Saturday 19 December 2009

Welcome back, Chris Dickson

The club's E mail bulletin reports: 'Charlton's striking ranks are set to swell after the weekend, with Chris Dickson's loan spell at Bristol Rovers coming to an end after the Pirates take on Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

"He's scored four goals for Bristol and has done well there. We'll get to January and assess the situation," said Phil Parkinson.

"But from next week, he's back training with us and in contention for a place. Bristol haven't said they don't want to sign him, but my thoughts are that if they haven't opened discussions to keep him permanently, then they're happy for him to come back."'

In other words, the Gasheads do not think he is the secret weapon that some Charlton fans rate him as. Of course, they may argue that he has never been given a run in the team, but has his form ever justified that? In my view it's a big ask for someone from the third tier of the non-league (which I watch frequently) to adjust to League 1 football.

It looks as if we have three strikers who will rotate out on loan: Stuart Fleetwood (another non-league acquisition who has only appeared in a friendly), tartan hero Izale McLeod and Dickson.

Fortunately, it looks as if Mooney may stay on given the availability of players returning from injury at Reading. Akpo Sodje may be recalled as Wednesday attempt to get themselves out of the mire.

I haven't done a match preview for Millwall because this is so well done by Charlton Athletic Online and Iberian Valley among others. However, I am forecasting a 1-1 draw for today's Sarf London derby. Let's hope that the spirit shown by the two clubs in the approach to the match in emphasising their dedication to combat street violence is reflected in the behaviour of the fans.

Should we lose (I don't think we will), expect the moaners (who have been quiet recently) to come out of the woodwork to denounce Parkinson. I was talking to a friend who is a keen Huddersfield fan the other week. I was impressed by Bruddersfield when they came to The Valley, but he reckons the automatic promotion places have already been booked by Leeds and Charlton.

Gloomsters have been pointing to our poor record in the last ten matches of the season, but I think this was primarily a feature of the Curbishley era. Particularly when we were in the Premiership there was a tendency to take out foot off the pedal when the 40 points safety marked had been passed. Also, to be fair, the squad lacked real strength in depth and injuries and suspensions took their toll as the year wore on.

Enjoy the game!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Indeed, I heard Curbishley say recently that once we reached the 40 point mark he'd start to turn his attentions to looking for players to sign in the summer. Certainly explains our notorious end of season lulls.

Don't understand the 1-1 pessimistic prediction, 4-0 for me, no seriously.