A fitting tribute to 'Headphones Norm'

The club provided a fitting, heartfelt tribute to 'Headphones Norm' who was a familiar face for all of us who have followed Charlton up and down the country.

Every away coach I have ever taken, he was there.

He was our Rudyard Kipling - meeting triumph and disaster and treating those two impostors just the same. While others ranted after a defeat, Norm would simply shrug and say it was "just a bad day at the office".

He never wavered. He was one of our true diehards, the sort who would turn up on a freezing Tuesday night in Walsall with only a couple of hundred of us for company.

He was a regular at the club's Reminiscence Group on Thursday afternoons at The Valley, conversing about "the good old days". He had even been at the Christmas dinner just last week chatting to my brother Peter. It is heartbreaking to think he is now gone.

As for the match on Tuesday, I went in with few expectations.

Middlesbrough have been flying, even amid managerial change, and their 4–1 win at Hull had me worried.

Our injury list has not helped, but neither did gifting them chances. Sonny Carey was dispossessed leading to the opener and Tyreece Campbell's half-hearted challenge for a 50/50 ball that led to the second goal summed up our own undoing.

Campbell needs to rediscover belief. Opposition fans see his potential, now he must too. The ability that shone in League One can flourish here if he brings more confidence to his game.

The second half was an improvement, driven by intensity and substitutions.

I loved Karoy Anderson's determination, but Boro were too streetwise. They schooled us in the first half, then managed the game expertly in the second to snuff out any hope of a comeback.

It is the games with Oxford United, Norwich and Portsmouth that will truly shape our season but the growing list of injuries remains a real worry for Addicks fans.