Daggers Blunted

Charlton Athletic 1 - Dagenham & Redbridge 0.

Hardly a feast of football tonight at the Valley.

The reported crowd of 4630 gazed upon the completely empty North and East stands, while the lower tier of the West stand seemed surprisingly cramped.

One goal, scored by the possibly Greece bound Racon, was enough to see off a spirited Dagenham who seemed to have the lion's share of possession in the first half but gradually lost their way as the game progressed.

It's enough to say that Charlton are in the next round of the JPT but had we been knocked out, I don't think I'd have been that fussed.

A (very brief) Casual Rating.
The Lacoste polo shirt is going to Paul Benson as a welcome to the Valley gift.

 Benson could have had 3 or 4 goals this evening but unfortunately fluffed his lines or encountered a good block or save at each critical moment.

Lee Martin looked lively and Semedo performed his usual spoiling role without flamboyance, Racon took his chance well, (admittedly with the assistance of the upright) and Waggy ran his little legs off but on what must have been a very difficult evening, all things considered, I'm awarding the highest accolade to Benson.

The Primark novelty slogan t-shirt is going to the kids sitting behind us.
Can you remember your first pint?
I think they'd just had it and then their second and third.

Whatever decision the linesman or referee made, even when it was cast iron correct, they reacted with the same "Ref, you're a c**t, f**k off, " "Your wife s**t in the bed". etc etc.

I quite like swearing.
Sometimes, it's the only way I can express myself and show the extreme of my opinion.
Once every third word is an F or a C it really has no impact whatsoever.
It was tiresome beyond belief.

After spending the evening being Billy big balls and trying to impress everyone within earshot with their foul language, they then had a chat about which one of their dads was picking them up.
What would mummy have thought?
Proper gangsta!

Benson Signs! (Finally).

After a rather long and drawn out process, Parky finally got his man this morning when Paul Benson signed on at The Valley for 2 years.

I have passed the time of day with Benson, having had a brief chat with him at the Daggers ground while indulging in a spot of corporate hospitality last season.
My only insight to share is that he seemed to like the shepherd's pie after the game.

Good luck at the Valley Paul.

I can't help feeling I like him after the way he's left the Daggers.
He obviously felt he owed them and didn't move to us just for a wage hike.

He realised that Dagenham had given him his chance and wanted to repay them by helping them stay in League 1.

However, the money the Daggers will receive for their star man might just help keep the wolf from the door if they do get relegated, which they may have done anyway, even with Benson in their team.

I wonder if he'll be playing tomorrow evening in the Paint Drying Cup?

EXTRA EXTRA. Anyinsah signs too

Pardew Gone

It would seem that recent results have little to do with it.

A handsome win last time out hasn't stopped Southampton FC realising that Pardew was probably one of the few things holding them back from their inevitable march towards promotion.

No doubt he'll be pocketing another massive pay out and then sitting his bum on the various media sofas.

Not sure who would take a punt on him now though as he's not really been a roaring success since he made it to the FA cup final with West Ham.
A reputation for tinkering and clashes behind the scenes might go against him for a while.

Probably best to bank your pay out Pards, you might be needing to live off it for a while.

Leaburn Back At The Valley

Yesterday, our heroes didn't quite cut it up there in Yorkshire.

From the commentary on Radio London, (DAB), it sounded as if Charlton were more than in it for the first half an hour, then through a sublime piece of skill from Jordan Rhodes / (goalkeeping error ?), Huddersfield scored.

With Charlton still rocking, only 2 minutes later, Ross Worner could have very easily given away a penalty but the referee kindly offered the hosts just a corner.

Huddersfield probably felt justice was served when they scored from the corner as Charlton made a hash of clearing the ball.

At half time it all seemed over.

And so it proved when a third Huddersfield goal went in, just as Charlton seemed to be fashioning a few excursions into the opposition half.

With the game already over and the commentary team doing their wind downs, Matt Fry scored a rather meaningless Charlton goal on the day but one that might make our goal difference look slightly better in the long run.

We won't be in a very exclusive club, having lost at Huddersfield come the end of the season.

I did actually predict the result.
For the first time ever I seem to have turned into a bit of a 'Mystic Meg'.
I received an email from Ken Jennings at CAFC Picks this evening, congratulating me on the 4 out of 4 I had called correctly.

Can you hear me Westie?
Francis Drake, Dame Ellen MacArthur, Ben Ainslie, Those 3 blondes who won the Olympic golds, Lord Nelson etc. Your sailor boy is taking one hell of a beating!

Our current heroes having blown it yesterday, it was left to a tall feller from the past to cheer us up this evening.
Charlton Live secured Carl Leaburn as a guest and I enjoyed listening to his input.

I even managed to get Carlo to answer a question when I sent a message through Twitter, enquiring if he went to our Play Off Final in 1998, having left us only a few months before to join Wimbledon.

Apparently, he was given a ticket so he was also at Wembley, felt "pleased" for the lads but the day obviously didn't mean as much to him as it does to most of us, (he didn't recognise the date of 25th May 1998).

Crispy messaged to ask if Carl knew any strikers we should be after, (he didn't) but generally it was just interesting to hear him rapping away about the past.

I hope everybody has something nice planned for Bank Holiday Monday.
Enjoy the lie in.

Charlton Live

I'll be listening to Charlton Live again this evening.

I 'tuned in', (logged on), last week and it was an interesting show.
I'm pretty sure I'll be a regular listener over the coming season.

Throughout the broadcast, I found myself wondering what had happened to those names from the past such as Mark Mansfield and 'Vic' from Charlton.

So those of us with long memories, all together now,

"You've got your tax return, there's one thing you should learn, Gary Sargeant........."

Stalemate at The Valley

Charlton Athletic 1 - Oldham Athletic 1.

Not a game for the purists yesterday at The Valley. 

Ultimately, Oldham gave a much better account of themselves than last season.

They came to play rather than stifle. The result was the same as last season but whereas last season I left the game feeling annoyed with Oldham, this time I felt I owed them respect.

The game had 2 well taken goals, a fussy referee who thought we'd come to see him, a poor crowd (in numbers), a number of let offs for the Addicks that on another day could have seen us losing by 2 or 3 goals and a dramatic ending to the game where it looked like it was all going to kick off with a baseball style bench emptying ruck.

On balance, Oldham were good value for their point.

Charlton weren't bad, the team just didn't 'click' properly.

There are many more games for everything to come together properly.

A Casual Rating

I particularly enjoyed Waggy's second goal in a week but I was really impressed by Furman's equaliser and the general play ofTounkara.

Much as everybody pretends that 'we don't want to see this kind of thing', I think we all enjoyed the antics at the end of the game when Jarrett completely lost his cool after being shown a second yellow card.

I'm awarding the Lacoste polo to Robbie Elliott for his 3, possibly 4 point saving saves, though his woodwork was equally helpful.

The Primark novelty slogan tee shirt is going to the bloke who sat next to me.

Have a wash mate.

You stunk beyond belief and it turned my stomach everytime you waved at the referee to share your opinions.

A clean tee shirt is most certainly the order of the day.

Should Have Gone To Specsavers.

News has filtered through that Sainsbury's in Norwood have got themselves a new trolley boy.

Nobody is very sure how well he is going to fit in, especially as he has previously been employed at some of the grandest fashion houses of Europe.
It's a massive step back for him but the supermarket are 'cock a hoop' with their latest capture.

Nigel O'Clearasil was available to comment,

" I'm sure he'll be fine with us. It's true that nobody else wanted him and most people thought he'd retired years ago. I know he hasn't been working since 2008 but you don't just forget how to be a trolley boy."

"He's very excited to be joining us, despite all his mates mocking him and asking him why he wants to do something so menial at his age."