson getting his first goal, although you may not see any celebrating.

Meanwhile over at cafcpicks, of the 38 players there a massive 26 see a home win, 11 eternal pessimistics suffer a draw, while the one nigger in the woodpile is our dear old Frankie Valley who is really thinking outside the box once again and forecasts a defeat.......

Tranmere Rovers Preview

2010-09-15T09:00:00.165+02:00

A very lucky three points last weekend, when outplayed, outshot and outcornered as well, against a County side that are reportedly gutted at the way things ended up. But after scoring one goal in our customary fashion we also did the business in what is fast becoming another trait of ours, winning in fouls committed and yellow cards. Parky clearly has some thinking to do on the long trip north to the Wirral. Dare he start with the same team again (surely not) and with what striker duo will he play, that's if he still believes in 4-4-2.

Anyway, Tranmere Rovers. That's the team that drew with Scunthorpe on the last day of the 2008/09 season therefore handing their Play-off place to the Irons so they decided to sack Ronnie Moore and employ John Barnes in an attempt to go one better. As we all know the plan backfired last season and after 14 games Barnes was sacked soon after a 0-5 loss to the spanners, Tranmere's worse result for 5 years. And it was that win, with the spanners languishing in 15th place and 12 points behind the Addicks that arguably turned their season around and propelled them up into 3rd place. Come on Parky we have score to settle.

After Barnes, the current boss at Tranmere is 52 year old Les Parry, ex physio, a rather strange choice but beggars can't be choosers and when Barnes was sacked last October with Tranmere 3rd from bottom, Parry it was. And just like Exeter, they survived, just, by winning their last game. Tranmere were at already relegated Stockport and they won 3-0.

Form

Only 4 teams outside the top six won more games at home that Tranmere last season and the season before only Leeds won more home games. So it was all a bit of a shock when this year things once again failed to go to plan because they've started the season with four straight home defeats with two league defeats to Oldham 1-2 and Bournemouth 0-3 followed by losing to Swansea 1-3 in the League Cup and they also lost to the infamous Accrington Stanley on penalties in the Paint thingy which all in all didn't make it the best of starts at Prenton Park.

So on to September and the visit of Peterborough with Tranmere down to where they started under Parry at third from bottom with just 2 points from 4 games and with the lowest league crowd figure down to 4600 so clearly Parry's job was on the line. Thankfully for him the game was won 1-0 with 19 year old midfielder Frenchman Arnuad Mendy making amends for their bad start in his first league game for Rovers since his on-loan signing from Derby with a 44th minute winner.
But then last weekend away at Yeovil they once again came unstuck by conceding 3 goals in the first 27 minutes and this against a team that had scored only three times in their 5 League games. The final score; 3-1.

So one win then and 2 league defeats at home gives them the 21st worst home record in Tier Three and they are now 4th from bottom with just 5 goals scored in 6 league games. Not that we are much better currently with just 4 games scored in our last 5 games.

The Opposition

Nine different players have scored for the Addicks this season while only 5 players have scored for Tranmere but they do have a top scorer with 3, number 7, the Nigerian from Kilburn, Enoch Showunmi ( surely a windup) but he's a tall and bustling striker and possesses pace, so clearly Miguel will be on the bench once again.

History

Trenton Park was opened in 1912 so its nearly a 100 years old but with a capacity of 16789 was obviously built when Tranmere was bigger than it is now for the latest census shows a population of only 11668 and crowds are already falling to 4,600.

Last time at Trenton Park we had a team of Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, Llera, Youga; Sam, Semedo, Racon, Shelvey, Bailey; Burton and after 4 wins in a row a draw looked on the cards, to me anyway. But this is how the game was reported on the official site "Clearly superior in midfield, where Sam was a constant thorn in Tranmere's side, the gulf was evident all over the pitch. This was a side, remember, that was relegated rock bottom of the Championship last season. But Parkinson has instilled a spirit and quality within the ranks that certainly looks likely to result in a sustained promotion challenge." Oh, if only we were able to say the same come the weekend and repeat our 4-0 win that saw Sam get a couple, Semedo score his only goal for us and Bailey get the other and complete a record breaking 5th league win in a row at the beginning of a season.

There's only been 12 long league seasons spent in the company of the likes of Tranmere and with two cup games thrown in during the very first season we played them leaves the honours in all games depressingly even with both teams having home records of 5 wins, 6 draws and only 2 defeats. Our massive total of two wins at Tranmere then in 13 games were last season's spectacular 4-0, our biggest win ever there and a 1-0 back in April 1975 during our promotion season.

You remember it, we failed to win our next 4 games after the Tranmere game, losing to Bury(!) and Chesterfield(!) and drawing with the Posh and Hereford - heady times, uh - so we had to win our last game at home to Preston to clinch 3rd place ahead of Swindon. Curtis missed a penalty and we conceded after 10 minutes. There followed 40 minutes of torment before Bobby Goldthorpe scored his last ever goal for us on 52 minutes and then Killer finished them off with two goals. Goodbye to the Third Division after 3 long years.

So What Are They Saying?

Confused? While the Addicks were falling asleep and checking their emails at the weekend, Magpies boss Craig Short was seeing it all quite differently, "I'm really disappointed, but I'm pleased with the way we've turned around the way we're playing. I thought today was a good advert for League One football.

Parky, trying to hide his embarrassment, "We've got a new team and there was a little bit of tentativeness in our play" but over in the Prem, "Considering several visiting players signed for Blackpool only last month, the sophistication of their regular positional interchanging was impressive, " against Newcastle that was, which just shows that it can be done.

Meanwhile, over at Tranmere, manager Les Parry is thankful it's half-time at Yeovil. "We were abysmal in the first half hour. I was quite happy to go in at half-time 3-0 , thats how bad we were. We could have been five down and that wouldn't have been flattering for them." And that was after Yeovil had scored 3 times in 30 minutes when its taken them 5 previous league games to score that exact number.

The Team

Only 9th in the table and heading for mid-table obscurity but on the plus side we're definitely getting stuck in because only one team, Oldham, have conceded more than our 86 fouls and we're in equal 5th place on yellow cards and share top spot on reds. And we've already given away 2 penalties.

But after last weeks gift of 3 points Parky will be keen to press on and get some points with two games against 2 teams in the bottom four. And with only 2 points covering the top nine its looking like the most competitive division there is. But after celebrating our first three goal league game for 27 games at Orient back in August perhaps it shouldn't surprise us that Leyton are currently second from bottom having let in 10 goals while Peterborough and Bournemouth are the two highest scorers with 16 goals ( while we have a grand total of 7 ) but then again only three teams (Plymouth, Brentford and the Daggers) have scored less than Tranmere's 5 goals.

And as we found out last weekend, its goals that win games. Perhaps Parky should look back to Trenton Park last year and remember our 5 man midfield and Burton up front on his own. Although any thoughts that you might have of seeing Johnnie Jackson in a 5 man midfield seem out of the question with Fry's pace needed at the back again to cope with Enoch, so Jackson seems stuck as left-back especially with the reported injury to able substitute Chris Solly.

So defence looks set to be the same as against County but what will Parky do with the midfield. With the change at half-time improving things and with Racon the only player to miss our two League defeats it would seem certain that the man on the left will start, but will Parky be content with that one change. Because the real improvement came when Abbott and Benson were taken off and replaced by Sodje and Anyinsah.

Sodje must have seen his prospects of replacing Abbott dip somewhat after a poor showing in Tuesdays closed doors reserve game against the Daggers. Missing a penalty and a one-on-one he could only watch from the dug-out as 18 year old Tamer Tuna scored the equaliser from a pass from 17 year old Tosan Popo. The replacement of Joe Anyinsah by Popo, after an hour, tempts the thought that Parky could be getting him ready for a starting place at Trenton after becoming only the 4th player in Addicks history to score on his debut.

And there's the ongoing question of what to do with the wandering Lee Martin. Our Phil from nothingelsematters suggests that Martin be moved inside behind a single striker but Martin and Racon together in the middle seems a bit too radical for Parky who does like a settled team.

Parky's team then:

Elliot; Francis, Doherty, Fry, Jackson; Martin, Semedo, Racon, Reid; Benson, Sodje

Verdict

Both teams that a recent combined goal record of 10 goals scored in the last 1080 minutes, at an average of one goal every 108 minutes. (tranmere 6 in 7; addicks 4 in 5 ) so unless things are changed around goals may be at a premium even remembering last seasons success. But this is a game that the Addicks, if they are to mount any sort of promotion challenge, must win. Its therefore a 1-0 away win but thats more my heart talking than my head.

Notts County Preview

2010-09-08T08:35:00.010+02:00

Many people are comparing this season with last and finding excuses for our midtable position. Well, this time last season we were of course top on goal difference on 15 points and look where it got us. And after 5 games, the spanners you'll be pleased to learn were 8 points behind us with exactly the same points as we have now, a meagre 7. Last year it was game 15 before we saw our second defeat at Carlisle and we followed up that result by losing to a non-league club in the FA Cup for the first time ever at Northwich Victoria and then went on to make it three in a row by losing at Southampton. Lets hope we can recover faster this time round because a revitalised Notts County are next up.

Notts County, the oldest "professional" football club in the world, apparently, with the honours for the oldest club seemingly going to Sheffield fc who play in the Northern Premier. County were born in 1862 which makes them an amazingly 148 years old. And it hasn't all been spent in Tier Three either. Like ourselves they've won the cup once and recorded a 3rd place finish in Division One when it was the real Division One back in 1891 and again in 1901, but that was all a very long time ago.

Unlike ourselves then, their glory day memories are a bit distant although they did enjoy 3 years in top flight football in the early 80's and they also had the debatable privilege of finishing 23th out of 24 (after only one years stay) in the death knell of the old Division One in 1991-92 in the last season before it became the Premier thingy. And if you think we've hard done by, also there that year were Southampton, Wednesday and Oldham. As for history, oldest club or not,they sit just behind us in the Top Flight League Table in 33rd place with more seasons but less points.

Craig Short is now manager and has returned to his roots for he started his playing career with County before moving to Blackburn, Everton and Sheffield United. But his first coaching and mangerial job was with Ferencvaros of Budapest although he didn't stay too long there after receiving death threats once he became manager.

He was there for 22 months and for the majority of that time he was employed as a coach, but when Bobby Davison was forced out as manager in October, he found himself looking after Hungary's most famous club amid growing supporter unrest.

His first match as caretaker did not even finish. "We were 3-1 down and the fans just emptied the kop and disappeared. The next thing rioters came through the family stand to try to get to the players and the match had to be abandoned. I remember we were in the boardroom afterwards and there was an SMS to one of the Hungarians, saying: 'We will hunt you down. There will be no hiding place.'"

And then after three games as caretaker they offered him the job fulltime and thats when he received a picture of himself in a Everton shirt with a sickle in the back of his head saying, 'Go home Englishman.' But he stayed on and Ferencvaros finished seventh in the League.

Form
County didn't enjoy their return to Tier Three after 6 years away and lost 0-3 to Huddersfield at home on opening day and then by the same score at Oldham away next up. Things improved with a 1-0 home win over Dagenham, closely followed by a very stirring performance at Dean Court where after conceding 3 goals in the first 28 minutes they then fought back to draw 3-3 with the last 2 goals coming in injury time. And game 5 was convincing won 4-0 at home to lowly Yeovil.

And they have been enjoying themselves in the League Cup, winning away at Plymouth 1-0 a few days after the Pilgrims had beaten Southampton 1-0 and then in the next round they caused the shock of the night in putting out Watford at Vicarage Rd 2-1. And in the Paint job they had another difficult away fixture at Hillsborough and again after conceding early they only lost 1-2.

So they're in 12th spot, one below us again, unbeaten in their last 3 League games scoring 8 goals in the process and although only a couple of teams have conceded more than their 9 goals, they have twice as many clean sheets as we do.

The Opposition
After encountering one Harley last weekend we come across another one in the only member of County's squad that you've probably heard off in the shape of former Chelski and Fulham star Jon Harley. Fulham actually spent 3.5m on him back in 2000 but his career since then has been on a slippery slope through Sheffield United, Burnley and Watford. He joined County in the summer on a free transfer and wears number 26.

And another player we're sure to notice is number 11 Ben Davies. He plays on the left wing and he's County's leading goalscorer with 4 goals having got a total of 16 last season. Along with right-winger Craig Westcarr, who's now on 3 goals, he was named in this weeks League One Team of the Week after their performance against Yeovil.

Ex-Addicks

There's no ex-Addicks playing for County that I can find but we do have another ex player with us in Johnnie Jackson. He only had a year at County last season but played 24 times scoring twice. Perhaps not what he had in mind to see his old mates just a place behind us so perhaps he'll be set on helping us to pull three points clear of them. Lets hope that his Achilles problem from last week has gone away.

History

Notts County have won twice at the Valley in Cup games (FA Cup in 1978, and League Cup in 1984) but only once (in August 1975) in 15 League visits. The Addicks have won 9 with 5 draws. We've also won the last 5 League games dating back to 1984.

What are they saying

Craig Short "It will be difficult at times. That's the nature of the job. But if I have a problem, I won't have people coming through the back of the dugout, like they were with Bobby in his last game in Hungary. If that happens here I'll have failed badly."

The Team
The first thing to note is that we've hardly started with just 5 games played. Last season after 5 games behind Leeds and the Addicks and in the Play-off spots were Colchester, Bristol, Brentford and MK Dons who finished 8th, 11th, 9th and 12th come May time. And as we said the spanners were 8th with 7 points and Norwich 19th with just 4.

And the first thing to do after losing 2 in a row is not to panic. We usually lose in Exeter and our previous managers Walter Raynor, Alex MacFarlane, Albert Lindon, Jimmy Seed (played 3 - lost 3) and Mike Bailey have all lost in Exeter over the years so there's no shame there Parky, its the norm. The only one to triumph was Alex MacFarlane in 1929 in a once in a blue moon win by 5-2 when Wilson Lennox (44 goals in a total of 78 appearances - where is he when we need him?) became the first Addicks player to score 5 in one match.

So a defeat not unexpected then as history usually has a lot to answer for but both Ketts and Deepest Darkest, amongst others, have already noted that our midfield is starting to prove a bit of a problem with a distinct lack of depth in the squad and more seriously a bit of a dearth in creativity. Ketts was rather enthusiastic about Johnnie Jackson providing this spark and after two defeats in a row we may see some changes this week.

And after enthusing about our attack after our two 3 goal games against Shrewsbury and Orient we have now gone 4 games scoring only 3 times and failed to score for the first time this season at Exeter. Pawel Abbott has still failed to score in any of our 5 league games (406 minutes played) and its two full games played for Paul Benson and no goals yet but if you're looking for precedents, and we all are, you'll remember that Super Clive himself didn't score in his first two games for the Addicks either back in that beautiful late summer of 1997.

But the biggest problem perhaps is Cristian Dailly who'll be out be the next 5 weeks. Jon Fortune was on the bench against the Daggers and Exeter without playing while Miguel Llera has chalked up nearly 400 minutes of play so far. There was a behind doors win for the Reserves against Palarse on Tuesday which saw Fortune play 70 minutes and Anyinsah 65 with a goal and an assist so it could be that both see some action on Saturday. Billy Smart also got a goal in a 2-0 win.

So Parky has some selection problems this weekend and we may see a more crowded midfield as he searches for an answer to a sudden lack of goals.

Elliot; Francis, Doherty, Llera, Fry; Martin, Semedo, McCormack, Jackson, Reid; Benson

Verdict
Its been thirty five years since County's one and only win at the Valley in 15 League attempts but they have recovered from their bad start to the season, have beaten Plymouth and Watford away in the League Cup and know how to score with 8 goals in their last three games . Another tough game then and a draw may be the best we can hope for.

Exeter City Preview

2010-09-01T10:14:00.009+02:00

After forecasting something of a result last weekend, I find myself on the wrong end of a bad mood after our first League defeat of the season just 4 games in but the arrival of Benson and Anyinsah and the signing of Jon Fortune has helped restore my confidence as has last nights Paint win over the hard-working daggs.

So its back to the League. Don't know about you but I daydream a lot especially where the Addicks are concerned so when I saw that our next game was at St. James Park there was no holding my moment of fantasy. A return to St. James Park for our 5th game of the season where we've unbeaten on our last three visits and have only lost once in our last 8 games against them................but no, get a grip, this is League One and its not Newcastle we're off to, its the other St. James Park and home of little old Exeter City.

And believe it or not we've into our third youngster in a row with yet another 37 year old geezer in charge of the opposition, this time its Paul Tisdale. And another one with a good win ratio of 86 out of 211 for the Grecians. Five years younger than Parky they both started as trainees at Southampton but missed each other by a couple of years with Parky moving on to Bury 3 years before Tisdale arrived.

And as perhaps you can tell from his Wenger like appearance, this eulogy has been found on the net, "Tisdale's neat footballing style was warmly welcomed at St James Park, with his side's patient approach and desire to pass the ball in all areas of the pitch catching the eye amid the rough and tumble of the Conference. " OK, several years ago and he may have changed his spots but ......

Exeter have had a checkered past over the last few years, with a spell under administration in the mid 90's while in Tier 4 being closely followed by definitely being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 2003 it was, when City finished 23rd, and second to last, in Tier Four but were unluckily relegated to the Conference with the timely introduction of a new rule that decreed that from now on the bottom 2 clubs are automatically relegated instead of only one. Exeter won its last game but to no avail as Swansea City's victory over Hull City left the Grecians one point short of safety.

But they were more successful last season when they again needed a win on the last day of the season, at home to Huddersfield, to leapfrog the Gills to safety. They did it with the winner coming from Ryan Harley with 8 minutes remaining.

After coming out of administration in 1996, the club remains owned by its fans, through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.

Form

Three very strange games at home for Exeter have all had exactly the same format. Two home 2-2 draws in the League with Colchester and Bristol and a 2-3 loss to Ipswich in the League Cup (after 2-2 at 90 minutes) and in every game they have scored first, conceded twice and then equalised, so its looks odds on a 2-2 draw I suppose.

And that may be all we can look forward to as they don't lose very often at St. James and its now 9 League games without defeat going all the way back to February 20th when they lost 0-1 to Stockport County, which was a bit of a shock to everyone as it was Stockports first win in 17 League games. As for last season, only two teams - the spanners and the Gills - conceded less than their 20 goals at home and they only lost 4 times. And none of the top 10 teams last season won at St. James.

Their only away League game, after the postponement of their game against Dagenham after the death of 31 year old striker Adam Stansfield, was last weekend when they went down 0-3 to Orient but they did get their first win of the season in the local derby at Yeovil in the Paint thingy where they won 3-1 with two goals from Jamie Cureton.

So they are in 21st spot with just two points but with a game in hand and much like Huddersfield last weekend are in need of a League win.

The Opposition

They'll be no number 9 playing for Exeter on Saturday, nor for the next 9 seasons as the Grecians have retired the shirt as a mark of respect for the striker Adam Stansfield who died on Aug 12 with bowel cancer. He was 31.

Leading scorer is number 7 Ryan Harley with 3.
Captain and centre-half Matt Taylor, midfielder Marcus Stewart, and striker Daniel Nardiello are all out injured for the game at Orient and none of them played last night either.

History

Let's start by reminding ourselves that Exeter is the 3rd smallest ground in League One and that we have our second worst away record there in this league (after Colchester) with just .5 points average per game.

This is Exeter's 46th season in the third tier of English football. They have played more seasons in the third tier than any club who have never reached the top two tiers and as recently as 2008 was in the Conference. As for the Addicks, this is our 16th in Tier Three with fully half of those being when we started out in the Third Division South in 1921 until 1929. So this is our 90th year in the Football League, 16 in Tier Three (18%), 48 in the Second (53%) and 26 with the cream(29%).

So, anyway, our 12 seasons together with Exeter have always been in Tier Three, the first 10 as Third Division South, then Division Three and now League One and to add to your creeping depression, let me tell you that we haven't won at Exeter since 1929, a healthly 5-2 win in our Championship winning year, but now 81 years ago. And what's more its our only success there as well, with only 3 draws and 8 defeats in the 12 League games. And, if you need more, we've been there 5 times since 1929 with 4 defeats and only last season's 1-1 draw to show for it. In fact, we've had more success in our 33 League visits to the other St. James Park (where we've won 20%) than the Devon one.

The Team

Rumours are that Parky's getting a big cake as this is his 300 game as a manager and naturally he wants to celebrate it with a win.

And we've got a couple of new players in the Daggers 30 year old Paul Benson and Carlisle's Joe Anyinsah. Both are forwards with Benson being leading Daggers scorer for the past 4 years and getting 21 and 17 in the last 2 seasons and, if you believe his old boss, we're assured of 20 goals a season if we can get some decent crosses in. As for Joe Anyinsah he's 25 and has scored a total of 15 over the last two seasons for Carlisle and he scored in 3 out of the last 4 Carlisle home games last season. And his signing this week after being on trial for some time could be significant as Exeter have only lost twice this year at home - once to Stockport as mentioned and once to Carlisle in January whose dangerman on a cold night in Devon was Joe Anyinsah. He duly scored twice in a 3-2 win.

So we've bolstered our defence a tad with taking on Jon Fortune till the end of the year, and Parky's decided to get another couple of strikers. If you count wingers as attackers thats 10 forwards we have now, fighting for 4 places. Meanwhile, we've been lacking ideas in midfield recently and only have Semedo, McCormack, Racon (who's rumoured to be off to Greece) and an untried Stavrinou as backup. OK, Jackson can play in midfield but it does seem that the engineroom as everyone likes to call it is a bit short on stokers.

But at least this week team selection is not going to be the clearcut choice of recent weeks and we also have the nagging doubt about Elliot's back as well. Its all a bit of an unknown, which I suppose will at least throw a spanner in Tisdale's week as he does pride himself on playing teams that are designed to counter the oppostion.

Worner; Francis, Dailly, Doherty, Jackson; Wagstaff, Semedo, McCormack, Martin; Sodje, Benson.

VerdictA home team without a home defeat for 6 months and a ground where we haven't won for 81 years. Can our two new strikers improve our goals for column and get us the three points or will we see another team like Huddersfield determined for a win.
Over at cafcpicks, the 38 punters shaped up with 6 wins, 10 defeats and a massive 22 draws. I was in the second category and I'm not going to change my mind. The good news is that I've only got one right so far.

Huddersfield Town Preview

2010-08-25T08:45:00.006+02:00

Much like our difficult start in our Premiership swansong in 2006/07 with Monica, our first four games this season are similarly difficult. An awkward promoted team first, an away derby next and then a revitalised Oldham lead by their new man Dickov. But we remain unbeaten and share top spot on 7 points with Carlisle, Oldham and Sheffield Wednesday.

And our next game this weekend gives us our second 37 year old opposing manager in successive games although the Terriers Lee Clark has been at it a bit longer than Dickov and has an even more impressive record with 40 wins in his 86 games in charge of Huddersfield, whom he took over in December 2008 after the Terriers had sacked Stan Ternent after a brief 6 month reign.

Clarks's boss is local businessman Dean Hoyle who took over as chairman in June 2009 and has apparently made money available.

Form

Not quite the start that was expected of several teams this season, and that includes Huddersfield Town. An opening day 3-0 romp at the home of promoted League Two Champions Notts County was followed by a disappointing goalless draw at home to Tranmere, the first time since January that the Terriers had failed to score at home in a League game. And then after going 2 goals up away to the Posh last weekend that let in 4 goals in 23 disastrous minutes.

Their only other game was a 1-0 away win over Carlisle in the Carling which means they are still searching for their first goal at home and they'll be looking towards 22 year old winger Pilkington, currently on two goals and leading scorer Jordan Rhodes on 3 to get them come the weekend.

And apart from scoring the most goals at home last year, they only lost once, 1-3 against Norwich back in the middle of March.

The Opposition

Clark has been busy during the summer persuading the 30 year old Burnley Icelandic international Joey Gudjonsson to move to Tier Three. He only played 14 of Burnley's games in the top flight after 54 the season before, but after criticizing manager Laws on the internet back in April the only way was out. Clark's also snapped-up 31 year old full-back and Scottish international Gary Naysmith from Sheff. U. And with a policy geared towards youth he's also bought 21 year old Scott Arfield from Falkirk who is their third key signing during the summer. They also have 22 year old striker Joe Garner on loan from Notts Forest, who paid Carlisle over a million for his services in the summer of 2008. And up front in the last two games its been Garner and last seasons top scorer with 23, the 20 year old Jordan Rhodes.

So What Are They Saying?

Clark after their 0-0 home draw with Tranmere, "The team was poor - average at best a plus point it was a clean sheet. The two fullbacks played to their normal level. The team didn't enhance their reputation much. I didn't think we played with any intensity or any tempo. Tranmere came and did a good job. But with purpose we look a good side when we don't, we bring the opposition into play and give them a result like they did today."

And it gets better when you hear his remarks after last weekends defeat to Peterborough, "We stopped doing what we'd done previously to get us into a 2-0 lead, in total control, we stopped the intensity and tempo. We gave 4 absolutely disastrous goals away, we were very very poor. We lost our discipline, people weren't keeping their shape, weren't making decisions properly."

History

A little bit of history for our Parky who, on 4 April 2007, was due to be announced as the new manager Of Huddersfield Town. A press conference was scheduled to announce the appointment but just before the announcement Parky phoned the Club and told them he was staying with Charlton Athletic. Andy Ritchie was then appointed Huddersfield Town manager on 11 April 2007 but only stayed a year before being replaced by Ternent and then Clark.

And just to confirm his worth to the Addicks, Richard Murray added: "While Alan Pardew has done a fantastic job and grabbed most of the headlines, the role played by Phil since he joined the club in January shouldn't be under-estimated. He's played a key role in our recent good form, and I know he is determined to see that job through and ensure we remain in the Premiership." Well, we didn't but he's still here.

With 36 seasons together, we've played Huddersfield more times than anybody else in League One. And consequently we've had plenty of defeats up there, namely 16 in total. But with ten wins and 10 draws, there's other places we fear more.

The place now is a bit of a mouthful it being called the Galpharm Stadium after some healthcare company. Built in 1994 it was known as the McAlpine Stadium for the first 10 years after its builder but rather like selling your soul to the devil its name now is open to the higher bidder. How lucky we are to have the dear old Valley. In a nice, rather old fashioned way, most of the stadiums in Spain are named after people, although not often the name of the builder. Anyway, in our only game at this "new stadium" last season it finished a 1-1 draw, Kyel Reid equalising a Jordan Rhodes goal. The game before that at the McAlpine in 1999 we won 2-1 in the second win in our 12 game winning run having beaten Palarse 2-1, 3 days earlier. A injury to one of my favorites, Eddie Youds, at the McAlpine meant that it was his final game for the Addicks.

The Team

Another game against a former club for Pawel Abbott as it is for Akpo Sodje. Pawel only had a year at Oldham scoring 13 times but he had rather more success at the Terriers, playing 111 games and scoring 48 times in his three years there. As for Akpo he only played 7 games there before going out on loan but he'll remember Pawel as Akpo made his Terriers debut away at Port Vale on the day that Abbott got a hat-trick.

We'll see the return of Christian Dailly and Jose Semedo with Miguel Llera and Therry Racon standing down and the rest of the team will surely remain the same as there's really nobody else good enough to come in.

But there's one thing about last season that we need to improve. Our record against the other sides in the top 6 last season wasn't very encouraging with only 1 win (home to Huddersfield) in the 10 games although there was 7 draws and only 2 defeats whilst our away record against the top teams was also suspect with only 1 win, at MK Dons, against the top half of the table.

Parky only made one substitution against Oldham, Akpo on for Racon after 75 minutes and somehow didn't trust himself to make further changes. Against Peterborough, Huddersfield's young side - average age was 24, with seven players aged 23 or under - lost 4-2 after going 2-0 up. Perhaps Parky could have warned him because against Shrewsbury, when we lost 4-3 after being 3-0 ahead, our average age was very low at just 22.7, with 6 players 21 or under.

As for our chances, that may depend on how the Huddersfield full-backs cope with our two young wingers. The experienced 31 year old Naysmith will return at left-back after a one game suspension to give Wagstaff a hard game so perhaps its time to give more balls to Reid. But he'll be up against 23 year old Lee Peltier, ex of Liverpool for whom he's played in the Champions League against Galatasaray.

Anyway, here's the team, with ages

Elliot24; Francis25, Dailly 36, Doherty30, Jackson28, Wagstaff20, Semedo 25, McCormack26, Reid22, Martin 23, Abbott28. Average age 26...

Verdict

A home team that haven't scored at home yet but were last seasons highest home scorers and they welcome us to the Galpharm thing having let in 4 goals in their last 46 minutes of football away at Peterborough. Maybe its that fact, or is it that the Galpharm doesn't sound particularly threatening but I just can't see a defeat on the horizon. Yes, I know that I thought we were going to lose the first two of the season but a draw against Oldham was an obvious outcome so this week the verdict is at worst a draw, say 1-1, but I'm hoping for a bit more.

Oldham Athletic Preview

2010-08-18T08:35:00.015+02:00

If your perfect day consists of watching the Addicks stick a few goals in and storm to the top of the League then perhaps you'll get your dream day come Saturday. Because its an unexpected top of the table clash this weekend with League leaders Oldham Athletic coming to the Valley but one that gives us the opportunity of going clear at the top if we can get the three points.
The Latics, of course, have never won at the Valley in 23 attempts but got themselves a new manager last June in the shape of that little pest Paul Dickov and come with a new-look team and what appears to be a more attacking strategy. He's 37 now, and although he's still got a squad number, he won't be playing.

Form
So what of Oldham? A battling 1-0 home win over Preston in their last pre-season friendly has been followed by two League wins out of two against Tranmere away 2-1 and Notts County at home 3-0. So how do they compare with the Addicks? Both the Addicks and Oldham have stuck three past teams in the current bottom 4, Orient and Notts County, while our other game saw us beat Bournemouth, healthy 5-1 winners over Peterborough at the weekend, while Oldham beat Tranmere away on the opening day who then when on to manage a surprising goalless draw at last seasons highest home scorers Huddersfield, the first time since January that the Terriers have failed to score at home; well apart from their Play-off nightmare against the spanners.

The Latics also went out of the League Cup, away to Scunthorpe 1-2, after leading, so on paper there doesn't seem much to pick between the two teams.

The Opposition

Like us they scored three times last weekend and broke a record dating back even further than ours not having scored three times in a game since February 2009, 64 games ago. Furman, Tounkare and Lee were the scorers. Ex-Cardiff striker Warren Feeney is their new boy up front replacing our Pawel Abbot but he was missing last weekend having returned with a groin problem after playing for Northern Ireland. Whether he'll return against the Addicks is unknown but definitely available will the 20 year old Frenchman, Oumare Tounkara, on-loan from Sunderland, where ironically he can't get much game time due to our Darren. According to the Black Cats, "the tall, powerful striker was a regular at reserve-team level last season, featuring on 12 occasions" and he's already scored his first first goal for the Latics.

But there'll probably be only 3 players, key central defender Reuben Hazell, left-back Paul Black and young midfielder Dale Stephens, left from their starting eleven against us last May.

History
Time for a banana skin or no? Oldham are one of eight teams that we face this season that have never won at the Valley, Sainburys or anywhere else for that matter, with the League numbers standing at 14 wins and 8 draws and they've even lost in the only cup game at the Valley. But 4, including last season's 0-0, of the last six League games at the Valley have been draws.

Whats Been Heard on the Streets?
A little bit of realism from Paul Dickov after their 3-0 win over Notts County, "We are delighted but we have to remember we are only 2 league games into the season and its important we don't get carried away. Its a start thats all."

And our very own ex-Latic Pawel Abbott clearly loves being an Addick, "As soon as you hear Charlton want you, there isn't much that is going to stop you.”

The Team

So what have Mark Konchesky, Mark Fish, Darren Ambrose, Jimi Traore and Jose Semedo all got in common? Well, they've all been sent off over the last 9 years in the Addicks first game of the season. Arguably, you could put the blame on two of them as the reason for losing the opening game ( remember which ones?) but that was definitely not the case against Bournemouth when the second-half arrival of Racon, Lee Martin and Simon Francis and some resolute defending got us started with a 1-0 home win. Forgetting the irrelevance of our cup exploits in midweek another three points were earned at Brisbane Road with another backs-to-the-wall display after Dailly had been sent-off.

They've made films about penalties but for me the brandishing of a red card is far more crucial. We're had them now for 40 years and they can alter the game completely with the ten man team usually defending gallantly till the final whistle. We only had 3 reds all last season (Sod off twice and Burton once) but we've got a couple already this year although the teams response to going down to 10 men against Orient must compare with our 2-1 win at Plymouth back in April 2008 when Weaver was sent off after just 3 minutes gone only for loanee Lita to score a couple.

And after 6 goals in 4 days last week Parky seems to have cracked the "goals for" problem with 6 players already on the scoring charts. Perhaps its all starting to come together, and with just a couple of difficult games coming in the next eight ( Oldham and then Huddersfield away on August 28th) we could just have the starting platform that we dreamed about. And, as already pointed out elsewhere, its the first time in an unbelievable sequence of 27 games (dating back to December 19th) in which we have failed to score more than 2 goals. No wonder Parky seemed relieved to get rid of so many during the summer.

And the number 10 shirt has been handed to newcomer Lee Martin, on-loan for the season. Parky spoke of surprises for the Bournemouth game but, away from home and without the internet, it took me till Monday to figure out who he was. Only 23, he started life at the Dons before Man U snatched him away for a mill but after several loan deals he signed for Ipswich in 2009 for around 1.5M. Not a regular striker, though, with 2 in 12 games for Plymouth his best figures in a crazy career through 10 clubs. In 16 games for Ipswich last season it took him 8 games to find the net and that was it for the year so he'll be glad to come to a decent club at last and its an insight into Parky's plans to hear that he's been after him for 18 months. And if you want workers we have two strikers that both appear eager to run till they drop.

So Saturdays strike force is a no-brainer but how are we going to manage without last seasons two most influental players, Semedo and Dailly. Its an early chance to see how important these two really are to the team and with Oldham possibly having only 3 from their starting line-up from our 2-0 away win in May, its a sign of our own evolution in that the Addicks will be even more unrecognizable with only 2 left in Miguel Llera and Therry Racon.

But we don't care about that. For the first time in ages, given our missing duo, our team sheet picks itself:

Elliot; Francis, Doherty, Llera, Jackson; Wagstaff, McCormack, Racon, Reid; Martin, Abbott

Summary

Two unbeaten teams, in the League anyway, and with one unbeaten manager with only two League games under his belt. A team that failed to score against us last season over the two League games and a team that has never won at the Valley.... BUT a lot has changed since then and after 22 non-scoring League games last year but having the meanest defence in the bottom 15, Dickov has turned it all around and put the emphasis on attack and they share with Bournemouth the position of League One leading scorers with 5 goals.

Seems to me that, unlike last year, there'll be goals this weekend but who'll be getting them? Ever pessimistic as far as the Addicks are concerned, its a 2-2 for me.

Bournemouth Preview......

2010-08-04T08:25:00.005+02:00

Deep within the workings of the Football League computer programme we're clearly hardcoded as a bit of a rogue elephant, sorry element. They, at least, appear to believe that we have a special place in the scheme of things and have singled us out for special attention and have once again given us a promoted club as a home fixture on our first game of the season.

That's four in a row now, after Scunthorpe, Swansea and Wycombe, of which we've won 2 and drawn one so far. Scunthorpe were winners of League One in 2006/07 (score 1-1) and Swansea (score 2-0) were 10 points clear winners of League One back in 2007/08 none of whom could beat us. Last season it was Wycombe (3-2 to the Addicks) who were third in their promotion season, while this year we get AFC Bournemouth, up from 2nd last season, 10 points, and a difference of 48 in goals difference, behind champions Notts County.

To find our last opening-day away fixture before this run-in against the promotion boys you will have to enter the realms of nostalgia or was it fantasy and was, of course, our closing season in the Prem, 2006/07 against the then Pardews' Hammers when we went down 1-3 after Darren B had put us ahead from the spot in the 15th minute. One of Monica's 2M signings during the summer, Djimi Traore, then got himself sent-off in the first of his, unlucky for some, 13 appearances, after two bookings in 3 minutes and it was all downhill from there on.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but you have to go all the way back to August 17th 2003 to find the last time we lost at home on opening day when Man City - Anelka and all - put 3 past Simon Royce in a 3-0 defeat. And, of course, it didn't matter because we finished the season in 7th spot, our highest ever in the Prem.

Anyway, dreaming aside, on Saturday we start our 5th season in Tier Three in the last 38 years. After a few years under fizzy american control, we've now gone German and call ourselves npower1, rather than just plain old Division Three. Why we have to put up with the confusion of the complicated handle of "League One" or "npower1" is beyond me, except that its the usual marketing ploy to make us believe that everything is better than it really is. Maybe they're under the delusion that more people are going to turn up for a League One game than a Division Three game.

The Opposition

Anyway, as already mentioned its new boys AFC Bournemouth who are arriving to be our first potential victims. The Cherries have experienced a turbulent time of it of late with relegation from League One in the season before we arrived with a 10 point penalty for going into administration and then had another massive 17 points deducted the next season in League Two for failing to follow the League's insolvency rules, employ a better lawyer next time. Despite this massive handicap they survived having sacked the lawyer and got themselves a new manager, Eddie Howe, and they won promotion to League One in his first full year in charge.

So who is this Eddie Howe? Bit of a youngster still only 32, and must be one of the youngest in this Division of ours. An ex-Bournemouth favorite, he was Harry Redknapp's first signing as Portsmouth manager back in 2002 but after injury forced an end to his playing career he returned to Bournemouth as assistent manager before taking over when Jimmy Quinn was sacked at the very end of 2008.

Bournemouth have 7 new signings at the moment including ex Addick, 20 year old Harry Arter from Woking. Others are Purches, Nelson, Wiggins, Lovell, Pugh, Symes. A 3-3 draw with Derby last week where Harry Arter was "increasingly lively, sharp and inventive and giving defenders all sorts of problems" was named MOM. Ummm. Harry got the push in last summers economy drive after just one appearance in a Charlton shirt, 34 minutes in a League Cup defeat at Luton in 2007, has another little gem slipped through our fingers?

So apart from Derby what else have they been doing pre-season? A 0-4 dubbing by a Spurs team containing many first teamers but then Fulham were at Dean Court on the 17th July a few days after dispatching Brentford 5-0 and took a full strength side with Murphy, Kon, Zamora, Gera etc and the result was a 1-1 draw. The Cherries received some sickly but ominous praise from the Fulham site, "Bournemouth should be applauded for the fashion in which they played the game on Saturday. The League One side will earn plenty of plaudits next season, as they deliver an attractive brand of football that Fulham fans have become accustomed to at the Cottage over the years."

Any Form Then?

No, not really. Of their last 8 away games last season, they only won 1 and lost 5.

Who gets Their Goals Then?

Number nine for the Cherries is one Brett Pitman aged just 22 from Jersey. He got 26 league goals last season, finishing second in the Division Four (League Two) goalscoring charts and 4 behind leading top scorer Lee Hughes of Notts County. They also have a new boy, 23 year old winger cum striker, number 7 Marc Pugh who got 13 goals last season for Hereford and was also their leading goalscorer.

Game History

A first league visit since April 1975, 35 years ago, it which the Cherries were victorious 3-2, Bournemouth take over as the only club in the Division to have won more times at the Valley ( in League games ) than they have lost. Currently the home stats stand at 3 wins for the Addicks, 4 draws and 4 league defeats. OK, there's not been too many games, with only 11 seasons spend together, and even I can't remember the last time we beat them at home in the League as it was back in August 1933, 77 years ago. That too was the opening game of the season after our relegation from Division Two the previous year and the game finished in a close-fought 4-3 win. And the following year they were one of only two teams to beat us at home in our 1935 Division Three South Championship winning season. But there's usually an up side to things and the three home wins we've enjoyed have been big ones, with a 5-0, a 6-2 and a 4-3.

The Team

Nice to get ourselves a number 9 once again in Pawel Abbot and this is what I had to say last October before Oldham's 0-0 draw at the Valley, "Clearly a favorite with Oldham manager Penney, who paid Swansea 100k for him while he was manager at Darlington, is Pawel Abbott. Current top scorer, number nine Abbott is a Polish U-21 international thanks to his mum, and is on 4 goals, although it must be said, Pav, that two were from the penalty spot. Penney said after signing Abbott for the second time in June, "I'm delighted to get this deal done as we have ourselves a proven goalscorer - Pawel's goal ratio is excellent". Penney's exit and Irish international Warren Feeney's arrival after being off-loaded by Cardiff meant that Abbott was a little surplus to requirements at Dickov's Oldham. And if you believe in miracles, you'll be pleased to learn that Pawel is the same age, 28, as SuperClive when he joined us in 1997 from Grimsby.

And once again we've shown no mercy on relegated Southend after grabbing Alan McCormack and have also snatched away their 25 year old right-back Simon Francis, their last seasons Player of the Year, for what appears to be a pittance. He's spent the last three years at the Shrimpers but started his career at Bradford City when he also apparently played for England U-19's. But he hasn't played any pre-season games and didn't feature at Watford so we may see Solly start on Saturday.

The number 10 shirt, previously worn by such contrasting notables as Kevin Lisbie and Darren B, is still currently vacant, a hint perhaps of another signing, or maybe Tuna, so far unnumbered, will be awarded it.

Elliot; Solly, Dailly, Doherty, Jackson; Wagstaff, Semedo, Racon, McCormack, Reid; Abbott.

Verdict

Unless the Cherries suffer a bit from stage fright, which seems unlikely with their pre-season games against Spurs, Fulham, Portsmouth and Derby, I think we may have an uncomfortable afternoon. Last season only Notts County conceded less goals than the Cherries in Division Four but then again only Rotherham in the top 8 scored scored less than their 61. They have got Pugh from Hereford to rectify the lack of goals and their passing game should be good to watch. Arter will probably be on the bench, he's still only 20, but they have been scoring plenty of goals in pre-season and have good results too with home draws against Fulham and Derby.

The history is also on their side and my optimistic verdict is a cagey 1-1 draw.

A few Numbers and a Crystal Ball.......

2010-07-27T09:35:00.013+02:00

Twelve months on from our first appearance in tier three for nearly 30 years and I find myself, along with a few others judging by the drop in season tickets sold, lacking a little bit of enthusiasm for the prospective joys of a second season in League One. And a second successive pre-season defeat to Barnet, although this year with a full strength side, doesn't do much to raise our levels of expectation. But, then again, in complete contrast to our thoughts regarding our national side, if you believe the papers that is, perhaps that's all normal and in looking back 12 months to this time last year I find; "Unfortunately, there can't be many out there willing to predict an automatic spot this time and in fact even Killer is getting nervous about an even further drop in our status". So obviously nobody was too hopeful even back then.

We all know what followed and after a record breaking opening six wins on the trot our mood had brightened somewhat and we carried on a 4 month fight with Leeds for top spot. However, it turned out that the second half of the season was much more relevent and we were overtaken by two late starters, Norwich and more irritatingly, the spanners.

So, after such low expectations at kick-off time, perhaps we should be pleased with last season after finishing 4th, just 3 points away from automatic promotion even if once again our second half of the season left much to be desired.

On the down side, however, we didn't do a Leicester, are still in League One, failed to get to the Play-Off final, and we can now look forward, rather painfully, to the first season since 73-74, a long 36 years ago, below both local rivals Palace and the spanners..

Finding the reasons for our eventual failure are perhaps not so difficult. Our top goal-scorer Deon finished in 19th place in the Divisions highest scorers, equal with Kevin Lis, but a full 17 behind the League One best Lambert (Saints) and even one less than another ex, Charlie MacDonald, with the Bees, and not surprisingly all the other 6 clubs in the top 7 managed to out-score us with only Swindon having a worse goal difference.

Consequently we entered the play-offs far from confident mainly because our record against the other sides in the top 6 last season wasn't very encouraging with only 1 win (home to Huddersfield) in the 10 games although there was 7 draws and only 2 defeats. As for our overall home record, 14 wins and only 3 defeats looks good but we had almost identical figures against both top and bottom half clubs with 7 wins and 3 draws apiece but while we only lost once at home to a top half club in Norwich you could point to our two defeats against 13th placed Brighton and 17th placed Orient that cost us dear. Just three more points would have got us up into 2nd place.

But our away record against the bottom half of the table was much better and was as good as anything in the Division. A total of 8 wins, 3 draws and only 1 defeat (Carlisle), whilst in complete contrast once again our away record against the top teams was very suspect with only 1 win, at MK Dons, against the top half of the table. Four defeats at the spanners, Southampton, Colchester and Bristol whilst we managed 6 draws to complete the 11 games.

Back at the Valley, those problem twins, Brighton and Orient, are still around but with the introduction of seven new teams, only one of which, surprisingly Bournemouth, have won more games at the Valley than they have lost but we have at least got rid of Leeds and the spanners who, of course, had that exact record. And after facing no less than 4 clubs last season that we have never played before in the League, this year there's only Dagenham and Redbridge, who 3 and a bit short years ago were 4 Divisions below us.

So's who are the rivals this year? Two stand out, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday. Pardews lot have signed a couple of new players, both ex-Addicks, full-backs Danny Butterfield and our front-page man from last August 8th, Frazer Richardson. Meanwhile, Wednesday have signed 8 new players in order to re-adjust to third division life again after just 5 years away. They includ Clinton Morrison (still only 31 and with 11 goals at Coventry last season), Neil Mellor (11 goals with Preston last year), Jon Otsemobor (ex Saints), Daniel Jones (ex Wolves and Bristol Rovers striker), Chris Sedgewick (ex Preston), Paul Heffernan (ex Doncaster and Bristol Rovers) but they still managed to lost 2-1 away to last seasons League Two relegation club, Grimsby last weekend and have still to sort out their inconvenient winding-up order from the tax man.

As for our play-off bogey, last season's most improved side Swindon (up from 15th to 5th) have, of course, lost 29 goal Billy Paynter to Leeds but retain his partner 19 goal Charlie Austin and have been doing well in pre-season with a decent 3-2 away win over German tier two side Karlsruher SC last week.

And there's a couple of newcomers that can't be dismissed either. Craig Short takes over at Notts County after leaving Hungarian side Ferencvaros because he didn't have a UEFA PRO-licence and the League Two winners by a massive 10 points last season are having a good pre-season, recording a credible 0-0 home draw with Stoke City last week before beating tier three Austrian side SC Austria Salzburg 2-1 in Austria. Meanwhile another new boy is Peter Reid at Plymouth who has taken the Pilgrims to Holland and beaten NAC Breda 1-0, draw 3-3 with tier two Cambuur and only lose 0-1 to AK Alkmaar, three good results that could pose a bit of a threat to the top two although they have still to find a replacement for last seasons top scorer Jamie Mackie sold to QPR in May.

But what about the bookies? Over at William Hill there's no surprises as they go with the Divisions two S's to get the auto spots but have placed Huddersfield and Peterborough as 3rd and 4th bets. Huddersfield have signed eight new players, including the experienced pair of 32 year old ex Evertonian Gary Naysmith and Joey Gudjonsson from Burnley and they beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0 last week. As for Peterborough, now on their ninth manager, ex Bristol City Gary Johnson, in the last 5 years are yet another team with 8 new boys, are on 11/1 to win the Division while the Addicks are an optimistic 5th best on 12/1.

And perhaps we shouldn't forget Gus Poyet and the dark horses, Brighton. Taking over back in November last year when the seagulls were 20th he added an impressive seven away wins (including the one at the Valley) to their total and took them up to 13th. Perhaps you weren't looking forward to their coming visit on October 16th but now you can because you'll be able to enjoy a touch of nostalgia on the day as Gus has done us all a favour and bought back our Premiership legend Radostin Kishishev to the UK and installed him in shirt number 12. Now why didn't you think of that Parky? Probably because on Friday Kish enjoys his 36th birthday.

But the big question as far as we're concerned is, are we going to follow in the footsteps of last seasons MK Dons (dropping from 3rd place to 12th) or perhaps emulate Tranmere's nasty slide from 7th to 19th or heaven forbid Southend's crazy plummet from a healthly 8th place down to a relegated 23th? At least we can look at the size of the summers clearout and, perhaps, see some sign of good coming from it, well there's a couple I wouldn't miss. Looking at the player listings from last season including loanees, a massive 24 of them are no longer with us, although unfortunately both players to make it into double figures in goals scored, Burton and Bailey, are amongst the 24.

Currently on trial are two forwards hoping to take their places, the 21 times icelandic international 29 year old Gunnar Thorvaldsson and the 25 year old Spaniard Guillem Bauza. After good reviews at home, Thorvaldsson left for Sweden and was that countries premier league top scorer in 2005, but after moving on to Germany and Denmark his luck seems to have left him, perhaps with injuries that we're seen ourselves and he's just spent 6 months on-loan at Reading without scoring. As for Bauza, he's an U-19 international, but spent his early career in Spanish tier three football with Mallorca B and Espanol B teams before moving to Swansea for the last 3 years, making 49 appearances (mostly from the bench) and scoring 9 goals. He's been to the Valley before, playing in the swans opener on August 9th 2008, with this comment in the match report "Players to watch included Spanish striker Guillem Bauza, expected to start on his own up front". He had a couple of further remarks but was replaced after an hour.

And as we continue our search for that elusive number 9 that's going to cure all our problems, perhaps we should console ourselves with the thought that, at least in football, the month of August is not so important in the scheme of things and remember that after 10 games last season the spanners had only won twice and were a full 12 points behind the Addicks.

Swindon Town - Part Two..

2010-05-17T08:40:00.001+02:00

The most important game in our history? You'd have to ask Richard Murray because only he and a few others know for sure what another season in League One will mean to Charlton Athletic. All we know is that if this game is not won then finances next season would be seriously stretched and desperate measures would be needed to ensure we survive.

Swindon's Away Form
Swindon's away form has been average over the last 5 games without a win in the last three. A 2-3 defeat at the den in their last game, which, if replicated tonight, would be enough for them, was preceded by a 2-2 draw at lowly Wycombe. Before that there was an even more encouraging 0-3 defeat at Colchester. So 8 goals conceded in their last 3 games away from the County Ground with a goal let in every 33 minutes makes our prospects look a lot more healthy.

Before the Colchester game however, they had 4 successive away wins, all without conceding a single goal, at impressive places like Leeds, 3-0 (which was Leeds' fourth defeat in a row), and at Southampton, Hartlepool and Brighton all by 1-o.

So which Swindon do we expect tonight?

The Addicks Home Form

Looking at the Addicks last 6 home games over the last 2 and a half months, we've had 4 wins (Stockport 2-0, Carlisle 1-0, Colchester 1-0 and Leeds 1-0), a draw (2-2 the Gills) and only one, undeserved, defeat, 0-1, to Champions Norwich. So 7 goals scored and 3 conceded.

So overall it looks a bit mixed. The Robins have conceded 8 in their last 3 away whilst in our last three at home we have only scored twice but then we've only conceded one.

The Team

Deon's first goal, in open play, since December couldn't have come at a better time but the fact reminds that, unlike the opposition, we lack a cutting edge. And this is a game where, even if we can stop them scoring, we'll need to score twice to avoid the stress of extra time, something we've only done once in the last 10 games.

But this is not the time to analyze our strikers results but perhaps the time to remember our performance on Boxing Day when Swindon couldn't beat us when we had ten men for 20 minutes, after Sam Sodje was sent off and then nine men for a further 50 after Burton saw a second yellow for a stupid Maradona-type handball. We started that day without Richardson and Dailly in defence and also without the suspended Sam. Reserves Basey, Spring and Llera played the full 90 minutes and the last two combined to snatch the equaliser at the death. The Robins had both Austin and Paynter playing that day and I don't remember any terrifying moments except letting in the inevitable second goal. They were very complacent that day, not believing that nine men could come back and equalise. They were wrong.

So what's the team? After Fridays heroics it would seem unlikely that Sam Sodje will play, especially after Parky's comments about his defence but it's the selection of his strikers that will be more crucial. Mooney seems to have the nod over Forster at the moment but its surely a time to consider width and play both Sam and Reid from the off. Come on Parky, revert to our early season - successful - 4-5-1 with Deon on his own and Nicky Bailey, Semedo and Racon in the middle.

That will mean that if things don't go well we can't introduce Reid against a tiring defence but its the first goal that is most important here and we should remember that Swindon are one of only four teams in League One that have still not won after going behind.

Summary

It'll all be about controlling the nerves, ours as well as the players, so an early goal is a recommended answer although we may need to wait until the 20th to 30th minutes which this season is our most prolific spell of the 90. But the most important things to remember for tonight are Noise, Passion and Patience. Swindon have to know where they are and the fans, as well as the team, have to keep believing till the end - not something we've had a problem with so far. So lots of noise and its 2-0 to the Addicks.

Swindon Town Preview

2010-05-12T22:00:00.006+02:00

A professional enough win, 2-0 away to Oldham, finished off our Tier Three season and left us in 4th place with 84 points. Norwich ended the season as they started it, with a home defeat, but they won't care and neither will Leeds, promoted at last after three years in the third. The spanners, meanwhile, are in the Play-offs for the second year running and will want to do better this time after their 2-3 loss to the Irons in the final last May, especially after being 2-1 up with only 20 minutes left.

So we're all set up for a Charlton - spanners final at Wembley, with just the inconvenience of Swindon Town to dispose of first of all.

Surprisingly similar to the situation when we were last in the Play-offs against Sunderland we've had two draws against Swindon this season and there's not a lot to separate us over the season and we are also the two teams in League One with the least defeats, 8. In the first leg, it's the team with the 8th best home record against the team with the third best away record (only Norwich and Leeds have better away records than the Addicks), although Swindon have only had two home defeats (Hartlepool and Bristol Rovers) while the Addicks have only have 3 defeats in their last 15 away games, with 6 wins and 6 draws.

Form As Blackpool aptly showed on Tuesday night, form goes out the window in Play-off games, so a seasons round-up then. After a first day 0-5 hammering at the Gills, it took a while for Swindon to get started this season but that all changed after the 4-1 win by the reserves against Reading on October 30th with Billy Paynter and Charlie Austin getting two goals each. Manager Wilson saw the light and got himself a strike force that since that day between them have got a combined total of 43 goals. And with only 5 defeats in the 32 games since he paired Paynter and Austin, Swindon have had a storming second half of the season.
Recent form, however, has not been so bright. Only one win in the last 6 games and in 4 successive games they have conceded the first goal, not something they usually do.

Ex-Addicks
The Addicks don't have much experience of Play-off games with only two successive seasons standing out, plus that irritating loss to palarse in the mid-nineties. Our first Play-off experience was, of course, in May 1987 when two Peter Shirtliff goals gave us the win over Leeds after two 1-0 home victories had taken the final to Birmingham. Well, you'll be pleased to learn that Mr Shirtliff is now the Robins assistant manager and will be telling them all how important it is to keep going till the very end.

Dangerman

So, as we said, Swindon boast a rather successful duo with the second best scorer in League One after Pardews' Lambert in the 25 year old scouser Billy Paynter (above), number 20 and now on 29 goals for the season and his young partner in crime twenty year old Charlie Austin picked up from Poole Town in October who's now on 19 goals and they both scored against us in the 2-2 draw on Boxing Day.

What's Their Secret?Two things stand out for Swindon, the first that Swindon lack a bit of staying power. While the Addicks have scored 9 in the vital 5 minutes of games, and only conceded 4 at the death, Swindon have scored 7 and let in double the Addicks with a massive 8 in the last five minutes of games including Bailey's goal in the 93th at the County Ground in February and Llera's equaliser in the 94th at the Valley on Boxing Day.

And as for a fighting spirit, the Addicks, who with 20 points gained after going behind, only have Southampton and Walsall above us in the table showing points clawed back after letting in stupid goals, while Swindon have only won 9 points after conceding first and are one of only 4 teams ( in the august company of the likes of the Gills, Tranmere and Oldham) in this neck of the woods that have not won a game after going behind.

History
We've got a good record down at the County Ground with 6 wins and 10 draws in the 24 League games and with 2 League cups wins there as well its level pegging with 8 wins each. And of the last 11 games there since the 80's we've won no less than seven and lost only once.

What Are They Saying?Christian Dailly had a few interesting words to say on Monday, "Swindon are a good side and they've done fantastically well this year. I remember the first half away from home last time where we had a tough time of it and they could have been two or three up."

The Team
Parky has been quick to point out the teams improved defending of late and the number of clean sheets has certainly risen. After only 2 clean sheets in the previous 18 games up to the end of March, we've now had 5 in the last 8 since then.

And its all happened at the right time for while the Addicks opponents have only scored 3 in our last 8 games, Millwall have conceded 12 in their last 8 while Swindon are not much better with 9 let in. Could it be the arrival of Gary Borrowdale that has tightened up our defences? His first game was on March 20th in the 2-2 draw with the Gills and in his 10 games played so far we've only conceded 6 goals. Perhaps the clue lies in the fact that after over 160 professional games with Palarse, Coventry, Brighton and the Addicks he has still failed to score.

Parky started the last game at the County Ground back in February with a 4-5-1 with two wingers and Racon, Bailey and JonJo on midfield and Akpo on his own up front. Recent games would suggest that that formation will surely change to a 4-4-2 but, with a goalless draw the preferred result away from home in two leg games, and with Parky remembering the problems we had in the first half in February's game we could be set for another 5 man midfield. Scotty Wagstaff was replaced at half-time back then by Semedo and Akpo remained the only forward throughout the entire game with Mooney and McKenzie rooted to the bench.

Bailey it was that got the late, late equaliser in February and its likely that Parky will see a similar result just the ticket to Wembley.

Randolph; Richardson, Dailly, S. Sodje, Borrowdale; Sam, Semedo, Racon, Bailey, Reid; Burton.

Summary
We have a very good record at the County Ground and our 1-1 draw there in February was after Swindon had won their last 6 home games, scoring 16 goals and were the first points they had dropped at home in nearly 4 months. But as Dailly said this week we can forget the League results because this will be a cup final.

Parky would like a 0-0 to take back to the Valley but with only 4 non-scoring games in the 32 fixtures since Swindon paired Paynter and Austin up front in October ( and two of those have been against their local rivals Bristol Rovers,who seem to know how to beat them with scores of 0-4 and 0-3 and the only team to do the double over the Robins this season) that's a tall order and we should expect the Robins to at least get a goal. Perhaps Parky should ask Lennie for a few pointers as to exactly how its done.

On the other hand, since our bad patch in October when we failed to score in successive games against Colchester, Leeds and Oldham we also have only failed to score 4 times in the 34 games since then ( also against locals Orient, Millwall and then at Southampton and against Norwich at home).

So what's the verdict. They'll be hard to stop in a thundering first leg when they will probably throw caution to the wind. Parky has to decide if he wants to weather that early storm or take advantage and get an away goal. All in all it'll be close and another 1-1 wil surely suit the Addicks very well.

Leeds United Preview

2010-04-28T08:20:00.009+02:00

Regarding last Saturday, we've got plenty of excuses - not only do Exeter have a good record against the top teams ( they've also drawn 1-1 with Norwich, Swindon, Millwall and Pardews lot, and beaten Leeds) but with our last, and only, victory there being 81 years ago ( followed by 4 defeats ) it was always looking to be a tough game. So we endure our 9th 1-1 of the season, our favorite score, and in all of which, bar one, the opposition have scored first ( and even in that one, at the Gills, it was an og ) and in all the eleventh time we have come from behind to gain a draw which is the highest in League One.

So our fighting spirits aren't in question its just our inability to score first or even score, as we've only opened the scoring now 8 times in the last 20 League games after it being 14 times in the first 24 games and 7 in our first 9 barnstorming games. Even looking at our goalscoring you can see the steady decline - 43 goals scored in the first 22 games, 25 in the last 22. And instead of a team that lead the half-time table as recently as the Yeovil game in February we now record the highest drawn second half games of anyone, a total of 26.

So as the dream of an automatic promotion spot fades out of sight perhaps its time for Parky to seriously attend to Plan B. And the question that he has to ask himself is "is it better to play the strongest team over two legs or in a final?" Without a doubt, the strongest team in the Play-offs will be the spanners or Leeds and the choice of who we play and when, is almost entirely in our own hands with the visit of the Lilywhites on Saturday.

We all know who we would rather avoid so the desired scenario involves giving a helping hand to the spanners and insuring that they don't take part in the Play-offs. A tenth 1-1 would do nicely, always assuming that the spanners can win both their remaining games, but that result may see Huddersfield, who are only one point behind us, move above us and perhaps its worth pointing out that perhaps due to the urgency to keep ahead of Pardew, Huddersfield are currently the 2nd best team in results over the last 8 games.

So home game number 23 brings us another team in sickly yellow but unfortunately this time a team more used to winning at the Valley. Its 78 year old Ken Bates and the man above, Simon Grayson, in charge these days and there's nobody in League One more keen to return to the Premiership than Leeds United. After exactly 50 years in top flight football its now been 6 years since they left and for the record they've won the League title 3 times in '69, 74, and '92. But, of course, the number three is not currently a Leeds' fans favorite number as its been three very long years spent now down in Tier Three where they've never ever been before.

Form

In the 21 games played this year Leeds have only managed 7 wins whereas the Addicks have gone one better with 8. After leading the table at the turn of the year neither have set the house on fire since then but Leeds still have the 2nd best away record in league 1 and after only one win in 8 away games in the early part of this year they have now won 2 of their last three at Yeovil and Carlisle although they slipped up bigtime last time away from Elland Rd, losing 3-2 at the Gills, being 3-0 down at one stage.

But they're now back in second place with 4 wins in their last 5 games and overall a recovery from their dismal form seems on the cards after three disastrous months from Jan to March when they were placed 16th, 12th and 17th on results.

Their worst spell was the 4 consecutive defeats in March to Southampton, Millwall, Norwich and Swindon without a single goal scored so although both teams languish in mid-table in form over the last eight games and are currently performing the worst of all of the other top 7 clubs with 12 points out of the last available 24, its Leeds that are currently looking the stronger with 13 goals scored in their last 5 games against the Addicks three.......although Parky will point to only 3 goals conceded in the last 6 against Leeds' 9.

Ex-Addicks
There's Trésor Kandol, who played 13 games last season, but hasn't featured since being sent off in the defeat at Norwich in March and there's also Neil Redfearn, now in charge of Leeds' U18 squad. Redfearn played 30 games for us in our first year in the Premiership, 1998/99 scoring 3 times.

Dangerman
Jermaine Beckford is now on 30 goals for the season but his form has dried up somewhat - although he did score two late goals after coming on last weekend after Mk Dons were reduced in numbers - so its not surprising that he's started the last three games on the bench.

But more dangerous these days seems to be the Argentine, and number 10, Luciano Becchio, above, who is following close behind with 17 goals and has scored in the last 4 games.

Whats Their Secret
Although they have scored first more times than we have ( 26 to 22) its the end of games that they really need watching. Thirteen goals in the last 5 minutes (plus added on time) gives you some idea that they never give up.

On the other hand their form against the other teams in the current top six isn't brilliant with only 1 win ( 1-0 at home to Norwich) to show from the 9 games giving them only 6 points from 27 which means that if they end up in the Play-offs they'll start off with a huge physiological disadvantage because they haven't beaten any of them, yet.....

And in those top six games they've lost 5 times with 4 of them being to the spanners and Swindon plus another at Norwich and 3 draws against Huddersfield twice and ourselves at Elland Rd. In contrast, the Addicks also have only one win over the same 5 teams (2-1 at home to Huddersfield ) although we've only lost 2 and have accumulated 9 points.

And another thing that Leeds are bad at was demonstrated at their last away game at Priestlands. Only 4 teams (Norwich, the spanners, MK and the Addicks ) have overcome a half-time deficit to win more than once. Norwich have done it 4 times while the other three have done it twice, the Addicks away at Orient and Southend. But Leeds have failed to win even once while losing at half-time. OK, they have been losing at the break fewer times than most but of the seven times they have been losing they have lost 6 of them.

History

Having laid our Colchester ghost to bed two weeks ago there's now only Millwall with a better record at the Valley than Leeds United. Twenty-three league visits and we've only won 7 of them. They've also won the last 4 here ( including that miserable 1-6 hammering in Apr 2003) and also 5 out of the last 6. And if you ignore the 1987 Play-offs and that wonderful 1-0 victory at Sainburys you have to go back to January the year before for our last home win over them by 4-0 in our promotion season.

What are They Saying?

Leeds man Simon Grayson after the 4-1 win over MK Dons last weekend, "We pressured them, forced them into mistakes and opened the game up for ourselves and we then took advantage of that and we could have scored more today. It's rare for a team to go down to eight men and was strange to see, but I think we had the game won well by then anyway."

And it seems that Leeds must have learnt from their previous weeks game, because the Gill's manager Mark Stimson had this to say after their 3-2 win: "We faced a really good side in Leeds United and we had to go for it from the beginning and try and put them under pressure. We did that and we got our rewards."

The Team

Both Fraser Richardson and Nicky Bailey have been named in the Professional Footballers' Association League One team of the year and Fraser will be keen to celebrate with a game against his old mates from Elland Rd whilst moving in the other direction it seems that all the rumours were correct and JonJo is off to Anfield during the summer and he was missing from the squad at Exeter for the first time in eleven games.

Parky will probably start with Darren Randolph for the 8th sucessive game but there's reports that Sam Sodje's knee will keep him out so Llera will probably keep his place after coming on for the last half-hour at Exeter.

The problem for Parky is what formation to play and his decision could be crucial. Basically its a choice between two wingers with Bailey in the middle to two strikers and Bailey on the left. Kyel Reid now has 4 goals to his name, one less than Akpo and has scored them playing just 13 less minutes, and you have to commit the sacrilege of wondering whether he would have done better with the two chances offered to Nicky Bailey against Norwich. With his goals split at 2 each in starting appearances and sub games its a difficult choice for Parky.

Akpo has a run of 8 non-scoring games now and was missing at Exeter through injury and Deon Burton hasn't scored in nine games played since his penalty against Walsall in early February. David Mooney, meanwhile, is on 5 goals, the same as Scotty, but with 460 more minutes under his belt and we're left with the intriging fact that since Forster's arrival seven games ago, no other striker has scored and we haven't managed more than one goal a game.

But if Parky does decide on playing two up front, one player he doesn't have to worry about is defender Patrick Kisnorbo, named in the best squad as central defender with Norwich's Doherty, as he injured his achilles tendon in March and has been out since then.

So will it be a return to our early season 4-5-1 with a winger that's scoring goals or a staid 4-4-2 in the hope that two up front can conjure up something. Its time for us to see just how good Parky is for this is the game that could decide our season but it must be added that we played with 5 in midfield against Southampton and lost 0-1 and 4-4-2 against Norwich with exactly the same result.

Randolph; Richardson, Dailly, Sodje, Borrowdale; Sam, Semedo, Racon, Bailey, Reid; Forster

Summary

There's a lot at stake here and ninety minutes full of nerves and a foretaste, for the Addicks anyway, of what the Play-offs will definitely be like. But Leeds have a good record at the Valley and will be reluctant to let slip their one point advantage over the spanners. Furthermore, this situation will be new to the Addicks squad whereas - just like the Addicks when they had to get a point at Stamford Bridge in 1988 to avoid the Play-offs - Leeds have been here before and have suffered the Play-offs for the last two years and know exactly what they have to lose and know that they just cannot afford to drop any points in the remaining games.

That may work in a favour, but they'll not behave as casual as Norwich appeared to be two weeks ago and all told I cannot see any joy arriving for the Addicks. Addicks 0 Leeds 2.

Huddersfield Town Preview

2010-03-26T11:45:00.008+01:00

You have to admit that the Addicks have never been very good when it comes to local derbies and we are perhaps a bit unfortunate that this year we have a massive 6 of them against the Orient, the Gills and, of course the spanners. Thankfully, all of them are now out of the way with the sum total gained of a pitiful 4 points, out of a possible 18, to show for it. An average then of .66 points per local derby game which when compared, for example, with our figures against the top half teams of League One at 1.26 points per game ( from 4 wins, 4 defeats and 7 draws) shows pretty well where our strengths lie.

So perhaps we need to forget now all about the two points dropped against losing-away specialists Gillingham and concentrate instead on our remaining 9 games, seven of which are against top half opposition. A difficult run-in where we'll need everyone, including the fans , to perform well.

And its surely not escaped anyones attention that its the time of the season when tempers are getting a little frayed around the edges, frustrations are setting in and peoples patience isn't what it should be. Off the pitch, the fans, as you might expect, didn't react very well in the circumstances last weekend with resounding boos at half-time after finding ourselves 1-2 down. But the players responded and Mooney had his say, in one way and another, this time without opening his mouth, although it would probably have been better if he had resisted the temptation to behave like an opposing attacker rather than a home one.

And then there's the management story. Obviously also displaying signs of stress - who knows what's going to happen if he fails this season - Parky gives his own hard-done-by speech and, with everyone ready to jump down the others throat at the slightest wrong word, does himself no favours and all you can say is that its probably a good job for everyone that the next two games are away from home.

Yes, its the nervous, pressure end of the season and everyones' feeling it as we move on to Huddersfield, the only team realistically that can keep us out of 6th place. The last time we played the Terriers I wrote, "Huddersfield are currently 8th, seven points behind the Addicks with only 1 win ( and 4 defeats) from their 6 away games." That was back in October and not a great deal has changed since then. They are still outside the Play-offs in 7th place but have picked up a point on us and are now 6 points behind.

FormOver the season, Huddersfield have the 7th best home record, as far as points are concerned, in Tier Three ( the Addicks are 5th in home form and an impressive 4th best away from home) and suffered their first home defeat of the season last time out, a 1-3 loss to Norwich after going in front in the 3rd minute, and after leading for over an hour until the usual Norwich fight-back with three late goals in the last 20 minutes. And that defeat follows four succesive home draws against Bristol, Carlisle, Swindon and Leeds and you have to go right back to the 16th of January to find their last home win, 2-1 over Southend.

In fact, on current form, looking at just the last 5 home games of all the teams in League One, the Terriers are bottom of the pile with only 4 home points to show from the last 15 available. Not promotion form really and nothing that Parky should wet himself about.

And on form since the turn of the year when they reached 5th place their performances have dropped somewhat and its been only 6 wins in the last 14 games (with the Addicks only on 5) and at home after their early season goalscoring form with their 7 goals against Brighton in August and a 6-o win over Wycombe in November and two 4-0 goal walkovers over Exeter and Orient in October its been very quiet at the quaintly named Galtharm with no more than a couple of goals scored in each of their last 7 home games. They've now scored the same goals as the Addicks and conceded 1 more.

Dangerman

Twenty-year old Jordan Rhodes is their leading scorer with 19 and is another Ipswich Town youth star and he's been at Huddersfield since last summer. But has only scored twice in the last 13 games.

Whats Their Secret?

While the Saints, Leeds and the Addicks lead the half-time table, Huddersfield are a bit more cautious and only Leeds and Carlisle have been drawing more games at half time in the top half of the table. But they have been good at fight-backs all season and have won 4 times after going behind only bettered by Norwich with 5.

But their worst secret is their performances against the cream of Tier Three. Because rather worryingly for our Play-off prospects, all the current top 6 have a good record against the best but the Terriers are down there in a lowly 12th place and have lost half of their 'Big Games', ie 9. In comparison the spanners have lost only 2 (bristol and Norwich away), the Addicks ( Colchester, Carlisle, Bristol, and the spanners) and Swindon 4 each while the party-poopers from East Anglia and Leeds (!) have both lost 5 games.

History

We've won 5 of our last 9 games in Huddersfield streching back 37 years and we won our last Division Three game there in 1980 and our very last game, in 1999. So not a bad record at the Terriers with a total of 10 wins and 16 defeats in 35 league games. The home win last october saw the last Addicks goal by Izzy McLeod and he was replaced on 89 minutes by our new legend David Mooney for his first game for the reds.

What Are They Saying?
Everyone's been having their say this week so I'll just pass on these few words from you know who, "To come back out for the second half after being roundly booed at half-time and to show the conviction we did showed tremendous character. I didn't see anyone hiding or not wanting the ball so I give enormous credit to the lads." And if anyone remembers, there are a few games last season where you couldn't say that.

Team

The loss of in-form Elliot for the next two or three weeks is a serious blow to Parky's plans and we can only applaud the club for facing facts and getting in the inappropriately named Anthony Randolph "Tony" Warner on loan till the end of the season. He's a 35 year old scouser and has been out of work since leaving Hull in February and is perhaps most famous for his 'mistakes' and being the spanners Player of the Year in 2003.

The rest of the defence will stay the same with another left-back available in young Matt Fry from West Ham and it will attempt to increase its number of clean sheets from the current 2 in last 17 games. In the same period even Huddersfield have managed 7, although at the other end we have only failed to score twice in the last 24 (Orient and the spanners).

In midfield, Jose Semedo is reported as being doubtful with a contusion to his thigh but Parky has sought no more additions to the squad in this area so it'll either be as you were or with his replacement by either Matt Spring or Jonjo Shelvey with Racon moving back to cover for the Portuguese. Sam is also suffering from a contusion to his calf and could also be missing.

Up front, Deon and, of course, Leon are also out injured and Akpo needs pain-killing injections in his foot. All of which means that we need Dave Mooney more than ever and its time to surely shut up and give him support and remind him, in the best possible way, that he is wearing one of our shirts. And alongside him, if a 4-4-2 is Parky's plan, we'll see new loanee 36 year old Nicky Forster from Brighton. He's on 16 goals for the season and back in October last year was awarded the Football League One Player of The Month award, for his impressive start to the season, netting 7 goals.

Warner; Richardson, Dailly, Sodje(S), Borrowdale; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Racon; Forster, Mooney

Summary

With injuries galore playing havoc with the Addicks line-up and training during the week and with a possible two new players on the pitch it may just be a question of how much the Terriers want it. But our record there is good and their form of late has not been so hot so a draw looks the only result we can expect, so 1-1 it is.

Gillingham Preview

2010-03-19T09:20:00.007+01:00

Somebody remarked last week that Parky would be having a few sleepless nights deciding on his best team for the game at the den but I bet that's nothing to what he's feeling right now. But then again we could all see it coming and although a four goal hammering may not have been in everyone's forecast, a defeat was certainly expected in what has become for the Addicks a not unusual capitulation to the spanners. Much worst, perhaps, is the effect that the shock waves will have in the Addicks camp. Its a very sensitive time in the season and blackheathaddicted to name but one put his neck out and predicted that it would be a defining match in our season.

So its time for one or excuses to explain away what we hope will prove to be a expected blip in our fortunes. Because a defeat at the den is not that unusual neither were several of our other defeats and you could almost have predicted all 6 of them against Colchester, Carlisle, Bristol, Brighton, Orient and the spanners. Our first defeat of the season was at Colchester where we have our worst away record in this League and where we still haven't won in three visits and more recently Bristol is our third worse away venue with just 2 wins in 25 games. Defeat number two at Carlisle is harder to explain as its only our 9th worst place to visit in Tier Three but we only still have 2 wins there in 14 attempts. And as for away specialists Brighton, only 3 other teams in Tier Three have won more times at the Valley with their 8 wins in 23 games so that just leaves Orient really as our only unexpected defeat and in local derbies surprises are not unusual.

And moving on, as we must, the good news, perhaps, is that 7th place Huddersfield are still 8 points behind us and, after embarking on an 11 game unbeaten run, have lost the last three to Pardew ( a 5-0 stuffing), the Gills away and Norwich. Over the last 13 since the New Year they have won 5, drawn 5 and lost 3, a total of 20 points. In the same period the Addicks have 5 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats for 19 points all of which sets up an intriguing game Saturday week at the oddly named Galpharm Stadium, due to a sponsorship deal after the builders McAlpine decided in 2004 it wasn't going to continue paying up.

So head-to-head and even on our scrappy current form they have only gained one point on us this year even with an 11-game unbeaten run so with only 10 games left any sort of result for us up there will surely seal our Play-off place. Of the 19 grounds in Tier Three where we've been before there's 11 that we have a worse history that at Huddersfield. In fact, the games against Southampton, Colchester and Leeds trouble me a lot more.

And there is the rub. Because, if we do discount Huddersfield, of the possible 4 other teams in the Play-offs (three from Leeds, Millwall, Colchester and Swindon ) there's only one that I would feel confident of beating in an home and away semi-final - Swindon. As we saw last season where Scunthorpe beat the spanners at Wembley 3-2 after finishing 6 points behind them, in a final anything can happen.

And while at the moment there's clearly at least two teams performing better than we are, Norwich and Millwall, while a third, Leeds, remain 5 points in front with 10 games left, perhaps we should consider that the only team from last seasons Tier Three that are enjoying the Fizzies are Leicester and that the other promotion teams, Scunthorpe and Peterborough, are currently occupying two of the relegation positions.

So, as Parky and the team seek to expel all thoughts of last weekend from our collective brains, its all a bit of an apparent godsend to be able to welcome a team to the Valley with the worst away record in Tier Three, without a single win all season and without a single goal in their last 4 away games. That's the theory anyway, in practise it's of course, another local derby.

Form What can you say about the Gills current form? Just 2 wins in the last 14 games (home to Bristol and Huddersfield) and only a goalless draw away last weekend at the home of the worst home team in Tier Three, Stockport, they are now only 5 points clear of the R-Zone. In fact they haven't scored away from home since the 26th January in a 1-1 draw at Hartlepool and the week before that even lost 1-0 at Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup.

Ex-Addicks?There's no less than 4 ex Charlton players now at Priestfield, Simon Royce, Barry Fuller, Chris Dickson and Rashid Yussuff, although its possible that we won't see any of them as Royce was on the bench last weekend and Chris Dickson, who only came on for 7 minutes, will be banned from playing against us. Fuller has missed the last three games with a hand injury and Yussuff hasn't been seen since January.

Dangerman
The obvious dangerman is twenty-two year old number 10, and the player that Parky never wanted, the Canadian international born in Jamaica, Simeon Jackson, currently top scorer with 17 goals.

Whats Their Secret?
Norwichs' fight-back against Huddersfield last Saturday has spoiled a top v bottom clash in the on-points-gained-after-going-behind table. The Addicks fighting abilities, so missing last weekend, have earned us 17 points from fightbacks with 3 wins and 8 draws after conceding first whereas the Gills have only managed a dismal two points after going behind. One was away to Exeter in December, while it shouldn't miss your notice that the other was back in October in our 1-1 draw at Priestfield.....

What Are They Saying?

Parky succinctly explained our mauling with, "There was not enough leadership and not enough men out there. All I asked was for players to do their own jobs. But there was a blame culture out there with players blaming each other."

While Christian Dailly added: "We can't afford to cry over spilt milk. We need to be mentally tough, that's one of the issues. But I think we'll be fine."

So its been confirmed by Parky that "Some people won't be playing on Saturday who played against Millwall because I feel there has to be some changes. There are people out of the team who deserve to play."

Meanwhile, Gills manager Stimson has not been happy with Chris Dickson down at Priestland and he hasn't started in the last two games and Stimson opted to use Dennis Oli as a substitute ahead of Dickson in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Stockport.
"When you saw Chris and what he brought to the table, Dennis brought a bit more. Twice he (Dickson) had the ball in the middle of the pitch and he gave it away and put their team on the attack. Dennis was on beforehand because he's been absolutely flying in training. It's been hard to leave him out because he's worked his socks off and looked a threat." Watch out for him Parky.

History
Gillingham are without a single win in 13 attempts at the Valley with 9 home wins and 4 draws and the last time they managed to avoid defeat at the Valley was back in January 1934, 76 years ago....

The Team A return to a more usual formation with everyone in their normal position would be a start but Parky has come out strong and confirmed that there will be changes to the team this weekend. Heads dropped and mistakes were made and it seems that Parky's wise aversion to drastic measures will be thrown out the window in a desperate bid to liven things up.

Key to his changes will be the formation chosen so we'll probably see Sam back in the starting line-up on the right although there seems to some doubts as to Reid's fitness on the other flank which could point to a 4-5-1 in an attempt to build up confidence with midfield bodies. As for the defence one question mark appears to be what Parky will do about Christian's call to iron out our silly mistakes. Perhaps he'll ask for Nicky view's on things after his finger-wagging in one defenders face and its possible that we'll see the return of Sammy Sodje, who's only played 15 minutes in the last 5 games. While on the left, Chris Solly will step down with a few admirable words from Parky while he chalks up his fourth left-back of the season in the 24 year old loanee Gary Borrowdale from QPR.

On to the midfield then and after Semedo has his first full game in 8 and Parky citing his recent response to being omitted as the example to follow, its seems unlikely that he'll be one losing out while Racon was subbed at the den but could benefit from Reid's possible absence through injury.

Its also been another eight games since we've seen anything of Matt Spring who made a surprise appearance on the bench at the den and in fact has only played once since his perfect pass from midfield landed at Llera's feet in the last minute against Swindon back in December.

As for the forwards, there's poor old Leon McKenzie, missing from his place on the bench last weekend after 15 consecutive games, who can at least can take a well earned breather with a spell in the stands after his thigh injury got in training.

And then there's Jonjo who spent another game sat unused on the bench and its now been 6 games without a single minute played since his 90 minutes against Swindon Town.

The starting forward line at the den was Mooney and Akpo who between them failed to have a single shot on target the whole game. The four goals conceded and this stat are perhaps the best pointers to the changes Parky has in mind.

Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, Sodje(S), Borrowdale; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Shelvey, Racon; Burton.

SummaryOnly 2 of the 37 forecasters on cafcpicks saw an away win when they made their forecasts back in the summer but its likely that a few of the others may follow the example of Dave at drinkingduringthegame and have changed their mind after last weekend's performance.

But a clear home win, by my favorite score of 2-0, is needed badly. Whether we'll get it is another matter.

Millwall Preview

2010-03-12T11:31:00.016+01:00

There's always two sides to every argument and all the optimists among us last weekend saw two gifted goals by Stockport in the first 10 minutes that allowed the Addicks to relax a bit during the second half and ease to three easy points whilst saving themselves for the spanners cup final. Meanwhile the pessimists will fret over how we failed to push home our advantage to improve our goal difference and dispair how we allowed the bottom club to force the issue in the second half when we were second best.

The action in midweek saw 4 other teams play games in hand, namely Leeds, Colchester, Swindon and the spanners. No surprises at Tranmere where Leeds extended their lead over us to 5 while both Colchester and Swindon wasted their chances with a goalless draw with Brighton and a defeat at MK Dons respectively. Meanwhile, the spanners eased past Carlisle with the pace of Morison playing havoc with the defence all night and he got two more goals and narrowly missed out on another couple.

So its on to Millwall's first home cup final for a long 15 years. How they have managed to survive so long without us is a mystery that nobody in the country cares about. Manager at the den is the 48 year old Kenny Jackett, now on his third managerial club and has been with the spanners since November 2007. Loyal as a player, he had 337 games with Watford, his only club, before retiring with an injury at 28. He took the spanners into the Play-off final last year, seeing off Leeds on the way, and this year he plans to do even better.

Form

As for current form the spanners have been trying emulate the party poopers from Norwich and currently are managing it pretty well. Over the last 8 games you'll be pleased to learn that the spanners, are top of the league with figures of 6 wins, a draw and only 1 defeat in the last eight. In fact its an impressive 9 wins and 29 points in their last 12, while the team we're all chasing, Leeds, have only got 15 in the same number of games ( we have got 19 and its only bettered by Norwich with 30 points from their 12). And if they continue at the current rate we can all say goodbye to any worries abut playing the spanners in the Play-offs because it'll be Leeds that we'll be facing.

Meanwhile, we've noticed that if you're ever searching for an ex-player that enjoys playing his old team, look no further than ex-spanner Gary Waddock. Now manager of Wycombe Wanderers he loves playing the boys from the den and Wycombe's only win in their last 6 games was a 1-0 home victory over Millwall, 3 weeks ago and that, as it turns out, was the spanners only 1 defeat in their last 12. Millwall, meanwhile, are also listed as the 3rd best home team, after Norwich and Colchester, and have only lost once at home, and yes, you've guessed it, it was against Wycombe, 0-2 at the back end of November. That was Wycombe's first clean sheet for 7 months and their first win in 15 games.

Perhaps Parky should be ringing up Gary Waddock to find out how its done or get Kinsella to pop down to Adams Park for a quick chat with Waddock, a fellow ex-Irish international.

Ex-Addick

Last season's loanee Darren Ward was an un-used sub in December at the Valley but is back in favour at the spanners and is playing regularly at centre-back alongside captain Robinson.

The Opposition

Millwall have been unchanged in the last three, before the Carlisle game, whilst the defence has been unchanged for at least the last 5 games ( couldn't be bothered going back further) so at least Parky knows what to expect. As for midfield, while we have 35 game Nicky Bailey the spanners also have a midfielder that stands out in the 25 year old number 26, Frenchman Nadjim, Jimmy to his mates, Abdou, ex 0f Martigues, Sedan and Plymouth. He's played 30 games this season and once upon a time played a full season of Ligue One football with Sedan. And if you can't remember him from December, he's the one that left for an early bath after his red card.

The other three in midfield are normally Schofield, Hackett and the 21 year loanee Youth Cup winner from Ipswich, number 40 Liam Trotter.

Up front its usually that man Harris and the man from non-league Stevenage Steve Morison who got 2 at the Valley in December and already has 14 this season. And they also have the 19 year old Yeovil top scorer Jon Obika, on loan from Spurs.

Dangerman

All-time top scorer for the spanners is their number 9, Neil Harris, currently enjoying his best season on 17 goals despite starting only 18 games. Two weeks ago in their last home game versus Hartlepool, 'Harris picked himself up after being fouled and curled a deflected free-kick past Pools keeper Scott Flinders for his 11th goal in as many games.' But you'll be sad to find out that he suffered a bad knock to his knee in last weekends win at Walsall, missed the win at Carlisle, and is a tad doubtful for Saturday.

Whats Their Secret?Its their defence that wins all their prizes with only 35 goals conceded, and fourth best behind the mean experts Leeds with only 29 let in, while the Addicks are 7th best with 38 conceded.

But its those two Wycombe defeats that highlights the spanners' failings this season because against crap teams, sorry Gary, they have come unstuck with 5 defeats, whilst they raise themselves in games against the big boys of this League and have only lost once (0-2 away at Bristol in September) against teams in the top half of the table.

And it shows in their home games for while Carlisle, Brighton, Yeovil and the Saints have all drawn at the den, top boys Leeds (2-1), Norwich (2-1), Colchester (2-1), Huddersfield (3-1) have all been beaten. And, in fact, remembering Wycombe's surprise success in November, the key thing in our favour will be the spanners optimism of winning their first home cup final for 15 years.

But something to clearly bear in mind, especially after the 4-4 at the Valley, is that the game is never over till that final whistle, for no less that 11 of their 52 league goals have come after the 85th minute.

What Are They Saying?

Mark Kinsella never played at the den but he knows what to expect, "We're expecting a tough game. It will be big atmosphere and there will probably not be a lot of football played - both sides will have to earn the right to play first. Once that whistle goes, everyone will have to stand up and be counted."

Martin O'Neill, after Villa's cup win over Reading, "Sometimes it's nothing to do with pretty football. Sometimes it's to do with character, determination and the ability to fight and I think we had lost that there in the first half. It came back to us in the second half in great abundance."

History

OK, we have worst overall records against Colchester and Leeds but lets admit it the one that grates just a tad more is our dismal record against the lot from the den. You won't need any reminding what the score is over the 89 years (if you do its 11-30 with 22 draws) with just 4 wins at their place whatever they chose to call it. But hell, one of those 4 was a 2-0 win the last time we went there on 5th December 1995 - we completed the double with another 2-0 win on March 9th, only the third time we've done that ( you won't want to know but they have done it 9 times over us) - and, after the crazy 4-4 in December, we are now amazingly unbeaten in the last three games against them.

The Team

Johnnie Jackson only played 40 minutes on Saturday before a hamstring injury and is out for six weeks so its likely that Chris Solly will continue at left-back. And with Sam Sodje not even making the subs bench against Stockport the rest of the defence, especially after only its second clean sheet for 15 games,will surely remain as is. And we can only hope that after conceding 4 in December with a back four of Omozusi, S Sodje, Dailly, Basey, the changes perform somewhat better. But this is a derby and Parky will want players with the experience to handle it and he has mentioned that Llera could play left-back...

As for the midfield, will Parky dare to field a side with two wingers, from the off? Our last away game at Southend saw Semedo play the first hour before giving way to Reid with the score at 0-1 and the opposition tiring and Kyel played his part with an assist and a late goal but perhaps a key would be Parky's selection against the spanners in December where Semedo and Bailey were the central pairing with Sam and Wagstaff on the wings. Meanwhile Jonjo, just turned 18 and our 11th player on most minutes played this season, hasn't played a single minute in the last 5, after a full 90 against Swindon, and must be wondering when this, his longest rest period this season, is going to end.

As for the strike force, we must be one of the few teams where the number 9, the traditional main striker, hasn't started a game yet. Leon McKenzie must also be wondering when its going to happen but with games becoming more and more vital there's just no more time for experimentation. With only 242 minutes played from 14 sub appearances and only 1 goal from his third of those he only has 11 more games to impress but with Akpo getting three goals in the last 3 games his chances would appear to be fading.

Elliot; Richardson, Sodje(S), Dailly, Llera; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Shelvey; Burton, Sodje(A).
Summary

They always beat the top clubs down at the den so, with our dismal record against them, we really have no chance. That's the position and I have to say I'm proud of the 3000 Addicks that are making the short journey to witness what will probably be, if December was any pointer, a 5-3 thrashing.

But we have the fixture gift of them having a tiring midweek game against distant Carlisle in our favour (although we couldn't make an extra man count at the Valley) and home certs don't always win in football. But our bad form there and their form means there can only really be one result, so to increase their confidence even more, its bound to be a 1-3 defeat for the Addicks.

Stockport County Preview

2010-03-04T12:20:00.011+01:00

Facing the prospect last Friday of our eighth 1-1 draw of the season as the assistant ref put up his board for 6 extra minutes, Parky thoughts turned away from the state of his finger nails and questioned if there really was life after death. The thought of facing Richard upstairs after the game and having to explain away the teams inability to beat 10 men was not something he was looking forward to.

So quite how he felt when Kyel Reid ran clear to bury the ball into the bottom corner a minute later must be obvious to all. For if ever a goal was vital, it was this one at Roots Hall. After throwing what many would interpret as the last dice, he had demanded that his team "stand up to the plate again" and asked for "more conviction in the final third and a bit more belief", and once again had to stomach losing the first goal and recovering from a first half deficit. Nothing seemed to have changed and once again we had conceded the first goal (now 7 times in the last 8) and had been trailing 1-0 for 42 minutes against a struggling side with only 10 men.

So in the end everyone drove home rejoicing in our third come-from-behind win this season (after Orient and MK Dons ) but the question must be asked, is it only a temporary repreive, for while the spanners have been enjoying February with 21 points from their last 8 games, with Norwich following on 18 and the chasing trio of Swindon, Huddersfield and Colchester close behind on 16, the Addicks have responded with a meagre 9 against teams placed 10th, 3rd, 14th, 13th, 11th and 24th in the current form table. Even faltering Leeds managed double figures with 10.

So we move on to March, with four fixtures that look doubly worrying when compared to the easy ones of February with away games against the 1st and 6th teams on current form. And our problems start straight away because this month we play the team with the worst away record in Tier Three, but its not Stockport County, its the next home fixture against the Gills. In fact there's seven teams that are worse than bottom club County away from home, who have won three games on the road, the last one being at Exeter two weeks ago.....

Form
In fact, its probably not the best time to be playing County because, after 14 defeats in 16 games during the period October to January when relegation looked a certainty, they have had a much better February against MK Dons (h) 1-3, Colchester (h)2-2, Exeter (a)1-0 , Swindon (a)1-4 and Wycombe (h) 4-3 to help themselves to 7 points, only one less than the Addicks during the month, who played a game more. While the team that we struggled to beat last Friday, Southend, had the worst February of anyone with only a single point.

So we're up against a team, bottom of the table since the beginning of December, that are beginning to fight and have now won 2 of their last 5 games.

The Opposition

One reason for the change in mood at the Hatters is the addition of seven new players during the January window with 4 players (Swailes, Partridge, Johnson and Ibehre) joining from MK Dons and three more loanees joining from Colchester (Perkins), Watford (Sadler) and Plymouth (Donnelly). And perhaps not surprisingly, all of them went straight into the first team.

Injury problems have hit them lately though and defenders Mullins and Swailes were both missing from Tuesday's game at Bristol Rovers where they lost 1-0 to a goal gifted by their stand-in left-back Adam Griffin. And more problems hit them during the game with Jemal Johnson limping off with a muscle problem and then David Poole being red-carded which means he'll also be missing on Saturday.

Dangerman

Until January Carl Baker was their only dangerman on 13 goals but he's been snapped up by fizzy big boys Coventry. So there's now a fourway tie for top scorer with Bignall, Donnelly, Johnson and Thompson all on three strikes for the season but both George Donnelly and Jemal Johnson, on loan from Plymouth and MK Dons respectively, have got 2 in the last 4 games.

Whats Their Secret?

After three months without a win, and only one win in each of the months August, September and October the change in mood at Edgeley Park should not be underestimated. Although they conceded 12 goals in February they had their best month of the season with 2 wins and closed the gap to the team above them to 5 points and are now only 9 points from safety.

But, although the spanners, worryingly to most people, are the best team against the top half of the table with 8 wins and only 2 defeats in 15 games (the Addicks are 5th also with 2 defeats but a massive 8 draws), Stockport are rock bottom with not a single win against the top half of the table.

History

The score in League games before this season was even with Stockport at 2 wins apiece, each of us winning and losing once at home with all four games coming in our promotion seasons 97/98 and 99/2000. They did the double over us in 97/98 and we returned the debt two years later.

So anyone believing in omens will see it as good news that we only play Stockport in our promotion seasons but there's also been two cup games at the Valley with the Addicks winning 3-0 in the FA in 1948 and 4-3 in the League Cup in 2008. So after four games in all at the Valley they can only point to only one good result, that 3-1 win in September 1997.

Cheer Us Up Nels!

OK, while we somehow remain best first half team in Tier Three we have also added a further honour to our stats. In complete contrast to our early season habit of scoring first and as a result of all these recent second-half fight-backs, the Addicks now lead the table on points gained after going behind. Although Huddersfield, Norwich and Walsall enjoy coming from behind more times on 4 wins, our three victories and 8 draws mean we top the table with 17 points earned after giving away stupid goals to start with.

And if everyone is already writing off both away games this month, they should remember that although Huddersfield on March 27th are currently on 1 defeat in the last 15 and are unbeaten at home, 7 teams have drawn there including the likes of Brentford, Stockport, Tranmere and Carlisle. They are also not very good against the top half teams and apart from winning our last two games there we have won 5 of our last 9 games in Huddersfield and lost only twice.

The Team

After conceding first yet again but with our 4th 90th minute goal in 5 games coming from Reid last Friday its amazing that the Addicks are still the best League One side over the first 45 minutes with 16 "wins". And although we have only failed to score once in the last 22 games we can point to that Orient game, 8 games ago, as the time when things started to unravel.

And after scoring first 16 times in the first 26 games before facing the Orient and leading 15 times at the break we have now conceded first in 7 of the last 8 and in only one have we been leading at half-time. As for clean sheets we had 8 in the first 20 games but only one in the next 14.

So as Parky seeks to pinpoint the reasons for our Jekyll and Hyde behaviour perhaps we should point out that he only has 12 games left to solve it. Three "easy" home games against Stockport, the Gills and Carlisle (with only 1 League win between them at the Valley) are followed by the more taxing Colchester, Norwich and Leeds while away from home the hard ones come first with the spanners, Huddersfield, MK Dons and Pardew followed by a tailing-off at Exeter (where we have our worst away record of all in Tier 3) and then Oldham on the last day.

We've managed 17 points from our last 12 games so if we continue in our current jerky fashion we'll finish with a neat round 80 points, enough for last seasons 5th place.

As for the line-up, with Robbie Elliot taking the blame for the Southend goal, the defence will probably remain as at Roots Hall in another attempt to keep a clean sheet so the main discussion point will be the shape of the midfield.

Semedo gave way for matchwinner Kyel on 61 minutes last Friday and at the time it looked a useful tactic although the results of it came in rather late. So I think that, aiming for a settled side, Parky will field exactly the same team as as Southend unless Deon Burton is fit again to take Mooney's place.

Elliot, Richardson, Jackson, Llera, Dailly; Sam, Semedo, Racon, Bailey; Mooney, A Sodje.

Summary

This game is not going to be the walkover that it appears. Before Tuesday's 0-1 defeat at Bristol, the Hatters were dead level with the Addicks over the last 8 games with 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats and despite the Addicks being 3rd highest scorers in the League with the Hatters 3rd worst, over the last 8 they have outscored us, 10 to 9.

But at the other end no team has let in more goals, 16, than Stockport over the last 8 games and with the Addicks only failing to score once in their last 22 a goalless draw looks unlikely.

Verdict: its a toss-up between the Addicks two favorite scores, 1-1 or 2-1 and I'm going for the 2-1 home win.

Yeovil Preview

2010-02-19T08:30:00.002+01:00

There's two ways of looking at Mondays defeat and the subseqent drop to fourth place. One is to feel sorry for ourselves and imagine that we need a bit of a reality check. We're Division Three, playing badly and desperately need promotion in May if we want to avoid selling everybody decent during the summer. We've slipped to fourth with 15 games left and the writing on the wall is beginning to become clear. And to remember that I said a few months ago that we haven't always managed to get out of this place at the first attempt.

The other option is probably the more difficult. And with the signing of another left-sided player on loan, Parky has made it clear that we are going to fight. Having a quiet conversation with Chris Solly perhaps on the need for patience and reminding him that, at 19, he is still third choice left-back. And we can only hope that Parky has spent the rest of the week practising marking at corners and set-pieces with every one of the team and has knocked a few heads together after identifying who's been at fault in the past few games.

So is the team resigned to its fate or are they going to fight like Parky? We're getting very close to playing must-win games and we'll soon find out the Addicks mettle and its up to Parky now to choose a team that'll do just that. Next up is a little team from Yeovil begging for a defeat and with only 3 wins in their last 15. Newcomers to League football after winning the Conference in 2003, Yeovil were then promoted to League One two years later after being Champions of League Two in 2005 but then even made the League One Play-offs in 2007.

Maybe you'll recognise the bloke above because its 34 year old ex-Welling Terry Skiverton who's been Yeovil player-manager since february last year and he took them to a respectable 17th last season.

Form

Down to 14th after Wednesday's defeat to Colchester, the Glovers currently have the 20th best (or worst) away record in Tier Three with only 2 wins on the road; at Bristol in October (!) and last time out a healthy 4-1 tonking of lowly Wycombe. And only one win (Wycombe) and one draw (Hartlepool) to show from their last 5 away games.

The last time we played them they had 5 wins from their first 16 games, and now its only 3 wins (two against Wycombe and the other in the local derby at home to Exeter) in the last 15.

The Opposition

Maybe its because of Skiverton's London contacts but Yeovil seems to be Spurs' preferred loaning ground with three youngsters at Huish Park at the turn of the year before Obika surprisely upped and moved to the spanners. The other two are number 13, 18 year old Ryan Mason on 6 goals ( but not on the teamsheet on Wednesday) and they also have another 18 year old in defender Steven Caulker. They also have McCarthy, Jones, Davies and MacDonald on loan which meant a total of 5 loanees in the team against Colchester.

Dangerman

Top scorer is Jonathan Obika on 7 goals but the Spurs man has ended his loan spell at Yeovil and is now at the spanners so we'll probably see more of him in March.

The youngest player to score a hat-trick for his previous club Ipswich is number 14, 23 year old Dean Bowditch and he has 6 goals from 14 games since joining Yeovil at the start of the season.

Whats Their Secret?
Yeovil are better when playing teams on their own level and have only had 3 wins against top half opposition ( beating Brentford 2-0 (h) in September, Carlisle 3-1 (h) in October and Bristol 2-1 (a) in October) but have drawn at both MK and Millwall but they are one of only two teams to lose to the Gills in the last 14 games. The Addicks, meanwhile, have the fifth best record against teams in the bottom half with only one defeat (Orient).

And despite Leeds' defeat on Wednesday the Lilywhites joined the Addicks as joint leaders of the half-time league but as for the opposition there's sadly only two teams, Exeter and Wycombe ( oddly the only teams that Yeovil have beaten in their last 15 games ) have been losing more times than Yeovil at half-time. And don't dismiss the significance of a half-time lead - only 3 teams have managed to win twice after overcoming a deficit at the interval (Norwich, the spanners and MK) and Yeovil are one of 12 that have still not won after going in behind.

History

The fourth, and last, of the teams never to have played at the Valley in a League fixture are this weeks visitors. The other three - Wycombe, Hartlepool and Mk Dons - were all beaten.

Against Yeovil we've only had a total of three games played, 2 cup and 1 League with one win each and 1 draw, with both teams scoring 4 times. Both cup games have been at the Valley with us winning the first 3-2 in 2005 in the FA Cup but then losing 0-1 last season in the League Cup when the likely duo of Bouazza and Varney ( now at Blackpool and Sheff Wednesday) were Pardews strike force - no wonder we didn't score then.

The one draw was back in November, 1-1 in atrocious conditions at Huish Park with Sammy Sodje being red-carded on 28 minutes for pulling down Ryan Mason when free on goal. Mooney was sacrified straight away for Llera but Sammy's younger brother came on at half-time for Racon and changed the game with a 25 yard screamer just after half-time.

What Are They Saying?

Parky after Swindons goal two weeks ago, reflecting on Amankwaah's opening goal as the right-back turned home a deflected cross from the right-hand side, "The lads are an honest bunch but whoever is marking Amankwaah has got to do better in that particular situation. We will look at it again. We conceded from the second phase at a set-play against Walsall. We've got to be stronger as set-plays are so important, but over the season we've generally been good."

And after centre-half Elliott had scored with a volley to put Bristol ahead in the 14th minute, Parky had to admit "How someone can be left in six yards of space in your 18-yard box from a corner is beyond belief."

Terry Skiverton after the Colchester game had this to say, "the energy, the tempo and the levels of commitment I've got no complaints with. I'm proud of the players and I appreciate the amount of effort they are putting in. A bit more quality in that final third and maybe we can start punishing teams like we seem to get punished ourselves. I think the supporters can go away happy, obviously they'll be disappointed, but they'll know that the players have tried their hearts out for their club."

The Team
As even the official site now admits the opposition have now scored first in the last 5 games with sloppy marking at set-pieces the reason for several goals. So will Parky respond by changing the formation, for a home game, or change the personnel?

The new loanee signing, Johnny Jackson, although not offically confirmed, seems sure to start if the reported rumours are correct and given the timing of the move it can only mean that immediate cover for Basey is in Parky's mind.

As for the rest of the team there were precious few positives coming out of the Bristol game except that we kept going till the end of the game even with only 10 men after Mooney was injured. So will Parky presevere with the two Sam's, Sodje and Lloyd, Racon and Burton or will he insist on changes.

This is the team that I can see:
Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, Llera, Jackson; Wagstaff, Bailey, Spring, Shelvey, Reid; Burton.

Summary
The key could be whether or not we can at long last stop a team scoring. The Addicks are without a clean sheet in 11 games now, since Southend, which was the very time that Deon last scored from open play, but we are against a team that have failed to score in three of their last 4 games.

The good thing is that we can expect to score as the Addicks have scored in 16 of their last 17 games and Yeovil have only have 3 clean sheets in their last 20, but then again have only failed to score themselves three times since we last played them.

They will come to defend so will it be a goalless draw perhaps? Or 1-0 to the Addicks. Personally I prefer the latter.

Bristol Rovers Preview

2010-02-15T09:15:00.008+01:00

Well, we all knew that Swindon have a soft centre late in games and so it proved again but we did leave it rather late with Captain Fantasic doing the business yet again. But it does make Richard Murrays remarks about promotion being a requirement not an aim, seem a bit mistimed. Its one thing to tell the manager in private but a public airing can only serve to make people nervous and prepare the bigger clubs for a likely bargain.

And so it proved, with Parky appearing a little on the desperate side in the attempt to counter Swindon's style, and making more changes in fielding a brand new 4-2-3-1 formation which of course had to be changed at half-time. But we didn't lose - although a missed open goal by Swindon did help along the way - and our fighting spirit came through again.

So being positive, the prime requirement in the sporting world, we may bemoan the lack of a goalscorer but with Bailey around we are still second highest scorers in this League ( 14 behind Norwich, 1 in front of Huddersfield) and with the third highest goal difference.

And despite all our nervous nail-bitting and looking our shoulder we're still in 3rd place although Millwall's form is starting to worry a few people. Only 4 weeks now separate us from the visit to the den and the third of our truly wish-we-could-play-someone-else-today-games (the games against the spanners and Colchester are for me the most awkward of them all, the pity being that both are in Play-off positions) and its currently 5 wins on the spin for the spanners.

So its on to those peps with the strange old-fashoned quartered shirts. Player-Manager at Rovers is 37 year old Paul Trollope, another man in his first job but at Rovers since 2005. Eleventh last season in their second year back in Tier Three they have, of course, our old Lennie as Director of football.

And as we tie with the spanners in the chase to be the highest fouling team in the division ( Ince's MK are clear leaders, no surprise there), little old Bristol are nice and clean and are in the relegation zone of the dirty-boys table with nearly a hundred less fouls committed than us and 18 less yellows - and the distinct bonus ( is there a FairPlay prize down here) as far as suspensions are concerned with no red cards at all.

Form

Rovers are currently in 9th place, their lowest placing of the season and have dropped down quite a bit since their good start to the season when they won 7 of the first 10 games and were up there in 3rd. The kiss of death then arrived from the Football League with Trollope being awarded Manager of the Month for September and inevitably October turned into a disaster with 5 straight defeats including a 0-4 home loss to Leeds.

Since then however, its been their home form which has kept them from really heading towards the relegation zone. Their last 10 away games have seen 8 defeats ( including that 4-2 loss at the Valley) and only 2 draws but at home its been a lot better.

Since the 0-4 Leeds defeat at the end of October they have had 5 straight home wins terminating with a thumping 3-0 win over Swindon - although since that win its been another bleak period with only 1 win ( home to Hartlepool ) in their last 8 games and most recently two home defeats in a row firstly 2-3 against improving Wycombe, after leading 2-1 at half-time, and last week a 1-0 defeat to Walsall.

And the goals have dried up as well with 6 non-scoring games in that eight-match sequence.

The Opposition
A rather odd team where the number one, goalkeeper Steve Phillips is on loan at Crewe, while number 12 is worn by the supporters and are known as the Gasheads, in apparent recognition of the smell from the adjacent gas works. The goalkeeper, therefore is the giant 6' 5, 21 year old dane from Copenhagan, Mikkel Andersen wearing number 27 and on-loan from Reading.

DangerMan

After losing Ricky Lambert during the summer to Southampton, Rovers have struggled to find a replacement and current top scorers are left-winger number 11 ex-palarse Jeff Hughes, currently playing left-back, and midfielder Chris Lines with 8 each. Chris Lines is Rovers' own version of Nicky Bailey and has scored three of their last four goals but luck is against Rovers as he's currently out injured. And Hughes is currently on a run of 8 games without scoring and missed a penalty last week against Walsall.

So to fill in the gaps Trollope has secured loanee striker from Doncaster Paul Heffernan, famous for his head-butt on Charlie Mulgrew in the 88th minute of Play-off semi against Southend in 2008. He therefore missed the Dons moment of glory when they beat Leeds 1-0 in the final and made his Rovers debut last week against Walsall. And Trollope also wants to bring in another loan striker before tonight.

Whats Their Secret?

A bizarre team that have had more clean sheets than we have but then again only 6 teams in Tier 3 have conceded more goals. The only team in the top half of the table with a minus goal difference and although they have scored 3 on 4 occasions they have also conceded 5 twice ( Orient and Norwich) and 4 twice ( Leeds and the Addicks).

History

After reminding everyone that we usually do well at Swindon, which we did, its on to Bristol where our record really isn't very good. In fact, giving it to you straight, we have an even worse record at Bristol than we do at the den, old or new.

OK, we did the double over them in 1993/4 and won at the Valley in December making it three wins in the last three games but before that 2-0 away win in January 1993 we'd gone 15 games without a win at their place dating back 34 years to a 4-0 cup win there in 1959. And the only other time we've won there was a 5-2 Third Division South League win in 1933.

Oddly enough we've played both Bristol clubs 29 times in Bristol but whereas we've won 11 times against City its a sorry total of only 3 wins in that total of 29 away games at Rovers and its our first game at the Memorial Ground where Rovers have played since 1996.

The Team

After last weekends surprises its anyones guess what formation Parky will choose against Rovers although it must be said that his new 4-2-3-1 failed to impress anyone watching. He seemed pretty upbeat going into the game but perhaps he shot himself in the foot by trying to play to counter the opposition to avoid defeat. This week, I suspect, it'll be back to a more obvious selection with two forwards.

Scott Wagstaff, with his 5 goals, was flavor of the month and has now taken part in 12 out of the last 13 games, starting in seven of them although what his thoughts were when he was replaced at half-time at Swindon by Jose Semedo haven't been reported.

Another one perhaps grinding his teeth is Leon McKenzie, who, just when he must have thought he was due a start, has seen his prospects slip somewhat with the return of the much-liked Akpo and had to stay on the bench against Swindon after coming on in the previous eight.

Meanwhile there's strange goings-on as far as Lloyd Sam is concerned. Last week he missed his first League game of the season - apart from his one game suspension - and that was after only appearing for 10 minutes the week before against Walsall. And then there's the private meeting he had this week with Murray and Parky to discuss his contract which expires in the summer and the latest news that he has shaken off the bug that apparently stopped him playing last week.

And then what of Therry? After starting for the first time in eight games against Walsall he must have been cursing his luck when he had to go off after 52 minutes against Swindon with a head injury and didn't return.

But Parky needs to get it right this week and will revert to a 4-4-2 and after last weeks surprises the team would seem to pick itself.

Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, Sam Sodje, Basey; Sam, Bailey, Semedo, Reid; Akpo Sodje and Burton.

Summary

Our record away at Rovers is terrible and clearly the 37 punters on CAFC Picks knew all about it as only 4 of them saw a win back in the summer and even some of those may have changed their minds by now. Rovers home form, until recently, is also quite good but they have loads of injury problems and two home defeats in a row and as Ketts has pointed out have gone 300 minutes without scoring. Meanwhile the Addicks are on 4 games without a win and 3 consecutive TV defeats in a row.

So Parky, with Richard's words still ringing in his ears, needs a win badly but if it comes it won't be easy on our current form but if Yeovil, Orient, Wycombe and Walsall can win there, there should be no excuses if we can't do the same. And perhaps we can even get a run going with Yeovil, Brighton, Southend and Stockport the next 4 teams.

So the Verdict has to be a win to the Addicks, 2-0

Swindon Town Preview

2010-02-04T12:22:00.009+01:00

I'm not very happy at moment and judging from his pictures, neither is Parky. Despite four changes in defence, midfield and attack, he still cannot change the predictable state of affairs. We concede the first goal and then have to raise our game to take the game to the opposition. Its now been nine games since a clean sheet (Southend, December 5th) and six times now in the last 8 we have conceded the first goal and 5 times ( all bar Orient) we have had to come back to get a draw.

And we're now the team with the most drawn games, 11, in Tier Three. Its unusual to see the highest drawing team so high up in the table, ( in the other three divisions they're 15th, 21st and 12th ) and Parky must be feeling frustrated at our inability to turn these draws into wins.

And he also needs to fix his half-time talk because we're still useless in games where we've been drawing at half-time. Ten games, one win and not something to plan at the weekend because the three best teams when they've been drawing at the interval are Leeds, Norwich and ....Swindon.

Manager at Swindon is Danny Wilson who joined in 2008 after spells at various clubs but is most famous for his first managerial job which was at Barnsley whom he lead into the top flight for the first, and sadly only time, in their history in 1997.

Form
Clearly something strange happened around October 31st at Swindon because since then, after just 4 wins in 14, they've had 9 wins in 12 games and if it wasn't for the 94 minute equaliser at the Valley and Southend's 89th minute equaliser last weekend it would be 11 wins in 12. And those two late goals have really cost them, as, with three games in hand, they would be just 3 points behind us. As it is they are currently 8 points behind but with a far worst goal difference.

And the thing that changed everything was due to the 4-1 win by the reserves against Reading on October 30th with Billy Paynter and Charlie Austin getting two goals each. And as Wilson said after the game, "We are still trying to get the combinations and the personnel right but its given us food for thought for Saturday because we're not hitting the back of the net. "

Well, they certainly are now with 26 goals in the last 12 games with nine wins and only one defeat, away to Bristol Rovers, in that run.

Dangerman
Dangerman by a mile since that October date is top scorer and Liverpudlian 25 year old Billy Paynter, number 20 and now on 17 goals but just to provide us with additional problems he's got himself a new number two after that reserve game.

Whilst we have two underperforming non-league strikers in Dickson and Fleetwood, Swindon seem to have picked up a peach from Poole Town. His name's Charlie Austin he's 20 and he's got 10 goals in 14 games since he joined in October including the first for Swindon on Boxing Day.

Whats Their Secret?
Not a secret more of a liability really but, as was amply demonstrated by Southend just last weekend, Swindon lack a bit of staying power. At Roots Hall they lead 2-0 with 2 goals in the first 10 minutes but once again at the death they conceded 2 goals in the last 5 minutes. Shades of the Valley then. And in fact while conceding no more than 3 goals in only other 5 minute spell, they have let in 4 in the 80-85 minutes and a massive 8 in the last five minutes of games.

And they are one of only 5 teams ( in the august company of the likes of Hartlepool, the Gills, Tranmere and Oldham) in this neck of the woods that have not won a game after going behind. Unlike the Addicks, of course, who now have only Huddersfield and Wycombe above us in the table showing points clawed back after letting in stupid goals. And its now eleven draws for the Addicks, more than anybody else, and 7 of those have been after going behind.

Rather more worryingly, apart from Leeds and Norwich, the next best team in games against the top half of the table is...Swindon.

History
We haven't got a bad record down at the County Ground with 6 wins and 10 draws in the 24 League games and with 2 League cups wins there as well its level pegging with 8 wins each. And of the last 10 games there since the 80's we've won no less than seven and lost only once...

The Team
Parky definitely threw all the predicted eleven's out of the window on Tuesday and surprised us all by bringing in Solly, Racon, Wagstaff and Akpo Sodje.

Chris Solly was handed his first start in the League while Racon, without a single minute in the last 8 games, was brought in to replace Semedo. Wagstaff, another surprise starter, started his first game since Millwall, while more predictably Mooney was relegated to the bench with Akpo's physical present given the nod over Leon McKenzie.

But, disappointingly for Parky, the changes failed to rattle Walsall, a team that had previously lost to Leeds, Norwich and Southampton at home although they had drawn 1-1 with Swindon but before Swindon hit their recent rich vein of form.

But, and we're not making excuses, the pitch was terrible, according to Deon, and the performance was better than of late so what can we expect against Swindon?

Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, S. Sodje, Solly; Wagstaff, Bailey, Semedo, Reid; Burton, A. Sodje.

Summary

We have a very good record at the County Ground but with three games without a win I can't see one coming in this game. But then, despite all the hype, Swindon weren't very impressive on Boxing Day against 9 for nearly an hour so .....

The key will be keeping those two strikers quiet and as I can't forecast a defeat so it'll have to be a draw, 1-1.

Walsall Preview

2010-02-02T09:20:00.010+01:00

Not a good week for the Addicks with just a single point from two "easy" home games. And not a good month either with lack-lustre performances, only 7 points on the board and 7th best in January in this sorry league we find ourselves in. Sneaking a look into the dressing room, it appears to be becoming apparent to the team that they're just not good enough to get an auto spot out of this Division. The Killer Blow as far as morale is concerned is Norwich's surge past us in the table with 8 straight wins that has now has left us trailing them by 8 points - although with a game in hand - while we are 5 behind Leeds and have played a game more.

Its just the sort of situation that going to frustrate a team with only 2 wins in the last seven and added to the disappointment of dropping out of the top two, after holding second place for 5 months, could explain the lethagic performances of late.

So we'll have to gee them up and stress the positives. Get the team to show some grit and determination, not least because coming up shortly we have Swindon, a team we can't afford to give any concessions or psychological advantages.

So looking back at the past month, seven points in January was at least 3 more than either Leeds or Colchester managed and the two teams we couldn't beat this week are not down there in the basement but 5th (Orient) and 9th (Tranmere) in a results table on January results. Not promotion material perhaps but an example of teams fighting for survival.

But you can't accuse us of not fighting. We haven't had a single straightforward game since Stockport on the 12th Dec. Since then we've had seven games that we've either drawn after going behind ( Millwall, Swindon, Brentford and Tranmere) or gone on the win after the other team had equalised ( Wycombe and Hartlepool) and in only one have we failed to score (Orient).

On Saturday we had 21 shots with 12 on target. The party-poopers from East Anglia only managed 7 shots ( 4 on target) against Hartlepool in their 2-1 win while Leeds only have 14 (7 on target). And the only team to come anywhere near us was Pardews lot with 18 shots, 13 on target. So we've showing fighting spirit and creating shooting positions.

So on to Walsall. And while we continue to vie with Norwich and Leeds with most shots on target our next opponents Walsall are down the other end of the listing with less shots than anybody else in the Division. Manager for the past year at the Saddlers is Paul Jewell's mate Chris Hutchings. They've been together 3 times at Bradford, Wigan and Derby with Hutchings being the beneficiary by taking over all three times when Jewell upped and left.

Form

After 5 wins in 7 back in October/November which took them to the brink of the Play-offs positions in 7th place they have became a little dizzy about their prospects and its now been six games without a win and with 4 defeats in there as well and a slide down to 13th place. And while the Addicks have only got 13 points from their last 8 games, Walsall are even worst with only 8 points from the last 24.

And their recent home form is even worse with only 1 win ( 3-0 against Oldham two months ago) in the last 5 games at the Banks Stadium with 3 defeats to Pardew's lot, Brighton and the East Anglia party-poopers, whom they lead for 40 minutes before succumbing to two goals in the last 13 minutes.

Dangerman
Top scorers are number 10 Troy Deeney, still only 21, and the irishman number 7 Steve Jones both on 9. But Jones is out injured so its Deon's fellow Jamaican, Darren Byfield, ex of the spanners and the Gills, that starts alongside Troy these days and he has 7 goals.

Whats Their Secret?
As we said in December, Walsall's party trick is giving the opposition a goal start and then going on to win. They've done it three times this season - a 2-1 win over Huddersfield back in September with an 87 minute Raynes goal after going behind and at Wycombe where they went 2-0 down and won 3-2 and they also beat Tranmere after going a goal down. But typical for a mid-table team they can do the opposite as well and have also lost 3 times after winning....

But their form against the good teams is dire. Placed 22nd in a table showing results against the top 12 with only one win in 12 games.

History
Despite winning three out of the last 4 Cup games against the Addicks ( which includes the embarrassing 2-1 FA Cup defeat at the Valley in 2002 ) we should be looking forward to visiting Walsall where of all the other Tier 3 teams we have our best away record ( in League games anyway) picking up over 1.5 points per game. Its one of only three places down here where we've won more than we've lost ( the others are Gillingham and Southend) and the record currently stands at 4 wins, 2 draws and only 3 defeats over the 9 League games.

The last time Walsall beat us in the League was 37 years ago in October 1973 at Fellows Park in an embarrassing 4-0 defeat but of the 5 games played since then at Fellows Park and Banks Stadium we've won 3, drawn one and only lost a League Cup tie 2-0 in 1987 after winning the home leg 3-0.

And its only our second visit to the Bescot Banks Stadium, the first being a 4-2 win in March 2000 on our march to the Tier Two title.

The Team

There's no Carl Ikeme this time stopping Darren Randolph filling-in in place of the injured Rob Elliot and he'll make only his second start after playing at Northwich so don't be surprised if he's rusty. But there's no word on Kelly Youga so the defence will line-up as it finished on Saturday.

Midfield, however, will be the area getting most of Parky's attention this week with two difficult away trips coming up. Racon and Spring wait in the wings but with Therry only enjoying one game ( Southend) in the last eleven and no sub appearances either its not looking like a return for him and Matt Spring hasn't seen any action at all since his 90 minutes against Brentford in December.

However, new boy Kyel Reid looked good at the weekend and with "sore calves" was replaced by Leon McKenzie on 71 minutes but there's a good case for including both in the starting line-up. Parky's obvious enthusiasm for Dave Mooney reminds me of Pardews liking for Luke Varney last season. Mooney's has now had more than 900 minutes football for his three goals - which looks good by Varney standards with his 2 from 1500 minutes last season - but its not good enough to worry the top two clubs and its surely time to try a new combination of Burton and McKenzie together.

Although with the return of Akpo Sodje, and Parky's quote about his physical present being more than useful, it looks more than likely that he'll benefit from Mooney's dip in form.

Randolph; Richardson, Dailly, S. Sodje, Basey; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Reid; A. Sodje, Burton.

Summary

With our history at Walsall and their record against all the top teams and the fact that only three teams down here ( Oldham, Hartlepool and Stockport) that have had more defeats in their last 8 than Walsall, its a morale-boosting 2-0 to the Addicks.

Tranmere Rovers Preview

2010-01-28T11:06:00.005+01:00

Last Monday just had a bad feel to it and there were too many things to go wrong. A televised local derby against a team we'd already beaten away and that hadn't won two games on the trot all season and who hadn't won at the Valley for 30 years. A gilt-edged chance to go equal top against a team that hadn't kept two consecutive clean sheets for nearly a year but ominously with an ex-addick striker leading the line.

It all looked too easy and maybe an element of casualness had crept into the players minds or you might say it was typically Charlton to lose just at a time when they could have put some pressure on the other two but then Orient clearly deserved their win. Maybe its easier to watch your neighbours style and identify his strong points but they had done their homework well and knew what to do to stop us playing. And in a crucial first half they managed to stop the divisions highest scorers over the first 45 from getting a single shot on target.

At one point it looked as if all three leaders would fail midweek but although Leeds continued their dire League form, the party-poopers from East Anglia can't do anything wrong at the moment and came from behind to win their 7th game in a row.

On to our opponents then and Tranmere just missed out on the Play-offs last season finishing in 7th and had high hopes of more of the same this year, especially with a new high-profile manager. Their home form was second only to Leeds' last season and Parky must have expected his toughest test so far when we visited in August. A 4-0 win followed and things clearly didn't work at Prenton Park and the manager now is 52 year old Les Parry who took over on 9th October after John Barnes had been sacked after just two wins in the first eleven games. A strange choice as Parry was the clubs physio at the time and had no managerial experience at all.

Form
But after 13 defeats in their first 17 games, things have been slowly improving and its now only two defeats ( at Southampton and MK Dons) in the last 9 and as far as away games are concerned they even scored three goals at home bankers Huddersfield in a 3-3 draw.

And if you fancy our chances against a team still stuck in 22nd spot then take care because their record over the last 8 shows them level-pegging in eleventh place with none other than Leeds United with a recent record of 3 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats.

Dangerman
Ian Thomas-Moore with 7 is top scorer. He almost qualifies as an ex because he is, of course, the son of ex-Addick Ronnie Moore who we all chipped with our fivers to buy back in 1983.

Whats Their Secret?
Have only gained a single point after falling behind. Have failed to score 13 times, the most in the Division (along with Oldham who drew 0-0 at the Valley) but have had 6 clean sheets only two less than the Addicks. But a strange team that have won every game where they were in front at half-time but have lost every one where they have been losing.

You all know that we have the best first half record of all in Tier Three but you may not know that a record we also hold is that we are the worst team at getting a result when we've been drawing at half-time. OK, it doesn't happen often, only 8 times, (against Leeds, Oldham, Huddersfield, the Gills, Carlisle - all strangely in a row - then Millwall, Brentford and Orient). Only once in those games did we go on to win, Huddersfield, with two defeats and 5 draws.

History
Before this year, we have a middling record with Tranmere, 6 wins each and 10 draws. With our 4-0 win up there in August, our 5th League win on the trot, we've gone in front 7-6 but they've only won twice at the Valley with the Addicks winning 5 with 4 draws with both of their wins being 1-0 Tier two games in 1992 and 1995.

The Team
Parky has some thinking to do before Saturday and although he ruled out making wholesale changes, one or two may just creep in. Belief in ones players comes first I suppose and casting my eye back to Wigan's 9-1 defeat at Spurs back in November, its interesting to note that Martinez, after a result suggesting changes, made just one alteration to his lineup for the 1-0 win over Sunderland 6 days later.

Starting at the back he has to decide who to play at centre-back, red-card expert Sodje or accident-prone Llera. They've both contributed 3 goals but with Miguel looking more nervous with every game, looks like a return for Sammy in an attempt to keep a clean sheet for the first time in 8 games. We can only hope that Grant Basey is given a rest by the timely return of Kelly even if he has been left exposed at times due to our floating left-wing problem but there's been no news of a return this week.

As for the midfield and despite playing the full 90 on Monday, JonJo Shelvey may find himself on the bench as Parky seeks to find an answer to our lack-lustre performances. Sam, Semedo and Bailey are certs but Parky must choose between Shelvey, Wagstaff, Spring or a forgotten Racon. Therry hasn't been seen on the field now, strangely enough, since that last clean sheet when he effectively took over from the suspended Semedo, seven games ago.

Up front will Dave Mooney be punished for his miss on Monday, giving Leon his first start? No, can't see it happening.

Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, Sodje, Basey; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Wagstaff; Burton, Mooney

Summary

A recovery or another 0-0 draw like Oldham, that's the question. No, 1-0 to the Addicks.

Postscript
There I was the other day reminiscing while walking the dog and going over all the great players we used to have but, showing my age, I just couldn't remember that Italian guys name. Then I found this by David Pleat on his 11 best players,
"I'd liked what I'd seen of him on television so I went up to Glasgow to see him play for Celtic. I took a cab to my hotel and the driver kept saying: "What are you doing here? Don't you dare try and take Paolo off our hands." When I got to the ground I found out he'd been ruled out through injury but, to be honest, I'd heard enough. He was fantastic in training and, while he could be selfish on the park and on some days played as if in a daze, at his best he was superb. He was temperamental – I remember him overturning the physio's couch in one half-time tantrum, and stripping off at Blundell Park at the break refusing to go back on the field. He ended up going back out and playing better in that second half. He was wild, but he was also wonderful on his day: a great shooter, a fine crosser and a top-class dribbler."
Yeh, that was Di Canio.....

Leyton Orient Preview

2010-01-25T08:20:00.011+01:00

We've over half way through the season now and its a mad downhill chase to the finish line hoping that one of the others misses a hurdle or two, or maybe goes into administration. Just 20 games left and its neck and neck at the top with only three points covering the top three. Delia's party-poopers got another revenge out of the way with a useful 1-0 over Brentford even with 10 men after Grant Holt's dismissal so with Leeds otherwise detained, a winning result this evening would see a crazy three-way tie on 57 points.

Leeds did well at White Hart Lane at Saturday with a 2-2 draw that keeps complicating their fixture list but its a shame they can't play Carlisle every week. Carlisle have already drawn 1-1 at Elland Rd this season before their 2-1 win in the Johnstones last Tuesday and of course they were the last League One team to win there, 2-0 back in January 2009.

But with two home games left in January, it's February that could be make or break time for the three leaders with 6 league games in 24 days for the Addicks. Leeds also have 6 League games planned plus their Johnstones semi with Carlisle and now another FA Cup game so looks as if one of those league games will suffer while the party-poopers from East Anglia have it easy with only five games. The end of February then could see Leeds relegated to third place but there's a couple of difficult games in there for the Addicks first.

In total we have a nice neat 10 home games and 10 away to go and as far as difficult away games are concerned we have six games out of the 10 against teams in the top half of the best-home-record table. We face visits to unbeaten-at-home Huddersfield (Mar 27), Swindon (Feb 6) and Millwall (Mar 13) both with only a single home defeat, Saints (Apr 10) and Exeter (Apr 24) with just 2 home defeats and Bristol Rovers (Feb 13) with 3. So a neat two a month but results in these games could decide our season.

And we'll have to do better than our history in these games as at the moment it doesn't make pleasant reading. You won't need telling that its been 17 defeats at the spanners (our biggest away loss anywhere in the current company), and 16 times at both Huddersfield (out of 35 games) and Southampton (out of 27). And we've only won once at Exeter in 11 visits and twice at Bristol Rovers in 25.

As for tonight, one of Parky's old work-mates is current O's manager 48 year old Geraint Williams. They were together at Colchester whom Williams have managed on a four-week caretaker basis during the 2002–03 season prior to Parkinson's appointment in February 2003 for Parky first job in management. In July 2006, after three years together, Parky left to manage Hull and Geraint took charge of the U's and spent two years there before being sacked. He joined Orient last February and they finished a healthly 14th last season.

Form

It was 5 games without a win before Tuesday which saw Orient drop into the bottom 4 for the second time this season. They badly needed a win and they got it, 2-0 over Yeovil at home moving up to 18th on 27 points, exactly half the Addicks total.

But their away record is currently the 18th worst in the division with 2 wins ( a 2-1 win on the first day of the season at Bristol Rovers and a 1-0 at Wycombe in October), 3 draws and 7 defeats and they have managed only 2 points in their last 6 away games although those were the last two at Brighton and Walsall. But don't get fidgety Parky during the first half, for they have only conceded 1 goal (at the best home team Huddersfield) in the first 45 in their last 10 away games including games at the party-poopers, Leeds and Swindon!

The Opposition

Parky, watch out for that big geezer, number 5 Tamika Mkandawire from Malawi, he's already got 5 from centre-back including their goal against us in August and another last Tuesday against Yeovil.

Dangerman

Scott McGleish turns 36 next month and its now been 15 years since he left the Addicks but is Orients top scorer on 9 for the season.

Whats Their Secret?

If you believe that its only tough teams that keep battling when all seems lost, then step forward the spanners and MK Dons, the only two teams to win twice after arriving at half-time losing. I suppose you could argue that it depends on how many stupid goals you give away in the first 45 and both of them have gone in for their tea losing 8 times.

But its not like that over at the Orient. They have only conceded 9 goals during the first half of their 25 games while letting in 18 in the last 15 minutes. And it gets more confusing while you read that they score more goals in the first 5 minutes of games than any other period while conceding more in the last 5 minutes than any other. Not a staying team then and amply demonstrated last August when we came from behind and scored two second half goals to win 2-1, which is of course our favorite scoreline as well as being their's (1-2 that is).

On the other hand Leeds, despite their dismal record of late, have only been losing at half-time once while next best at half-time are, of course, Leyton Orient, who amazingly have only been losing at the 45 minutes twice.

Cheer Us Up Nels

While we were suffering during the poor first half on Tuesday we should remember that we are by far the best team of the season over the first 45 minutes. Fifteen times now we have been leading at half time and only Leeds and the party-poopers come close with 12. We've also scored more goals than anybody else in the first 45 with 27 while Leeds and Norwich have only enjoyed 20 and 22.

History

The party-poopers knocked 4 past a hapless Orient on their visit to carrow rd in September but don't expect such a generous performance from Leyton in a local derby. It took Orient 30 years to get a result at the Valley with their first win there in 1962 and after three wins in the 70's its now been another 30 since their last win, a 1-0 on 12th January 1980. There's only been one league encounter since then, a 5-2 canter in 1982, but they have made a habit of knocking us out of cups, in 1982 and 1990 while we've done the same to them in 2006 and 2009.

The Team

Two wins on the trot, something that we used to dream about, and the question is will Parky made any changes. There's no Sodje ( game 4 of his suspension, is Miguel getting nervous?) and Kelly's signing autographs in the shop so an unchanged squad looks likely. But there were some low scoring marks all over the teamsheet last Tuesday and the question of Super-Sub Scotty staking a claim to a starting berth. Parky explains it away by saying we were tired after a tough game at Wycombe and a lack of training due to the bad weather.

One problem with starting Scotty would be the lack of creation in midfield once JonJo leaves it although that didn't stop our number 16 from making his own mark last Tuesday. And Scotty's 5 goals come from only 841 minutes played while Dave Mooney has now got 3 from his 758 minutes.
And there's also the question of missing pace given Parky's liking for the Mooney/Burton duo and if Mooney hadn't scored last week then perhaps we'd see both JonJo and Scotty playing and Mooney sat on the bench. But he did and scoring after three minutes after coming on shows that Wagstaff wants to prove something and maybe Parky will want to keep that desire as a special weapon on the bench.
Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, Llera, Basey; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Shelvey; Burton, Mooney.

Summary

Another game where both teams enjoy the same scoreline reversed. We love the 2-1 and they suffer more 1-2's than anything else. So a 2-1 win then? The first half will be crucial as its the best first half team against the second best. We've scored the most and they have conceded the second least. But don't panic Parky if its still 0-0 at half-time, the second 45 is when they let the goals in.

So looks like a 2-1 win but then its a local derby and our experiences with the spanners showed that in derbies the rules go out the window. And there's also the question mark over our nerve to go equal top. So many teams blow chances when the summit is in sight. We haven't been at the top since our 2-1 win over Huddersfield in mid-October and goals from Sam Sodje and McLeod got us there and both are missing tonight, some would say thankfully so.

So I'll stick with a 2-1 but its a time for cold nerves on a cold evening and a driving start Parky to settle us down.

Hartlepool......

2010-01-19T09:01:00.004+01:00

I said a few weeks back that before we get onto our difficult away period, which begins on February 6th at Swindon, we must make hay while we can. The next three January games, all at home, are against teams that we have already beaten away from home and Parky will be keen to pick up the nine points to get us up to a nice round 60. These three games are vital in keeping up the pressure at the top and improving out home record which currently is only 4th best in the division after Huddersfield, Norwich and Leeds.

Meanwhile, League leaders Leeds, currently six points ahead of us, but with only 15 points from their last 8 league games ( 22 to Norwich, 18 to the Addicks) have only two League games left in January due to their FA Cup and Johnstone's Paint action and they aren't the sort of fixtures set to ease the mounting nerves of the Leeds faithful. First they visit in-form Swindon (2nd in the table on current 8-game form) on Tuesday 26th and then have Colchester (5 wins in the last 8) the following weekend at Elland Rd. We can only hope that Leeds manage to get a result at White Hart Lane on Saturday to confuse their League efforts even more.

And since Christmas Leeds have been having an uncomfortable time of it, in the League anyway. On Boxing Day todays visitors Hartlepool became the first away team to score first this season at Elland Rd (apart from Liverpool) before the whites scored three and won 3-1 and then in the following match the whites found themselves 2-1 down at Stockport with half-an-hour left but managed to win 4-2. Then they were outplayed on their own pitch by Wycombe in a 1-1 draw in their first game in 2010 before losing their second game of the season 2-0 at Exeter on Saturday.

And after Leeds' defeat at Exeter last weekend Grayson was full of praise for the Grecians, "I have to give a lot of credit to Exeter. I thought they played well today. They worked our back four as hard as probably a lot of teams have so far this season(!)" Sadly Stuart Fleetwood didn't play a part, spending the whole game sat on the bench.

But, disturbing our cozy little promotion twosome are the party-poopers from Norwich, currently three points in front of the Addicks although we have a game in hand, who also have only 2 games in January, at home to Brentford ( one of the four teams to beat them this season) and Hartlepool before a tricky little trip to only-one-home-defeat Millwall at the Den in Feb 6th. Thirteen games without defeat now ( since that one at Leeds) and with 14 wins in their last 17 league games the canaries must be dying to suffer a reverse. It has to come, of course, but maybe not before they run out of breath after reaching first place, which could well be at the weekend against Brentford.

Parky will be determined to keep it a three-way battle although a year ago League One, if you took any notice, all looked so much clearer. Run away leaders Leicester on 17 victories and only 2 defeats were on 57 points after 25 games, seven points clear of second placed MK Dons on 50. Twenty-one games later and Leicester would finish on 96 with only 2 further defeats.

Meanwhile, down at Hartlepool, despite their goal at Leeds, things are also going badly with 6 defeats in their last nine including a 5-0 home hammering by MK Dons at the weekend. Chris Turner had this to say afterwards, "It was shocking. We were very poor in every department; it was the worst I've seen us play and when the first goal went in we just collapsed."

He'll make changes after that result and will probably include Irish striker Denis Behan, on 4 goals, who made a comback from injury against MK Dons after being out for the last couple of months.

On the stat front there's proof that that goal at Leeds was not a fluke as only two teams have scored first more times than the pool's 16 times this season (Leeds and the party-poopers) while the Addicks are on 15 but while we have not lost after going in front the pool have lost 7 times - more than everybody added together - well nearly. And the pool have another good record in clean sheets with nine against the Addicks eight.

The Team
Parky, of course, won't be in need of any changes but will probably bring back Frazer Richardson after his appearance on Saturday after 68 minutes. But there's no news about Kelly Youga, missing now for seven games, so Grant Basey will continue at left-back.

Only the party-poopers have scored more goals than our 48 but we still lack a consistent striker. Four of Burton's 12 have been penalties and while Parky clearly likes what he sees in Dave Mooney, its now been five games for him and nearly 400 minutes since he last scored against Bristol Rovers.

Elliot; Richardson, Dailly, Llera, Basey; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Shelvey; Burton and Mooney.

Summary

There's only 5 teams in this league that have scored more goals away from home than Hartlepool and their weekend 5-0 defeat by MK was their first non-scoring game in twelve.

But they have conceded three goals in each of their last three away games at Leeds, Southend and Carlisle, losing all three, so there's no reason why we shouldn't expect to bang in a hatful. Although then again we are Charlton and with a favorite score of 2-1 its more probable that we'll resist the tempation of scoring loads while we can expect Hartlepool to react to their generous display against MK Dons last weekend by tightening up a bit. And they may even score first....

Verdict: Addicks 2 Hartlepool 1

Wycombe Wanderers Preview

2010-01-14T09:19:00.181+01:00

If Saturdays game goes ahead it'll be eighteen days since the Addicks saw any action in an away 1-1 draw at Brentford but with Norwich having a difficult trip to Colchester a good result could see us back in 2nd place. Colchester have had only one defeat at home, 2-1 to Leeds back in August, and until the embarrassing 7-0 defeat at Preston in the FA Cup had only had one defeat in the following 21 games.

But of course there's the question of that growing goal difference between us and Norwich, currently at 7 more than us, to make up as well and as we shall see Wycombe won't be likely to help out in our need for goals.

Before that however, just a comment on our status during the transfer window. Norwich with four new arrivals - defenders Russell Martin (Peterborough, previously on-loan) and Zak Whitbread (the spanners), winger Anthony McNamee (Swindon) and striker Oli Johnson (Stockport) - all on permanent deals while Southampton have signed the expensive Jose Fonte from Palarse. Colchester have signed three players Ian Henderson from somewhere in Turkey, while converting midfielder John-Joe O'Toole (Watford) and Kayode Odejayi into permanent moves. Clearly the opposition are using the opportunity to bolster their chances while the Addicks, much like Leeds, remain relatively unbolstered, ( apart from a months extension for Omozusi and an agreement with Reading to sign Mooney for the rest of the season) although Leeds with 9 wins in last 13 league games perhaps have a bigger reason to be content with what they have.

So on to Wycombe. St Patricks day boy Gary (Patrick) Waddock is the new manager down at Adams Park having taken over on the 13th October. His claim to fame, apart from playing in QPR's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Spurs in the replayed 1982 Cup Final ( alongside Mike Flanagan) is that he was born in the same place I was, Kingsbury. He previously managed QPR for three months before being replaced by John Gregory and took over at Adams Park after Peter Taylor was dismissed after only 1 win in the first eleven games of the season. Waddocks career at the Chairboys was also looking a bit precarious with 2 draws and then 2 defeats in his first month and culminating with a bruising 0-6 away defeat at the hands of Huddersfield.

Form
That heavy defeat at Huddersfield was the Chairboys eleventh game without a win and dropped them to the foot of the table and next up was an away game at the spanners who were on a 14 match unbeaten run at the den. Waddock had this to say after that Huddersfield defeat. "Our season starts today. The honeymoon period has finished and decisions will be made. I told them that at half-time and I told them again in no uncertain terms afterwards. Thats fighting talk and I want to see it in my players. Its time to make decisions." Out went goalkeeper Young, after only one game and so to did centre-back Duberry and in one of those strange upsets that are a key part of football the Chairboys won at the den with a shock 2-0 scoreline - also the spanners only home defeat so far this season - with two second half goals from Westwood and Betsy. And although they narrowly then lost at St. Marys 1-o, Waddock followed up with two vital home wins over Brentford and Stockport.

Since that win over Stockport however, they have got only 2 points from their last 6 games with three straight defeats before Saturday at Leeds and it looked as if they were heading back to the dismal run they had in September, October and November with eleven games without a win. But after shipping nine goals in their games at Yeovil and at home to Brighton they once again showed that they much prefer class opposition as they embarked on a run of three games against the top three in the table.

Norwich managed just one goal against the Chairboys - their lowest score for nine games - but it was enough to get a tough 1-0 win backed by 2200 travelling fans and with MOM going to home goalie Shearer while their following game took them to Elland Rd. Leeds scored first but were second best for long periods of the game which finished in a 1-1 draw and it must be said that Wycombe have had their best results against the top half of the table winning three times against Bristol, Millwall and Brentford whilst only managing one win against the lower half of the table.

So its five points adrift of Brighton for the Chairboys at the edge of the safety zone having played 2 games more, and its only the appalling form of Stockport with their eleven straight defeats that prevents them being rock bottom.

The Opposition

Waddock changed the formation for the Leeds game to an attacking 4-3-1-2. Thirty-year old Tommy Doherty is the creative key to the Chairboys midfield and alongside him is fellow Irishman 21 year old Scott Davies, on-loan from Reading while Harrold, Pitman and Beavon form the attacking trio.

Dangerman
Oklahoma born Jon-Paul Pittman is now top scorer with 8. Still only 23, he wears number 16.

Whats The Secret?
A team with six 1-1 draws and a favorite scoreline of 0-1 ( 8 times) they clearly see defence as the best form of attack. And while the Addicks have failed to score 3 times, Wycombe have 10 no-scoring games. But in 18 of their 26 games they have conceded no more than 1 goal, a commendable stat for a team second from bottom.

History
Well, as far as games at Adams Park is concerned there isn't any history 'cause we've never been there before. But if you want a history lesson the reason we've never been anywhere near Wycombe is because, despite the Chairboys being 123 years old, they've spent most of that time as an amateur club and have only been in the League since 1993 when they had the extremely good fortune to have Martin O'Neill take over for his first real job. And if you believe Wiki, it was all down to a chance meeting in a toilet at Carrow Road.

What Are They Saying?
It's not very recent but, Peter Taylor then manager of Wycombe, after completing the signing of the 24-year-old Crawley Town striker John-Paul Pittman last February, told the club website: "I'm excited to have him here, he's a very, very quick player."

But more recent is the worrying and surprise capture of Jose Fonte from Palarse by the clearly flush-with-cash Pardew. The fee is believed to be in the region of £1.2 million. Fonte says "playing for Saints is a dream come true! I was happy at Crystal Palace and I only have good memories of my time there but I have made a decision that I am very happy with. This might seem like a step back but it may be two steps forward and that's how I see it. Southampton has the stability which Crystal Palace does not have at the moment and I made this decision because the situation at Palace is delicate and I have to think about my future." Lets hope he takes a while to settle into life down here in the doldrums, around June should be fine Jose.

And if you're looking for any tips Parky on what NOT to do come Saturday, here's what Millwall's Kenny Jackett had to say after the Chairboys had demolished the spanners 14 match unbeaten run at the Den back in November, "It was a really poor performance from start to finish. We never got going, didn't show any fight, didn't show any personality, didn't show any zip."

The Team
After eighteen days off, will our first choice defence return to the action? Kelly was almost there before the Bees game but the word is that he'll still be missing while Frazer Richardson, although back in training will probably still be out specially given Parky enthusiastic interview last friday regarding Elliot Omozusi.

So expect to see a defence of Omozusi, Dailly, Llera and Basey with Sam Sodje serving his second game of his four match suspension.
Burton, however, is back from suspension and will break up the strike duo that played at Brentford of Akpo and Dickson. Dicko was subbed on 73 minutes with Leon coming on but Parky was full of praise for Chris afterwards - "I thought Chris did well. He worked hard and he's looked good since he's come back from Bristol Rovers. He put in a good honest performance, and there were a couple of good chances which Chris would normally take; that's his forte when he gets in there. But then he kept going, kept going and got the penalty for us. In the end, he's got us back in the game with his sheer determination." So expect a strike force of Dickson and Burton then, although there's a possibility that Dave Mooney will get his place back after making a recovery from his knee injury.

Elliot; Omozusi, Dailly, Llera, Basey; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Shelvey; Mooney, Burton

Summary
Norwich won 1-0 at Adams Park on the 2nd of January but Leeds could only draw 1-1 last weekend so its a direct comparison for the Addicks. The Chairboys clearly prefer playing the best there is and have conceded only 3 times in four games against Leeds, Norwich, the Saints and the spanners, with three of them being away although only getting four points in the process.

So, beware Parky - we need the three points but don't expect it to be easy. After the season-begins-here rave from Waddock their home form has been: Brentford (win), Stockport (win), Oldham (draw), Brighton (5-2 defeat) and Norwich (1-0 defeat) but Parky will not like to hear the remarkable stat that Wycombe have only won 4 points less than Norwich in their games against the top half of the table.

Verdict: Wycombe 0 Addicks 1

Hartlepool Preview

2010-01-07T07:35:00.004+01:00

After last weekends match at Walsall was postponed, Norwich were able to play their game in hand rather earlier than we expected and so its down to 3rd for the Addicks after the bleeding canaries record their 12th win in 15.

The last time we suffered the disappointment of relinquishing an automatic 2nd place was back in November 12th 2007 when West Brom won 4-0 at Coventry to overtake us in the Fizzies Tier Two table after 16 games. We had won 8 out of the sixteen but would go on to win only 9 more of the remaining 30 games that season as a slow sinking feeling creep into the squad and we finished a lowly 11th. Nobody can imagine a similar scenario this year but Parky now has his work cut-out to avoid the Play-offs.

Nevertheless it seems light years ago since we last played the Pool as we were at the time simply praying for two successive League wins ( in the same season that is), not previously achieved by the Addicks since December 2007....70 games ago.

We got the win of course, 2-0 by goals by top scorers Burton and Bailey, but we have another target to aim for this weekend because after the draw at Brentford we are still chasing our first double of the year.

The Pool have no manager at the moment, only a Director of Football namely Chris Turner. He took over as caretaker in December 2008 after Danny Wilson, now at Swindon, was sacked and was upgraded to the grandiose title of Director of Football during the summer.

Form

Following their first double whammer of the season back in October with consecutive wins over Swindon (a) 2-0 and Tranmere (h) 1-0 its been mostly downhill for the Pool with only three wins in the last 10 over those contrasting London sides Orient and Millwall at home and last weekend against Oldham.

But an impressive performance at Elland Rd in their last away game in which they went in front on 25 minutes becoming the first away team to score first at Leeds this season, apart from the other pool, Liverpool. True to form they then caved in and lost 3-1.

In fact their away record isn't bad with 3 wins ( they are one of only two teams to win at Gillingham and they are the only team to win at Swindon ) 3 draws and 6 defeats and as far as goals is concerned they have scored the same, 18, as we have away from home.

The Opposition

Last weekend it was Andy Monkhouse who crossed for Ritchie Jones to head Hartlepool in front after 32 minutes and added the second himself five minutes before the break. But they'll miss defender Peter Hartley next wekend as he was sent off seven minutes from time for an off-the-ball incident.

Both Hartley and centre-back Sam Collins are on 23 games for the season but Collins will also be out with an Achilles injury so Turner is struggling a bit with missing defenders while experienced centre-half Gary Liddle (hamstring) is also out.

Dangerman

Top scorers are Andy Boyd and Monkhouse both on 8. Number 10 Boyd is a local boy but was a teammate of Matt Spring at Luton and then spent a couple of years at Orient. Number 11 is Andy Monkhouse whose claim to fame is based on the fact that he became Dennis Wise's first signing as manager of Swindon Town on June 22, 2006, signing a one-year contract.

Whats Their Secret?

The Pool start strong and have scored twice as many first half goals compared to the second half, but sadly they are hopeless at holding on to a lead. Sixteen times they have scored first, only one less than leaders Leeds, but seven times, just as at Elland Rd, they have gone in front but then wilted and lost the game whereas the Addicks are one of only 6 sides that haven't lost once after scoring first. But at the other end, while Leeds and Norwich lead the Division in clean sheets (13 and 11 respectively) you'll be surprised to learn that the Pool are the next best with 9 followed by the Addicks and Brentford with 8.

Cheer Us Up Nels
Upstarts Norwich remain one of only 6 teams in League One that have failed to win after falling behind, scoring only 4 points on the 7 occasions that it has happened, whereas the fighting Addicks have gone on to take 10 points on the 8 times that we have let the other lot in first. OK, they usually score first - 16 times against our 14 - but have also managed to lose 4 (Colchester (h) and Brentford, MK and Leeds all away).

As for the remaining games, obviously the teams to avoid playing are the top 7 away with only 4 home defeats between them. The Addicks are, of course, one of the 7 and have already played 3 of the others so are left with Huddersfield, Swindon and Millwall to visit while the canaries have 5 games left in Colchester, Millwall, Huddersfield, Swindon and lastly Charlton. And of the nine best away teams all with 4 or more away wins we have played 5 leaving just Colchester, Norwich and Leeds ( our last three home games) exactly the same number as Norwich with Southampton, Leeds and MK Dons. So on paper Norwich have a harder run-in with two more difficult away games than us and also have to play us at the Valley in April, a true six-pointer.

B**ger, I seem to have missed out lowly Brighton, somehow also on 4 away wins. We haven't played them at home but the canaries beat them 4-1 at the Carrow place so they can't be so hot, but they have won a remarkable 8 times in the 23 games played at the Valley so be careful Parky.

History
With only two games played there's not a lot of history about. Apart from our win at Victoria Park in August the only other game was a League Cup tie in September 2005 which we won 3-1.

But, of course, that short history can mean only one thing - there's a chance of a banana skin for Hartlepool are one of an unprecedented 8 teams (Carlisle, the Gills, Exeter, MK Dons, Oldham, Wycombe and Yeovil are the others) in League One that have never won at the Valley.

The Team
We can expect Christian Dailly to return at centre-half after his illness and partner Miguel Llera for the first time since Sam Sodje's previous suspension against Bristol Rovers. That was also Kelly Youga's last game as he limped off on 23 minutes with an injured left knee but Parky did say on the 23rd he was only 10 days away from returning so 17 days later will we see Kelly? Grant Basey has started the last 8 games but if Kelly is fit he's sure to start.

With Semedo moving back into midfield, Matt Spring, after enjoying the full 90 in the last two games, will move to the bench but will we use the same 4-5-1 formation that beat the Pool in August? That game was also the last appearance of Andy Gray before his, undisclosed fee, move to Barnsley. He cost Pardew 1.5m and made a total of 47 appearances for the Addicks scoring 9 times while Parky's purchase of the unheralded Deon Burton for a song has now made 49 scoring 17. Perhaps the comparison is unfair bearing in mind Gray's personnel problems but perhaps the truth is that neither come near Norwich's Grant Holt, now on 20 for the season who also have another two, Hoolahan and Martin, on 13.

Anyway, Deon is a must to start, barring any dead leg issues and with Sam, Bailey and Semedo in midfield Parky just has to decide on a formation to work around Wagstaff, Shelvey or Akpo Sodje. Which just leaves the question marks over Therry Racon, with only one appearance in the last seven, and Izzy McLeod with 4 minutes in the last 10 games??

Elliot; Omozusi, Dailly, Llera, Youga; Sam, Semedo, Bailey, Wagstaff; Burton, A. Sodje.

Summary

I don't like teams that have never won at the Valley, especially after last seasons Barnsley and Doncaster fiascos, but this seasons team is a whole lot different to last year so we shouldn't expect to lose. However, after going behind in each of the last three games, we must be careful of this team who start well even if they do tend to fade. They have scored the same number of goals as us away from home and scored first at Elland Rd recently but they have conceded three goals in each of their last three away games at Leeds, Southend and Carlisle, losing all three, so there's no reason why we shouldn't bang in a hatful.

Addicks 3 Hartlepool 0