Wednesday 13 August 2008

Charlton 0 - 1 Yeovil

So, our uneaten run didn't last too long did it?

I don't know why I continue to go to these games. I have been to all of our home Cup games for over twenty years and I have seen about half a dozen matches that I have been excited or pleased about.

I appreciate that this competition is not taken seriously for Premier League teams that are not very confident of avoiding relegation, so I accept that we made changes during those years, but why would we show such little respect to Yeovil by making so many changes? Semedo was a central defender when we signed him, but we still chose to play Youga there last night. We played Wagstaff, who is clearly not ready for the first team. Dropping Gray and playing Bouazza as a striker? And if anyone else tells me that he is a £2m player I will scream. It's almost as though we are being asked to believe that even though we have sold some good players, and more are still to go, this boy is a £2m player. The truth is that there are no clubs outside of the top flight that can afford to pay £2m for a player. Fulham were rubbish last season, so if he can't get into their squad then he is not a Premier League player, and as such he cannot be worth £2m.

I don't care what the player's worth to be honest, if he is good enough to do a job for us then I'm more than happy. I just don't want to be treated like a fool. Maybe I'm just mouthing off because I've given up another evening to watch us lose to a team from a lower division.

Yeovil were not rubbish, and we need to remember that we do not have a squad of internationals any longer. To believe that we can drop three or four first team players and still beat a committed, disciplined side is unrealistic. I think, like Pardew said, that we need to score first in games like these. We failed to win too may games against teams that came to The Valley to defend last season. I suspect that had we not got an early goal against Swansea it could have been the same outcome as last night.

We clearly have some work to do. I know that last night's result was not all that important in the grand scheme of things but Pardew gave the impression that he was going to give the first team a run out, then after we had all purchased our tickets he decided to put out a much less than full strength side. I understand that reserve games are free to Season Ticket holders, so maybe they should make these games free, or even just offer the opposition a bye and not bother playing the game at all?

Either way I don't appreciate Pardew (and others) making demands for us fans to attend and then fail to take the competition seriously.

If we had scored first last night, which we should have done, then the result could have been different, and Pardew wouldn't have had to 'admit' that he made a mistake (something that I think we hear all too often).

Anyway, as I've said, I think I'm just a bit fed up with the comments from friends that always delight (as I do to be honest) in someone else's misfortune.

If the players come out refreshed and win on Saturday I will feel very different, but right now I'm happy for us to decline to enter this competition next season.

Up the Addicks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't bother to attend because i feared we would get the result we got!
This cup competition needs a re-think. I would like to see it played only by the football league clubs (no Prem) With a EUFA cup place for the winner. Thereby giving football league teams a greater incentive to participate fully. At the same time preventing the over-funded Prem. from treating it with contempt, until they realise they are in the quarter-final.
I guess the sponsors wouldn't agree with this idea!

Anonymous said...

Sorry but im the same i was going to go but hten i was having a word with my mate and guess what he said. We always lose to lower opposistion which is a total embarrasement to charlton. I feel sorry for the charlton fans that attended that game and pardew has to do better than that.