Farewell, then, Nick Pope

Burnley have improved their offer for Nick Pope to around £1m and a deal is close to being finalised: Nick Pope

It has been good to see Pope to develop from a non-league player to one capable of performing at Championship level and I am sorry to see him go. The Chicago Addick is more critical: Not up to it

Stephen Henderson may also be on his way out, with Nottingham Forest interested: Henderson

The Addicks will need to find a new first choice keeper. Who was that guy the Belgians brought over? Ah, yes, Thuram-Ullen, the maestro of punching the ball.

Yoni Buyens on his way?

Back from a spectacular short break at the home of the world's smallest football league to find that the Addicks are increasingly being linked with Yoni Buyens: Buyens

The Liege midfielder could be seen as a replacement for Diego Poyet who has changed his biography to describe himself as a 'professional footballer' rather than a Charlton player. The word is that he is waiting to see what offers come in before making a final decision. The little known Buyens is hardly likely to compare in quality.

Meanwhile, Frédéric Bulot is not keen on coming to Charlton after two seasons at SL despite the fact that he is not part of their future plans and his agent would like him to go. Apparently, the wideman has been influenced by the fact that ace keeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien did not have a positive experience in London: Bulot

Thuram Ulien refuses to go to Leeds

Back up goalkeeper Yohan Thuram-Ulien has refused to travel to Leeds for tonight's crucial match, not because he doesn't like it 'oop North but because he has the hump because of a lack of first team chances at Charlton, reports Richard Cawley of the South London Press: Keeper

The reason he has not had more first team chances is because he disappointed when he did. It is not very professional conduct. Nick Pope cannot be recalled from York, so we have to hope that Hamer takes the warm up cautiously.

The rain it raineth every day

The old Penzance Borough Council commissioned a painting of their promenade many years ago in the hope of boosting their tourist trade and what they got was one entitled 'The rain it raineth every day'. It seemed to me a fair representation of the weather in Penzance, but it was hidden from public view for many years.

Picture from Scilly Now and Then

My friends at Radio Scilly and Scilly Now and Then have been keeping me updated on conditions on the islands. The main settlement of Hugh Town is on an isthmus between two bays and some streets now look like beaches as they are covered with sand. There are real fears about high tides and strong winds forecast for the weekend, winds of 92 mph having been recorded earlier in the week. The Radio Scilly studio is across the road from the beach at Porthmellon, but is on an upper floor, so hopefully the Saturday sports show will go ahead on schedule and I will be able to deliver my slot as mainland football correspondent. Meanwhile, station manager Keri Jones has been sunning himself in New Zealand, leaving the lovely Suze to hold the fort.

Which brings me to Charlton. The dome has been on the pitch and there is to be a pitch inspection later today. However, heavy rain and strong winds are forecast for tomorrow, so heavy rain after the covers are removed could mean a late postponement (again). This is not a good situation for those of us who come some distance as we are unavoidably en route when these decisions are taken. My Plan B had been to at least get my Voice of the Valley but Rick Everitt has tweeted that adverse weather may drive his elves from the streets as the colour could run in their uniforms. However, he has now stated that should there be a late postponement there will be a seller across the road from the club shop from 1.30 until kick off time. /p>

The latest news is more positive. It now appears that the only major chance of the game being off is if it seriously pours down after the Dome [on thepitch, not levitation of the 02] is lifted tomorrow -and whether the pitch could take a serious downpour. The Met Office is predicting "squally heavy showers with perhaps hail or thunder" from 0600-1200 tomorrow and starting again from 1300-1400- so with luck, it should be the downpour between 1-2pm that we need to watch out for.

So, if the worst comes to the worst, it looks like going down the pub to see if I can find Blackheath Addickted to learn why this Europhile is so worried about Roland.

Needless to say the prospect of the game being called off has given the more miserable Charlton fans something else to wallow in. I been having negotiations with Beijing this week about a prospective visit and I must say they are easier to deal with than the average Charlton fan.

If we do keep postponing games, not only do we look foolish (although this time I suspect that there may be some other waterlogged pitches tomorow), but we will be facing match congestion when we are trying to fight our way out of the relegation zone.

Some might think that a postponement would be a blessing in disguise as it might mean that Hamer would recover to replace suspect keeper Thuram-Ulien. Chris Powell made it clear yesterday that Ben Alnwick departed because he wanted assurances about the end of season that could not be given, so his agent had a look round and found that he could pop through the Blackwall Tunnel to add another club to add to those he has played at. The manager made it clear that he is not using the French keeper because he has been told to, but out of necessity.

Keeper problem?

Experienced sports journalist Kevin Nolan provides a withering assessment of new Charlton keeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien here: Thuram-Ulien

I haven't seen him play yet, but listening to the commentary from Wigan, I was concerned by his reported tendency to punch out the ball rather than catch it. Sometimes punching out is the only or best option, but he did it rather too often. Someone who was at the match whose judgment I would trust also expressed concerns.

I thought that Ben Alnwick was doing well and his departure bothered me. I have had mixed feelings about Ben Hamer: he is often too hesitant and doesn't command his area enough. However, he may be better than the new recruit. How serious his injury is, I don't know.

There is often a rush to judgment in creating scapegoat players, but there are good grounds for at least some concern.

Early lead turns into defeat

Charlton suffered a cruel blow as they were defeated by two late goals at the DW Stadium this afternoon, but Wigan had dominated the second half.

The new look Charlton with a diamond formation faced Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium this afternoon. Sordell scored a goal for Charlton after three minutes after he sprang the offside trap, leaving him to beat the keeper which he did with great coolness.

Wiggins went down and required treatment, his right leg giving him discomfort. The Lactics put in a shot on target from Watson but Thuram-Ulien punched it away. Lennon came on to replace Wiggins. It started to rain heavily, having been a drizzle at the start of the match and the wind increased. It was grim ‘oop north. Chris Powell was wearing a wooly hat and tracksuit. Lennon blocked a shot at the expense of a corner.

Lennon put the challenge in the ball out of play, but the Wigan player trod on the upper part of his ankle and the youngster went down. Wigan put in a shot across the six yard box, but none of the home players could make contact. Lennon was back on his feet, Johnnie Jackson meanwhile helping the defence. Wood put in a good challenge at the expense of a corner which was unproductive.

A free kick for Wigan by Watson was awful and more suited to egg chasing. Charlton won their first corner of the afternoon which was taken by ‘Astrid’. Somehow Wood headed the ball clear. ‘Gucci’ rushed forward and put in a shot which was pushed away by the keeper. He then put in another which beat the keeper and hit the crossbar.

A Wigan corner was headed over. Poyet put in a great diagonal ball to Sordell but he wasn’t able to make use of it. Wigan attacked, but Lennon made a good challenge in the penalty area on McManaman. The resultant corner for Wigan was unproductive.

Charlton counter attacked and Sordell gave the ball to the lively Gucci, but Wigan held their line. A hard shot from Sordell deflected off a Wigan player, leading to a Charlton corner which was unproductive. The referee had a word with Lennon about a challenge. Wigan had two bites at the free kick, the second one leading to a corner. Morrison got his head to it and Charlton won a free kick.

Cousins turned provider for Sordell, but the keeper got there first as the striker tried to get round him. A few boos could be heard from the home support. McManaman hit the crossbar for Wigan in their best chance. Sordell went down holding on to his right shin, but signalled to the bench that he was ok. McManaman put in another shot which was wide and went into the Charlton fans.

Chris Powell told the constantly involved Sordell to calm down. Powell and Rosler had a little hug. Two minutes were added on. Beausejour fouled Cousins as he got away, the Wigan player being booked. There was poor movement by the forwards for the free kick. Thuram-Ulien punched the ball away, but Wigan won a free kick to the right-hand side of the D, but the wall did its job. Wigan attacked again and Thuram blocked an attempted shot with his leg.

HT: Lactics 0, Addicks 1

Wigan won an early free kick, a Wigan player turned the ball into the net, but the linesman raised his flag, the referee had a chat with him and decided that the goal would not stand. It was a tight decision.

Wigan were applying pressure and Charlton needed to weather the storm. Cousins shot over. Wigan made a double substitution, bringing on Fortune and their Chelsea loan player. McCann and Maynard went off.

Wigan had plenty of possession in the first quarter of an hour of the second half, but were not able to make use of it. Thuram-Ulien went down to his right to save from Watson. The Chelsea substitute was booked.

The Lactics won a corner off Nego. After subsequent play, Thuram-Ulien had to block the ball at his near post for another corner. Thuram-Ulien punched the ball away and Cousins cleared it further. Lennon was booked for a foul. The Fortune header from the free kick was wide.

’Astrid’ put in excellent ball to Sordell, but the move ended in a Wigan goal kick. Thuram-Ulien punched the ball out again when perhaps he should have collected it and gave away a corner. The keeper collected the ball and cleared. A shot from Watson was blocked by Wood. A shot from McClean was deflected for a corner. The ball was put over.

Pritchard came on for Sordell and went out to the right. McArthur went off for Wigan and Gomez came on. Wigan won a free kick close to the corner flag. The ball was cleared off the line by Wood and taken away by Poyet.

Fortune advanced, but Morrison stood his ground. Charlton were starting to defend a little too deep. Jackson got the last touch on a header, giving Wigan a corner, but the ball was cleared back to the home keeper.

Pritchard won a corner for Charlton. ‘Astrid’ was taken off. He had been helping ‘Gucci’ out in attack and Dervite came on for the last ten minutes. The ball was eventually collected by the Wigan keeper.

Nego put too much power on the ball as he tried to set up ‘Gucci’. Lennon conceded a corner. Charlton cleared, but were forced to defend again. Wigan won yet another corner which led to a second. Thuram-Ulien punched the ball away for a third corner. Fortune just headed a ball over.

Pritchard conceded a free kick. Wigan got the equaliser through Fortune with two minutes of normal time left. Morrison brought down Gomez on the edge of the ‘D’. The home fans had really come alive. The ball from Gomez went in to make it 2-1 with two goals in two minutes.

Can I recommend the match report by Chris Powell's Flat Cap who was there and writes to a very high standard: Flat Cap. He took plenty of positives out of the performance, especially that of Poyet.

He does, however, criticise the keeper for his unwillingness to catch the ball, and the sale of Alnwick may turn out to be a mistake. However, the Fooball League Paper this morning gives him a 7 and says that 'he produced some agile stops.'

We have a game today

After all the transfer window excitement, Charlton have a tough game at Wigan today. They are 11th in the table, but the earlier part of their season was affected by their Europa League commitments and they are currently fifth in the (last eight) form table.

Wigan have won both meetings at the DW Stadium, scoring three goals in each. Wigan have lost only one of their last 11 games in all competitions, winning six. Their only defeat since mid-December was 3-0 at Doncaster in the Championship on 18 January. Wigan have kept five clean sheets in their last six games in the Championship. They are unbeaten in their last six home games in all competitions, winning three. Their last home defeat was 3-1 against Derby in the Championship at the start of December.

Wigan top scorer Nick Powell is likely to be out with a hamstring problem. Wigan have signed striker Martyn Waghorn from Leicester on a loan deal until the end of the season.

The Charlton line up is a little difficult to predict, but I am assuming that Peter the Pole will join Church up front. With Hamer injured, Thurman-Ulien will be on goal. Wiggins will return to left back with Morrison and probably Dervite in the centre, although Wood might be a better choice. With Wilson suspended, Nego will presumably slot in at right back. Midfield is the area of weakness, but I am assuming that Jackson and Cousins will feature and that 'Astrid' will start. Callum Harriot could be the fourth midfield player.

Someone was stuck behind the Charlton bus on the M1 yesterday and tweeted 'Charlton are going nowhere.' This is the match I expected to lose before the recent upheavals, but it is a chance for the new players to make their mark. Odds are: Wigan 4/6, Draw 14/5, Charlton 4/1. Essex man Michael Bull is referee.

Apparently, Watford have expressed an interest in taking Marvin Sordell on loan. Not sure whether this can be organised, or why Watford want him, but I would not see it as a loss.

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.

Farewell, Ben Alnwick

Ben Alnwick has joined Leyton Orient on a permanent deal. I thought that he was a good goalkeeper and better than Ben Hamer. However, he was standing in the way of Thurman-Ulien taking the number one slot.

There are reports of another midfielder on the way from Standard Liege, but nothing confirmed yet.

There are also rumours that Yann Kermorgant has turned down a contract offer from Charlton, not a very good one apparently, and is to have a medical at Bournemouth according to a tweet from Richard Cawley. I will be sorry to see him go and had rather he stayed. However, some of the comments over the last few days have been OTT. He does not match up to Andy Hunt, goal poacher Clive Mendonca or Darren Bent in his prime.

Richard Cawley has also tweeted that Cedric Evina may go out on loan.

I have been reflecting on what drives Roland's model. This needs treatment at length and I have written something for the impending Voice of the Valley which I believe that Rick Everitt's elves are even now setting up in type.

Kish only knew swear words

The only English words Radostin Kishishev knew when he arrived at Charlton were swear words, according to Chris Powell. The Addicks manager told the Football League Paper, 'He used to just ask us questions in basic English and he took books everywhere. By the time he left he was more fluent in English than the English lads here.'

Powell was responding to questions about the new 'international feel' of the Charlton squad. He admitted that new keeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien speaks very little English, but does not see it as a problem: 'Football is universal. Once they understand the football language they'll be fine.'

Addicks hover just above relegation zone

It was no surprise that an on form Middlesbrough beat Charlton at the Riverside today, but results around us did not go our way with Millwall, Doncaster, Barnsley and Yeovil all winning. As a result we are only separated from the relegation zone by goal difference.

A first half Emmanuel Ledesma goal on 19 minutes was enough for Middlesbrough to see off the Addicks. Ledesma's long-range effort squirmed under the body of Addicks keeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien, who was making his debut in the Charlton goal. Hamer was injured and Alnwick was also unavailable.

Charlton carved out the first chance in the second minute as Callum Harriott weaved in from the right and, although Boro man Dean Whitehead tackled him, he then played a poor square ball inside that was cut out by Athletic striker Yann Kermogant, who screwed his 18-yard effort well wide. Boro's first glimpse of goal came on seven minutes as forward Curtis Main had a poor pass cut out by defender Lawrie Wilson but then won it back in a tackle on the edge of the box before stabbing a low effort just wide. Charlton went close as Harriott picked out Jordan Cousins but his 20-yard effort on the turn flew straight at Shay Given.

Yann Kermorgant had the chance to fire his side ahead moments before the Boro goal, but failed to convert after some initial panic in the Boro boox. Thuram-Ulien did go some way to redeeming himself by pulling off two saves in succession, which kept the scoreline at 1-0.

Boro could have doubled their lead on 61 minutes as Carayol got to a knockdown but his shot to the far top corner was saved. Charlton thought they had scored on 70 minutes as Danny Green's deep cross looked to be drifting out and Kermogant hooked it back into the middle where Simon Church barged it home, but the referee ruled it out for a foul on keeper Given. Chris Powell is not happy about this decision.

Charlton also had a chance at the death to level the game, but failed to take the opportunity just moments after Rhoys Wiggins was shown a straight red card for a high-footed challenge. Kermogant cut in along the byline and drilled across the face of goal but an unmarked Church could not connect.

Keeper signs

As anticipated, Charlton have signed goalkeeper Yohann Thuram-Ulien on loan for the rest of the season from Standard Liege Thuram-Ulien

Keeper agrees loan deal

Yohann Thuram-Ulien has agreed a loan deal with Charlton and for the rest of the season and should be arriving on Eurostar in the next day or two.

I'm not sure I agree with the analysis from across La Manche that our main problem is a defensive one and I would have thought that our most pressing need was for a striker, but there you go: Thuram-Ulien