Blackburn Rovers 4 v 1 Charlton Ath

Barclays Premiership

ADDICKS boss Alan Curbishley blasted the linesman after watching his side crash 4-1 at Blackburn Rovers.

Goals from Brett Emerton, Paul Dickov, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Craig Bellamy meant Bryan Hughes' first goal of the season for Charlton was a mere consolation.

But it was Dickov's 17th minute header from what appeared to be an offside position which enraged Curbishley.

He said: "I know it was offside.

"The linesman was watching the play and not doing what he was supposed to, which is looking at the line.

"He is looking at the guy crossing and by the time the ball has gone in the box, Dickov is not offside.

"But he needs to look at the line and he was offside when the ball was kicked."

Charlton had gone behind in the second minute when Emerton skirted the attentions of Jonathan Spector before lashing a 12-yard shot past Stephan Andersen at his near post.

Darren Ambrose then lost possession on the Rovers' right and Lucas Neil crossed for Dickov's goal.

The stocky striker did appear offside when the ball was struck but the linesman kept his flag down and so incurred Curbishley's anger.

But Curbishley was equally frustrated with his own players, saying: "We never looked comfortable today and were left wanting defensively.

"In all areas we didn't do enough defensively to stop Blackburn and there are not too many plus points I can take from the game.

"The fourth goal was really poor, it summed us up today.

"I'm not going to lose sight of what we have achieved this season though as we've had a great start and our points total is decent.

"But there are some things which went on today which have no place in our side and it's something I have to eradicate.

"It happened in the first 25 minutes at Portsmouth as well and is something we have to work on.

"It's defensive stuff like putting your foot in every now and again and making sure you get in the right areas.

"It's not all about tackling, you've got to want the ball as well. We just never gave ourselves any kind of defensive base.

"I'm not just talking about the back four either, I'm talking about others out there who didn't hold their end up on the defensive side.

"We just couldn't get going so our passing and attacking play was affected."

After going two goals down Charlton gave themselves hope after Hughes bundled the ball home off Bent's cross which had been helped on by Ambrose.

Moments later the home fans were shouting for a penalty when Bellamy's cross struck the arm of Hermann Hreidarsson's arm but referee Phil Dowd waved away the appeals.

In the second half Rovers moved away from their visitors on 57 minutes when Pedersen converted Steven Reid's cross.

Danny Murphy, being watched by England supremo Sven-Goran Eriksson, had a single free kick put wide to show for his efforts before being replaced on 70 minutes by Jay Bothroyd.

The final nail in the coffin was banged in on 90 minutes by the excellent Bellamy and the Addicks faced the long trip home with empty pockets.

The weekend got worse for Bent after he found out he had been dropped for England's friendly against Argentina on November 12.

There was no space for Murphy either although Luke Young was named in the squad.

Charlton: Andersen; Young; Spector; Perry; Hreidarsson; Ambrose (Thomas, 83); Kishishev; Hughes; Murphy (Bothroyd, 70); Rommedahl (El Karkouri; 70); Bent.

Subs not used: Myhre; Holland.

Att: 17,691