The valley view

By Hermann Hreidarsson on May 10, 2007 12:00 AM |

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THE mood has been sombre at the training ground this week. Monday night's home defeat against Tottenham Hotspur saw our seven-year stay in the Premiership come to an end, and it's obviously a very sad and disappointing time for everyone connected with the club.
I've been in this situation before, having experienced relegation with a few other clubs, but I have to say that it has not made it any easier.
We were faced with a very tall order having to beat both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool to stand a chance of staying up, and while the players gave absolutely everything against a very good Spurs side we knew we had a mountain to climb.

I've had a while to reflect on the season even though we still have a game to play at Anfield this weekend, and I think everyone is in agreement with the fact that it has been difficult playing under three different managers.
We've also had to cope with injuries to key players such as Andy Reid, Darren Bent and Luke Young, but you also have to admit that the league table doesn't lie and perhaps we didn't do quite enough to preserve our Premiership status.
The commitment of the players was never in doubt throughout the season, especially in our late run under Alan Pardew that saw us come so close to pulling it off, but our biggest problem was breaking sides down.
It's very tough to score goals freely in the Premiership these days and we have found that out to our expense this season. It's always vitally important that you stay positive and look forward in these situations, however, and there is a big belief among the players and at the club in general that we will bounce straight back.
In Alan Pardew everyone is sure that we have the right man in place to get this great club back where it belongs.
I'm sure the gaffer will do his utmost to keep as many of the squad together as possible and we also have some very good young players coming through.
Charlton is a club with very solid foundations and I'm sure Pardew will get the full support of the board over the summer in terms of finances to bring players in. What we have to do now is make sure we go to Liverpool and deliver as professional a performance as we can in the circumstances.
There is plenty of professional pride at stake and we will not want to end the campaign with a tame defeat.
I'd like to finish off by saying a huge thank-you to our fans who have been absolutely magnificent this season, and I hope to see you all back at The Valley for the next campaign.
Thanks as well to everyone who has been a regular reader of this column. It has been a pleasure for me to keep fans up to date with events at The Valley and I hope to do the same again next year.
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