I will be back in Frankfurt on Monday so will miss the Stoke game ... typical when it looks like it will be a good night. Once again, will have to rely on text updates from the ground from my son. Although last time that happened we beat Stockport 4-3 ... and I predicted the score correctly. So this time I'm going for 3-2 to Charlton!

Will be back on Friday 1st Feb and going to Scunny the next day ... this is one I have been looking forward to all season. New ground and with our away form, we have a good chance of victory.

Back to Frankfurt again the following Monday but have made sure that I return on Thursday 7th Feb ... I am NOT going to be late for the Palaaarse game!!!

Hopefully it will be the result we need as I have to fly to Singapore on business the next day and that's a long way to travel when you are pissed off. I arrive in Singapore on the Sunday night, run a workshop all day Monday, fly back Monday night and arrive in London early on Tuesday ... and then go on holiday to the Canaries the next day for 2 weeks deserved rest!

It means I miss the Watford home game but I am hopeful that I can find a bar over there that will show the game ... if anyone knows of such a possibility let me know.

A lot of good games coming up ... we should know by the end of February whether we are going for a playoff place or automatic promotion. I'm still optimistic!

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EMI to slash jobs and change the business model.

This has me worried. Actually, no it doesn’t … it completely pees me off. New music is the lifeblood of the medium. Without it, music will die.

And yet the new owners of EMI seem determined to take a short-term approach to the business and destroy any chance that new acts have of breaking through. Short-termism will not work … however many big acts they have on their books, they will need new music to take them through to the medium and long-term.

They certainly understand business and how to make money … but do they understand music?

My work is Product Management, so I know as much as anyone that when a business needs to be changed it has to be either streamlined, re-vitalised, or innovated … but NOT without taking your eye away from the medium term. Short-term solutions have only short-term effects.

I do agree with one of their announcements which is to end huge advances paid to certain artists … this is as obscene as the amount of money that footballers can earn and makes sense. They even intimate that perhaps some acts could be paid salaries or daily rates whilst they work on their new material … I’m not saying this will work but it’s an innovative idea and deserves consideration.

I also like their idea of limiting some bands to single track downloads over the internet rather than trying to force whole albums out of possible one or two hit wonders.

But certain comments from the new owner worry me, e.g. ‘we need to be selective who we provide a service to’.

Does this mean that new bands will not get a look in until they have somehow proved themselves, a impossible Catch-22 situation?

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Well, that was rather good wasn't it. Nice to leave the Valley with a smile our face!

Entertaining and attacking football, with an improved atmosphere in the ground. I suggested on Thursday that we were perhaps in for a lively performance with Moo2, ZZ and Youga and so it proved. There were times during the game that we had so much possession that Blackpool couldn't get near us.

Blackpool were not the best team we have faced this season but to be fair we have seen worse, and the fact is they were on a good run of form. With the games we have coming up in the next few weeks, this was just the right time to put in a real team performance.

ZZ was my man of the match and showed his premiership qualities ... he seemed to be cloned as he was so many places and in the thick of everything. If his English was better, he may well be our captain!

On the OS, Pards rightfully thanks the fans for the noise. He also makes some relevant points on the coming weeks: "Once we go to Watford next weekend, we'll have played the top six away from home,” he said. "Then they've all got to come here, so we are not in too bad a position if we can keep this sort of form and this sort of atmosphere going. We are going to go close.” Just the right time to turn around our home performances!

Sunderland started their run this time last year, and perhaps we can give the push to get ourselves back in an automatic promotion slot.

As mentioned above, ZZ was my man of the match, but on another occasion it could well have been Kelly Youga who put in a strong and confident display. Why did we let him stay at Scunthorpe for so long?

Yassin had a great game and is turning into a very exciting attacking defender. Paddy and Boogie also put in good displays. Lloyd Sam had a very quiet game, but didn't actually do anything wrong ... I am sure that by normal his standards he will be unhappy.

Holland put in a great captain's performance and was unlucky not to score.

I don't want to nit-pick on the game yesterday, but if there is a downside, it is Ambrose. Stop being enigmatic and start being consistent!!!

We guessed that Big Chris would not start yesterday and so it proved ... Varney and Izzy up-front instead. And didn't it make a difference! No long balls right down the pitch ... ball played to feet and very exciting it was at times too!

Varney looked very good up-front and may have had more on another day ... started to show why he had previously been rated so highly. Izzy also could have scored, but I still need convincing about him. Dickson came on to great applause from the crowd and, as with the Albion game, came close. He is certainly a confident character, mentioning in the press today that he expects to get 20 goals for Charlton!

One annoyance from me ... Jerome, stop trying to get into the showboat section of SoccerAM every week - that back-heel was pathetic and could have caused problems.

Oh ... and I cannot stop without mentioning the referee. I have continually castigated refs on here, so let's give credit where it is due. An excellent performance from Mr. Singh allowing the game to flow yet being authoritative whenever needed. Can you ref us every week!

Elsewhere, a good report from Blackheathaddicted as always, and we have similar thoughts on the players. Good reports also from Wyn Grant and CharltonNorthDowns.

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Got 2 tickets today for myself and my son. Nice to see the online ordering system working efficiently (although it was not up until after 10.00). I had tried to phone but it appears that I cannot use the 0871 number from my overseas office!

I'm looking forward to this game as it will be the first time I have visited Scunthorpe. Last visit was at their old ground back in 1973 which I missed.

Hopefully a lot of Charlton will be getting tickets for this one ... at the start of the season, it was certainly a game in which many showed interest.

I was also hoping to get to the Blackpool game later in February but will now be away. Hopefully for those who are going, it will be better than the time I last went quite a number of years ago. One of the coldest days I can remember with gale-force icy winds. Most of the shops and bars were shut and the ground was rubbish. Interestingly a group of Blackburn fans turned up as their game had been postponed and proceeded to support Charlton ... at that time I didn't realise that they disliked each other so much.

As for Blackpool at home this weekend, I feel rather optimistic ... at least I did until I read Iberian Valley. The stats do not make good reading!

According to the OS, Blackpool new signing Stephen McPhee may be playing and, if so, it will already be the third time he has faced us this season having scored for Hull in October.

Up-front I have a feeling that Big Chris will be on the bench for this game with Varney and McLeod or Dickson replacing him in a 2-man attack.

Moo2, Youga and ZZ should give us a lively presence and it is only to be hoped that we can overturn the recent doldrums at the Valley. A return to the form displayed in the first half against Ipswich would be ideal!

Check out Blackpool Mad for a review of a game in 1952 that ended up 8-4 to Blackpool (although Sam Bartram wasn't playing!). And no ... I wasn't there ... I'm not quite that old!

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4-5-1 ... at home ... to the team that is bottom ... and as far as I am aware have not won in about 14 games.

Pards ... change the tactics ... it ain't working! And before he loses his recent confident scoring touch, try Dickson. He may end up being as ineffectual as some of our other strikers but at least give him a go before he gets disillusioned.

Having read a number of blogs today, there's no point in my repeating the comments. Suffice to say, most agree how bad we were ... although Blackheath Addicted has a different perspective to most ... maybe he is right , but it's difficult to feel that way this morning.

For other good reports check out Wyn Grant (I fully agree with his final match analysis), Inspector Sands (very good points about a number of the fans at the Valley ... also being in the East Stand, I can confirm he is absolutely right ... there are fans around me who seem to go not to support, but to complain!), Frankie Valley (always entertaining and pertinent), Drinking during the Game (entirely right about the formation), Pedro (same old, same old ... yup!), and Chicago Addick (he wasn't there but felt it just as much!).

Where do we go from here? Well, from a cup perspective, it doesn't look good with the Baggies coming to town ... but perhaps trying out a few new players (Dickson, Youga ?) may bring us some good cheer.

More importantly, what about the League? We are apparently in our 'easy' run of games at the moment. Mid-January onwards looks tougher with Watford (twice), Stoke, Palaarse, Bristol City, Burnley, Ipswich and Albion.

If previous seasons are anything to go by, the transfer window will be critical in deciding who can move onward and upward. Albion look a good bet for the top spot, but it is no foregone conclusion with 2 other teams on the same points. Despite some abject displays we are still very much in there. Contrary to my pre-season confidence, I'm not convinced that we will make an automatic spot (but hopefully will be proved wrong), but play-offs should definitely be attainable ... this is not a particularly good division.

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In a way, we should have expected this.

i) A very physical Hull side ... in fact, at times, becoming very dirty. Well, their manager was number two to Sam Allardyce so no surprise. But how can their fans enjoy watching that crap every week?
ii) Rubbish ref ... seem to say this most weeks, so what's the point? We knew they were not that great in the Premiership, and these are the refs that cannot make it to that level - 'nuff said.
iii) A bag-load of injuries and suspensions ... although, surprisingly, ZZ and Ambrose were back despite being tipped on the OS as being out with injury.

What we should not expect is the abject display put on by Charlton ... there were times during the first half when I felt I was watching a team playing up on Charlton Park. They were awful! My son pointed out that Hull were one of the worst teams he had seen ... I reminded him that, on the day, we were no better!

No-one came out of this display looking good ... I can't even be bothered to give ratings to the players ... suffice to say, they would all be low. Yes, they can say that certain players were still not fit, but if that were the case, they should not have been playing. We all expected a few of the kids to play yesterday and they didn't. That doesn't mean that the score would have been any different but at least we may have departed from the Valley thinking ... well, they tried under difficult circumstances.

I'll be glad never to play Hull again ... but we have to do a bit more to ensure we are not in the same division as them next year.

And I can't finish this post without mentioning Danny Mills. He had a chance to leave the Valley as a hero ... and instead left as a prat. Surely he should know that we hate play-acting at the Valley, and yet he tried it on 3 or 4 occasions. And then to swear at the ref and get sent off like a petulant kid ... what an idiot! And this guy apparently earns something between 30k and 40k a week ... a good week's work then Danny, eh?

Mills has been a revelation for us this season and I so hoped that Charlton could somehow do a deal and keep him for at least the rest of the season ... now, I'm not so sure.

Two away games coming up, so we should get at least 4 points ... but when are they gonna bring it together at home? Apart from one half against Ipswich and other short phases, we are not seeing a promotion winning team - Maybe that will change on New Years Day.

I have been one of those on Charlton Life stating how much I have been enjoying this season. Not sure why at the moment, but I still am ... however it's getting closer to the time when certain individuals in the red shirt need to stand up and be counted.

Have just read the OS .. good to see that Pards agrees about Mills - quoted as saying it was 'inexcusable'. 'We have been discussing the situation with Man City, in terms of keeping Danny ... I feel it's a difficult time to reflect on that decision right now, so I will absorb the decision over the next few days' said Pardew. Bloody hell Danny, you could have well and truly screwed this one up for everyone including yourself!

Good match report from Wyn Grant, and player ratings from Charlton North Downs - he is far more generous that I would have been and his marks are low already!

Blackheath addicted says much of what I would have said ... but in a far better fashion ... if I could have been bothered to write a proper match report on this turgid display, although I also think his player ratings are too generous!

Have a great Christmas everyone, and enjoy the New Year!!!

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Excellent game to watch for the neutral and showed a few Premiership sides that there are at least 2 teams better than some of the dross in the lower half of the top division.

Overall, Albion deserved the result, but if Izzy had made more of his chance this may well have been a 3-3 game .. possibly we may have won, even though against the odds.

This is a strange division ... a couple of weeks ago after the Burnley game, I was so annoyed that I could not be bothered to post ... and then we go on to win away at Cardiff, and demolish Ipswich in a superb first half.

Not many teams will win at the Hawthorns when they are in that type of attacking form ... a point mentioned by a few Baggies fans on their message boards ... this was one of their best displays of the season. We had a number of injury / suspension issues, some of our team were not on top form, we picked up even more injuries ... on another day under different circumstances, who knows!

As for my thoughts on the team:

Weaver - could have been a little more forceful at times, but had a good game despite conceding four
Semedo - not one of his best, but was not playing in his preferred position for a lot of the game
Powell - it seems wrong having a go as Sir Chris, but he was definitely not up to it yesterday, same as in the 2nd half against Ipswich last week. Maybe not fully fit yet, but I think time is beginning to tell
Sodje - I'm a big fan of Sodje, but today was not one to shout about
Bougherra - he's a tough player but needs to develop more of his game
Ambrose - after finding that he can play inside, we were forced to push him out again. Almost a cliche nowadays, but he will probably always remain an enigma for Charlton fans
Holland - been well up for it in last couple of games but tended to fade in and out for a lot of the game
Zheng - has been getting better and better and still signs that we have a lot more to see of ZZ
Reid - up and down game let's hope his injury is not bad
J Thomas - looked very dangerous against their inexperienced right-back
Iwelumo - scoring a goal whilst injured from a very difficult angle. No need to say more!
McLeod - maybe he just needs confidence but I keep shouting for him to shoot! Albion were doing it all the time
Varney - will he succeed or not. My vote is still out on this one

The main worry has to be the injuries to Big Chris, Reidy and Dazza - could be tough next week with this lot out as well. Key injuries gives Pardew Hull headache.

Ref was not bad this week but he should have a least given Pele a booking for his trip just outside the area on ZZ. Possibly a key, incorrect, decision at the time.

A few newspaper links from Iberian Valley.

Good reports from Chicago Addick , New York Addick - who blames the shorts ;-), and Blackheath Addicted.

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