Charlton 1-3 Wolves

Oh dear. And the afternoon had started so well! Nicky Bailey's thumping volley less than five minutes in (reminiscent of Robin Van Persie's effort a couple of seasons ago) had raised expectations of another Reading-esque performance, but unfortunately Charlton were nowhere near that level on Saturday. Credit where credit is due however, Wolves looked like a very good side and well worth their early season position at the top of the table. They simply didn't give up, eventually breaking us down to get all three points.

I'm not going to go into the match in detail as plenty of blogs already have excellent reports up. It's fair to say though, that we were lucky to go in at half time still in front. After the goal went in, we seemed to look in control for the next twenty minutes before letting it slide away. The warning signs were there when the half time whistle blew, although had we gone two in front then it may have been a different story. Yet we never showed any degree of attacking flair after the break. I didn't really see Bailey's challenge which gave away the penalty, but once that went in it was always going to be a case of 'when' rather than 'if' the men in gold stole in for the points.

There were a number of disappointing Charlton performances on Saturday. Weaver was at fault for at least one of their goals and his distribution was poor throughout the game. In defence, I thought that Youga looked like a headless chicken, Fortune looked slow and awkward, and Cranie gave a performance which did nothing to suggest he is a better option at right back than Yassin. Disappointing. Only Hudson had a decent match and he looks to be captain dependable.

Our midfield never really seemed to get going unfortunately. Nicky Bailey's goal was sublime and, despite giving away the penalty, he had another superb game. He was all over the pitch, although he seemed to be harshly penalised too often by the referee when making tackles on the edge of our area. Holland had a fairly indifferent game and, calamity free kick efforts aside, did nothing of note. On the wings, Bouazza had a great first half and showed he isn't afraid to have a go at goal, but unfortunately he faded in the second and became a virtual passenger. Lloyd Sam had a very frustrating game, his forays down the right all too often ending in nothing. Up front, Gray was practically anonymous and Varney didn't have a much better game.

I must say, I continue to find some of Pardew's decision making very baffling. For example, why have Linvoy Primus on the bench if, by his own admission, 'he needs a bit more work'? Why wait so late to bring in Chris Dickson when Andy Gray had had such a poor game? Why replace Sam with Basey and not Ambrose, forcing Bouazza to switch to the right and upset the balance even more? If I was Jose Semedo or Yassin Moutaouakil I'd be getting seriously pissed off if I wasn't even making the bench and Pardew needs to have a long think about how he is going to balance the side and keep everybody happy.

Defeat was a disappointment but we now have two matches in the space of week to try and put things right. Away matches against Doncaster Rovers and Nottingham Forest are tricky fixtures though and will give us some indication as to whether this team has it in them to compete in this division this season. We need something out of both of them though or else already diminished expectation levels will be pushing a new low.