ROEDER: BOUMSONG HAS TO LEARN HIS LESSON
Newcastle United defender Jean-Alain Boumsong has been ordered to learn from his mistakes as he attempts to put his Liverpool nightmare behind him.
The 26-year-old Frenchman was criticised for his error-strewn display in last SundayÂ’s 3-1 home defeat by the Reds which culminated in his 52nd-minute dismissal for a poor challenge on Peter Crouch.
Caretaker boss Glenn Roeder allowed him to return to Paris to be with his pregnant wife this week with a one-match ban ruling him out of Wednesday nightÂ’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat trip to Chelsea.
With Robbie Elliott facing a match on the sidelines after being red-carded in the 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge and Celestine Babayaro having joined Titus Bramble on the injury list, Roeder will have little choice but to play the £8million defender at Charlton Athletic.
“I allowed him to go home and be with his wife rather than staying over here and worrying about what was going on in Paris,” said Roeder.
“It was the right thing to do. He came in on Thursday and he seemed fine. He trained on Thursday and I think he left his mark on one or two people.
“He has got to pick himself up. There are two things you can do, stay down or get up, and he will get up.
“I am sure he will have learned from that mistake against Liverpool and that will never happen again.
“That’s the important thing. You are allowed to make mistakes but you are not allowed to carry on making mistakes, especially as a defender.
“You need to learn from them and make sure they don’t happen again and that’s what he has got to do in this instance.”
The defeats by Liverpool and Chelsea came on the back of a 2-0 reverse at Manchester United which was nowhere near as close as the scoreline suggests.
After five wins and a draw under Roeder those three defeats have come as a blow.
However, Roeder is adamant their final eight Barclays Premiership fixtures should be played out as if they were the first and is in no mood to allow a disappointing campaign to fizzle out to a drab conclusion.
“Part of my job to make sure that does not happen to the players,” he said. “But they have also got to meet me halfway and be very self-motivated.
“We have got plenty of self-motivation and we would be selling the fans very short if we didn’t put on eight excellent performances.”
The Charlton match will mark Alan ShearerÂ’s 400th appearance for the club, a remarkable achievement for a man who has had two serious injuries during his time at St JamesÂ’ Park.
“It is a fantastic achievement, absolutely phenomenal,” said Roeder.
“Just look at the sums - he’s played 400 games in 10 seasons, which means he averages 40 games a season over the time he has been at the club.”
Top scorer Darren Bent is CharltonÂ’s main concern.
The England international has been hampered by an ankle problem and played through the pain barrier on Thursday as the Addicks drew 0-0 with Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
ADDICKS AND BORO SHARE CUP DRAW
Fellow forward Marcus Bent is back in full training after a back injury gave him hamstring problems and sidelined him since the beginning of the month but he is unlikely to start.
Charlton defender Chris Powell believes it is about time the goalscoring burden was lifted from Darren BentÂ’s shoulders.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a superb debut season after a £2.5million summer switch from Ipswich, with that fee now looking like a bargain.
He has 19 goals to his name so far and is keen to continue in that vein to persuade England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson he is worth a place in his World Cup squad.
But Bent is toiling with his ankle problem and has to play on because no-one else seems to be able to find the back of the net.
Fellow frontmen Marcus Bent, Shaun Bartlett, Jay Bothroyd and Jason Euell have contributed just seven goals between them, while Jonatan Johansson and Kevin Lisbie are out on loan.
It was time therefore for the goals to be shared among the squad reckons Powell.
He said: “We have been trying to add some attacking quality to our game but it just so happens Bent has been getting on the end of most of the chances.
“It would be nice to share the goals around and with Newcastle coming up this gives us a chance to get firing again.”
Manager Alan Curbishley revealed BentÂ’s fitness had been a concern for a while.
He said: “He was 50-50 for the cup game. He is so desperate to play every week but has been suffering for the last two or three weeks.
“It’s nothing too serious but it is there and if he catches a ball wrongly he can feel it. But he can run around so it is just something he has to work his way through.”
Curbishley was pleased there were no other casualties apart from the Bent duo at a time when a European place remains up for grabs via two different routes.
He said: “If Marcus gets himself fit then I will have a clean bill of health and I have never had that in a run-in. So I may be able to change things round a bit. Another win in the league and I may be able to prioritise, who knows?”
Charlton Athletic (from): Myhre, Young, Perry, Hreidarsson, Powell, Kishishev, Holland, Hughes, Thomas, Ambrose, Bartlett, D Bent, Bothroyd, Euell, Andersen, Spector, Rommedahl, Sorondo, Fortune, M Bent.
Newcastle United (from): Given, Harper, Carr, Ramage, Boumsong, Moore, Parker, Emre, Solano, NÂ’Zogbia, Bowyer, Faye, Clark, Brittain, Pattison, OÂ’Brien, Shearer, Dyer, Ameobi, Chopra.