Keepers do their work at London Road

The Addicks were held to a 0-0 draw by League One's Peterborough United at London Road yesterday evening. Former Charlton custodian and now Peterborough's Ben Alnwick made several smart saves to keep his side in the tie, the first of which came when he dealt with Johann Gundmundsson's powerful long-range strike after just six minutes. Those who ask where the goals are going to come from this season might consider his potential contribution.

Stephen Henderson in the Addicks goal got his first taste of the action when he kept out Nick Ajose's swerving effort midway through the first half. Alnwick was again called into action just before the break when he had to react quickly to keep out another powerful effort from Gundmundsson.

Charlton kept their shape well, but the best chance of the second half fell to Posh's Kyle Vassell on the hour mark, but after controlling a long ball forward, he could only send his shot wide of the far post.

A short piece of the action here: Friendly

Alnwick is hoping to stay at Peterborough which will be his 12th club: Alnwick. His departure from The Valley last season was one of the controversial decisions of the Roland era, the new owner being unable to give the keeper the assurances he wanted. He then stayed only a short while at Leyton Orient having to sort out personal problems with his baby son.

For what it's worth I have done my CAFC Picks entry for next season and I have forecast that we will get 60 points which would have put us at 13th in last year's table.

Alnwick leaves Orient

It was argued that letting Ben Alnwick leave Charlton was a mistake. However, he played only one game for Orient and his contract has now been cancelled by mutual consent: Alnwick

Alnwick leaves Orient

Ben Alnwick's short stay at Leyton Orient has been brought to an end with his contract cancelled for unspecified medical reasons. He has been unable to train or play for the last few days for personal reasons: Alnwick

The Leyton Orient site presents the situation in somewhat different but still opaque terms: 'Alnwick only joined Orient from Charlton last week but a personal situation has arisen in the last few days which is currently preventing him from training or playing matches. We will be making no further comment on the situation at this time.'

I was concerned about his departure, but it looks as if he would have been unavailable even if he stayed.

The rain it raineth every day

The old Penzance Borough Council commissioned a painting of their promenade many years ago in the hope of boosting their tourist trade and what they got was one entitled 'The rain it raineth every day'. It seemed to me a fair representation of the weather in Penzance, but it was hidden from public view for many years.

Picture from Scilly Now and Then

My friends at Radio Scilly and Scilly Now and Then have been keeping me updated on conditions on the islands. The main settlement of Hugh Town is on an isthmus between two bays and some streets now look like beaches as they are covered with sand. There are real fears about high tides and strong winds forecast for the weekend, winds of 92 mph having been recorded earlier in the week. The Radio Scilly studio is across the road from the beach at Porthmellon, but is on an upper floor, so hopefully the Saturday sports show will go ahead on schedule and I will be able to deliver my slot as mainland football correspondent. Meanwhile, station manager Keri Jones has been sunning himself in New Zealand, leaving the lovely Suze to hold the fort.

Which brings me to Charlton. The dome has been on the pitch and there is to be a pitch inspection later today. However, heavy rain and strong winds are forecast for tomorrow, so heavy rain after the covers are removed could mean a late postponement (again). This is not a good situation for those of us who come some distance as we are unavoidably en route when these decisions are taken. My Plan B had been to at least get my Voice of the Valley but Rick Everitt has tweeted that adverse weather may drive his elves from the streets as the colour could run in their uniforms. However, he has now stated that should there be a late postponement there will be a seller across the road from the club shop from 1.30 until kick off time. /p>

The latest news is more positive. It now appears that the only major chance of the game being off is if it seriously pours down after the Dome [on thepitch, not levitation of the 02] is lifted tomorrow -and whether the pitch could take a serious downpour. The Met Office is predicting "squally heavy showers with perhaps hail or thunder" from 0600-1200 tomorrow and starting again from 1300-1400- so with luck, it should be the downpour between 1-2pm that we need to watch out for.

So, if the worst comes to the worst, it looks like going down the pub to see if I can find Blackheath Addickted to learn why this Europhile is so worried about Roland.

Needless to say the prospect of the game being called off has given the more miserable Charlton fans something else to wallow in. I been having negotiations with Beijing this week about a prospective visit and I must say they are easier to deal with than the average Charlton fan.

If we do keep postponing games, not only do we look foolish (although this time I suspect that there may be some other waterlogged pitches tomorow), but we will be facing match congestion when we are trying to fight our way out of the relegation zone.

Some might think that a postponement would be a blessing in disguise as it might mean that Hamer would recover to replace suspect keeper Thuram-Ulien. Chris Powell made it clear yesterday that Ben Alnwick departed because he wanted assurances about the end of season that could not be given, so his agent had a look round and found that he could pop through the Blackwall Tunnel to add another club to add to those he has played at. The manager made it clear that he is not using the French keeper because he has been told to, but out of necessity.

Salvete et valete

Whatever else one thinks it has been an interesting transfer window and we are in for a lively ride. One thing that is clear, whether Chris Powell stays or not (and I think he will be here until the summer) is that we are moving towards a continental director of football model in which the manager runs the team but does not pick them.

Arrivals

Yohann Thuram-Ulien – goalkeeper - French. On loan from Standard Liège. Squad number: 21 DOB: 31 October 1988 Height 6’ 2”.

Astrit Ajdarević – midfielder – Swedish. On loan from Standard Liège. Squad number: 42. DOB: 17 April 1990 Height 6’ 3”.

Reza Ghoochannejhad – striker – Iranian. Signed from Standard Liège on a two-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee. Squad number: 8. DOB: 20 September 1987 Height 5’ 11”. The snappily named Ghoochannejhad (aka 'Guci') grew up in Holland and represented the Netherlands at under-age level but has been a revelation since making his debut for Iran last year scoring eight goals in 10 games and being seen as the main danger man for his country. His senior domestic league record is very decent - 48 goals in 115 games- the downside will be losing him for tournaments and games (Iran have two friendlies in March). Forget any comparisons with Karim Bhagheri: that was a commercial and political decision, rather than a footballing one.

Anıl Koç – midfielder – Turkish. On loan from Standard Liège. Squad number: 22. DOB 29 January 1995 Height 5’ 8”.

Loïc Nego – defender – French. Transfer in from Hungarian sister club Újpest. Squad number: 25. DOB: 15 January 1991 Height 5’ 11”.

Pitor Parzyszek – striker – Polish. Transfer in from De Graafschap on a four-and-a-half year deal. Fee said to be £800,000. Squad number: --DOB: 8 September 1993 Height 6’ 3”. The most exciting of the signings. West Ham were after him as well. He has an excellent goal scoring record in the 'Eerste Divisie' (closest to the Championship over here) scoring 29 goals in 52 games for De Graafschapwith him bagging 16 goals in just 20 games this season so far (including two hat tricks and one brace) making him that division's top scorer.

Departures

Yann Kermorgant. His departure is deeply regretted by most fans. He didn't seem too happy in his first interview with Bournemouth, despite the opportunity, as a Breton, to live by the sea and Eddie Howe's style of play which sees the ball played to feet more. Hopefully, we will rely less on the long ball aimed at Kermorgant's head in future.

Dale Stephens. A friend who is a Seagull asked what I thought and I said: 'Inconsistent. Will deliver a ball of real quality one minute and the next will give away possession easily and dangerously the next. Will provide the occasional sensational goal from distance.' Nevertheless, our most creative midfield player and we don't have a replacement for him.

Ben Alnwick. The real surprise of the transfer window. However, we cannot really justify having three senior goalkeepers (Hamer's injury is a short-term one as far as I know). Apparently, Roland was not too happy that he was played at Doncaster.

Michael Smith. Some fans are still sore about this, but as Chris Powell pointed out we would not have been able to give him the game time to develop. Scoring goals in League 2 does not mean that you can score them in the Championship and even if he does well in League 1, that does not mean that he would have cut it at this level.

Whether the new players will keep us up remains to be seen, but I will not pass judgment on them until I have seen them play a few times. Some, however, think that the turnover of players of itself poses problems. At least we have spent some money which the old regime would not have been able to do and they would probably had to offload players for cash flow reasons.

For all the jokes about 'Roland Rat' and 'Sub-Standard', we can only make a balanced assessment of the new set up in the summer.

Farewell, Ben Alnwick

Ben Alnwick has joined Leyton Orient on a permanent deal. I thought that he was a good goalkeeper and better than Ben Hamer. However, he was standing in the way of Thurman-Ulien taking the number one slot.

There are reports of another midfielder on the way from Standard Liege, but nothing confirmed yet.

There are also rumours that Yann Kermorgant has turned down a contract offer from Charlton, not a very good one apparently, and is to have a medical at Bournemouth according to a tweet from Richard Cawley. I will be sorry to see him go and had rather he stayed. However, some of the comments over the last few days have been OTT. He does not match up to Andy Hunt, goal poacher Clive Mendonca or Darren Bent in his prime.

Richard Cawley has also tweeted that Cedric Evina may go out on loan.

I have been reflecting on what drives Roland's model. This needs treatment at length and I have written something for the impending Voice of the Valley which I believe that Rick Everitt's elves are even now setting up in type.

Charlton through to 5th round

Charlton will be in the draw for the 5th round of the FA Cup with Budweiser tomorrow after they beat Huddersfield Town 1-0 in front of a crowd of 10,120. The winning goal was scored in the second half by Simon Church on 54 minutes after the home side has been opened up on the right by Lawrie Wilson. Ben Alnwick kept the Addicks in the game with a number of excellent saves and got a score of 8 from the Football League Paper on Sunday. Harry Lennon on in place of the injured Evina played well.

Yann Kermorgant was ruled out before the game, although he had travelled.

In the first half it was handbags at six paces after players from both sides faced off after the Dale Stephens went in late on Huddersfield's Adam Hammill on 29 minutes. Stephens was booked for the foul while Town's Anthony Gerrard and Addicks defender Michael Morrison saw yellow for their roles in the scrap which followed. Just beforehand, Huddersfield's Danny Ward was lucky to escape a booking for leaving his foot in on Cedric Evina. The Charlton full-back and Hammill were both injured and had to be substituted with the tension simmering. It came close to boiling over when Stephens brought down Oliver Norwood soon afterwards but he escaped with a warning.

Ward was denied a goal on 26 minutes by a smart parry from the goalkeeper Ben Alnwick after Paul Dixon put the home forward through. His fellow striker James Vaughan, making his first start after five games out injured, had a shot blocked after a neat one-two with Gobern. The Town wing-back Tommy Smith retrieved the ball and crossed from the right only for Norwood to head over from close range on 21 minutes. At the other end the closest Charlton came was a Johnnie Jackson header, which flashed just wide from a free-kick curled in by Stephens.

In the second half Alnwick denied Smith with a parry at his near post just before Church scored at the other end. Ward fluffed the chance to equalise by missing an open goal after the substitute Sean Scannell pulled the ball back from the byline on 62 minutes.

It was a dogged and resilient performance by the Addicks who showed considerable 'gumption' according to the Radio Leeds commentators. It is worth noting that the often overlooked Dorian Dervitte got a 7 from the FLP: 'An excellent performance from the defender who was a rock at the back.'

Unfortunately the draw secured by Doncaster has pushed Charlton into the relegation places.

Festive unbeaten run continues

Charlton's festive unbeaten run continued with a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town today in front of 780 Addickted in very wet conditions. A Johnnie Jackson goal in the 90th minute from an assist by Simon Church offset an own goal conceded by Richard Wood in the first half.

It required a fine save from Dean Gerken to keep the scores level in the 17th minute. Yann Kermorgant’s low shot from 25 yards was heading for the bottom right corner of the goal after taking a deflection off of Christophe Berra, but Gerken did well to turn the ball around the post at full stretch. Charlton went behind through the own goal on 23 minutes after a cross came in from the left.

On 38 minutes Kermorgant’s clever reverse pass had put Cameron Stewart clear in the box, he cut back across Chambers and appeared to have his heels clipped by the stranded full-back. Referee Stuart Attwell was unimpressed. In fact, he booked the Charlton winger for ‘simulation’ as well as showing Berra a yellow card for his foul on Kermorgant in the build-up.

The Tractors sat back and attempted to protect their 1-0 lead after the restart and, in a rare attack, were awarded a spot-kick in the 78th minute when Jordan Cousins barged Paul Anderson to the floor following a corner. Addicks keeper Ben Alnwick dived full stretch to his left to keep out McGoldrick’s spot-kick though, pushing it against the inside of the post. Alnwick is surely making a case to keep the shirt when Hamer is fit.

Ipswich began to sit deeper and deeper and they were punished just as the fourth official raised the board to indicate four minutes of stoppage-time. Rhoys Wiggins lofted a high ball into the box from left-back, Kermorgant won the headed knock-down at the far post and, after Simon Church laid the ball off with his back to goal, Jackson – on as an 80th minute sub – struck a shot into the ground, the effort taking a deflection off the thigh of Berra and wrong-footing Gerken.

Millwall lost at home to Leicester and Doncaster lost at QPR, but Sheffield Wednesday beat Blackpool at home. Yeovil's game was postponed. Charlton remain top of the Championship Relegation League at 19th.

Ipswich began to sit deeper and deeper and they were punished just as the fourth official raised the board to indicate four minutes of stoppage-time.

Testing time for Addicks

Charlton face a testing time over the festive period with two crucial home games, first against Brighton and Hove Albion on Boxing Day at 12.30 p.m. and then with Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.

Brighton are currently 8th in the table and 4th in the form table. They have lost just one of their last ten matches in the Championship. They have only lost two games away from home, winning four and drawing four. They have achieved this by scoring just eight goals on their travels, but they have conceded just six, the lowest total in the Championship. If it wasn't for their home form, they would be higher up the table.

The last three meetings between the teams have all ended in draws, including both matches between them last season. A 2-2 draw at The Valley was followed by a goalless draw on the South Coast in April. Brighton have won on two of their last three visits to The Valley, including a 4-0 win there in 2010-11 when both teams were in League One. Charlton's last home victory against Brighton was in a Division Two meeting in October 1991.

In their 0-0 draw with Huddersfield at the weekend, the Seagulls wasted numerous chances. Nevertheless, Huddersfield boss Mark Robins said after the game, 'This is the best side we've played this season, without a doubt. The way they play the ball is brilliant and they are steelier than they were last year.'

Liam Bridcutt was the best player for Brighton, a tireless runner on and off the ball. Threatening up front, he often dropped back in support. David Lopez also caught the defence out with his movement. The defence looked very solid.

Ben Alnwick got a rare score of 9 from the Football League Paper for two superb saves on Saturday. Hamer is still not fit, but Alnwick has made a case for staying on when he is. Fortunately, Chris Solly is back and Yann Kermorgant is fully fit, so I wouldn't write this off as three easy points for the Seagulls.

Odds: Charlton 9/5; Draw 12/5; Brighton 7/5.

Chiltern Railways are running a Boxing Day service from Bicester North (please note South Eastern) so I hope to make the game. In the meantime, a happy Christmas to all my readers.

Ipswich seek traction

Ipswich Town come to The Valley tomorrow seeking traction for their youthful squad tomorrow: Tractors

A mixed season currently sees them placed 12th in the Championship, although they would rather look up than down. Four Four Two saw them finishing sixth at the beginning of the season. Last year their problem was scoring goals on their travels. They scored just 14, the lowest total in the league.

However, they have already scored 11 goals away this season. They have emerged as something of away draw specialists, drawing four, winning one and losing three.

Mick McCarthy will be looking for an improved return from his Tractor Boys, who have won one of their last seven, although they are unbeaten in four away. The dramatic 3-2 win over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on 9 November was Ipswich's first away win of the season, and sets up the possibility of their first back-to-back on the road victories in this calendar year. They are one of four sides without an away clean sheet this term in the second tier.

Charlton and Ipswich first met in 1957 and since then each side has won 15 of the 38 fixtures.

Ben Alnwick will be in goal for the Addicks with Ben Hamer out for at least two weeks with ligament damage. Alnwick did everything he was required to do against Doncaster, but was not tested that much. Chris Solly is now training, but some way off playing.

Odds: Charlton 6/4, Draw 23/10, Ipswich 7/4. I am going for a 2-1 win for Charlton.

Rovers return empty handed

Charlton are now 17th in the table, ahead of Millwall on goal difference, after last night's 2-0 victory against Doncaster Rovers. The attendance was depleted after a signal box fire at London Bridge disrupted travel by train. There was also chaos at North Greenwich with 7,000 waiting for buses.

Yann Kermorgant’s cross was only half-cleared by Khumalo and Dale Stephens opened the scoring this time with a spectacular volley before Simon Church slid home to seal the victory. The Addicks also hit the woodwork twice while Doncaster failed to test home keeper Ben Alnwick.

The win was only Charlton's second at home this season but they dominated throughout despite being forced into a late change. Goalkeeper Ben Hamer was injured in the warm-up, so Alnwick came in for what turned out to be a quiet debut.

Charlton's first chance came after just two minutes when Church should have given them the lead, before Yann Kermorgant scuffed a shot against the post. Johnnie Jackson then forced Ross Turnbull into a stunning save before the Doncaster keeper was finally beaten by Stephens. The visitors' only real chance fell to on-loan Manchester United striker Federico Macheda, who blazed a shot over the crossbar. Turnbull saved well from Lawrie Wilson but could do nothing when Church was sent clean through by Jackson and slid the ball home. Cameron Stewart went close to adding a third, striking the crossbar with a 25-yard shot.

Competition for Hamer

Rumours of the arrival of a goalkeeper to provide competition for Ben Hamer have been confirmed. The South London Press reports: 'Charlton have signed goalkeeper Ben Alnwick on a one-year deal after his contract was terminated by Barnsley. Alnwick, formerly on the books of Sunderland and Tottenham, could move outside of the transfer window because his Oakwell contract was terminated on Monday.'

I understand that 'Alnwick' may be pronounced 'Annick' like the town. Whoever is in goal defenders will be able to call 'Ben'.

Wikipedia states: 'Benjamin Robert "Ben" Alnwick (born 1 January 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Championship side Charlton Athletic. Alnwick started his career at Sunderland in 2004, having progressed through the club's youth ranks, but never fully established himself in the first team.

'He left for Tottenham Hotspur in January 2007, having made 19 league appearances, but never made more than a single league appearance for Tottenham. Instead, he spent several loan spells away from the club, at Luton Town, Leicester City, Carlisle United, Norwich City, Leeds United, Doncaster Rovers and Leyton Orient.

He switched permanently to Barnsley in July 2012, and made 12 appearances, but was deemed surplus to requirements in September 2013, and his contract was terminated by mutual consent. Alnwick has represented England at under-16, under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels, but has yet to represent the full international side.'

Whilst this has occurred outside the transfer window, it is a good conclusion to a generally satisfactory experience for Charlton bearing in mind the constraints imposed by new league financial rules and the continuing losses made by the club.