Compiled by: StubleyAddickAfter a brilliant January which saw results over both Sheffield clubs, The Valley was almost ready to whip out the party poppers and celebrate a return to the Championship. However, a last minute equaliser from Dale Stephens against struggling Bury in late January suggested things weren’t going to be as smooth as expected.
Moving swiftly on into February where firstly, a dash of freezing weather postponed the fixtures of both Chesterfield away and Rochdale at home (which were rescheduled to be played later in the month) meant the Addicks had some time to prepare for the upcoming matches.
Our first fixture wasn’t until the 14th where we hosted MK Dons and saw a game full of controversy as Johnnie Jackson converted two penalties the first of which saw Don’s centre-back Gary MacKenzie given a red for an off-the-ball incident involving Yann Kermorgant in the area.
Talking of controversies, one of the main talking points in February was the trial of John Terry after his racial remark towards QPR defender Anton Ferdinand in the previous year. It was decided that Terry’s trial should be dealt with after the European Championships in June.
The decision wasn’t taken well within the general public as it allowed Terry permission to play in the Euro’s and at the time allow him to even captain England. However this was all to change as a few days later the FA decided to strip Terry of his captaincy. The FA statement said: “
Following the decision to adjourn the court case against John Terry to July, the Football Association confirm he will not captain the England team until the allegations against him are resolved."
Sitting at his desk spilling his cappuccino everywhere was a certain Mr Fabio Capello who
“wasn’t informed about the decision” and resigned from the England manager’s role following the decision to strip Terry’s captaincy. Ex-England left-back Stuart Pearce took temporary charge but couldn’t stop England losing 3-2 to Holland in an international friendly at the end of the month.
However one team getting back on form was none other than our Addicks and after the MK Dons result, two consecutive 1-1 draws continued the Addicks’ unbeaten record. The first point came away at Tranmere where Michael Morrison scored a second-half equaliser to grab a point back for the Addicks and the second point at home to Rochdale where a Yann Kermorgant free-kick made sure the Addicks would remain unbeaten.
A win was now needed and it came in the shape of a ‘FootballForAFiver’ home game against Stevenage which also saw the return of goals for striker Bradley Wright-Phillips who finally scored his first goal since November. Powell stated: “
it was great for Bradley Wright-Phillips to finally score, we have been hoping it would hit his knee and go in to get some confidence, and today he delivered." It got even better for BWP as he claimed his first ever hat-trick against Chesterfield a few days later as the Addicks defeated the Spireites 4-0 to end the month on a high.
Charlton and Wright-Phillips were on the up, but elsewhere Scottish giants Rangers certainly weren’t. In mid-February, the Gers entered administration - meaning they had been docked 10 points, effectively ending its Scottish Premier League challenge and leaving Celtic as the runaway leaders. Later events meant that the Scottish club would have to play their football in the 2012/13 season in the Third Division of the Scottish League.
While it was a fabulous February for the Addicks, Powell’s men knew there was still a lot of work to be done before the party could begin....
January's review HERE
