I am a Seagull

No I haven't gone loopy or all existentialist on you (some might disagree), but for one week only I will be supporting Brighton and Hove Albion in the Championship Playoff Finals and here, in my completely biased and non-factual reasoning is why.

Brighton's path has gone through similar trials and tribulations to that of Charlton so many of us have a deep empathy with them.  They've had to ground share at Gillingham for a while and have had a long and arduous battle with the local council to get planning permission for the superb Amex stadium (all sound familiar?).  Following years of what some have called financial mismanagement they appear to be on a prudent financial footing and have a good manager in the form of Gus Poyet.  If they get promoted I will miss our trips to the coast, but I feel that they do deserve another crack at the Championship. 

Watford, or to give them their real name the Udinese B team, have forced their way into the playoffs through a group of loan players.  While I have a lot of admiration for Zola, this is not what I call a proper team and for me personally I don't see Watford as having earned their spurs to have a go at the Premiership, for this year at least.

No further explanation is needed as to why I don't wish to see Crystal Palace in the Premier League but I will tell you anyway.  I want to see more London derbies next year and continue our rivalry for at least one more year and claw back some bragging rights after losing the double to them this season.  However at some stage I really do want to see a head to head between Ian Holloway and Paulo de Canio for purely entertainment purposes.  This could be a distinct possibility next season given Sunderland's current position.

Finally, have you noticed how returning former Charlton players keep on scoring at the Valley?  Well we now have our own man in the form of Yann Kermogant who just can't stop scoring against his old team Leicester.  It would be a shame if he could not to keep on haunting them with his trade mark "Sssshhh" at least for another season, so please Leicester stay down and keep us company for another year.

Hence I am a Seagull for a short while before returning to being an Addick.

All the Charlton talk today will undoubtedly be on the release of Wagstaff, Fuller, Kerkar and Taylor.  I have seen young Waggy grow up through the Charlton ranks and there is plenty more to come from this fellow if he is given the game time.  I've had compliments about him from other team's fans and I am sure he will find a suitable home.  Fuller was class but I believe the financial pressures at Charlton meant that we really needed more game time from him to afford a further contract.

Update
In my last blog I mentioned ex Charlton youth Sean McGinty who had gone to Manchester United.  By coincidence he popped up as a trialist at Leicester City under 21s in their game against Cardiff last night (source @CAFCofficial on twitter) where he scored an own goal.  If the press reports are correct I don't think this has been his only own goal recently.

Fuller's a Wiley Old Fox

No, I'm not referring to the latest concoction to come from the West London Brewery, but Charlton's centre forward Ricardo Fuller who effectively won the game for Charlton on Saturday with his tactics.  His year's in the premiership paid off when he managed to earn us two set pieces that eventually won us the game after being 2-0 down after 20 minutes.

A win was required at the Valley

The experienced forward first broke free from the pack connecting with a long ball kicked out by the defence.  His pace was never going to beat the Bolton defenders to goal, but they chose to cut across his path which was his cue to take a tumble.  The contact was minimal but referee Kettle's view was such that it could only mean a second yellow card for the defender who was dismissed.  The resulting free kick from Kermogant was well struck and resulted in a goal by Dervite from the rebound.
The second incident was a Fuller classic, that we have seen a number of times, as he was clipped while charging into the 18 yard box. I was surprised to see Kermogant step up to take the resulting penalty as he's not our regular from the spot.  Another blogger (thank you Dr Kish!) has pointed out that as Fuller was injured he had to leave the field of play unable to take the penalty, hence the change.  While Fuller is a master of this tactic, I am surprised that we don't see Pritchard getting more penalties.  His lighter frame, faster pace and somewhat awkward style would make him a trickier contender for opposition defences and he should attempt a few more runs into the box.

As I said in a previous posting, Fuller has to start the game to achieve these outcomes.  While I have every respect for Danny Haynes and would like to see him start too, his pace makes him a far more dangerous impact subsititute over Fuller.  As Fuller can't play the full ninety minutes anymore this seems a good compromise.

Bolton are a team of large players but they seem to be taking too many tips from their rugby playing neighbours.  I counted three rugby tackles on the Charlton players including a head dump on Kermogant and a high neck tackle on Pritchard, both of which would have been a sin bin offence and earned a citing after the game in rugby.

We still have a tough run in to the end of the season starting with Brighton on Tuesday, but with 50 points I feel a lot more comfortable than I did at 3.20 on Saturday afternoon.  I hope that Fuller's shoulder keeps him in contention for the run in but the win will have bolstered the whole squad and we have a good travelling contingent for the trip to the Seagulls.

I celebrated with a few pale ales from and and resolved not to delay renewing my season ticket until the last minute.

Happy Easter