Bring on the Polski!

As we enter the final few weeks of the season it's very much crunch time. The bottom of the table has constricted with no team amongst the bottom six adrift, even Yeovil are very much in with a shout at staying up.

The real plus for us is Blackpool's current form dip and plummet into contention for third division football next season.

The one thing I can say for sure is that there is no one player amongst the current crop of Adddicks who looks likley to hit some form and sky rocket us out of the relegation battle. I just can't see any of our forwards suddenly discovering goal a game performances and creativley down the flanks (with perhaps the excpetion of Fox based on yesterdays encouriging performance) doesn't look like suddenley changing for the better.

What does bemuse me slightly is, with the dreadful striking options we have, that Piotr Parzyszek has not been thrown into the fray. Even from the bench perhaps he might offer us something of a goal threat. Besides inability,  phycologically getting goals from our players will become harder and harder as  they have become visibally effected by the whole we coudn't hit a barn door mantra.

With just four games to go why not just throw the youngster in and see what happens? He surley can't be any less effective than Church, Sordell and Reza. (The latter reminding me of a cross between Ralph Milne and Dennis Rommedall at their worst!).

An evening not for those of a nervous disposition...

Pre match tension has definatley been the order of the day in my gaff.

I've got he week off of work to enjoy some down time with the wife nd kids, but the last two days have been spent scanning the net for team news, looking at the remaining fixtures of ourselves and those around us and working out the various permetations that could effect where we start next season.

All of which is completely irrelevant as we go into tonights must win game in hand against Barnsley. If rumours are true and we see the return of Solly at right back with Wilson playing in front we may all of a sudden see a real attacking creative spark running down the right flank of the park. (Something we have missed all season really - playing with not good enough or make shift wingers).

I can't really make any sort of prediction for the result of this game. We'll either see a nervy affair decided by just the one goal either way or, if an early goal goes in a gung-ho blood and tears relegation thriller with both sides having to throw caution to the wind to grab all three points. A draw does neither side any favours.

One way or the other once the full time whistle blows I may well need a stiff drink to recover.

COYR

Nervous???

However strange it seems, referring to a home game against Yeovil as a massive match, that certainly what this evenings match is.

It's been a slog this season. One thing that is really telling about the two teams contesting tonight s game is their inability to score goals. Take Yeovil's Miller, who's been kicked back to Forest, goals away from Yeovil and they have scored only one more goal than ourselves this season. But have conceded 15 more times than ourselves.

Charlton's real plus point in amongst the teams around us is our mean defense. At 48 conceded you'd have to go up to 13th placed Middles borough to find the next team who have conceded 48 goals or less.

In fact we've lost by a single goal margin no fewer than 10 times this season (convert half of those to a draw and that gives us 5 more points). We've drawn nil on four occasions (so lets say half of those we managed to nick a goal, that's another 6 points) and we've score drawn seven times (apply the same rule that if we were as average going forward as we are defensively we could have nicked a winner just under half of these games - another 10 points missed out on). So that's potentially 21 points that if we had the creative spark we so needed along with a competent striker - which would have put us on 59 points and in the upper echelons of mid table.

It's these tight margins that can dictate a season. The whole debate around Stephens and Yan going misses me a touch. Yes Kermo would certainly have given us a bit more snarl going forwards over recent weeks, but our form didn't suddenly dip post their departure.

The bottom line is whether we stay up or not, we will need two decent wide men and a striker with some competence who's not afraid to miss up top.

Tonight's game, with all of the other sides around us playing, will be a nervy affair. Yeovil seem to enjoy being underdogs, and despite the fact that we certainly won't be viewing them as that, will approach the game with that kind of spirit. Which will make life difficult for us.

I'm keeping everything crossed for a one nil victory, three points and a bit of breathing space going into the next few days.

Penalty save could prove pivotal moment in Charlton's season...

I had to do a lot of running around last night, delivering various of my Children to Guides, after school activities and collecting from the school show.

Sky Score Centre wasn't playing ball on my phone so I reverted to pressing refresh on the BBC mobile websites text commentary - which although working was on a proper go slow.

I sat in the school car park, nervously watching the clock run down as we tried to hold onto Rezza's excellent strike. (I watched it once I got home on Sky Sports News - if it wasn't a fluke what a great time for the boy to find his feet in The Championship!).

Anyone inadvertently watching me must have thought I was having some kind of mental breakdown. Manically pressing the refresh button on my phone, then when there was finally an update, collapsing crest fallen into my drivers seat at seeing a penalty being awarded against Poyet. Then another 5 minutes of frantically pressing the refresh button again waiting for the inevitable news that we'd just thrown away an excellent opportunity to put a little bit of breathing space between ourselves and the bottom three. When it did update and i realised Hamer had saved the day anyone witnessing my flailing body in the car might have felt compelled to dial 999.

Moments like that don't come along all that often being a Charlton supporter, but when they do they're bloody great!

Not saying were out of the woods yet, but as we edge to the finishing line things are certainly looking a lot rosier than they have done for a few weeks.

A chance meeting with Riga

I bumped into Jose Riga and his sidekick by chance last night whilst they were having a post Derby supper.

I'd kind of deliberated as to whether to respect his privacy or post. Baring in mind the unusual divisions that have begun to appear amongst the ranks of the Addicks I though I'd post, really because despite of what we know and what we don't know, or think we know, how we individually feel about Chris Powell (a legend in my opinion) and whatever is round the corner (food for thought, being a Charlton supporter certainly cannot be as bad as being a Cardiff, Leeds United or Portsmouth supporter at the moment) both him and his sidekick were absolute gentlemen, engaging, interested in my opinions from a playing point of view and accommodating in what came across as a very genuine manner.

A couple of decent guys, with a professional approach to a short term goal - keeping Charlton in The Championship.

Whatever anyone thinks, sumises, or feels about where we are at currently, I'm supporting the team and our current coaching team 100% in their endeavour to pick up enough points to scrape us through to at least a 4th from bottom finish.

'A Message From The Board'

Read it yet?

http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/20140328-message-from-the-board-1451579.aspx

No big announcement other than stating the bleeding obvious really.

The games are going to come thick and fast over the course of the run in for the season now. And rightly so - every bodies focus; owners, managers, players and supporters should be on doing their bit to keeping us up.

As things stand this type of communication means that the board are taking note and monitoring whats going on outside the walls of The Valley Boardroom, and do actually want to engage with the fan base across a broader spectrum than just The CAS Trust and Old School.

As statements go, if it's true (and lets be honest they don't actually have to consult anyone and why lie?), then I feel confident that we may just have a sensible lot in charge of us for a change.

I will keep up my end of things (season ticket renewed) and reserve judgment until close season to see what type of re-building of the squad takes place and who's in the dug out.

Keep calm and carry on...

It's amazing what a point gained away against local rivals, a spirited performance, three points and returning 'hero' can do to ones general feeling about how and where things are going with our gret club.

I'll start by admitting that my recent posts have been pretty suspicous, perhaps even negative about the new regime. But time (all of the above) and the last 48 hours in general have told me to revert to type, reel my neck in, and wait things out.

The new ownerships response to both The peoples front of Judia and The judian peoples front respective   requests for dialogue seemed to me pretty intelligent and measured.

A brief video interview with Roland explaining how the media have perhaps misrepresented to some extent what is and will go on in 'his football family', a statement from Katrien saying that the focus of the management and owners is currently to work on getting Charlton out of the relegation battle both safley and succesfully and then entering dialogue with the supporters afterwards. This and the announcment that Sparrows Lane is to be re-built to provide a state of the art training facility to hopefully gain us catergary A academy staus have begun to fill me with cautious optomism about the incoming regime against those who've just left. (Who by the way do need some thanks for managing to both employ Sir Chris and initially find the resources to overhaul the squad and get us out of the third division).

As for Rolands 'puppet' in the technical area. Early on I am begining to warm to him. When I first found out how he is infinatley more experienced when it comes to setting up your IT infrastructure than managing a football team I worried. Perhps a bit too much. On Wednesday night I saw someone who was not adverse to changing things when they were not working, and it was great to see three out and out strikers playing an attacking role with the rest of the side being urged to keep the ball down.

After we scored his insistant gesturing to the players to stay grounded and calm and see the last seconds of the game out impressed (even if his lame two thumbs up to the crowd at the end did not quite so much). We've got a fighting chance now.

I'm going to renew my season ticket and see where this journey takes us. It is far too early to be completely despondant and attach pantomime villain staus to anyone. Yes I wish Sir Chris was still in charge, but that particular chapter (as it did with Lennie and Curbs) has now passed.

I'm going to suspend any judgement and continue to help the booys and make some noise.