Charlton 0 - 0 Preston

I could start by saying that it is a point against one of the promotion chasers. I could look at the positive that is a clean sheet. I could, but...

My Dad was away so I wasn't really sure I was going to go until about twenty past one, ten minutes before I actually left.

I am able to appreciate a game in isolation, and if the game is a good one (by what ever measure you use, a win, lots of goals, some nice football, etc) you can come away feeling that you've experienced something worth remembering.

Yesterday was not like that. In truth, the game was not as bad as some have suggested it was. At least I don't think it was. A goal would have made a difference. Had we scored early Preston might have been forced to come out a bit more and we could have seen some goals.

The result was not really all that important. I was looking to see some decent football and/or some goals. the fact that it ended 0-0 is not really a problem for me. I have seen many 0-0 draws over the years, and some have (for different reasons) been very satisfying.

The fact that we started the game with 5 players on loan or with contracts expiring in June made it difficult for me to really immerse myself in the action. I have no problem with loan players per se, but at this stage I see little for the fans (including me) to care about when we are watching players that are not going to be here next season playing for their futures when our's looks so bleak, and doesn't include them.

I'm not keen to have another go at Parkinson, but it has to be said he now has access to all our 'stars' and still we look inadequate. It is also a little worrying that the only two players that he has signed on a permanent contract got nowhere near the pitch. Spring (who we paid a fee for) was dropped from the whole squad.

I can understand the club wanting to go out on a high, and the management team must be worried about their futures with the appalling record since Pardew left, but I find it a little like watching your girlfriend, that you know is going to walk out of your life forever in a matter of weeks, get undressed in front of you, when they play the players that we just cannot afford anymore.

Maybe that's a little dramatic, and I can't deny that watching ZZ, for example, is enjoyable, but we're not winning, we're not playing decent football and the payers are already thinking about their futures elsewhere. Maybe it's time for us to think about our own future.

Add to those 5 players that have no contractual commitment with Charlton next season, Mark Hudson, Nicky Bailey, Therry Racon and Jonjo Shelvey, and we could well have no more than three of yesterday's starting eleven on our books come August.

We really need to find a way to convince people to buy season tickets. My inclination now is to buy my season ticket on 1st September - assuming that there are enough players left to make me want to go to many games next season. Should that approach to followed by many others that will clearly force the board's hand in the summer.

It's a mess, and I really don't know what the answer is. All I do know is that I didn't really want to go yesterday, and from the minute I left until the minute I got home I never felt differently.

Realistically I will be there next season, I may end up paying as I go as I think I would prefer to pass on the games that my Dad is away (8 this season) but something needs to happen to lift the spirits of the Charlton fans. Covenrty in May last season was just the thing, but I don't think that works if you are already relegated, and you are playing players that are leaving (save for Chris Powell, obviously).

I wish I had the answers. I wish I still had the faith in those running the club. Most importantly I wish we had fifteen points more.

Up the Addicks!