United Preview

Curbishley's Charlton reign comes to an end at Old Trafford on Sunday. Ironically, the home ground of the only manager who has been in charge of a Premiership club for longer than Alan has, and also the home ground of the Premiership club against which Alan has his worst record.
Still, we look to be taking a full-ish complement of away travellers up there, and Sue Townsend's final act as supporters director has been to get a couple of thousand "Thanks Curbs" banners printed, which will all be waved aloft at the final whistle as a token of the supporters' appreciation for what Curbishley has achieved with Charlton during his tenure.

It's not really about the result or the performance on Sunday of course, but a defeat would mean that Alan will have lost five of his last six games in charge of The Addicks. The announcement he made on the pitch before the Blackburn game will mean that the wider media probably won't even notice that fact, but Charlton fans certainly will; and the fact that we have capitulated once again after threatening a top half finish just goes to show what a rebuilding job the new gaffer will have to undertake this summer. Curbishley is a hero and he will rightly leave with his head held high, but you cannot deny that the squad doesn't look particularly healthy right now and he certainly has to take part of the blame for that.

Team news courtesy of BBC Sport confirms that Luke Young misses the game along with Thomas, M Bent and Jay Bothroyd, while Hreidarsson completes his three match ban. From United's point of view both Ronaldo and Saha are facing late tests, while Wonderkid Wayne will watch from the stands.

My guess is that a number of the players on show tomorrow will be making their last appearances for their respective clubs. It's been widely touted that Ruud Van Nistelrooy is off to foreign climes in the close season, while from our point of view I'd imagine that at least 3-4 of the XI that start this weekend will be on their way out of SE7 by August.

To be honest, I just want this game out of the way now so that I can collect my thoughts ahead of what promises to be a huge summer, both for Charlton and for England.

Cynic Athletic's Prediction - 3-1 Defeat (V.Nistelrooy 2, Park, Bent)