Charlton Athletic v Sunderland

CHARLTON manager Alan Curbishley warned that nobody is immune as he prepares for major surgery on his squad of under-achievers.

A distraught Curbishley delivered a scathing appraisal of his side as he kicked over the debris of Sunday’s 5-2 rout by Manchester City.

It was the Addicks’ sixth straight defeat in which 17 goals have been conceded.

Curbishley, whose 700th game in charge was marred by unacceptable defeat, retaliated by declaring: "There is not one player at this football club, from Dean Kiely to Danny Murphy, who can knock on my door and say 'what me?'

"Those players lucky enough to play against Sunderland on Saturday will know that I’m expecting a lot more. I’ve got players who don’t want to track back, won’t put their foot in, who don’t want to get on the right side of their men and don’t want to offer the back four any protection.

"We’re suffering a catalogue of disasters and don’t remotely look like keeping a clean sheet. Defensively, no matter what I do, it doesn’t work."

Curbishley had no complaints with supporters who booed off the team for the second time in five days. Others left long before the final whistle.

"Our fans have been fantastic," he added. "If supporters elsewhere had been forced to put up with what they have these last four or five weeks at The Valley, they would have ripped into the team.

"They are taking it on the chin but for how much longer? It’s up to me and the players to turn this around. I bought the players to the club, I pick the team so ultimately it’s down to me.

"Manchester City said that it was the best they’ve played all season, Blackburn said the same up there and so did Aston Villa. The common denominator is us, we’re not good enough. We’re giving teams that come here a lot of confidence."

He dismissed the notion that he was fast running out of permutations after so many changes.

"I’ve got players ready to go in and hold their end up. But I am finding it hard to comprehend why this is happening.

"At the end of last season we ran out of bodies and were hit by suspensions. At the moment, whoever I put in goes in and has just as bad a time as the one I’ve pulled out."

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