On the OS
"People had stopped trying to do their job, and were trying to do other people's. I genuinely felt we had players who were trying too hard, roaming around the pitch, and when you do that you're in trouble.
"I'm sure some Charlton fans are thinking 'I don't agree with that, I want to see some commitment and fight out there', but you don't want players wandering into other other's areas all the time.
"You lose your shape, then you're not putting pressure on the ball, then they have too much ground to cover to close people down."
The second half on Tuesday night was particularly hard to watch after Charlton had begun the match in such promising fashion, only to be denied by some fine goalkeeping by City's Adriano Basso and some wayward finishing.
"I thought we were competitive in the first half and a bit unlucky not to score," said Alan. "But unfortunately I keep standing here saying that, and that's something that has to change.
"When you don't score when you have a spell like that, you lose a bit of faith. We've then given them a goal and that knocked our confidence, we looked like it knocked the stuffing out of us.
"We talked about that at half-time, but unfortunately they had their best spell straight afterwards and scored in that spell, and after that, the second half was our worst performance this year."
When pressed further by the interviewer, Pardew illustrated his point by discussing the contribution of substitute Lloyd Sam.
The academy product entered the game destined for a right-wing role but popped up everywhere on the pitch - at one stage coming close to pulling a goal back following one mazy run down the left flank.
"Lloyd must have gone through the middle, popped up on the left, the right wing, in central midfield, but that's not what we wanted him to do," said Pardew, who had a lengthy discussion with his players in the dressing room after the game.
"Bless his heart he was trying to recover the situation by trying to do someone else's job, but we would have preferred him to stay out on the right. He could obviously cut in when he felt he could cut in, but he was to generally operate down the right and get crosses in. That what we wanted, and when he does do that, he's a very effective player.
"In all honesty, Lloyd will have a chance on Saturday," added Alan. "I have to shake the team up, because although we played brilliantly in the opening minutes and looked like scoring, we again have a nil next to our name.
"We have to focus on that. If we start feeling sorry for ourselves, blaming each other, looking for excuses - because we had none tonight, I think we were beaten by a better side - then we are in trouble. We must face facts and reality."
One player who endured a frustrating evening was striker Luke Varney, asked to play an attacking role in support of Andy Gray n the flank. He was denied by Basso several times, and when a close-range header in the second half drifted wide it summed up his night.
"I think Varney has been terrific this year, but he had a poor game," admitted Pardew. "I don't have a problem saying that. He is a player who when he gets a goal, he can get three; it's not going for him at the moment but he'll have to battle through that.
"He's got to hope he plays on Saturday because his position is under threat. That competition will hopefully breed confidence within the dressing room, but whoever plays on Saturday will have to go out and do the job that is asked of them.
"Not somebody else's job, just their job. We don't change our formation too much, we only generally play two systems, and I just want players who can come in and play the roles."
Alan Pardew said his main job before Saturday's match against Burnley would be to lift spirits and 're-energise' his troops, including Nicky Bailey
Pardew said his main job before Saturday's match against Burnley would be to lift spirits and 're-energise' his troops, including Nicky Bailey.
It was the midfielder's error, when he was caught in possession in his own half, that led to City's opener and brought a premature conclusion to Charlton's bright opening.
"The bulk of our work between now and Saturday will be to re-energise three or four players, Nicky being one," admitted Alan.
"His head went down a little bit. That happens, though, and I've seen it happen to the very, very best players, so there is no shame in it, but you can't let it happen two games running. When he gets back to what he does, he can give us a major lift on his own.
"We need to put that second half behind us, and focus on the good period in the first half, and the good periods that we've had all season.
"Unfortunately, they've only been periods, and it's that inconsistency that is a major problem for us. There are areas of the team that are very good, but that can turn very poor without any reason."
Pardew concluded: "We know we're not getting the sort of results we should with the quality of players we have, and we need to turn that around, and we need to do that on Saturday."
He's right about Lloyd Sam, shouldn't be playing like that. The players clearly feel under a lot of pressure and lack confidence. Hard to imagine Pardew ever sorting it out though.
Pardew kind of got us back to basics in his first few games here, against Fulham and Aston Villa etc, at least he knows we need to do that.
Don't agree Varney has been terrific though, he's there to score goals, Pardew called him his main man. He's worked hard and been dangerous, but no real end product just like Sam, Ambrose etc.
Comments
Well thats fair enough, but I meant more that he's still drifting in and out of games, and struggling to find any consistency.
give McLeod twelve games, and some of the recent chances Varney has missed, and I'd wager he'd score more than 2.
or Dickson.
This is the truth.
MacLeod is the answer
He could of stayed out wide right and been as effective as bouazza.
His point is he shouldn't have to come into the centre or move to the other wing to get the ball.
Ah! The Ambrose stats once again
give McLeod twelve games, and some of the recent chances Varney has missed, and I'd wager he'd score more than 2.[/quote]
MacLeod is the answer[/quote]
This is the truth. I wonder if they'd make a good partnership? Mcleod n Dicko[/quote]
Not sure McLeod and Dickson would work. Would pair one of them with Todorov or if he's not fit, Gray.
Whether either would have done any better is a matter of opinion but considering where we are, the question is, could they do any worse.
I along with many others were moaning about the fact he wasn't doing anything effective and needed to be dropped.
He missed 3 on Tuesday, one early doors at Cardiff when he fell over and at least 1 or 2 most matches. Love his effort and think he should be out wide left and drop Bouazza who has been diabolical in every game apart from Reading.
the 1 on 1 on 39 seconds v Bristol, the header from 8 yards v Bristol.....
He's working hard, getting in positions to score but not scoring.
Still not sure that Dickson or McLeod are the answer but until they are given a chance we'll not know. Dickson looked lively when he came on as you expect but put a good headed change wide.
and I had left by the time of the header!
Plastic fan ; - )
Oh yeah, now is there an M&S near the Valley so I can get a prawn sarnie, what what old chap