Pritchard's picks

Former Charlton midfielder Bradley Pritchard chooses a number of former Charlton team mates in his Dream Team in this week's Football League Paper.

Of Chris Solly he says, 'He's a club hero at Charlton. I probably remember 20 minutes of one game against Middlesbrough where he struggled but, apart from that, no one has ever come close to dribbling past him on a regular basis. He's got the footballing brain to play in the Premier.'

Ben Hamer qualifies 'because he has the best distribution of any keeper I've played with. He could hit half-volleys with incredible accuracy. He has the body of a postman, though.' [What does this mean?]

'I have to go for my ex-room-mate Cedric Evina, purely because people need a bit of humour to concentrate on the pitch and he was a real character. One of the key things the year Charlton went up from League One was our team spirit and he was one of the guys that created that atmosphere.'

Dale Stephens 'was certainly one of the best midfielders I've ever played with, he was just a complete player. He was outstanding in Charlton's promotion year. His distribution was superb and I think he's Premier quality.'

Danny Hollands: 'The year Charlton went up I think he got eight goals and he's fantastic on a night out as well. He definitely helps with the team spirit. A lot of memories I have of Charlton are off the field and Danny is one of the major protagonists in those.'

Bradley Wright-Phillips had to be included 'after the year he's had with New York Red Bulls. You could see he was a quality finisher and a good guy to have around the place. After all he did to get Charlton into the Championship, it was good to see him get the recognition he deserves at Red Bulls.

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.

Parzysek to sign

As I have tried to suggest in earlier postings, one should judge the transfer window when it was over. All the indications were that signings were in prospect and Sky Sports News has announced that the Addicks are signing 20-year old Polish striker Pitor Parzysek. He is currently with Dutch club De Graafschap where he has scored 23 goals in 42 appearances in the Eerste (2nd divison). The club have confirmed the signing on their website: Pitor . He is now listed as a Charlton player on Wikipedia.

He will be on a four-and-a-half year contract, so no half measures there. At 6ft 3 inches he sounds like a Yann replacement. He will have a medical tomorrow and may be available for Wigan.

As someone remarked, it's going to be tough for Big Dave Lockwood announcing the Charlton team from now on as the squad becomes more cosmopolitan.

Chris Powell has tweeted from the press conference, 'I want the fans to know we are battling hard and doing the best we can. We need their support.' That does not sound like someone about to walk.

Bradley Pritchard and Jordan Cook are to go out on loan. Joe Pigott may go on loan to League 1.

'Gucci' has now signed on a permanent deal, but he has not played for several months and is not match fit.

According to tweets from Richard Cawley, the deal for Dale Stephens to go to Brighton has been concluded. On Stephens, Chris Powell said, 'Brighton have made a number of offers and Dale has expressed his right to speak to them if the club agreed a deal - which the club has. Obviously I would like Dale to stay. Everyone has seen this season that he has been playing at the level we always thought he could. There's still a lot more to come from him. He has got all the attributes to be a top player in the Premier League.'

However, Rhoys Wiggins has signed a four-and-a-half year contract and is staying.

The Daily Mail has published a highly speculative piece saying that SCP and RD do not see 'eye to eye' on a number of issues. Although short of substance, it may not be wide of the mark: Powell

Cherries agree fee for Kermorgant

AFC Bournemouth have agreed a fee with Charlton for Yann Kermorgant according to Sky Sports News: Kermorgant

The fee is understood to be £500,000, a £100,000 advance on what was offered last week, and Roland Duchatelet has decided to cash in. Uncertainty over the future of Chris Powell has unsettled Kermorgant.

It is worth nothing that as Chris Powell mentioned to the Scottish Daily Record recently when Celtic were eyeing up both Kermit and Morrison is that both are free to agree a pre-contract deal as their contracts end in the Summer and any fee we would get for him (or both) would be likely to be nominal only.

If this is confirmed, I shall be very sorry to see Kermorgant go as the battling Breton has been a great servant to the club. Some of his set pieces have been spectacular. Unfortunately, he has not always got the service he deserved with long balls directed at his head.

Negotiations continue with Brighton and Hove Albion over Dale Stephens. Bournemouth are also reported to have expressed an interest in taking Rhoys Wiggins back who would certainly be a loss.

The club has confirmed that full back Loic Nego has signed on a three-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee from our Hungarian sister club.

Dale Stephens to Brighton

It looks as if Dale Stephens is going to Brighton with talks on a cash offer at an advanced stage: Stephens

There are rumours that Rhoys Wiggins may join Yann Kermorgant in another south coast move to Bournemouth, but I can find no confirmation of this. However, Richard Cawley has tweeted that Bournemouth did make an offer of £400k for Kermorgant last week, which seems on the low side to me even though there is not long to run on his contract.

Cawley thinks that the failure of the old regime at The Valley to offer new contracts is partly to blame for the exodus. He says that our interest in Simeon Jackson continues and we have also looked at Liverpool striker Michael Ngoo. However, Swindon are also chasing the 21-year old. More about him here, but arguably we need someone with more experience: Ngoo

Stoke in for Stephens

Stoke City are reported to being considering a £1m bid for Dale Stephens. The local press are, however, sceptical about whether he could make the step up from struggling Charlton to the Premiership: Stephens

Burnley and Wigan are also said to be interested.

How 2013 was for us

Some interesting data here on the relative performance of clubs in 2013. We finished 40th out of 66 among Football League clubs: Performances

What has characterised 2013 has been rumours of takeovers which have come to nothing. The proposed takeover by Belgium's 18th richest man was the only one to be announced on the official site, but rumours are now circulating that the deal has collapsed. I have no reliable information one way or the other, but I would have thought that if a deal was not announced in the next 24 hours, the chances of it being completed are receding.

This would be serious news as we really need investment in the squad in the transfer window if we are to be sure of staying up. According to Richard Cawley, a number of signings are lined up to come in quickly if it happens.

At the moment, we are effectively top of the Relegation League. My hunch is that Barnsley and Yeovil will go down, but we don't want to be the third team.

According to Richard Cawley of the SLP, Palace were watching Dale Stephens on Sunday, so perhaps just as well that he was played out of position.

At least we have some good news today: congratulations to Jason Morgan for his well deserved MBE reflecting the work he had done in the community for the club.

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.

Three points for Charlton

Charlton beat Birmingham 1-0 for the first time since 2005/6 in a determined performance this afternoon. 7 hours 27 minutes without conceding. Charlton are 17th, one place above Millwall.

As the Charlton team came on to the pitch, the 855 Addickted in a crowd of 14.070 burst into a chorus of Valley Floyd Road at St. Andrews this afternoon. It was a cold and windy day. Johnnie Jackson was in the starting line up and Dorian Dervitte replaced the injured Richard Wood. It was a 4-5-1 line up with Church on his own up front. Lennon was on the bench.

Stewart floated an early ball in, but Jackson’s header was saved by former Addick Randolph in the Birmingham goal. Wilson defended well as Gray threatened at the expense of a corner. Hamer collected from the corner. Dervitte cut out a cross from Novak.

Jackson took a corner for Charlton, but Randolph was able to claim the ball. A rather dubious corner was given to Birmingham. Burn put the ball in the net, but there was a push on Hamer and it was disallowed.

Charlton won a free kick right on the edge of the area after Pritchard was brought down. Unfortunately, Jackson’s free kick went over the top.

Jackson put in a good ball, but Church needed to hit it first time and he was dispossessed. Cousins put in a great tackle on Burke. Church gave the ball to Jackson who hit with his left foot but it went wide. Chris Powell was urging his players up the pitch as they were defending too deep. However, they were creating more than Birmingham.

Hamer had to make a great save diving to his right from Novak. Two minutes were added on. Michael Morrison made a good stop.

Neither side had been able to keep possession for any length of time, but Dale Stephens had been creative.

Half time: Blues 0, Addicks 0

Jordan Cousins headed a Birmingham free kick clear. Novak went down far too easily for a free kick. Church tried to break away, but didn’t have the pace to get away from the defender. Simon Church was clattered and had problems with his right ankle. After great work by Stewart, Randolph parried his shot, the ball was bouncing around in the box and Dale Stephens scored from close range to make it 0-1.

Adeyemi shot but it was blocked on the line by Morrison. The Blues made a double substitution with the youthful Gray replaced by Ferguson and Novak replaced by Levenkrands. Simon Church seemed to have recovered.

Wilson was brought down on the edge of the box but nothing was given. An effort by Stephens went over the bar. Church was fouled right in front of the referee’s assistant, but nothing was given.

Wiggins, back to his best, defended well. Church won Charlton a corner which was headed clear. In the final minute of normal time, Birmingham had a chance but Levenkrands put the ball over.

Jackson was taken off to warm applause from the Addickted and replaced by Cook. Three minutes were added on. Jordan Cousins cleared the ball. Morrison headed the ball clear. Hamer was brave and dealt well with the threat.

A good place to be

It's good to be going into the international break with a win over a club expected to beat us. It puts us in a lower mid-table position which is where we may well end up. Indeed, I would take it now.

Unfortunately I was unable to make the game on Saturday because of family issues and that may have helped us. Indeed, I also plan to stay away from the Millwall game, given the early kick off and all the hassle last year, so we may secure a rare victory over the Spanners.

My Foxes supporting friend has said nothing since Saturday. If I had one piece of advice for Leicester City fans, it would be 'get over Yann Kermorgant' and I am pleased to see that at least one football writer agrees: Kermorgant

Nigel Pearson has got out his book of excuses and blamed the referee. I must admit that I think Deadman is a poor referee, as shown by the number of cards he waved on Saturday. However, his zombie like performances have handicapped us in the past, so it was time we got the rub of the green. As far as I could make out from Emma's slow motion report from the 'field of play', James thought he deserved a penalty and when he didn't get one told the referee to get back in his shroud. This was not a sensible thing to do when you are on a yellow.

It also looks as if there are not going to be any last minute transfer shocks in terms of players departing which is a relief. I wouldn't expect any last minute acquisitions either (leaving aside Acworthian rumours of the 'Bale to Charlton' kind). I think that the Dale Stephens to Wolves rumour is just that, apart from anything else it's the Black Country not the North (One wag suggested that the fee would be £69m). Chris Powell has rightly rubbished reports of Yann Kermorgant going to table topping Blackpool. Transfer deadline day: don't you love it?

Of course, there can always be surprises. It would have been good to strengthen the squad and try for the play offs, but at least the Capital One Cup match suggested a new formation which seemed to work. Players who lost their form seem to have recovered it, so all credit to Sir Chris Powell. If we get a bad result, the 'Powell out' brigade are out in force, but if we get a win, they stay quiet.

The one blot on the weekend was the win for Crystal Palace, admittedly against a side managed by the eccentric Paolo di Canio whose main idea seems to be to make his players dislike him and undermine their morale. What is worse, I have to be in Croydon over the next day or two. Hopefully, I won't see any of the stripey ones.

Croydon is an odd place. North Croydon is, to be frank, a bit of a dump. The glazier of Cantona fame came from North Croydon, in the road where my wife originally lived. No surprise that trouble emanated from there in the riots. South Croydon is very up market. I remember dropping a girl friend at university when she said that her ambition in life was to live in Purley. I think that most of the Nigels and Nigellas do not actually live in Croydon. My brother-in-law lives in Crawley and, although he claims to follow Palace, he also says he has no interest in football, two statements that are logically compatible.

Living in Thornton Heath, my wife's father was a keen Palace fan, but fortunately refused to take my future wife on the grounds that girls do not go to football. She then had the good sense to get her first job in Woolwich.

I think the last time I was in Croydon was in the 1990s for a reunion held by some very old friends of my parents. It was fascinating to meet an elderly lady who had gone to support Charlton with her father in the 1920s (which rather hits on the head the 'girls and football' nonsense). She confirmed that they were then known as the Addicks as a corruption of 'Addocks.

We can concentrate on the league

We can concentrate on the league after last night's 3-2 league cup defeat at Huddersfield. And it's only August. There is, of course, the FA Cup which is the more significant competition, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope.

The real concern is that our leaky defence has conceded three more goals, with Hamer thought to be at fault for one of them. Apparently, for the first Town goal a long short rolled under his near post dive. He did, however, deny the home side a fourth with a good save in stoppage time.

Adam Hammill's late goal put Huddersfield into the third round of the Capital One Cup for the first time in 10 years. Dale Stephens, enjoying the northern air, put Charlton ahead with a free-kick. Huddersfield were hardly in it for the first half-hour and it took a soft opening goal from Stephens to wake them up. Huddersfield's Oliver Norwood fouled Evina on the left edge of the box on 32 minutes and Stephens struck the resulting free-kick.It was hit low, went through the wall and then a crowd of players around the six-yard area before creeping in at the far post.

Joel Lynch equalised from Oliver Norwood's pass. Marvin Sordell put Charlton back in front with his first Addicks goal to overcome the nickname 'sodall'. Sordell swept the ball in from close range after 59 minutes after Joe Piggott nodded down Cedric Evina's cross. Sordell was arguably lucky to be still on the field having only been booked for a bad lunge on Town skipper Peter Clarke minutes earlier. Jonathan Hogg netted for the hosts from 25 yards with a deflected shot, his first goal for the club. Hammill slammed in the winner when the ball fell kindly when James Vaughan jostled for Jon Stead's through ball.

One fan has tried to draw up a list of positives:

• 1.We appeared to be the better side, especially in the first half, creating numerous chances.
• 2. Piggott was certainly involved and it sounds like he had a good game.
• 3. Pritchard played well
• 4. Good run outs for the squad players, especially Wilson, Evina and Wood
• 5. We scored 2 goals!

Attendance was 6,150. The 159 Charlton fans who went deserve a medal.

Dale Stephens injured

Dale Stephens had to be taken off in the match against Barnsley because he picked up a groin injury. Perhaps he might be allowed to recuperate at home 'oop North? It will, however, reduce the chances of a northern club coming in for him.

Powell will let Stephens return 'oop north

Chris Powell will let a homesick Dale Stephens return 'oop north, but so far no suitable offers have come in from northern clubs: Stephens

Dale Stephens rumour

An unconfirmed rumour is circulating that Dale Stephens wants to leave so that he can go back up north. Stephens is one of our most creative players, but he can also be very frustrating. A first class ball can be followed by an awful one that gives away possession.

The Greek Andy Carroll?

Such descriptions of Thanasis Papazoglou need to be treated with some scepticism given that his agent is clearly trying to drum up business for the 6ft 4ins. striker who wants a bit more action than he is currently finding in Crete. We are almost in 'my name is too big for my shirt' territory. Nevertheless, more than one source has linked Charlton with the player: Papazoglou

There have been rumours of interest in Dale Stephens, the latest being Huddersfield Town which is a bit of a come down from a £2m deal at Aston Villa. The Huddersfield Examiner claims that we are willing to 'do a deal': Stephens Although he can be frustratingly inconsistent in the quality of his play, Stephens is the nearest thing we have to a creative playmaker in midfield.

The rumour mill starts

I haven't got the time to check out any of these stories at the moment, but we are being linked once again with Sam Baldock (he was seen as a prospect before his move to Bristol City). I was a bit underwhelmed by his performance for them in the last game of the season, but he may have known that he was on his way out. There is some credibility in buying from a relegated Championship club, but the price tag would be at least £1m and we might have to sell first to afford that.

Richard Cawley at the South London Press tweeted yesterday about reports of a £250k bid for Crawley Town defender Mark Connolly Connolly . Taking a player from League 1 also looks plausible, but I would have thought that the priority was the midfield. But that does not, please, mean a return for Nicky Bailey.

Richard Cawley has tweeted this morning that Charlton are open to offers for Dale Stephens (Aston Villa were interested at one time), Danny Hollands and Danny Green. Hollands has found the transition to the Championship difficult and Green tends to be inconsistent.

Will the world stop?

Jose Mourinho had tonight's fixture between Manchester United and Real Madrid in mind when he said that everyone in the world would be watching rather than tonight's match between Peterborough United and Charlton Athletic, but for us it's another important fixture.

Posh manager Darren Ferguson thinks that the Addicks will be hard to break down, but is confident they can build on their win at Blackburn: Posh

It is uncertain whether Dale Stephens and Chris Solly will be available. Stephens was sidelined by a knock on Saturday while Solly picked up a dead leg. Solly's presence could make a lot of difference, freeing Wilson to forage further upfield. On balance, Stephens would be an asset. While he does sometimes dwell too much on the ball and loses it, or gives it to an opposition player, he can show flashes of real quality.

Peterborough have won five matches at home and lost ten, while the Addicks have lost just six away and won seven. However, Charlton are fourth from bottom in the form table while Peterborough are eighth.

Following the departure of Paul May as away commentator, Sue Burton will provide coverage from London Road.

How to win at home

This relatively new Charlton blog is written by an aspiring journalist and Charlton supporter and here he sets out his ideas on how to win at home: Ideas

I agree with him that we should try and start more forcefully and score an early goal, but I am not sure that Kerkar is a silver bullet. He was dropped from the side after some indifferent performances and stats about assists don't tell the whole story. As for bringing on the youngsters, that always goes down well with the Valley faithful, but it is perhaps something we can experiment with when we can be sure that we have escaped relegation.

What we really need is a midfield playmaker. Playing a track before the match in which a female voice regularly inserted the words 'Dale Stephens!', as happened last Saturday, won't do the trick. Indeed, to his credit, Stephens himself look rather embarrassed.

Villa linked again with Dale Stephens

There are reports from a Villa blog of a renewed inerest in Dale Stephens, although they are uncertain whether it is just a recycling of summer rumours: Stephens

Former Tamworth Herald Player of the Year Bradley Pritchard has told the paper that he discounts rumours of Premiership interest in him and is loving life at Charlton: Pritchard.

Reports are circulating that Charlton have made an approach to Manchester United about 21-year old striker Federico Macheda. The Italian is certainly out of favour at Old Trafford and a loan move in the January window is very likely. However, Blackpool and Hull City have also expressed interest while Macheda himself has indicated he would like to go to Germany or Spain rather than to a Championship club. More about him here: Macheda

Seagulls swoop in

With over 23,000 season ticket holders at their new stadium, the largest number in the Championship, Brighton and Hove Albion are once again a formidable force after many difficult years. Their average home attendance of 25,446 is the biggest in the league and the Jimmy Seed Stand will be sold out on Saturday.

Given all this, the pundits were not very generous to them pre-season, rating them as 5th, 7th and 12th. They are currently 8th which is the average of the predictions. The Times described them as 'error prone'. Their away record is impressive, however: won four; drawn three; lost three.

The position of keeper was a bit of an issue last season, but Tamasz Kuszczak was brought in on a free from Manchester United to address that problem. Ex-Valencia right back Bruno Saltor can make the occasional error. Also from Spain is Andrea Orlandi, but he was injured in the 3-0 defeat at Palace. In midfield Liam Bridcutt was last year's player of the year. Craig Mackall-Smith leads the strike force, although he missed a golden opportunity against Palace. The Seagulls are perhaps over reliant on him to score the goals.

Michael Morrison will be back to reinforce Charlton's defence, although Leon Cort did a valiant job at Millwall. The Football League Paper said that he 'marshalled the defence in impressive fashion' and named him in their team of the week. The often criticised Ben Hamer was 'solid and dependable as ever behind an excellent defensive showing.

The midfield also came in for some praise with Dale Stephens being singled out, although it was noted that Bradley Pritchard needed to improve his end product. Johnnie Jackson 'has lost pace but his vision remains'. Understandably, analysis of the attack was more lukewarm and one wonders if the Hulse/Kermorgant pairing is one that works well. Kermorgant is also still shaking off the rust from his enforced absence.

Gus Poyet has got his side to play aesthetically pleasing and free-flowing football and hopefully this will be an enjoyable match to watch that also serves up three points.