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.