Another 3-0 win for Charlton

Charlton beat bottom club Blackpool 3-0 tonight to secure another of their trademark wins by that scoreline under coach Guy 'loser' Luzon. Having got the result he wanted, he was then able to focus on the election results from Israel.

The pitch at Bloomfield Road had been flattened, but it was muddy and soon started to cut up as Charlton faced Blackpool. The ball was inclined to bobble all over the place. The atmosphere was eerie with the few thousand home fans quiet. About 3,700 people were actually there, 250 or so of them Addickted. Vetokele had been left at home.

Gudmundsson put in a curler to the near post, but Church’s header went over the bar. Watt got into the box, but his ball was not accurate.

Johnson had to use his pace to prevent Blackpool getting a corner. Blackpool’s centre halves were being physical with Tony Watt.

Church went down with an apparent ankle injury. He had been in a running battle with Peter Clarke. Church got up, but was limping.

Blackpool put in a shot that went over the bar. Blackpool then won a corner on 20 minutes. It was very scrappy.

A Blackpool free kick was flicked on by the vertically challenged player Telford but went over the bar. There was a moment of danger and Fox had to scramble.

A shot from Orlandi went wide and attracted tepid applause from the home fans. Charlton were having trouble keeping possession on the pitch. Eagles fired in a shot, but it was cleared after he took an extra touch.

The Addicks were getting out muscled in midfield in a poor quality game. A wag on Twitter said it was the Dog & Duck versus the Fox & Hounds on a Sunday league pitch. Charlton made a quick counter attack involving Gudmundsson, tearing through the Tangerines. The home side just managed to clear.

Tony Watt played Church through who was unselfish and ‘Red Robin’ Eagles had a tap in to make it 1-0 to Charlton.

The referee had a word with Gudmundsson and the much travelled Perkins.

Diarra got a yellow card for a challenge, he was not a happy bunny. Perkins placed a ball straight into the hands of Henderson. The Addickted tried to make some noise in the sepulchral stadium.

Ferguson won a free kick although Cousins seemed to get something on the ball. The free kick was unproductive.

Solly had to challenge Perkins, but the Tangerines got a corner.

HT: 0-1

Barkhausen was allowed to get a shot in, but it went wide.

Gudmundsson put in a shot, but it was tame in the end and went wide.

Blackpool applied some pressure. Perkins shot straight at Henderson, getting a sarcastic standing ovation from the home support behind the goal.

Blackpool made a double substitution . There were cheers, but they may have been ironic.

Charlton needed a second goal to kill the game off. Out of nowhere, Gudmundsson had some space and Church had to control the ball and took his goal really well to make it 2-0 to Charlton after 61 minutes. Eagles went off for the follicular challenged Buyens.

Orlandi was in a good position but put the ball over the bar. There was a handball call for a penalty against Blackpool.

Charlton put in some good work, but Cousins put his volley over the bar.

Solly got away down the right and Blackpool conceded a corner. The move ended with a horrible ball from Morgan Fox.

Some of the home fans started to slip out to get an early tram. Blackpool got a free kick on the edge of the box as the spray came out for the first time. Henderson made a St. Patrick’s day leap to claim the ball.

Blackpool made their third substitution with Orlandi going off. Tony Watt, who had pulled up, came off and Christophe Lepoint came on.

Henderson had to tip a shot over the bar as it threatened to loop over him. The header by Medine went over the bar.

Clarke and Church squared up to each other. Church got booked. Barkhausen got a yellow card and Charlton won a free kick. Gudmundsson scored once again.

Bulot replaced Diarra who won applause for his battling performance from the Addickted.

Charlton won a late corner, Lepoint made a good run, but his header went wide.

Luzon wrote in last Saturday's programme, 'The reason I get paid by the club is to give [the players] advice and make changes when things are not going well or people are tired, but it is the squad who put ideas into action.'

Luzon has hailed Gudmundsson as 'the David Beckham of the Championship': He comes from Iceland

Charlton are now 11th in the table.

C'est Katrien qui parle: je ne suis pas solitaire

Yesterday evening I was on a train back from a meeting in York. In any case I would not have been able to go to the Bromley Addicks meeting, so I am grateful to a fellow blogger for the following notes.

As ever KM was charming. She was worried when she left Belgium friends and family she would be lonely but she has been fully immersed in Charlton and loves it here. She does not feel that she could go back to Belgium in a similar role because the Championship is so intense. The meeting started with a question from the host about the academy.

Duchatelet was over yesterday and today and was meeting with architects and others relating to then redevelopment of Sparrows Lane. The developments to SL will move the existing building to a new site and refurbishment of the pitches. There will be reseeding and work also done on the Valley pitch.

The clear objective of the Club is to develop talented young players and put them on long term contracts. Gomez is on 3 years plus 1 which is the longest a player of his age can be put on. The club accepts that they will not be able to keep players, but they will not sell them except for good money.

Gomez's agent was phoning KM during the summer to ask why he was not in the first team squad, then when he was he was phoning to say he should not be played at right back, but at centre half. KM is constantly contacted by agents and now does not clear her voice mail she gets so many calls.

I asked KM about the club's objectives of breaking even and challenging in the Championship and what time frame they were working to. She stated that it was difficult to be clear on timing and to be honest did not really answer the question, I got the impression that break even is not a plan but an aspiration and that they did not know how they would achieve it so we'll see!

KM was asked why she always called Duchatalet The Owner, to which she answered that she always called him Roland to his face but we did not pronounce Roland correctly its more guttural, so she called him the owner in Belgium he is called Le President.

The club are hoping to hold onto the players they have and build over the summer with 2-3 new players. Luzon likes Eagles and Johnson and they were brought in because the club felt it needed Championship experienced players. Neither are contracted to beyond the end of the season, but both are interested in a new contract, Luzon wants them to play for it and keep the season going. Luzon will not the team rest on its laurels now that the club has achieved safety.

Under Bob the players had lost confidence and he did not seem to be able to turn it around. We were now winning and in a way that was much better than earlier in the season.

KM did state a couple of times that the club wanted to get into the Premiership but was not willing to put a timetable on it.

KM is quite defensive of RD and stated (my words) that it was unreasonable of people to expect him to spend any amount of money just because he is rich he has and continues to work hard for his money, she has never known him to take a holiday and he often calls her before 8.00 am.

The issue of the Trust was brought up and KM clearly feels that they have a vendetta against her and that she is reluctant to meet with them as a single entity. A Trust member stood up and said that the club were in a strong position after the recent wins and now would be a good time to meet with the Trust which was the organisation that represented the fans. This was met with a rebuttal by some in the audience and a mini argument ensued. KM said that she was happy to meet with fans but she did not want to meet every group separately as she would be spending all her time in these meetings.

She felt that the viral ad was too explicit and had told the marketing team that she did not agree with it, but they issued the teaser without letting her know, they had to decide whether to go with it and come clean which they did. She also had to explain to Roland the they were responsible for Belgian headlines like 'Sex on Duchatelet's pitch or something like that.

RD is a very private man. He said though when they saw the results that it had worked. The club will do other virals but not following the same theme. 50% of pitches have been sold and enquiries have been received from parties that have never enquired before, very few clubs do pitch hire so this is unique. It was asked if the hirers realised it was only for football.

She has told Guy that if he beats Millwall he will be a legend.

Another win for Charlton

Charlton's run of good form under coach Guy Luzon continued with a 2-1 win at Cardiff this afternoon.

The Addicks had to stage a second-half recovery. Keeper Stephen Henderson was unable to return after the break following a knock, Dmitrovic replacing him. Federico Macheda gave Cardiff the lead early in the second half, turning in Kenwyne Jones' knock-back.

But Addicks substitute Chris Eagles cut back a cross for Tony Watt, who was lurking off his markers to fire home. (In fact, it may have been Roger Johnson who put the cross in according to a tweet from Richard Cawley of the SLP). Then Charlton substitute Simon Church went tumbling under Sean Morrison's challenge in the area, with Yoni Buyens tucking the penalty away on 87 minutes.

Charlton remain 12th: in fact, there is quite a squeezed area in mid-tale with Birmingham 14th on 46 points and Sheffield Wednesday 10th with 49 points. They are, however, 2nd in the form table.

Millwall's troubles continued with a 1-4 defeat at home to Norwich. Beleaguered boss Ian Holloway was jeered by the Spanners every time he emerged from the dugout. Holloway decided to hunker down in his bunker, explaining 'I felt if I came out from the dugout the fans would vent their spleen on me and that would not benefit the team.' Looking for positives, he said, 'I felt the lads kept going and showed a Millwall spirit, but maybe I'm the only one in the ground who did.'

A Welsh report, not surprisingly, gives a more negative view of the game: Dominant Cardiff throw it away

However, the match stats do not really support a picture of dominance by the Bluebirds. Admittedly, they had a lot of shots off target, but led only four to three on shots on target and five to four on corners. Possession was 54-46 per cent in their favour.

This morning's Football League Paper gives its highest scores (8) to Tony Watt ('should have had a penalty') and Chris 'Red Robin' Eagles who replaced Lepoint on 60 minutes and 'galvanised Charlton ... It took the former Manchester United forward less than 60 seconds to register his side's first shot on target in an hour.' Stephen Henderson got a 7 and Jordan Cousins got a 7 for 'a game of two halves like his team. Quiet before the break but lively late on.' Christophe Lepoint gets slated: 'A poor man's Peter Crouch. Brought in to offer height and presence and lacked touch.' His miserable score of 4 will give some comfort to those who doubt the quality of some of our acquisitions.

On the two halves point, Guy Luzon gave the team a telling off at half time. He said, 'We didn't play well in the first half and I told the players at half time that something had to change if we wanted to take three points back to London. In my philosophy, there is no point to play long balls. If you keep the ball and move it, then you have the chance to score goals. That is the first thing of football. We also showed character when we were 1-0 down away from home to get the goal and then to continue playing after the goal.'

By now the evidence is accumulating that he is quite a skilled coach who is able to motivate the players, but hard liners insist they will only chant his name if we beat Millwall at The New Den. Given our record against Millwall, that is a tough challenge to meet. Others point that they have no quarrel with Luzon personally, but rather with Roland.

As far as Stephen Henderson is concerned, he twisted his ankle. Normally reliable sources say that he got on the coach without any strapping on his ankle and shout be fit for the clash against the chicken farmers on Saturday.

Charlton win 3-0 after Red-Robin scores on debut

Either Guy Luzon is riding his luck or he is a better coach than we thought. Derby will be a tough test.

Charlton got their second 3-0 in a week at Wigan to go 12th in the table. Although we will go down a bit after this afternoon's game, we have played six of the top eight twice. It was Charlton's first double of the season. As one fan tweeted, 3-0 is the new 1-1.

Vetokele had an early attempt from 20 yards out but it went over the bar. Charlton were marking well in the early exchanges. Johnson challenged Fortuné at the expense of a corner. Leon Clarke got his head to it and Henderson had to tip it over. Ben Haim hooked the second corner clear.

Charlton blocked a series of Wigan efforts, although they were living dangerously with Fortuné given too much space. The Lactics continued to apply pressure as the sparse home crowd became animated.

Morgan Fox was evaded too easily and Buyens had to take one for the team, his tenth yellow card of the season. Charlton counter attacked from the free kick.

Morgan Fox was beaten again by Ojo. Bulot scored with his left foot, a good finish in the 16th minute after Tony Watt beat his man.

Kvist went off due to an injury and McCann came on. Charlton won their first corner following a Buyens free kick. Wigan counter attacked but Charlton dealt with it. There was a minute’s applause for a Wigan player diagnosed with leukaemia, the Addickted joining in.

Leon Clarke went down and a stretcher was called for. There was a break of several minutes as the necessary precautions were taken. He had to be given oxygen. He was later taken to hospital: Leon Clarke .

The referee spoke to Solly for being too vigorous. The Wigan fans were starting to get on their team’s back after they made a simple mistake. There was great work by Johnson as Wigan tried to mount an attack.

There was a cynical foul on Solly by McClean who received a yellow card. Ten minutes were added on. Vetokele scored in the 47th minutes to make it 2-0 to the Addicks after Bulot had won the ball and put in a glorious cross.

Ojo went past Fox and won a corner. Henderson collected the high ball. McClean had a little bit too much space, but put his header over.

HT Lactics 0, Addicks 2

Urged on by the home fans, the referee gave Vetokele a yellow card for a foul. Watt applauded the four hundred or so Addicks behind the goal as they chanted his name. The keeper just got a hand on the ball after Vetokele made a great run.

Tony Watt got away after a flick by Vetokele and should have scored, but he put the ball just wide. Big lump Fortuné was taken off and replaced by Waghorn.

Charlton conceded a corner. Roger Johnson put the ball clear and then had to make two more clearances for which he was well positioned.

Another corner was conceded. Johnson won the header. Henderson had to make a save from a ball which he saw late. Wigan won a free kick off Vetokele in a dangerous position. Henderson caught the ball.

Wigan won a corner off Solly halfway through the half. Tony Watt came off and Chris Red-Robin (formerly Eagles) made his debut for Charlton. Charlton won a corner which was unproductive. Gudmundsson fired in a shot which was just over the bar.

It was raining heavily. Some Wigan fans started to leave, the empty stands becoming even emptier, and others were booing. Cousins got in the way of a dangerous shot. Wilson was waiting to come on. Luzon and Mackay were having a disagreement. Cousins, who had taken a knock, came off. Gundmundsson fed Red-Robin who scored his first goal for the Addicks. Vetokele came off and was replaced by Harriott.

553 Addicks made the journey and were able to celebrate on Wigan Pier afterwards.

There is quite a long report on the game in The Times this morning. As is inevitably the case when Charlton win, it mainly about what is wrong with Wigan. Apparently, we were lucky and boosted by having players from SL.

The Eagles has landed

Chris Eagles, a free agent after leaving Blackpool, has signed for the Addicks: Eagles

Eagles did seem to think for a while that he has signed for Sheffield Wednesday saying that Charlton are a 'massive' club. Anyway, he is over the moon and let's hope we will be. Fans have been calling for English players with Championship experience, and the winger fits that description. He could give us an attacking edge on the left.

His name is unfortunate and perhaps he could change it by deed poll to Red-Robin.

Addicks swoop for Eagles

Charlton are trying to persuade out-of-favour Bolton winger Chris Eagles to come south on loan, preparatory to a longer term move: Eagles

The 28-year old was a youngster with Manchester United. Originally from Hertfordshire, the Spurs supporter started his career in the Watford youth system: Career

I think that this attacking midfielder could add something that we don't have at present and I hope the move goes ahead. However, this is now looking much less likely. Apparently, despite his southern origins, he want to stay 'oop North.

The Evening Standard is reporting that Arsenal are keeping a 'close watch' on Jordan Cousins. Perhaps they should keep a close watch on Arsene Wenger.