HIGHS AND LOWS

Well what a busy old time for the Addicks since my last post. 3 defeats and we are in despair and the moaners were out in force some even saying relegation was on the cards. 2 late winners at Southampton and Bristol respectively have got the boys back on track and people are now talking about Promotion again. I tend to think we will be in a low play off spot come May but, I will be more than happy if we go up automatically.

Charlton plus is now firmly back on air and picking up good vibes from the fans and indeed officials at the club. We hope to get a few more guests as the season goes on after Fans Director Ben Hayes made an appearance last Sunday.

If you are in the Rose of Denmark on Saturday come and say hello. I'm near the big telly near the garden doors 'till around 2pm. You might even get interviewed for Charlton Plus.

Charlton + is back

Our Internet based radio show, Charlton Plus is back on the internet airways this Sunday at 8pm. After a flood in our main studio we have lost the last few Sunday shows but we are now ready and raring to go once more. Details of how to give us your views and opinions on everything CAFC are available at http://www.charltonplus.com Comments from our worldwide fan base are more than welcome. studio@charltonplus.com

Charlton Plus-Your Views - Your Opinions

Gambling doesn't pay

CHARLTON 2 NARCH 0

5 minutes to go and we get a Penalty which will give us a deserved win against Norwich. My niece sitting next to me is overjoyed as it means she will win the pub prediction competition and £40 sovs. That's a lot to a college girl. She is devastated as Reidy fires home again 2 minutes later. This gets me interested now as I've got a 3-0 so I'm encouraging the lads to shoot and not fart about in the corner. My daughter on the other hand has a 2-1 win and is encouraging Norwich to pull back a late consolation to win it for her. In the end of course we all lose but the Addicks had put a smile on our faces as we move up to 3rd.

Back in the small time.

COLCHESTER 2 CHARLTON 2

So off to Layer Road. A ground that defies time and the sterility of most Premier League 'Bowls'. The U's fans sang "welcome to Layer Road" after each of their goals and I am sure they were sarcasticly saying welcome big boys we might play in a dump but we are beating you fancy Dans. To be honest I thought it was great, standing on the 9 step deep terrace at the away end and experiencing the banter with around 100 voiciferous 12 year old Essex boys was great fun. The Colchester fans were lead by a little fat bloke in a pink top. Oh how we laughed at him as ZZ hit the equaliser.

On the pitch Iwelumo was totally flattened on his way to score. This was apparently a deliberate dive according to the hosts but TV pictures showed what we all knew and that was that the defender fully deserved the red card that followed.

What looked like calf strains meant Charlton lost both Iwelumo and the excellent Todorov but Luke Varney took the chance to impress the travelling Addicks in his cameo at the end. Charlton non entity Lisbie managed to score but this had more to do with a Weaver flap than any outstanding ability.

So 2 home games to come and a real chance to consolidate a promotion push. All we need to do is defend properly and there is every chance we could be nicely placed after next weekend.

RISING DAMP

During the summer the tank in our loft split and the upper part of the house was extensively damaged. During the last week we have had the builders in pulling down ceilings and re-plastering up new ones. Major disruption to the 100 miles household as I'm sure you can appreciate. I also work from home so my office is in my front room and our main bedroom which avoided the water is packed to the ceiling with everything from the damaged rooms.

Next week the decorators are in to re decorate all the rooms and even then nothing will get back to normal until the carpets arrive. Why am I telling you all this? Well Charlton Plus has been off air as my home studio has effectively been shoved in boxes and won't be coming back out until all the work is done. This is very annoying as our audience has grown enormously and in Internet radio terms, is very healthy. Hopefully we will be back on air on Sunday week or the week after at the latest.

Since my last post we have progressed into the 3rd round of the League Cup and beaten 'That Lot' at the glorifed shed in Norwood. Actually it's not even glorified. Poor old Simes has been a bit quiet on the subject since hasn't he - Shame. See some of you at Colchester on Saturday I hope. At least no one will be saying 'Si Darn' in our section.

Charlton come back and so do I

OK OK I know. A blog is supposed to be updated on a daily or at least regular basis otherwise there' no point. Well the fact is I can't be arsed most of the time to post. It's a simple as that. So just enjoy my ramblings when I can be arsed and we'll leave it at that. Frankie Valley is the place for daily musings and he is a proper blogger so visit him for that sort of thing.

Right, so what's happened so far. Well after the draw against Scunny we popped down to Swindon and beat them 0-2 in the league cup and then we threw away a 1 goal lead to lose 2-1 to Stoke. Then on Saturday we played the biggest pile of poo for years as we went into half time against Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 down and heading for an embarrassing defeat. Then Super Alan Pardew told Jerome Thomas he was playing like a bit of a tart and that the rest had made him look good. Galvanised and raring to go the Addicks produced a sparkling 2nd half performance to win 3-2 thanks to Reidy getting us back to 1-2 and Chris Iwelumo bagging a brace. So a 3-2 win secured and plenty to talk about on Sunday nights Charlton Plus with Brian Cole & Glynne Jones.

Stockport at home in the League cup Tuesday night and then Palarse away on Saturday. Have a good week, loyal reader. TTFN

Back in the real world

CHARLTON 1 SCUNTHORPE UTD 1

Scunthorpe came to the Valley in hope more than expectation. The Charlton fans were delighted that the newly promoted Iron were the first visitors and 3 points were therefore in the bag. I didn't see it like that. A reconstructed Addicks side showed signs that we will be a force to be reckoned with but without the team understanding and fluidity that will hopefully come with time. Make no mistake though, Charlton should have buried a poor Scunthorpe side who will struggle at this level. Great spirit and an ability to get away with niggly and persistent fouling in defence certainly help them earn a point.

Marcus Bent had a good game by his normal standards and was a bit unlucky not to score in the first half. Scunny's keeper had an excellent game and made a few outstanding saves but even he was well beaten as Andy Reid crashed an effort against the bar via a slight deflection. Charlton took the lead through Bent after the ball rebounded to him all on his own 8 yards out. The ball flew into the roof of the covered end net as a strangely incompetent linesman stood to signal offside. Referee Kettle soon corrected the ridiculous decision and confirmed the goal.

The Iron equalised as the new boys won a corner on the right and having lost his marker completely (Bent?)the Richard Rufus lookalike in the 5 shirt was jubilantly crashed a header past the former figure of fun, Nicky Weaver, into the back of the net.

Referee Kettle was by now losing the plot along with both linesmen giving baffling decisions and allowing time wasting in abundance. The 5 minutes added was frugal seeing as the Scunthorpe goalkeeper lay in 'agony' for that long alone without anything else being added.

I predicted a defeat today so I suppose a point is better than I thought. I am only expecting mid table come May but there were signs as I say, that we could mount a challenge for the top flight places.

Charlton Loyal ?

'You are scum'

Some little oik called Charlton Loyal or something similar posted that gem on my comments yesterday. I removed it but maybe I shouldn't have. Obviously my post yesterday annoyed this young upstart and that brilliantly witty remark has really stabbed me in the heart. He's right of course. Charlton Athletic FC has never been that important to me over the last 47 years other than seeing most games home and away, setting up West Sussex CASC and running for the fans Director. You're quite right Loyal old chap I am scum.

Is it safe to come out yet?

Lots of activity in the transfer market has meant Charlton will have a new look team in the Championship. Best news came on Friday when I got a text from CAFC telling me that Denis had gone to Ajax. Good riddance Romm - despite that goal in the last minute you were a waste of space. Shame Dazza went to Spurs. I want him to succeed at WHL but that means Spurs might be successful too and no one wants that surely. The other Bent is still here though so that's good news?

The players coming in could give us an entertaining season but to be honest I haven't missed football one little bit during the summer and I'm finding it hard to get pumped up for the visit of Scunthorpe for our first game. It wouldn't have made much difference if ManU had been the first game, I am getting more disillusioned with our game each season. The season ticket has arrived and will be used but football is dropping down my list of priorities as each season goes by.

Thank goodness that's over

To be honest I'm glad the season has finished. The trip to Anfield on Sunday was one I have made many times and is definitely one of the best days out in the Premiership. However the drive home was really draining because of the weather and I won't miss the motorways at the weekend during the next few months. I'm really looking forward to no football getting in the way of my weekends and doing a few other things. Taking in the odd game of Cricket maybe with my good friend Frankie Valley. Or a game or 2 of golf on a Saturday afternoon. You see Charlton do tend to rule my life for 9 months of the year so I think I deserve a break. No Charlton Plus Radio no long away trips and no 200 mile round trips to the Valley, that's it Closed for business 'till August. The missus is the same. No Portsmouth FC to clog up the summer for her. Bank accounts in the black instead of the red - Bliss. Have a good Summer everyone, I'll be back in August (Unless something riveting happens I want to mention of course.) Bye for now.

NO FLOWERS PLEASE

Que se ra se ra

Whatever will be will be

We're going to To COVENTRY

Que se ra se ra

That was the song sung by my daughter last night as the coffin lid was finally firmly screwed shut on Charlton's Premiership season.

Palace fans gloated although they still finished 1/2 a league lower than us so they can Piss off straight away.

Up to Liverpool Sunday to say ta ra chuck to the Scousers before they head off to Athens to play in the Champs league Final and we head off to Scunthorpe and Hull.

Regrets? We've had a few, but then again to vast to mention,

But through it all, when there was doubt, we hired Les Reed, then Chucked him out.

The record shows, we took the blows, And then blamed DOWwwwwwwwIE.

( And JFH and Talal and HH and Lisbie and and and and and .........................)

Ladies and Gentlemen. Free season ticket stage one completed, Stage 2 anyone?

WILEY FOX it up and a point is all we get

Hold on luv not yet.

After just missing out on my 100 comments target in my last post by only 80 I thought I'd throw in the towel and post again so that you can ignore this one instead.

Yesterday Charlton only drew with Sheffield United. The referee A.Wiley lowered himself to the standards we have come to expect of a Premiership ref' and the game became a personal crusade for him to get noticed. I like Alan Wiley and think he is a good official but yesterday he seemed to referee with a bias towards the Blades as though he feared the wrath of the best moaner in the league Mr Neil Warnock. Would we have won if Wiley had actually refereed the game more evenly ? probably not but it would have been nice to see the cards that were given to Charlton players given to United players who made similar 'errors'. The main reason we drew yesterday was the woeful performance of Thomas and Ambrose, 2 of my favourite players, who seemed to get lost in the importance of the game and made too many wrong decisions. Dennis was OK but still hasn't convinced me he is any good. We will get out of it? Yes I think we will. Spurs at home will probably give us the best chance of a win and our support at Blackburn may encourage the boys to give us a win at Ewood park. Look out Fulham. Don't relax Wigan and Sheff Utd. The Fat lady ain't even warmed up yet.

See you all at Ewood

I've been a bit quiet on this blog lately so apologies to both of the regular readers. Lots of time spent working to pay for season tickets etc so hopefully you will forgive the lack of comments since the City game. Reading saw us get a draw and Everton really twisted the knife to deny us a point with that late winner. I've been rather pissed off at the amount of negativity that I've heard since that defeat with some people saying that we are doomed. That is total cobblers and a win against Sheffield United on Saturday could see us go 15Th if results over the next few days go our way. Roehampton Addick has the right idea as well as the facts and figures so have a butchers now.

SHOW YOU CARE :-)

As I said I've only got 2 readers so this next bit might be a bit ambitious: I need to know that this blog is appreciated as much as I want it to be so I am aiming to get 100 comments on today's entry. It doesn't matter what the comment is and it doesn't even have to be relevant so, hit the comment link and help me hit 100 comments and show how much you care.

Man City Massives 0 Charlton Athletics 0 also

Left home 7.40am Friday arrived Worthing via Littlehampton 8.30am. Departed on coach to Manchester via Hove and Pease Pottage . Left Manchester 7.36pm to Worthing via Pease Pottage & Hove. Got back into car at Worthing at 1.30am Saturday. Direct to 100 miles from home HQ and in bed at 2.10 pm. 18 1/2 hours to see a 0-0 draw but were we miffed? Oh no siree a point had taken us out of the relegation zone albeit possibly, only temporarily and apart from being totally cream crackered we were all smiling as we waved our fellow travellers on their way. Reading next on Monday and a chance to hear all about the Man City game and look forward to Reading on CHARLTON PLUS on Sunday night at 8 via Charltonplus.com

C'mon you Reds.

Frankie's Angle - Go and read what the Blogmeister has to say today

Wigan pay the Penalty

CHARLTON 1 WIGAN 0

Well he played like a muppet for 85 minutes but in the end Dazza Bent did the business and walloped the penalty home that secured another 3 point for the Addicks. In a game that produced so little for the relegation threatened side, the opportunity presented to Charlton's leading scorer was a gift from the Premiership survival gods. HH was bundled over and just in case the ref missed that one Marcus Bent then also got flattened. Wigan boss Paul Jewell had a right old Scouser moan about it but we are used to that now. The inspiration for the pen came after a massive crowd roar greeted the big screen announcement that Sheffield United had gone a goal down at Bolton. Huge well done to the PA box team for doing that and I have a feeling that it would have been my mate Big Dave Lockwood that was responsible. That lifted the team to throw the extra effort in and it could make all the difference come May.

CHARLTON PLUS RETURNS

Yep it's back tonight. Charlton plus returns to the internet tonight at 8pm BST The special guest on the new show will be Fans Director Ben Hayes and you can send in your questions right now or during the show. Details are available at http://www.charltonplus.com and you can also find out out how to listen in.

Wembley is alright

Went to the first Wembley official game to see the U21's draw 3-3 with Italy. Game was OK but it is so difficult to get excited about what is basically just a game of football from my point of view. It's not the same as watching Charlton and getting the emotional buzz of it being 'my' team but all the same we enjoyed the significance of the occasion. The huge arch is not that special in daylight as it is just a load of white tubular steel but at night it look fantastic all light up as we saw from our hotel window on Friday night and I'm sure will add to the atmosphere of night games. Walking to the ground I didn't get the same 'buzz' as approaching the Twin Towers but maybe that will come in time. Inside the facilities were the usual sort you get in the better stadiums. Overpriced with long queues and a struggle to find someone who speaks adequate English. Not the fault of the employee more the fault of the wage structure I would guess. Out of the new stadiums in North London I would say the Emirates is better because of the plusher seats but Wembley is back and will soon establish itself as the top stadium in this country.

The Great Escape ?

Fantastic result on Sunday. Beating the Geordies has really kept us in the hunt and the buzz around the place seems to suggest that we can pull off the great escape. Plenty can still go wrong of course but if we do go down at least it looks like we will be fighting all the way.

Charlton plus had lots of very positive emails and calls from our listeners so that bodes well too.

You will soon be able to download the show on a podcast once the tech team have done the tweaking so visit the Charlton Plus website for the latest news.

Southampton unveil 'Mandaric' statue

Just down the road from me is Southampton's St Mary's Stadium. Their greatest player Ted Bates, who passed away recently, has just had a somewhat unflattering statue unveiled on the concourse outside ground. The unfortunate thing is the likeness appears to be more resembling of Milan Mandaric, former Chairman of bitter rivals Portsmouth. The Scummers ain't to happy about that so they've decided to pull it down. Oh how the Pompey fans will laugh.

Geordie Boys in Town

NEWCASTLE NEXT It's been nearly a month since we last played at the Valley and boy is it another big game on Sunday. Newcastle will arrive fresh from blowing their chances in the UEFA cup and hopefully feeling knackered as well as depressed. Rumours of Dazza Bent being crocked again are circulating although nothing official from SE7. Man City's defeat to Chelsea keeps them within touching distance and Charlton do seem to be finding form at the business end of the season. With Scott Parker on his way back to the Valley for this game I'm sure the atmosphere will be a bit lively too. WEMBERLEEEY First game at the new stadium and the 100 miles from home family will be there. Managed to fight my way through the refresh button for 90 minutes to secure 4 tickets. The phone line was a joke and I gave up even trying that way but eventually the FA website let me in despite an estimated 9 hour queue at one point. So England U21 v Italy U21 next Saturday it is then. CHARLTON PLUS Sunday at at 8pm via http://www.charltonplus.com/ Phone +44(0) 208 123 9377 SKYPE charltonplus or email studio@charltonplus.com Let us have your views and opinions on the Newcastle game or anything else CAFC.

The FA Cup. What's that all about then.? Another Saturday with no football for our heroes from the Valley. Next Sunday will see Newcastle come to town for a 1.30 pm KO. The Geordies will be leaving their homes at about 4am deep joy for them. I'm not going to say anything much else about football today save to say Charlton Plus is on at 8pm and we won't have anything to talk about so it could be fun. Give us a call on 0208 123 9377 or SKYPE to charltonplus if you want to contribute to the show or email the studio here .

Fellow Blogger Roehampton Addick has had a moan to say there is no link to his site on here so I've now added it - Happy Now?

If anyone else want a link just ask and it will be considered for inclusion

Jim Davidson Top Geezer

WATFORD:

Well at least we got a point and if Lisbie was a striker we might have got 3. Still in touch with the Massives and Sheff Utd so watch This space.

NIGHT OUT:

Went and saw my mate Jim Davidson doing a gig in Fareham last night. Usual Politically Incorrect stuff but a damn good laugh just the same. Some journalist will not doubt spout about it being racist and anti disabled but to be honest I don't believe it is. PC is doing more harm than good in this country in my opinion and Jim has the balls to get up and say what a lot of us are thinking.

Humour is humour whether you are black, white able bodied or disabled. The joke is usually on the racist or person who is discriminating against the disabled person anyway if you think about it.

A great story was of the blind guy who sat in the front row at a previous gig. Jim asked if he was blind and the guy said 'yeah' How do you know I was talking to you? says Jim. :-)

'Why you sitting down the front '? The blind guy replies ' Cos the wife's a bit Deaf.

The support act was good too. Visit Jim's website for tour dates.

Must Win Game

Well the day has arrived for our 'must win' game. It's been a whole week since our last 'must win' game so, as we managed to tonk those Hamsters surely we must do the same against the glory Hornet boys. Pardew has been making all the right noises and the players seem to be on a high so fingers crossed for another 3 points at Vicarage Road this afternoon.

We've done some more testing for Charlton Plus' scheduled April 1st re-launch. If you are around on Sunday night 4th March at around 8 you might even be able to listen to us doing the testing by reviewing the Watford game. I will post a link to listen in on Sundays blog.

Grim up North

Saturday sees us travel to the Southern reaches of Northern England as we make the trip to Vicarage Road to play the bottom team Watford. Apparently Elton John ( That's him playing at the Valley) ,Graham Taylor and John Barnes are no longer at the club and they have installed a Northener called Adrian Bothroyd which is more in line with the club's geographical roots. Talking of routes. The one I am taking on Saturday will be best described as zig zaggy. Leaving the Hampshire coast I will head to Horsham and pick up fellow blogger Frankie Valley at his mansion. From there we move on to Pease Pottage services to board the West Sussex CASC coach and onto the game via Dartford. I hate these long trips up North but there we go - you have to support the boys don't ya.! If we can get another 3 points we really will start believing we can get out of the doo doo. Steve McQueen can start the bike very soon.

I hope to be home to see the highlights on MOTD at around midnight. Wonder if old Lineker will describe the game as a London Derby? . You know what he's like when it comes to Geography.

Nice, Very nice indeed

CHARLTON 4 West Ham O

The day started in the Rose of Denmark, (well I say started having got there 3 hours after leaving home), and the atmosphere was buoyant. The stroll along the Woolwich Road saw me bumping into fellow Blogger FRANKIE VALLEY for whom I had a gift handed to me by Canadian based Addick, Ken. A feast of Canadian salmon safely in Mr Valley's pocket off he toddled with his son in tow.

Onto the game and what a game. 3 up by half time, the crowd singing their little hearts out. By the time JT added his second and Charlton's 4th even the poor old Hammers fans were singing Pardew's name. Credit to those away fans though they didn't shut up at all did they.

The Rose after the game was great fun- we even found an Alan Pardew Lookalike and sang '2 Alan Pardews' 'There's only 2 Alan Pardews'. I got the highlights up on the massive 2 1/2" screen on my mobile and we enjoyed the goals once more.

There's a long way to go but mid table obscurity is now looking possible Watford next week and then home games against Newcastle and Wigan. It could happen I tell ya, It could just happen.

PS Oi Lineker Charlton is not in EAST London any more than Leicester City is in Nottingham. PLONKER

The Valley of Death

Well maybe death is a bit harsh but whoever loses today's relegation battle at the Valley will certainly be heading for intensive care in the Premiership emergency ward. A draw could also mean serious problems for both sides. We are at home and this could prove the decisive factor. Add to that the return of England Internationals Luke Young and Darren Bent and you can see why I believe we can win today. Get behind the lads from the off. Don't worry about operatic arias to get you up and at 'em. (Yes the Tenor is back) if you aren't up for this one then maybe you aren't as passionate about your team as you tell your mates you are?

Greyhound Racing:

Last night the family decides we should nip down to Portsmouth Dog track to have an evening of thrills and excitement. Portsmouth Stadium is 'slightly' worse than Fratton Park which tells you how bad it is. Anyway I digress. 12 races and I manage to lose every bleedin' one of 'em. The girls all come out even or better by picking doggies with nice names whilst I study the form. One of my dogs even collapsed and was carried off after getting the curse of the 100 miles wager. Mrs 100 miles was most amused until she found out how much I'd lost. :-(

Diet Update

Another 5 lbs lost this week making 13 1/2 lbs in 2 weeks. Not a bad start just 126 1/12 lbs to go. Gulp

CHARLTON PLUS

An old favourite for Charlton fans is scheduled to make a comeback over the Internet airways.

Charlton Plus is a programme for Charlton fans, hosted by Charlton fans and despite the upheaval over the last few months which has seen studio 'B' demolished and rebuilding work at a new location. The team are raring to go.

Initial studio testing has been very positive and the target date for the relaunch show is the 1st April however, If testing is 100% successful it could be much sooner.

Emails and text input will be welcome as ever and we hope to include a live phone in service as well. Presented by Brian Cole and produced by Glynne Jones, The team will also be welcoming new team member, Dan Bream. Dan will be be bringing yet more technical expertise as well as some sound opinions to the show, He will also be hosting the new Charlton Plus website through his IT company Breamteam and the addickted.net web site.

Feature presenters are also invited to send in their Charlton related audio for consideration for broadcast giving the show an extra Addicks community feel.

So watch this space for more news over the coming weeks

Pous Off !

I can claim to have seen three great mysteries at Charlton. Carl Leaburn, Karim Bagheri and now some bloke called Pouso. Carl's great mystery was why did he score so few goals then one day, out of the blue, I witness him going out and scoring a hat trick against Ipswich at Portman Road. Next up is the only appearance of the Iranian International, as a substitute , I witness him in a Charlton 1st team shirt and spookily it is at Portman Road Ipswich.

Finally we come to Omar Pouso. On the Official Charlton website you can get profiles of the players along with their picture. The picture for Pouso is replaced with the words "Sorry!We don't have a picture of this player yet" Ironic that. It should say, This bloke has been on the payroll for months but apparently can't be arsed because he is 'Acclimatising' Oh I saw him trot out at the Valley for 5 minutes when we played Portsmouth but that was it. Now he says he wants to bugger off back from whence he came. Bye then - thanks for nothing.

Pouso is not the only thing to disappear lately. My mission to lose 140 pouinds has started well with 8 1/2 pounds shed in my first week. If I keep that up I will have disappeared by Christmas :-)

England WIN

Well what a turn up. England only went and won the 1 day International series down under and beat those Aussies to boot. Getting to the final involved beating Australia and then New Zealand in order to reach the 3 match final against the already qualified Aussies. They did this to set up what everyone expected to be an easy 2-0 victory for Ricky Ponting's baggy capped convicts but oh no. Inspired by Paul Collingwood, Our heroes thrashed them 2 to zip and will be bringing home the trophy. OK it's not the little Urn ( Eric Morecombe carried him for years by the way) but at least it's some silverware from the tour. The World cup starts in a few weeks and people may start to think England have a chance which is nice. Very nice indeed.

All to play for

Great effort by the boys up at Old Trafford. We may have snuck a point but them's the breaks. Although it pains me to say it Mike Reilly had a very good game and Alex Ferguson said we were quite good too. West Ham continue to give Curbs headaches and the result against the Hornets has certainly added a but of spice with the Hertfordshire outfit now just 2 points adrift. Wigan nearly won at Arsenal. Thanks to a couple of dodgy decisions by the ref and lino ( No change there then) Paul Jewell's men were rightly, pig sick at the result. Charlton, West Ham and Watford fans of course, were delighted.

By the end of March we will have played all three teams immediately below or above us and will have a clear idea which league we are most likely to be in next season. It's quite exciting innit.

Lots of people have been asking when I am going to get the CAFC radio show back on air. Well plans are afoot and it is looking likely that we will be back at some point in March so watch this space. I will be looking for guests to join us on the phone and you could even go live on air with your opinions to the world.

I lost 9 pounds

This new slimming regime has started working already. No sooner had I walked through the door than I had lost 9 pounds. Kerchinnngggggg straight into the till. Oh well I've started now and it's with your encouragement that I hope to lose 140 pounds all told. Yes 10 STONE That's 3lb a week up to the end of the year.

Now I've tried all this before and failed so I need you all to keep telling me how lovely I'm looking and how proud you all are just to keep me on the straight and narrow. The gorgeous Mrs 100 miles from home has joined up too, just to keep me interested and to share my pain you understand. (Her target is a little more conservative than mine)

Good luck to everyone travelling to Old Trafford tomorrow. A draw would be great - a win would be dreamland. In reality our season kicks of in 2 weeks time. Bring it on Curbs.

Now where did I leave that diet Lager....................................................................

I TOLD YA But did you listen OH NO!

Well what a pile of crap that was. As predicted the England Spain game was as dull as ditch water. Why do they bother?. Why do WE bother?. It was Toilet.

According to Frankie Valley, Graham Taylor was the star on 5 live. Shame I missed that too.

No snow here on the South coast but I am venturing up north to Guildford this lunchtime so I will have a shovel, a flask of tea and a blanket ready just in case. It will be just like the East Stand at the Valley apart from the shovel of course!

How's this for a laugh. I'm rejoining Slimming World tonight. Did it a few years back and lost quite a bit of bulk but, some of you will have noticed I've put a little bit back on so ....... "let's go for it again" I said. I will update you all as time goes by.

International match - Oh Brilliant!!!!

England - What's that all about then? Apparently England have a friendly against Spain tomorrow night at Old Trafford. Will this be worth 2 hours of my life? Watching our heroes stroll through a meaningless friendly is not to exciting is it. Coronation Street is on ITV so that will kill half an hour for starters. That's how dull I expect it all to be.

Charlton also visit Old Trafford on Saturday, as we continue the fight for Premiership survival. I'm not going for reasons I've explained elsewhere but I reckon we could do well to get Nil. If we do then then let's hope The United machine get Nil as well and earn us a point.

Gary Neville is an obnoxious git on the football field isn't he. which brings us back to boring International games. He will be playing on Wednesday night and Saturday. Luckily I will miss both.

Chelsea win but Addicks fight on

Last Saturday Amady Faye was the goalscoring hero. Today he was the Villain having giving the ball away cheaply to the lovely Frank Lampard who belted it into the corner past Carson on 18 Minutes. Faye then went on to miss 2 glorious second half chances as Charlton gave the Champions a bit of a scare. It was good to see Faye trying his damndest to influence the game and he should at least be applauded for that fact. Marcus Bent also showed a willingness to chase after lost causes and get stuck in. JFH is just a stropy git who should have been told to piss off when he won a free kick near the end in Talal territory. HH seemed to say the the required words but the Dutchman still decided to tamely lift the ball into his former fans who sang his name in appreciation. Poor Poor Poor player now I'm afraid. Man U next week and we could be adrift again if Wigan get the right results. Bloody Portsmouth decide they are the new Charlton and are determined to have a crap finish to a season that promised so much. Sound familiar.? Anyway a good performance that has lifted the spirits and enough signs to show the team now has some fight for the battle ahead.

Just 2 Points

Chelsea make there way from their Palatial home in West London to working Class Charlton tomorrow for an intriguing London Derby. But just pause a moment. Charlton v a team from west London? That evokes a bad memory for us Addicks.

Steve Artis and Graham '3 yellers' Poll were the 2 incompetent officials the last time we had West Londoners at the Valley.

On that night The Addicks were playing out time in a 2-1 victory over Fulham to give Alan Pardew a perfect start. as the 3rd minute of injury time ticked away Artis decides that Djimi Traore is a 5'6" white man in a white shirt instead of being a 6'3" Black man in a red shirt, an easy mistake from 10 yards away. Pressing the button on his flag ( which I assume is braile ) he alerts Poll to the handball which is in fact made by the Fulham player. Our hero referee then compounds the decision by allowing the Cottagers to take the kick from 20 yards up the pitch and of course they score. Steve Artis is later 'sacked' and Poll apologises. Big deal?, those 2 points would put us level with Wigan in 17th. So yeah it's a big deal. £30 million at least possibly.

Anyway rant over. Chelsea's visit sees Mark Hallsey in charge and he's a good laugh, Maybe he will give a dodgy decision in our favour to make up for Poll but I doubt it.

Prediction 1-1

Bring on The BIG BOYS

Great point at the Reebok last night weren't it. Talal booted a shot at Jusi and he decides he quite likes us and flapped it into the old onion bag to give us an equaliser. Poor old Kev Nolan sobbed his little innocent heart out over a penalty he should have had when Faye clattered him in the first half. The ref patted his guide dog before waving the appeals away.

So onto our next 2 fixtures. Chelsea on Saturday could see the Pensioners out of the title race if we can get another victory and yes we can do that. Then Old Trafford the week after we could get Chelsea back into it with our first Premiership win over the Red Devils. Out of the 2 the least unlikely is beating Chelsea. Can we do it? Yes, but probably we won't.

Looks like our game against West Ham is going to be a bit tasty dunnit.

Bottom's Up

Blackburn fan Jim

Ooooh Goody. (No not Jade) Wigan and West Ham both lost last night in the mini league known as the relegation battle.

Never mind the title race, it's us teams in the bottom 4 that are really going all out to win the major prize. The winners of the relegation league will receive untold wealth, the losers. in the words of the great comedic genius Jim Bowen, (above) will get B.F.H 'Bus Fare Home'.

(Have you noticed how Jimmy Floyds initials are almost the same? J.F.H maybe the J stands for JET? 'Jet Fare Home' how these players live eh!)

Anyway as I was saying. £30 million quid to be the worst team NEXT season is a fair old incentive wedge for the Addicks. As the team make their way to the Horwich home of Bolton Wanderers tonight they will be in good heart knowing they could could soon be top of the bottom in 17th place. After beating the BBC's favourite Manager and his team twice already this season it should be a stroll in the park for the boys in red shouldn't it?

C'mon you reds

Murray The Merciless

Just add the beard and Tash and the Chairman is Ming the Merciless

Richard Murray has earned the right to make decisions about Charlton Athletic that we charlton fans should respect and trust (OK Dowie and Les were a bit iffy but hey give him a break) Richard has once again spoken out to quash speculation that Darren Bent is leaving and in this case it's Curbs over at West Ham that is looking to stump up a reported 15 million+ of the bickie boys quids to obtain the services of the Addicks' leading scorer. Now It doesn't take a high IQ to work out that we can't sell our top scorer and expect to survive and it would be suicidal to sell him to one of three sides we need to finish above in order to stay up. So stay strong Richard and be merciless in your ambition for the club that has served us all so well. Oh and let's buy Reo Coker from those hamsters just to show 'em that we can play games too.

12 Noon: Mr Murray and Mr Pardew have swooped to secure Alexandre Song from the Arsenal until the end of the season. Read all about it.

Boogie Boy Signs Up

Well we've actually signed him now. Straight into the team up at Bolton? we'll have to wait and see. Look quite good if this is anything to go by. Boogie Boy

PRICED OUT

I won't be going to Bolton. Once again the idiots who run the Premier league come up with a ridiculous midweek fixture list which sees the likes of Liverpool travelling to West Ham while we go the other way to Bolton. It seems geography is not a strong point at Premiership HQ. Why can't they sort these fixtures out for Saturdays at 3pm - No chance because they don't give a flying fig leaf about the away fans who have to take time of work as well as pay a fortune to follow their teams. No I won't be there. What's more with a new mortgage to pay each month I am knocking on the head anything this season that is in the North West which is basically all our away games except Watford. I may go to Anfield if we need to get something to stay up but otherwise I'll keep my hard earned in the old sky rocket. I doubt I have missed more than 10 Charlton games in the last 10 years but Sky schedules and ridiculous pricing have finally decimated my involvement as a fan.

5pm: See I told ya bloody sky have just decided to show Man City away on PPV . Do they care that people from Charlton will have organised their trip for the original 2.30 KO ? No of course not. Oh well at least I can watch the game on the telly rather than a dodgy PC screen now

Next season it will be just the season ticket and odd away game if we are in the Premier and Season ticket and more away games if it's the fizzy pops.

The Oscars

Now I'm not much of a film buff. In fact the thought of sitting in a dark room for 2 hours with the rustle of toffee wrappers and the dregs of a KIA Ora drink being sucked through a straw frankly fills me with dread. The last film I saw was that girlie flick with Hugh Grant and Rene Whatserface. What I pile of poo that was. Fridgid Jones? ....yeah well, whatever.

Anyway, The Oscars. Lots of films I've never heard of so I don't care who wins. I've heard of Helen Mirren, who played the queen in something, is up for one so that's alright then. Rest assured I won't be staying up to watch the Oscars but it made me think.......

Internet blog Oscars? is there such a thing? I'm sure there must be so I'm going to nominate a blog that is worthy of such an honour.

Nominated in the best blog by a Charlton fan wearing a flasher Mac and Frank Spencer beret category please welcome FRANKIE VALLEY. This blog is Witty and informative and yet it still manages to exude an air of total indifference to the world of Charlton Athletic. Regular contributors in the comment section make it a must see every day for Addicks fans.

So there we have it. Blog Oscars it must be better than some tart in a frock blubbing into a mic' after picking up something 12 inches and made of gold. To quote Frankie - 'I'm right aren't I ?'

IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE

Well rumour has it that we are about to sign a player from Sheffield Wednesday. He sounds like he might be the king of the swingers - a Charlton VIP, Will he reach the top? Well probably not but that's not bothering me. OK poor effort at being funny but. A. It's the end of the week B. I've had an OK week at work and earned some sausage C. It's my blog so it's only me that looks at it anyway. My lovely wife and eldest daughter are off to Old Trafford tomorrow to cheer on Pompey in the FA Cup. I of course will be at home doing very little except wondering how lil ol Forest KO'd the mighty Addicks in Rd 3. Ho Hum

Busy doing Nothing

Well it looks like my week will have peaked at Aldershot on Monday night as far as CAFC is concerned. Having watched the reserves thrash table topping Chelsea 1-0 at the recreation ground in the freezing cold, nothing since then. No signings to talk about, no new manager, Nothing. With still 10 whole days until the Chelsea first team prance out at the Valley what the heck will there be to talk about and do? So what will I fill my day with today? Well work has gone deathly quiet so I'm not earning any commission today. I've got a new phone line going in for the FAX machine. This means waiting in between 1-6pm for the bloke who plugs in the wires. Scandalous innit. So It's a day of trawling my database trying to drum up a bit of business and then waiting for the doorbell to ring. C'mon Charlton sign someone this is getting dull. TTFN 9pm. Managed to drum up some business today and for tomorrow so my post for tomorrow won't appear until late in the day. I hope Charlton don't sign anyone, I'd hate to miss the chance to comment straight away.

The bright side of life

Some things in life are bad, They can really make you mad, Other things can make you swear and curse. When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't worry give a whistle and things will always turn out for the best. You would be forgiven if this famous Monty Python ditty had emanated from your North and South after after a pretty dismal season for the Addicks to date. Always look on the bright side of life - are there any bright points? Well we are a mere 4 points of safety or 2 wins and we still have to play West Ham and Wigan at home, 2 of the teams we have to rise above, as well as Watford away who have only won twice all season. Add to that home matches against Spurs, Newcastle, Reading and Sheffield United and you would hope that a few points may be coming our way. Chelsea are likely to beat us at home and I can only see us getting the odd point (apart from a win at Watford), on our travels. Most of our remaining away games are in the North West where we played crap even when we weren't crap like we are this season. Maybe a point at Everton and Man City but not much else. So what does that add up to? I hear you say. In terms of points? 38 I reckon - will that be enough? Maybe - it depends how crap West Ham and Wigan are or maybe Sheffield Utd will get dragged back in. I said a while ago that I thought 36 points would survive - It would be nice if we stayed up at Anfield on the last day but I'd rather we didn't have to. Hope springs Eternal. Well a bonus 3 points at Fratton Park has certainly raised all our hopes. I expected us to get well beaten especially as my Missus is a Pompey fan and we live just north of the city. Amady Faye's late strike means that we are now just 3 points and a few goals off 17th place and Everton did us a huge favour by beating Wigan .It's a tough 3 games to come where we probably won't get much BUT we have beaten Bolton twice already this season. Chelsea regard us as their bogey team and they have a few problems and surely we will beat Man U in the premiership one day why not during this run. 9 points it is then. What was all the fuss about?