The trouble with the Championship and the rallying cry

It has been said before, this years Championship is the most open for years and there is not one outstanding team in a very mediocre division. I get really pissed off when we lose, even more so when we are totally outplayed as on Saturday against Blackpool , I feel we should beat every team in the league and I expect us to do so. Totally unrealistic I know .
The Premiership is a different story as there are at least 12 games a season, an honourable defeat is acceptable. It really is galling when the rallying cry comes from the club and manager only for the players to let the fans down so badly, it seems to have occurred on every occasion.(the fans who travelled to Bloomfield Road have my utmost respect and the journey home must have been very painful.
I'm convinced the players try there hardest, maybe too hard, as there are added pressures from the expectant large away following. Please no more rallying cries, it doesn't work.
Bristol City , Stoke and Watford have peaked too early and we will streak through over the winning line with ten wins out of twelve.

Come on you Reds

Blackpool by the Sea

Blackpool by the Sea - Once known as Landlady City in the 1950's, where holiday makers were ousted out of their Bed & Breakfast accommodation at 8am and told not to return until tea-time and if you were an unmarried couple you were separated to single rooms . Famous players- Stanley Mathews and Stan Mortensen remembered for the famous Mathews final when in 1953 Blackpool defeated Bolton 4-3, after being 3-1 down with 20 minutes to go, Mortensen scored a hat-trick. My favourite musician, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull started his musical career in the late sixties in Blackpool and obviously went on to greater things. My first match watching Blackpool at the Valley was in Nov 1967 when they defeated us home and away 2-0 and unfortunately for them lost out on promotion on goal difference finishing 3rd.(no play-offs then) My only memory of that game is Jimmy Armfield playing at right back and that was because he was in the World Cup winning Squad. Blackpool today is probably on par with a lot of coastal towns suffering from lack of development and does seem to be stuck in a time warp.
Tomorrow's game is make or break and I'm going for 2-0 win for the Addicks with Varney scoring twice.

Come on you Reds.

9 wins 3 draws 1 lose and we will be Champions

Due to very late family commitments I was unable to attend the Watford game, which was very frustrating, but after reading the other bloggers match reports it seems as though the home fans were just as frustrated as I was . 2 points from a possible 6 has left us needing the best run so far this season from the remaining 13 games . 52 points at the moment if we win 9 draw 3 lose 1 our points total will 82 points which will surely guarantee automatic promotion.
There are no favourites in the play-offs and how many times have we seen a team finish third only to lose in the semi-final -cruel you bet. We must push on and believe that we will finish as Champions

Come on you Reds.

Ive Been Basking All Weekend.(Breaking news Dowie Sacked)

After Friday night's wonderful result, I have the real feel good factor which is also being helped by the fantastic weather we are having. Saturday started with a good tennis match in temperatures that you would be happy with in early May, then some lunch in the club which was even more enjoyable than usual because there were several Palace supporters in the Bar . They were very honest, as they all admitted Palace were totally outclassed on the night and even went on to say Charlton must be favourites for promotion -kiss of death.
Saturday afternoon the nerves were jangling as I took my daughter for her first driving lesson, although she has had several with a qualified instructor . Did I say lesson, well it was more like an instruction to avoid cars, slow down and both of ending up more stressed out than when we first started. It is hard to believe how quickly time has flown and it seems just only yesterday she was starting infants school.
Sunday- still feeling great about our fabulous victory, a lovely walk in Tonbridge along the river in brilliant sunshine and a Chinese Buffet as a reward made for a great weekend.
As a weather anorak, this winter will go down as one of the mildest of the last hundred years narrowly beaten by last year. Spring has sprung at least six weeks early and blossom is already on the trees. We seem to have only three seasons now, Spring, Autumn and Summer -Winter no longer exists, but try telling that to Chicago who will have experienced temps. of -20c. New York is having a very mild winter similar to ours although naturally colder.
Back to Football or Tennis if you like , you break a service game at 3-3, unless you hold your own serve the previous game means nothing and this applies to Tuesday's match at Sheffield Wednesday, beating Palace great but lose on Tuesday and its the Play-Off's for us. Now where is that dye for white hair.
Breaking news Ian Dowie is relieved of his duties at Coventry. Got to feel a little sorry for the guy, as his street-cred is now zero.
Come on you Reds
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Charlton 2 (Gray, Holland)

Charlton 2 Palace 0-What a result

What a fantastic result tonight and a well deserved victory, It would be easy for me to say that Palace are probably the worst team to visit the Valley this season, but that would be a great injustice to a great all round Charlton performance. We simply did not let Palace play and the possession stats surely will read at least 70% to 30% in Charlton's favour. This is the third home game now that Charlton have simply overwhelmed the opposition and Weaver has hardly had a save to make. I'm not going to harp on about the Scunthorpe result but how the hell did we lose to them. Trouble is I am going to be so disappointed if we dont achieve automatic promotion now . We have the squad, we certainly have youth and skill and hindsight is a wonderful gift but losing Reid however much a great player could be a blessing in disguise because Holland has suddenly become Captain Fantastic and is a revelation since his return from injury. There are simply not a enough superlatives to describe McCarthy's contribution tonight, let me just say his performance was magnificent.
Charlton should have been at least 2 goals to the good at half-time but the great thing is we were so much in control that my confidence of the final score grew and grew, so that any thing but a comprehensive victory would have been a travesty. We hit the post and at one time I thought we would never score but Varney sealed a great victory with two well taken goals. Come on you Reds

Weaver 8 Little to do but always looked comfortable
Youga 9 Great game and unfortunately with the consistent performances I fear a Premiership club may well come a knocking
McCarthy 9.5 Almost a perfect performance with distribution at top notch
Bougherra 9 Is this the same nervous player we saw at the beginning of the season
Halford 9 One of the best debuts I have witnessed at the Valley
Zhi 9 Simply awesome
Holland 9.75 What a game and led the team superbly
Lloyd Sam 8.5 Best game for ages
Ambrose 7.5 Lost position a couple times in dangerous postions but he will come good Im convinced
Gray 8 Still finding his feet but as a holding player its starting to pay dividends
Varney 9.5 Brilliant run for the second after a great Holland free-kick -run himself ragged

Pardew 9.9 What more is there to say -Got it right

The Crowd 8 Call me old fashioned but bating the Palarce just doesn't appeal to me but we got behind the team

Referee 8 Did well considering the cauldron of fire.
Footnote If we dont get promotion now- next season is going to be unbearable.

Come on you Reds-Bloody nervous or what!

To be totally honest this is one game I wish I was elsewhere , maybe abroad in the Bahamas sitting by the pool with not a care in the world . In my dreams- this is one match we cannot lose and we can only hope that Pardew motivates the players as he did against Stoke definitely not Scunthorpe. Articles I have read about players before a big game its all about feeling right when you walk into the dressing room and every player has to be totally focused. Maybe a extra pint before the game will settle the nerves
Charlton 3 Palarce 1

Charlton are the most consistent team in the Championship

Well its official Charlton are the most consistent team in the Championship unfortunately its for being the most inconsistent. Win one lose one its just goes on and the Scunny game really peed me off, which lasted a lot longer than usual after a Charlton defeat, it could be because the expectations were so high after the Stoke game . The way I see it we have made very little progress since the good start to the season. I have a very illogical way of measuring the requirements for an automatic promotion spot and its basicily how many more wins than losses and my calculations a minimum of 13 is required this season, meaning we would have to win 10 draw 5 lose 1 and with our consistency no chance .