Hello, is anyone still reading this? Depressing innit? It is bad enough having to watch the lads – you really don’t want to spend too much time outside the match itself thinking about what is happening. I didn’t have time to do a report after the Spurs game last week (honest) and I might have skipped this one because I was hoping to pop out for a round of golf. However, we are fairly close to that oil depot explosion (woke me up with a hell of a start this morning) so we’re meant to be staying indoors with our windows closed and the golf course is shut.
Do you realise that, after this one (and ignoring our glorious cup run), I have 11 more of these things to do before I sign off from Villa Park to see you all in the Championship? I only really have two reports. Report A – we were shite; Report B – we were unfortunate. Spurs was mainly a Report B match. Charlton was rather more Report A with a bit of Report B thrown in.
I was nacked by the time we go to the ground. Our lass and me had landed at Heathrow at 10 having flown overnight. It took the bliddy aircraft an age to get us unloaded and it was about quarter to 12 by the time we were in the car. Those of you unfamiliar with that there London probably think “Heathrow – London; Charlton – London”. Oh no. The places are opposite sides and there are about half a dozen possible ways to try to do it – each one of them the wrong one. I opted for the straight across route and was thinking I was doing OK until about seven miles away (OK, 7.2 miles – I am a sat nav junkie) when we started to crawl. The upshot of this was that we got into the boozer at about quarter to 2. My need for Guinness by this stage was such that Bob Geldof was close to organising a concert for me. Fortunately the lads we were meeting already had the beer lined up. Unfortunately they were at the bar next to the obligatory drunken Scotsman. What is it with these people? Why do they think we want to talk to them? Now that we have 24 hour drinking, are they having to organise shifts amongst themselves? In Scotland, who stands at the bar drunk accosting anyone who wanders in? Or do they have a sober Englishman drinking a diet coke, not talking to anyone, who they all get pissed off by?
Against Spurs we went three at the back – and despite letting in three (don’t we always) – it didn’t seem too bad. At the Valley we went back to two at the back – being Breen and Caldwell with Collins being dropped. What is up with Thomas Helmer Stubbs? Arca was back. Davis was back in goal. But most surprisingly Le Tallec was in for Stead – probably our best player over the last few games (why was he so crap before, when we weren’t being crap). I hate Le Tallec. I wish he’d feck off back to Liverpool or France or wherever. He is the one player we have who looks like something from our 19 point season. Having to watch us go down in style yet again is bad enough. The one saving grace is that, Le Tallec apart, we have a canny bunch of lads – not like the lot last time, where many of the players spent most of the season (or the previous close season in some cases) arranging their next deal and making sure they didn’t jeopardise it by getting injured.
Anyhow, what about the game I hear no one ask. First half we were looking OK. Nowt spectacular but were looking as good (or bad if you prefer) as them. Then right near the end, a really crap through ball was played which either Breen or Nosworthy could have got hold of and walked out of defence with. The only possible thing that could go wrong was if they bumped into each other. So 1-0 down.
Second half we should still be able to get back into it. The only possible thing that could go wrong was if we gifted them a goal right from the start. So 2-0 down.
Stead was on (hurrah) and was good – as was Arca. Whitehead was not up to his usual self but is still a canny enough player. Lawrence fell over. Stan Varga Bascilla attempted to pass the ball – initially to one of our players, but at the end he was just grateful if the ball left his boot and ended up going in the direction of another player. Leadbitter came on and, because we don’t really know him very well, impressed the impressionable (i.e. all of us – the only difference is some of us are involuntarily impressionable and some of us just want to be cheered up by anything that is not entirely negative). To be fair to him, he did get hold of the ball, look for another one of our players and attempt to pass to him (reasonably often succeeding) – a canny feat in the Prem and one (Whitehead and Stead apart) we struggle to achieve. To offend half of my loyal readers (hello Tony) he reminds me of a red and white shirted Lee Clark.
Partly cos they are shite and wanted to hold on to their lead, partly cos we were kicking towards us and partly because it was true – we actually looked OK in the rest of the second half. Kiely made a handful of superb saves and we should have had a pen. But isn’t that always the way.
Another defeat. Another big away following giving great support for our club. But 6 months of slow death still to come. At some stage we are going to have to make a decision about McCarthy. Not as a Prem manager but as the man to get us back up. If we believe that he can do again what he did so well last time, we should stick with him. If we don’t then what is the point? The only argument for keeping him would be the financial cost of getting rid of him. I don’t know. I was the last man standing on the pro-Reid issue so I am not going to get into this one. I know we all want Murray to go. But Murray as chairman is not the issue. It is Murray as owner. We can always get John Featherstone back to be chairman again (if he is alive – apologies if he is not, I’m not trying to be offensive here) as if that would do any good. But Murray as owner is going to be owner until someone with some money comes in and is prepared to take on a club going down with no assets and £40m of debt.
Have a happy Christmas and get yersels to the SoL on Boxing Day and Blackburn a couple of days later – you know it makes no sense. I’ll stay here this afternoon and watch this ever-thickening black cloud cover up more and more ahead of me – it is either that oil depot fire or my future supporting SAFC.