Charlton beats Portsmouth, manager probably finished

I figured the first manager this season to get canned would be Graeme Souness over at Newcastle but it looks like Alain Perrin is going to lose his job as Portsmouth manager after tonight’s 2-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic.

Charlton came from behind and remain unbeaten away from home. Portsmouth on the other hand still remains winless at home.

While Pompey started the game brightly with a 14th minute Dario Silva goal, their belief faded fast when Charlton drew level in the second half. From that point on it was more or less one way traffic as Charlton eventually secured the winning goal in the 77th minute.

Darren Ambrose and Dennis Rommedahl were the goal scorers for Charlton.

Portsmouth, lacking points in the Premiership table, have at least been entertaining to watch. It was a good match with flowing football and good passing. Perrin, for all the pressure he is under, has at least provided the fans something to see. Playing with a single striker up front the team was still able to produce good football.

Compare that to Moyes at Everton and you have a good case to keep Perrin around. But this loss, a failure to beat 10 man Birmingham last week, and a recent Carling Cup exit to Gillingham is probably too much. What was dismaying was the team’s attitude after the equalizer; Chairman Milan Mandaric must be mulling that over for sure.

Charlton, for their part, won with what has been their strongest asset this season. They are a good passing team. Second in the table, level with Tottenham on points, they are doing it without the millionaire names we see underneath them.