Struggling addicks get the burnley blues

By Rob Virtue on March 12, 2008 1:27 PM |

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By Nick Martindale

If Charlton are to return to the Premier League next season it will be through the lottery of the play-offs after two defeats finally ended their distant hopes of automatic promotion.

Barring a cataclysmic collapse by the four sides above them – two of which have at least one game in hand on the Addicks – their season will come down to three all-or-nothing clashes at the end of a long and turbulent campaign.

That’s assuming they finish in the top six, of course, which is itself far from certain.

Somehow Charlton’s back-to-back defeats have seen them retain fifth place in the Championship, although the likes of Hull City, Plymouth and Burnley are now all no more than a point away.

Certainly if Alan Pardew’s side put in many more displays like they did against Preston North End last Saturday (March 8) they can forget all about play-offs, promotion and the Premier League.

That performance was as poor as anything Charlton have produced this season and the boos that rang out round The Valley at the final whistle left the players in no doubt as to just how unacceptable the fans felt it was.

Last Tuesday’s (March 11) trip to Burnley was a far tougher proposition and the Addicks were slightly unfortunate to come away with nothing, after succumbing to a fantastic strike by Wade Elliott from fully 20 yards out on the hour mark.

“Preston was our first game where we were really off the pace, but you couldn’t accuse us of that [against Burnley],” said Pardew. “I thought it was a game between two good sides, and we were very unlucky to lose.

“We’re very disappointed as we felt we played a very good game. It was an absolute wonder goal when we were in total control.

“We just need a break and I think we deserve a break. If they play with that level of commitment we’ll be OK. I thought we were unlucky, but the performance will make us stronger.”

Pardew came good on his pledge to ring the changes after being left shaken by the display against Preston.

Out went Kelly Youga, Lloyd Sam, Zheng Zhi and Luke Varney to be replaced by Ben Thatcher – for his first start since August – José Semedo, Jerome Thomas and ex-Burnley player Andy Gray, starting alongside new loan signing Leroy Lita.

The performance against Burnley may have been an improvement on last weekend’s but that a side of Charlton’s resources should be limping their way to the play-offs while sides like Bristol City and Stoke City close in on the Premier League reveals just how difficult the club has found its first season out of the top flight.

Yet in a funny sort of way being out of contention for automatic promotion could even help the Addicks in their bid to go up via the play-offs.

The team now face a real battle to retain their top six position and if they go on to do so will enter the play-offs with some sort of sense of achievement.

It is also likely to mean they will have finished the season strongly and should be able to take a degree of form into those vital games.

Contrast that with a side that has been in or around the automatic promotion spots all season but which misses out on the final day of the season.

Clearly a top-two finish would be far preferable but if Charlton are to go through the play-offs, this might not be the worst way to go about it.

Failing to finish in the top six, however, would make this season an abject failure for Charlton, who have also been rocked by the news that Peter Varney will step down as chief executive in June.

The board invested considerable sums in the team over the summer – mainly from the sale of Darren Bent – and expect a quick return to the Premier League before the parachute payments from relegation run out at the end of next season.

So when Charlton face Ipswich at Portman Road this Saturday (March 15) they do so knowing they cannot afford many more slip-ups. The rest of the season starts here.

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