Please, Please Me

Charlton head 'Oop North' today for an encounter with men who speak their mind and don't mind passing on some hard hitting, home truths.

New York Addick has written that this game compares with our 2007 game with West Ham at The Valley for importance.
Hard hitting, home truths indeed.

Avoid a loss and everything is still on.
Lose and it's the shape of pears.

Yorkshire has always held a special place in my heart as my mum is a Leeds girl, (born in Armley jail hospital for some rather odd reason).

Yorkshire people have a reputation for being rather blunt, dour, cheap and insular but personally the sound of their gruff accents makes me feel all warm inside and touched by memories of hearty stews or sliced roast beef on my grandparents dining table.

Parky will not be relishing his trip to Huddersfield.
After changing his mind at the 11th hour, he decided to remain in South London as Alan Pardew's number 2 rather than take over the hot seat at what I read is now called the 'Galpharm' but is firmly labelled in my brain as the 'McAlpine'.

Apparently, the press conference went ahead with an empty chair to stand in for Parky.
I can't help feeling they stole the idea from 'Have I Got News For You' when a lump of lard sat in for Roy Hattersley, back in 1990.

Despite my warm feelings for Yorkshire and my obvious affiliation with the Addicks, I'm not venturing up North today.
I have lots of work I've been (ahem), 'saving', plus I have a surprise birthday celebration to attend this evening.

Neither of those reasons would have kept me from following the Reds a few weeks ago but today I find myself staying away and having a little Charlton holiday.

I know when kick off arrives, I'll most certainly have a massive crumble and end up listening to the warblings of 'Emma' but at the moment I want to put a little distance between myself and our team.

The games against Millwall and Gillingham made me realise how little I was enjoying my football.
When looking back, other than the odd 5 or 10 minute spell, I haven't really enjoyed a game properly since way back in November.

I'd had it with Charlton and was finding it all a bit of a chore.

David Mooney scored a fantastic goal last week but then ruined it with his cupped ear celebrations to the entire ground.
What an arse.

His powder puff performances and woeful 'shooting' have been a feature of our recent decline.
Yes, his goal was terrific and he showed a magnificent touch to find the space to blast the ball into the net but it's hardly been the norm has it?

If he was sticking the ball into the net regularly, rather than fluffing guilt edged chances, I'd allow him the option of giving the crowd the bird but in reality, I think our crowd have been very, very patient with him.

It will be interesting to see what happens the next time one of his 'shots' goes out for a throw in.

As I hinted above, I was feeling rather flat towards Charlton at the beginning of the week.

As the weekend approached, an odd thing happened.
I began to wonder what was going on at the training ground.
 What formation would we be playing?
Is Shelvey going to get more time on the pitch than the ball boys?
I was interested.

Our 3 'loan rangers', instead of filling me with dread, actually perked up my confidence.

What's the matter with me?

Today, I'm looking for a performance to be proud of.

Come on Charlton, Please, Please Me!

Yes, we have a shocking array of injuries but Parky has worked hard, with the backing of a no doubt completely empty pocketed board.
The most obvious gaps have been filled and I'm warming up!

I'd like to see Darren Randolph between the sticks today as he hasn't done much wrong when I've seen him play.
Mooney owes us at least a hat trick and many of our other players really should be moving on up from recent performances.
I want to be proud again.

Come On You Reds!