The final curtain

Yesterday was my last Charlton match this season as I shall be flying back from Montréal on the day of the Coventry match and I don't feel inspired to go to the two away games. So on this occasion I will not provide a detailed match report (not that there was that much to report anyway) but give some preliminary reflections on the season.

Talking to Joe the Saint in the Rose of Denmark (which was taken over by noisy 'Yellows') before the match, I predicted a 1-1 draw. This was not a difficult thing to do as Charlton have become 1-1 draw specialists. They started the season with a 1-1 draw against relegated Scunthorpe: someone from Scunny was saying on 606 yesterday that they 'knew what they were up against' after the match against Charlton, which suggests an inability to turn (then) fluent football into results. Over the season, including yesterday, we have had six 1-1 draws at home and four away. I wouldn't be surprised if we had a couple more away at QPR and home to Coventry.

If just a few of those draws at home had been wins we would be in the play off places. Admittedly, my expectations for the season were not as high as some lazy sport journalists. I thought we would be 'there or thereabouts' which for me meant that we would get into the play offs at fifth or sixth. And for much of the season we made the 5th spot our own.

I liked Alan Pardew as a player and I was pleased when he became manager. But I think he has got it wrong and I hope he can learn from his mistakes. He did, after all, have a far better second season at Wet Spam.

The first mistake was to have far too big a aquad. If players like Racon are not good enough, why sign them in the first place? We (and the management) never know how good they are at Championship level because we never (or hardly ever) see them. Because Pards was 'spoilt for choice' it was difficult to settle on a core sixteen who would get to know each other as a team and learn how to play effectively with each other. The sqaud is going to have to be pruned over the summer (apart from anything else we have too many left backs).

The second mistake was to bring in too many loan players who were not good enough Lita is an exception, although even in his case he was rusty and took a few matches to find his scoring boots again (always yellow, of course). Mills has some talent, but spoilt it with his failure to control himself. Halford is not as bad as some of the Addickted like to make out.

Some would say that the third mistake was to get rid of Reid. No one can say whether we would be in the play off places if he had stayed. I would have certainly preferred to keep him. But one has to be aware of the financial realities that the club faces. If keeping him meant trebling his salary, where would the money have come from? Some might say that was a gamble worth taking for promotion, but a football club has to be run on a prudent basis and Reid's presence would not have guaranteed us promotion.

Listening to two Charlton fans on 606 last night, they stated the general preference among the Addickted for the 'Roy of the Rovers' solution: using as many young Academy players as possible. But we saw the risks of inexperience yesterday with Randolph's fumble that may have cost us all three points. Don't get me wrong: I would like to see the promising younger players from the Academy used as the fringe element of the squad, being given their chance from the bench.

However, it does worry me that the answer that many Charlton fans would give to the question, 'Do you seriously want to be successful' is 'Not at any price'. It seems to me that the price that will ultimately have to be paid for success is an injection of foreign capital into the club and the hiring of at least some foreign players. It is the formula that makes the Premiership successful, as is evidenced by the Champions League results. For those who ask, what about the England team? - my answer would be that, like many people, I am more interested in club than international football.

The Bloke Behind Me actually had a reasonable point yesterday when he said that the club had lost its soul and that we had a team of journeymen who didn't really care about the club. To me, sulky Jerome Thomas, who turned it on for the television cameras, epitomises that. But we have to remember that the club's situation is different now from ten years ago. Then we are on a glorious adventure with our backs against the wall. It was epitomised by ITN News describing us as a 'tiny' club when we won at Wembley. Now we are just another formerly successful Premiership club like Leicester or Southampton.

The last point I would like to make is about the negativity at The Valley. The boo boys have been out in force: people around me even booed when we drew at home with Bristol City who are a decent footballing side. Many people would say 'I've paid my money and if I'm disappointed with the product, I will boo', sometimes drawing an analogy with the theatre. Although I don't go to the theatre that much, I have never encountered booing and I am sure that it happens rarely.

It seems to me reasonable enough to boo at half time or full time, but I don't think that it does anything during the match for a team that has been sapped by a lack of confidence. Of course, expectation levels are high today in society generally; people tend to be more aggressive; and we live in age of consumer sovereignty. Nevertheless, Charlton fans were always characterised by their realistic expectations compared particularly with Spurs - one of whose fans was heard on 606 last night saying once again that they should be a top four club. Dream on.

I think there are some grounds for optimism next season. Opposing teams will not see their match against as their cup final against a 'Premiership' club and up their game. We should have a smaller squad and a more settled team with judicious use (but not over reliance on) younger players. The promising Chris Dickson will be back. We may decide to play football again, rather than resorting to hoofing the ball.

Having had a year of the Championship, it is quite clear to me that the gap with the Premiership has widened. I can go ten minutes down the road to Leamington and see players hoofing the ball around rather than make a nearly three hour trip to Charlton. Leamington won 3-1 away yesterday and have narrowed the gap between them and league leaders Evesham to three points.

Match analysis

Homer the Cherry Hound abandoned his normal duties at high flying Didcot Town. The New Forest born labrador spent the night with Joe the Saint. Despite travelling up on one of the Southampton coaches, he insists that he maintained the neutrality consistent with his presidency of the Association of Canine Match Analysts. Having last seen Charlton stage their spirited fight back against Southampton to win 1-0, Homer was surprised by the lack of determination in the team and suggested that they might arrange to always have a man sent off early in the game. Homer felt that there was not an outstanding Charlton player on the pitch but awarded the Silver Bone to Matt Holland for his dedication to the cause, always giving his all over the season.

Randolph made the same mistake as he did at Bury, fumbling the ball into the net. He trudged off the field looking despondent, having messed up his big chance. However, otherwise I thought that he played well and his kicking out or throwing out was well judged. McCarthy was generally solid. Bougherra was one of the better players on the pitch until the end when he made a couple of mistakes. Thatcher was very solid and made some good forward plays. In my view his experience is to be preferred to the antics of Youga. Halford has attracted a lot of criticism from the Addickted and he certainly put in some hopeless balls from distance which were presumably supposed to create opportunities for the strikers but simply went out of play. Anyway, he won't be here next season. Semedo had a poor game and was rightly withdrawn at half time, having picked up one yellow card and being in danger of another. Lee Cook did make some good runs and it was his free kick that led to the goal, but he still seems to lack real consistent quality. Zheng Zhi is more effective in the centre than when he is moved out to the wing and certainly played his part in the enhanced second half performance. Iwelumo is supposed to have developed a good partnership with Lita but it wasn't much in evidence yesterday and he was rightly withdrawn at half time. Lita positioned himself well and did have some chances, but was unable to find the back of the net. Gray at least scored his first goal for the Addicks with a well taken header. Let's hope he can do more next season. Ambrose made little difference when he came on. The season of Thomas was summed up when he failed to break his duck, having a half chance to score in time added on.

Juneau the Soccer Cat gave the Hiss of the Match to Alan Pardew. This was a warning hiss, urging him to do better next season. The large Maine Coon cat of American descent is quite formidable when fluffed up.

Crowd rating Once again the visitors made most of the noise, helped by the acoustics of the Jimmy Seed (not that I endorse Pardew's daft plan to move the opposition out of there which he took from his book of excuses). The spirits of the Addickted have been dampened by the team's performances, particularly at home (we have won as many games away as we have in front of the Valley crowd). When the team lifted their performance in the second half, they lifted theirs.