The chase for Bauer is on

Six Championship clubs and two Scottish clubs are interested in getting the signature of Patrick Bauer: Popular defender

However, some reports are suggesting that he would prefer to stay at The Valley if he could: Setback for Rangers. That may not be easy to achieve with Lee Bowyer out of contract soon and Roland not willing to spend a euro more than he has to.

Jonny Williams, whose wages cannot be afforded by Charlton, is attracting interest from the Super Hoops and Swansea City.

Meanwhile, promotion rivals Luton have drawn up a 'comprehensive' list of targets: Summer targets

Thursday football

Thursday evening is the night on which football is most unlikely to be played. Nevertheless, our replay against Luton Town has been scheduled for this Thursday and the reason is television. It is being screened on Fox in the United States, although quite what their tea party enthused viewers will make of it is another matter. Given the state of Kenilworth Road, they may see it as an awful warning of what happens under 'socialism'.

More importantly for the Addickted it will be shown on the Walt Disney channel, ESPN. Apparently if you have a Sky subscription you can get a two month free trial of this channel.

We don't have Sky. The local council (quite rightly) bans satellite dishes in conservation areas. There is a cable, but it is not clear who owns it as the company that laid it has long since disappeared. The Villa fan down the road has found his own solution by erecting what looks like a repeater station for RTL in his back garden, but I would rather grow plants than satellite dishes.

As I have BT broadband, I did talk to BT Vision. But they only have Sky 1 and Sky 2 on offer, not Sky Sports News which I used to enjoy when it was on Freeview. Nor do they have Sky 3 or Sky 4 which often carry British ice hockey games.

Actually, I haven't seen the Sky cameras as the Skydome this season. A shame they missed last Saturday's bench clearance which is now a big media hit in Canada where the NHL has stamped down (probably literally) on mass brawls. Blaze have had so much additional commercial interest that it may pay the fine the league are likely to levy on them (although Panthers may get a bigger one as their guys swarmed off the bench first).

I have heard rumours that it may be possible to stream the Luton game to your computer, but this may not be legal and could run the risk of importing viruses. Looks like it may be just Emma and me.

After Crawley Town beat Swindon at the County Ground in last night's replay, Luton probably think they just have to turn up to win a trip to White Hart Lane. Possibly, but Charlton are a bigger danger on the road than at home. This one could go to penalties.

Addicks may sign Hatters ace

According to today's Evening Standard:

Charlton eye Drury after he plotted their downfall

Charlton are so impressed with the way Luton's Andy Drury produced a wonder strike that forced an FA Cup second-round replay, they might even consider signing him in January.

The former Stevenage player scored twice to force next Thursday's rematch and certainly made Charlton sit up and take notice. And with Drury based in the Charlton heartland of Sittingbourne, Luton boss Richard Money is worried he might lose his star asset.

Money said: 'Stop talking about him, we've got a January window to get through! People who don't see us every week will think it's a one-off. Those who do will know it's not.'

A version of this story was carried in the Non-League Paper on Sunday without mentioning the Addicks. Other clubs are certainly interested and the fee might ne quite substantial.

Hatters striker predicts Luton win

Hatters striker Taiwo Atieno has predicted an 'upset' in the FA Cup tomorrow: Luton . (The name sounds Japanese, but he clearly isn't). Moreover, an extra bonus for him is that his auntie lives nearby!

Whether it would be an 'upset' or 'shock' is an open question, certainly these words are much over used in relation to the FA Cup. Charlton do face a lot of problems with cup ties and injuries and Phil Parkinson has said that we are down to the 'bare bones'. Martin and Seip are cup tied. Fry is (perhaps fortuitously) suspended. Semedo is doubtful with a hamstring problem and so is Doherty (although whether that is a great loss is an open question).

Quite a few of the Addickted are raving about young winger Calum Harriott who impressed in the FA Youth Cup tie at Welling and was on the bench last Saturday. One who was at Park View Road reported, 'Harriott was, in modern parlance, "awesome"! He is fast, tricky and, unlike other recent winger-graduates, quite sturdy ... the three goals that I saw all came from left-wing forays by young Callum, with driving runs into the box and good shots on target.'

I do think that sometimes the Addickted get over enthusiastic about Academy graduates and forget the gap between the games they play and a higher level. But Parky wouldn't put him on the bench if he wasn't a bit special. So if we are well ahead or well behind in the second half tomorrow, he should be given a chance.

I don't think it's going to be easy tomorrow, but we might just edge it. One Luton fan site I visited had the writer saying he was really looking forward to tomorrow. For us, it is something to be got through, hopefully without humiliation.

Facing the Hatters

I think that the Hatters will try to go for the draw at Saturday. That way they get another pay day and a better chance of beating us.

The Hatters fans think, with some reason, that they do not belong in the Conference and playing us is an opportunity to demonstrate their League credentials.

Why have they fallen so far? Clearly there is a story about financial mismanagement, but I always think that their ground has been a problem. Admittedly, it's a while since I've been there: I saw Gary Nelson score in a 1-0 victory for the Addicks.

However, you entered the away end through a passageway in a terraced house (clearly occupied upstairs) and then climbed up a staircase in the back garden. Along one side of the pitch were 'hospitality suites' which were one step up from Portakabins.

A reminder of our last encounter at The Valley: Charlton played Luton at the Valley was in the 2nd Round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday 23 September 2003.

Charlton won 8:7 on penalties. The score at full time was 3:3 and at the end of extra time 4:4.

The goal scorers for Charlton were: Parker, Lisbie, di Canio and Jensen.

The penalty takers were di Canio, Euell, Fortune, Johanssen, Jensen,
Holland, Parker and Fish.

The attendance was 10,894 (it will probably be lower on Saturday, particularly given the weather).

Charlton lost 0:1 away to Everton in the 3rd round.

The first team squad at that time was: Shaun Bartlett, Jamal Campbell-Rice, Carlton Cole, Paolo di Canio, Jason Euell, Mark Fish, Jon Fortune, Matt Holland, Hermann Hreidarsson, Claus Jensen, Jonatan Johansson, Dean Kiely, Radostin Kishishev, Paul Konchesky, Kevin Lisbie, Scott Parker, Chris Perry, Chris Powell, Garry Rowett, Simon Royce, Graham Stuart, Mathias Svensson and Luke Young.