Charlton players hammer out a message for the manager and owners

Last week's humiliating capitulation at Portman Road was followed, almost inevitably, by a one-nil win at MK Dons in the week.

That was a result which signalled to this team that they had done the minimum to atone for their day off at Ipswich and once again give them, in their minds, the right to stroll about yesterday and wait for victory. In a match where we had more possession, we allowed lowly Morecambe to score three times and leave the Valley with the points. Goals from Rak-Sakyi and Scott Fraser reduced the arrears and made it look more respectable than it was. It was yet another result that belies the relative size of our club and another that is part of our gradual traducement.

Dean Holden talked through the key moments and the goals as he usually does but said there was "no way we can...finish our season with two defeats after losing to Morecambe and we have to put that right." It's becoming irritating hearing him trot out the 'atonement' line. There should have been no-way we conceded three at home to Morecambe, so we are more than capable of losing the last two, irrespective of the opposition. 

Once again though, the message from yesterday was loud and clear. This squad is nowhere near good enough and too many of them are not mentally strong enough to fight for results, throughout every game of the season. Too many don't concentrate and simply don't care enough to maintain a standard of play to secure matches we should be winning. 

I want to see all of those out-of-contract released. We will have a nucleus of six decent Academy players and hopefully six good loans which must be complemented by six frees who are better than what we let go. The icing on the cake would then be three or four better players who would need modest investment and around whom we can play with much stronger leadership and a collective desire to concentrate, play our football and win games. It's not too much to ask and the minimum I expect from any new owner with a modicum of ambition.

I'd love to see Cole Stockton up front. He shouldn't be beyond our ambitions.