Charlton Athletic 1 v Sheffield United 3

A day that has long been predicted came to pass yesterday; Charlton Athletic were easily beaten again at home; we got the five goal spanking that's been coming for weeks and, finally, Alan Pardew has been sacked.  The false optimism of two half-decent away performances couldn't disguise the drivel we've been served up at the Valley for most of the season and the last four home matches in particular. He had to go.

The starting formation was like looking into the eyes of Audley Harrison. It was obvious we were going to lose. I thought Mr P had learnt this lesson. You simply can't expect to win matches playing 4-5-1 unless you have superior midfielders (which we simply don't have) and you have to play to win matches at home. 

It took Sheffield United a whole seven minutes to open the scoring and the goal was soft. United broke down the right and a superb cross found Greg Halford at the far post. He could probably have scored himself but instead he held the ball up for a second before rolling it into the path of Kevin Beattie. Halford nearly scored minutes later from 40 yards when he caught Weaver out of the six yard box but his lob struck the bar and post before spinning out. Amazingly, Charlton equalised after 15 minutes when Linvoy Primus headed home unopposed from a Bailey free-kick. We didn't deserve parity and it didn't last long. Sheffield United were dominating possession and they were breaking in numbers whenever we we did get forward. Brian Howard's free kick after 29 minutes was glanced on by Gray Speed and it beat Weaver easily. 

I had been texting a mate in the ground about the score and predicted the third before the break. It came courtesy of another Weaver clanger. Throughout the first half Weaver spent as much time as he could patrolling the edge of his area so as to distance himself from the abuse he was getting from fellow citizens for being a"fat, greedy"  Wednesdayite. It was from this position that he dropped a catch and Kilgannon simply swept it in to end the match. I say "end the match," but there was, of course, another half to be played. However, it was effectively the end for me as I left for the warmth of the Royal Oak at half-time telling my step-father I couldn't bear to watch the next two goals.

A strange thing happened in the pub. First, there were only two of us who had left early and, secondly, no-one else came in after the fifth went in after only 53 minutes. That would normally have been a cue for a mass exodus. Maybe they all stayed behind to demonstrate, but I suspect plenty left but were too sick to stomach a drink. 

In the cold light of day, this game will be seen as a blessing for finally putting us out of our misery. I was as enthusiastic about the appointment of Alan Pardew as anyone. I was very impressed with his approach, the way he spoke to the media and his analysis of the game. However, he began to lose his way in the second half of last season and all of a sudden his pre and post-match comments began to sound very familiar and hollow. NYA hits the nail on the head perfectly in his piece on this yesterday. Pardew became tiresome, a bit like Arsene Wenger did when we all realised that he watches games with one-eye shut. More importantly, he had obviously lost the squad. The inept home performances against Burnley and Barnsley confirmed that and the Board should be given some credit for at least giving him a final few games, something they didn't give Iain Dowie. 

The big question now is who? Curbishley won't come back and I believe the Board will want a shake-up from someone new, which would rule out Parkinson and Kinsella. Parkinson has temporary charge but you have to assume that is merely protocol and that he will be heading for the door once a replacement manager is announced. The Board have obviously been contemplating the next move for a number of weeks like we have and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there is an annoucement later this week. We can't afford to have the current run of results continue for more than another week or two, or we will find ourselves seriously adrift at the bottom with Forest and Rovers.

QPR looks like mission improbable and we then host a poor Southampton side who have managed a couple of good away wins recently, most notably at Reading yesterday. It needs to be said that we are looking like strong relegation candidates now and it will take a major confidence boost of Harry "Fucking" Rednapp proportions to get it.