Rumour Mill-Andy Gray

According to the Mirror Alan Pardew is putting in a £1.3million bid for Andy Gray, our top scorer this season with 13 goals.

Championship rivals Cardiff and Ipswich are also believed to be interested with the Mirror suggesting the Pardew bid will see off their interest.

The Charlton boss saw Gray score twice against the Addicks recently as we secured an impressive 3-1 victory.

Owen Coyle though appears to have other ideas and he is quoted only yesterday as saying the following to the Lancahsire Telegraph:

'There is always going to be interest in your players because there are some good ones, but we don't want to be losing them,' .

'Andy Gray is a valuable member of the side and we're not encouraging any bids or offers for him.

'What's going to happen at this stage of the season is that there will be speculation about players at other clubs or your own players.

'But I'm looking to build a team, not dismantle one.

'There will be times that players leave for whatever reason, but we are looking to keep our best players at our football club.

'Sometimes people come in with an unbelievable offer that you have to consider, but until such time as somebody makes a bid for one of your players, there isn't a story.

'There is no bid from Charlton.'

Today its the turn of Brendan Flood to scupper Charlton's plans

Our operational director insists the club are not looking to sell any of their players during this month's transfer window.

'We haven't had a formal offer for Andy but there has been enquiries from a few clubs about him,' he said.

'However, we want to keep him. He's our leading goalscorer, a great character within the dressing room and is contracted to us for another two and a half years.'

Flood continued: 'We're looking to bring in players this month and add to the quality we already have within the squad.'

Lets hope we hold our nerve on this one, Gray is a key, integral part of our squad and we must resist the attempt to sell him.

If the offer is simply one we cant refuse because it's silly money, then we really must ensure we have another replacement, just as good lined up for signing before the January window shuts! If not, midtable mediocrity here we go again!