Valley of Gloom

Charlton slipped into the relegation places in the Championship this afternoon after they lost 0-1 at home to Middlesbrough. It was another poor performance with defensive weaknesses gifting Boro their goal. The midfield was unimpressive and Boro's debutante goalkeeper had only one good save to make.

The Addicks started off with a 4-1-4-1 formation with Williams and Green out wide. It was a nervy start for Charlton with Boro winning corners. McNair put the visitors ahead on 17 minutes after Purrrington surrendered possession, allowing the cross to go in.

Charlton continued to find themselves under pressure. Shortly after the half hour mark jittery journo Richard Cawley tweeted, 'This has been really poor. Boro hungrier and sharper to the ball. Charlton all over the shop. Not sure this shape is doing them any favours either.'

Shortly afterwards Charlton did switch to 4-4-2. I was at home battling a heavy cold and Steve from Petts Wood messaged me at half time to say, 'A dreadful first half so far, worst I have seen this season.'

Bonne replaced Lapslie at half time. Taylor was booked for simulation after he was hauled down, upsetting the player and the Covered End. Williams put in a cross, but the Oshilaja header was saved. Steve messaged, 'Just started to improve, but not sure it's enough.' Pratley fired wide.

Doughty replaced Williams on 66 minutes. Taylor fed Bonne, but his attempt was weak. Purrington was replaced on 83 minutes by Hemed. Phillips made a key save two minutes later to keep Charlton in the game.

In five minutes added on, a cross from Oshilaja was headed just over by Bonne.

Attendance was 18,080 with 1,750 away fans.

Barnsley and Huddersfield both lost, Wigan and Luton drew 0-0 and Hull went down 5-1 to Stoke. Even a draw would have kept Charlton in the mix.

Match report from Louis Mendez here: Into the drop zone

Meanwhile, it looks like network time again. Louis Mendez tweeted: 'ESI majority shareholder Tahnoon Nimer has Instagrammed his arrival at Romanian club Dinamo Bucharest. He’d been linked with a takeover of that club for a while.' Abu Dhabi Business Development first signalled their interest in an acquisition January as part of their development strategy. It is not yet known how Charlton's relationship with Dinamo will develop.

Shattered supremo Lee Bowyer said: 'I'm frustrated and disappointed again. We can't keep gifting teams goals. We are not good enough to give teams one-goal leads. We had three clear-cut chances. We have got to take at least one of them. The message to supporters is this - just stick together. We have got nine games to go and we have to keep fighting together.'

As some fans flood social media calling for Bowyer to go,Jonathan Woodgate says he hasn't been backed properly at The Valley: My pal hasn't been backed