A quiet transfer window?

Could it be a quiet transfer window for Charlton after all? Chris Powell has played down transfer speculation and advised fans to concentrate on the facts and wait until they see a new player in a Charlton shirt.

I never put a lot of credence in the Alan Judge story, indeed I did not run it all. Admittedly, a lot of Championship clubs were reported as being interested in the Notts County player, but I didn't see him coming to us.

As for Hogan Ephraim, Chris Powell observed that we are always going to be linked with him. In that case I did point the interest from the New York Red Bulls where there is a link with a former Super Hoops manager.

I did think that the Anthony Wordsworth story had legs. Colchester United have now denied that they have received an offer from Charlton. Why did I think there was something in it? First, it made sense: signing a promising midfielder from a lower league club with whom we had done business in the past. It wouldn't bust the bank. Second, it was being run by a number of media sources, including Sky, although this may just reflect lazy journalism. Indeed, the East Anglian Daily Times has said again today that a deal will go ahead, but perhaps we should just rely on them for tractor prices. It may be that we did take a look at him and we might try again in the summer when he is out of contract.

Chris Powell does have a number of players returning from injury, so that does reduce the pressure to make new signings. It will also give younger players like Harriott and Azeez (when he returns from Orient) more of a chance to break into the first team.

Elsewhere, Simon Grayson is the latest Championship manager to bite the dust. It's a good job Huddersfield won the cup match, otherwise he might have been the latest victim of the curse of Charlton.