Charlton slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon. The Addicks have not kept a clean sheet in their last 16 games, winning just one of them.
That is more than just a blip 16 games is more than a third of the season.
There are mitigating circumstances of course, Lee Bowyer has had to deal with with a crippling injury situation, and there do not appear to be any quick solutions.
Roland Duchatelet emphasised the need for the sale of the club to go through in time to give the new owners maximum use of the January transfer window.
But thus far, little has happened. Andre Green arrived on loan from Aston Villa early on, bit that was more than negated by the loss of Conor Gallagher to Swansea.
The club will not recruit players just to add bodies to the squad, the players have to be of the right quality. The problem is several other clubs will also be chasing their signature.
Matt Southall told fans before kick-off at Preston that he had not signed anyone yet as the players he has spoken to wanted ‘silly’ money. Whether their salary requests were genuinely outrageous, or the current going rate for a Championship player we can only speculate about.
What seems clear is that to attract the calibre of player they want. Charlton may have to pay over the odds.
On a brighter note, the club anticipate making three signings this week, with Bristol Rovers’ midfielder, Ollie Clarke, beings poken of.
The Addicks were quick out of the blocks on Saturday, and went ahead after five minutes. Naby Sarr started the move, releasing Alfie Doughty on the left. Doughty played Andre Green in, and the former Preston player touched home from close range.
The hosts levelled things up just past the half-hour mark when Josh Harrop lashed the ball home from the edge of the area.
The hosts secured the win early in the second-half. They won a corner on the right. When the ball came in, Wembley hero, Patrick Bauer, rose majestically and unopposed to nod home the decisive goal.
Charlton huffed and puffed, and put in lung busting amounts of effort, but they lacked real quality.
Here are Bowyer’s post match thoughts:
“There were pros and cons. I thought we started the game really well. Everything was working that we’d worked on in the week.
“They had more possession than us but they are a good side. We respected them but at the same time we won the ball back and just needed to take care of the ball.
” We scored a good goal, I thought it was excellent and again something we worked on during the week.
“They score a good goal. I just said to the players and I’ve said to them in the past, if someone gets the ball 25 yards out and puts it in the top corner sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say “great goal” because sometimes that happens in football.
“The first one, they get that, a great finish but then to lose the game on a set piece hurts. That hurts me because that comes down to someone not doing their job properly.
“Just mark your man and that’s happened too many times to us this season. Again we conceded two goals, alright the first one is a great strike but the second one….
“If you keep conceding two goals you aren’t going to win games. We score near enough every game but if you keep conceding two you are going to lose more games than you win.
“That’s what winds me up and drives me mad because we probably deserved something from this game but we end up coming away with nothing because someone falls asleep and we get hurt.”To come here and give everything and fight like we did, I can’t fault their effort and their commitment again but that quality in the final third lacked today. I think that was noticeable.
“We got into so many good areas, especially in the second half, out wide and then we’d kick the ball behind the goal. If you want to compete in this division you have bring more quality in the final third.”
Charlton: Phillips; Matthews, Lockyer, Oshilaja (Morgan 62), Sarr, Doughy; Dempsey, Pratley, Williams (Oztumer 62); Green (Hemed 68), Davison.
Subs (not used): Maynard-Brewer, Pearce, Purrington.
Goal: Green 5.
Preston: Rudd;Fisher, Bauer, Davies, Rafferty; Siclair, Johnson (Ledson 82), Browne, Maguire (Nugent 64); Harrop (Potts 90), Barkhuizen.
Subs (not used): Ripley, Clarke, Stockley, Huntingdon.
Goals: Harrop 31, Bauer 52.
Booked: Barzhuizen 62 (time-wasting).
Referee: Dean Whitestone (Cambridgeshire).
Attn: 12,358 (873 Charlton).