Silent unrest - SE3Addicks's FotoPage - Photos by Charlton Athletic fans

On match days our group of supporters that meets in the Rose of Denmark has a simple score prediction competition - the pot is shared between everyone who correctly predicted the final score.

When we were in the Premiership it was generally won by someone each week and only occasionally was there a 'rollover' to the next match. Since we've been in the Championship it's been quite different and on several occasions a sizeable pot has accumulated. By last night, with no one having correctly predicted the score in the previous four home games, the pot had reached £92 as we took our seats.

It certainly adds to the buzz of the evening when you're into the last ten minutes of a game with the scoreline either matching your prediction or just one goal away. I'd gone for 1-2, so I was out of it when our second goal went in, but I was sitting next to the chap who'd predicted 2-2 and whose loyalties were divided as the clock ran down at 2-1. In the end we reasoned that his feelings in no way influenced what happened on the pitch. When the second Cardiff goal went in at least he had something to balance the disappointment of another poor result.

Our defence is dreadful - just look at our goal difference and league position. Darren Ward had another steady game, so the spotlight falls on 'Mr. 'Udson'. Frankly. I think he's had a dreadful season, and recent interviews that indicate that he wants away because we're not good enough for him leave me hoping that we cash in and send him on his way, i.e. *he's* not good enough for *us*.

And in a leaky defence why on earth do we persist with the desperately unpredictable Kelly Youga? His concentration is dreadful, and his performances are made worse by rushes of blood to the head where he utterly lets us down. We've got a steadier, less cocky alternative in Grant Basey.

But the blindingly obvious problem is that no one seems to want the ball and it gets passed around as anxiously and carelessly as a ticking time bomb. On top of that, more than enough players seem to be thinking that Charlton's plight isn't their problem as they'll be off at the end of the season.

Another irritating point - why the hell are we still playing so many loan players when we're already relegated? Why not blood some of our home-grown youngsters ready for League 1? Or is it an unpleasant truth that we just don't have any quality coming through?

There just has to be a huge question mark over Parkison's future. His record is Won 3 Drawn 11 Lost 12, i.e. 20 out of 78 points. If he'd been made caretaker manager until the end of the season we could simply have let him go, but now we're faced with yet another payout if we want him to go - and we do.

There's no confidence that the rot has yet stopped. We still haven't bottomed out, and look set to struggle next season as well. The club seemingly budgeting to spend only one season in League 1 looks ridiculously optimistic at present. Strangely, one problem seems to be the calm acceptance of our situation by supporters. You'd have thought that by now there'd be rising pressure from the terraces for some sort of solution, but the board is being given all the time it wants as far as the fans are concerned, it seems.

However, the warning signs were there last night with a half empty stadium. This would be a good time for some sort of decisive announcement from the club that gave supporters hope for next season and encouraged them to renew their season tickets. At present, lowered prices or not, many of us are caught in indecision about whether to commit our hard-earned up front to a club that's adrift as far as leadership is concerned, mainly on the pitch but seemingly also elsewhere.

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