Man City home. What was the score? Lost 5-2 How to ruin your weekend by Charlton Athletic part 236.

Today we were absolutely rubbish from start to finish, two excellent finishes by Bent and Bothroyd only partially disguising an absolutely woeful display from the Addicks. Questions need to be asked and that includes the unthinkable. Is it time for Curbs to go?

It's not so much the run of results, our fragile defending or our league position but team selection, tactics, how they are prepared before the game by the coaching staff and the seemingly complete lack of managerial acumen during a game.

There is an old adage that once the players are on the field there is nothing the manager can do. Well there are 5 replacements as chosen by them to use, a 15 minute break and touchline encouragement. The body language of Stuart Pearce and Curbishley on the sidelines was about as different as you could get.

Lets look at the team selection first. Kiely and JJ should have played their last games for us today. I want to remember Deano for the good memories but he is not the same player. 8 goals conceded in 2 games (not all of his fault) plus lest we not forget a number of hammerings at the end of last season too.

Andersen is the future for me, maybe not yet the finished article, but I believe he will go on to be an excellent goalkeeper. He is 12 years younger than Kiely, who served his apprenticeship in the lower leagues whereas Andersen is doing it in one of the most scrutinised leagues in the world.

I watched the game on TV and missed the teams being announced. It was 35 minutes before the commentator mentioned JJ's name. He didn't mention it again until he was substituted. Spector is not good enough, at least as a full-back. He reads the game poorly and he looked so out of his depth (not for the first time) today. I, like others, am bemused that Curbs persists with furthering one of Fergie's youngsters and not our own.

Holland is another whose Valley days must be numbered. Hughes should have been the obvious replacement for Kish today and yes, we really missed the Bulgarian's battling qualities.

Why didn't Thomas start? He was our best player when he came on by a country mile. Even at 5-2 he was willing to chase loose balls. And where the flying fcuk is Rommedahl? What has he done so wrong to be totally excluded from the starting 16? To be effective Murphy needs width and there wasn't any again today. He's not the quickest and he needs space to turn and spin to enable him to put through the 'killer' pass, which Romm and Thomas were the greatest benefactors off early in the season.

Why was there a left-back on the bench? Surely it should have been a centre-half? I think we had the left-back spot covered don't you? Well, figuratively speaking anyway. Trevor Sinclair didn't see much of one all day!

Tactics. What are they exactly? Our corners are, and have been for years, atrocious. The long hoof is suddenly the new short-pass. The formation argument has frankly become redundant as Curbishley sticks square pegs in round holes and his stubborness is becoming quite scary.

We don't know what exactly Mervyn Day adds to the club in his role but quite obviously he is no Les Reed. Whoever prepares the team, coaches the team, works on set-plays, defending, marking and passing is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

More questions. How many of our recent players have had their best season's in their first year? Players are getting worse not better. When was the last time an academy player broke into the first team? Is this not what the coaches are paid for?

Kiely's kicking, Murphy's head dropping, Ambrose playing out of position, Spector's total lack of awareness, the hopeful punts to Bent, Kishishev being caught in possession, Rommedahl's non-existent tackling, Lisbie being caught offside, our defending of corners, El Karkouri's diving in and giving away free-kicks, Holland not getting his shorts dirty. Surely these are all things that can be worked on the training field and coached out?

Can Curbishley still motivate the players? Can he motivate himself? Again today we started the game like we did not give a toss. The use of substitutes and the complete lack of judgement during the game has become a worrying flaw in the make-up of a team if nothing else would fight and battle, even if the quality wasn't there. How often do we come from behind to win games? When was the last time that Curbishley made a game-changing substitution?

We were fucking embarrassing today and something has to give. I note that Curbishley mentioned the fans today and actually felt some empathy with us, which is a u-turn from Wednesday's stupid comments.

"I think the fans have been fantastic,” he said. "They've been fantastic so far and taken it on the chin - but how long can they do that for?" Don't worry about us Al, we will be here for another 700 games. What about you?

Others whose weekend was ruined: Addicks Diary; All Quiet; New York Addick; Charlton Athletic Online; cafc.co.uk;  ¶ 23:06