A new Valley hero?

My first game at the Valley this season and three deserved points though in true Charlton style we were hanging on by the end. Having seen 7-8 games on TV before last night, it struck me how much more you gain from actually being at the game and I enjoyed it immensely. For me there was only one true star last night though there were several solid individual performances. It's been a while since a young player has arrived in the first team and displayed such confidence (bordering on arrogance) as Jerome Thomas. Some of his touches, particularly in the second half, were sublime and his ability to hold the ball up yet break with devastating pace was a joy to behold. I think we have found a true young star, the first since Parker (though he took a while to shine) and one who reminds me of Bowyer and even Paul Walsh on his emergence into the team in the 1980s.

Unfortunately the sight of Thomas terrorising defenders shows up the limitations of Rommedahl who looked entirely lost and frankly not good enough. He spent most of the first half looking inside, at one point standing well inside the left half of the field as we took a throw on that side. In my opinion he should be hugging the touchline for the entire game, looking to receive the ball at every opportunity and then do what he surely does best (though we've not seen it yet) ie. beating players for pace and whipping in crosses. With three men in central midfield, we don't need another player in there.

I was impressed with Kishishev thanks perhaps to his new go-faster haircut, and El-Karkouri proved his worth at both ends with a commanding performance. The fact that he is nearly impossible to distinguish from Fortune from a distance must prove a constant pain for the opposition. Murphy was solid though still gave the ball away too often, but had his individual effort tucked inside the post, he no doubt would have built confidence for the busy Xmas period. Still, it was nice to hear the Covered End singing his name.

Having seen us live, I've more confidence for the remainder of the season than I did from watching us on tv. It's a sign of a good team that you can win games when not playing great and that would probably describe last night's performance which was mainly workmanlike, Thomas' flair aside. With a series of winnable fixtures coming up, and even Arsenal looking vulnerable, we can now confidently look up at the top six for the first time this season.