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Back in the summer, Charlton boss Chris Powell set down a huge statement of intent for the coming season by signing 21 new faces.

This large recruitment drive made some people question his ambition with many feeling that it may take some time for the team to gel. A rather average pre-season cemented this overall opinion.

However they were quickly proven wrong and instead the Addicks hit the ground running, never looking back after their victory on the opening day of the season against Bournemouth.

A strong start meant they found themselves in the top three after the first month and on the 17th September they moved to the top of league after a 3-2 victory over Rochdale. This was a position where they have remained for the rest of the season and after last week’s 1-0 win over Carlisle United, Charlton will be officially be playing in a higher league from next season. It has been a real domination of the league by Powell’s men and to be promoted with a few games remaining demonstrates this.

So what has made this Charlton team so strong this season? Well you definitely cannot look beyond the amazing defence, which for most the season has been the strongest defence in England and with just 31 goals conceded in 43 games, is there any wonder they lead Sheffield United by six points? Along with an impressive 20 clean sheets. They always say the best teams start from the back and if you get those fundamentals right you’re going to go a long way.

Chris Powell has successfully managed the loan market this season. Just when there appeared a panic as we suffered back to back defeats at home he ventured in to the market to bring in Dany N’Guessan and Lee Cook. N’Guessan has helped scoring three goals in six appearances, whilst Lee Cook got a vital assist in a 2-0 win over Orient.

So not only has he brought in the right players over the summer but even when they are getting exhausted with the long campaign, he has been able to recruit to give us the extra boost when we most needed it. He certainly has the eye for talent and only quality managers see this talent throughout the whole season.

In the summer I would have settled for a top six place with us giving the top two a run for their money. But never in a million years, after the last two seasons, would I have predicted seeing my Charlton remain top of the league from September to April. It’s been a season to be a proud Addick and there is no doubt this team, with Powell in charge, can go a long way.

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So come on Charlton lets get the four points needed to see us crowned as Champions and then see us build a team next season that can compete in the top half of the Championship. Up the Addicks.

You can follow me on Twitter @MartinJohnson94

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Frank Lampard has been ruled out of England’s Euro 2012 campaign, after picking up a thigh injury in team training.

The Chelsea midfielder pulled up on Wednesday, with scans yesterday proving that the veteran will not be able to compete for the Three Lions in Ukraine and Poland.

Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson ahs been called up to the main contingent from the stand-by list, but Roy Hodgson could not hide his disappointment that Lampard will not be able to represent the nation this summer.

“It’s a huge blow for the team, especially coming after the loss of another senior player in Gareth Barry,” Hodgson told Sky Sports.

“The fact that the doctor cannot guarantee Frank could take part in any of the group matches means we have to replace him in the central midfield area.

“Apart from it being a huge blow to me and the team, I’m especially disappointed for Frank himself.

“He has been in very good form and was looking forward to the tournament.

“He made a huge contribution towards us qualifying for the Euros so it is cruel to be forced out through injury just before the tournament,” he admitted.

England face Belgium on Saturday in their final friendly fixture before the start of Euro 2012, and Hodgson will hope that his players escape the match injury-free.

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There are also rumours in the press that Hodgson is concerned over the sharpness of Scott Parker, who is yet to fully recover from an injury either, shortening England’s options in midfield dramatically.

By Gareth McKnight

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Joe Cole has admitted that he wants the chance to prove himself at Liverpool, and hopes that Kenny Dalglish’s sacking will change his fortunes at Anfield.

The former England international spent the 2011-12 season on loan at French club Lille, but has returned to Merseyside with his future hanging in the balance.

Cole has admitted that a change in manager at Liverpool will hopefully give him a chance to be involved once more.

“I would love the chance – if they wanted to – to put it right,” Mirror Football quote the attacking midfielder as saying.

“I don’t want that on my career. I’ve been a success at West Ham, a success at Chelsea, and come to another country in France and had a good season.

“It’s just that season at Liverpool. It’s in their hands. I’m easy whatever way but the fire still burns with me and I would love to have the chance put it right if that’s what they wanted.

“Kenny was a good guy – he didn’t lie to me. I wasn’t in his plans.

“It just changes my future. Whereas it was quite clear before Kenny got the sack that I wouldn’t be going back there, who knows what will happen now? I’m just waiting on some kind of information,” he admitted.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Cristiano Ronaldo’s header 11 minutes from time was enough to see off Czech Republic and book Portugal a place in the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

Paulo Bento’s side toiled for over an hour to break down a stubborn Czech rearguard before Ronaldo provided the decisive moment stooping to meet Joao Moutinho’s whipped cross and head past Petr Cech to settle a largely forgettable quarter final.

Michal Bilek will find it hard to be annoyed with his players who sacrificed their early attacking momentum to fulfil his defensive game plan once Portugal took a stranglehold on the game.

In fact the Czech’s had the best of the opening exchanges but failed to even trouble the Portuguese defence with their final ball letting them down on numerous occasions. In fact it was their opponents who carved out the first meaningful chance of the half after Pepe clipped a ball into the penalty area for Ronaldo to attempt an audacious bicycle kick that flew well wide.

Nani then thought he should have been awarded a penalty after going under pressure in the penalty area with English referee Howard Webb waving away the frantic protests from the Manchester United winger. Ronaldo then came within a whisker of putting Portugal ahead swivelling brilliantly away from Michal Kadlec in the box and striking the base of the post from the angle with Cech beaten.

Portugal continued in a similar vein after the break with Hugo Almeida, on as a first half substitute for Helder Postiga, finding himself unmarked in the box but could only head Raul Meireles’ cross over the bar. Ronaldo then drove a free kick against the woodwork whilst Cech had to be alert to keep out efforts from Nani and then Meireles.

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The Real Madrid forward wasn’t to be denied though and finally made the breakthrough on 79 minutes. Nani fed Moutinho down the right and his cross was met by a diving Ronaldo, who stole in front of  Theodor Gebre Selassie, to send a downward header into the roof of the net and set up a semi final meeting with Spain or France. Cech then did brilliantly to thwart Joao Pereira from doubling Portugal’s lead getting across to keep out the defenders fierce strike from 25-yards despite being partially unsighted.

Newcastle are readying a double bid for Twente stars Douglas and Luuk de Jong, according to The Daily Mail.

The Tyneside club are looking to bolster their squad after a fifth-placed Premier League finish in 2011-12, and have already signed Romain Amalfitano this summer.

After the success of Cheik Tiote, who joined the club from Twente, Alan Pardew will revisit the Eredivisie side and try to steal their two star players once more.

Douglas is a no-nonsense central defender and the Geordies are thought to be closing in on a £7 million deal to strengthen their rearguard.

De Jong meanwhile is a talented attacker, who made the Netherlands international squad for Euro 2012 but was not used by Bert van Marwijk.

The skilful forward is being monitored by a host of leading European clubs, and is expected to leave the Enschede-based team this summer for a bigger outfit and a new challenge.

That said, the transfer fee for Twente to sell their main man will be pushed up given the amount of interest, with at least £10 million thought to be needed to convince the side to sell.

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By Gareth McKnight

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They say that you don’t know what you have, until it’s gone. Tottenham Hotspur fans are lucky to lay claim to one of the most talented squads in the Premier League, but if you were to ask them who the most gifted of their players were, the likes of Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Rafael van der Vaart would stand out from the rest.

But there was one man whose absence from the team last term, arguably hurt Spurs more than any of his more naturally gifted teammates. When Aaron Lennon went missing last term, so did Tottenham.

Whilst there was a whole catalogue of reasoning behind the now infamous implosion of their 10-point lead over Arsenal, Spurs simply didn’t look like the same team without the mercurial winger. His form can be erratic and his game isn’t without faults, but Aaron Lennon has been one of Tottenham’s most important players over the past four years.

But as the swashbuckling set-up of Harry Redknapp makes way for the more continentally refined style of Andre Villas-Boas, Tottenham’s game is set to evolve. The challenge for Lennon is going to be adapting to change and it could be time for the former Leeds prodigy to finally take his game to the next level.

Fans of other clubs often find it difficult to understand what all the fuss is about with Aaron Lennon. Despite playing nearly 200 league games for Spurs and going to two World Cups at the age of only 25, it feels as if he is still something of a misunderstood quantity. The likes of Theo Walcott and Ashley Young seem to have a much higher profile, but that doesn’t necessarily transcend into some massive disparity in ability.

Lennon’s qualities as a footballer have always been clear to see since he first broke onto the scene as a fledgling youngster under Martin Jol’s stewardship. The key component of his game is of course, his almost unnatural acceleration and searing pace. He is surely amongst the quickest players in the Premier League, employing his trademark direct style to run fullbacks and defenders ragged.

It’s been said that Lennon’s game is somewhat predictable and that he’s something of a one-trick pony. In some respects, that sentiment rings true; he’s always going to take on the fullback and he’s always usually going to go one way. But the point is, that it doesn’t really matter. Nine times out of ten, Lennon does beat his man and he does put a decent ball in. His perceived inability to put a final ball in has become something of an urban myth and seven assists in a disjointed 23 appearances last season goes some distance to dispelling this.

His lack of goal scoring ability, however, is something that has always seemed to count against him and it goes someway to explaining his slightly lower profile. Walcott and Young will always chime in with a few more goals and this is something Lennon must start bringing to the fore. A tendency to float in and out of games has drove Spurs fan up the wall over the years and his positional sense can still be questionable.

But you can argue that Lennon’s value to his team than what either Walcott or Young are at Arsenal and Manchester United. Balance is such an underrated value in football but that is exactly what Lennon brings to Tottenham and its importance cannot be underplayed. The team plays a far more natural game and his sheer presence alone, opens space for his teammates.

When Lennon was struck down by muscular issue last term, an unfortunate feature of his career so far, Spurs failed to cope with the changed dynamic in the side. Of course, when a team is defined by wing play, as Redknapp’s was with Bale and Lennon acting as the catalysts, they were always going to suffer. But the scale of their struggles was perhaps beyond most people’s expectations. Lennon missed much of the Christmas programme through injury, but it was his absence during the second part of the season in which Spurs really struggled.  Both Bale and Van der Vaart tried and failed to fill in for Tottenham’s number seven and results reflected this.

The injury troubles of recent years haven’t helped Lennon’s progress and it feels as if whenever he seems to hit a glorious run of games, some form of groin or hamstring trouble instantly interrupts his season. Although Tottenham fans appreciate what he brings to the team and even his talents might not be quite so appreciated on a national level, he’s not short of affection at White Hart Lane.

Next season will be Lennon’s eighth at the football club but it could also be his most important. After four years of familiarity and success in Harry Redknapp’s 4-4-1-1 line-up, Andre Villas-Boas is set to change the very make up of this Tottenham side. And Lennon could find that any absence he might make from the starting XI won’t be missed as much as that of times gone by.

If Villas-Boas does indeed go with the 4-2-3-1 he’s been harnessing in pre-season, then Lennon is going to have to adapt his game. The new system sees a step away from archetypal wing play; the two who play on the flanks of the three behind the striker need to operate in the like of an inside forward, a la Hulk at Porto. Obviously Hulk is a unique example, but be it a 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1, the attacking trio must be fluid and encompass a broad attacking skillset.

Lennon’s pace will see him as an asset in any team, but in this new set-up, he will have to contribute more. His movement will have to be cleverer and he’s going to be under far more pressure to get on the score sheet.

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Aaron Lennon got the tools to step up to the plate next season. But it feels as if it has to be the one in which he finally moves up an extra gear in performance. How he copes with that will be crucial for Andre Villas-Boas, Tottenham but most poignantly, the player himself.

How do you feel about Aaron Lennon’s prospects for the new season? Optimistic he can push on or worried about injury woe and inconsistent form? Let me know what you think on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all your Tottenham views.

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Aston Villa endured a terrible campaign last term under the management (and I use that term loosely) of Alex McLeish – the disbelief that the man who had just overseen local rivals Birmingham City relegated from the top flight only to then be offered the job of replacing Gerard Houllier was only matched with what rotten fare was on offer on the pitch, with a clutch of talented players seemingly at odds with an overly negative, joyless style of play.

The fact that the club were dragged, albeit briefly, into the relegation mire last term is worth remembering and they finished a good nine points and six league places off the Midlands best team last season, West Brom. While under-performance is intertwined with underachievement, the arrival of former Norwich boss Paul Lambert will not act as a magic wand to cure all of the club’s evident ills, even if it is somewhat tempting to view him as such.

They appear to have bought wisely so far this summer, with Brett Holman, Karim El Ahmadi and Ron Vlaar all solid if unspectacular signings, while the return of the club’s star striker Darren Bent will provide the side with a goalscoring outlet they missed for large portions of last season.

One To Watch – Stephen Ireland

If nothing tells you how poorly the club were last season in the league, then the fact that Ireland was awarded with the Fans’ Player of the Year award, despite making just 16 ropey performances devoid of consistency and spark tell its own story as he was shackled by McLeish’s dour tactics.

But it’s the dawning of a new day at Villa Park now and Paul Lambert appears to be a fan of the former Manchester City midfielder, telling the club’s official website two weeks ago: “He’s a real talent, there’s no doubt about that. It shows when he plays because there is a lot of creativity there, just like Charles (N’Zogbia). They are both really talented footballers. We will try to get the best out of them because they are very very clever footballers. We’ve got to get him in positions where he can hurt teams. I’ve got a fair idea of what I want to do with it.”

When he’s fit and on form, Ireland is an exceptional player that didn’t look out of his depth alongside the likes of Robinho and Carlos Tevez and City. If they manage to integrate him into the new-look side, he could be the perfect creative foil for Bent up top as they seek to add more cutting edge to their forward play.

Breakthrough Year – Gary Gardner

The club appear to have plenty of numbers in central midfield currently within the squad, but it remains to be seen whether the likes of Jean Makoun, Fabian Delph and Barry Bannan have a future under Lambert, while Stiliyan Petrov is a long-term absence as he continues his recuperation from leukaemia.

This could potentially leave a gap open for a ball-playing box-to-box midfielder and Gary Gardner, the 20 year-old England U-21 international could be set to make his big break and on the surface, he seems like a Lambert sort of player.

He’s been highly rated around the club ever since some standout performances in the inaugural NextGen series, a sort of Champions League for younger players, with a notable hat-trick coming against Dutch giants Ajax. After slowly but surely forcing his way onto the bench in the second half of last season, he could be set to make the next big leap this term given the lack of alternatives around and his own burgeoning reputation within the game.

Predictions

A few facts to bring you about Aston Villa’s league form last season – they drew 17 games, five more than anyone else in the entire league. They scored just 37 goals all season, with only Stoke (36) registering fewer. They failed to score in 15 separate league games which was again, the most in the league alongside newly-promoted Swansea City and they finished just two points outside of the relegation zone.

With all of that in mind, considering they also have a new manager at the helm, a comfortable mid-table finish around 12th could be just what the club needs as they seek to hold the slide that’s gripped them ever since Martin O’Neill departed just four days before the start of the 2010-11 season.

Lambert gets his sides playing both on the deck and in the air, and it’s this versatility and ability to switch seamlessly between styles which should serve Villa well this season. Getting the most out of the club’s creative talents such as Ireland, N’Zogbia, Albrighton and Bannan is of paramount importance as the squad on the whole, while it may be short in areas, has a nice blend of youth and experience within it.

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When it comes to the cup competitions, they will be looking to do better this season than a fourth-round FA Cup exit and third-round League Cup one, but the onus must be on the league. This is a season of consolidation as the club seek to add some stability both on and off the pitch after a series of poor managerial appointments and all of the upheaval these bring with them.

They look as if they have one of the brightest young managers in the game and patience will be needed at times, but the fact that he’s not Alex McLeish is already a good start. They should have enough not to see a repeat of last season, but expectations need to be realistic and a top ten finish must be the pinnacle of their ambitions, in the short-term at least, as they seek a bigger push in the future.

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

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Dimitar Berbatov’s exit from Old Trafford could be cancelled following Wayne Rooney’s injury.

Manchester United have been trying to off-load the Bulgarian all summer, but may keep the 31 year old following Wayne Rooney’s nasty injury against Fulham.

Fiorentina according to The Independent are lining up a £5 million move for the striker, however with Rooney’s return to fitness unknown, the frontman may be kept as back up.

The emergence of Danny Welbeck last year saw the former Tottenham attacker relegated to a bit-part role, while Robin Van Persie’s arrival stands to further limit the Bulgarian international’s game time at United.

A collision between Rooney and Hugo Rodallega left a giant gash on the 26 year old’s leg and after an initial prognosis that the forward could be out for four weeks, it is still feared if there is muscle damage, that time could be doubled.

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This is the final year of Berbatov’s lucrative contract at Manchester and keeping him on board for a final season could cost the club £4 million in wages.

Tottenham forward Jermain Defoe has stressed that the club’s squad have faith in Andre Villas-Boas, and that the fans should have patience with the new manager.

Spurs have only picked up two points from the Portuguese coach’s first three games in charge, and have relinquished home leads against West Brom and Norwich in their last two fixtures.

With a media frenzy starting to brew up once more over the under-fire trainer, the England international has stated that he believes Villas-Boas will come good once he has settled in at White Hart Lane.

“As players, when you join a new club, sometimes it takes a while,” he told reporters, published in Sky Sports.

“It is not different for manager. When a new manager comes in, straight away you are going to be under pressure. It is a big club.

“But it takes time. It is still early days. It is important to give managers a chance.

“We have got a good squad at the club, a strong squad. I am sure we will be fine,” he concluded.

Defoe has recently signed a new contract with the north London club.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Liverpool have added teenage striker Samed Yesil to their European squad as extra cover in attack.

The Reds let Andy Carroll go on loan to West Ham in the summer and failed to bring in another forward as cover.

The young German attacker did join the Merseyside club as a youth player, signing from Bayer Leverkusen in a £1million, and the 17-year-old may well get a chance to shine for Brendan Rodgers’ men in the Europa League.

With only Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini to call upon to lead the line, Rodgers has confessed that the youngster may get a chance to play in Europe.

“He will certainly be fast-tracked,” The Daily Mail publish the Northern Irish manager as saying.

“I watched him play (for Germany) against England Under-19s (two weeks ago). He scored two terrific goals and set up another (as Germany won 3-1). He will be involved in the Europa League game.

“The biggest thing for young players now is that the introduction of Raheem has given them hope.  All I have done is given him a chance.

“There will be that chance for Yesil and one or two other boys over this period of months now,” he concluded.

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Liverpool open their European campaign against Swiss side Young Boys on Thursday.

By Gareth McKnight