Player Songs Needed

Ye gods and little fishes. Two thrilling (well, they get better with age) comebacks followed by a third consecutive away win at Palace (Todorov taking his place as a modern Charlton legend alongside Rommedahl and Kitson), Simon Jordan's face as even he couldn't think of a reason to take the matter to court, and two new signings to bolster the defence. It's got to be time for a whine.

This isn't a new topic, but let's face it. The singing at home games during recent years has been pants - not in terms of decibels and Valley Floyd Road etc but as regards the range of songs for players. There are mitigating factors: as soon as we learnt the player's name he was off - or with notable exceptions proved to be a waste of money. But I do find it embarrassing that the best we could come up with in two years for Darren Bent was Darren Bent, Bent, Bent.

If we really want to turn The Valley into a fortress this season it will surely help to have an auto-response song for as many players as possible. They don't need to be complicated (although a few with some wit and imagination would be welcome), they just need to be known and accepted.

Just looking at the players list for the last home game in the second flight last time around, we had songs/chants for many of them (Kiely, Powell, Rufus, Kinsella, Hunt, Mendonca, Robinson, Brown, Youds, Parker - there was even one for Lisbie). We knew what to sing. Now we just about have something for Powell and Thomas. Iwelumo and Todorov score and how do we respond? The popularity of Jorge Costa and Diawara was in part down to the fact that they had a song that we liked to sing (yes, it does contain a 'bad' word but that wasn't the point).

Now an old fart like me is not going to be leading renditions and we're not collectively likely to come up with original material that cottons on (most songs anyway are rehashes or nicked from other clubs). So maybe it's best to just take those songs for the last batch of second-flight players and use them for the current squad. It's not blasphemy, they've been recycled before.

So, with a few inspired additions - and in the hope of better suggestions from others - are a few proposals:

1. For Yassin and Racon surely we can adopt/adapt the end of La Marseillaise. It's the most stirring national anthem there is and might help them feel at home. The end part when it gets to 'marchons, marchons ...' could easily be replaced with Yassin or Racon (allez, allez Yassin/Racon).

2. OK, this one's daft but I can't get it out of my head. Since thinking about a song for Racon the old David Essex song Rock On keeps coming back (try it with Racon instead of Rock On). Now very few of us are old enough to remember it, but it fits very well - and would have some originality.

3. We have to have the Jorge Costa/Diawara song included, so who for? It has to be a one ... two/three. Could be Paddy McCarthy, Magic Bougherra, or Iwelumo. But for me it just sounds better for it to be Semedo. After all, he comes from Portugal and we all know who he hates. Has to be a done deal.

4. The old Johnnie Robinson song (oh, Johnnie Johnnie, ....). Needs a surname with three syllables, so could fit for Todorov, Bougherra but might sound best for Paddy McCarthy (come on, we can't sing 'Patrick').

5. The old Steve Brown/Andy Hunt song. Fits well for Andy Reid. Just can't think of anything that rhymes with Reid. More work needed.

6. Kin, Kin, Kinsella. Yes, he's still with us but we don't get to sing it any more. Another three syllable surname. Boo, Boo Bougherra doesn't sound right. Why not this one for Todorov?

7. Deano. Easy fit for Dean Sinclair as and when.

8. We need something for Chris Iwelumo. Uninspired but why not a simple Chris E, Chris Iwelumo whoa ....

9. Zheng Zhi. Works well with clapping/shouting da, da, da da da, da, da, da, da ... Zheng Zhi.

10. The Super Clive song. Well, it was reused for Lisbie so rehashing it is fine for me. Maybe it works best for Nicky Weaver (or Darren Ambrose). There. New Charlton song for Nicky Weaver were not words that I thought would ever pass my lips.

That's it. I've run out of what little inspiration I had. Still leaves (among others) Thatcher, Mills, Sodje, Holland, Ambrose, Varney, Gibbs, Sam, Bougherra, Sankofa, Fortune, Randolph, McLeod, Dickson.