Loan players

He came from Portugal ...

Loan players can make a significant contribution to a team. My favourite Charlton loan player of recent years was Millwall hater Jorge Costa. He gave his all for the shirt and he displayed real skill.

I am more sceptical of loan players from bigger clubs looking to get some fitness after a long period bench warming or on the treatment table. And I question the point of bringing in a talented youngster when we have some of our own who haven't been given a proper chance. BTW, it looks like the Rams have beaten us to the signing of Darren Powell which doesn't bother me very much.

But once they are on the pitch and wearing the shirt, they are Charlton players and I certainly don't want to get on Waghorn's back if he fails to score within five minutes. Perhaps he will have a magical ingredient that will make a difference.

The estimable Pedro45 says that surely Waghorn must start. However, remember that we are living in the Alice Through the Looking Glass world of Alan Pardew. So I expect Waghorn to appear off the bench on 68 minutes when we are looking for the winning goal. Like Pedro45, I think that this match has a 1-1 draw written all over it - Charlton to score first and the Blades to equalise from a set piece four minutes later.

Pedro45 - who among some very good blogs probably does the best pre-match preview - raises the issue of Weaver. I would be surprised to see him dropped, particularly given that we don't really have an alternative. Should we get one? We have been linked during the week with a loan (Blackburn's Jason Brown).

Being reserve keeper is one of the most difficult jobs in football (someone based a fictional film on it once). I remember all the years that the super loyal Eddie Marsh was understudy to Sam Bartram. And on these few occasions when Marsh did appear, it was clear that he was nowhere near as good.

We are sponsoring Leamington's reserve keeper. Cadzy had obviously been speaking to Pardew about tinkering because he abandoned the winning side on Tuesday and saw the Brakes go down 1-2 at home to Bromsgrove Rovers in the Birmigham Senior Cup (admittedly not the greatest competition in the world, but we could have got the Baggies or Wolves in the next round).

This included playing the reserve keeper. He was obviously a fan of Bartram as he would come charging out of his goal and halfway down the pitch as he tried to shoot. I knew Sam Bartram and this guy is no Sam Bartram and the outcome was to be expected, to the delight of the knot of away Bromsgrove supporters. Moreover, despite having won all their league matches this season except one that they drew, the Brakes have been toppled off the top of the table by the Adders.

I'm not going to predict the Charlton side tomorrow as I don't have a random number table with me and, in any case, Charlton Athletic Online does a much better job of this.

I am on my lonesome ownsome tomorrow as my wife has decided not to make the long trip down to London and match analyst Ivy the Terrible will be staying with her. The Association of Canine Match Analysts has made a bold move and brought in Monty Martin who works in reception at our sponsors, Kingdom Signs. The effervescent spaniel has a good track record of bringing luck to the team when nothing has been going our way. We certainly need a lucky break.

Finally, copying Pedro, my one to watch: Blade supporter Professor Andrew Gamble FBA.
Britain's leading political economist, he lives in Sheffield, but holds a chair at the University of Cambridge. He is a Blade (and a rather fanatical one) rather than an Owl. Although he is writing a quick book on the financial crisis, he may well be in the Jimmy Seed Stand tomorow.