Franny and the stiffs

Slipped into The Valley unseen for the second half of the reserves' match against Ipswich, to see two cracking Franny Jeffers goals and another from Jonatan Johansson add to what became a 4-0 victory. Franny was, quite simply, class. He's got to start against Liverpool on Saturday.

Not all was as good, though - at left back, Paul Konchesky looked as miserable as sin, while Jerome Thomas appeared to storm off the field right at the end of the match. While he didn't exactly cost us a fortune, what has gone wrong with our other ex-Gunner?

The Parker dance, part 2

Matt Holland puts on his shiny shoes and tangoes for the Press Association, as reproduced by The Scotsman...

"Scott is a terrific player and you want the team and the squad to be as strong as possible so of course you would want him back," said Holland.

"I don't think he fell out with any of the players.

"I don't know about the fans. It was a little bit messy for them, but I am sure after two or three good performances they would soon forget." (more)

Who's next to dance? A word of advice from housewives' favourite Chris Powell, being measured up for a new suit in London E13 for his next TV appearance? A shout from Deano? Let's wait and see.

Meanwhile, with Harold Phipps' FA Cup winner's medal going under the hammer tomorrow, is it too much to hope that someone close to the club is going to put his or her hand in their pocket? After all, I expect Kevin Lisbie earns that much cash in just a couple of days.

Oh good heavens, no...

... what has happened to cafc.co.uk? It looks awful, it's a bugger to navigate and... it's just dreadful! Suddenly things which were easy to find, like news, are buried deep within the site, while things which should be right up front, like ticket news, are buried like they always were.

I know a lot of work has been done on the stability of the site - if you run a website, you'll know people will moan when it goes down but you'll never get any thanks when it's available 24/7. But the actual look of it was fine - it didn't need a drastic revamp like it's just had. It looks like a "large print for the blind" site on my browser. Please, please, please... I hope this gets sorted. Soon.

Charlton 1-1 Newcastle

Proper match reports: BBC Sport, Sky Sports, Sporting Life, ITV Football, cafc.co.uk, Wyn Grant, everyone else too obsessed with Bellamy's hissy fit and Alan Shearer to bother with.

If there was a game which was the definition of a 1-1 draw, this was it. Both sides huffed and puffed, but neither could blow the other down. Off-colour attacks at both ends, fine goalkeeping by Shay Given and good work in our defence meant both teams cancelled each other out by the end of the match. I'm told it looked a good game on the telly as well, and for two minutes in the second half, with the rain swirling around, the sky almost black and both sets of fans singing, it reminded me why there's times when The Valley can have an unbeatable atmosphere.

Kevin Lisbie may not have got that equaliser, but his game's still good. Graham Stuart seemed to be running himself into the ground, while a returning Matt Holland led by example and ended the game with a big bandage around his head after a nasty clash with Shola Ameobi. Dennis Rommedahl hasn't quite clicked yet, but looked less lost than he has done this season, while Danny Murphy's poor final balls will be haunting him between now and our trip to Anfield next weekend. But our defence looked solid, and you get the feeling things are starting to pull together. The Liverpool game will be interesting, to say the least.

Of course, there's a more black and white view of the game available...

Let's all do the Parker dance

This is going to get boring over the next couple of months, but there does seem to be a series of carefully-choreographed moves designed to bring Scott Parker back.

Friday: Curbs tells cafc.co.uk he'd be happy to see Spotty back at The Valley. Remember how rare it is for Curbs to talk so openly about other clubs' players. (more)

Saturday: Parker an unused substitute in Chelsea's defeat at Man City. (Stop laughing at the back)

Saturday: Giles Smith in The Times: "If Gascoigne wanted to be completely overlooked and left to his own devices, he could always try calling himself Scott Parker. After all, it seems to be working for Scott Parker. Then again, does anyone actively wish to be that anonymous?" (more)

Sunday: Curbs in the Sunday Times on Franny Jeffers: "Franny had a similar experience to Scott Parker at Chelsea..." before his natural caution takes over. "It's like people talking about Parker coming back here — that looks like a good idea, but it might not work. Going back to your old club doesn’t often come off." (more)

Sunday: Parker in the News of the World: "if things carry on the way they are, I will have to review my situation and consider whether it might be in my best interests to carry on. Another factor I have to consider is my future with England. It's a big blow not to be involved. I can't expect to be in with a chance if I'm not playing first-team football." (more)

Don't say we didn't warn you, matey. Anyway, Curbs on Five Live just now: "If Scotty did come available, we'd be interested. I've spoken to Scott a couple of times since... if he becomes available, we'll have to see." Get ready for more of this over the next 12 weeks or so.

Gravesend & Northfleet 1-1 Exeter City

Proper match reports: BBC Sport, Whitebucket.net
A bit belated this one, but it was a good afternoon out at Stonebridge Road - £10 to watch a cracking game with a great atmosphere between two teams who seem to be going in different directions at the football system's crossroads. Exeter have struggled over the past few years, dropping out of the Football League in 2003 and are having difficulty making their mark on the Conference. Meanwhile, Gravesend have improved steadily since they were promoted a couple of years back, and are now possibly England's highest-ranked semi-pro team, sitting fourth behind Aldershot, Carlisle and Barnet in the fifth tier.

But could the Fleet hack it in the League? The signs are good - striker Roy Essandoh is the leading light of a hard-working, neat-passing team who found their game stifled by a Grecians side who looked to mount a smash and grab raid at Stonebridge Road. Santos Gaia's first-half goal was cruel on the Fleet, who did all the work during the opening period but got little reward for it. Essandoh and the Lisbie-esque Manny Omoyinmi (think Chris Powell's head on Kevin's body!) make a good pairing up front, although Omoyinmi struggled to get the ball much of the time.

It was Essandoh who plucked the Fleet's equaliser out of nowhere in the second half, booting it in from the edge of the penalty area, and giving the Kent side what looked like an unstoppable momentum. But they ran out of steam as Exeter defended in numbers, and eventually 1-1 seemed a fair result.

These are good times for the Fleet, although the looming threat of Gillingham moving into the Gravesend area (Paul Scally is reportedly in discussions with Gravesham council) is casting a shadow over the party. Oh, and there's the matter of the club's official website being an aborted fiasco, but that's another story.

G&N have looked at going pro, and CCTV is being put in to try to get Stonebridge Road - which has echoes of parts of The Valley in the 1980s - up to League standard. After Dartford's troubles and Maidstone going under, it's good to see a ray of sunlight for north Kent football after all these years. It's easy to get nostalgic for terraces and proper hot-dogs, and it's things can look rosier when you go to a game as a neutral. But forget Charlton's claim to be a "Kent club", I'd thoroughly recommend a trip to the Fleet to see what's hopefully going to be a success story in the making.

Here's to you, Johnny Robinson...

All the best to all-round footballing god John Robinson, who's moved from Cardiff to Gillingham and could well feature for the Jills against Sheffield United tomorrow. He's still living in Kent and was finding travelling to Cardiff tough, so Lennie's let him go. Considering Cardiff's awful fortunes this season, it could be a wise move. Although it is Gillingham, so it could be out of the frying pan... But at this point, there's only one question to ask - what was your favourite John Robinson moment? Me, it'd have to be that equaliser in the 3-3 against Manchester United. Go on, get the video of it out now. He scores, he runs, the camera bobs up and down because even the East Stand's going mental. Wonderful stuff.

Speaking of north Kent, I'll be taking in a bit of Conference glory-hunting at Gravesend & Northfleet this afternoon - they're playing Exeter, so it should be a good one.

And while I'm spreading love to our neighbours, here's a West Ham fan who is stripping off each time the Hammers get a win this season (not work-friendly). Thank heavens it's a woman getting her Irons out for the lads, and if this doesn't persuade Chris Powell to sign for them permanently, nothing will. (Thanks to Dead Kenny and Upton Lark for the link.) I daren't suggest any Charlton fan follows in her footsteps, though, for I hate to think whose bits we'd have to look at if we ever finish in the top six.

Real away supporters

I couldn't normally give a monkey's about England games, but having only seen the first 30 minutes, I have one question. Did that Charlton flag with "BEXLEY - KENT" on it stay in place for the whole game? Sky kept using it as some kind of weathervane to demonstrate how windy it was. It's good to see there are at least some Charlton fans willing to travel away. Hats off to them, if, indeed, their hats haven't been blown off already.

It feels like months since the last Charlton game, doesn't it? It probably doesn't help that the Arsenal game has already been erased from my head by this country's leading scientists. I love World Cups and European Championships, but international breaks leave me bored to bloody tears.

Hello if you've come from Millwall website House of Fun, whose readers reckon we have blogs because we're a bit sad. Well, speaking for myself, that's entirely true. But of course, it's not as if Millwall don't have bloggers either...

Selhurst Park uncovered

"It's only the other side of London, but could be on the moon. Boasts its own microclimate... it can be sunny and bright as nearby as East Croydon railway station but Selhurst Park is invariably grey, cold and drizzly." (more)

Britain's crappiest football grounds, in The Observer.

Parker's pen-portrait

There's been a Tony Hart moment at Netaddicks - they've been having an artistic afternoon...


Oh, and if you want a gift for the Chelsea fan in your life, step this way.)

(ta to Trevor and artist Roseandcrown.)