LAST night’s defeat to Watford was a case of one step forward, two steps back for Addicks columnist MATIAS GREZ after the recent results against Blackburn and Ipswich.

AFTER going 1-0 down early on against Blackburn on Saturday it looked as though Charlton’s change in fortunes, which started against Ipswich, was going to be short lived.

When the Addicks were awarded a penalty, it looked as though the good luck had been rediscovered, but those hopes disappeared just as quickly with Johnnie Jackson squandering the spot kick.

However, barely a minute later the skipper was on hand to deflect in Danny Hollands’ wayward shot, relief etched across his face.

From then Charlton never looked back and if it wasn’t for some lax finishing, heroic defending and outstanding goalkeeping from Paul Robinson then they would have run away with the match and taken all three points against the pre- season favourites for the title.

Unlike the recent performance against Derby County when Charlton crumbled pitifully after going down to an early goal, they showed the same grit and determination that was on show against Ipswich.

But there was a big setback last night when we were beaten 2-1 at home by Watford.

I knew the Hornets had signed the entire Udinese youth team this summer but was anybody else aware of their newest summer signing, Mike Dean?

I’ll presume they signed him on a free transfer after the Premier League decided not to renew his contract after a season of poor performances.

As badly as all the officials performed – one of the linesman seemed to be unaware he was even holding a flag in his hand, such was the rarity in which he used it - there is absolutely no way Charlton should have lost that match after being a man to the good for the entire second half.

Bad luck can only be the scapegoat for sloppy finishing for so long before it becomes apparent to even the most biased fan as to what the problem really is.

I’m not going to sit here and lay into the players this week because the vast majority of them looked good for large periods of the game.

However, this bad luck nonsense needs to stop.

Chris Powell, for some unknown reason, seems compelled to wait until the final 10 minutes to make any substitutions.

Every match.

It’s as though he feels he needs to prove his way is the right way and is too stubborn to make changes any earlier.

Bringing on Rob Hulse or Abdul Razak, both players with Premier League experience and the latter with an international cap, during the period of Charlton domination would have hugely increased the side’s chances of coming away from the game with something to show.

With Charlton chasing the game at 2-1 down, I’m certain every fan at The Valley would rather have seen the newly-fit Scott Wagstaff, or the newly-signed Razak, come on as opposed to Bradley Pritchard, a player who is undoubtedly more useful when trying to see out a result.

On a positive note, Dale Stephens’ through ball for Ricardo Fuller’s goal was absolutely outstanding and, dare I say it, Premier League quality.

Oh, and Ben Hamer needs to stop telling me to chin-up at the end of every defeat and instead focus on not picking up back passes.

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