THIS summer's lask of transfer activity at The Valley has given Addicks columnist MATIAS GREZ plenty to worry about in his first blog of the 2013-14 campaign.

CHARLTON’S impressive start to pre-season has come to a spluttering halt in the last few days, with two strong starting XIs being comfortably brushed aside by Inverness Caledonian Thistle and then Ebbsfleet United.

The two very below par performances, coupled with yesterday afternoon’s announcement David Button has been sold to Brentford, have got many Charlton fans feeling pessimistic about the upcoming season, including myself to some extent.

Button’s departure has left Chris Powell with just one senior keeper at his disposal, as well as Yann Kermorgant being the only recognised striker in the squad.

Some Charlton fans have been berating others on Twitter for their over reaction to the sale of Button.

However, I feel as though it was more of a reaction to a series of events in an unproductive summer as opposed to just the sale itself.

I expressed my disappointment and worry just after Danny Haynes was released with rumours surfacing it was due to our lack of funds we were unable to re-sign him, fears which were compounded when he later joined League One Notts County.

Why else would he sign for a lower league club if not for money?

At the time people told me to chill out and there was a long summer ahead in which a lot could happen.

I took their advice.

However, everything which has happened since has only served to prove I was right to worry.

No matter how you patch it up, whether it’s with “Nick Pope is very talented and a great prospect” or “Joe Pigott has been in great form during pre-season”, the fact is we have one keeper and one striker experienced at Championship level.

This is being written on Tuesday night with the hope being Button’s departure, which frees up wages and includes a transfer fee, will mean a striker or replacement goalie will be signed on Wednesday.

The idea of Ricardo Fuller re-signing really, really doesn’t appeal to me.

I don’t think I can express how much I hope it doesn’t happen.

There was a reason an injury-prone striker who scored just five goals in 31 games was released at the end of last season – because he wasn’t good enough to help the club achieve what it is striving for.

I’d much prefer to see Powell put faith in an in-form Joe Pigott, who is young and hungry for success at a club which he cares for, rather than a has-been who will only be playing for us because he has nowhere else to go.

I also found the signing of Richard Wood a strange one.

Why release Matt Taylor, a player who is comfortably embedded within the squad and has proven his abilities in the Championship, only to replace him with a player from the league below?

The defeat against Inverness also threw up a tactical concern I had for the most part of last season, which was Bradley Pritchard playing wide, or not-so-wide, right.

I was not a fan of Pritchard for long spells of last season but he eventually began to win me over with his hard-working and tenacious performances.

However, for some reason Powell continues to play him out of position.

He makes a fantastic midfield partner to Johnnie Jackson, but playing as the right-sided player in a front three, as he did against Inverness, is bewildering.

With Callum Harriott providing endless width on the left, Pritchard naturally playing narrowly on the right just gives the side no balance.

Powell either needs to invest before Saturday or put his trust in Danny Green, a player who I think has endless potential if given the chance.

As well as Green, if Danny Hollands and Dale Stephens can find the sort of form which made them an extremely formidable midfield duo during the promotion season, then they will hopefully seem like two new signings in themselves.

Finally, the rumours of potential signing Simon Church joining before Saturday seem to be given Charlton fans some sort of hope.

A player with huge potential, yet a fragile mind and lack of confidence, could be exactly the sort of signing who would flourish under the nurturing of Powell.

Church plus a couple of half-decent additions before Saturday, could provide the foundations for a squad which will more than hold their own in the upcoming Championship battle.

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