Norwich City 1 v Charlton Athletic 1

Charlton ground out a draw at Carrow Road as the Red Mist claimed another victim. For the third time in the last four games, Charlton had a defender sent off and it cost them two points. All this at a time when injuries are severely limiting Alan Pardew's options. Charlton's disciplinary record under Alan Pardew has been in marked contrast to that under Alan Curbishley where we were invariably in the running for the Fair Play award. Maybe that is more a reflection on playing in the Championship than anything attributable to management styles.

Jonathon Fortune and Danny Mills were spectators today having been sent off in recent games and Sam Sodje joined them following a two-footed tackle on Darel Russell after 30 minutes. It might have been so different if Sodje had managed to stay on the pitch as Charlton were leading thanks to a Zheng Zhi strike when he saw red. The Addicks had weathered the early Norwich pressure to breakaway and take the lead. Varney broke down the right and his cross was knocked back to Zheng Zhi who skipped passed the first challenge and beat David Marshall with a weak cross-shot. Jamie Cureton hit the side netting and Norwich finished the half attacking but couldn't get the equaliser. Nicky Weaver had made several good saves, the best coming from a Jason Shackell header after he had beaten Sodje to a corner.

Alan Pardew started the second half with Izale McLeod replacing Chris Iwelumo, whom I assume is still carrying a knock. Norwich were quick to re-start and Chris Powell had to clear off the line after a free-kick was headed passed Weaver. Charlton were inviting pressure but regularly counter-attacking, with Thomas and Zheng Zhi linking well on the break. Norwich upped the ante and Huckerby hit the side netting after 70 minutes. They weren't to be denied minutes later however, when Huckerby's corner was headed in at the near post by Darel Russell.

Dion Dublin was brought on to pressurise the Charlton defence in the final 15 minutes. Pardew responded by taking substitute McLeod off for Lloyd Sam, which doesn't say a lot for McLeod's chances of progressing his Charlton career when there is already plenty of speculation that he'll be pawned in January. Nicky Weaver saved from Huckerby on 90 minutes and Holland and Bougherra both blocked shots in the melee that followed. Charlton held on in the three added minutes for the point which pretty much maintains the status quo with the chasing pack.

Stoke equalised at Barnsley in the 90th minute. Ipswich and Wolves were both beaten by Leicester and Hull respectively. Below them, Plymouth beat QPR in the last minute and Palace won at Coventry. Unfortunately, Watford scraped a point at home to Cardiff earlier in the day and were joined on 44 points by the Baggies who humped Bristol City at the Hawthorns 4-1.

An even weaker Charlton side will take to the field at the Walker Stadium on Saturday and we will need another dogged performance to get anything from the game. The other fixtures on Saturday could see Watford and West Brom increasing their leads in the automatic places, so we will likely need to beat Colchester at the Valley on New Years Day to stay in touch with the chasing pack.

Pardew - that's the difference.

Like you I'm guessing, I have been reflecting on our second successive away win built on a clean sheet with a dominant midfield and a play-for-ninety minutes attitude. Apart for the obvious recovery from the disappointment of losing three in a week prior to that, we have re-asserted ourselves when we needed to and done what most people thought was beyond us. We are back in the hunt and chasing down West Brom and Bristol City for the second automatic promotion spot. So, what's different and who deserves credit?

First off, we have to acknowledge the efforts of the players. Nicky Weaver arguably had his best game so far at St. Mary's and commanded his defence to another clean sheet yesterday at City. Sam Sodje has been the main change in our Achilles Heel position this year at Centre Half. Jon Fortune would appear to look happier too playing alongside him. Grant Basey has come into the game too in the last three matches and done very well at left-back. He's obviously still learning the game but has already shown maturity and speed of learning. His elders and more experienced colleagues may find it hard to get back into the side at this rate of progress. Danny Mills has been the most consistent player of the season so far.

Thomas has been making a visibly greater effort since returning (still need more) and although we've been playing five across midfield at times, they have mostly continued the decent performances we've come to expect (or very decent in Reid's case). Big Chris has shouldered the burden of loan striker like Darren Bent did for most of the past two seasons and Luke Varney has shown his maturity as well in responding to his sidelining by playing with determination and focus when called upon to joined the fray.

For me, however, the biggest difference has been Alan Pardew's management. His reaction to all of our performances so far this season has been just about perfect. He reads the game brilliantly and judges the mood as well. He knows when to hold and he knows when to go. After the early season defensive bloopers he shared the supporters views and urged improvement. When there was none he acted by getting Sodje at the last minute. For me Curbs would have commented about bringing fresh faces in and then done nothing. He made no bones about the poor performance against QPR but avoided blaming individuals and instead took his share of the responsibility and directed the focus on our need to recover in the next two tough away games. He stood up for the players he's recruited and showed them faith. Curbs might have looked for other explanations and expressed concerns about the next two matches.

Having started 4-5-1 at Southampton Pardew's plans were rocked by the unfortunate dismissal of Semedo but he held his nerve and encouraged his side to hold possession and play in the Saints' half. This is a complete reverse of what Alan Curbishley would have done in the last few seasons as Charlton manager. He would have tried to shut up shop and take a point. Inevitably we would probably have put up a good showing but ultimately been beaten. Curbs would have used all of his defensive substitutions and Varney would only have come on for Iwelumo. At 0-0 with a minute on the clock, our lone forward would have been back in our box winning headers or at best hanging on the half-way line with the intrsuctions to head for the corner flag should he get the ball. Pardew's optimism won out here because we finally got our reward for being bold as the front two combined for the winner.

A similar tale for the City game too. Curbishley would have become concerned midway through the second half when City finally got a spell of pressure and cretaed some chances. He would have seen the threat to his point and we would have seen a defensive substitution as we retreated back to defend the draw. The point was obviously still in Pardew's mind but he was judging the game based upon our showing and could see we were holding own own despite City waking up and he held his nerve in pressing forward. He had changed already at half-time to a more attacking formation and it was working well, so why change it. I am sure we would have held on and deservedly claimed our point if we hadn't scored, but fortune favours the brave.

The players he brought in aren't Premiership quality but we paid Championship prices and Darren Bent's sale funded the lot. Buliding a complete squad from scratch with limited funds and competing pretty much from the off is a remarkable achievement. It owes everything to Pardew's knowledge and judgement of players and of this division. Maintaining that challenge and overcoming set-backs are the really hard parts and that comes from having the management skills and personality to re-organise and re-motivate your team.

Yes, I am an unashamed Pardew fan. It's hard to argue against the evidence. Long may it continue.

Charlton Athletic 0 v QPR 1

A disastrous week was capped today at the Valley with the poorest performance of the season and an embarrassing defeat by bottom-of-the-table QPR. Once again Charlton produced a stadium-emptying display for a watching nation on Sky television.

QPR were good value for the win and they should have had the winner even earlier in the second half having missed a penalty and an open goal. They were hardworking but their win was handed to them on a plate by a disinterested Charlton side. Varney and Iwelumo mis-fired throughout and our midfield was all over the place. Reid was subduded on the left in the first half and failed to up the tempo when he came into the middle after Semedo was substituted. Lloyd Sam had a poor game on his return from a three match ban but did come closest to scoring for the Reds with a second half free kick which Lee Camp pushed out.

The back four were again a major disappointment. Alan Pardew at least took some positive action after the midweek display by dropping Bougherra and starting Sodje at the back with Fortune for the first time. He also gave Grant Basey a debut at left-back and he was probably the only Charlton player to emerge with any credit. Sodje made two superb last ditch tackles but Fortune cantered through the game and again made several howlers, worst of which was his mis-timed tackle which gave Rangers their penalty. Turned inside out he waited until his opponent got into the box before bringing his man down. The resultant penalty was slammed off an upright by Rowlands and that should have been the wake-up call Charton needed but no-one looked that bothered and you knew what was coming.

Minutes later and Danny Mills, who looked more interested than the rest, was far too casual in the box and lost the ball to a Rangers player who amazingly failed to hit the target. They didn't have to wait too much longer though, another raid on the left saw Vine curl a deep cross which Weaver came for but never looked like getting. Weaver collided with Sodje and Nygaard, and went down looking for a free-kick as the ball fell to Bolder who fired home. There was still plenty of time left but we hadn't shown any urgency all day and continued at a pedestrian rate.

Alan Pardew should be furious after this performance but it's hard to see what options he has. Thomas came on for Semedo but failed to create anything and Izale Mcleod didn't touch the ball after coming on for Iwelumo with a good 15 minutes left. What we need is an international break but the last one doesn't seem to have done us any good. Two away games now look very difficult and we face running out a mid-table side in the next home game. The bubble has well and truly burst and we have a lot of hard work to do to turn this around.

Double-swoop boosts Addicks for Palace derby

Alan Pardew looks to be about to deliver on his plans to strengthen the Charlton defence ahead of the crunch Palace game - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/charlton_athletic/6954656.stm. The loan signings of ex-Valley favourite Danny Mills and Readings' no-nonsense Sam Sodje will add quality and bite to the Addicks defence.

Pardew has pulled off something of a coup here as both could reasonably have expected to stay in the Premiership. Both are experienced, this side of 30, and both will bring some quality, organisation and leadership. Mills must be favourite to start at Selhurst Park in the absence of Yassin Moutaouakil and I suspect Sam Sodje might warm the bench to help maintain concentration of the centre-back pairing. It's a risk introducing two new players in the same game at this stage of the season, so if Sodje starts I think it might reflect considerably more disappointment from Alan Pardew with his defence than he has previously let on. What Pardew has done here is act on his earlier warnings to his squad, something that Curbs was pretty poor at....

This match is traditionally Madras-hot and will be spicier still since we last met; Palace having been relegated in the last few minutes of that game; Richard Murray's dismissal of Simon Jordan following the match; the bag of chips that Simon Jordan carries on his shoulders about our club ever since.

Charlton will be roared on by their 2400 allocation on Saturday which is well down on what we've had there as visitors in the past. Maybe it's a reflection of a smaller capacity at Selhurst or perhaps all they can spare if they are confident of selling out? I guess they only get 3,000 at the Valley, so perhaps I shouldn't complain too loudly.

Palace have a settled squad of players and looked very well organised at Ipswich on Sunday, where they were unfortunate not have come away with something. They had a quiet pre-season in the transfer market and looked weaker to me for it. I was surprised therefore, with their opening day win at Southampton although their late-equilising draw at home to Leicester was more what I had half-expected and hoped for.

I would love to see Pards take a few gambles on Saturday and play with plenty of adventure. We have shown that we can buzz a bit going forward and attack may well be the best form of defence on Saturday, irrespective of who's in the back four. Either way, I can't wait. Who's for a song?

Show me the way to Sel-hurst park!