It’s been a great 12 months

It’s been a great 12 months.”Charlton are, at the moment, a team that is far greater than the sum of their parts. Perhaps we’re doing too well.”However, the feeling that Charlton just get by anonymously and, despite Curbishley’s protests, are happy with that was reinforced when he added: “This system is very unrewarding sometimes. This was their third victory in four Premiership games, which is all the more remarkable given the meagre resources at his disposal.The goal came from Morten Gamst Pedersen, four minutes after LuaLua’s dismissal, for which the Portsmouth player apologised. The Norwegian was picked out by Thompson’s incisive pass and calmly lifted the ball over Shaka Hislop with the outside of his right foot. It was a fine finish, out of keeping with what went on around it.Goal: Pedersen (55) 0-1.Portsmouth (5-2-2-1): Hislop; Stone (Taylor, 20), Primus, De Zeeuw, Stefanovic, O’Neil; Faye, Berger; LuaLua, Kamara (Fuller, 86); Yakubu. Substitutes not used: Ashdown (gk) Unsworth, Hughes.Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2): Friedel; Nelsen, Todd, Mokoena, Johansson; Emerton, Tugay (Reid, 76), Thompson, Pedersen; Gallagher (Jansen, 74), Dickov. Substitutes not used: Enckelman (gk), Stead, Gray.Referee: A D’Urso (Essex).Booked: Portsmouth O’Neil, Faye; Blackburn Nelsen, Mokoena, Johansson, Emerton, Tugay, Dickov.Sent off: Portsmouth LuaLua (51), Faye (90).Man of the match: Thompson.Attendance: 19,904..

Alan Curbishley has been in sole charge of Charlton for almost 10 years and for over half of that time the south London club have been in the Premiership. A couple of years ago Bolton stayed up and they went round the town on an open-top bus We stayed up with 10 games to go and got slagged off. One year, 1999, saw them relegated from the top flight, but for the past five seasons they have been among the ?te and last year they finished seventh.
Which is where they stand now, and from that impressive vantage point just outside the Uefa Cup slots, you could understand why Curbishley was a little peeved after this deserved victory against a Birmingham side whose defence largely went AWOL down at The Valley.The Addicks’ manager said: “Perhaps we go unnoticed a little bit. It was no coincidence that Southampton had rallied after Shearer left the pitch.Graeme Souness realises his captain’s importance, not so much for what he does, but for what he represents. Figuring out how to replace him could yet make the difference between Newcastle reasserting their “big five” status or meandering in midtable.”[Shearer] is the man for the big occasion,” the Newcastle manager said. “Standing in the tunnel, we have got some young players and when you have got someone of his stature, it helps them enormously.

He is a leader in every sense of the word.”As for Southampton, Harry Redknapp inherited a side low on confidence and undermined by serious injuries, not least to Michael Svensson and Matt Oakley. The former was the team’s defensive rock whose own playing future remains in doubt, the latter a creative midfielder who exemplified a lot of what made Southampton successful back in 2003, since when they have won only seven League games.Redknapp’s excuses have gone in early, with moans on Saturday about the toughness of recruiting without big money, which will not go down well with his chairman, Rupert Lowe. Niemi’s injury and a knock to Kevin Phillips will add to his woes, even as the Southampton manager seeks to sign Nigel Quashie from Portsmouth today Harry wants an inspirational, battling leader, apparently. But then, who does not?Goals: Shearer (9) pen 1-0; Bramble (38) 2-0; Crouch (42) 2-1.Newcastle United (4-4-2): Given; Taylor, Bramble, Boumsong, Babayaro (Hughes, 86); Jenas, Bowyer, Dyer, Bellamy (Milner, 75); Shearer (Kluivert, 62), Ameobi.