madruss

Exactly. The improvement is there, but it's in terms of performances not points - which is why people get so frustrated. We're so much better than we were against, say, Huddersfield & Swindon. If the team that had played against Huddersfield had come up against Charlton they would've been destroyed. Instead we have a much improved side who were more than a match for the last team with a 100% record in League one. Looking at the next few fixtures, the wins will come.

I agree. This way he'll also be able to create space for Lambert, who had a difficult time of it against Colchester, mainly due to the fact that he was being double and sometimes tripled marked. With defenders being pulled all over the place by Waigo's (alleged) pace, Lambert will be more likely to get chances on goal

i know it's a cliche, but every great team is built on a solid defence. Make no mistake, our defending last year was abominable. A team would get a corner or Free-kick against us and they may as well have been awarded a penalty, such was our susceptibility at set-plays. We started the season with signs of the same frailties (See Swindon & Huddersfield away) every game since then we've improved in those areas and now have a very solid base that will be invaluable once the goals start flowing. That's one of the key reasons to remain positive IMO

Why stop at one? Perhaps a Dutch duo is the way forward, instilling their take on the modern new football phenomenon that is 'total football'

Still, pretty unforgiveable to not be able to pick Lambert out, he's big enough!!

Agreed. You could also argue that we didn't have a second striker, so ineffective was Paterson. Re: Mellis, I couldn't believe that he didn't manage to pass it to Lambert when through on goal. I was absolutely fuming that he tried to score himself. Similarly in the second hald, Thomson just had to put the ball across the area when in the same position, but somehow managed to hit the first defender's hip!! Infuriating

Using your poll criteria, Parkinson would have been sacked from Charlton last season. Yet now that he's winning games having had TIME to build his team, people on here seem to be holding him out to be a success that we should be aspiring to. Why not just go the whole hog and write it into his contract, 'at least 3 wins in the first 10 games or we'll get someone else in. We will ignore any signs of improvement during this period'

Agreed, I thought he was our best player today and was unlucky not to hit the target late on. He's exactly what we need in the centre, he makes space with intelligent movement, uses the ball well and is a great passer. It's not his fault that everytime he passed it to an 'attacking player' they proceeded to cross it into touch or hit it against a Colchester player. It should definitely be Hammond and Morgan in the centre, james was v.poor today

To be fair. I thought Hammond was class today, one of a very few positives along with solid defence

If Papa Waigo is in the Senegal squad then we won't get to see him on Saturday anyway. They've got a friendly against Angola http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=sen/fixturesresults/gender=m/index.html That'll mean Lambert & Paterson up front with no sub striker (unless Jamie White's available)

He also identified a lack of height in the side, mostly costing us at set-pieces, and signed 6 players over 6ft. Absolutely crucial for this league

It's good, but not as catchy!!

Absolutely delighted. Honestly, you wait 6 years for us to sign a brick s***house centre back and then two sign at once!!

I see dead people

You're spot on there. In our last away games, Kelvin Davis was the man of the match. This time around he was largely a spectator. Our weak areas (central midfield, height and dominance at set-plays..etc) are showing vast signs of improvement. The next stage is learning to kill teams off.

and we just lost to Swindon....it's true we're not the force we were!!

Rasiak's been on a 4 year contract yet I can think of quite a few loan players we've had in that time that have shown a lot more passion than he's ever done..Chaplow, Guthrie, Cork, all excellent loans that added real benefit to the side

Yeah but it doesn't matter how good he is though cos he's a loan signing FFS. I personally would be unhappy if we signed John Terry on loan

If the players aren't performing to any kind of standard and they're not doing the jobs they've been told to do, how are tactics going to make any difference? Or multiple substitutions for that matter?

A chance? A CHANCE? He's had his chance. A month of pre-season and 3 games and we're not walking this league yet. It's a disgrace. You do realise that if he'd made the substitutions that the fans had wanted yesterday we would have won 3-1 don't you? Yet he was completely unable to see this FACT. Pardew OUT

Maybe we can buy a month's worth of proper pre-season training with that 5 million..

So you wouldn't have endorsed Guthrie then? (who incidentally was key in our making the playoffs)

Good analysis. We had no outlet on the flanks today and not enough balls crossed into the box hence a lack of clear-cut chances. Still, a very solid back line and good foundations to build on for the season. Considering Millwall are supposedly one of the top teams in the league we should do alright this season.

Exactly!! People seem to be missing this point. We have a manager who has managed (successfully) in the top flight of English football. Last season we had a manager who had managed in the troughs of Dutch football with limited success. If that's not a major improvement, then I don't know what is!!