Charlton Athletic 0 Liverpool 3

THE Charlton faithful departed in a furious clatter of seats eight minutes from the end. And it was difficult to blame them.

The cliché tells us that there are no easy games at this level. Well, the cliché lies.

Even Charlton fans - whose loyalty is being mocked each week by players who seem incapable of getting their act together - have started to show unmistakable signs of losing patience.

When the hapless Amdy Faye, under no pressure whatsoever, passed the ball out for a Liverpool corner, the Addicks supporters responded with loud hoots of derision.

When Faye sliced the ball out for a throw-in soon after, drawing a similar response, Les Reed immediately withdrew him.

"He’s been feeling under the weather and was not his usual self," the Charlton boss explained, dismissing the notion that he had simply put the player out of his misery.

So what advice did Reds boss Rafael Benitez have for his opposite number? "He must stay calm," he concluded.

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