Hi all,

I have an interest in the "rock bottom" market. At the beginning of the season, it seemed a reasonably safe bet that either Watford or Sheffield would finish rock bottom, and until the last month this had been working out. Surely Charlton's early season form must surely have been just a 'blip'. On paper Charlton's squad looks much stronger than Watford's and the Blades.

However, the market has now changed as as reports have raised the prospect that the Valley is becoming a Muppet santuary. Reports are unclear about how many of them there are among the board, or among the managerial or playing staff. These creatures, loveable as they are, are not known for their managerial acumen, their marksmanship, their fighting spirit, or their ability to defend a 1 goal lead.

Saturday against Sheffield was a crucial game for Charlton.  I could not believe my eyes when I looked at the BBC stats in-play on Saturday afternoon. I thought it was a mistake, a typo.... I couldn't believe it was true. Sheffield were showing attacking stats usually only obtained by Man Utd, Arsenal, and (on occasion), Liverpool and Chelsea. It finished with Sheffield having 10 shots on target, 16 shots off target, compared with 4 on target and 4 off target for Charlton.

This does not bode well for Charlton, who are now second favourites for the wooden spoon. It is, however, very encouraging for Sheffield. At least two things can be taken from the stats from Saturday's game.

a) Charlton are currently a poor team, and their recent managerial change has not helped. I thought Dowie seemed to be a promising, if slighly frightening, young(ish) prem manager.  Perhaps the Charlton board should fire their latest manager and bring in Miss Piggy. David O Leary is stll out of a job at the moment ;-)

On paper Charlton have a squad good enough to avoid the wooden spoon, including some international level players. But they are cocking it up big time. Their next game against Blackburn at home is a "must win", according to the Charlton manager (Reid?), but on current form, Blackburn should start marginal favourites, and "must win" games have a habit of turning into morale sapping defeats.

It underlines what a shrewd manager Curbishley was for Charlton in getting his players to perform at a level to keep Charlton in the top division year after year. Curbishley appeared to me to exude a quiet menace in tv interviews,a man not to be crossed.
 
Maybe Reid should post up the poem 'IF' in the dressing room (). It seems to have helped Luton this weekend! Or he could get the team to watch a Muppet Xmas special.

b) Sheffield are better than they have been given credit for. There were signs of this in their games against big four opposition, notably against Liverpool early in the season, and again against Man Utd, where they only lost narrowly. I haven't seen many of their games on tv, but these results, in which they avoided being overwhelmed, may turn out to be good reference points.

Neil Warnock seems to be enjoying his time in the Premiership spotlight. It is well deserved. He is every inch a shrewd premiership level manager. He has been underrated in his career. Punches pound-for-pound like more like an O'Neil than an O'Leary.  His post-match interviews are the proverbial "breath of fresh air", and he seems perfectly in his element in the premiership environment. He done a fantastic job for the Blades and the supporters love him for it. Pity he has said he will retire.


In my assessment, Charlton look like they will be relegated and will contend with Watford for the wooden spoon. Sheffield appear to have a fighting chance of escaping - so the teams around them will have to keep on their toes!

all the best,

FT