George Tucudean returns

George Tucudean has had his contract at Steaua Bucharest cancelled. His contract at Charlton runs until 2016/17, so he will return to The Valley. Quite what role there would be for him is uncertain. Perhaps a loan could be arranged. In any event, it will push the wages budget even further above target.

Some fans have, however, argued that his presence could strengthen the bench.

Because this is an international loan, the situation is different from what I originally thought was the case. A source close to Sparrows Lane has clarified: 'When a player goes on international loan their contract with Charlton is cancelled and they are registered with the FA of the country they are going to play in. This means that under FIFA rules Steaua Bucharest cannot just cancel his contract and send him back to us outside of transfer window dates. He is still registered to them. With the consent of Charlton, Steaua could loan him on to another club but they would have to arrange it. The earliest he could in theory return to us to play would be in the January transfer window.'

Tucudean to return home?

A number of Romanian sites are claiming that George Tucudean may be about to return to his native heath. I don't have any knowledge of Romanian, but as far as I can work out, Steaua Bucharest are interested and Dinamo have said they are not interested: Tucudean

Reports from Romania in the last hour (Tuesday morning) suggest that a loan deal has been confirmed. A transfer deal involving a fee is expected to be agreed in the summer (this will be a fee paid to Charlton rather than Charlton giving Steaua an offloading payment).

There have not yet been any reports of fans gathering at The Valley and rending their shirts.

Charlton cling on for win

Charlton beat Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at The Valley last night to go 7th in the table. The Addicks had just 38 per cent of the possession. Charlton had one corner to 14 for the visitors.

The Addicks took the lead with their first real chance. Yoni Buyens spotted Tucudean's run behind the Bolton defence and played a clever ball over the top for the Romanian, who raced towards goal and fired beyond Andy Lonergan.

The Bolton players did not let their heads drop as former Charlton defender Dorian Dervite headed narrowly over from a corner before Beckford missed the ball when in front of goal.

But Charlton doubled their lead early in the second half when Tucudean squared a pass for captain Jackson to slot home. Moxey gave Bolton hope when he drilled in from the edge of the area, and Dervite came close to heading in a late equaliser, but Charlton displayed great team spirit and kept their defensive shape to hold on for the win. Ben Haim played a key role in the defensive effort.

Buyens is suspended for Fulham after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.

Derek from Dymchurch writes, 'Let's face it, apart from a few patches, we were outplayed for most of the game, but once again we managed to ride our luck. A special word for Cousins who never gave up chasing and harrying.

Charlton go fourth

Charlton took fourth place in the Championship after defeating Derby County 3-2 at The Valley yesterday evening. The Addicks have now beaten two of the teams who made the play offs last year, although as promotion favourites the Rams were faster and fitter than Wigan. After going 2-1 ahead just before half team with a penalty, the Addicks made it 3-1, but then allowed Derby to get back in the game with a second goal. This made for a tense finish with four minutes added on, but the Addicks survived to claim all three points.

In the first five minutes of the game we played some of the best possession football I have seen at The Valley, putting together something like forty passes. Charlton were ahead in the 11th minute when Tucudean latched onto Jordan Cousins' cross to smash the ball past Derby keeper Lee Grant. I think that the new wider pitch does help our players to make more use of the wings.

Derby started to get back into the game. They were given too much space and were progressing down the wings in particular. At times our midfield lost its shape. After Pope had made one good save, he could not stop a powerful equaliser from the dangerous Ward going into the top corner in the 31st minute. The Rams went close to taking the lead but Craig Bryson and Jeff Hendrick shot tamely at Pope. During this phase of the game Big Bob was going ballistic on the touchline.

As everyone was whistling for half time, four minutes being added on, Tucudean advanced into the area and was brought down by Keogh. Buyens, who has replaced Jacko as penalty taker, dispatched his shot with coolness and force into the goal.

Franck Moussa fired wide from close range before Vetokele headed in Laurie Wilson's cross, the move having been started by Jackson. A weak effort from Ward squeezed through Pope's legs to give Derby hope of snatching a draw but Charlton held on for the three points.

Here's what the Derby paper thinks of their team's failure to secure an historic clean sheet: Ram View

Congratulations to the guy who flew from Melbourne to see the game and got there just in time despite flight delays and a big queue at immigration. His dad and uncle were waiting for him at the gate.

Match analysis

Ivy the Belgian Shepherd has awarded George Tucudean his first Silver Bone. Even though he had to go off at half time, his opening goal was well taken and then won a penalty on the brink of half time.

Before the game one prominent Addick was arguing that Nick Pope should remain in goal when Henderson was fit (hopefully for Saturday). Pope still has a lot to learn and tonight will have made a valuable contribution towards that process. He has lots of potential, but the Championship is different from League 2 in terms of the crowd and the quality of the play. We shouldn't have played so many back passes to him. Bikey once again showed that he is an effective central defender, although he did fall over a lot. Tal Ben Haim put himself about, requiring treatment at one point. Gomez showed what a promising player he is, shame that the referee gave him a yellow card. Wiggins had a far better game than on Saturday. Buyens took his penalty well and has a great work rate, we are fortunate that personal circumstances required him to spend a year away from the mother ship. Jackson looked sharper and fitter and was much more involved than on Saturday. See him accept the ice bucket challenge here: Ice bucket Cousins perhaps wasn't quite as good as on Saturday, but still made an effective contribution. Gudmundsson showed a good turn of speed and had one shot saved. Vetokele was muscled out of the game somewhat in the first half, but his goal was well taken. Moussa did not make as great an impact on Saturday. One promising attack ended when he slipped up. Once again Wilson was an effective substitute. Fox had a cameo.

Fat Cat Fleur has awarded the Hiss of the Match to me for being home late, but I was back in Leamington by midnight which is something of a record. Just as well as I have to be in London by 12.30 for lunch.

Glass Half Empty

Introducing the pessimistic view contributed by Derek from Dymchurch.

I must admit I had some cogitating to do on the coach home. The Daily Express said that this Belgian geezer was useless, had managed the equivalent of a pub side, but it seems he knows how to get the team to play football. It was cold on the walk back to the bungalow and the Daily Express said the other week that we were going to have the hottest weather ever. If you can't believe what you read in the papers, where are you?

But it's early days. We've only played three matches, two of those were at home and we won each of those by a margin of just one goal. Why can't we hang on to a lead? When we went 3-1 ahead, Peeters should have gone for the fourth or parked the bus. He did neither. Belgians don't know whether they are French or Dutch and they don't know whether to attack or defend. We may be fourth from top now, but we could well be fourth from bottom by Christmas!

Charlton win friendly

Charlton won their friendly at Portsmouth 2-1 in spite of a missed penalty. Vetokele won the penalty in the second half, there was an argument over who should take it, so Bob Peeters decided that Jackson should and he missed.

Addicks goalkeeper Stephen Henderson was given a welcome reception on his return to Fratton Park. The same could not be said for Tal Ben Haim, however, who was roundly booed every time he touched the ball.

All the goals arrived in a six-minute first half period, as Danny Hollands’ header was sandwiched between Igor Vetokele and George Tucudean strikes. It was Charlton who broke the deadlock on 19 minutes when Vetokele hammered an unstoppable shot past Michael Poke from the edge of the box. But Pompey hit back moments later, with former Addick Hollands stooping to head home from virtually on the line after Wallace’s cross had been sent back across goal by Ben Chorley. The Addicks soon restored their advantage, however, as Tucudean was left in too much space to drive home a fine finish. There was almost a second equaliser by the hosts immediately after, but Henderson made a fine stop to keep out James Dunne’s well-struck effort.

In the second half Devera made a crunching challenge to prevent Addicks substitute Simon Church racing through on goal.

Of the crowd of 3,912, 362 were Addicks.

Striker signed?

It is being reported that George Marius Tucudean has signed, although there is confirmation. He is notionally a striker, although may be more of a goal provider.

The Romanian is under contract to the mother ship, but was then loaned back to Dynamo Bucharest from when he came: Career details

Promotional video here: Tucudean