Pep talk prompts improved display

Damian Matthew hailed Charlton's young guns after they sealed a 2-0 victory at Bromley on Wednesday night following a half-time pep talk from manager Phil Parkinson.

The development manager assisted first-team coach Mark Kinsella at Hayes Lane as a youthful Charlton XI, together with a smattering of triallists, overcame their Blue Square South opponents with a late double from Lewis Perkins and Tamer Tuna.

And Matthew said watching boss Parkinson departed in good spirits after a much improved second-half display led to the late win.

"The manager was pleased,” said Damian after the game. "He spoke to them at half-time and told the players what he wanted them to do, and the lads went out there and took that information on board, which is always important.

"Phil [Parkinson] will go away happy, we're happy and it's good to see the boys doing well and coming to environments like this, because the set-up at Bromley is good, and the club is run by good people."

Charlton fielded experienced keeper Andy Marshall between the posts, while French winger Guillaume Norbert, a former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder who spent time at Arsenal in his early career, was also involved.

The 29-year-old has most recently been with Le Havre in his homeland, and also had spells with Lorient, Angers and Nantes.

Indeed, research from club historian Colin Cameron later revealed that Norbert had actually represented the Addicks almost 10 years earlier.

He played three reserve games for Charlton, debuting from the bench against Wimbledon at The Valley on October 25th, 2000 and then starting two away matches against Watford and Arsenal the following month.

There were notable contributions on the night from defender Yado Mambo, who produced a miraculous goalline clearance in the opening period, and the central midfield pairing of Alex Stavrinou and youngster Freddie Warren were also praised by Matthew.

"Yado's had a great pre-season, and he's been really influential for the youth team," he noted. "I'm really pleased for him because he's really pushing into the manager's plans and hopefully in the future he can get that first-team berth.

"It was great experience for someone like Freddie [Warren] to step up to the reserves and play alongside Alex Stavrinou, who's a fantastic professional and a good role model for our young players."

Those youngsters certainly grew into the game against Bromley, with substitute Perkins clipping home the opener four minutes before the final whistle and Tuna adding a second from the penalty spot moments later.

The development coach continued: "These pre-season games are always good because the young boys can play in their own environment and they can mix with the pros. It's all about experience and learning and we were pleased that in the second half we got stronger and managed to get the two goals.

"When you're a youth player, you want to turn professional, and when you're a young professional, you want to get into the first team. That's why this is a fantastic club for young players, because if you're doing well then someone will give you the chance. It's up to them to grasp the opportunity and I'm sure they'll do very well."