Not good enough

We can blame the referee, we can blame Darren Ambrose, or we can blame Pardew. It doesn't matter, because the simple fact is that over the past two games we have not been good enough.

The free kick leading to Burnley's first goal was a bit dubious, as was several of the referees decisions. And yes, the standard of referees in this league is poor. But Burnely's first two goals were straightforward set pieces that should have been easy enough to defend against. But for some reason the two centre backs and the goalkeeper can't get it together. Two down in the first quarter, yet Weaver had hardly touched the ball. Burnley then missed a great chance to make it 3-0. Our wingless midfield huffed and puffed, but couldn't create too much up front. And the the two forwards in the reinstated 4-4-2 formation never looked like scoring.

Nobody played that badly, but nobody played that well either. And until we get a cutting edge, Charlton are going nowhere in this league.

Having sorted out how I'm going to get to Cardiff, I got the tickets and watched the West Ham v Chelsea game in Bartrams. I managed to get, and hold onto, front row seats. Unfortunately the club decided to take out all the TVs and leave just one large screen in the corner at head height. This means that as soon as it gets busy hardly anyone can see. Whoever brought this change about is not a football fan and has no idea how the more successful sports pubs operate. The clarity on the screen was so bad that people coming in took a look at the screen and thought Chelsea were winning. The 0-0 scoreline on the screen was so blurred people thought it was 1-0. This brought about a certain amount of confusion when Chelsea did score and the screen went to 1-0. Going to Bartrams before the game made a change, but not sure I'll be there next week.

I'll be off to Cardiff on Tuesday to see if our fortunes change. How many points do we need for safety in this league?

Up The Addicks!

Robin