Wright-Phillips to Swindon?

Reports are circulating that Bradley Wright-Phillips is going on loan to Swindon for the rest of the season. Swindon have certainly favoured Charlton players recently, although he would not be able to link up with Paul Benson who has gone on loan to Cheltenham.

Richard 'Creepy' Crawley has tweeted his doubts, pointing out that Wright-Phillips is on big wages. Swindon are certainly financially troubled, having been put up for sale as an alternative to administration. However, it might be worth paying a wages subsidy to the Rocking Robins.

After performing excellently in League 1, Wright-Phillips has found it difficult to make the adjustment to a higher level.

Anthony Wordsworth has now signed for Ipswich. I still think there was some interest there on our part.

Parky to meet owners after 2-4 defeat

Swindon had an early corner cleared by Fortune and the follow up corner was cleared by Francis. Charlton made some good efforts in the opening phase, reports Philippa Nicholson. Swindon were playing a 4-5-1 formation while Benson was up front for the Addicks. Reid put in a good early cross which Benson connected with well.

However, then Swindon came into the game more, but there was no one to connect with a Swindon cross. Charlton were trying to pass and play, but Swindon were also probing.

Martin approached on the right, but the offside flag went up. McCormack tried to advance, but Swindon came away with ball and won a thrown in level with the Charlton penalty area. Elliot saved well with his foot. The first quarter of an hour was evenly balanced with both sides trying to get on top of the midfield battle.

O’Brien got in behind Francis who had to concede a corner. Morrison had a free header but did not get enough on it. A header from Austin went wide. Racon fed Reid who put in a dangerous cross and Jackson’s follow up deflected off a Swindon player to put the Addicks 1-0 ahead. The Swindon players were furious claiming a hand ball from Benson in the build up. It was a hand ball, but sometimes the luck goes your way. The new chairman punched the air.

Reid kept skidding over which raised questions about the studs on his designer boots. Jackson made a good run, but it was unproductive. Racon advanced on the right, but Swindon were able to clear their lines. Reid got past two players but was body checked by Morrison leaving both players down. Reid was given a yellow card.

Fortune had to head out a Swindon free kick. Dailly fed Martin who tried to use his pace, the move ending in a Charlton throw in. Swindon counter attacked, but the Addicks got their players back. A dangerous ball from Ritchie was dealt with by Jackson.

The referee missed another hand ball. Charlton attacked again on the right but Smith in the Swindon goal was able to claim the ball. A quickly taken free kick led to a shot by Ritchie which Elliot palmed over the goal. The corner led to a second one, but McCormack was able to take the ball away.

Rose advanced 60 yards with the ball at his feet but Austin was not able to convert nor could Prutton get on the end of it. That was Swindon’s best chance to equalise up to then.

Charlton were pushed back too deep, Elliot dealt with the cross from the left but then the rebound fell to Pompey loanee Ritchie who was able to put the ball in the back of the net from four yards out to make it 1-1 in front of the Swindon fans in the Jimmy Seed.

Swindon took a corner short. Semedo cut it out and Martin almost got a touch whose pressure led to a Charlton corner. It was well worked and Benson got into space but Smith gathered well low down.

Half time: Addicks 1, Robins 1

Austin sent a shot in but it was straight to Elliot. Charlton broke away but McCormack was not able to take advantage. Martin flicked the ball off Rose to win a corner. The corner by Francis was headed away.

Francis gave a terrible ball away leading to groans from the Addickted. Racon almost got round the defender and keeper but ex Spanner Smith dived on the ball. Dailly defended poorly on the edge of the box, Austin stole in and put the ball in the back of the net to make it 1-2 leaving Elliot with no chance. It was a late seasonal present for the former non-league striker.

O’Brien beat Francis who was exposed by his opponent’s pace but fortunately Elliot was able to gather off Austin. Charlton made a double substitution with Martin and McCormack going off and Abbott and Wagstaff coming on.

Prutton put in an effort from 25 yards out as the gaps opened up. Wagstaff showed a nice touch and Benson attempted to get a shot away but Frampton was able to block. Ritchie advanced but his shot deflected off Dailly for a throw in.
O’Brien was taken off and replaced by McGovern. Swindon were packing their own half, while Charlton were relying on the long ball. There was not enough movement from the Charlton players. The frustration of the Addickted was growing.

Charlton won a corner but it was headed away by Morison. Reid fed the ball back in, but Abbott was too close to the keeper. Charlton made their final substitution with Sodje coming on in place of Fortune. The Addicks seemed to be gambling on three at the back, but with Semedo in front of Dailly. It was a desperate gamble and so it proved.

Abbott gave the ball away and Swindon broke but the flag was raised against Austin. Charlton advanced but Abbott was not able to get a shot away. Cuthbert came on in place of Timlin.

The free kick came in and the 6ft 4 ins. Morison put in a towering header to make it 3-1 - straight past Elliot into the corner. The Addickted start to stream out of the ground. I felt tempted to join them, but duty called.

Swindon won another corner. It became a rout as Austin came in at the back post to make it 4-1. There was a chance at the other end but Benson was not able to take advantage. Reid got a cross in and won a corner. Benson’s header was wide. A volley from Sodje was cleared off the line. Desailly replaced Austin who applauded the away fans whilst no doubt thinking of his future in the Championship.

A corner from Francis was headed away. A great finish by Abbott who turned and put in a super volley over the keeper that saw the ball go into the right-hand corner to make it 2-4.

A corner from Francis was headed out by Cuthbert. Jackson hammered the ball into the visiting fans.

Phil Parkinson was to meet the new owners after the game. That will be an interesting conversation. Whoever is manager they need to be given money for new players, especially in central defence.

The surge starts here says Swindon supremo

Swindon supremeo Danny Wilson reckons that his club's surge towards promotion will start at The Valley today. He is drawing inspiration from last year's late surge up the table.

'We're not where we want to be,' he admitted. 'But if you look at the position we were in this time last year, it's virtually identical. But we went on a great run just after the new year. If that's what we do again this season, nobody will care about the poor start.'

Wilson admitted that the Rocking Robins are a selling club. The club lost Simon Cox to the Baggies and Billy Paynter to Leeds. Now Charlie Austin, who joined from non-league Poole Town in 2009, is attracting attention from a number of Championship clubs.

If Swindon are to break the cycle of selling their best players, Wilson says that promotion to the Championship is a must for a club that is undisputed No.1 in Wiltshire. Having taking a turn round the magic roundabout, Wilson admited, 'We're never going to be blessed with 30,000 fans - we're quite realistic about that. But we could quite easily fill the stadium we've got if things go well.'

We beat Swindon 3-0 away earlier in the season, but that was not in front of the tetchy Valley crowd. This could be another draw and I will go for 2-2.

Philippa Nicholson at last gets a chance to wear her new outfit and will be covering the game as I try to catch up the work I should have done over the holiday.

Off to the magic roundabout

Games follow one another fast and furious in League 1 and it's off to Swindon for Charlton tomorrow night. The Robins are not exactly rocking after their Wembley appearance last year and are currently 16th in the table.

Three sloppy goals conceded in the 3-3 draw at Yeovil on Saturday exemplified their defensive problems. However, they fought back from 1-3 down to score two late goals and claim a point. They have scored six more goals than Charlton, but also conceded four more. That ten places separates the two clubs says something about League 1.

The Robins have a central midfield problem just as the relationship between Racon and Semedo seems to be working at last. Simon Ferry is not available after what was described as a 'horror tackle' inflicted by the Glovers. This leaves the home side with only one natural central midfielder so Michael Timlin may be recalled from a loan spell at Southend.

The narrative coming out of Swindon is that the Robins are gearing up for a pre-Christmas run, although they don't seem to be brimming with confidence about the Charlton game.

Indeed, manager Danny Wilson looks set to make some changes while Phil Parkinson is likely to settle for an unchanged side. Wilson commented, 'We can't keep protecting people when mistakes are made as frequently as they are. In the last few weeks we haven't dealt with certain situations as well as we should do, so we have to make decisions and we will do that for the next game. We need to know that people are going into games full of confidence and not having any doubts in themselves.'

This sounds like a team that is rocking in the wrong sort of way, but whether the Addicks have enough consistency to generate a mini-run is an interesting question and one that will debate by the pro- and anti-Parkinson forces. I am going for a 3-2 win.

Having just got back from Spain, I have a meeting in London tomorrow and then have to go to York for a meeting on Wednesday so I may be behind with the news from the County Ground.

Same seats, same division next season

That was the comment of Paul from Bexleyheath as he said goodbye to me after last night's play off defeat at The Valley. It was also goodbye for the summer to Steve from Petts Wood and a less fond farewell to the Bloke Behind Me. Although I was sitting a few seats from my usual place, his complaints were still very audible.

Yesterday I predicted that it would be 2-1 at full time, go to extra time (although no more goals were scored) and would then be down to the lottery of penalties. Charlton captain Nicky Bailey blazed high and wide. I don't think one should blame any one player for a defeat of this kind, but it was typical of his over pumped up approach to the game.

Charlton and Swindon have drawn twice during the season and played over what amounts to 220 minutes or more of football (over 10 minutes of time added on last night) but it was difficult to say which team was the better, as was also reflected in their relative places in the table.

The stats were in Charlton's favour: 57 to 43 per cent possession; 20 to eight shots on target; and 11 to 4 corners. But, of course, it's getting the ball in the net that counts and that has been a challenge all season.

Even when I got to Marylebone there were rocking Robins chanting 'Wem-ber-ley'. Whether they can overcome the Spanners remains to be seen. I doubt whether we would have done, and would have a defeat against them at Wembley being even more bitter? Personally, I think it's our interests for them to go up and cause mayhem in the Championship.

The one thing Wembley would have given the club is a much needed pay day. Others know more about the financial situation at the club than I do, but there are clearly going to have to be further cutbacks.

I was disappointed but not surprised by last night's outcome. I always thought it would take us two or three seasons to get out of this division. At the beginning of the season I thought we would be on the fringes of the play offs, but just fail to make them, so we have done better than I hoped.

The game

What other blogs have already emphasised is that one could not fault the commitment or the passion of the Charlton players to the cause last night. They gave their all and it produced an exciting match, albeit one that ended in deflation. The attendance was a little disappointing, below those against Gillingham and Leeds, but then one has to remember that those figures include season ticket holders who were not in the ground.

Before the game in the pub, Mooney was rubbished and his selection was seen as evidence of Parkinson's ineptness as a manager. Well, he scored the two goals. The first one was a scrambled affair which could well have been an own goal, but they all count. The second one was very well taken. Also one cannot fault Mooney's work rate, although I am not sure that dashing all over the pitch is a sign of real skill.

A word of praise also for the much criticised Burton. He may not score many goals, but he is an intelligent player who can hold the ball up well, read the game and provide good flicks and lay offs. Unfortunately, when had a chance to score and win the match for the Addicks, he could not turn quite quickly enough and that is the downside of an older journeyman striker.

I also thought that Frazer Richardson had another good game and came very close to scoring in extra time with a thunderbolt. Reid also added a clear attacking threat (whereas Sam was a bit of a disappointment) and it is a shame we probably cannot afford him for next season.

As for the sending offs, it seemed to me that Greer actually caught Burton in the neck and I had a good view as it was straight in front of me, but others thought that the contact was lower. In any case, the referee had no hesitation in reaching for his red card. My view and that of those around me was that Llera also had to go, but others disagree with that. It does seem odd that kicking a player while he is on the ground is only a yellow card offence.

The disapperance of the Swindon keeper after the first minute did not have that much effect on the game. His replacement, Phil Smith, might have had a plain man's name, but he was your everyday effective keeper. After all, when Elliot had to be replaced by Randolph, he was at least as good. Looks as if Randolph may be going though as we are apparently bringing in a keeper from Woking as the back up. I'm told he only costs £800k a week, so we will have a player who earns less than many fans.

The Rocking Robins came storming out of the traps after half time which is what you would expect them to do. I don't think we had been instructed to sit back, it was just that they were pumping long balls into the box. Also, Swindon always looked particularly dangerous on the counter attack. Their goal was, however, a result of a mix up in which Bailey just tried to be too clever. Bailey did make some good contributions in the game as a whole, but he can also sacrifice possession needlessly.

I thought that Racon did lift us when he came on and actually posed more of an attacking threat than I saw from him all season. Semedo also did his job very well throughout. However, it was not enough and neither team was really able to break the other down.

Quite a nasty incident outside after the game. The crowd was moving slowly and a fan cut right across it in a hurry, knocking into one person. His wife complained and the fan turned nasty, saying to her husband, 'You are an old man and I will knock your head off.' He continued to make threats. Charming from someone in their early twenties.

However, the fans really excelled themselves in getting behind the team and the mood today is disappointed but upbeat. As our train drew into GX, I saw the Chalfont St.Peter Addick 'Uncle Albert' get off looking understandably dispirited. I got home at 1.30 a.m., but I am glad I went and my allegiance remains as firm as ever.

News developments will be followed here over the summer. When I get time, I will do a re-design as the conceit of 'Championship Diary' will have to be abandoned and there will be a re-launch as 'Third Division Diary'. No doubt some pessimists will say that will have to be replaced after a year by 'Fourth Division Diary'.

I think we will still be in contention next year. Southampton will be a major challenge, but Norwich, Leeds and probably Millwall will have gone and I am not that daunted by Peterborough or Plymouth or the teams coming up, although the Owls will be there or thereabouts. Some teams may start to stop thinking of their match against us as their cup final as we lose the shine of a 'big' club.

Are house prices in Charlton under threat?

The Mail on Sunday yesterday was focusing on Lord Triesman and his alleged close friendship with a flame haired temptress, but they also found the time to dump the dirt on Charlton in a story that I believe to be highly speculative: Mail . (Apologies for posting the wrong link earlier, but the story does seem to be hidden away. What I originally linked to was a 2009 story which suggests some re-heating and an agenda).

The only surprise was that there was no discussion in the story of possible effects on house prices in Charlton. My view is that the Mail has something of anti-football agenda which chimes well with a section of its 'Middle England' readership. As the old joke about newspapers used to run, the Mail is read by the wives of people who run the country.

That is not to say that the club has no financial challenges. Winning tonight's tie against Swindon is important not just in footballing terms. A Wembley final would give an important boost to our finances even if we lost to the Spanners (which would be more likely than not).

Incidentally in the exile years I met someone who said they had bought a house near The Valley in the expectation that the club would not return and the value of their house would rise accordingly! They were to be disappointed!

More on tonight's game later.

Still not a sell out at Swindon

Earlier today Swindon Town had not sold out all their seats for tonight's clash with the Addicks. No doubt they would have done if it was Bristol Rovers. It's going to be a bit humiliating if we go down to a side which can't even sell out their (smaller) ground for an important home fixture.

It was also a bit of a shock to find on the Radio Scilly sports show tonight that they had a jubilant local Leeds fan as the studio guest, while the station line is to back Swindon as a 'west country' side which seems like stretching a point. I did remind sports show host Merryn that I was a Charlton supporter!

Those Robins are really rocking

There's a whole series of stories on tonight's game from a Swindon pespective here:
Swindon

I think that a problem for us all season has been that we are seen in League 1 as a 'big' club and a scalp worth taking. We are 'big' by the standards of many teams in the third division and we are punching below our weight which is why we want out. Plus we are fed up with the clogging, foul tolerant referees and long balls that characterise this division. Also, the club's financial situation is desperate, so these are some of the most important matches in our recent history (the play-off final against Leeds at Birmingham was the really crucial one).

Some useful facts about Swindon:
1. There wasn't anything here until the Great Western Railway constructed its 'works'.
2. I once read a book about Swindon called 'An Awkward Size for a Town'. The account of the inhabitants' lives portrayed them as boring beyond belief.
3. It is the home of the 'Magic Roundabout', one of its main claims to fame.
4. I used to have to go to meetings in Swindon. Eventually people got so fed up with navigating the road system and the general depressing effect that we decanted to Cotswolds hotels (one of them used by Swindon loan players).
5. I sponsored the match ball when we lost 0-1 at home to Swindon through an uncharactersitic mistake by Deano and our failure to find the back of the net. I had invited an Addick who lives in Swindon with me and he almost required medical treatment afterwards.
6. Two of our daughters live not so far away on the Berks/Oxon border. One of their friends needed to downsize their house in an upmarket village. Where could they find cheap housing? Swindon.
7. I shall be very pleased if we don't have to go to the County Ground next season, even if it is a nice drive across the Cotswolds - and not because Swindon go up.

Come on you Reds!

Fans flock to County Ground

Swindon have confirmed their standing as the biggest club in Wiltshire by selling 13,000 tickets to home fans for Friday's match against Charlton. Rocking Robin fans have also demonstrated their enthusiasm by buying tickets for the away leg with only 600 left.

Drinking During The Game has attempted to calculate Charlton's revenues from the home game. He puts them at £750,000 but I think this is too high. First, not all fans pay £25 which is the basis of his calculation. I pay £17 and the many juniors pay even less. Second, will the away end be sold out? Third, he takes no account of matchday expenses. Top rate blog, though.

The real pay day will be at Wembley.

Swindon are the new Blackpool

Swindon are portraying themselves as the new Blackpool in advance of their semi-final play off games against 'mighty' Charlton. It's always a useful psychological ploy to portray yourself as the underdog: Swindon

I've got nothing against the Rocking Robins, other than getting soaked through once on their open end, but we had great fun 'singing in the rain'. Indeed, when we beat them in the year went up, Swindon fans wished us all the best after the game.

But it is of key importance to Charlton's future to win out over these two games. I think we can, but I don't think it will be easy.

A first look at Swindon

Charlton has attempted to dip into the non-league to find recruits. Stuart Fleetwood only appeared in a friendly and while Chris Dickson had a few devotees, he was unable to hack it even at Gillingham.

It's therefore interesting that the 'Rocking Robins' have had some success with a recruit from the Wessex Premier League, Charlie Austin. A year ago he was combining his day job as a bricklayer with a career in non-league football. He joined Swindon from Poole Town in October and has been banging in goals ever since, attracting the interest of bigger clubs.

Goalkeeper David Lucas is a popular figure at the club. He is a devotee of horror films, especially classics such as Survival of the Dead. Given that Swindon had a relegation battle last season, that might be a good theme for them.

How have Swindon done so well given that they would have been relegated last season without the goals of Simon Cox who was then sold in the summer? Doom and gloom merchants at the County Ground (and they do have them there) were predicting another relegation struggle.

The manager did make some shrewd signings on free transfers and loans. Lucas and Douglas came in from Leeds and Ferry and Stephen Darby were brought in from Celtic. Somehow or other the club managed to house its loan players in a posh Cotswolds hotel.

With the departure of Cox, Billy Paynter stepped up to the plate. What we lack at Charlton is anyone who can score 25+ goals a season. It is the team's greatest weakness.

Ticketing arrangements for the play-offs

I have picked up some disquiet about this on Facebook and elsewhere. To put this into context, most fans find the Commercial Office helpful. Like other parts of the club, including IT, their resources have been cut back. Indeed, in any club (note Portsmouth recently) relatively lowly and loyal paid non-playing staff are often the first to take the hit.

I tried to book our season ticket seats online next week. Perhaps I should read the tutorial more carefully, but I was in a hurry as I was getting an early flight to the US the next day. Anyway, I managed to get tickets nearby.

Allocating the limited (relative to demand) number of seats for Swindon away was always going to be tricky. It wasn't practical for me to apply and in any case I didn't feel I should as my away record has been poor this year.

Erith's Paul May has been a regular away traveller and has a ticket for Swindon. Through his usual adept deployment of modern technology (he always seems faster when he has had a few) he will be reporting on the game for this blog.

Hall of fame

I gained the somewhat unwelcome accolade of being placed in the CAFC Picks Hall of Fame for January on the basis of predicting that Charlton would pick up only 7 points during the month. Given the quality of the team, I think that they are performing much as one would expect.

With Charlton reduced to nine men, Swindon managed a 2-2 draw at The Valley. They then went on to beat Leeds 3-0. Looking at the form table, and this particular construction of reality has a lot of followers among Charlton fans, it might therefore seem that there is only possible result tomorrow, a win for Swindon by at least two goals.

I am not going to attempt a detailed match preview, as that has already been done well by Pedro on Charlton Athletic Online. I am not sure, however, that I agree with him about dropping Burton in favour of a Mooney-Sodje (A) pairing. Admittedly particularly if you think penalties don't count (but that still have to be scored, not least against Millwall), Burton's scoring record is not impressive. However, I do think he brings other things to the team such as neat lay offs and an ability, sometimes at least, to hold up the ball.

Pedro reasonably makes the point that three teams come away disappointed from the play offs (although not necessarily in vital cash terms if one makes the final). They are a lottery. However, given my hope at the beginning of the season was that we might just make the No.6 slot, our league position is still well ahead of my expectations.

Although all the signs point to a comfortable win for the home side at the County Ground, bad (or good) form never continues for ever. I would be surprised and delighted if we won at Swindon, but I think that our role as draw specialists may continue and I am going for another 1-1 (Reid).

Swindon anxious to strengthen squad

As they face up with some trepidation to a meeting with 'big club' Charlton, Swindon are hoping to take emergency measures to shore up their squad: Swindon

Let's go for an attacking formation

A couple of years ago I was travelling on a train from Bath towards London with some foreign colleagues who did not know Britain well. We came to Swindon and they asked what sort of town it was. I gave them the usual spiel about the Great Western Railway and the more diversified economy of today which includes Honda.

I refrained from saying that Swindon is one of those towns that one would avoid living in if one could, although housing is cheaper there than it is in some parts of the M4 corridor. I know at least one keen Addick who lives there.

I have had some mixed experiences with Swindon, which have the old Charlton nickname of the Robins. I used to quite enjoy the relatively short trip through the Cotswolds to the County Ground. One year, of course, we got soaked on the open terrace as we sang 'Singing in the Rain' and were acknowledged by that great player Johnnie Robinson. That event has been eclipsed by this year at Yeovil when those who went experienced 'one hell of a soaking'. It merits a commemorative T shirt.

During the season we won the Championship I sponsored the match ball for the match against Swindon who were bottom and, naturally, I invited the Swindon Addick I know. Dean Kiely let in a soft goal and we never scored, leading to a rare home defeat.

The current Swindon team is sponsored by 4-4-2 which leads to some interesting articles in what I think is a good magazine (I must, however, mention When Saturday Comes which recently gave me a Silver Award, although apparently it is just a virtual award). A recent feature was about loan players and I was astonished to learn they were being put up in a hotel in the Cotswolds where I have stayed - but not at my own expense as I doubt whether I could justify the cost. Swindon are not exactly a club flush with cash.

Swindon are on a good run. We lack the suspended Lloyd Sam, the victim of a ridiculous decision by a referee full of his own importance, although he would have got his fifth yellow sooner or later. Despite his inconsistent performances in any one game, he is one of our major attacking threats. Frazer Richardson is 50-50 which means he probably won't play given Monday's match with Brentford. Omozusi isn't as good, but he is better than a lot of people have claimed.

I would play Wagstaff on the right and, rather unconventionally, I would put McKenzie on the left with Luke Holden to replace him when he tired. Burton would be accompanied by Akpo Sodje up front. This would be a very attack oriented formation to take advantage of Swindon's leaky defence. Probably just as well that I don't pick the team.

I am going for a 2-1 win by Swindon. Feisty Philippa Nicholson will be covering the match while I expect to be the only Charlton blogger at Harbury Lane. Why is it that trains run in other countries in Europe on Boxing Day, but to a very limited extent in Britain?