Djimi Riddle

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

Our French-speaking new left-back would understand those sentiments for sure, and thus focusing solely upon his dismissal to explain today's defeat would give a false impression of our failings in my view.

Watching today's game was a little surreal in light of four debutants, a new boss after 15 seasons, and an away kit that makes us look like a cross between the All Blacks and London Wasps.

We took the lead against the run of play with a penalty that was as well-taken as it was spotted by the assistant referee. Dowie's post-match comment about the incident was odd to say the least, "I don't want to get into a habit of talking about referees but I'm just asking was it a goalscoring opportunity or not?" Whilst I admire his attempts to make a case for Gabbidon's dismissal, when was the last time you saw a player sent off for handling on the penalty spot? And if he is implying it was worthy of a yellow card (which it probably was), then given that he did not receive another during the game, what exactly is his point? We got a penalty and a goal - let's not hide behind spurious excuses.

Traore's sending-off did of course a) change the game, and b) suggest he has his IQ written on his shirt, as well as his squad number. However, whilst we looked relatively comfortable for the remainder of the first period (one outstanding Carson save aside), the second half was frankly so dire (ten men or not), that I'm baffled by Dowie's suggestion that the performance was satisfactory.

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm still one of those purists that expects top-level footballers to be able to control the ball, hold off an opponent and play a simple pass to retain possession. Instead, we have a group of players (midfielders particularly) who appear totally unable to play a simple triangle of passes to take out opponents for example. Most of the time the game seemed to be taking place all around Holland, Faye and Hughes with the mercurial Benayoun and ex-Addick Bowyer showing how it should be done. It was hardly surprising that our hard-working, but hapless and ill-protected defenders, resorted to pointless long balls aware of the inefficacy of players immediately in front of them.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to video the game, but I am convinced that there was not a single meaningful occasion when a Charlton player received the ball to feet from a teammate anywhere in the final third of the pitch. How can we expect to score goals from open play? Watch the West Ham move that led to Bowyer hitting a post and see what we are missing.

I will reserve judgment on Faye. However, as has been pointed out elsewhere, Andy Reid did more in 15 minutes than the rest of the midfield put together which at least suggested he has the potential to pull some strings. Meanwhile I don't know whether Kishishev was injured or not, but surely even his most vocal detractors would accept he has more to offer than Holland or Hughes. Up front, Hasselbaink and Bent were lively albeit starved of service. It's a slight concern that they're a little similar but it's the least of our problems right now.

Last Sunday, I suggested that "...Young/El Karkouri/Hreidarsson/Traore will lack nothing when it comes to raw physical presence, but fans may not need to fly to Edinburgh to see first-class comedy this month." If Traore's dismissal was merely tragi-comedy then West Ham's second goal was pure slapstick (how El Karkouri failed to get any contact with the ball on the line is certainly a mystery). In fairness, they did a reasonable backs-to-the-wall job but eventually caved in under enormous pressure.

It was interesting to note that Dowie was cavalier enough to keep two strikers on the field at all times - Curbishley for example would surely have withdrawn a striker, rather than Ambrose after Traore's dismissal. His vocal presence on the touchline was also a change from the more thoughtful approach of his esteemed predecessor. Other than that, I'm struggling to find positives.

It could be a long season.