Charlton v Southampton Preview

Posted on | November 28, 2008 | No Comments

Charlton are playing their first home game since Alan Pardew’s dismissal and should feel as though they have an excellent chance to beat Southampton and maybe exit the relegation zone. Saints are just a couple of places above them in 20^th although after a tremendous 2-1 victory away at Reading last week and a draw against Plymouth, they will be heading into this fixture with plenty of confidence.

Phil Parkinson is the current caretaker manager at The Valley and his first game in charge finished on a bit of a sour note. It looked as though the Addicks may record a very good point away at QPR, only for Dexter Blackstock to bounce late on and send them home with nothing. That result means they’re still in the relegation zone although Parkinson will be hoping that his new recruits will help pull them out of this mess. Despite only being the temporary boss, the Charlton board has allowed Parkinson the chance to bring players in and he’s done exactly that by recruiting Deon Burton, Keith Gillespie and Jay McEveley. With the board giving Parkinson so much of a say in transfer activities, you’d have to imagine that he’ll be one of the frontrunners to land the job permanently should results start to improve.

Southampton recorded a massive and thoroughly impressive win over Reading last week and built on that with a 0-0 draw with Plymouth Argyle. Jan Poortvliet decided not to act before Thursday’s loan deadline and his Saints side has undergone no changes which is dissimilar to many other sides of the division. While recent results have been encouraging, there’s no doubt that the upcoming weeks will provide the biggest test for the St Mary’s side though. With fixtures against Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest coming up, the weeks leading up to the festive period could be do or die for Saints and its important they capitalize.

After making three loan signings this week, Phil Parkinson’s team selection is likely to be quite different to the one that started against Sheffield United last Saturday. Deon Burton, Keith Gillespie and Jay McEveley all signed during the week and it’ll be interesting to see if they all make starts. As for Southampton, Jan Poortvliet has a few problems coming into this one with Michael Svensson, Jason Euell and Tomas Pekhart all out. Svensson and Pekhart are suffering with Achilles and ankle injuries respectively, while Euell serves the final game of his three match suspension.

As for a prediction, this has a Charlton victory written all over it. Phil Parkinson proved when he was at Colchester what a good manager he was and after freshening up the team with new loan signings, they’ll be up for this. Southampton have done quite well recently but we can’t see their small unbeaten run continuing – 2-0 home win.

Related posts:

1. Southampton v Charlton Preview
2. Reading v Charlton Preview
3. Charlton v Nottingham Forest Preview
4. Charlton v Coventry Preview
5. Charlton v Norwich Preview

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